Though he doesn't eat red meat, mostly for health reasons, and he has mostly abandoned poultry as a food source, my father is of the old-school steak-house loving folk. His idea of the perfect meal is one wherein bread rolls are presented immediately after water is brought to the table, and the table is dressed in a white cloth. Flickering candles must dimly light the room, and the windows of whatever establishment he happens to be in lend a view so spectacular that his eyes receive as much of a treat as his mouth. 22 Bowens is the type of restaurant my father, your father, your in-laws would love.
And you probably won't be disappointed either. Proffering standard American seaside meets steakhouse fare, this wharf restaurant offers something for everyone. The crunchy Boston Bibb salad served with presumably house made crispy onions and a slice of creamy, potent blue cheese will satisfy bacon lovers who like to feign healthful eating. The pan roasted Brussels sprouts sautéed with chunks of bacon are served in a skillet, sizzling hot, and deliciously cooked, albeit slightly greasy.
As for dessert, try the luscious, almost lascivious, chocolate trio. With gelato, a mousse cake and a giant ball of chocolate truffle, you're sure to roll away with a few more anti-oxidant molecules roaming your system, as well as some glucose and saturated fat globules tossed there among.
There is no way this place deserves only 3.5 stars. Yes, it's not the cheapest, but the quality matches the price. Â It's terrible that the other reviewers use the star rating to show that they didn't like the price.
Service and food was excellent. The tuna tartar was stellar! Â Both the scallops and tuna were cooked perfectly. My girlfriend got the salmon which was also wonderful!
An outstanding place to go with a great wine list as well. Highly recommend.
Was a little disappointed with the food, but the service trumps everything else.
My wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary here and were expecting a specatcularly 5 star dinner. Â I had been here for drinks and apps before with colleagues, but never dinner, though I had heard lots of rave reviews for their entree's. Â It was packed, and the only reservation we could get was an 8:15 dinner seating. Â I let them know before hand it was a special night, and the front-desk did a nice job of making a special table on the upper deck available for us.
Our waitress was warm and friendly, and the runners were attentive - we never had to ask for water refills or bread. Â Drinks were a little slow, but given the summer crowds, that's understandable, besides we were happy to enjoy each other's company. Â Apps arrived promptly, however, and were pretty good. Â Oysters are a no-brainer down there, as is there house specialty pineapple vodka! Â My wife ordered the redfish and I ordered the scallops.
We were both pretty disappointed with our meals - the fish was pretty bland and didn't have the kind of flavor profile you'd expect at a high end restaurant. Â The scallops were scorched - over-cooked, rubbery chunks of flesh. Â I tried to eat a few (it was late and we weren't going to wait for a second round of food), but just couldn't bring myself to finish the plate. Â I let our waitress know, nicely, that our food didn't really meet our expectations. Â She was apologetic, and after offering us dessert (which we politely declined), she spoke with her manager and adjusted our bill - removing my meal entirely and comping us a round of drinks.
While the seafood was disappointing - especially since it's a waterfront property - the service was great. Â That experience alone would bring me back to give them another shot... this time though, I might stick to a steak.
I've wanted to try this place the last couple times in Newport, but never quite worked out. Â Review only for drinks and an appetizer, and for the outside dining part on the wharf.
First, location is great, right by a couple of the big charter sailboats. Â I like the look of the outdoor bar, too, although we sat at a table. Â Server was very friendly, but disappeared a few times for overly long stretches. Â
Drinks: they have a nice list of cocktails. Â Wife had the red sangria, which she liked. Â I had the Blueberry Thyme Shrub, which was very refreshing and interesting. Â Decent list of wines by the glass, so we each had a glass of New Zealand Sav.
Food: the menu isn't super extensive (strange, since the size of the menu book itself is strangely enormous), but is pretty cha-ching. Â We only ate the "Bucket of Clams" which was a decent amount of mussels, littlenecks, and a couple of giant clams--all steamed and served in a "natural broth" (think white wine and garlic). Â Very tasty dish, although I would have liked a bit more broth in the bucket for dunking the one piece of garlic toast and rolls. Â Extra points for the basket of 3 rolls--2 regular dinner rolls and 1 cranberry roll; those were all tasty. Â
I don't think I'd choose this spot for dinner, but it's certainly a place I'd visit again for a drink and a small bite on a nice Newport afternoon or early evening.
