There are pros and cons to any type of reservation system (or lack of it) and it's up to the restaurant to figure out what works best. They seem to be doing just fine.

http://ruxbin.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/house-rules/

House Rules:

Our food is labor intensive, our kitchen is tiny, your patience is appreciated.

No large groups: Parties up to 6 Sunday-Thursday, 4 Friday & Saturdays.

As this is a small restaurant, we may ask for your table after you’ve finished.

We seat complete parties only.

Waitlist Courtesy: Let’s talk Commitment. If you’re on the waitlist, you are committing to dine with us and we are committing to seat you. If your plans change, give us a courtesy call to allow other guests the opportunity to dine with us.

If you are in the Waiting area, please be patient while you wait to be waited on.

No grouchy pants allowed. You are responsible for agreeing to your wait time. If you think the wait will ruin your evening, please do not leave your name on our wait list.

Please take phone calls outside. No laptops. No iPads.

kanin wrote:There are pros and cons to any type of reservation system (or lack of it) and it's up to the restaurant to figure out what works best. They seem to be doing just fine.

http://ruxbin.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/house-rules/

House Rules:

Our food is labor intensive, our kitchen is tiny, your patience is appreciated.

No large groups: Parties up to 6 Sunday-Thursday, 4 Friday & Saturdays.

As this is a small restaurant, we may ask for your table after you’ve finished.

We seat complete parties only.

Waitlist Courtesy: Let’s talk Commitment. If you’re on the waitlist, you are committing to dine with us and we are committing to seat you. If your plans change, give us a courtesy call to allow other guests the opportunity to dine with us.

If you are in the Waiting area, please be patient while you wait to be waited on.

No grouchy pants allowed. You are responsible for agreeing to your wait time. If you think the wait will ruin your evening, please do not leave your name on our wait list.

Please take phone calls outside. No laptops. No iPads.

I'm glad it works for them, and hopefully it's long term sustainable (I have my doubts). For me, their desire to not take reservations puts all the inconvenience on me, the consumer, the one with the money they're asking for. No thanks.

Ok, let's try this again. I agree with John. I am just one person from the neighborhood, that doesn't want to stand in line at 5 to maybe get seated...It's not worth it to me. The food doesn't out weigh the other factors for me. It's a very small menu that you have to order as soon as you sit down, that doesn't give me time to enjoy my evening, that I am paying for. I will take my money around the corner. This is just my personal opinion. Tourists and people that want to stand in line, go for it, it's a business model that is working for Ruxbin.

They should just sell tickets, I hear Next has a system already set up they could license.

The answer to the question why not have a reservation system is actually simple and found in Ruxbin's blog: if they had one, it would be less accessible. Instead of waiting a couple of hours for a table, customers would have to wait months. Personally, I far prefer being able to count on eating there whenever I want so long as I'm prepared to wait a few hours or (my preference) get in line well ahead of opening (I enjoy the camaraderie with the other guests and coming in from the cold to the warm staff and warm restaurant is delightful, too). The restaurant's appeal for me is its total package: the food, the spectacular setting (tiny size and ingenious interior design), staff who care a lot and show it, and the icing is it's BYOB. I'm convinced their no reservations policy is intended for the greater good, not a thoughtless or holier-than-thou attitude, but rather their best answer to a genuine dilemma.

nicinchic wrote:Tourists and people that want to stand in line, go for it, it's a business model that is working for Ruxbin.

I don't get the attitude I've seen in this forum toward tourists (above and earlier in this stream someone mentions with disdain people coming to Ruxbin from Milwaukee, and the attitude shows up in various other threads in the forum). If you have ever traveled anywhere and eaten at a restaurant while you were there, you were a tourist. Does that mean you, at those times, should be looked down upon by the locals eating there? What crime exactly are tourists committing?

northshorefoodie wrote:

nicinchic wrote:Tourists and people that want to stand in line, go for it, it's a business model that is working for Ruxbin.

