Guest post by Sunni R.
I arrived at Brownstone before my dinner companions so I headed over to ask the bartender what sort of fun, new drinks they were serving. He recommended a Dark and Stormy, but I don't do rum, so I chose the Ginger Collins. I love fresh ginger and lemon, but the Ginger Collins was too strongly flavored for my taste. Full disclosure: I'm not much of a mixed drink aficionado so take my cocktail reviews with a grain of salt.
The Brownstone dinner menu has several categories and I'm sure the specific items will change frequently due to the restaurant's commitment to use local, seasonal ingredients as much as possible. My two friends and I began our meal with a house salad. Two of us chose the Buttermilk Dill Vinaigrette and I chose the Bacon Red Onion Vinaigrette. We were all pleased and agreed that the little cornbread squares mixed in the salad like croutons were the best part. For dinner we wanted to sample multiple menu items so we ordered three of the "Plates to Share" and one entree. Here is what we ordered:
- Kobe Beef Cheeks over spoonbread: picture the best pot roast you have ever had over the fluffiest hybrid of mashed potatoes and cornbread. Highly Recommend
- Chicken Livers with Pepper Sauce: Heavy but good if you like chicken livers. Not my favorite
- Pork and Peppers: Very rich (pork belly) but great. The little stuffed peppers combined with the pork belly made a good bite. Recommend
- Quail Ravioli: Large ravioli stuffed with a fairly flavorful quail mixture but it fell flat to me. Not my favorite
I wish we had selected the Biscuits, Preserves and Venison Sausage. I spied another table enjoying it and it looked great. One of the sides available was Waffle Fries with Mayonnaise. First, gross. Second, the Gorgonzola Waffle Fries thing is being done (and well) on Magnolia at Lili's right?
Service: Prompt, pretty good if a little "familiar" in tone which bugged me a bit. Brownstone is new and has kinks to work out and that is understandable.
Scene: tastefully decorated, comfortable, kind of loud even while not super crowded, bathrooms on the verge of being too dark It has occurred to me that it would be funny for people to guess my age based on this portion of the review, but another "old person" comment from someone in their '30's. Can we all please agree to try something besides jeans every once in a while? I love jeans but I miss getting dressed up for dinner and it bugs me to feel overdressed so I need a group effort here. Thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter.
Service: Prompt, pretty good if a little "familiar" in tone which bugged me a bit. Brownstone is new and has kinks to work out and that is understandable.
Scene: tastefully decorated, comfortable, kind of loud even while not super crowded, bathrooms on the verge of being too dark It has occurred to me that it would be funny for people to guess my age based on this portion of the review, but another "old person" comment from someone in their '30's. Can we all please agree to try something besides jeans every once in a while? I love jeans but I miss getting dressed up for dinner and it bugs me to feel overdressed so I need a group effort here. Thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter.
We came away from this experience with mixed feelings. The plates to share are similar to tapas -- it's a fun concept and they are priced well. The entrees are reasonably priced but the selection was beef heavy with only one fish option (no vegetarian options either). As I said earlier in the review, the menu is bound to change frequently so it remains to be seen if the concept will fly and if they can build a following with all the competition in town. Would we return? Tough question. My gut instinct says that Ellerbe's is doing the same thing with better food, but I have only been there once. I would love for someone else who has visited both Ellerbe's and Brownstone to weigh in with an opinion. Thanks.
Brownstone Restaurants
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