The place is located right on Bowen's Wharf (hence the name). Â It's right downtown near all the other shops and restaurants. Â It has an upper class atmosphere, but I feel it falls short on the food, especially considering the prices are high. Â I've actually only been during restaurant week. Â The first time I had a steak dinner with chowder. Â Food was pretty good, but I wouldn't pay regular price. Â The second time I had lunch, which was disappointing. Â I got a beef salad. Â It had very little beef and the salad was pretty boring. Â My mistake though - I should have ordered a burger. Â I think there are better places around the area.
Review Source:It was okay. This place is trying a little too hard to be something it's not - was our food cooked correctly? Yes. Was our server nice? Yes. But was our order taken incorrectly twice? yes. Was the bread stale? Yes.
So, overall, 3 stars. If you're looking for something very middle of line eat here. But remember, there is plenty better within two feet.
Went here while on my bachelor party, had a fantastic time and the food was amazing. Â The seafood was super fresh and the steaks were amazing.
The crowd was a little douchey though, some women had to let us know that we were holding our after-dinner drink glasses incorrectly. Â Sweet, thanks.
This is only based on a single lunch so it's flash perception and I do know other places here well. Â Overall it's very nice. Â Very good wine list by glass and bottle - great selections and reasonably priced. Â Food seems to be very competently handled, great ingredients fresh and top quality. Â Clean and inviting inside, right near the water as well. Â Menu is simple, which is fine but perhaps could be expanded a bit and the entrees embellished just a little more with a balance of fresh greens which are scarce unless you order a salad separately. They claim to use organic and local food where possible and I believe that based on observations. Â Would be nice if they stated which of the choices use organic produce or local seafood - a practice other places tend to overuse. Â I'd go back with pleasure - would like to taker a deeper dive next time. Â Btw prices good especially for Newport main tourist district (is there a non tourist area here?). Lunch for two with wine 55.00 and that included sashimi grade tuna and another fish entree.
By the way the seared tuna the best I've had because  of the superb quality of the tuna. They could have seared it a bit more artfully but beat nine the less. Go.
I have to say I wasn't overly impressed. We were here for a party with a group of 8 so you can always expect that the wait staff won't love you...but one individual had an issue with her steak and they didn't even seem phased by it.
Clamboil was good but nothing to write home about, and the prices were steeper than what I think it was worth.
Views weren't as good as other places in Newport.
We probably wouldn't be back....
We were here for an anniversary celebration.  We had drinks while waited for a promised "primo" table.  The bar is nice, service was terrific. We were shown our table, which had a fabulous view of...the dock.  Nope, no water views, just dock...not exactly primo.  That was a bit puzzling, but we had an awesome waitperson, so we moved on to enjoy our evening together.  The food was delightful.  I had local oysters with a divine mignonette, my husband had bacon wrapped scallops...glorious.  We had lobster...perfectly done. And they treated us to creme brûlée with a candle for our anniversary...lovely. Â
The bill was pretty steep, but we greatly enjoyed ourselves. Â Awesome food, awesome service...thank you for making our anniversary memorable!!
I adore this restaurant. I went once with family when I was a bit younger and thought so highly of it that when I recently traveled to Newport, I just had to revisit it. It was fantastic. The oysters on the half shell are irresistible - so irresistible, in fact, that I had to restrain myself from ordering a second platter. The food there is just delightful and incredibly fresh. My only complaint is that the place can get quite loud. If you'd like a romantic evening, make sure to ask about seating in a less crowded area of the restaurant. If not, just tune out the noise and let the food make up for it because it most certainly will.
