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Categories: American (New), Wine Bars, Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
Neighborhood: North ParkMon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Damn good. Great experience and food for the price.
The Place- Trendy-swanky. Like, they'll let you in even if you're aren't dressed cute, but you'll feel real self-conscious. Nice atmosphere, I liked the decorations and vibe! Hip without being pretentious.
The Service- Friendly, helpful, efficient- they've got their stuff down.
The Food- Fantastic! Quality, originality, presentation, price- I hate saying things are perfect, but this... was the closest in recent memory. We are always verrrry happy campers. And I'm told the menu is changed up sometimes, which I also like...
but may be a liiitle salty. Duckaroni- interesting, creative, pretty darn good. Everyone's saying the cheese biscuits, but I wouldn't have minded missing it. Goat cheese/butternut squash dip was pretty good. Loved the Lavender Dream (cocktail) and liked the Sweet Urban Tea.
Not the kind of food I CRAVE, but I'd bring out of town visitors just for the experience and menu-novelty.
I think this place is mostly hype because food and atmosphere didn't leave me saying, "OMG, I definitely want to come back here again", but they do get props for using locally grown, and grass fed beef and all that jazz.
They said it would be an hour wait, but we got in 1/2 hour on a Saturday.
We got some cheese biscuits...they were okay. I like the Red Lobster cheese biscuits better (don't knock it till you've tried them).
Anyways, started off with the frogs legs; they were quite large than normal and moist, but the breading was too course on them, and they seemed to lack flavor. came on a bed of arugula and this 1000 Island like dressing which definitely overpowered the under flavored meat
tried the DuckAroni. Well, lets just say I coudln't really taste the duck, and the cheese was a bit over powering. I'm not going to be craving it anytime soon.
Also had the tomato basil bisque. tasted more like marinara sauce with vinegar or something. vinegar was too overpowering.
Had the spiced wine..which had strong spice flavor, but didn't blow my mind.
The theme for this restaurant is "lack of balance". Its almost like they're trying too hard and the chef isn't quite where he needs to be yet.
I think this place might be more "cool" to go to than actually being really good. 4 stars to me means that.
Anyways, this is not the top of my list and think the chef needs to be more "seasoned"...hehehe.
I really *really* wanted to LOVE this place. It's been bookmarked since I started Yelping.... and, well, it was just OK.
When I first bookmarked this place they didn't take reservations, but now they do via phone and opentable, which is a plus. I tried making a reservation on Tuesday for Saturday at 6PM and everything was booked until 9PM. So they advised us to get there at 530 to get a table inside, otherwise the outside is left open for first come first served.
The staff is extremely friendly. A++ on that tip.
The layout of the retaurant is the best it can be. I don't care for the long bowling alley type of establishments... I like more of an open feel.
Now the brass tacks... the food. We had a few people grubbing so we ordered a little bit of everything...
The Frog Legs= the sauces were great, the legs are heavily breaded. The thing that all offset us was all the veins for such a little piece of meat. Be careful for Kermit's bones too...
The Cheese Biscuits = Like another reviewer said, Cheese? Donde esta? To sum it up they are like Red Lobsters biscuits, slighlty crunchier but lacking the cheese, oh and you have to pay for them.
Burger= damn good. Huge and super juicy. Only option is sweet potato fries though so my sis wasn't too happy. They were nice and crispy and salty so the others liked them.
Monte Diego = Wish I had the Monte Cristo from Studio Diner instead. I didn't even finish a quarter of it, no bueno
Chicken n Dumplings = This was my favorite. It had so many flavors, not your typical old school, devoid of spice, mama's version.
Side of Mac N Cheese = The bread crumbs on top seemed to be sprinkled on after baking which was a bummer. The taste was a little bit spicy, which I really liked and oh man they give CHUNKS of bacon, not little crumbles.
The parking sucks in this area, so we paid $5 for lot parking.
I would come back here if a group already had plans here, but wouldn't suggest it for others.
This place came highly recommended from boyfriend's coworker.
I don't know what all the hype about the duckaroni is. It was just okay. Not cheesy enough. I've definitely had better. Same with the "famous" cheese biscuits. I tasted no cheese, opened it up, saw no cheese - just some flakes baked in that looked like chives. The biscuit was good in the sense that it was chewy on the inside yet flaky on the outside. But where's the CHEESE?!?!?
