Dandelion Market

I love a tapas place as I often travel alone and these places allow me to add more variety to my meal. I was in the Queen City on business and my Yelp Mobile App led me here.  I liked this place enough to visit more than once.

This place has a nice dark pub atmosphere.  It was so dark that I actually needed to use the flashlight on my phone a time or two to see the menu.  To me the emphasis seems to be on the bar as opposed to the restaurant.  The tables actually look uncomfortable.

One of my visits was on a Monday night and $3 drafts were featured.  Every brew was #3 and that means about twenty taps.  That's a great deal and at 7:30 the place was packed.  The beer list is decent and well thought out.  It's not Flying Saucer crazy big but it's broad enough to satisfy most beer folks.  They also have a short list of specialty cocktails that they execute beautifully. The Cucumber Mint Mojito was excellent.

By the way, the bartenders here are excellent and customer service was never a problem.

The first tapa I ordered was the BAKED POTATO CROQUETTES - $6 that came with aged cheddar, Beeler's bacon and scallion cream. They arrived quickly and were plated beautifully.  They were good but not great.  None of the flavors had enough intensity to really tingle my taste buds.  They are missing something and the chef needs to think that through.

Next up was SAUSAGE STUFFED POBLANO PEPPER - $8 with Italian sausage, cheese, and house made crema.  Now this was more like it.  This dish was bursting with flavors that melded together perfectly.  I enjoyed every morsel.

Finally, on another visit, I tried the MUSTARD ALE CHEDDAR SLIDERS - $9 with Beeler's bacon and  l&t.  What was inside the bun was one of the best sliders I have ever tasted.  It was juicy, perfectly seasoned deliciousness.  Unfortunately the bun spoiled what could have been an amazing plate.  First it was cold which is totally unacceptable and second it was slightly dry.  What a shame. The bun should have been fresh and grilled.  One again this was a miss by the chef.

I want to love this place and it has a lot going for it. The atmosphere and the beers are right on.  The menu looks fantastic but the execution was flawed with two dishes I tried.  It's time for some attention to detail.  I can sense greatness but we're not quite there yet.

I love tapas so I suggested to my group that we visit Dandelion Market.  This was my first visit, but based on the reviews I figured I'd definitely find something great.  The atmosphere was cozy and the service was outstanding.  Plates ordered were:  sweet and sour green beans, crab cakes, spinach and goat cheese salad, prosciutto crostini, mac & cheese, black bean sliders and grilled chicken wings.  Highlights: the sweet and sour green beans made me want to try and make them at home; I mean, they were beyond good.  The crab cakes were also tasty.  The other dishes, minus the crostini and sliders were pretty good.  The crostini was well executed, but I couldn't get past the tendons(?) in the bacon, which I ended up spitting out because they were so difficult to chew (not cute).  The black bean sliders I'd have to say were the worst dish of the evening.  I ended up sending them back and getting crab cakes.  They were bland, tasteless.  Besides those, the rest of the food was definitely worth going back for.

I give this place 4 stars mainly because of the atmosphere. We sat upstairs at this huge wooden table, it was so cool. The lighting is very dim and it was a little loud, but not too bad. I really enjoyed it. The food was good, but not great. My 2 favorite items we tried were the fried pickles and the schezuan green beans. It's a fun place for a group for sure that way you can get several things and share them!