Red Gravy is Open – So Have You Tried It?

By on December 26, 2012 2:28 pm in Food

Saul Bolton’s Red Gravy is open for business in the former Mezcal space at 151 Atlantic Avenue. Yelpers are raving (FWIW) as “Aimee” writes:

We’ve eaten here twice already. It was packed but took 5 minutes to be seated. I’d like to sit at the bar but it was mobbed with diners. So far, we’ve had the nicest service. New places in the neighborhood have no sense of proper service even at a casual dining restaurant but I’m always impressed at how thoughtful it is.

The arancini are sublime, we had an extra guest at our table so we naturally had to get two orders. Yeah, 2. The meatballs as well are a thing of beauty in a little pond of polenta.

The orecchiette itself was al dente, the sausage super spicey with almost perfume like flavors. So good. The porgy was light and clean.

We are always looking for someplace close to grab ( some arancini ) and wine. It’s perfect.

BHB reader Val Frankel noted the opening last week:

So have you gone yet? What say you?

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  • Gravy’s Ghost

    Tried it. Loved it. Great antipasti. Beautiful atmosphere. Good cocktails. Awesome desert. Don’t tell outsiders!

  • Gravy’s Ghost

    dessert. though would be more impressive if they had a desert.

  • zburch

    Tried it the week that it opened. The interior is a little sterile. Went with my husband and two friends. My friend and husband had the Sunday gravy and thought it was good, I can’t remember what I had, but whatever it was, it was just meh. Nothing new here which is a shame. There are so many Italian restaurants in the area and they aren’t offering much that is different or better.

  • zburch

    Just looked at the menu to jog my memory. I had the octopus, which was not good at all which was a bummer because I love octopus. For my entree I had the bucatini con sarde, another one of my favorite dishes…it was OK, not great.

  • Boerum Bill

    I’m a sucker for octopus! (get it?)

  • Newshound

    They do not have a menu in the window. That is a real turn-off.

  • http://www.strangedoginn.com Paula Monroe

    Our Vancouver guest at our first dinner here sighed “This is not dinner, it’s a dining experience!” For at least a year my husband and I anticipated this new Saul opening and are not disappointed. This first night the three of us shared the Red Gray Sunday dinner served family style by a gracious, easily attentive staff. Every bite from the melt-in-your- mouth meatballs to the carefully designed deserts — delicious. We have promised ourselves a try through each of the daily specials and will then pick off the other items in subsequest visits. Of course, this will take several weeks of fine dining. Looking for another Michelin star for Saul and Brooklyn.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Interesting that the “Strange Dog Inn” (found by following Paula Monroe’s link, above) has a “no pets” rule. Is that because there’s a strange dog in permanent residence there?

    Addendum: Took the trouble to follow the “About Us” link at the Strange Dog website, and found there is indeed a strange dog there, along with three cats.

    Looking forward to trying Red Gravy.

  • Wow

    Wow – no menu in the window. One star! Seriously, people…

    I’m all for the democratization of restaurant reviews – Yelp, etc. But could people please not review restaurants based on a little spastic service on the first couple nights a place is open? Launches are tough and places take a while to work out kinks. The food was great on an early trial. Really nice apps. Good pasta. Amazing gelato.

    Great addition to the neighb.

    (If service is at Oh My Pasta levels in a month, feel free to complain. But it was totally smooth for me just a week in.)

  • elemengee

    Have watched the restaurant being built, but was turned off when I asked one of the workers a while back what they were building. He said an Italian restaurant named Red Gravy. Red Gravy said I quizically. He said, “Yeah, you know like brown gravy only this is made with tomatoes so they call it red gravy. It will be a while before I trudge from Clark Street to Atlantic Avenue for “red gravy” whatever that is.

  • WillowNabe

    elemengee,
    Seriously? You rate a restaurant by what a worker said?
    Gravy is what Italians call spaghetti sauce.

  • Wiley E.

    Probably southern Italian fare. Tomatoes are the primary sauce ingredient in southern Italian dishes.

  • Mr. Crusty

    Elemengee that has to be one of the most ridiculous comments I have heard in a while and it is obvious you are unfamiliar with the fact that Italians refer to tomato sauce as gravy.

  • Newshound

    I like elemengee’s review. Little things mean a lot and I understand his opinion. Red Gravy sounds a little gross.

  • Mr. Crusty

    That was a review? What did he/she review other than the name?

    Perhaps not the best name perhaps for a restauraunt but it pales in comparison to the below restauraunt names provided by Zagot.

    Asellina
    This Italian eatery at the Gansevoort Park Avenue Hotel in NYC has a name that probably means something beautiful in Italian, but in English suggests an unappetizing reference to a not-so-sanitary part of the human anatomy. Personally, we don’t want to think about anyone’s a*s anywhere near our food.

    Beaver Choice
    When we saw the name of this Arizona Scandinavian eatery, we couldn’t help but think to ourselves: beaver…huh-huh. Good name, guys – we all know how much beavers love Scandinavian food.

    Big Wong
    This Manhattan Chinese restaurant is a Chinatown legend but its name makes us immature Americans snicker like frat boys.

    Crabby Dick’s
    This Mid-Atlantic seafood chain’s name is probably just a silly play on the owner’s first name, but it’s certainly not making us hungry for King Crab legs.

