I just got back from eating at the Majestic, the new restaurant in the former Gordon Biersch location on Main Street. I had high expectations for the place, and it met and even exceeded them.
The place is very tastefully decorated, and they have a very long bar (20+ seats) so it’s very accomodating to people like me who prefer to sit at the bar. It will be open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
The bartender introduced himself (his name’s Jeff – tell him you read about him on my blog if you go up there) and was very friendly and helpful. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, just told him I was in the mood for a good after-work drink and he mixed up a couple of winners.
The food is very reasonably priced. Appetizers are $6-9, flatbread pizzas are $5-6, salads are $5-8, specialty dishes are $11-16, sandwiches and burgers are $5-9 and steaks are $17-28. I had a flatbread pizza with smoked sausage, roasted peppers and onions, and mozzarella ($6). A vegetarian friend of mine joined me, and he had a flatbread pizza with plum tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella for $5. One of those pizzas should be enough to fill you up unless you’re extremely hungry. A guy sitting down from us at the bar had an ENORMOUS salad with asparagus, cauliflower, and other vegetables, topped with salmon for $8.
Then Jeff the bartender asked me, “Are you ready for dessert?” he said, and I said sure, and asked to see a dessert menu. “I’ll do better than that,” he said, “I’ll bring dessert to you.” Here’s what came out:
Click on the pic for a larger image – you really need to see this one at full size. He brought out these five desserts, in glasses a little bit larger than votive candle holders, and told me that each was $1.95, and I was welcome to have as many as I want. Pictured from left to right above are wild berry crunch, chocolate mousse (which I chose as my dessert), creme sofia (similar to creme brulee), carrot cake, and strawberry shortcake. Dessert selections change daily, he told me.
That dessert rack is the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen. They’re little glasses so you’re not going to bust your diet by having one dessert. They’re inexpensive, so you’re not going to run up your bill by having one. On the other hand, if you’re someone who likes to sample a lot of different options, you could try three desserts at the Majestic for what you’d pay for one dessert at most restaurants.
When my bill came, it was $19.08 for a flatbread pizza, a dessert, and two very stiff mixed drinks. My friend had a tab of $24 for a vegetarian pizza and 4 glasses of wine. Not bad at all.
The Majestic is owned by a husband and wife who have been part of the downtown restaurant scene for a long time. That’s another reason it’s worth supporting – it’s owned by real people, and isn’t part of a chain or run by a management group.
I want to go back and try some other selections from their menu, but based on what I saw tonight, thumbs WAY up. Definitely a place you need to check out if you live, work or play downtown.