On Friday night my wife Jen and I ventured into Lexington Center to try out Vine Brook Tavern, a relatively new restaurant that one of her co-workers had recommended. We could tell right away that we had made a good choice, as they were nearly at capacity in both the restaurant and the bar sections (it’s a two story establishment, with both bar and restaurant seating on each level). We grabbed two of the last upstairs bar seats and immediately started perusing the drink menu, guided by two very friendly and helpful bartenders. I went with the Cucumber Rickie, which is a generous combination of Hendrick’s gine, lime, and cucumber. Jen went with a drink called the Coconut Grove, a combination of coconut vodka, St. Germain’s, creme de cacao, lime, and cream. It was topped off with some toasted coconut:
Both drinks were tasty, and they were anything but weak. Jen liked the Coconut Grove so much she went out and bought the ingredients and has been making it for herself the entire weekend.
As for food, the menu could probably be described as New American. We actually decided to share the special, which was a 40 ounce ribeye with potato skins and roasted brussel sprouts (with baacccooonnn!). It was huge and perfectly cooked:
Overall, we both were impressed with the service and the quality of the food and drink. You are going to pay a little more than average for a meal here, but it’s a far better than an average meal. We are definitely going back.
Some other useful information:
- It’s family friendly – we saw several families enjoying dinner here.
- Parking is easy (typical of downtown Lexington)
- It’s a very large space, so you likely won’t need a reservation most nights
Also, if you use Yelp or Urbanspoon I would just like to point out that many of the reviews on these sites were are not at all consistent with the service and quality that we observed. I like to use these sites myself, but I often get the sense that the reviewers go on a little power trip and start thinking they are world class food critics. You have some that think they should get a Le Bernardin type meal for McDonald’s type prices, or they give a place a bad review because they walk in with a group of 20 people on Friday night and expect to be seated without a reservation. Or they ask for some weird food item that’s not on the menu and they blame the restaurant for not having it. Sometimes I wish the reviewers on these sites could be reviewed as well. Anyway, if you are local to the Boston area and think you might want to try this place, don’t base your decision on either Yelp or Urbanspoon. The reviews from locals here and here are closer to our experience.
This place is great! Can’t wait to go back!!