Review Source:Great Steakhouse! My friends took me to 22 Bowens to celebrate my birthday and we had a fantastic time! Great service and food! Birthday celebration = lots of conversation. The staff was very understanding, we took forever to decide weather to have wine or cocktails, we finally decided we wanted wine; we then took forever to decide what to eat...as I said, the staff accommodated us with no fuss. Service was very good and smooth and the food was delicious! I had the Prime New York Sirloin and it was a dream! I also heard my friends raving about the Grilled Yellowfish Tuna and the Filet Mignon. Special thanks to Alex for the amazing service!! Totally recommended for special occasions!
Review Source:I had a great experience at 22 Bowens last night, and I particularly want to thank them for being open when most of the other restaurants in Newport had closed for the January break. A local recommended 22 Bowens, but I was going to try Black Pearl or Moorings instead. Because they were closed, I settled on 22 Bowens, and I'm happy that I did. I had a great experience.
I was warmly welcomed without a reservation, and I chose to take a seat at the bar since I was alone. The two bartenders, Joe and Guy, were incredibly friendly and made my dinner a lot of fun. They were incredibly knowledgeable of the menu as well as wine and cocktail options. When I was undecided about the soup, Joe offered two samples so I could make a decision. I chose the Cheddar Ale, which was outstanding. I got into a conversation about bourbons with them, and Guy allowed me sniff a couple. When I ordered a cocktail, it was a large size and not a skimpy cocktail glass.
I chose the seafood dinner with baked clams, mussels, lobster tail and Grouper in a red sauce. The sauce, along with the accompanying sourdough bread, was magnificent. The seafood all was hearty and cooked to perfection. Because I'm watching carbs (the bread was an irresistible oops!), they offered sauteed spinach instead of potatoes. It was maybe the best spinach I've ever had.
I would recommend 22 Bowens on any night in Newport, and big kudos to such a warm and friendly staff as well as great service. And give Joe a promotion. He deserves it.
Came here without a reservation on a Sunday night and it was pretty packed at 7pms so I sat at the bar. Place is pretty pricey but the food is good.
Had the clam chowder which is pretty good. Also had the Shepard Pie which is really good. Split the porterhouse steak with the bf and it was very juicy and tender. The Mac n cheese wasn't that good so nothing to rave about. But yea the bill came out to be pretty high because as u can see, I like to eat a lot and at the end, I was too full to even move.
Will be back. It's a yummy place
I've been wanting to visit 22 Bowens for a while now, so when restaurant week came around, I decided to put them on my list. I made reservations for lunch with two of my friends and was running a bit late so I called 10 minutes before my reservation to ask if we could push it back a half hour. They were kind enough to allow us to do so, and when we arrived they were actually telling people that there was a half hour wait. We were seated immediately and perused the restaurant week menu. Our waiter was a bit pushy, and took our order for all three courses at once. I started with the clam chowder, which was good but not the best I've ever had. My entree was fish and chips which was good, but very salty. Dessert was chocolate mousse, which was the best part of the meal. We were in and our very quickly, nothing fancy. Not sure if I'll go back.
Review Source:I took my clients here based on a number of referrals. Â I thought the food was very good but nothing special. Â The steaks that we all ordered were properly prepared and the sides were all plentiful and tasted great. Â Ordinarily, this would earn 4 stars but a couple of things occurred that removed one star...
1. Â They had a cocktail on the menu which was a Blantons manhattan. Â It was $14. Â I received it, took a taste and it was NOT Blantons. Â When I asked the server, she got huffy and I am not a fan of huffy servers. Â She reluctantly checked with the barman and found out I was correct. Â He made an ordinary Manhattan.
2. The same server made an error on the bill and rolled her eyes at me when it was pointed out.
Really?
Great food is found everywhere. Â When you charge this type of money, you need to be in a truly separate class; if food is the sole differentiator. Â More often, it is the overall experience- cocktails, food, atmosphere and service that differentiates high end restaurants. Â
I for one was disappointed with the overall experience. Â Doubt I will go back. Â There are too many other good places in the same general area.
4.5 Stars for me!
After a super duper long hike (Cliff Hike), we were looking for a place to eat in the Newport, Rhode Island area and after checking menus at several places, we settled on 22 Bowens. Â They have a restaurant and two outside seating areas. Â We opted for the seating area that was closest to the water (and the harbor tour boats).
