I refused to go here for about 2 years. The lady and I had a really bad experience (waited for 30 minutes without menus/water, while the too cool staff chilled at the bar and talked to the too cool regulars). So we walked out, swearing to never return. But last week we found ourselves on Clinton in the middle of a snowstorm and decided to try again?we had walked into a few places, bar window shopping if you will, and walked out when we saw that nobody was there. Why don?t people drink during snowstorms?
We found the spot empty as well, but we were cold and wd-50 seemed like a weird choice, so we settled on our long-scorned friend. Fortunately, this visit was much more successful. We settled on glasses of wine (white/red split) instead of a bottle. I found the list was nice, but they could have offered more by-the-glass options. The bartender/server was nice too, and way more Midwest-friendly than Midwest-surly.
For food we settled on the cheese plate, which was a basic combination of sliced hard chesse (Manchego, provolone, something else) served with sliced French bread. Simple and tasty. We also ordered the shredded corn beef sliders. Recently I have been disappointed with bar sliders (why are they so damn trendy?). The bun always seems to be stale and the patty (beef, veal, lamb) just isn?t cooked right (nor hot). But shredded corn beef? A nice idea, for sure, but I wasn?t expecting much. I had originally ordered the braised short ribs, but they were out. Always a disappointment. So I went with the next thing on the menu (under pressure, for sure) and had instant buyers remorse. But when the dish arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. The corned beef was tender and certainly Katz-like and the bun was soft. There was some kind of condiment, maybe a spicy mustard, which worked well. Overall, a nice dish.
So the spot has risen from the dead. Much credit to the new owners for bringing it back. Music was good too.
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