I don't get the attitude I've seen in this forum toward tourists (above and earlier in this stream someone mentions with disdain people coming to Ruxbin from Milwaukee, and the attitude shows up in various other threads in the forum). If you have ever traveled anywhere and eaten at a restaurant while you were there, you were a tourist. Does that mean you, at those times, should be looked down upon by the locals eating there? What crime exactly are tourists committing?

Northshorefoodie, clearly you're unaccustomed to the double standards that abounds here. However, that being said, I don't like to stand in lines and likely won't show up for a wait of several hours. I would however swing by early, prior to opening, and if the line isn't long wait 20 minutes or so. Other than that, if people want to stand in line thats a personal choice and it's up to them. It's just not for me.

Or anyone on the clock with a babysitter, alas.

The tourist question is easy. I want to go to Sibling Rivalry in Boston? I go to opentable, make a reso, I go there enjoy delicious food on my time in that city. I'm not standing in line in my own neighborhood. Sorry. I'm not. This isn't a GNR to me. Might be to someone else.

Miss Chitown and I had not been to Ruxbin in a while so we decided to check out their Spring menu on Saturday evening.

We rolled up at 4:55, parked 50 feet from the restaurant and were second in line behind a group of four. To my knowledge, everyone in line by 5:30 made the first seating. It was at capacity shortly after.

We've yet to have a problem getting seated in five visits and never waited in line more than 35 minutes.


The goods:

Garlic Fries | house cut french fries, double fried, with chipotle aioli


Octopus | grilled, with chickpeas, pickled green onions, radish, black soybean, grapes and ginger-scallion vinaigrette


Amish Chicken | roasted breast, confit leg, red pearl onions, brussels sprouts, and pain perdu with apple, gouda, walnuts


Beef & Broccoli Hanger Steak | hangar steak, broccolini, rice tots, miso butter


Chocolate Pot de Creme | cumin tuile, basil, bacon cotton candy, coffee chili salt



The octopus—a brand new item for Chef Kim—was a real standout. The smoky, charred octopus was perfectly complemented with the acidic vinaigrette and accompaniments.

The amish chicken and steak were fantastic, as always. The (new) rice tots were perfectly crispy and soaked up all that steak juice and miso butter.

The pot de creme was a fun one. The bacon cotton candy served as a nice transition between the savory chicken / steak course and the super sweet chocolate, lying in wait underneath.

Still lovin' Ruxbin.

Arrived at 5:15 on Sunday and made the first seating.

Escolar crudo...much too acidic. Definitely a miss.
Fries...ok...nothing special
Octopus...awesome. Super tender, great flavor.
Amish Chicken...very moist, very tasty.
Beef and Broccoli...beef was very good. i'm a fan of the broccolini.
Trout...fish was cooked very nicely.

Also had the 2 desserts which were ok...not great.

Price including tip was 45 per person.

I recently ate at Ruxbin Kitchen for the first time and had a mixed experience . . .


Ruxbin Kitchen - 851 N Ashland
The line at 5:18 pm on a Tuesday. I was really happy that my friends who are big fans of the place were willing to get there at 5:00 and hold our spot. That's just not something I like doing. When you get to be my age, waiting in line takes up a measurable percentage of the time you have left. I'm also not a fan of eating dinner this early. It's about 2 hours earlier than I normally have dinner.



Popcorn
This gratis snack was seasoned in a sweet and savory manner. I felt like one of the seasoning components had a somewhat unnatural, kettle-korny flavor, which I was pretty sure I could still taste the morning after our meal.



Frog & Snail | masala, pickled ramps, asparagus, roasted garlic, lemon confit
I really liked this dish. I thought the masala was complex and interesting -- so much so that I used the gaufrette from another next dish (shown below) to spoon up more of it. The frog legs were tasty and tender. The snails were a bit chewy but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the dish.



Daily Crudo | salmon
This was a miss for me. The fish was tough to the chew but beyond that (or maybe because of it?), it had just been clobbered with all the other ingredients, which were all I could really taste.



Pork Belly Salad | jicama, grapefruit, arugula, cornbread, danablu cheese, citrus vinaigrette
Nicely cooked, flavorful belly accompanied by some great other ingredients. I thought this combination really worked and the dish was well-executed.



