I know I said I don’t believe in second chances. I really really don’t believe in third chances. The Pub and the People was on our banned-forever list after several sub-par experiences there. But since Boundary Stone is closed for the winter, and since my husband and I want to continue to support local places as much as we can right now, and since I can’t eat sushi every Sunday night, we got desperate and ordered from The Pub and the People.
This meal started with a fiasco. I ordered online at like 1:30 in the afternoon, which I maintain is a normal thing to do, and specified that I wanted to pick up my food at 5:00. Around 4:30, I got an email saying my food was ready so I headed over. When I showed up, though, I was told that they had made my food at 2:00 and were confused when I hadn’t shown up to get it. Listen, people. I do NOT pass up food, and certainly not food that I’ve already paid for. They offered to make my meal again, but it would take some time. On top of that, I could have sworn I ordered their tempura cauliflower appetizer, but it hadn’t shown up on my ticket. I tried in vain to order online from my phone while I waited, but the app sucks and wouldn’t show me anything except alcohol.
The good news is my food was finally ready around 5:00, which was the correct time. And the good people of the Pub were very nice about remaking my food.
I had the baby kale salad with chicken on it:
Lots of chicken, nice tangy dressing, no shortage of cauliflower and apples. A solid, warm fall salad that felt like it came out of my own kitchen (in a good way).
My husband had the crispy pork sandwich/cubano mash-up thing. I’ve honestly never seen pork fried like this and wasn’t expecting it. Definitely not the option for the health-conscious among us, but the pickles and mustard were good, and the apples added a nice crisp, along with the fried meat. He subbed the blistered shishito peppers for the customary fries with his sandwich and the peppers were both plentiful and delicious, not too spicy, good charred flavor. We had to finish them the next day. Forgive the bad sandwich picture. It’s a sandwich. You get the idea.
To top off a much-needed do-over of this restaurant, they even threw in the cauliflower that I failed to order! How nice is that?! Hoenstly? This made the meal. It’s…maybe…better than wings? Am I allowed to say that? The veggie itself was slightly undercooked but that gave it some necessary body, plus the batter was so crunchy and salty-sweet. The sauce is like tahini heaven. And, true to form, it was also supersized and we ate it for lunch the next day.
Price: $25 per person.
Bottom line: I’m glad I can finally give this place my money. It’s not Boundary Stone, but it’s a worthy addition to our regular rotation, and the people couldn’t have been nicer.
Ward Five Foodie 