Millie's Kitchen @ Uptown Tavern

Bottom Line: The proprietor pushes fancy food and drink crafted with a small town bludgeon.

Arriving late in St. Claire didn't leave too many possibilities for fine dining and drinks for my friends and I. Yelp didn't reveal a mecca of modern food or advanced gastronomy nearby either. But Millie's called to us, desperately, like a lonely emo girl tucked away in your grandfather's retirement home. Street parking nearby, we scurried through the drizzling rain into it's large dining and pool hall. Dark and tacky, I appreciated how honest it was. The long bar ran the entire front of the restaurant. It made no effort to dress up the thin and simple tables or stack-able city hall chairs. The juke box barely worked and only after the host coaxed it to accept out dollar bills.

The other patrons were content with surfing the internet while the box television hummed behind the bar with the local news. But we were there for laughs and drinks. The host wasn't snobby or especially coarse. What he was was excited and proud about his food and spirits. And he wasn't afraid to show it off. The bar fare is ok and the burger, cheese fries, and wings polished some late night tummy rumblings. I ordered the deep friend peanut butter sandwich ala mode because it was a star attraction. Decent, it shot for gold but only managed a bronze. Unperturbed, the host started crafting drinks.

He didn't use a series of bitters.
He didn't fresh squeeze apples or exotic pears.
He didn't clap release the aroma from fresh plucked Argentinian mint leaves.

But damn he made some tasty drinks. Using rudimentary mixes, flavored whipped cream, and a desire to please, every one of his drinks was satisfying, fairly innovative, and deviously alcoholic. The presentation wasn't the greatest, the technique a little... blunt...., but his excitement for his creations motivated us to try more.

That is why I want to go back. That is why I want to give him a blank check and willing gullet. And that is why I am a fan. It isn't the best I've had and the digs are a little rough but it's got potential and moxie. And I want more.