We also ordered the beef cheeks which was very very tender (falls apart with just your fork - no knife needed) - YAAAAY!
The surprise of the night was the bacon wrapped trout. It was flavorful and juicy - not overcooked. YUM!
Service was great there! We loved our waitress!
Only thing is - if you reserve on OpenTable, make sure this place doesn't mark you as a cancellation. We had a reservation for 2 - changed to 3. When I called, he said no problem. We were seated, no problem. We spent over $100, no problem. I got home and got a notification from OpenTable that Urban Solace cancelled my reservation for me, no 100 points credit. I have a freakin' problem. Called Urban Solace the next day and got some girl named Debbie who was horrid! She was snotty & talked over me saying that since I had changed the reservation and was seated on the patio instead of inside, we were now considered a walk-in and the hostess was "correct" to have cancelled us. Honestly? She should've just said sorry, let me see what I can do to try to get this corrected with OpenTable.
BLAH! Minus one star for horrid service by Debbie over the phone.
My husband and I went to this restaurant with our then 10 month old daughter. We went during the lunch hours so it was not very busy. They were great with her! Family friendly where you wouldn't think it would be. Anyway, I had the beef cheek and it was FANTASTIC! I am still convinced I've never had better. My husband got one of their Mac and Cheese dishes. He was quiet during the entire meal... that says something :) My daughter munched on veggies and kept yelling for the sweet potato fries. We ordered them twice since we didn't have enough for the three of us, she ate most of them. They were SOOOO good!!! During the day, it's a great lunch spot and after dark it turns into a cozy little date spot. The bar is fully stocked and the wait staff is cheery and professional.
I love this place.
Love, love their cheese biscuits!!! Food is great, nice french quater atmosphere.
Recently took a friend to dinner here on a Friday night, after having been here previously for drinks/appetizers with friends. Loved the appetizers on that visit.
Dinner was quite good. Nice contemporary spin on comfort foods. My chicken and dumplings were nothing like mom made, but great nonetheless. Interesting flavors and combinations. My friend's vegetarian dish was quite good too.
Ambience was a bit louder than I would have liked. Service was slightly slow but very pleasant and cooperative. Liked making a reservation online too!
I was stoked to eat here on Friday night, and it was good.
Note: it was raining, and half of the place is outdoor dining...so a rainy night turns into a very long wait without reservations fyi.
Burger...was OK, if you are looking for a big orgasmic burger (see Nicky Rotten's) then it's not quite there. Great tasting beef maybe 1/3 lb at best...understated cheese, lettuce and tomato.
Mac n Cheese...very tasty, great texture, would get again.
Buscuits...these were good, not as unique as I thought they would be but would also get again...you can order just two if you want to.
Atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for. Super crisp place, nice staff. Was hoping for my new favorite place...but came out a 3 star place.
This place would make an excellent date place. Dim lighting but not too dim that you can't read the menus, and strong drinks! LOL :)
Went here with bf and our 2 friends, I suppose as a double date. We made reservations for a thursday night so we were seated pretty immediately. We started with the mussels and frogs' legs (we were feeling adventurous). I recently have this new found love for mussels so I adored the mussels at Urban Solace. I would have eaten all of them if I didn't have to share with 3 other people. It comes in a red/tomato garlic ? sauce which is great for dipping bread/biscuits in! The frogs' legs were pretty good.. they were breaded and fried which, i assume, is how most places serve them.. i mean you can't go wrong with breaded fried anything, right? My friends thought they tasted a little fishy, but I thought they tasted just like chicken. You only get 2 frogs' legs and it costs i think $9ish.. seemed a little expensive but I don't know how much frogs legs are worth lol.
For our entrees the four of us split chicken and dumplings, and beef cheeks. Everything turned out really good. The beef cheeks were incredibly tender but a little fatty. I was a little scared by the idea of "beef cheeks" but they were delicious. The chicken and dumplings were also good.. it seemed like a pretty large portion to me. The two entrees were plenty to share between the four of us but I think that's because we ordered two appetizers too.. oh yeah, and we all split an order of mac n cheese... LOVE the crispy bread crumb topping on the mac n cheese!!
The drinks here are pretty good too.. strong! And average priced.
