The Publican: User Reviews
Went to Publican's Sat nite for daughter's birthday. Extraordinary experience. We sat in one of the booths which, we all agreed, was one of the keys to the great experience. The food was wonderful. Kim, our waitperson, was fantastic, a very good tour guide, helping us with beer and food choices that complimented each other. It wasn't inexpensive, however, again, this was a special occasion and we felt the final tab was well worth it. This place isn't just about the food, it is an experience. We grazed our way thru the menu--it was nice that we were able to order and dine family style. The menu offers the ability to share and we did. The cream-infused mozzarella and beet salad was to die for and be sure to try the Kobe sirloin. All around, one of the best meals I have ever had while dining out.
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Ambitious menu, slow service, conversation-challenging atmosphere due to noise, pricey for what you get. Overall, just OK. Do not plan to return.
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After hearing about the Publican for some time I thought we'd be let down but just the opposite.
It is busy definitely make a reservation but go the food was very good. The hostess and wait staff were very knowledgable and very professional from suggestions to water service to folding your napkin when you got up, great.
Perfectly sauteed softshell crab, tender, rich and wonderful sweatbreads, the Potee was excellent and the smoky shortrib was out of this world. Dont skip dessert the waffle was great and they have the most amazing strawberry carmel pastry dessert that can not be missed.
Its a little loud and its busy but enjoy the beer hall feel of the communal tables, order a few small plates and share an entree, let them send them out staggered and you will have a great time.
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Awesome beer menu - food way below average for price. There are many better places in the Fulton Matrket / W. Randolph corridor to eat here. Overhyped by much.
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Not a fan of the food but the service made it worse. My friend and I ordered a bottle of white and it was brought out to us warm. The server even told us it hadn't been chilled. We were like ummmm seriously? We can't drink this. He took it away and said he would chill it for us. Thirty minutes later after our boyfriends had already had two beers, we were brought the same bottle which was still not cool enough to enjoy. I would not recommend this place. Go to Avec instead.
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My wife and I are regulars at Avec and suffice to say we were really looking forward to dinner last night at The Publican. Unfortunately the dining experience was an unmitigated disaster and we won't be returning. The trio of ham was delicious as were the oysters however everything went South from there. Our waitress was not particularly good and we must have seen her a total of three times throughout our four course meal. The spring vegetables were hardly cooked and there was a hair of some sort in the dish. They apologized for the hair and removed it from our bill. The next course was an anchovy dish that was mediocre at best as the potatoes were rock hard. The Pork Belly was excellent followed by a very average Basque stew that wasn't even hot....it was lukewarm. The whole experience was a major disappointment. For the same money I'll be going back to my old standby, Avec.....(owned by the same restaurant group)
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Picture -beer joint, portions of food like a "Snutty French Place". 3 tbsp vegetables, (ala potched egg on top) that was the salad course. Course two - seafood dish. Shared(which was less than 2oz of salmon,thin, with 1/4 teaspoon of nuts,another 1/4 teaspoon of herbs and oils) The third course - meat dish- pork roast; beef pot roast; 2- 3 inch, pencil size ,carrots; 1/8 of onion; one small sausage; one drumette chicken , served in pot roast broth. Total amount of meat /vegetables < 6 oz , 1/2 cup juice. This item , was to serve two. Dessert- 1 inch slice chocolate pie ,with 1/2 tspn ice cream 1 for each guest. Total $45 a head.The seating is "fashionable pig trouths" , or long tables with hard straight back chairs. One would assume the seating was deigned to encourage sharing That one would be ignorant of the menu/ portion size.Beer menu good, but not special .Consist largely of the Goose Island line up, and some interesting belguims.
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After hearing some pretty good things about this place, I decided to try it out with a friend on Sunday night. We were told that Sunday was a prix fixe four-course meal and the price was $45 per head. The amount of food that was served to us was hardly worth $45 for two people, let alone per head. The portions on the meat course had uneven amounts. How are you supposed to split one quail leg? Flip a coin? The beer was good. shame that we ended up with an extra one on our bill (a $25 beer no less). The service was slow and inattentive at best. Seriously disappointing.
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Loved it. I don't have too much to say, all of the (professional) reviews are spot on. This place rocks. We ordered an assortment of foods (mussels, trout, sweetbread, country ribs, potee) and everything was amazing. The beer list was great and the staff actually knew what they were talking about regarding the brews. We went on a Tuesday night an every seat in the place was taken, so regardless of the night, I would highly recommend a reservation.
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We ate here last weekend and it is delicious! The space is well-designed and it's a very fun atmosphere. If you want quiet and romantic this is not the spot. The open hall-style seating lends itself to a boisterous crowd, although we were herded into one of the "pens" for seating. This is one thing I'd take away. They put you in a pen and so you feel like an animal - not exactly how a hunan being wants to feel! Apart from that minor issue the food is excellent. The pork dishes are amazing, all of them. The beer selection is great. Service is great. Overall a really great dining experience.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 93 users:
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