Apple & Plum | baby arugula, shaved celery, almonds, manchego, walnut-sherry vinaigrette
A really great salad. Harmonious.



Garlic Fries | house-cut, chipotle aioli
I thought these fries were tasty and very well-cooked. They were super crispy, which I love. They were well-seasoned but I didn't pick up a lot of garlic. I didn't care for the aioli served with them. It lacked zip and detracted from the fries, which, I thought, were better without it.



Trout | spelt, cauliflower, kalamata olive, golden raisins
Nicely cooked fish served with a combination of ingredients that I thought worked very well with it.



Pork Loin | fava beans, baby carrots, ramp pistou, basil
This dish was probably the low point of the meal, foodwise. First of all, it was actually tenderloin and should have been called that -- not loin -- on the menu. Had I known it was tenderloin, I wouldn't have suggested that we order it. But beyond that, it had been cooked en sous vide and had a notably mushy texture. Maybe a more conventional cooking method would have produced better results. The meat itself was overpowered by fresh herbs, which can also happen when cooking with this method.



Tomato Tart | silken tofu, mushrooms, yellow squash, balsamic vinaigrette, market vegetables.
I thought this was another great dish. It was flavorful and cooked very well. The balsamic was a perfect touch. It brought the varied flavors of the veggies to life. I also loved the silken tofu.

Unfortunately, service was pretty rough on this night.

The first issue was that literally before we were even sitting in our chairs, our server was already opening and pouring our bottle of white wine. The problem was that the wine wasn't chilled and we wanted to open something else first (we also had some already-chilled, large-format beers and a red wine with us). Our server never asked us which bottle we wanted opened first. He just opened the white and started pouring as we were still standing at the table deciding who would sit where. We ended up using a funnel to pour the wine back into the bottle and then chilled the open bottle in an ice bucket. My friend who brought the wine was a bit irritated but also relieved that he hadn't brought a great bottle from his cellar. Still, it was a rough start to the meal.

It seemed like this error may have been related to the no-reservations policy of the restaurant. At 5:30, the doors open and the entire restaurant is filled within a matter of moments. As such, the small staff has to deal with seating each and every table at the exact same time. Naturally, in an effort to accommodate, they hurry. Perhaps, if early tables were seated in stages (a few every 10 minutes, for example), there wouldn't be such a frenzy when the doors opened, and arriving diners could be dealt with more efficiently. Or maybe not. I'm just speculating.

Some time during the appetizer round, plates and silverware were cleared but not immediately replaced. More appetizers arrived but we had no plates or silverware. It took an extended moment before they were brought and that was only after we asked an FOH'er who was not our server.

Another gaffe struck a pet peeve of mine . . . servers who do not write down orders. On this night ours did not and is so often the case when servers don't write down orders, mistakes were made. As we sat, we noticed that every other table around us seemed to be getting garlic fries as their first dish. Several of our appetizers came out...but no fries. We asked another server about them -- ours was not around at the time -- and were told that they were coming up. A few moments later, our server came to the the table, apologized for the error and took the blame for it. Moments later, the fries arrived just ahead of our main courses. I have to believe that if it had just been written down, this error would not have occurred.

I think there's a lot to like about Ruxbin Kitchen but on this inaugural visit, I felt like I was always an arm's length away from truly experiencing it. I can see the potential of the place and really liked some of the food we had. That said, the thought of waiting in line (just to give the restaurant another opportunity) feels counterintuitive to me. While the food was creative -- and much of it good -- the same is true (or even truer) at dozens of other places in town that provide the courtesy of accepting reservations. That said, it's probably worth noting that when we left at about 7:15, there was no line outside the door. So, I suppose I could just take my chances and shoot by at around 7:30 on some weeknight. As long as I had a Plan B in mind, not getting seated wouldn't be that big a deal. The bottom line is that while the no reservations policy isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me, it is a fairly substantial obstacle. The cost of even having to consider that aspect isn't necessarily overcome by the quality of the food I ate at this meal. However, if my friends wanted to go again -- and they offered to stand in line again -- I'd certainly join them. Although, if they read this, I'm not likely to get an invitation.

