Its a restaurant that's still very much in its infancy and still has some kinks to work out, but so far this new downtown spot is off to a pretty good start. My siblings and I took my Dad here for Father's Day. Surprisingly, it was packed (not with Father's Day peeps but rather a ton of folks in town for various conventions). The restaurant matches well with the feel of the Hotel Palomar in general. Modern and eclectic.\n\nAs for the food? They strongly encourage sharing dishes amongst the whole table so they offer have and full portions of all their dishes. For vegetarians, they have a farm fresh menu of various veggie combo dishes. For the appetizer, we got a full order of tater tots (yes, tater tots). Decent flavor, a little oily. For the main dish my Dad and I both got the short rib (which is huge by the way), while my bro got the fried quail, and my sis got the gizpacho. The short rib was juicy, fall off the bone tender with a perfect char. My brother's quail was pretty good, but we unfortunately discovered some bones still embedded in the quail. Not sure if it was supposed to be that way, but it was an unpleasant surprise from an otherwise tasty dish. My sister said the gizpacho was so-so. Overall, the food was good but not great as some dishes probably still need some work.\n\nThe atmosphere of the place and the friendly wait staff made up for some of this place's shortcomings and they even comped the appetizer for sitting us in a noisy area with the convention goers. They didn't have to do that, but it was a nice gesture.\n\nAs a whole, I would absolutely bring my friends here for happy hour as they have a really cool bar area with a decent cocktail selection and the modern look of the place is a great conversation piece. As far as the restaurant itself, I think it has potential. Its only been open two weeks and I know every new place goes through some growing pains, so I'm willing to give them a pass on some of menu misfires for now. Hopefully next time I come by they'll have worked out the kinks and lived up to their potential.
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