The Vault

LOVE the free parking! One of the few restaurants you can park outside of in the downtown area without paying $5 and up. The decor was really cute, and the service was great, but i'd kind of hate to see this place on a busy night. The table next to us wasn't being overly loud, but the way sound bounces around in this place I could barely hear my table companions. Once they left we were good. The food was pretty good - good enough for me to go back and try something else. I had the Pimento Mac & Cheese, which was really creamy and perfect the way mac & cheese should be with a little kick! The apricot iced tea is worth mentioning, so be sure to order a glass.

For anyone who is interested, they can customize several of the menu items to either be vegetarian or vegan. I like places with options for everyone!

FINALLY my husband and I had a chance to try Vault after hearing so much about it.  We both really enjoyed our meal, the ambiance and the service.  

So first, the ambiance:  The Vault has a very retro feel.  We were seated upstairs on the outdoor patio that had fun colored chairs.  The space reminded me of the Wonder Years but perhaps a little more trendy.  Initially I was a little turned off because it didn't seem all that warm and inviting but it grew on me.  

The service was relaxed but really on point.  As we were seated upstairs, our waitress had to run downstairs each time we needed something.  However, despite that inconvenience for her, she was prompt and never forgot anything from our multiple requests ("can we get some tabasco please?"  "another round of cocktails!" etc).  Also, she had some great menu suggestions!

The food was fantastic.  We started with the quinoa cakes.  We weren't expecting this to be a star dish but it seemed like it would balance out the fattiness of the rest of our order.  However, they were delish!  They did actually seem healthy and still had awesome flavor and texture.  Next we had the pimento mac and cheese and the pan-fried portobello.  The mac and cheese was pretty good.  The portobello was AWESOME.  It was really inventive, meaty and wholesome.  It mimicked chicken fried steak but WAY better (from what I can remember of chicken fried steak).  The mushroom came atop fluffy mashed potatoes accompanied by some basic veggies and a delicious gravy.  We ended with the chocolate bread pudding that you MUST order.  It's really large, so be sure to share.

So overall, we really enjoyed it and highly recommend the Vault.

Great food, great staff!

Had dinner last night and everything we ordered was amazing and tasty.
The food was surprisingly good! Surpassed my expectations :)
Definitely coming back.

The place is really nice inside and out. Definitely an all season restaurant!