Crosby's Kitchen: New in the Neighborhood

My boyfriend and I have been caught in the "what do you want for dinner" circle for the past month. You know that feeling, when you can't decide what type of food you want and get irritated when your partner can't do the same. It seems stupid but I know we are not the only couple that go through this. I took the initiative and decided to make a list of new places to choose from. On this particular Monday night we chose Crosby's Kitchen because it was close and the weather was conducive to dining outdoors. 

Well, imagine our surprise when they did not have outdoor dining. That's okay, you know what they say about assuming (if you don't, ask a witty and/or sarcastic friend that loves puns/cliches). We were told the wait would be 20-25 minutes but we could wait at the bar in the meantime. Well the bar was packed and the wait ended up being 30-35 minutes. There is a decent sized waiting area so it wasn't uncomfortable but we did watch a lot of people from the athletic club across the street walk in to ask about the wait and walk out so they did lose quite a bit of business. 

View of the bar and some of the tables/booths in the center (picture from rachelleb.com)

From the outside, this place looks huge but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Along one wall there are about 5-6 booths. On the opposite wall there are again 5-6 booths that sit 4 maybe 5 people comfortably. In the center is a row of 6-7 tables that can sit 4 people and a row of 8-9 tables that can sit 2-4 people. Backing up to those two rows of tables are another 6 booths that can sit 2-4 right next to the kitchen. The bar sits about 20 people but I have no idea if you can order food from there or not and it is first come first serve. They could definitely have added more tables they had planned the layout better. There almost seemed to be too much space between rows of tables/booths. if  The kitchen is pretty much out in the open and is visible to just about every table in the place, which I liked and I thought it lived up to the name of the place. If you call yourself Crosby's Kitchen, I would like to see the kitchen. 

The picture below is our view from our booth, the kitchen is so cute and really adds to the charm of the place. (The picture is not mine, I got it from www.rachelleb.com)

I had heard that this place had phenomenal corn bread, that's another part of the reason why I chose it. My boyfriend and I love cornbread. Since I'm from the South, I have a very high standard that has to be met and I am often disappointed. Our server was very friendly but neglected to tell us certain things about the menu. They were out of two of the beers I tried to order. In my experience, when they bring the table to the menu, it is the server's responsibility to say something like "Oh and by the way, we are out of ..." So, I was a little frustrated and asked for more time to pick something out. They were out of Two Brothers Domaine DuPage French Country Ale and Crispin Honey Cider. My boyfriend ended up getting Boulevard "Unfiltered Wheat". When our server came back to the table, she had two Boulevards even though I hadn't ordered yet. It was quite loud so I suppose she didn't hear me. I ended up not ordering a beer but she left the extra, at no cost to us, and I eventually drank that. I cannot let alcohol go to waste!

Then we ordered food. As an appetizer, I couldn't resist the lobster deviled eggs. For 3 halves, it was $9 but I figured, why not? When we ordered the cornbread we were told they were out. I had had enough at that point and kind of snapped but she kept her composure. She then explained it would be about 20 minutes, they were making more but it just wouldn't come out right away. Why didn't she say that in the first place? Saying that you are out of something implies that there isn't anymore. If she had said that it would be a few minutes, I wouldn't have said a word. It ended up taking a whopping 6 minutes to make it to our table. I would have expected to wait a few minutes anyways. For main courses, we ordered the chicken dip with mashed potatoes and the Wrightwood salad. 

Of course, I managed to screw up the picture of the cornbread but it came out in a circular cast iron skillet with a padded handle cut into four decently sized pieces with a container of maple butter on top and a spatula to scoop out the pieces. It came out piping hot, as any good cornbread should. The menu simply says "iron skilled cornbread served hot with maple butter". I felt that it had a little spiciness to it but I was pleasantly surprised and I would order it again. 

The lobster deviled eggs came out about two minutes after the cornbread. The picture below doesn't even do it justice. They were outstanding, smooth, and most importantly loaded with succulent lobster. At $9 they are a little pricey but if you love deviled eggs or lobster these are for you, splurge a little! I can't say enough good things. 

Our food came out about 10 minutes later, perfect for me, I was starved after waiting over half an hour to sit down!  The chicken was succulent and not dried out at all. The chicken dip included rotisserie chicken, jack cheese, tomato, onion, arugula, and chicken au jus. The jack cheese was the perfect compliment and the bread held up to the au jus. The au jus was almost completely unnecessary. The chicken was perfect all on it's own but the au jus wasn't overly salty which I liked. The mashed potatoes were forgettable, they didn't have any particular taste and were kind of lumpy.
 

I didn't get a great picture of the Wrightwood salad but it had a lot going on. It included rotisserie chicken, tomatoes, craisins, avocado, goat cheese, corn, almonds, citrus vinaigrette, and cornbread croutons. Let me tell you, this salad was delicious. The cornbread croutons were perfect and the goat cheese was fresh and creamy. Sometimes when they throw everything in a salad it is a bit overwhelming. Not in this case, every flavor complimented the next and the textures were also extremely diverse. My boyfriend and I ended up splitting each of our dishes, we also do this so we get to try more than one dish in one visit. 

We skipped dessert to go to an Italian ice place but the skillet cookies is supposed to be phenomenal here, we will be back to try it again. The manager, Michelle, ended up taking the cornbread off our bill since there was an issue which she definitely didn't have to do but we appreciated it all the same. The hospitality definitely felt Southern which I appreciated. The servers all wore checkered blue and white long button downs and jeans and the hostesses wore white button downs with dark wash jeans. With the exception of a few hiccups our experience was great. I'll chalk the the minor issues up to being new and working out the kinks. We'll be back! Check it out and let me know what you think! Check out the full dinner menu below, they also serve brunch and lunch. 

Full Dinner Menu