Northstar North has opened - a soft, unadvertised opening for lunch and dinner only; full service will begin sometime in April. Because it's only recently opened, I will only highlight the positives. Expect a full review sometime in May.
A few design kinks have been worked out from the original Northstar - the line area is more spacious, and there is more of a barrier between the door and the seats. Anyone who has visited the Short North Northstar location on a Sunday morning knows how irritating it is to wait in line for 45 minutes, watching people walk around with their food looking for tables while some people sit, holding their tables. Apparently, the sign asking guests to wait until they've ordered to find a table doesn't apply to everyone; just the masses.
The kitchen of the new Northstar is huge. Strangely huge, considering the size of the menu. The first thing one notices about the kitchen is the large rotisserie full of golden chickens. I immediately had two thoughts: why don't you chop up some of those chickens and put the pieces on a nice big salad, and two: what happens to all of those carcasses? Note to the Northstar folks: MAKE SOME SOUP!!!
I think it's a testament to the Northstar burger (a veggie burger) that I ordered it with bacon. It's that good. A mixture of beets and brown rice, with a little cheese thrown on, it's perfect with some of their great bacon, some house hot sauce, and a good smattering of salt. New for the North location is the addition of a decent tomato (for March), some chopped sweet onions and a few really good pickle slices. These standard burger accouterments really add a burgery flair. Tasty. The burger is served with a very decent and lightly-dressed side salad full of far-above-average-even-for-organic greens, including some chopped green cabbage, which I can appreciate as someone who finds the standard field green mix rather listless sometimes. I like the added crunch from the cabbage. The portions are too big for me; I could only eat half of the burger and half the salad. Fortunately, to go boxes are cute brown boxes (you know I'm all about the packaging):
Husband ordered his usual Turkey sandwich with herb mayo and bacon on house made foccaccia. I didn't manage a bite of his, but it was the same as the Short North location. It seemed perhaps a touch bigger, and was served with the peanut slaw which has way too much cilantro in it for me, but that's personal. There was no option for the fantastic brown rice pilaf served at Northstar number one, which made me a little sad.
I am a big fan of the chocolate truffle cookie from Northstar. It's rich and full of really good-quality chocolate flavor, being a chocolate base with high percentage cocoa chips tossed in for good measure; rich and chocolatey without being overly sweet, it's about a four-person cookie, or a one-person cookie which can be purchased and nibbled upon for a day or two. I have taken a picture of the it in my greedy little mitt so that you might gaze upon the vastness of this cookie. And, at $3 a cookie (okay, $2.81 with Northstar's bizarre pricing structure), it should be vast:
The restaurant is spacious and open; a skylight has been installed on the south side of the dining space, which is nice, as the long dining space (leading to the restrooms) in the old Northstar has always seemed a bit dark, so it was nice to see that problem solved. The lighting in the new location - both natural, as the design made good use of available sunshine, and the artificial, was nice and bright. There is a good deal of interesting woodwork, as illustrated by the picture below:
There are four giant booths - seating around 10-12 people, down the middle of the room; you can join perfect strangers or have a huge group. It's an interesting idea, but the practical side of me couldn't help but wonder what would happen if you were in the middle and suddenly found yourself in need of a refill - ask the person on the end to get it for you? Ask the 3 people next to you to slide out?
Here are a few facts, presented without comment:
There is no soda fountain in this location. 8 ounce glass bottles of Coke and Diet Coke are available, or house made ginger ale, as well as coffee, smoothies and tea. Husband and I opted for water (he would usually have a soda).
Still no soup.
Availability of single pancake for breakfast remains to be seen when breakfast service begins.
The restaurant seats about 150 guests. There is one stall in the men's room. I don't know how many in the Ladies' because I didn't visit it. It took Husband at least three tries to use the loo.
Lunch tab for 2 sandwiches and 1 cookie was $27.
Northstar still does not have an operational website.
I'm looking forward to grand opening of this location, to see what - if any - additional menu items they will offer, and to have breakfast. Strangely, although I only live a few hundred yards south of Clintonville proper, this location is further from my house than the Short North location. I am guessing the clientele will vary slightly.
Info: Northstar Cafe, Clintonville/Beechwold location 4241 N. High St - just as with the Short North location, there is no sign, so keep your eyes peeled. This location is at the Northwest corner of Deland and High street.
