Solas… A Whole Week of Slams
So the Solas update continues!As my boss and I discussed last night at dinner… I don’t wait in lines… what’s the point? There is always a multitude of other establishments ready for the business and always ready to serve.
Well I’ll I have to give it to them… Solas was ready to serve. I had a friend call me that suggested dinner at Solas, to try it out, so we went to see what the culinary snob had to say.I’ll give the kitchen at Solas at an A-… and this is why… We started out with the Lamb Lollipops and Duck Quesadillas. The Lamb Lollipops are so far from my recommendation list that they strike a new category on the food that I have sampled… they rank so low on the totem poll they may tie with the food served at the nastiest hole-in-the-wall southern restaurant that should take the cake but fail with cuisine as easy as fried chicken in the South. Even the sauce made it even more unbearable.However, I must say the duck quesadillas were striking high on the list for duck dishes in
Raleigh. I’m not typically a duck fan… because of the oil consistency in duck meat… but Solas served it up in one of the tastiest tortillas I have ever experienced. Mad props to the chef and his guacamole concoction!
The warm goat cheese salad I heard was incredible but we skipped straight to the
Kobe beef entree which we had prepared rare with the Lobster Risotto and Wild Mushroom sides. I’ll have to say…
Kobe beef has not seen a better grill in Raleigh and the chef cooked it perfect to order and had the sides steaming hot delivered to our table at the same time. Super impressive and, once again, a compliment to the kitchen staff.
Two small plates, a large plate and two sides filled the two of us so we skipped dessert… called some friends and went topside for an encore on the drinks. After a small deliberation on the third floor access…we settled on the second floor balcony where drinks were served by a super nice waitress poised for conversation but incredibly slow on the drink orders. My friend’s grandmother could have walked from the bar at Solas to her secret stash in the cellar quicker than this girl could pick up a drink from the bar. Also, a notable observation, from the peanut gallery, was the crowd’s reluctance to move out on the glass dance floor that hovered above the main dining room.
After meeting some new folk on the 2nd floor balcony we decided to move upstairs to the roof top… which the guy… who the hostess downstairs said took his job incredibly too seriously… told us it was a 30 minute wait. We said, “We’ll move on” and he quickly granted us access to his “so” precious rooftop bar. I must say… it was a pretty cool space… like the rest of the building… they did a great job on the design work… but the crowd upstairs was less than desirable. I would call it a mix between wanna-be club crawlers (who may have come from larger cities) and outskirt folk who come to town to spend their hard earned dollars on drinks.
These people are what my neighbor refers to as BAT’s… defined up North in
Manhattan as Bridge and Tunnel’s. I have never heard that before… obviously being born and reared in the South… It was not that uncommon that I learned a new term! So the outskirt folk… which I would typically have crazy fun with in a pool hall in Johnston County singing karaoke and slammin’ Miller Lites mixed with the half buttoned shirts with the ties around their neck like they just got out of a trial but are so far from a lawyer folk just were not a mix of a crowd for me. We left within 20 minutes.
So my critique has changed a little after finally being granted the good graces of the bouncers and allowed access to the “hippest” spot in
Raleigh…I still say the ‘tude has got to go… we make no room for that kind of BS in Raleigh. Their drama is for your Mama! The food… minus the Lamb Lollipops is (as we said in the early Millennium) off the chain! The 2nd floor… good lookin’ wait staff ready to serve with the sluggish assistance of the bar staff slowin them down! And a third floor packed with the craziest mix of people I have ever seen… You have better luck checkin out The Goat on Western Blvd on a Tuesday at 3pm in the Parking Lot.
So that’s that… no more to say… Probably will not ever revisit the bar scene but more than likely be back to check out the menu as it continues to evolve.
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Comments
great post…and you didn’t even have to wait in line. I find when you decline the “wait” you seem to get moved up quicker. The goatcheese salad sounds yummy!
Anyone who knows me knows I’m more of a laid-back, pub kinda gal. But a bunch of my chicas and I recently got dressed up and headed to Solas and I have to say we had a fabulous time. We had no troubles getting in. No one was charged a cover, even though there allegedly is one after 10 p.m. As soon as we made it to the second floor (it was raining so we couldn’t go to the third) a waiter cleared off a big booth for us. A few moments later the manager, Matt, came to check on us. We still hadn’t been waited on, so he quickly sent someone over. The wine was reasonably priced and while the service wasn’t fabulous (they’d only been open for a little over a week, so they were working out some of the problems I’m sure) the managers were very helpful. When one of us had to wait a while b/c they ran out of the Pinot Grigio she ordered, the manager waived our entire tab. Not bad at all. The music wasn’t fabulous, but the dance floor was super hot. The view from the first floor (we had to go downstairs to check it out) is super rad. The balcony offered the best views on Glenwood and overall we had a blast. I’d totally go back again and again, despite this not being a place I would typically consider my scene.
Glad to hear they are shaping up! I would definitely irecommend the duck quessidillas! But I have heard that girls in skirts aren’t diggin’ the dance floor… considering the view from below!
I don’t understand why everyone keep slamming Solas. I have been there to eat twice and for drinks about five times and everytime it gets better. For a place that opened a couple of months ago they sure seem to have their s*%@ together! Thank God, Raleigh has a reason to move off the farm.
I love this place and i think the food is amazing !! i have to laugh at people are giving them such a hard time ! its very evident that people in raleigh really are redneck i guess if its not covered in gravy its Sh#t ! moved here 5 months ago and am delighted to have something so different!and as for dress codes why not ! why does everything in this town have to be baseball hats. flipflops , and shorts ,
Raleigh needs to grow the fu#k up!
i hear all this attitude…. I took the time to make a reservation for a roofspot for a girlfriends bday- They requireda guest list for my party, which I thought was odd, but when we arrived there was no wait in line or no wait to the roof. All the people trying to get in for free or because they knew someone were the biggest attitudes in the place- If I paid $500 to take my friends out , I have paid to get in and have my space on the roof. I dont need weave around people that need to get in for free to drink a lite beer! If you want to come in pay the money and relax.
Beautiful decor and atmosphere! Timely service and friendly staff and management. We went by for after-dinner drinks and got right in as the doorstaff was more then happy to explain to my husband and I what the place was about. On Friday and Saturday night’s they charge a $10 cover after 10 p.m. for the 2nd and 3rd floors. And because of the popularity of the 3rd floor they reserve sections on the roof for those who call ahead during the week. No one wants to stand elbow to elbow on a packed roof, so there is a doorstaff member on the stairway limiting access to roof, and this is just to keep it comfortable. I don’t think Solas is trying to be elitist, but it just seems like a logistical nightmare for something brand new for Raleigh. I pitied the doorman up front, … I wouldn’t want to have to deal with all the pretentious people he sees all night, I don’t know how he kept he head.
[…] Well I’ll I have to give it to them… Solas was ready to serve. I had a friend call me that suggested dinner at Solas, to try it out, so we went to see what the culinary snob had to say.I’ll give the kitchen at Solas at an A-… and this is why… We started out with the Lamb Lollipops and Duck Quesadillas. The Lamb Lollipops are so far from my recommendation list that they strike a new category on the food that I have sampled… they rank so low on the totem poll they may tie with the food served at the nastiest hole-in-the-wall southern restaurant that should take the cake but fail with cuisine as easy as fried chicken in the South. Even the sauce made it even more unbearable.However, I must say the duck quesadillas were striking high on the list for duck dishes in….read more […]