Grain Craft Bar + Kitchen
| Address: | 270 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711, USA |
| Phone: | +1 302-737-2931 |
| Site: | grainonmain.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 11:30AM–1AM 10AM–1AM 10AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
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Zac Jackson
We visited on the first Friday they were open, and it was not a great experience. The place has a ton of potential once they work out the kinks in service, but right now they seem inexperienced and overwhelmed. Atmosphere 4/5: nicely re-modeled, great patio area, inside was crowded, but not packed.Lots of sound reflection from other tables, some additional acoustic foam might help deaden the noise. Service 2/5: From the second we were greeted by the hostess there was a sense of confusion in the air. They did not have a good system worked out for when there is a wait. The hostess took our name, but had no other way of getting in touch with us (pagers, cell number for a text, or digital display board would be a huge improvement). We went over to the bar to get some beers while we waited for a table and were able to get up to the bar relatively quickly. We went over to check on our table after a while and were told that we were next. A group was leaving the community table at the front of the restaurant so we asked the hostess if we could eat there. This started the second round of confusion. Another employee said that we could get drinks at that table, but not food. Eventually there was an agreement that we could order food at that table. After getting menus and ordering another round of drinks it was about 20 minutes before we saw a server again.The wrong beers were delivered on the first try (ordered Bells two hearted, got victory summer love), but the waitress was quick to fix the mistake and comped the summer love. Beer selection 2/5: I was disappointed in the beer selection. There wasnt anything on tap I couldnt walk into any liquor store and find. It doesnt have to be a pretentious moster beer list, but if they advertise as a craft beer bar they should have something special on tap. Instead we found the usual suspects; Victory summer love, Yuengling, Bud Light, Guinness, Bells two hearted, something from Heavy Seas. Bottle selection was better, but draft is where its at. Food 3/5: We had the bacon wrapped corn dogs, the grain burger, and the hangover helper burger. It took over an hour before our appetizers arrived, but the bacon wrapped corn dogs were really good. We both ordered our burgers medium-rare, but they arrived well done. At that point we were hungry so we didnt send them back. The burgers were good, fries could have used another minute in the fryer to get crispy. Overall the food was well seasoned, high quantity and tasted good. Overall I would be willing to visit Grain again after a few months. The initial experience was not great, but it was their first Friday being open and they had a great turn out of patrons excited to try a new place on Main street. Lots of potential here.
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Phinon Woodside
*Updated* My family (2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 infant) visited during a very busy brunch recently and I cant rave enough about every aspect. It was a complete departure from my previous experience. We were seated quickly, our server was very kind to us and our kids, and the food was amazing. I had an opportunity to tell one of the owners about our experience (and my previous visits) and his response was that of someone who genuinely cares about their customers experience. We are definitely looking forward to a return visit! *Old review below* In my previous visits I would have ranked Grain at 5 stars, however definitely not for this visit. While the food here is great, our service took so long and was so poor that my group will definitely not return. Our server argued with us about the new menu (my friend wanted to order 4 tacos - 2 of one kind and 2 of another), which he told us was not possible even though it clearly said it was on the menu. When we asked if he could apply a discount offered by one member of the groups employers, after showing him the card, he asked if we were joking. There were definite blunders on the servers part, these are just a few. And its a shame, because, as I said earlier, the food was really good.
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Howard Poznansky
My Wife and I visited Grain this evening (Tuesday, Sept. 1st) for the first time. I made the mistake of going in there "starved". Service was good; waitress (Courtney) was efficient. So we ordered the Six Sliders (2 of each type of meat for $12) to "take the edge off" - and the $18 Crab Cake platter to share. The sliders were extremely DRY - especially the pork and brisket; however I wolfed them down (since I was famished); and my wife ate most of the other three - same deal with the DRY factor. Although I didnt want to bust the waitress chops (shes not the one cooking), we saved a hunk of DRY pork for her to see and she allegedly mentioned it to the kitchen staff. Next came the $18 Crab Cake platter (order of 2) that we shared. One was "Okay" - the other VERY salty but mostly edible. We shared our experience with the Owner (we introduced ourselves but didnt get his name in return). So hopefully the owner, whom wed spoken to briefly, takes this under advisement and things improve from the food quality perspective. In the end I decided, after spending $30 on the disappointing "food" to not have a Beer - which I was looking forward to... Perhaps some other time.
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Heather Baker
Theres too many gastro-pubs out there to be mediocre AND expensive. I took my mom there for lunch. We had the pretzel appetizer which tasted bland, like it had just been yanked from the freezer and heated in the microwave. The horseradish mustard was tasty. I had their kale and spinach salad, and my mom had their chicken parmesan sandwich. My salad was a generous portion, but the dressing (if you can call it that!) was PURE vinegar. There was no olive oil, or vegetable oil type emulsion, just sour raspberries blended with vinegar. It was beyond tart. The salad was saved by the blueberries because they helped diminish the sour dressing. That dressing needs a serious re-vamp. My mom liked her chicken parmesan sandwich, except for the fact that she said the bread was old. In this day and age, theres no excuse for that. She left the bread, but ate the chicken. We both had iced tea which was served tepid, and we had to ask for ice. Our server was OK, she was fairly efficient and pleasant. She didnt make the food, so I cant fault her for that. Our bill totaled 40.50 -- for lunch. That just seems expensive for a casual lunch that wasnt out of this world.
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Kelly Dobransky
Went there this weekend with the hockey team. I was very disappointed. We asked that the bills be done according to hockey number. The food took forever. It was funny because one waitress kept asking if we wanted more food. Im thinking to myself, the food I ordered would be fine. Then they tried to give me the wrong food. Gave my daughter the wrong food. Tried to charge me for other peoples food and my food twice. I explained that $41 was too much for a kids grilled cheese and fries and two bowls of French onion soup and three sodas. The waiter insulted my intelligence by saying"Look, 12+12=24." I told him that he needed to recalculate and only charge for what we ordered and that there was a teacher at the table to help if we needed. He recalculated and the bill was $27. I thanked him as I handed my credit card to pay, he grabbed it and said nothing. I left him a nice tip, taking the high road. He was young and obviously, the restaurant could not handle 14 hockey families and the other customers. Food was okay, but I heard some complaints. Soup was good.