Even though we were very hungry, we aren't big eaters, so we shared the Baby Greens Salad ($8.95) and the 22B Burger ($9.95). Â We got a vinaigrette salad dressing and both the salad and burger were delicious!
Our server was Jessica and she was friendly, helpful and attentive. Â We told Jessica that we were splitting both dishes and the restaurant evenly split our food and put it on two plates so we didn't have to divide it ourselves. Â That was very thoughtful and nice! Â We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at 22 Bowens. Â Please see my pictures.
Xie Xie!!
With a bunch of money to spend on a girls getaway weekend, I picked 22 Bowens for dinner for our first night. Â I had gone to Salve Regina and remember always hearing amazing fancy things about 22 Bowens but never had the opportunity to eat there. Â
I made a reservation for five people on a busy Friday night at 9:30pm but we showed up at 7:30pm. Â I checked in with the hostess and let them know we were really early but wanted to check on tables. Â They graciously sat our party right away upstairs in the bar area and we were all thrilled by that gesture. Â Then things went downhill.
Our waitress was probably the most miserable person I have ever met in my life. Â She made it know that she did not give half a sh*t and did not want to go once inch above just taking our orders and taking off. Â We were about to spend a LOT of money and we were all a bit pissed at this situation. Â After our appetizers were delivered I went to speak to the manager about our waitress and he was more than apologetic. Â He asked if we wanted a different table and I said we would just prefer a different waitress. Â He sent a new waitress and she turned out to be sweet as pie.
The food. Â Well, the caesar salad was completely inedible. Â I mean like one bite and you push it away in disgust. Â I understand anchovies in a caesar, but when the entire salad reeks of the ocean it that just doesn't work. Â My scallops wrapped in bacon were undercooked (both the scallops and the bacon), the filet was average for the hefty price tag, and most of my party said their food was just okay. Â It just wan't good.
Would I ever go back? Â Absolutely not. Â For a menu with prices that high for subpar food and an air of superiority, 22 Bowens needs to check itself.
Very good location, and good (not great) food. The service was a tad stuffy overall (from our initial interaction with the hostess, the surly older gentleman who sat us, our waitress and a couple bus boys).
Menu choices are fairly basic fare. The prix fixe is a good deal (especially in pricey Newport). Portions are large. Bread pudding is very tasty.
Not worth a special trip to Newport, but if I was a local, I'd probably hit this place up fairly regularly.
Uggghhhhh........
We received a gift card to 22 Bowens from family. We would never have gone to this restaurant otherwise. We chose it out of the mess of similar restaurants that Newport group operates and decided to give it a shot tonight.
We arrived fifteen minutes before dinner seating began and sat at the bar waiting for a table. We were promptly seated at 5pm. So far so good.
Our server was a 30ish year old male and was excellent. Really, really good. He was attentive but not overbearing, cordial but casual. I couldnt say enough about his service. He belongs somewhere better.
We ordered the $65 dinner for two but opted to go without the wine since neither me or my girlfriend are big wine drinkers.
Soon after a basket of bread arrived. Three pieces. Why do restaurants do this with bread and apps? Make it an even number. This was the first sign of what was to come. The first roll I cut into was still cold in the middle, like semi thawed hadnt been in the oven long enough and was still kind of frozen, cold. A place charging these prices should probably make their own bread. I can excuse them using a frozen food service product but at least warm it up so I can pretend its fresh and not frozen.
For my first course I had the baby greens salad with honey vinaigrette. The best part of the meal! Excellent fresh greens, veggies and a really solid, slightly sweet homemade dressing. My girlfriend had the caesar salad and said the dressing was homemade as well and the romaine looked fresh and clean.
The next course was a chefs tasting intermezzo. We informed our server that my girlfriend has a shellfish allergy since these are usually spontaneously made and  ingredients vary. He brought us two very small vegetable spring rolls. They were crispy on the outside but again, room temperature at best. I suspect these were also a foodservice product. They may have been house made but if they were I would expect a lot better. They also didnt stick with the theme of the meal very well. Spring rolls? At a steak and seafood place? Really? At this point I really felt I was in for a really poor experience.
