Schlafly Bottleworks – A New and Better Menu

Date Dined: July 12, 2014

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

It was the first real sweltering day of the summer. The heat beat down in a steady stream, sweat pouring from my skin. I swam through the air, and it cloyed at me, weighing down my limbs. It was the perfect day to drink lots of cold beers, and so we ventured to Schlafy Bottleworks for the first time in a year and a half.

Décor Rating: 4 Stars

I’ve always liked the bottleworks more than the taproom. That smell of hops as you walk through the doors, the intricate machinery that you can view through the large windows, and that easy feel of a city suburb. It’s more family friendly, in a better neighborhood, and your as likely to play poker here as you are attend a farmer’s market.

The inside is large and I appreciate that even when the entire dining area is full you never feel squished. Inside you’ll find mismatched wooden chairs and tables set with simple white linen napkins and silverware. This place is all about taken it easy from the comfy chairs in the waiting area to the servers in their laidback t-shirts and jeans. The bar area is a little more trendy, with a smartly designed bar, and classic light brown wooden chairs.

The outdoor dining area is especially cool. Tented so that you can enjoy it in any weather, steel topped tables line the patio. On the colder nights they’ll light up heat burners and you can huddle by them while sipping your pumpkin beer.

Service Rating: 4 Stars

Decent service for a laid back location. When you get seated a server will be right up to greet you and take your drink order. Even when they’re slammed, you’ll get your beer in five to ten minutes and then they’ll take your order. Food comes out about fifteen to twenty minutes later and they’ll come check up on you. Really all you can ask for. You’re not being wined and dined, but the service really is quality for the laid back atmosphere.

Price Rating: 2.5 Stars

The first real eh of Schlafly is the price. They know people love them and they know they could charge even a little more and people would go. Since the menu revamp, some of my favorite items have had a buck or two tagged onto the price. For example, I’m pretty sure the beer bread used to be $4.50 and now it’s $6.75. The Bison was only around $10.00 at one time and now it’s $13.25. The desserts used to be around $5.00 and now they’re a whopping $7.50 and smaller.

I’m a little disappointed in the price hikes, but at least the beer prices have stayed pretty consistent. Still, don’t expect a cheap night here if you grab a couple drinks, an appetizer, and an entrée. You’ll be surprised how fast you ring up that $50.00 bill with tax and tip.

Food Rating: 3.5 Stars

I have never cared for Schlafly’s food. It’s just always been lackluster. The burgers were fine, but a little dry, the ribs were like shoe leather, The black bean burger tasted like it was from a sleeve, and the chicken was a little too chewy. Everything was always edible and fine, but not worth the price. Now Schlafly has upped their menu and unfortunately their price.

Since we first started going here, they have added some wonderful new beers, that have since become staples of ours. The first is the summer lager. The minute the first whiff of spring flows through the air I go to the store to see if these are in stock. They’re light, crisp, and just a little sweet. The Yakima wheat ale has become another of my favorites. Introduced to me by my good friend Shawn, this thing isn’t too hoppy, and it still tastes like my beloved Hefe. A word of advice, stay away from the fruit drinks here. Schlafly excels at many things, but a good fruit beer or cider isn’t one of them. At best you’re going to get something that tastes like a strong bud light with the watery taste of whatever fruit it’s claiming to be.

Dining out with our very good friends John and Kate made the experience just that much better. And lucky me, they let me taste their dishes. We started out with the baked goat cheese. Not much to say here. There was goat cheese, tomato sauce, and about four too few crostinis. All things that were very good, but something I could easily make at home. Unless you're really craving some goat cheese I might skip this thing. You'll want the extra room for beer or at the very least the beer bread.

Jess ordered the grilled cheese and potato salad. Again, something that I could probably have whipped up for her on the stove, but I’ll admit it was excellent. They definitely don’t skimp on the cheese which I appreciate. The bread was lightly toasted and wonderfully buttery, the cheese oozed out the sides, and when you bit into it, it brought back memories of being a kid. The potato salad was creamy and I appreciated the use of red spuds. Grilled cheeses are usually a rip off, but I could actually justify ordering this thing.

Our friend Kate ordered the meatloaf and I think of all the dishes this was probably the most lackluster. In fact, I’ve had my friend Kate’s meatloaf and it was way better than this thing. But it’s understandable, it’s hard to keep bulk meatloaf moist. It was edible and fine, but sort of heavy and a little too dense for my tastes. I would have liked a little more veggies in with the mix. The scalloped potatoes were pretty delish, and the cream corn overshadowed the meat loaf. They managed to make them creamy without being mushy. How I ask you, how?!

