Buck's Fishing and Camping

[HOOLIGAN]

I have three guiding principles that aid me through social navigation.

1) Never trust anyone who doesn't eat bacon.

2) Never trust anyone who doesn't drink booze.

3) Never trust anyone who doesn't swear.

I say on with the pottymouth. I know and like Madame Greenwood. She'll probably wear that remake as a badge on honor, that is until she kicks your motherfu..n' ass.

See You Next Tuesday Opps....................

[morela]

I finally felt vindicated when they shut down until I found out a few months ago that that "Fishing and Camping" restaurant was actually her new restaurant. I truly hope that they fail miserably!!

Praying for someone to fail is a huge waste of time...

Try driving your car through the front window next time. The glass in that window costs at least as much as your tank of gas. Please drive carfeully around the hanging canoe.

[mhberk]

I can see how some would interperate calling her that name as being extreme. I thought I was being nice! But you have to understand that I drove 45 minutes each way to go there. I waited nearly an hour outside the doors waiting for them to open. I called the restaurant earlier in the day to make sure they were open on Sundays and the recording said that they were. When I left them (a very civil) message to find out why they weren't open and to find out when I could try again, the only response I got was "next time you should find out if a restaurant is actually open before I try to go." She was talking down to me and made it seem like it was my fault that they had the wrong recording on their answering machine!

[iamthestretch]

I have three guiding principles that aid me through social navigation.

1) Never trust anyone who doesn't eat bacon.

2) Never trust anyone who doesn't drink booze.

3) Never trust anyone who doesn't swear.

OT, but I think we may have finally found the honest broker needed to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict. Suspended creme brulee for everyone who comes to the negotiating table!

[sara]

We stopped in to have a light meal at Buck's before seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Avalon tonite (GO SEE THIS MOVIE IT IS AWEEEESOME!!). My first time, even tho the place is just 2 blks from the apt.

Liam and I shared two appetizers-- the fried green tomatoes and okra, and the mozzarella and beet salad. The tomatoes and okra were tempura-battered, not floured and fried the way they're done in the South, and the way I prefer them. The tempura crust was a bit sticky and got soggy too fast. Pretty missable dish except for the dressing on the side which was delish. The other app was much better--The mozzarella was incredibly fresh, moist, and sweet, and I liked the pairing with pale pink beets and pesto.

For our entree we ordered the grilled shrimp with corn and tomato salad. But alas, it was 8 pm and they were out! The bartender came over and gave us the bad news, and then strongly advocated we have the lobster instead. Only problem? No lobster on the menu we'd seen. It was a mystery where this lobster was coming from, and we still didn't know as she and the host swooped around us, pushing the lobster, putting the menu in front of us, taking it away--it all happened so fast and it was so pushed, well, we got it.

We postulated aloud that after such a show, the lobster would be provided at the same charge as the shrimp--$18. And if not, we thought, well then we'd note that and mention it here as punishment (hee hee)...

The lobster was fabulous. 1.5 lbs approx, split and grilled, covered in a yellow grape tomato, corn, and rice salad. We each had half and I sucked mine dry, dipping in with all fingers, then tackling Liam's remains. My fingers *still* smell good.

However, we were charged $25 for the lobster on the bill. Not cool. But we were in a hurry, decided we were partly at fault for not saying something when they were pushing us, and paid and left. Oh well. The lobstah was So Good.

As for drinks--I had a very nice, fresh and strong margarita and Liam had a glass of verdehlo(sp?). Service was friendly, excepting the lobster incident, but we sometimes had a very hard time catching the bartender's attention--especially when we wanted the check.

Overall, I like the bar area at Buck's--the red walls and artwork are very attractive. I think I'll be back...

[morela]

We stopped in to have a light meal at Buck's before seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 at the Avalon tonite (GO SEE THIS MOVIE IT IS AWEEEESOME!!). My first time, even tho the place is just 2 blks from the apt.

I think I'll be back...

I like Bucks alot, I do, but I think Mr. Moore would have urged you to Ray's the Steaks tonight; he's that kinda guy. Mmmm. My tummy is happy-full, and I'm as drunk as HomerS with a Bible. So, was F-911 just funny or are your as sick of Bush?

[sara]

I don't think Moore probably believes in spending much money on food, actually...

That said, I definitely gotta get to Ray's!

The movie really wasn't funny at all-sure it had a few lite moments, but really it makes you sad/mad/scared and tearful more than anything else.

[JennyUptown]

Has anyone been to Buck's this winter? I'm curious to know what kind of seasonal offerings Ms. Greenwood has featured because I am considering having dinner there tonight.

