City Grocery

We did not have a great experience at City Grocery, even though several of my in-the-know Ole Miss graduate-friends recommended it as the only place we should consider. To be fair, I was warned that “it is not Highlands” [Highlands Bar and Grill, our Birmingham restaurant which is nationally famous, and usually flawless]. We arrived at 7:05 p.m. for our seven o’clock Saturday evening reservation (March 28, 2009). A cute college-coed-type hostess seated us promptly, at a nice table in the front and center of the main dining room. However, no one came to tend to us until 10-12 minutes after we were seated. The restaurant was approximately 3/4ths full, and a few diners were even finishing their main courses, obviously having dined very early.

The dining room is attractive, but not fancy. Patrons were generally nicely dressed, such as you would see in the informal dining area of a nice country club, although a few younger men wore jeans. The room itself is narrow and long to the back. Exposed brick walls showcase a local artist’s work, and all the art appeared to be for sale. Banquettes with attractive tapestry upholstery line most sections of the left and right walls. Several large parties of 8 to 10 people were dining in the restaurant. This is a lively place to have dinner. Tables for four are in the middle, set at a point-to-the-front angle to conserve what is precious little walking room in the two aisles. Bent-wood dining chairs are at the middle tables, and also at the outer edges of the banquette tables. The chairs seemed a little skimpy and wobbly, even for my size 0 teenaged daughter. A large person should certainly request one of the banquettes.

We saw at least four walk-in couples turned away during the course of our dinner. This is clearly a very popular dining establishment, and be forewarned that the parking situation outside in the famous Oxford Square is very difficult. I made reservations on Wednesday for the following Saturday, and was given a choice of reservation times. Of course, during Ole Miss football season, graduation, etc., I am sure that months ahead rather than days would be necessary.

There is a very limited selection of wines by the glass. Since I was dining with my daughter, I did not look at the wines by the bottle, but the selection seemed more than adequate.

After barely a bite to eat all day, my daughter and I quickly narrowed down our food selections. I was a little disappointed to see so few seafood entrees on the menu. The majority of the entrees had collards listed as the side vegetable, which was surprising for a James Beard nominated restaurant. My daughter and I both noticed how long it took for a server to appear, and we were both having second thoughts about our choice of restaurant. Once our server Michael (he did not tell us his name, rather we heard the hostess ask him a question) came to the table to take our drink orders, we indicated that we would like to go ahead and order everything at one time. (My daughter is not yet 21 and I simply wanted a glass of wine with my dinner.) He was helpful with the two questions that I had regarding the menu, and we ordered our selections.

A few minutes later, I noticed a delicious-looking scallop entree going to a nearby table. When I caught our server’s eye, he immediately came over. I asked if indeed those were scallops, he said yes. I told him that I love scallops, but had not seen them on the menu. He said, “Scallops are one of the specials, but you ordered before I could tell you about the specials.” That sort of attitude doesn’t go over too well with me. I am not a difficult restaurant patron, but he certainly could have mentioned that there were several specials, and did we wish to hear about them. However, he did offer to change my entree order since he had not put that order into the kitchen yet, which I appreciated.

My tuna tartare appetizer was lovely, with a light mustard drizzle, and a mildly peppery cracker served alongside. My daughter’s Caesar salad was also nice.

The real trouble started when our entrees came. I lightly touched my plate (I like my hot food hot and my cold food cold). The plate was room temperature. A serving of heavily-herbed orzo was squished pancake-flat in the center of the plate, with 5 nice-sized scallops placed in circular fashion on the plate. A dollop of sour cream was placed between each of the scallops. The orzo was refrigerator-cold. My pasta-loving daughter tried a bite, and said it best, “Mom, that is disgusting!” The scallops were a little warm, but not hot. Our server told me that the orzo was offered room temperature, but that he would have my scallops heated up for me. I just don’t go for this type of hot/cold combination on the same plate in a fine restaurant. The seasonings used in the orzo were incompatible with the scallops. The scallops themselves were a little rubbery after being brought back to proper serving temperature. The orzo was not touched again, and I consumed so little of the rest of the entree that one of the servers, not ours, asked me very nicely if everything was okay. I politely told her that this had not been my favorite, and she, again very nicely, asked if she could pass anything along to the chef. I told her my opinion: I didn’t care for the mix of hot and cold, and that the seasoning of the orzo was overpowering. She thanked me, and said that the restaurant tries to improve when they receive suggestions.

We asked for and received our check without further ado, which was a reasonable $76 for two courses each, and one glass of wine, including tax (before tip). I hope that this was just an off-night in the kitchen. I would not mind giving the restaurant another try, but I would stick with something simple, like the steak (hold the collards, please).