Young Augustine’s is the new restaurant that has taken the place of The Standard on Memorial Drive. They still serve bar food, but now it comes with a twist. The technical name for this type of restaurant is a “gastro pub.” Basically, it’s a pub that serves high quality, gourmet food.
I’m probably one of the pickiest eaters in the world and generally prefer to stick to more standard types of food, no pun intended. Although I didn’t love Young Augustine’s food, I did like it; and with the great atmosphere and extensive beer list, this seems like the perfect place to throw back a few beers with your friends.
They have 28 specialty beers on tap. I only recognized the Sweetwater IPA and Guinness. Chris Johnson, who is a part owner and also my waiter for the night, said that lately the most popular beers have been the New Belgium Ranger, the Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, and Bells Two Hearted Ale. However, they’re constantly getting new beers. “We got four new beers since this morning,” Johnson said.
I’m more of a wine drinker. If it had been a more appropriate night for drinking, there were a couple of red and white wines that sparked my interest. I’m fairly knowledgeable about wine and my pickiness carries over into this area, so it’s a pretty big deal for me to say that although the wine list wasn’t very long, the quality was definitely there. Johnson said they’re always on the lookout for new wines as well.
For dinner I had the short ribbed grilled cheese sandwich and the smoked wings with house hot sauce and blue cheese. The wings were tasty. I liked the hot sauce; it was really hot but balanced at the same time. Two other people tried the wings and both said they considered them to be above average.
The short ribbed grilled cheese sandwich was unusual. It was a grilled cheese, made with lettuce, tomato, and meat that tasted like an extremely tender pot roast. It didn’t blow me away, but it wasn’t bad either.
I think since this restaurant has only been around for six weeks, they just need to tweak the menu a little. The sandwich would have been better with bread that was a little richer because one side got slightly soggy. I think a Kaiser roll would do the trick. The cheese and meat made for a super greasy combo, but a leaner meat might be all it needs.
The service was good and the staff was friendly. I loved the outside patio because the weather was nice and the background music was fun, I recognized several songs from the 90s that I liked. They also have a really cool area for their dart boards that looks like it should be the window display of a department store. I give Young Augustine’s three and a half out of five stars.