I ordered the ribs since I was in a red meat mood. They’re ribs have gone from god awful, to okay, not decent. For the first time I could really taste the smoky flavor of the meat, and while it didn’t fall off the bone it was tender enough. What really ruined it was the ridiculous amount of sauce on the thing. It looked like the smoked the thing then slathered it with sauce from some sort of container. The “ale BBQ” BBQ sauce tasted like sweet and chunky ketchup sauce. The mashed potatoes were thick and creamy, just the way I like em. The coleslaw was meh.

Our friend John definitely won the dish of the night. The pretzel encrusted chicken is delicious. The only downside is that I wish there was another piece of meat. The breast meat inside is tender, juicy, and steaming hot. The breading is crisp, choppy, and it doesn’t taste heavy like KFC chicken. It tasted exactly like what I wish my chicken parmesan dishes tasted like. The veggies were soft, but not mushy which I find a lot of restaurants can manage. Definitely grab yourself one of these despite the steep $18.00 price tag.

For dessert we settled on the peach cobbler with Serendipity ice cream. As always, Serendipity was delicious, rich without tasting overly sweet, and better than most American made gelato. The peach cobbler has seen better days. Once upon a time, Schlafly had a delicious berry cobbler. Berries enclosed into a crumble loaf and topped with whip cream. The whip cream is just as good, thick, homemade, and just sweet enough, but the peach cobbler was disappointing. The peaches were a little too tart for my liking, and the entire thing tasted sort of like a high quality Marie Callendar product.

In Conclusion

If you’re looking for someplace to chill out on a Saturday night check out the Bottleworks. You might leave a lot poorer than you anticipated, but you’ll have a good time. Depending on what you order your mileage may vary, but you likely won’t walk away upset. It’s the perfect place to take some out of towners who just want to hang, and the new menu shows improvement.

Hacienda - You Have Served Before Right?

Date Dined: July 13, 2014

Rating: 2.5 Stars

On Manchester, past Maplewood, past the Canine Center, and into an area I rarely have reason to go is Hacienda, an expansive Mexican restaurant. Complete with outside cantina, a no children bar area, a small indoor patio, and an appropriately gaudily decorated interior, it’s a fun place to grab a drink and some food. Except apparently some of the servers have apparently never served before.

Décor Rating: 3.5 stars

Not bad for an Americanized Mexican restaurant. The outdoor seating area is great for those nice weather days, the bar had a salsa station, and everyone has room to breathe. I kind of wish that the bar wasn’t as segregated so you could buy a drink while you’re waiting, but eh. The indoor patio was muy cool though. A skylight lets sunlight shine down on the inside diners. It makes me wonder why the entire restaurant isn’t set up like that. Oh architects of the Manchester Mexican restaurant what were you thinking?

Price Rating: 2.0 stars

A little pricy for what it is. Still you would think for $16.00 plus tax for a combo fajita they would either give you more than 3 tortillas or they wouldn’t charge you $2.50 for another order. That pitcher of margaritas is going to cost you nearly $30.00 too. I can stumble down to Cherokee street and grab a couple quality tacos for $2.00 a piece.

Service Rating: 2 stars

Not the worst service we’ve experienced, not by far. It far surpassed that night at the moonrise where the server spilled a bunch of drinks on Jess and then gave her a dirty dishrag to clean herself. But still, this chica did not scream great server in the making. The restaurant was busy, but I wouldn’t say it was slammed.

After being seated they brought us out a basket of chips, a few small things of salsa, and took our drink orders. So far so good. Then about twenty-five minutes pass. Luckily a helpful bus boy brought us out more chips and salsa. Finally our server appears with our drinks! You’re still alive! So good to know.

Now normally when I order and appetizer I actually want it come out. Tonight was no exception. Another forty minutes passes by. Hey it’s our food! But where was our appetizer?

Me: Didn’t we order some queso?

Her: Oh… did you still want that?

The table: No, that’s okay.

Her: Oh, ha, ha. I didn’t even put it in.

Me: That’s better?

Seriously dude. Have you never heard of apologizing? Maybe a “I’m sorry” or surprise us later with a free side of queso. After we received our meals guess what? That’s right, no “how’s your meal?” Just gonna assume everything is okay I guess…

Again, keeping things in perspective, not the worse services I’ve had. But if you can avoid the chick pictured above then try your best!

Food Rating: 3.5 Stars

Despite the service, food was actually pretty good. The chips especially were light, not too greasy, and very crispy. The salsa tasted like Mexican spaghetti sauce, but I really liked it. If you’re a big fan of the chunky and spicy you won’t like it, but it’s a safe bet for the average Joe.