=R=

As long as I had a Plan B in mind, not getting seated wouldn't be that big a deal.

Leopold, Mexique, Green Zebra, West Town Tavern (not to mention Flo, Central Cafe, and Havana Libre et al) are all in walking distance, so "Plan B" is certainly an option.

ronnie_suburban wrote:The first issue was that literally before we were even sitting in our chairs, our server was already opening and pouring our bottle of white wine. The problem was that the wine wasn't chilled and we wanted to open something else first (we also had some already-chilled, large-format beers and a red wine with us). Our server never asked us which bottle we wanted opened first. He just opened the white and started pouring as we were still standing at the table deciding who would sit where. We ended up using a funnel to pour the wine back into the bottle and then chilled the open bottle in an ice bucket. My friend who brought the wine was a bit irritated but also relieved that he hadn't brought a great bottle from his cellar. Still, it was a rough start to the meal.

I absolutely hate when the restaurant staff handles the wine, especially at BYOB places. Most servers are not knowledgeable in pouring the proper amount in the glass, with most of them trying to overfill the glass so that they empty the bottle and you order more. That's not an issue at a BYOB place, as they have nothing else to sell me, so I don't know why they do it other than because of lack of knowledge. The second a server touches the wine bottle, I stop them immediately and tell them that I'll take care of the table's wine service throughout the night. I always bring a corkscrew with me as well, so I can time the opening of the bottles. I might be over the top on this, but the wine experience is an important part of the overall dining experience for me and most that I dine with.

John Danza wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:The first issue was that literally before we were even sitting in our chairs, our server was already opening and pouring our bottle of white wine. The problem was that the wine wasn't chilled and we wanted to open something else first (we also had some already-chilled, large-format beers and a red wine with us). Our server never asked us which bottle we wanted opened first. He just opened the white and started pouring as we were still standing at the table deciding who would sit where. We ended up using a funnel to pour the wine back into the bottle and then chilled the open bottle in an ice bucket. My friend who brought the wine was a bit irritated but also relieved that he hadn't brought a great bottle from his cellar. Still, it was a rough start to the meal.

I absolutely hate when the restaurant staff handles the wine, especially at BYOB places. Most servers are not knowledgeable in pouring the proper amount in the glass, with most of them trying to overfill the glass so that they empty the bottle and you order more. That's not an issue at a BYOB place, as they have nothing else to sell me, so I don't know why they do it other than because of lack of knowledge. The second a server touches the wine bottle, I stop them immediately and tell them that I'll take care of the table's wine service throughout the night. I always bring a corkscrew with me as well, so I can time the opening of the bottles. I might be over the top on this, but the wine experience is an important part of the overall dining experience for me and most that I dine with.

John,

Agreed.

Best,
Al

Sorry to hear you had such a terrible time. You ought to go back during the Summer after the menu changes (if your friends will allow it) to see if it was an anomaly or if the same problems persist on your second trip.

I always find it interesting how diners can have polar opposite experiences at the same exact restaurant, only weeks apart. Smak-Tak comes to mind for me as a complete miss, in every regard, for instance. While so many others here consider it an amazing experience we could not even find a single thing to like about it.

For me, Ruxbin does everything right, including the no-reservations policy which I absolutely love and wish more restaurants did. For ronnie and many others, however, it's something they can't workaround. (One of the guests on Check Please seemed to indicate it was a deal-breaker for him as well... although surprisingly he didn't even know was couscous was so I'm not sure if we're supposed to take him seriously or not.)

ChitownJackson wrote:Sorry to hear you had such a terrible time.

I really didn't and I never used the word terrible . . .

ronnie_suburban wrote:I recently ate at Ruxbin Kitchen for the first time and had a mixed experience

ronnie_suburban wrote:I can see the potential of the place and really liked some of the food we had.

ChitownJackson wrote:For me, Ruxbin does everything right, including the no-reservations policy which I absolutely love and wish more restaurants did. For ronnie and many others, however, it's something they can't workaround.

