The Bristol

It's so rare when a place has the best of any dish I've ever tasted. It would be pretty crazy if a place had 2 of the best things I've ever had, but the Bristol actually has 3 of the best dishes I've ever had, making it off the charts in the number of stars I'd give it.

Roast Chicken- sounds pretty ordinary, roast chicken, but when cooked to perfection, it's an amazing thing-the best I've ever had. The skin is always very crispy, the bird juicy and tender with the perfect compliments. A dill spaetzle that's buttery and delicious and a crunchy salad consisting of apple, radish, celery, and parsley leaves that makes for a great pallette cleanser.

Apple Basque Cake- I'm not a dessert person. But, everytime I go to the Bristol, I always save room for dessert. During the fall and winter, they serve this cake that's crunchy on the outside, and doughy/ buttery on the inside...it's the most amazing texture. It's served with apple confit, cider sabayon, and candied walnuts. It's alwaus baked to order and is ridiculously good. The best dessert I've ever had.

Raviolo- this is becoming the best pasta I've ever had. It's a single, oversized ravioli stuffed with cheese, spinach, and and egg yolk. It's finished in a lemon brown butter, but when it's cut. the egg yolk comes oozing out and adds so much richness. It's gone in 3-4 amazing bites.

These 3 dishes put me in a food coma every time I go to the Bristol. But it's so worth it.

They also have some amazing snacks: duck fat fries in garlic aioli or pull-apart money bread with dill butter. These are always amazing as well.

The food is amazing, but the service not only matches the food, but exceeds it. Servers, hosts, all support staff is extremely accomodating and welcoming. They are also extremely perceptive of their customers- they know when a guest has waited too long for something and proactively solve the problem. Like many busy restaurants, I've waited a long time to be seated one night or a long time for food the other, but they do a great job recognizing when a customer has waited too long and fix the problem without the customer having to ask. THat is the difference between good service and outstanding service, which is why the Bristol will always be a place that I will go back to. Glad I live within walking distance!

I've avoided the Bristol during my brunch crawl because I just didn't trust the hype. Despite it being close to the expressway, parking being available, and in a cool neighborhood the menu just didn't seem varied and interesting enough. But I bit down and gave it a chance and I'm very glad I did.

For one, the service is awesome. The food came promptly, the servers checked in at the right times, and water was refilled frequently. Definitely the best service we've experienced so far.

The food was awesome. Like I stated earlier the menu isn't varied at all. But we all order something different and everything was executed perfectly. I guess I would rather have fewer intricate items than many decent dishes.

I ordered vanilla french toast. It was custard-like; almost like bread pudding which was unexpected and tasty. The table also ordered chilaquiles with pork belly, and Bristol was the only place which did pork belly correctly. We also ordered the sausage, biscuit and gravy dish along with ham eggs benedict. All were great and even more astonishing, serving sizes were huge. For the first time EVER I struggled finishing everything. You see my pictures? I never met a meal I couldn't finish.

We went at 11am on Saturday and the restaurant was half full. So if you don't want to wait an hour for generic brunch, DEFINITELY check out the Bristol.

We went last night.  Expectations were moderate and we loved it.  Service was casual and we never felt fushed for a Saturday night, we were there from 630 to 830.  Note that every item was split by two people and this was more than enough food.

First, the monkey bread is just a fun guilty pleasure.  Highly recomeneded.

The MB was followed by the the squash salad.  It had flavors that I did not expect.  Very hard to explain...spicy / peppery...crunchy....yummy.  If you order it ask the waiter to desribe it, as it is hard to articulate...but it is very good and worth trying.

The cavetelli was packed full of flavor.  A small portion but just enough for us to split and enjoy.  A little doughy, which we liked and cooked to perfection.

The chicken was divine.  Crunchy skin, offset by some melt in your mouth spatzel and well marinated crunchy salad.  I would get it agin...any day of the week.

Desert was the pinacle, which is abnormal for me.  Their french press coffee was delightful but the showstopper was the basque cake.  The cake came out piping hot.  It was the perfect blend of everything - buttery, not too sweet, not too rich, packed with flavor...you, must, order, this cake.  Mmm!

We'll be back.  Bravo!