The restaurant doesn't have a web site as far as I can tell.

[JennyUptown]

Given that none of ya'll were any help, I had to go and do my own research.

What we ate (working from memory here):

Iceberg lettuce with applewood smoked bacon, bleu cheese

My friend had this. I don't eat lettuce (really) so I only tasted the bacon (awesome) and bleu cheese (awesome squared). She is usually a "dressing on the side" kind of gal so I was impressed with the gusto with which she attacked this chunk of salad, thick with gooey bleu cheese.

Handmade mozzarella, crispy fennel, roasted butternut squash, signature pesto

This was one of the meal's highlights for me. In spite of my comment re: the ubiquity of butternut squash soup, it really is something I like. A lot actually. These little buttery cubes tasted great with Buck's firm, handmade mozzarella, and the homemade pesto is something else. They should put the stuff in jars and sell it, I'd love it on toast. I was trying to guess at the pesto's many ingredients - it wasn't traditional to say the least - but beyond beets, garlic...I stopped analyzing and just enjoyed.

Dry-aged Prime Sirloin with frites

Served medium, as ordered, this was a flavorful, juicy piece of beef. Both the sirloin and the fries had a nice kick of salt that was missing from my own entree (see below). The frites were light and slightly crisp with little to no grease.

Crispy pork chop, bibb lettuce and lime salad

Even though I knew the lettuce would be wasted on me, I really wanted the pork. It wasn't quite what I expected, arriving with a rather thick layer of breading. That would have been ok had the coating had more flavor. I kept reaching for the salt, but even that couldn't awaken much taste, a shame in that the pork itself was tender and cooked to a perfect (IMO) level of doneness.

Side of hush puppies

I saw these on the menu, served with a duck dish and asked if we might have them as a separate side dish (no way was I going to suggest any substitutions ). Our very pleasant server was happy to oblige. My first one was great, but as they cooled rapidly, the flavors somehow slipped away. They were fine, but I wouldn't suggest them as an add on for future meals (we received about 10 small hush puppies for $5).

Green apple-cranberry cobbler with fresh whipped cream

So good. Loved it. The clusters of cobbler topping were buttery perfection. The only thing that would have made it better? Serving the dish warm instead of room temperature.

Chocolate Texas sheet (identified as sheath on the menu - typo, right?) cake

Also with fresh whipped cream, also great in my book. My friend liked the frosting but thought the cake was boring. For me, this cake inspired memories of my first waitressing job when I got in trouble for having cake a la mode. I was told that I was entitled to one dessert per shift and the manager of the old lady department store restaurant snarkily told me that cake and ice cream counted as two. Hmpf. Bottom line: I liked the dense, fudgey cake.

Total damage including the food described above, tax and tip (no drinks - we were both still feeling the effects of Friday and Saturday nights): $112.

The decor

How could I skip covering that after dining in a restaurant with such an intriguing name? In a word: cozy. In another word or two: attractively rustic. Deep reddish walls, golden domed light fixtures, a long wooden communal table running down the center of the dining room...very warm in an upscale lodge-like way.

The service

I expected Buck's to be more crowded after reading about waits, particularly on Sunday nights. Buck's should be a hot neighborhood spot in a 'hood that's practically begging for good food, but tonight it was only 50-70% at various points during the two hours (+/-) we were there. As a result, our service was quite attentive; we seemed to have two servers watching over us throughout the meal, both pleasantly friendly and informed about the menu. Water glasses were filled and refilled promptly; empty dishes disappeared equally promptly.

I almost asked for a meal substitution, just to see how it would be handled, but our meal overall was so pleasant, I thought "why mess with success?" Maybe next time...

Edited January 10, 2005 by JennyUptown (log)

[gear02]

I went to Buck's with my cousin over the weekend. We got there atound 7 and it was crowded, so we decided to eat at the bar. Just 15 minutes later the bar was packed and many, many people were there. Eating at the bar was a bit odd for me since I've never done it, but the two bartenders were very attentive (I think more so than waiters) and were very nice and friendly.

The food was a little disappointing though. We both had the wild mushroom soup, which took a while to come out. When we got it, it had a HUGE wine taste that covered anything else in the bowl. It tasted like they either rushed the soup out or just didn't cook down the alcohol a little.

My cousin had the shrimp stew which tasted very nice. It was light and savory. I had the steak as the poster above me had, but i found mine to be really salty. Almost too salty to enjoy. The saving point was that the fries were not salty and the combination was heavenly, but i didn't have enough fries.

All in all, it was a bit disappointing.

