It's pretty surprising that I hadn't been to North End Grill yet considering it's right across the street from my office. I had been there once for drinks and immediately got the feeling that this place was much more of the Goldman Sachs crowded vs. the American Express crowd. The decor is much classier than any of the other restaurants in the area and the prices also reflect it.
Besides the fact that it's too pricey for a regular lunch, another reason I hadn't been here for lunch yet was that I had heard from a bunch of my co-workers that they had really bad experiences there. Most of the things I heard was that the food was bad and the wait for food was too long. Danny Meyer and Floyd Cardoz must have heard the comments because I didn't think the food was awful and they asked us up front before we ordered if we had a time constraint and needed the food by a certain time.
The lunch menu here is kind of all over the place. They have fancy appetizers such as oyster and clam stew to egg dishes such as scrambled eggs with hen of the woods mushroom to main entrees such as seared scallop. I couldn't really tell what direction they were trying to go with here. Since I was here for lunch I opted for the chicken burger ($18) and an order of the thrice fried spice fries ($8). You'd think for $18, you'd get the fries with the burger, but the clientele here is probably 90% corporate dining, so I guess you can get away without having fries included. Despite all the bad reviews from my co-workers, I actually liked my chicken burger. It was a pretty big patty flavored with lots of cilantro and pickled cucumbers served on a brioche bun and slathered with a sriacha mayo. Who doesn't love sriacha mayo?! My one complaint was that the patty kept slipping out of the bun and making a huge mess while I was eating. Luckily I was just with my close co-workers so it didn't really matter but if I was with clients it would have been a bit embarrassing. The burger was served with an Asian slaw that kind of tasted like a papaya salad. I did find the slaw to be re-freshing and a nice touch but of course I would have preferred the fries instead. But the one bummer of the meal was actually the fries. They were over cooked and despite looking like it had been dipped in Old Bay Seasoning, incredibly bland. This of course didn't stop me from eating the whole thing, but I've had better fries in my work cafeteria. My co-worker also ordered a side of hashed Brussels sprouts ($9) and that was a much tastier side. It was served with lentils and lightly dressed with olive oil. While I liked the taste of it, it was a bit difficult to eat since it wasn't served whole but finely shaved instead.
I was glad that this was a paid for lunch outing because the thought of spending $30+ for a burger and fries at lunch would have given me a stomach ache. By the time we left I had noticed that the place had really filled up with people. The scene reminded me of Mad Men except for the smoking part. Almost every guy there was dressed to the nines in a three piece suit and everyone looked very engrossed in business discussion. Although there are a few new dining options in the neighborhood, this is really the only one that's uber fancy. And while I kind of hate on the corporate environment, I do see a need for it. But unless you're going on a corporate account, you are probably better off hitting up Danny Meyer's other place down the street: Shake Shack. Total bill: $143 for 5 people without tip.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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