The service here was also excellent :)
This was a great dinner. Most of my business trips meals are centered around hotel food, but this time we ventured out.....there we found Urban Solace. This was a wonderful food experience - try the cheesy rolls, sweet potato fries and the Duckaroni.
I had a strange feeling when we came here for dinner last Sunday without a reservation, like maybe we had to wait 30 mins because this is such a raved about place. But thankfully there was no wait! Good thing too, cuz boy was I hungry.
Sweet Potato French Fries, Maytag Blue Cheese-Buttermilk Dressing
-the fries were a bit soft for my taste, I like my fries long and crunchy, but they were still delicious and the sauce is something I'd like to drizzle on everything including my bf
Pan Roasted Black Mussels, Smoked Tomato Butter
Let's just say my date and I raced to eat these up... I think he won cuz he ate more. So good!
Arugula, Endive n' Radicchio Salad, Feta Cheese, Grapefruit, Grilled Avo, Garlic Vin
A bit disappointing because all the other things masked the natural peppery taste of arugula, grilled avocado was not as exciting as I anticipated, too many tastes and textures in this one
Creamy Tomato-Fennel Soup with Croutons and Smoked Pepper Crème Fraiche
Delicious and Perfect
Duckaroni: Mac n' Cheese with Blue Cheese, Duck Confit, Roasted Garlic, Arugula, Scallion
You must try this once. I don't even like duck and I loved this dish. Very well seasoned. We brought leftovers home and friends gobbled it up!
I went here with some friends and it happened to be on a day where it rained. And since it hardly ever rains here, it was very difficult to get here with all the traffic. I called the restaurant to see if they can hold the table. They tried to hold it for 15 minutes, but we still needed more time than that. We were about 30 minutes late. They called to tell me that they couldn't hold the table anymore since there were other people who made reservations that needed the table. I was a little disappointed, but took the chance and figured we can sit outside if needed (covered with heating lamps). Anyways, we all got there late, but they were able to seat us still and indoors, which was really great since it was pretty chilly and windy outside. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had problems with traffic.
Now, about the food. It was yummy. We ordered the biscuits with the orange honey butter. I don't like orange flavored butter, but this one was yummy!!! I would highly recommend it! The only bad thing is that you have to order it off the appetizer menu to get the orange honey butter. They also serve complimentary bread, so the butter can be used for that as well.
I think I had the burger, which was pretty good, but what I loved was the dessert! It was this pot of chocolate creme and it was very delicious! I would go back just for the butter and dessert!
YUM! This place is fanfreakingtastic! I love everything about this place, except that you can't make reservations for the outside dining area. The service is always exceptional and the food always tastes so delicious.
I've been here a bunch of times, and the menu often changes, but here are some items that I would definitely recommend:
-the seared albacore chop chop. really light. refreshing, and great to share
- sonoma goat cheese dip. I'm practically drooling now just thinking about it
-Not your mama's meatloaf. Okay, I'm not a meatloaf lover, but I am a lamb lover, and this baby is full of juicy lamb, pine nuts, and cheese. It is a must have
-Duckaroni. It is super heavy and oh so fatty, but really worth it.
Portions can be big. When I go with my gf we usually get 1 appetizer and 1 entree and we are full.
As far as cocktails go, the pear-thyme-sea salt martini, ginger splash, and meadow mule are my favorite.
I'm not ape-shit over the duckaroni and cheese biscuits like everyone else seems to be. I just thought it was ehhh.
I did however love the Trout! Its stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and cheese and wrapped in bacon for $16.95.
My friend got the beef cheeks and that was super tender and yummy.
Service was absolutely excellent and totally adds to my love of North Park.
On a wet rainy Monday what better to do after a long cold day then to get some good warm comfort food? I had never heard of this place until my friend suggested it and as always I was up to try something new.
I wasn't really hungry so we decided to sample a few of the appetizers. Seeing how the cheese biscuits were on practically every table we started with these. I'm not a big bread person and these were okay. I don't get why every person that was seated around us was telling their companion about how they must have these. They tasted like the free ones from Red Lobster.
The Albacore Tuna Chop was one of my favorites. It was a small tower of chopped tuna with pine nuts, avocado and a hint of cilantro. Next time I am not sharing this one.
Another dish I would recommend checking out is the Butternut squash dip with goat cheese. This was my absolute favorite dish of the meal, unfortunately I ordered it towards the end of the evening and was already pretty full. It's served with some sort of chip but I asked for some baguette bread which worked better for dipping.