[brr]

a quick note on Buck's which we ate at on Friday night

We eat here relatively frequently (well, as frequently as $$ permit) as we leave only 2 blocks away and its sooooo convenient

Friday was probably our 8th meal there

I know Carol has a reputation for being 'mercurial' but we just like the way her food tastes and to be honest have always had decent service there

On friday night the place was absolutely hopping - we waited 30 minutes for a table and others were waiting longer

For apps we had the fresh mozzarela w/ her 'famous' home made pesto and beets - top notch, olive oil and balsamic drizzled around the plate adding to the taste - I don't know how she makes the pesto (pistacios?) but its damn good - we also had chicker liver pate on toast - nice, but just makes me wish she'd actually start cooking whole chicken livers so I could pretend I lived in Egypt again!

Mains were two battered, deep fried Georgia softies for me and the shrimp and grits with an andouille-ish sausage for my wife - both excellent - I've had the shrimp dish in the past and its not enough food for me but you can't argue with its flavor - softies were excellent but then again its hard to screw them up

Dessert was a salty oat ice cream cookie sandwich - ice cream had melted a little too much by the time it got to our table and when they said salty cookie, they really meant it - we had wanted the chocolate devils food cake but they were out of it

All in all a nice meal - incl a half bottle of barbera I think it was a shade over $100

[Miami Danny]

All in all a nice meal - incl a half bottle of barbera I think it was a shade over $100

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Just curious, brr. $100 sounds pretty reasonable for 2 apps. 2 entrees, dessert and wine. Were you including tax and tip? Thanks!

[brr]

hmmm, I think the bill was $116 incl tax but not tip - I think we tipped $20 so yes, that pushed it much closer to $150 than $100 so my bad

but also take into account we ordered 2 desserts - a strawberry rhubarb pie to take home to the grandparents/babysitters - given that I didn't taste it I didn't write about it!

All in all a nice meal - incl a half bottle of barbera I think it was a shade over $100

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Just curious, brr. $100 sounds pretty reasonable for 2 apps. 2 entrees, dessert and wine. Were you including tax and tip? Thanks!

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[Miami Danny]

Thank you! Still pretty reasonable.

[JennyUptown]

Two things keep me from making this one of my frequent "it's in the neighborhood - let's go!" spots.

[Neither is Carole Greenwood]

First, it's slightly pricier than I would ideally spend on a casual meal.

Second, the menu is rather limited. When I was there, I think they offered five entrees total - a pork chop, the signature steak and three seafood dishes.

But it's a cozy little spot and like brr, I was very impressed by the mozzarella with homemade pesto. Really good stuff.

[bookluvingbabe]

Two things keep me from making this one of my frequent "it's in the neighborhood - let's go!" spots.

[Neither is Carole Greenwood]

First, it's slightly pricier than I would ideally spend on a casual meal. 

Second, the menu is rather limited.  When I was there, I think they offered five entrees total - a pork chop, the signature steak and three seafood dishes. 

But it's a cozy little spot and like brr, I was very impressed by the mozzarella with homemade pesto.  Really good stuff.

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I think it's also suffers from the "It's not Palena" syndrome...

I've liked but not loved my meals at Buck's but for the money I spent, I KNOW I would have loved the meal at Palena's...

Man, Frank should just put me on the payroll I'm such a shill for his place.

Jennifer

[tomdc]

That steak, while terrific, is now $ 38.00 !!! Except for the steak, I usually leave slightly hungry. It is definitely NOT Palena.

[brr]

you're right - the steak is very expensive - everything else is in or around $20 though, right?

That steak, while terrific, is now $ 38.00 !!!  Except for the steak, I usually leave slightly hungry.  It is definitely NOT Palena.

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[MCJB2]

It's a shame they keep raising their prices while making portions smaller. When Buck's first opened the prices were supposed to be lower than Greenwood, but now the prices are the same, if not exceeding Greenwood. That $38 steak used to be $29.50. I guess they're not hurting for business so they can get away with charging what they like, but prices are pushing it for a casual meal. It definitely has prevented me from going there as much, and I'm a big fan of Carole's cooking.

[Crackers]

Business must be good. They are looking for a chef for a new operation they are planning to open later this summer. Anyone know where/when?

[sdelgato]

It's a shame they keep raising their prices while making portions smaller.  When Buck's first opened the prices were supposed to be lower than Greenwood, but now the prices are the same, if not exceeding Greenwood.  That $38 steak used to be $29.50.  I guess they're not hurting for business so they can get away with charging what they like, but prices are pushing it for a casual meal.  It definitely has prevented me from going there as much, and I'm a big fan of Carole's cooking.

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Have you seen wholesale beef prices lately... And I don't mean the shit they sell at Safeway and Giant.