Not exactly . . .

ronnie_suburban wrote:The bottom line is that while the no reservations policy isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me, it is a fairly substantial obstacle.

If we all had the same likes and dislikes, the world would be a very boring place.

That said, I'm not sure I understand why anyone would "absolutely love" a no-reservations policy. At best I can see not minding it. Is it because it essentially helps protect the restaurant for those who live nearby? I'm being sincere when I say that I just don't understand this and really hope you can enlighten me -- especially as it pertains to Ruxbin Kitchen.

Thanks,

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I really didn't and I never used the word terrible . . .

I should not have said terrible. Sorry you had a "mixed" experience.

ronnie_suburban wrote:That said, I'm not sure I understand why anyone would "absolutely love" a no-reservations policy. At best I can see not minding it. Is it because it essentially helps protect the restaurant for those who live nearby? I'm being sincere when I say that I just don't understand this and really hope you can enlighten me -- especially as it pertains to Ruxbin Kitchen.

I'm actually really glad you asked this and the answer is really simple and was mentioned only a few posts prior by northshorefoodie:

northshorefoodie wrote:The answer to the question why not have a reservation system is actually simple and found in Ruxbin's blog: if they had one, it would be less accessible. Instead of waiting a couple of hours for a table, customers would have to wait months. Personally, I far prefer being able to count on eating there whenever I want so long as I'm prepared to wait a few hours or (my preference) get in line well ahead of opening (I enjoy the camaraderie with the other guests and coming in from the cold to the warm staff and warm restaurant is delightful, too). The restaurant's appeal for me is its total package: the food, the spectacular setting (tiny size and ingenious interior design), staff who care a lot and show it, and the icing is it's BYOB. I'm convinced their no reservations policy is intended for the greater good, not a thoughtless or holier-than-thou attitude, but rather their best answer to a genuine dilemma.

Girl & the Goat is facing the dilemma northshorefoodie refers to right now and it's freaking ridiculous. Try to get a reservation there (at a reasonable dinner time) before August. As of a few days ago, you could not. Imagine if Ruxbin took reservs? With only 30 seats? We wouldn't be able to eat there until December.

In the end, above everything else that's been said, it's really the following two points for us and we're glad Ruxbin is making it work:

1. Miss Chitown and I LOVE (yes, truly love) the ability to decide the night before that we want to go to Ruxbin, and actually be ABLE to go. We show up at 5 p.m. and we are seated 30 minutes later. A 30-minute investment with no prior planning needed? I cannot name many decent sit-down dinner restaurants in Chicago where we can do this. Not with the food and hospitality we've experienced here.

2. Personally, we're sick of dealing with Chicago restaurants that cater to "connected" individuals. That is, you have to be someone to have a chance at getting a decent reservation at a decent time. I see all these people getting Next tickets and special treatments at restaurants and it makes me snicker because I understand that's how the dining industry works for you guys, and that's great. But don't be pissed off when a place tells you to wait in line with all the other lowly grunts. And don't tell the world that the policy is "wrong" because it's an inconvenience to you. To many people, it's a blessing. Everyone we've ever talked to in line does the same thing we do and can't say enough about the place. *shrug*

Why would anyone agree to wait two hours for a table?

ChitownJackson wrote:Girl & the Goat is facing the dilemma northshorefoodie refers to right now and it's freaking ridiculous. Try to get a reservation there (at a reasonable dinner time) before August. As of a few days ago, you could not. Imagine if Ruxbin took reservs? With only 30 seats? We wouldn't be able to eat there until December.

Actually, the seating in the bar area at Girl & the Goat is first-come, first-serve. So if you show up around the time the restaurant opens at 4:30, you are apparently likely to get seated pretty quickly. We tried this recently at around 5 on a Saturday and the FOH predicted about a 30 minute wait (there's no wait-list, you just stand around and wait to get a table). Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the reservation system--I'm fine with waiting for a reservation but not crazy about standing in line so we headed over to Vera instead of staying for G & G (and had a great meal).

