Reddstone

Now that Reddstone has fully implemented the new menu they presented to food bloggers in their tasting dinner, we decided to pay them another visit. We also had a restaurant.com coupon for $25 off a dinner of $35 or more. We were also encouraged by their vastly improved website.

The patio was beautiful as usual, and the new menu looks really good. We started off with the nachos ($8), which were very generously portioned.

They were overstuffed with flavorful cheese, chicken, black beans, corn, scallions and spicy sour cream. They were very yummy, and we especially appreciated that the cheese etc. was layered throughout, not just on top. We barely made a dent in these, and the leftovers comprised a full meal later.

Jonathan love quesadillas, so he ordered a vegetarian version ($8) for his entrée.

He was not a fan, unfortunately. I had noticed that it included shasha sauce (a banana pepper and mustard mixture popularized by Michael Symon) but assumed that this was included on the side. It was actually inside the quesadilla, plus spicy sour cream was on top. While I really enjoyed the intense, layered flavor of this dish (and had the leftovers for another meal), it was too much for Jonathan. Ideally, the waitress might have said something about the spiciness when he ordered it.

Since we’d enjoyed the burgers at Reddstone so much previously, we split the Black and Blue Burger ($9) for our entrée. It included blue cheese, swiss cheese, pancetta and balsamic mushrooms.

It was very, very good. The blue cheese and pancetta teamed up for a slightly pungent element, the Swiss cheese added creaminess, and the balsamic mushrooms were sweet and earthy. The burger itself was great as well, course grind and juicy just like Michael Symon prefers–Josh Kabat, the chef, used to work at Lola–but not nearly as fatty as it was made with sirloin. While a B-Spot burger is great on occasion, these are both lean and juicy enough to eat on a regular basis. We were so full from the nachos that we couldn’t finish it, but Jonathan at the rest and loved it–even with the unusual ingredients.

Reddstone now also has a printed beer and martini list. I had a Newcastle in the bottle, which went well with everything we ordered.

We never did end up using our coupon because our food bill only came to $25. We already had enough to eat plus enough for two leftover meals and no room for dessert. And even if we’d ordered dessert to go (fried oreos) we still wouldn’t have made it to $35. So our plan is to invite some west side friends along next time so our bill is bigger. We’d definitely enjoy a return visit!