The margaritas are pretty average. You can taste the tequila, which I appreciate, but you could tell it was poured from some large machine somewhere. A little too evenly mixed. Being a sucker for watermelon, when I saw that flavoring on the menu I of course had to try it. Except it was more like, let’s take the traditional margarita, add in some gross, fake watermelon flavoring, and call it a day. Come on guys. It’s like 6 bucks for a large watermelon. Give me some of the real stuff.

The queso was… oh wait, that’s right. On to the entrees! Jess ordered her favorite, the chimichanga, and I ordered the chicken and steak fajitas. Jess’s chimi was pretty delish while it was warm, but I had a bite when it had cooled and the chicken had lost a lot of its tenderness. Maybe it could use a little of that queso sauce… (Okay I’m done now). When warm, it’s still a pretty good dish, crispy and not to greasy on the outside, and warm and  moist on the inside. The chicken was a little under seasoned, like they took a normal chicken breast, baked it, shredded it, and then poured some red sauce on it.

The fajitas were a mixed bag. No red peppers, which was a little disappointing. The portion was actually pretty generous, but I would have been fine with reducing the number of chunks of steak in lieu of some larger chunks. The rice tasted like it came from one of those 5 minute rice packets. The tomato, lettuce, and sour cream were all run of the mill. The dish could have used two more tortillas, and maybe some fresher ones. They were lukewarm, but still soft. The best part of the meal was the chicken, which was just as underseasoned, but extremely tender (even the day after).

I do have to mention the corn cake (or corn tamalito). Think corn cake, but with the consistency of thick mashed potatoes, with a stick of butter, and a pound of sugar. Served in a fun little blue tortilla, this thing was addictive. I’d suggest forgoing desert and just ordering a couple of these.

In Conclusion

Hacienda was a mixed bag. If you go in with low expectations you’ll enjoy yourself. I actually enjoyed the food which is saying a lot since I’m not a huge fan of restaurant Mexican. With a good server it might really swing my opinion of this place. But last night was… wow…

Still, I would go back and give it another shot. The place has good bones, and if you find yourself in that area I’d give it a try. Just don’t be surprised when your bill is a little higher than you expected.

Serendipity – Fun if You Have Time to Kill

Date Dined: July 5, 2014

Overall Rating: 3.0 stars

I saw the movie Serendipity, with the friend Shannon, in my dorm room, on my tiny desktop screen, in college. And ever since then I’ve wanted to try this place out. Needless to say the actual Serendipity is much smaller and busier than its movie namesake. Still, it was only 10 p.m. and we were in New York on a Saturday so tally-ho!

Décor Rating: 3.0 stars

Kitsch as far as the eyes can see. You’ll find knickknacks from the 70s in the glass cases, cupids inscribed on the walls, and old soda chairs everywhere. It was charming at first, but almost a little thoughtless as you walked further into the restaurant. If you want to see someone do it right, check out the Fountain, in Saint Louis, on Locust. The upstairs does have a cute little cafe area with large windows overlooking the street. If you're here alone then I suggest requesting this area.

Price Rating: 3.0 stars

This place is expensive even for a tourist joint. Burgers start at $14.00, pasta averages at $20.00, and the Chicken Pot Pie is almost $17.00. Mainly it’s the quality of the food. Nothing here is mind-blowing so it just doesn’t justify the prices. You’ll see what I mean.

Service Rating: 3.0 Stars

Hard to rate… The hosts need to work on their timing. We arrived at 9:00 and were told the wait was an hour and fifteen minutes. No problem. A few drinks later and we arrived back at 10:05 and were told not to go anywhere that was would be soon. That’s fine. At 10:45 we were finally shown our seats. Come on guys… Tell me to come back in a half hour. And before people tell me I’m being too critical, I used to host, bus, bartend, and serve at the sushi restaurant I worked at and our time table was always within 10 minutes. It’s not that hard.

On the other hand our server was wonderful. Attentive without being intrusive, he greeted us pretty soon after we sat, checked back within five minutes, and checked in on us twice despite being busy. Plus props for carrying those trays upstairs all day.

Food Rating: 3.0 Stars

Do not go here for regular food. Not because it’s not edible (it’s very average) but because it’s just not worth the price. The cheese nachos are literally a bed of blue tortilla chips with small dollops of slightly warm goat cheese. Don’t call them nachos. Instead just serve them on a smaller plate, on a bed of crackers. Just as good.

The Cleopatra’s Barge is supposed to be a quartet of potato skins topped with sour cream and caviar. Sounds wonderful yes? Eh. You’ll get potato skins, but that’s about it. No cheese, just the sad hollowed out shells of potatoes. At least they don’t skimp on the caviar.