Edited to add: Nevermind, just saw your post on the G&G thread.

ronnie_suburban wrote:That said, it's probably worth noting that when we left at about 7:15, there was no line outside the door. So, I suppose I could just take my chances and shoot by at around 7:30 on some weeknight.

I noticed the same on a Sunday. There were people sitting in the area near the kitchen...not sure if they were waiting for a table.

However, with the no reservations policy, I'm not willing to show up past 530pm for an undetermined wait time. So that limits how often I will even consider going here. I'm sure there are other people that think the same. I wonder what the wait is like at 8pm Sun-Thurs.

My rating for this place is "15 minutes"...as in, I would be willing to wait 15 minutes to be seated to eat here.

Han wrote:
My rating for this place is "15 minutes"...as in, I would be willing to wait 15 minutes to be seated to eat here.

That's pretty much my rating for every restaurant. I would rather wait three months for a reservation for a date and time of my chosing, and then have a great meal than stand in line for a 5:30 dinner. Jeez, isn't that when the 80-year-olds eat dinner?

I completely agree! Sure you may only wait a half hour, but what's the point if you're eating at 5:30? I have no problem setting a reservation for 3 months in advance; it gives me something to look forward to and then I can eat at a regular time.

Folks-

There is an existing thread discussing No Reservations (the policy). Let's return the focus to the food at Ruxbin.

For the mods,

Just went to Ruxbin tonight. Got there at 6:45 (on a Friday night) and there was a 50 minute wait for a table of three. We took it because luckily I live nearby so stoping at home and then buying some drinks takes about that long. I do understand the frustration of recent posters about the wait times because of the no reservations policy. I've waited at Logman and Eagle for an hour and a half on a Monday night (the food was phenomenal) but it was tedious.

Anyways, it was my third time to Ruxbin and it blew me away again. For staters we ordered the fries (which I actually enjoy it better without the aioli sauce), and the quail, which was just okay alone and very good if you mixed in the watermelon, tomato, and mint. My entree was the pork loin which was unbelievable. Unlike any pork I've had before. My other two friends ordered the scallops which I tried and was very good, and the hanger steak which I've had before and is also excellent. For dessert we had the pretzel doughnut, chocolate, and beer-milk sorbet which was amazing. It was up there with Goosefoot's final chocolate orange dessert and Girl and the Goat's peanut butter mexican chocolate dessert (I hope they bring it back into the rotation) as my favorites.

Keep in mind I am an amateur fine diner, but all of my meals at Ruxbin have been outstanding and I will certainly recommend it to anyone!

I'm with chitown2012, the pork loin is one of the best entrees I have had in years. The scallops were also quite good. By contrast, the two appetizers that we had on a recent visit were underwhelming (beet salad and tuna tartare). It's a rare treat to find main courses that outshine the small plates, as my experience is usually exactly the opposite. For those annoyed by the wait, might I suggest Lush Wine and Spirits around the corner on Chicago ave -- a very nice place for a pre-Ruxbin glass of wine, and they are quite adept at recommending bottles that pair well with the Ruxbin menu.

Ruxbin has partly caved on taking reservations and will now take them for Sundays. Maybe I'll finally make it over there now

Since we had tickets to see The Magnificent's at the Chopin Theater with a 7:30 start, an early dinner was in order yesterday.

For the most part an excellent dinner, especially my choices. I started with the pork belly, served with cornbread, jicama, blue cheese, some frisee, and a citrus vinaigrette. I really enjoyed this dish. My wife and daughter split the apple and plum salad with arugula, shaved celery, almonds, manchego, and a walnut-sherry vinaigrette. They said it was a poorly named salad since there were maybe two shaved pies of plum and apple. We had an order of the excellent garlic fries, but I agree with Ronnie that the chipoltle aioli could have used a bit more zip.

My wife loved her tomato and eggplant tart and my braised short ribs over ramen-flavored risotto, with roasted brussels sprouts and blistered cherry tomatoes was delicious. My daughter's tomato/fennel soup wasn't so hot, figuratively and literally. Luke warn and my daughter felt it reminded her of jarred pasta sauce.