Sweet potato fries nothing special, but you really can't mess up on these.
I was impressed with the large variety of the ice tea selection. So many flavors to choose from. Once it warms up outside I'll enjoy sampling all of these. There are no free refills on the ice tea though.
Fun little place to check out and the staff was very accommodating to any special requests. During our meal we were not rushed and they were attentive to our needs.
I went here for the 30th on 30th event, it seemed like a really cute place to eat and had really awesome lighting (date place alert!). I felt like it took a substantial amount of time to have the bartender even look at me to order which I didn't like. I know it's super busy, but still...an acknowledgment would be helpful. I had their house red wine which was good, but man oh man..those biscuits were the business! It tasted like I was eating a thick chowder it was so filling. My mouth is watering just thinking about it right now....
It's my fault, I know. I should know better than to order a fried sandwich, but the Monte Cristo sandwich is such draw when you're starving. Maybe it's the lure of batter dipped then fried then finally topped with powdered sugar, but I'm usually quite satisfied when I'm done. I should've read the reviews and ordered the chicken and biscuits, or the duckaroni, but I have failed myself again.
The service was excellent. The place was warm and inviting. The prices were just right. All that aside, I still left with a bit of a void and I know that could well be fixed with a different entree next time. The Monte Diego was good, but was mostly ham and not much else. I wanted a bit more Fontina cheese and pears. The bread was perfectly done, wasn't too heavy and not oily at all. The currant jelly is what made the sandwich and again, I was full, but wanted more in the way of taste.
Sweet potato fries were a delicious side and either my cocktail was strong, or I shouldn't be allowed to drink before noon.
I'll be back and next time I'll listen to my fellow yelpers!
Yum-o-licious!!!
Started the NP Pub Crawl with dinner at this fantastic place. Oh Urban Solace, you have met my expectations and more! Everything we ordered was just as deliciously anticipated.
Started off the night with some fantastic sweet potato fries and yummy dipping sauce. The pork belly, it was oh so good and had a great asianized taste to it. The sonoma goat cheese/butternut squash was so good and smooth, i'm not a huge fan of goat cheese, but it certainly did not overpower the butternut squash. These were just our starters too...haha
We family styled it up and ordered various entrees and shared. The duckaroni was just as delicious as everyone else yelped about, the duck and various cheeses was yum-o! Jidori chicken was good, but nothing really memorable that would make me order it again. I do have to say though, the chicken was moist and flavorful. Bacon wrapped trout was wowsers, jaw dropping good. Bacon definitely makes everything taste better, but the seasoning and awesomely moist trout could have stood alone and still be good. The most memorable entree of the evening was Not your mama's meatloaf...wow wow wow...was afraid that the ground lamb would be gamey tasting, but it certainly was not...it was complete perfection...
Dinner from beginning to end was delicious and our waitress was a gem...the whole staff was welcoming and warm. The contemporary simple decor was comfortable and relaxing...made it a great dining experience.
Walked in on a Saturday night and was told the wait would be 30-45 minutes, an hour later we were still waiting. Definitely need reservations. It wouldn't be so bad if they had bigger waiting space/bar.
Alas we were seated in the outdoor patio that has huge space heaters to keep the guests warm which is really nice. We were seated at a table that already had three warm biscuits waiting for us as a sorry for the ridiculous wait. The cheese biscuits are so delicious!
Many of the items on the menu aren't incredibly inviting so I ordered the mac and cheese with a side of vegetables. Everything was yummy, the mac and cheese is incredibly rich that I was hardly able to make a dent.
All in all, it was good experience, if I go back it wont be during the weekend.
I'm a fan of the sweet potato fries!
The food is good here and I like the atmosphere. Cute little date spot.
Not horribly expensive.
Make reservations :)
I have been to Urban Solace a number of times, and every time, everything is great! Food is really good, and I happend to go when they were having a few specials, so it made the dining experience even better. Reservations are must! The place is small and gets really crowded every night!
Let me start out by saying that my wife and I have been coming here since they first opened their doors. We even had chef Matt Gordon and his crew cater our wedding in 2008! They did a stellar job!
