The Grill at Patterson and Libbie will likely suffer the same fate as its predecessor, Freckles, if it keeps serving up below-average American food. The location is in the name and is what originally attracted me to The Grill as a prospect for reviewing. However, the only redeemable qualities of this third-rate grill are the outdoor seating area and fairly quick food service. I say food service because our meals were delivered quickly, but we had to hunt down our waitress for her to pick up the checks. These reasons, as well as The Grill's close proximity to campus are the only things that kept me from giving it one out of five stars.
The Grill is extremely casual with an open-air seating area that is pleasant for evening meals in the spring or summer. However, you might end up being too distracted by the dull food and poor service to enjoy the outdoor dining experience. The menu consists of average, over-priced entrees, and forgettable appetizers. Among these are a significant number of fish and shellfish dishes.
The appetizers include chicken fingers, quesadillas, nachos and other items between $5 and $10 that you might find of similar quality at a theme park. We ordered the three cheese nachos and the "Bev's Bruschetta." The nachos were more like a pile of lettuce and tomatoes topped with "chili" that was more like unflavored ground beef, surrounded by a circle of tortilla chips. They were practically inedible. The bruschetta was better, although it was on more of a sub roll than a crostini.
The entrees offered include a variety of meats "from the grill" such as sirloin, ribs, pork chops, liver and onions or the fish du jour. The "other than grilled" section of the menu includes chicken potpie, pasta du jour and a handful of other plates. The rest of the menu consists of sandwiches and burgers ranging from $5 to $10 as well. I ordered the West End Turkey Melt which ended up being a massive pile of disorganized sliced turkey breast, bacon and havarti cheese atop a bun that barely held half of the sandwich. Another member of my party ordered the tilapia fish tacos which were mediocre and vastly overpriced.
The mediocrity of the food was accented by the bizarre unfriendliness of the waitstaff. Our waitress did not smile once and rudely held out her hand in request of our unfinished plates after the meal. She seemed incredibly disinterested in our table and barely looked at us when we ordered. One of my fellow diners remarked that she had never been more tempted to give a stingy tip.
The Grill offers no beers on tap and fails to provide decent American cuisine. It's definitely safe to say that I will not be returning to The Grill at Patterson and Libbie anytime soon. It's a shame that a prime location has been wasted on such a below-average dining experience. The one good thing about the location, though, is that you can walk over to Superstars Pizza afterward and get yourself a slice, because odds are you won't be satisfied with your meal at The Grill.
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