Maybe it was the weather, but wondering if the no reservation policy is taking a bit of a toll. When we arrived at 5:40 on a Friday, it was maybe half full. When we left about 7:10 there was still an open table.

Another enjoyable dinner, but it only works for me in the event we need an early dinner prior to a show.

Al Ehrhardt wrote:Maybe it was the weather, but wondering if the no reservation policy is taking a bit of a toll. When we arrived at 5:40 on a Friday, it was maybe half full. When we left about 7:10 there was still an open table.
.

Restaurant week is going on now. That could also be a factor.

I was there a couple Sundays (the only day they take reservations) ago and it was full+.

Laikom and I and a couple friends ventured out to Ruxbin last night for the first time. We lived in East Ukrainian Village for several years before the great rent price surge of the late 2000s drove us out, and I’m always encouraged to see great dining options emerge – and, dare I say, thrive – away from the main drag (figurative and literal) of Division.

After other plans fell through, we thought the “wintery mix” brewing outside and fact that it was Restaurant Week might bode well for the Ruxbin wait. We were right. After a quick beer at Bangers & Lace (great list, clueless bartender), we trudged through the slush and arrived at 6:30 to a cozy, half-full restaurant. (Laikom was disappointed he didn’t get the chance to submit “Teddy” as our party name.) The place didn’t fill up until 7:30 or even later, with one or two parties waiting for a table as we left at 8:30.

I think we ate at Ruxbin under the best of circumstances. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner with two bottles of wine and no pressure from sad hungry eyes waiting in the cold. When our server learned that we were planning on sharing all the entrees, she offered to bring them out one by one, which worked out very well. Nevertheless, my overall experience was pretty much in line with the general thrust of this thread: Ruxbin is a very good neighborhood spot, but probably not worth a hassle.

For appetizers, we had the obligatory garlic fries (greedily scarfed down by everyone at once), the pork belly, and the octopus. For main courses, we had the tomato and eggplant tart, the shrimp and grits, the duck breast, and the short ribs. Our bill after tip came to about $200 for four. Everything was well-executed, but the one dish that really did it for me was the pork belly (surprise, surprise). I meticulously curated one perfect bite of belly with cornbread and jicama, and it just worked: the mix of textures and the porky fattiness combined with citrus acidity of the dressing and the subtle sweetness of corn all blended perfectly. The other dishes sought to attain that same sort of balance, but never quite added up to more than the sum of all their individual ingredients. (Or, as laikom quipped, “I felt like I was eating a recipe.”)

The rocky road dessert was the perfect example of this ingredient hodgepodge. It consisted of brownies, “smoked” cherries (I didn’t taste smoke), almonds, ice cream, weird marshmallow goo, caramel, and some heavily basil-flavored bread pudding-ish textured stuff – all topped off with white cotton candy that literally looked like an unappetizing piece of cotton placed on top of our food. It reminded me of the crazy concoctions I would come up with at ice cream sundae bars as a kid. That's why, despite how weird it was, I dug in happily.

The service throughout the meal was friendly, unpretentious, efficient, and to tell you the truth, hardly noticeable. That, to me, is exactly how it should be. I loved the warm-toned décor and the coziness of the small restaurant, which I especially appreciated on a yicky winter day. The lofted kitchen was pretty cool too. Before we sat down, Laikom was mesmerized by one of the chefs painstakingly plating food ("he spent two minutes moving one tiny piece into just the right place, adjusting it multiple times"). The chef, characteristic of the whole staff, engaged us in friendly conversation and welcomed us to our first experience at the restaurant.

Overall, I agree with the general sentiment that this is not a 2-hour-wait worthy place. And it is a shame that it has to be that way in order to embody what the restaurant truly is: a casual, comfortable neighborhood spot with elevated dining. If I had to wait in line and pile in for hurried service at 5:30, I would have been disappointed. That is exactly why I had never been. But as it stands, last night I had a perfectly enjoyable dinner experience.

Teresa