I'll admit that this review might be a bit on the harsh side - I almost hardly ever really go below a 2.5 fork rating, but there was just so much about this place that annoyed me that it was time for me to give some restaurant the brunt of my anger.
The B-school gals and I met up here for Beth's birthday and I will say that what it has going for it is that it's in an extremely convenient location on 20th street. It's kind of crazy (or is it?) that I have never seen or heard of this place before given how close it is to so many things I've visited before.
Our table was located incredibly close to the door but it was fine enough and fit all of us but it was incredibly loud sitting right by the hostess table and the door. The menu here is, as you would expect from a place called County, very "farm to table" style and rustic. We were all starving and ordered the fresh made ricotta ($14) and the salmon tartare ($17) to start. I'm usually a big sucker for fresh ricotta (especially the one at Locanda Verde) and this one was good but not amazing. It was served with mint, honey and warm grilled bread but it just didn't taste as farm fresh and light as I would have liked. The salmon tartare was served on a bed of crispy rice which was so thick that it was all I could really taste in the dish.
While neither of these dishes itself were terrible, what really kind of put me over the edge about this place were the main entrees. I had just gotten back from Puerto Rico, so I was craving some traditional American food and when I saw a cheeseburger on the menu, I jumped on it. It was only later that I processed that it was $25!! WTF?! In my book, the ONLY burger worth paying more than $20 in this town or anywhere else is at the Spotted Pig and that one is $22. Unless this burger is covered in truffles and gold, it's really quite ridiculous to price a burger in that price range. I must have been in a starving haze because I also didn't realize it was a double patty (which I guess is why they felt justified in charging $25). I've never really understood why it's necessary to have a double patty if the single burger is meaty and flavorful enough. The other gals all got the branzino ($29) for their main entree.
After getting our appetizers, we had waited quite a while for our entrees to arrive and when they did, they were totally not for our table, so we had to wait some more. When the correct food finally did come out, I was disappointed at what we were getting for such a steep price. Yes, the burger was quite large. It was 2 patties with cheddar, arugula, smoked chili mayo, pickles and applewood bacon. This thing was so unnecessarily large, salty and probably enough calories to last me a week. After eating half the burger with the bread, I just started eating the patty itself but with every bite I couldn't help to think to myself that in no way was this worth $25. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to pay high prices for food that I think is worth it, but a burger just isn't one of them especially when you can get supremely better one at Black Tap and even Shack Shake for half of the price or less. The fries that came with were also pretty dry and overly salty as well. I took a look at the girl's branzino and usually when I see that fish on the menu, it's served whole but here they just gave a small fillet. It also didn't seem to justify the high price tag for such a small portion.
Overall, I was so not impressed with this meal and if I'm paying $100 (included us paying for the birthday girl), I expect excellent service and high quality delicious food. Instead, the service was super slow and the food unmemorable and highly overpriced. Bah humbug. Total bill: $105/pp with tax, tip and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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