The Owl House Review

Owl House is a very, very, very fine house . . . vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free in a charming old house (not Hooters).

My girlfriends and I went out last night to Owl House which has been garnering a lot of fabulous press lately including many yummy comments on Facebook. As someone who loves herself a cheeseburger but wishes she were a vegan, I just had to try it. After watching Food, Inc. a while back, I've been yearning to find great tasting yet good-for-ya (and the livestock) food. And, it's the New Year: time to eat well, right?

On Google, it has 31 reviews and 4.5 stars from sources such as Open Table, Beer Advocate, and TripAdvisor. Pretty impressive, huh!

On UrbanSpoon, it has 10 reviews and 5.0 stars. A perfect record.

On Facebook, it has over 1300 fans including six of my friends. Ah but not the friends I was with last night.

One word: Meh.

But first, our waitress was one of the best servers on the planet. No joke. Charming. Smiling. Affable. Helpful. Calm. Patient. Absolutely perfect. She was imported from Vancouver by way of Toronto or some such. Loved her. And the rest of the front of the house. It's a very warm and friendly atmosphere.

The food was, technically speaking, yucky. The cornmeal crusted, smoked tofu? Deep fried to a greasy perfection. I awoke in the middle of the night with stomach pains. The crunchy tilapia tacos? Flavor-for-flavor, identical twin to the smoked tofu. In a blind taste test, it would be impossible to differentiate between the two. I could go on but I cannot be bothered. Lentil burger? Okay when drenched in garlic mayo. Sirloin steak sandwich? Grizzle galore. A Sarah Palin favorite.

The best foods that we tried? #1: Grilled flatbead with fig, pear and goat cheese. Delicious. #2: The smoked trout hummus. #3: The rosemary & cracked pepper fries. (Because who doesn't like fries on a new year "diet"?)

Would I go back? Oddly enough, yes. It still contains the promise of something more. The whisper of health that better selections from the menu may have offered. Maybe, just maybe, the "real" chef called in sick and we were there on an off night? Or they have since cleaned the deep fryer? (Ack.)

Keep ya posted.