My main course was a "duo of land and sea ravioli". Â Supposedly duck confit and lobster. Unfortunately my duck confit must have somehow been switched with mushrooms because that was the ONLY flavor in the "land" ravioli. The pasta was fresh and housemade but....again.....luke warm at best. The loster ravioli was better, with lots of lobster and was actually reasonably warm. They gave me six ravioli total. I finished and was still really pretty hungry.
My girlfriends main course was a linguine with chicken, grape tomatoes, fresh basil, parmesan, garlic and, supposedly, saffron. While the pasta was actually very good and the portion much better than mine. I detected no saffron flavor. I dont know why saffron would be put in this dish anyways. It was actually fairly warm though and probably the best dish we had overall.
Dessert was a chocolate chip bread pudding. I was happy when he brought me a huge chunk of bread pudding. I took a bite and it was GOOD. But on my second bite, cold, again. It hadnt been microwaved thoroughly enough and had hot and cold spots. This is now the third separate item I had that was cold and was supposed to be warm. Whatever, i'll never be back anyways.
The server brought the check and it was $53. I dont really know what happened with the check (we never complained at all) but he did say the dinner would be $10 less since we didnt have the wine. This was slightly more than $10 less but still about $20 more than it was worth.
I left the server our $60 gift card and a $20 bill. He was awesome and deserved it. Hopefully he will go somewhere that the food can keep up with his service in the future.
I gave two stars but my real breakdown is 5 stars for service, 1 star for food (for the price) and maybe two and a half for classic new england baked schrody ambience.
Go somewhere else if you are actually thinking about going here for food.
I always sit at the bar when I go here. Joe is ALWAYS bartending which is great, he's a cool guy and always has some great suggestions and good stories.
I like this place because its so homey and a great place to go in the winter. The dark wood is so inviting. This place just LOOKS warm!
During the winter they have the seasonal menu for $19.95 which is pretty awesome. They have some great choices and you don't feel like you're getting crap for $20.
I also LOVE that I can go there and get a side of Mac & Cheese and a glass of red wine. That MAY be my favorite meal EVER.
(Im sure this place is crazy in the summer, and I prob wont ever attempt that trip. But the outside bar/patio is great in the summer.)
Great food, great service.
To me it's the type of place to go to for a special occasion for an excellent fine dining experience.
We started off with an order of crispy calamari with a mint pepper relish and it was DELICIOUS, portion size reasonable.
For the main course I ordered the broiled 10oz sirloin with saffron risotto. I liked that you could order ANY accompanying sauce with beef/sea dish of your choice. I also ordered a side of truffle mac n cheese and it was to die for. I'd consider getting that as my main dish next time with a salad!
The service was incredible. The set up in the restaurant is intimate and cozy.
I really liked its great ambiance, dinning setting and customer services.
I came here with my hubby and parents-in-law. We ordered one steam Lobster, one baked Lobster with seafood stuffing, one honey BBQ pork loin and a Prime Sirloin.
The lobster was absolutely delicious, I didn't need any source and flavoring to enjoy its natural taste, it was perfectly cooked.
We enjoyed every dish apart from...my hubby's sirloin. He requested it to be cooked in Pittsburgh Rare / Black & Blue, but I guess they just didn't serve it quickly enough, when it came to our table, the steak was already cold. We sent it back and asked them to heat it up, but it was no longer Pittsburgh rare. However, they made it up by offering us most tasty dessert and coffee, they were very apologetic as well, so I think the service certainly made it up.
They had a whole book of wine list, lots of choices, we just wished that there was a sommelier to recommend the wine.
Overall, great dining experience and would come back again.
I've been to 22 Bowens for a couple of special occasions and I am always pleased with the food, the service, and the atmosphere alike. Â The filet is out of this world, and since I knew what we were getting into, the price was right in line with my expectations. Â The service was good as I recall, nothing out of this world but GOOD. Â I'm okay with an unmemorable wait staff! Â What I like about the atmosphere is that as fancy as 22 Bowens can be at night, it's completely comfortable. Â In a world where most of us don't formally dine every night, it can be unnerving to go into a fancy place, but not here!
