Location: The Classic All Day
Preferred time: A late happy hour that turns into dinner
The Perfect Pair: Black and White Hummus and a bottle of the Colomé Malbec
The Classic All Day is a relatively new eatery in town located right on Washington Ave. It replaced Benjy’s, (don’t worry the Benjy’s in Rice Village is still open) as a new concept from the restaurateur Benjy Levit. He is also behind Local Foods, a lunch and dinner staple for us. Each place reminiscent of the other, but with different vibes. The Classic has a retro feel. The best way for us to put it into words is that we felt we needed a special occasion to go to Benjy’s for dinner, which is part of the reason we always just went there for happy hour, but Classic feels like it could be for a special occasion dinner OR a wonderful place to casually show up if you didn’t feel like cooking. The dishes at The Classic, although they have flavors from all over the world, feel homey and comfortable. You can order anything from a classic burger to Mushroom Casarecci to Steak Frites.
The Pals went to the Classic for a happy hour that turned into staying for dinner… classic. For starters, we ordered the Black and White Hummus and the Crispy Brussel Sprouts. The hummus was wonderful! The pickled veggies on top really brightened it up and made it feel like a full fledged snack. The pita bread that it came with was also sooooo good. It also seems to have come with enough Pita. We hate when the ratio is off and it seems that it always is! Does anyone else hate it when there aren’t enough crackers, chips, or bread pieces to even finish the dip!?! It’s the worst and we’re so glad it didn’t happen here. Plenty of pita for all the yummy goodness. The brussels sprouts were fantastic. We know not everyone is a fan of brussels sprouts and until about 2 years ago we pretty much were stubbornly avoiding them at all costs. Now, we are obsessed and have them any chance we get. Bonus: ordering them at a restaurant is great because your house won’t smell from you cooking them! Okay, so back to their brussels sprouts. They are covered in yummy goodies like honey-balsamic, gruyere cheese, and pomegranate seeds. They are a little sweeter than anticipated, but we recommend you order them because they rock.
Drinks. Of course we are going to talk about drinks. They have tasty cocktails that range from $9-$12, beer, and wine by the glass, 2 glass bottle, or bottle. Happy hour runs from 4-7pm. The variety of drinks on their happy hour is great. They have glasses of wine, bottles of wine, beer, and cocktails all at reduced prices. We did end up ordering our bottle of wine off of the wine list and not the happy hour due to the two bottles on happy hour not fitting what we were looking for taste wise and we did want the full bottle. We will have to go back and order the Gin and Juice on the happy hour though, we are so intrigued!
For dinner, we split the classic burger.It was delicious and perfect for us to split after the shareables for the table. Delicious. It hit the spot for sure. We are big fans of a classic burger and this fit the bill.
Peace & Pinot,
The Perfectly Paired Pals
Perfectly Paired 