ARC Restaurant Food & Libations

Honestly its more like 4 or 4.5 stars but Noah the owner, who used to be a sales rep of mine years ago, is a super cool guy and hes really onto something here.

First of the decor is super chic. Dark and modern....I love it

If there is a wait they take your cell number and call you instead of giving you that stupid thing that lights up and vibrates when they signal you....extra points for that!

Minimalist menu that leaves much to the imagination.  They give you a very simple description of what the menu item is and you prety much have to have a leap of faith.

Wine and beer list is very nice.....All the wines were 10 bucks a glass.  Plus he had a Xerello on the menu, which is awesome and seldom seen as no one even knows what it is unless youre a total wine dork.  Very interesting array of beers as well...

Meatballs.....were very good but tasted similar to the "Dip".  Pork was very good, Slow-roasted Pork shoulder with citrus white beans.  The bacon was good, nice and thick cut but a little overdone...but still its bacon.

I saw the cheeseburger that everyone has talked about.....Pretty impressive!

While i believe that they still need to iron out a few wrinkles, they are rally onto something.

The cons: Tiny place, not many tables. I could see it hard to get in late at night if people are camped out drinking...

The pros: No corkage.

At long last, I had my golden opportunity to try Arc. So with my friends Dawn C and Terry M, we got a nice snootfull of the good life with the beautiful people and them some, at the countercultural-wannabe wonder that is SoCo.

Cool place, laid-back vibe, blues piped in. First off, let me point out that obviously, nearly every establishment at SoCo is forced to pick a color theme: either brown, black, or white. Arc chose black with sly hints of brown. I don't know what that really has to do with anything in my review, but there's a subliminal racial message in there somewhere...I'll work on that on my own time. Meanwhile,

I am NOT buying the line that *everything* at Arc is cooked in that wood-fire oven. It would be absurd to expect beans to arrive at the proper texture and doneness if everything was placed into the skillet at once; you would have undercooked beans and/or overcooked meat, and your veg would be unrecognizeable..oh, wait...

Food breakdown:

Tart: Huh? a plain piece of flat bread shaped like a pizza but with a saltine cracker in its pedigree, sprinkled with cheese, parsley, and little diced pork pieces. The bottom and edges tended toward black. I felt it was a travesty, but our party of four consumed it quickly as an appetizer -- it's that primal instinct to "horde" food, triggered by the long wait for anything resembling food or service to make it to our table. 2 stars.

Pig: a nice skillet of tenderloin, served on top of a bed of black beans that could have stood more cooking time. I suppose if you had to sacrifice the integrity of one for the other, then it was okay to undercook the beans so as not to overcook the pork. Overall, great fork-tender texture and flavor on the pig. 4 stars.

Fish: Mahi Mahi skillet with roasted squash and slivers of white onions. Pretty good...3 stars.

Duck: I commented that I must have gotten the midget duck for my portion, then realized that was a politically incorrect term. There is no excuse for such insensitivity, and I apologize. I should have said my duck had to have been the bastard runt of his clutch. The brussel sprouts were okay if you overlook the coat of char completely covering all of them...in haute cuisine land, burnt-to-a-crisp may be considered a delicacy, but where I come from, it's a badge of the grillmaster's ineptitude. I was so hungry, I ate them anyway -- AND the charred lemon half that should have been a grilled heirloom tomato :P.  2 stars.

Libations: Ah, now we arrive at the real strength of this place and probably the more worthy portion of our meal. I am not much of a drinker, but upon entering I sensed right away that it was necessary to try one of their concoctions; I had the Jack Rose and the man chose a very potent red ale. I would go so far as to say that these drinks did a lot to ease our impatience with how long everything took to accomplish at Arc. If ever I return, I wouldn't attempt a meal without libations *and* the conversation of great friends.

We arrived during a quiet Sunday evening, we were seated right away, and from that point on, the wait for every blessed thing was excruciating. That would have been excusable had the food been consistently excellent, but it was hit-and-miss, 50/50. Judging by the number of reviews lauding the casserole, I would have been happier with that, and the calimari instead of the "tart". Ah well, we chose what we chose, and it wasn't enough to tempt us into a repeat vist anytime soon. But if you're buying...;).

Mazeltov!

I went there with my Husband and it was a disappointment to us. Sad to see the GM drunk at his place of work. Food ok tomato sauce needed more seasoning, hamburger looks good but was cook at the wrong temp