Urban Solace has a vast selection of rich flavored American comfort food using high quality ingredients. The price point is quite reasonable as well with all entrees being less than $20. As others have said, you have gotta try the cheese biscuits. Their rich tomato-fennel soup with smoked creme fraiche and the NY Cheddar Mac N' Cheese are both favorites of mine. I've never ordered anything here that was not prepared to my liking.
The beer selection here is pretty good too. They tend to have mostly micros including a few locals on tap, with a pretty solid bottle selection as well. Don't expect anywhere near the selection of Toronado or Hamilton's... but if you're a craft beer drinker Urban Solace should have something for you to imbibe with your tasty meal. Their wine selection is also very good, but I generally order beer when I dine out.
The decor is very warm with leaded glass stained glass windows, dark finished wood trim and exposed red brick behind the bar. Some interesting paintings adorn the walls. There's a nice side patio with space heaters, which provide enough heat to dine outside on a cool night.
The service is generally very good. My wife and I tend to dine light these days when we dine out, so if a couple seats at the bar are open... we'll take them as opposed to a table.
I highly recommend this place.
Obviously a heavily recommended and raved about spot, per all the other reviews. Mostly lived up to the hype.
Great natural/organic/local ingredients, which do make a difference.
Macaroni & cheese was great, but portion was small.
Had the daily steak, was prepared awesome, tasted awesome, recommended. The potato and spinach were small portions, though.
GF had the beef cheeks (sounds funny, apparently amazing as 3 servers recommended) and she liked it.
Finished with a brownie sunday, amazing.
I would say 4.5 stars, portions were a bit smallish but I guess that is due to the ingredients and cost. Will go back again.
I automatically fell in love with this place when I saw Pinot Blanc on their wine list. Most places don't carry it.
The cheese biscuits, salmon, and steak were delicious as well.
Urban Solace = Comfort Food for the Cool. That's right. After dining at US you just feel cooler than you did before stepping foot in it. All joking aside, the experience was so satisfying and just wonderful. One of those places you have no problem paying a little bit more for, because everything is just that good!
We took my best friend and her husband out for her birthday. All of us were first-time patrons at US. We were all very excited to choose from their menu of modern classic comfort foods. We started with the much raved about warm cheese biscuits. In contrast to everyone's favorite Red Lobster cheese biscuits, you take your time with US's warm cheese biscuits and savor each bite because unlike RL, they don't refill your basket fo' free! And the orange butter they have on the side...mmmm! In addition to the biscuits, we shared the mussels in their smoked tomato butter sauce. The sauce was fa-bu-lous and full of depth - not your ordinary tomato sauce. The hubby and I were trying to pick apart the flavors. Would have even been good over linguine.
So for dinner, I decided to get "Not Your Momma's Meatloaf" being a huge meatloaf lover. But I was a little iffy on the ground lamb. I had to ask the server his opinion and he encouraged me to go for it! Done. There were bits of figs, pine nuts and feta (all faves) which really complimented each other. Hubby had the beef cheeks and a clean plate says it all. We shared their Bittersweet Chocolate/Hazelnut/Cream Cheese Brownie Sundae as a sweet finish to our night. I think everyone was pleased with their meals, and we all left with happy bellies.
The service and atmosphere were great - I am planning to check out their brunch sometime soon. Highly recommended. Thanks US - we'll be back.
With so many yelp reviews and friend recommendations we have been shown the light. This particular light comes with sweet potato fries and duckaroni...
From entering the place, which looks like an old hotel from the outside, we entered into a very relaxed and intimate environment. This place would be great for a date or meal with close friends/family.
We sat outside during January and it was very comfortable with the space heaters on blast and good food on the table. Our server gave us recommendations which I usually trust, they want their tip big like I want my belly. We got 2 apps, soup, salad, and one entree to split between me and the misses.
The apps came out hot and ready to be devoured. I felt bad when I looked at my plate and saw I had eaten 9 mussels and she had only 3, I was shocked but I couldn't stop my feast. She didn't like the sweet potato fries as much as I did, but I loved how crispy they were, well not all of them but the crispy ones brought me back to McDonald's fries pre-no-transfat oil.
The soup and salad were quite filling, especially that salad which had roasted avocados.