    Crapitto’s
    This Houston Italian was going to call itself porta-pottie-itto’s, but they decided that was too crass.

    Fu King Chinese
    Read the name of this Florida Chinese eatery too quickly and you might think someone just dropped the F-bomb.

    Goat Lips
    The owners of this Florida deli really should have run this name through Urban Dictionary before rolling with it. Just sayin’.

    9021Pho
    This Beverly Hills Vietnamese makes a humorous play on the famous zip code, but does it really work as a restaurant name? 9021…no.

    Phat Phuc
    While “Phuc” in Vietnamese actually means blessings and luck, the swear word it sounds like in English makes for a silly name for a London noodle bar. But phuc – we kind of love it.

    Pink Taco
    If a pervy, double entendre–laden name is going to work anywhere, it’s Vegas, which is where this popular Mexican chain originated. While the name doesn’t seem to be turning off most patrons on the whole, the brand has had a few run-ins with offended women in Arizona when it tried to open a Scottsdale location. But ownership defends itself by claiming the name is based on its signature dish – and although certain things are legal in Nevada, they sure aren’t serving that.

  • Andrew

    Tried going to Red Gravy on Thursday night. Was turned away. At 8:40 on a Thursday night, we were told “We can’t accomodate you” with a deadpan look. When asked why, the maitre’d, who was not very nice, said “We’ve had a very rough night, and we’re closing the kitchen early.” I can cut them slack for being a new restaurant, but what was that supposed to mean? I can see it if it was mobbed full of people, or if they had run out of food (Brooklyn Crab, anyone?). But what does “we’ve had a very rough night” mean? Its fine if you have, but be nice about it at the very least.

    Not only was it a major turn off for a space that hasn’t done very well. It’s a total dealbreaker as far as a neighborhood restaurant is concerned. I don’t think I will go there again anytime soon and will advise all my friends the same.

  • Capulet

    I understand ‘gravy’ is how American Italians refer to pasta sauce. Which leads me to believe the restaurant’s theme is American Italian fare, which not the same as Italian.

  • Wow

    Wow. A lot of you are real morons.

  • WillowNabe

    Capulet,
    You should read the menu. I think I found it online.
    It most definitely was not your typical American fare Italian!

  • WillowNabe

    Newshound,
    You call elemengee’s critique of the restaurant a “review”.
    I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. A review of a restaurant
    means that you actually ate there. You know, you sit down, you order food and drink, you bring the fork to your mouth, you eat the food, etc, etc, etc.
    Then and only then should you be able to say that you have “reviewed” a restaurant!
    What am I missing here?

  • Moni

    You are all so funny. However, some of you are – pardon my saying so — ignorant and probably would not know a good restaurant from an Olve Garden. Have a little patience. Give Red Gravy a chance to get its act together.

  • Newshound

    I like elemengee’s review. I will not eat there because of what he witnessed. Brooklyn Heights now has the two worst restaurant names in NYC-Red Gravy and Noodle Pudding. Oh My Pasta was a pretty bad name too.

  • harumph

    I have not been to Red Gravy yet – but these responses are positively ridiculous. @Elemengee’s story is not a review – they never tried the food. As for being turned away the first week bc they had to work out the kinks – isn’t that rather normal? Saying otherwise would be like trying to ride a bike for the first time and not ever hesitating or stopping. While I’m a pretty harsh critic when it comes to food, I wait to actually eat the food before I give an opinion. I agree it is poorly named, but not going because it is called that is downright stupidity. The chef that owns it has good enough reputation that warrants a try. period. These comments make me feel like I live in the suburbs of Cleveland. Truth.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    harumph: There is a suburb of Cleveland called Brooklyn Heights. Maybe we’re attracting some readers from there.

  • Hicks on Hicks

    All we need to know is that this is another project by Saul of Smith Street. Saul has definitely earned its Michelin star and we look forward to sample Saul’s take on Italian fare.

  • Mr. Crusty

    Wouldn’t we, as Brooklyn Heights residents, want a restaurant to be successful in the neighborhood? Isn’t it preferable to an empty, ugly storefront for who knows how long. Yes one would think that would be desirable to all. And yet we have comments here critical of the restaurant without even sampling what it has to offer or basing it on one incident that happened during the start-up. Yep, lets condemn the joint before they even have a couple weeks under their belt.

    Well, we are Heights residents after all and we reserve such rights to indiscriminately condemn based on scant evidence. It is what we live for.

  • v_v

    Had dinner there on Friday and was quite disappointed. We love Saul, but this place is far from Saul. Orechiette was bland, mushroom ravioli on the other hand was too overpowered by the mushroom and had no sauce whatsoever, it also was undercooked and way crunchier than al dente should be. Ordered the sesame semi-fredo for dessert and it was hard as a rock, nothing semi about that!
    The arincini were indeed good, but a nice home made dipping sauce with it wouldn’t hurt. The bread with the white beans was good, although not quite Po like!
    Overall came away disappointed. Too bad.

  • Wiley E.

    The location seems to be cursed.

  • mcc foody

    elemengee…come on honey, gravy, you don’t know anything about Italian food. Gravy is Italian sauce so walk from Clark street, get some exercise and and try it. Sorry to hear criticism without trying the product first.

  • Capulet

    @WilloNabe
    I actually walked by the other night and read the menu – it looks really interesting and can’t wait to try it – the wait was too long that night so we went somewhere else.