Old Towne Grill

Where: Old Towne Grill, 295 W Center Street, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Devynne

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Flash-Fried Artichokes, Chicken Roulade, Old Towne Burger, Brownie Bottom Pie

What It Cost: ~$40.00 for two people (including tip)

What We Thought:

A new restaurant located underneath a dance club on Center Street, Old Towne Grill has a delicious menu and fun atmosphere. My sister and I lucked out and it was a beautiful evening outside, so we chose outdoor seating and enjoyed the ambience of a less-busy corner of Center Street. It was a surprisingly busy Thursday night at the restaurant - we were seated pretty quickly but some of the service was a bit slow, probably because the staff was still very new and it was a popular night. The menus are attached to large wooden boards, which is kind of cute, though awkward to actually hold up. Water was served in mason jars, but you can ask for straws, which makes it much easier to drink from.

We started with the flash-fried artichokes. They were pretty intensely salty, but with a spritz of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and the lemon-garlic aioli that accompanied them, they were just right. I've never had fried artichokes before, but they were a pretty good food to fry! It reminded me of that show "Can You Blend It?" but with frying food - "Can You Fry It?" It turns out that the answer to many foods, including artichokes, is yes!

I ordered the chicken roulade, which was described on the menu as "stuffed chicken breast with asparagus, roasted red pepper, + mozzarella + vegetables + tortellini + basil cream sauce." As you can see from the picture above, my dish did not appear like a typical stuffed chicken breast - they had taken the liberty of cutting the chicken and arranging it on the plate, with the tortellini and vegetables surrounding it. Devynne was immediately turned off by this ("It's not stuffed chicken!") but I actually liked it. It was still like stuffed chicken in that I could get a taste of everything in one bite, but they saved me all of the work of man-handling an awkwardly large chicken breast. Plus it looked good on the plate! Everything was prepared deliciously, with a seasonal selection of vegetables that were so fresh and a heavenly basil sauce. The tortellini were a nice touch, and there were some bright red tortellini in the mix - I've never seen pasta with such vibrant color! All in all, a delicious and hearty dish.

Devynne's burger was, in one word, INTENSE. A huge patty served with melty blue cheese and FRIED bacon - yes, as if bacon wasn't unhealthy enough, they flash-fried it for good measure! Of course this was delicious, and the overall combination was sinfully gratifying. The bun was fresh and toasted, and even though Devynne mentioned that the blue cheese flavor wasn't very strong, we both agreed that it was one heck of a burger. It was served with a heaping pile of skinny fries - I think I may be jumping on the skinny fry boat soon, because these were fantastic!

As if we hadn't eaten enough, we decided to go for a dessert as well. On the menu, our choice was described as a "brownie bottom pie," which sounded awesome and I could only imagine what the filling of such pie would be. Unfortunately, it was basically just a big brownie, very un-pie-like, but at least it was one of the most delicious brownies I've ever had! It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (boring), cinnamon ice cream (unique and surprisingly good with the brownie), and raspberry sauce (which actually tasted like raspberries, not artificial flavors!) We inhaled it in 0.5 seconds, and were more than satisfied.

What You Should Do: Definitely give Old Towne Grill a try! I would probably wait until they have been established a little longer so that the servers have more experience, or go at a time where they will not be very busy because our meal did take quite a long time and by the end of the night, it was dark outside and I'm pretty sure I got two bug bites. But the food was good and they have so many other things on the menu that I want to try!

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