The Brixton

I headed to The Brixton on Union Street last night with my peeps. I had been here once before for a cocktail at the bar and was eager to try the comfort food.  After a hellishly long week of work, all I wanted to do was drown my PR sorrows in my regular:  Kettle One Dirty Martini.  Much to my surprise not only did they make an excellent K1D (just the right amount of olive juice), they had the only thing that could ever improve on this smooth libation, blue cheese-stuffed olives!  I can’t think of anything better to satisfy my love of Vodka, salt and stinky cheese, all in one glass!

While not nursing my K1D, I perused the menu.  The cocktail menu was strong with a few subtle twists on classics.  I had one sip of my friend’s Manhattan which had Elderflower and San Francisco’s favorite (that no one else has ever heard of) Fernet.  What a great idea!  The Elderflower added that right bit of sweetness. Couldn’t really taste the Fernet (which tastes like anise), but probably a smart substitution for the traditional bitters. 

Now for food.  We ordered two dips, French onion and spinach and artichoke, why not?  Both were served in these cute little cast iron ramekins.  The French onion dip was made with carmelized onions and cream cheese and served with homemade potato chips.  It was very tasty. Kind of like the fresher, warm version of the powered mix I dump into sour cream. The other dip was a fairly standard spinach and artichoke dip minus the flavor.  Where’s Houston’s (or Hillstone) when you need it?

For my main I had a cornmeal fried chicken salad.  The fried chicken was super juicy and not overly fried.  This was obviously the star of the show, because the rest of the salad was blah:  romaine, green beans, cherry tomatoes.  I had high expectations for the jalapeño bacon buttermilk dressing.  Jalapeño and bacon are pretty intense flavors, which I could barely taste.  The only saving grace was the watermelon radish which added a nice crunch.  I also had a bite of the fiery mac & cheese.  Next time I’ll order my own, but I liked the spice kick, seemed to need more cheese though. 

Brixton’s atmosphere was pretty good.  Not surprisingly filled with young Marina bucks trolling for love.  I quite enjoyed the black felt wallpaper which added to the rock ‘n roll vibe. Overall, I think it would be a place I would frequent and pony up to the bar if I lived close by (thankfully I don’t).  It’s a nice place to kick back with friends, have a stiff cocktail and some decent food. The Brixton 2.5 stars. 

 

Fried chicken salad