Restaurant Reviews
The Public House
Reviewed by jamescollier on Mar 21, 2008
What's it like?
Every time I pass by Granite Park on HWY 168 I think about all the new restaurants I've heard of next to the ballpark. Tonight, my wife and I decided to check the area out and give one a try. Overall, the area is very much under construction, but what's been developed seems a bit gimmicky, to say the least. Two new structures stand completed: Me ‘n Ed's Victory Grill and The Public House. The latter is an obnoxiously grandiose structure, painted in an exaggerated faux finish. The large red doors opened with the pull of a tiny little black handle (similar to one used on a kitchen cabinet). Don't get me wrong: the place was clean, and fairly packed for a Thursday night (though this is a holiday weekend). The hostess immediately sat us, and though we could barely hear each other (the acoustics aren't very conducive to intimacy), we grew excited as we looked over the menu. Unfortunately, that's where the excitement ended. After waiting 12 minutes, we decided to head next door. I'll post about that experience separately, to give Me ‘n Ed's a fair write-up (they deserve it), but we really wanted to give The Public House a go. We were heartbroken to have to leave, especially after deciding on our selections—we had plenty of time to do so, after all. I want to say our curiosity will lead us back through those silly red doors, but 12 minutes is unacceptable. I waited tables for many years, and several of the restaurants I worked at demanded a 60-second or less greet time; a server who took more than five minutes to greet a table and take a drink order would have been fired by the end of the night. I didn't want anyone to get fired. I just wanted an iced tea, some fried sweet potatoes, and a burger.
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Comments
jamescollier | Thu, 2008-06-26 22:40
After navigating the dense crowd at Men Who Cook, a friend and I decided to head over to the Public House. Kim and I didn't have good luck on our first visit to the restaurant, but this time I was just going to sit at the bar.
The place was fairly packed, which was a good test of the noise level—it's not the place to go for an intimate date, but that probably could have been determined by the name.
As noted before, the menu looks great, and I've heard many great comments on the food. The beer selection is also good, with at least a dozen beers on tap; the price seems a bit high, but many of the selections aren't offered elsewhere. My biggest complaint with the pub remains their sense of timing. We sat a table in the bar area, and it took five minutes to order a beer. Again, they were busy…but not that busy. I'm not convinced they can sustain the crowd once the "newness" wears off—a problem that has killed the dreams of many restarauntreprenuers (yes, I just made that up) in town.
jamescollier | Fri, 2008-08-01 07:43
Last night I organized a small gathering of fellow Rotarians and friends, and we celebrated a birthday at Public House. We didn't arrive until almost 9:00, and the place was less than half full.
We started at the bar, and the bartender seemed friendly; since we knew the group would grow, we moved out on the patio (they have a great patio).
The group eventually grew to about 15 people, all drinking and none eating (which is a server's dream, I know). We moved tables, we were loud, but we were also fairly low maintenance. That said, my earlier comments about service remain: it's slow. It took several minutes to get drinks for new additions to the table, and many simply resorted to going back to the bar.
One person did order the Irish nachos, which I was skeptical of, and for good reason. They're homemade potato chips covered in sliced (corned?) beef, cheddar cheese, green onion, red cabbage, tomato and sour cream. Very salty, and highly doubtful as Irish fare. Next time—for some reason, I get the feeling I'll be back—I'll try to the sweet potato fries.
greg.goforth | Tue, 2009-11-17 01:14
Is Public House still open? I know that entire area was going down hill due the to financial problems of the owners. I have had better experiences than James with Public House, maybe the Strongbow is making me remember it better than it was :). We often went for the Sweet Potato Fries, and I did try the Bangers and Mash which was really good. Strongbow is my favorite cider and they have it on tap.
alanrazee | Tue, 2009-11-17 11:10
I drove by there this past weekend & there were lease signs up all over the building. I think it's a goner.
jamescollier | Tue, 2009-11-17 23:48
I don't remember the date, but it closed months back - I think it reopened for a couple of days, and then shut down again. Me 'N Eds seems to be the only restaurant that can survive that park.
I suppose we should add in an indicator once a restaurant closes - it's bound to happen again.