Jess ordered the shrimp stuffed avocado, a very confusing name for what it actually is. A ton of shrimp, slathered in some sort of thin cream sauce, with half of an avocado on the side. For all those delicious ingredients, it was surprisingly bland. On the upside, our very knowledgeable server brought us out an orange, ginger sauce which added some nice zing to the dish. I will say this, they don’t skimp on the shrimp.

Finally, the reason we walked two miles, the triumph of our meal, the frozen hot chocolate. A dessert that is delicious when you start and becomes less delicious as you sip. Let me explain. Served in a large, goblet type of dish, this thing comes out with whip cream and a chocolate garnish. Your first sip is deliciously sweet and chocolately. Unfortunately, the whip cream tastes like it’s from a can and doesn’t add much to the dish. The longer we sipped the more the wish separated from the chocolate until you were left with tasteless chunks of cloudy chocolate ice. Still, it shouldn’t discourage you from trying this thing, it’s delicious when you start.

In Conclusion

Put your name in, check out Dylan’s candy bar, go across the street to the nice Italian restaurant and grab a mixed drink, and then head back. The frozen hot chocolate is worth it, and I bet the other deserts are equally worthy. So grab your meal elsewhere, but this is the perfect place to end the night.

Dominique Ansel – Delicious and Expensive!

Date Dined: July 5, 2014

Overall Rating: 3.0 stars

In New York all by ourselves… let’s do the most touristy things possible! Long has the television touted the cronut, that magical blend of delicate French pastry and artery clogging American. So of course we had to try and get one.

Shockingly they were out by the time we strolled in. But other wonders awaited us!

Décor Rating: 4 stars

The bakery itself is very New York. You’ve got the counter, the wall and a very small amount of space in between. However if you can make your way to the back of the shop then you’ll find two wondrous dining spaces. The first, where we dined, is what a greenhouse might look like if you filled it with pastries. Through those doors is an outdoor seating area, also very nice, but a little too warm for me in the summer. Nicely spacious for a small Manhattan bakery.

Service Rating: 2.0 stars

We weren’t there during a major rush, but they seemed a little disjointed. We had to state our order to the person behind the baked goods counter, then repeat our order to the person behind the cash register, and finally repeat our order a third time when the cashier finally asked if I was paying in cash or credit. Granted this might have been an isolated incident, but I have nothing else to base my rating off of except this one visit.

Price Rating:  3.0 stars

Expensive, but that was to be expected. The frozen smores at $8.00, the giant peaches $7.50, and the DKAs around $5.00. If I actually lived there I don’t think I would stop by more than once or twice a year, but for a tourist trap it wasn’t too bad.

Food Rating: 3.5 stars

Some interesting dishes that don’t quite meet the hype. (If you want to taste something that does try the chocolate mousse cheesecake at Ryeridge Deli in Stamford). Still, nothing stopped Jess and I from pigging out to our hearts content.

First up, the Giant Peach. A Champagne poached yellow peach with a lychee cream center on top of a moist lemon financier base. Basically a very fancy way to say peach stuffed with lychee jam on top of a sponge cake. The peach was unexpectedly cake-like (I was expecting more juice). The lychee chunks inside were good, but almost indistinguishable from a normal chunky jam. The sponge cake was a disappointment and didn’t add much to the dish other than a pedestal for it to sit on.

Next, up the Frozen Smore. The very very tiny and expensive frozen smore. Take a marshmallow approximately one and a half times the size of a smore mallow, stuff it with ice cream, graham cracker crumbs, and chocolate. Then toast the outside and let the ice cream melt just a little bit. Sounds delicious right? And it was! Just waaay too expensive. But it’s given me the inspiration to try it at home.

We followed that up with the Magic Souffle. Described as a Grand Marnier chocolate soufflé inside an orange blossom brioche. Apparently, it was quite a feat of baking to figure out how to make it and a closely guarded trade secret. Out of everything that I had tasted thus far it was my favorite. The crust was light and fluffy, reminiscent of a soft shortbread. The filling was rich, not too sweat, warm, and chocolaty. One of the few dishes was worth the price for me.

Finally, my substitute to the cronut, the DKA short for Dominique’s Kouign Amann. The KA is a bread, similar to a puff pastry, but a little denser. It reminded me of a cross between the layers of a croissant and the density of a french loaf. The outside was sprinkled in sugar and the entire thing was made muffin sized. Delicious and the cheapest thing we ordered. Definitely grab one if you stop by. I very begrudgingly gave one to some of our best friends and I was surprised to see that they had maintained most of their deliciousness even after 3 days.

In Conclusion

If you’re in town for the weekend, go ahead and try it out. The bakery is close to NYU campus so there’s an assortment of fun shops on the way. Be prepared to shell out a pretty penny if you want to sample a few items, but hey you’re on vacation! Still overall, most dishes are average at best.