Food for Thought – Rosie’s Bar & Grill

I’ve always had a soft spot for Rosie’s. Ever since they opened, I have been a sucker for their friendly service, fun atmosphere (especially on Sundays!), their big juicy burgers and tasty mojitos. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been there, so when I was asked to review it, I thought it would be fun to bring someone who had never been there—my dining companion J—and to try some items that I have never tried before.

Rosie’s Bar & Grill – Friendly Neighborhood Favorite Continues to Shine

I’ve always had a soft spot for Rosie’s. Ever since they opened, I have been a sucker for their friendly service, fun atmosphere (especially on Sundays!), their big juicy burgers and tasty mojitos. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been there, so when I was asked to review it, I thought it would be fun to bring someone who had never been there—my dining companion J—and to try some items that I have never tried before.

We went on a Monday and sat outside where the action is. I ordered a Bloody Mary—Rosie’s Mary is award-winning, in case you didn’t know. It was so refreshing and packed quite a kick, thanks in part to the spicy Old Bay Seasoning that graced the rim of my glass. Delicious!

For an appetizer, we agreed to try the Hummamole ($8.95) —Rosie’s unique combination of hummus and guacamole, served with baked pita chips and veggie sticks.

Our server for the evening was Aaron, a.k.a. “Poodle” and he was as adorable as he was knowledgeable about Rosie’s extensive menu. I explained to Aaron that I had eaten at Rosie’s thousands of times and I wanted to try something that I never had before. My normal go-to items there have been the Sofunda Elvis Burger ($10.50), which is topped with crunchy peanut butter and sliced banana (hey, don’t knock it ’til you try it – it’s delicious and that’s double protein!), the Another Saturday Night Alone ($9.50) which is tuna salad with cran-raspberry cream cheese on 9-grain bread, and Naked Sweaty Lovin’ – unbreaded grilled chicken tenders with Smack My Cheeks and Make ‘Em Rosie sauce!

As much as I love my classics, it was time to expand my Rosie’s repertoire! Aaron recommended trying out the Big Catch Tacos ($11.95) which were warm soft flour tortillas stuffed with the Cajun-dusted and grilled daily catch, and topped with a cilantro-lime slaw, avocado and chipotle-ranch dressing. It came with the choice of loaded brown rice, French fries, sweet potato waffle fries or loaded baked potato salad as a side. I chose the potato salad because I’ve had it before and it’s awesome. It’s the perfect combination of (you guessed it) potato salad and a stuffed baked potato. I had heard about the fish tacos from my friend Mike who always orders them and I was glad to finally try them. I’ve had fish tacos at other places and what makes the ones at Rosie’s stand out is the cilantro-lime slaw and the chipotle-ranch dressing. The fish was fresh and flavorful and the sauce and slaw put this blast of flavor over the edge. J took a bite of it and I have to tell you, since our visit, he has been on a fish taco kick and although he has tried others, he keeps coming back to the one at Rosie’s. It’s his favorite.

For his entree, J, burger fiend that he is, ordered the Georgia Bleu Burger ($11.50) which is stuffed with caramelized Georgia pecans, crumbled blue cheese and fried onions. He chose the sweet potato fries as his side (I admit, I “gently” persuaded him to do so, since I wanted to pick at them). The burger is unique since the ingredients are combined with the meat instead of just on top of the burger and J wanted to see how that worked. Rare meat eater be forewarned: because the burger was stuffed, it couldn’t be made rare or medium-rare. J prefers his burgers medium to medium well, so he wasn’t discouraged. He really loved the combination – and especially liked what the pecans added to it.

The two of us were stuffed when we finished our meals, but we knew we owed it to you, readers, to order a dessert. (You ask so much of us!) If we weren’t going to be taking it with us, we would’ve chosen their S’mores, but since we were doing takeout we chose their sundae. This is one sacrifice to our health that we are so glad we made. The sundae included vanilla ice cream, a chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a pie slice, a brownie slice, fudge, caramel and of course, whipped cream. With those ingredients, you know it was good and the sugar high that came with it was also nice.

I was glad I tried something new at Rosie’s and J was more than pleased with his experience (we’ve been back twice since this visit… the man loves his fish tacos). Rosie’s continues to be one of the friendliest restaurants I have ever been to and the fun crowds and food are what keeps everyone coming back for more.