This place will be getting our business again, but I really want to try their famed Sunday brunch soon.
not sure what people on here are thinking other than this place has the north park and yelp hype combo so it must be good. however, don't buy into hype and rate the food on how it actually tastes. we tried a couple of the dishes that everyone raved about on here and nothing wowed me. i should have just cooked at home for the price.
that said, it's not that it's bad or anything, but people on here are way to 5 star happy. if we keep giving everything 5 stars cause it's trendy how will i actually know what restaurant is worth going to. oh well, yelp is overrun with hipsters and they only know hype. you know, in that non conformist conformist way...
good food. nice place. and they have a couple great beers on tap. you can tell they care but the food is nothing amazing.
This is my fav restaurant in SD. I love everything about this place. I even considered having a reception in this restaurant too. I love their mac and cheese :) Pork/chicken are my favorite too. I love the ambience.
It's great for first date, but it is also casual enough to go with your buddies.
Very nice "middle-of-the-road" place to dine. Not too expensive, and what you get for the price is very good. Their dinners are diverse and very tasty. The ambiance is romantic and low lit, which makes it comfortable as well. A great place to get a cocktail, or have a nice dinner and a glass of wine. Bring a date, or have dinner with friends here. Good beers on tap as well. Its not pretentious, but not overly casual either. I've enjoyed it many times.
I gotta agree with Dan B, Urban Solace is the Shiznit!!!
Excellent, creative hearty homefood, staff has alwasy been nice to me, decent beers on tap, great wine selection, and the outdoor patio area is a great place to sit for lunch.
me and the Wife have kept this spot in our rotation for the past year.
I think I've tried nearly 75% of the menu since first coming here a few months ago. Since then, I've returned twice (both times for dinner service). I love home-style American comfort food with something extra on the side. The delicious cheese biscuits with orange honey butter is one case in point. I love biscuits, but the orange honey butter makes it a thousand times better. Now, that's what I call better butter. I also got around to trying the tomato-fennel soup. It was quite creamy and the two little crouton cubes were just enough for that cup.
The last time I came here, I got the pulled chicken and buttermilk dumplings. This entree is the essence of home cooking. The chicken is tender and warms both the stomach and soul. Last night, I opted to try the duckaroni, a mac n' cheese dish with duck confit and blue cheese. I am usually not a fan of blue cheese because of the strong pungent quality. But, I was pleasant surprised that it didn't overpower the duck. The duck was a little dry, but the flavor was there. The mac 'n cheese is definitely a favorite of mine here, but I think it's more of a side than an entree. It's way too rich to eat in one sitting so I only ended up eating less than half and taking the rest back home.
I tried a little bit of everyone's entrees and they were all delicious as well. My favorite of the night would have to be the bacon wrapped trout. Well, anything wrapped in bacon is good. I think this place would hit the five star mark were it not for a disappointing dessert menu. I tried the warm pear almond bread pudding and also the "not so red" velvet cake. The bread pudding was a little too dense for my liking. It was definitely not worth $7. As for the cake, it might as well be called "not so good" velvet cake. It was completely dry and opposite of what a velvet cake should be in texture. In summary, come for the Southern home cooking, stay for the atmosphere and company, but leave before dessert is served.
My first time in North Park treated me to a delicious lunch at Urban Solace. Known for its new… Read more »
Best. Biscuits. Ever.
Mmmmmm.......cocktails and sweet potato fries... :-)
Met up with a few friends here for Happy Hour…
Read more »
There are three glaring omissions from my previous review that I'd like to add in this update: 1) there's an awesome mixologist here who can make you a Sazerac cocktail (possibly the oldest mixed drink in existence: http://en.wikipedia.or... ) without having to ask you what's in it, 2) the St. George absinthe that is part of the aforementioned Sazerac is a great-tasting brand and really good (and VERY potent) on the rocks (and you can order it here, too), and 3) the frog legs (from the lunch and dinner menu) are supremely divine. 1) is starworthy on its own (a mixologist that not only doesn't have to ask me how to make an old-fashioned but who can also mix FROM MEMORY one of the MOST OBSCURE cocktails in the U.S.); 2) is also starworthy on its own because hardly anyone serves absinthe (STILL), much less such a good label; and 3) is also starworthy because who around here has the requisite guts to serve swamp animals to their patrons and still make them very yummy despite all that extra pressure and suspense? Urban Solace is TRULY a five-star joint, and Chef Gordon is in my pantheon of all-time-great local chefs!