Only reason this is 4 stars instead of 5 is because it IS pricey, not somewhere we can go every Friday night ;-)
Great ambiance, on the waterfront and of course, excellent wine!
Loved my stuffed lobster dish.. Definitely worth the price. Â Good creamed spinach side dish as well. Â Date loved his dish. Â Have been here twice and both times the quality of the seafood dishes were definitely worth the price.
This is another jewel in the crown of Newport Restaurant Group.
I have eaten here on several occasions and not once have I been disppointed.
We met a friend of ours there and had a bottle of White Haven Sauvignon Blanc. Well, actually two. the first one was quite tasty.
Joe, our bartender was pleasant as always.
This is a place where you can go and grab a cocktail without the loud noise and bs of some spots. As Napa and Paris are grown up vacation destination spots, so too is 22 Bowens.
Disturbingly good lobster rolls! Â Much better than Black Pearl's (*gulp* I said it).
My order came with 2 mini lobster rolls over the weekend, sprinkled with bite size celery crunch and not, I repeat NOT soaked in mayo. Â It was the perfect brunch along with some crispy thick fries. Â My date had the eggs benedict and for once I wasn't eyeing him with contempt, as I was too busy gorging on the lobster rolls. Â We also had an order of fried risotto cake, which were really not much to write about. Â
Go for the lobster rolls, sit outside and soak in the sun filled dock. Â Order a sparkling wine or a bloody mary (hold the celery salt, I was not a fan). Â Lather, rinse, repeat.
We like going here for dinner during the off-season. Â It's much quieter, parking is easier, and we don't have to worry about the crazy crowds that are there in the summer.
We dined here last night and had a good experience. Â It wasn't crowded at all, which was great. Â I had the special soup, a butternut squash bisque, that was quite tasty, and my wife had the baby green salad, which was unexceptional except for the pumpkin bread croutons she said. Â For entrees, she wanted the grilled halibut, but they were out of that and were substituting striped bass, so she had the salmon, which was good (I had her leftovers for lunch a little while ago). Â I had a bone-in filet, which was also a special and was quite good. Â If a place has bone-in filet I always get it and have never been disappointed. Â It was cooked perfectly to order (medium rare+). Â For a side we had the roasted wild mushrooms, which were yummy as well.
Dessert was carrot cake, which also was good. Â The wine list, as noted in other reviews, is extensive. Â After having a martini to start, I had a Simi Cabernet that went really well with my steak. Â My wife had a Doli Cosmo, then some kind of "winter wonderland" martini, both of which she loved.
The staff, from the hostess, to the server, to the food runners, were all pleasant and efficient - no complaints with that at all.
Price was steep, but it's a "prime" steakhouse in Newport, and we've been there before, so it was to be expected.
We'll be back, probably sometime before the summer crowds make it stupid to even think about going over the bridge to Newport.
5 stars for the outside bar. Â 4 stars for lunch. Â 3 stars for dinner.
I frequently head to the outdoor bar at 22 Bowen's for drinks. Â The bartenders have always been very nice, you can't beat the views of the boats and the crowd is a nice mix of locals, tourists, and boat people. Â I wish their wine by the glass selection was better (but isn't that often an issue?) but they redeem themselves on that front by offering Newport Storm Blueberry. :-)
I've eaten lunch there twice - both times had sandwiches that were good, solid lunch fare. Â I love their chowder. Â I wouldn't bother if I couldn't sit outside, though - the indoor ambience is too old-fogey for me. Â Very bland. Â
We ate there for dinner and it was just OK. Â For a purported steak house, I was not wowed at all by the steak. Â Which I don't understand since they tout their USDA Prime steaks. Â So I'm not sure what was missing - but for $42 a pop for the sirloin it was disappointing. Â
I'll definitely go back for drinks and lunch, though.
