Hubbard Grille is a somewhat recent addition to the Short North restaurant scene filling the spot Rosendales vacated over a year ago. I had a chance to visit Hubbard a couple of weeks after it opened and was very excited. As you see they have a huge bright sign out front and the look from the outside is pretty awesome. After I left the first time though I was very disappointed in the food. I thought to myself maybe they just need to work out the kinks, so I gave them over a month and decided to head back to Hubbard for round #2 hoping for a better food experience.
Walking in this place again, I have to say it has one of favorite interiors around.
It isn’t too upscale, but it is just nice, clean and filled with energy. I decided not to order what I did the first time, which was the Hub Burger. I wanted to give them a fair shot at round #2, so I ordered the “Buttermilk Fried Ohio All Natural Chicken” from the Supper portion of their menu. My feeling is if a nice restaurant is going to put a usually casual food on their menu like fried chicken it better be pretty damn good, especially with a $17 price tag. When the dish came out it looked really good and was served with a redskin potato cake, braised greens and a black pepper cream sauce with a dash of white truffle oil.
After I dug into the first piece of chicken I knew this wasn’t going to go well. I’m not sure what part of the chicken this was, maybe a thigh, but in my efforts to find meat I had to fight through pieces of bones and fat. Luckily the other piece was much better prepared and allowed me to actually taste the chicken. I really wanted to like it, but the taste was just barely average. There weren’t any exciting flavors, and I’ve truthfully had some better tasting chicken at places like Popeyes for $5. The redskin potato cake tasted decent, but the braised greens were probably the worst part of the dish. They were very bitter and chewy. At least I can say I gave their food a second try. Most places if the food isn’t good it is one and done for me.
Will I go back to Hubbard Grille??? I would say yes, but probably not for food unless someone else pays. When the weather gets warm I think it would be a very cool place to grab a drink with friends. They do always have a can beer special for $2, which is nice. Unless I hear of some changes in the kitchen though I probably won’t be ordering food there anymore. I really want this place to do well as it seems like it can appeal to a wide range of people. No matter how nice looking a restaurant is though, the main ingredient is the food. If the food isn’t good it doesn’t matter how nice the interior is, a place won’t survive.
Until next time my taste bud followers. Remember don’t eat bad tasting food. Cheers!!!
Scottie's Talking Taste Buds 