When Urban Solace first opened, I was completely stoked. I went there many times, rejoiced when they… Read more »
Bluegrass brunch Sundays
warm cheese biscuits with butter
food full of comfort.
I really don't see the big deal about this place. It was just ok for me. Tried the duck a roni and I was kinda grossed out. Smelled like baby throw up! The cheese biscuits was the highlight of my meal. The shrimp with grit cakes was ok too. Def will not be returning here.
A good friend and I came here for dinner last night, and Urban Solace actually reminds me of places in SF. Took about 10-15 minutes to get seated on a Monday night, and we sat outside on the patio which was very nice and well heated. I got the plantation iced tea, which was a little underwhelming. Next time I will probably try one of their cocktails because they all sounded so incredibly delicious.
Pros:
Decent service
Sweet potato fries
My entree, the bacon wrapped trout, was very large and I think well cooked. It wasn't the best trout I've ever had, but it was good.
Overall, this place has good atmosphere and I think maybe some of their other entrees might be better, but to me, it was just okay. I think the prices are fairly reasonable, and it has a lot of potential. I'd try it again in the future.
Cute place we decided to check out last night based on a friend's recommendation. Not great, but not terrible. Will I be back? Probably not.
The sweet potato fries were bomb and the stiff cocktails were a thumbs up, but the rest of the food was just ok.
He had the braised beef, really fatty. I had the bacon wrapped trout and it was just way too much rubbery bacon twisted around the trout. I ended up peeling off all the bacon and I couldn't finish the trout because it tasted slimy. Wished I had gotten the chicken dumplings.
At least it wasn't overpriced, most of the entrees were under $20. I'd feel really ripped off if it was more.
they've got sweet potato fries!
came here for lunch on saturday with two friends of mine and we started off with a bloody mary each, mmm. we also decided to try the frog's legs, which like everyone says, tastes like chicken. i'm pretty sure that it would taste a little different if it wasn't breaded and fried like chicken, but i liked it esp with the spicy mayo it was served with. not to mention the spinach, arugula and pickled onion salad with a vinaigrette it's served on top of. i think what turns people away from frog's legs are the veins, but if you don't think about that, the meat is pretty good and you get quite a bit of meat.
i ordered the pastrami sandwich which came with sweet potato fries, mmmm. the sandwich had theperfect amount of dijon mustard, i hate when i can barely taste it. i had to save the second half for a later meal b.c i couldn't stop eating the fries (which you get a pretty hefty mound of). dip those in their blue cheese dressing and your taste buds will be in heaven! overall the service here was great and the food was really good. i'm just saving that extra star for another visit and when they knock me out of my seat with their great flavors.
This is my favorite restaurant in San Diego. You seriously can't go wrong with anything on the menu. I've never had a problem with the service either. All my experiences here have been great.
The menu changes slightly based on the seasonal flavors but I'm still in love with the mac n'cheese. I'm also a fan of the tomato soup. They really serve up Delicious comfort food. Right now this is one of my absolute favorites: Sonoma Goat Cheese/Butternut Squash Dip, Cornmeal Crackers and Baguettes - you must try it.
The indoor portion of the restaurant is small so most of the seating is on the patio. They do have heat lamps so don't fret! Or you can make a reservation...
If you haven't tried this place, I strongly recommend it. I don't believe that you'll be disappointed.
This place has plenty of reviews but I'll add my two cents worth anyway!
I came here for "Comfort…
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Overall, this restaurant has delicious comfort foods. However, I was not impressed with the goat cheese and avocado scramble I had this morning. It did not live up to other food I've had here in the past, and I would not order it again.
On the other hand, this was my first time trying grits and I enjoyed them very much. Although they tasted good because they were made with a lot of butter, I'd like to see this restaurant offer more healthy, low calorie options on the menu.
I left wishing that I had once again ordered the grilled four cheese sandwich with tomato soup and sweet potato fries. Also, I've heard that their mac and cheese and biscuits are excellent.
Price wise, I'll be limiting my return trips here. I would like to see them come out with some special offers which would make me more likely to return again soon.
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Neighborhood: Gaslamp
Join us for Yelp Drinks!
Neighborhood: Gaslamp
Neighborhood: Hillcrest
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: University Heights
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Mission Hills
Category: Wine Bars
Neighborhood: North Park
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: North Park
Category: American (New)
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