OMG-we sat at the pier bar and I had the best martini Ever!! If you have the opportunity try the Bowen Tidal Wave. Â You only need two!! Nothing like having a martini right next to beautiful sailboats and handsome seamen(sailors)! Â lol....what a great afternoon! Â :-)
BTW-never ate there,but I will definitely go back!
5 for food, 5 for location/ambiance, 5 for wait staff, but have to give it a 4 overall cuz it is very expensive. Â If you are middle class (which I am), this place is pretty pricey. Â If you are the type who just stepped off your mega-yacht in Newport, this place would feel like home. Â This is not a jeans and T-shirt kinda place. Â Also, I do not recommend eating lunch here as it would feel like a rip-off.
AMBIANCE - Outstanding. Â They have indoor and outdoor seating. Â The place is kept very clean and very sharp at all times. Â In the summer time it is a place to be seen while relaxing over a fantastic dinner while people watching all the Richie Rich folks and sitting next to the water.
WAIT STAFF - I ate at the bar and the bartender was very cool. Â He knew when to help out and how not to interfere. Â Overall, I was very impressed with his professionalism. Â
FOOD - I had the "Bacon wrapped scallops" appetizer and it was outstanding. Â The scallops were HUGE and each one was savory. Â I was sad when I finally swallowed the last bight. Â I moved on to my entree of "Veal loin with polenta cake" which was just as incredible. Â It was arguably the best veal I have every had. Â Finally, I had the carrot cake desert. Â I should clarify that I am a carrot cake snob. Â The 22 Bowen carrot cake is NOT a good selection for desert (dry). Â With this exception the rest of the food was nearly perfect. Â This included the presentation and taste.
WINE - I had a bottle of the Shiraz, "Two Hands, 'Gnarly Dude'" which is a GREAT value and I highly recommend. Â Overall, their wine list is pretty good.
BOTTOM LINE - I will go back to 22 Bowen and I recommend it. Â It is a great place for a special occasion if you'd like to splurge. Â If you are a high roller, you will feel at home here.
22 Bowens hosted a large dinner for me (26 attendees) in connection with a convention I was attending. Â Bottom line: food was decent, service was good, wine list was good, price was very high, and there were some hiccups. Â Now, for the nitty gritty details.
I attend 2-3 conventions a year, and usually set up a dinner (or two) in connection with each one. Â Usually, restaurants are thrilled to have my business (imagine bringing a restaurant 25 lawyers eating on expense accounts). Â My experience was 22 Bowens was a bit off from the get-go, because rather than host the entire group as though they were regular diners, 22 Bowens wanted us to eat off a prix fix menu of limited options. Â Now, no restaurant had ever asked us to do this before, but this isn't totally unreasonable. Â It's a bit of a burden to try to prepare 25 entrees to be delivered simultaneously (although other restaurants in Newport did this---see my review of Whitehorse Tavern).
One item of extreme importance: the bill needs to be split evenly among the diners. Â I brought this to 22 Bowens attention repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the dinner, and was repeatedly assured that this could be done. Â Then, on the night of the dinner, I was told this could not be done, that the bill could only be split into 5 parts, and that everyone should just bring cash and split the bill that way. Â I host these dinners to spend time with friends of mine from across the country, not to argue with the hostess. Â If the bill couldn't be split, they should have been up-front with me, and I'd have gone elsewhere. Â It is unacceptable to try to pull the old switcheroo on the night of the event, and I had to twist some arms to get this problem solved.
The food was altogether decent, but no one walked away raving. Â In addition, the bill per person came to about $160. Â Now, we had appetizers, entrees, desert, and copious wine flowed, but this was one of the most expensive dinners I've ever hosted (the tab for these things usually runs about $100 a head, and the tab for other dinners during this convention hued closely to this average).
The waitstaff was awesome, easily the best part of the night. Â Two waitresses were dedicated to our group, and did just a fantastic job. Â In addition to the 20% gratuity added to our bill as a matter of course, a number of diners threw in more money, because we all recognized what a great job they had done.
So, 3 stars for Bowens: 1 star for decent food, 2 stars for decent waitstaff. Â No stars awarded for price or for me having to fight to get what I was promised.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
