Gayborhood Greek cuisine dynamo Opa has opened up its “backyard” space behind the restaurant and christened it the Drury Beer Garden, a place to grab a drink, congregate and play some games in a picnic environment.
We knew going in that this was a more laidback environment with a scaled-back menu, but the beer garden’s connection to Opa gave the place a level of expectation that the menu oftentimes did not live up to.
If you have a menu with a handful of items, you would expect most of them to be executed fairly well. The one dish that did live up to expectations was the chili garlic chicken tenders ($7), which had both great texture and flavors that were beyond typical. The crunch of the tenders was hot and satisfying and the flavor combination of honey and sriracha was pleasantly different from the typical buffalo style most places employ. The tenders were so good that we were able to forgive the fact that the accompanying French fries were slightly undercooked. The Kaseri and fig grilled cheese showed a nice bit of Greek flair and was unique in its sweetness, reminiscent of a Danish pastry when combined with the cheese.
The spicy wings ($6) got the wings part right. They showed up decently prepared and steaming but the title of “spicy” wasn’t earned, as the saucing seem to be there more for visual purposes instead of any significant boost in flavor. We got a better kick to the taste buds with the whiskey pickles ($5), which lived up to the flavor promise of their title.
The desserts didn’t generate much excitement. The chocolate pudding ($5) wasn’t very special in that the presentation and quality (cup, pudding, whipped cream, crumbled pretzels) felt like something anyone could have thrown together on their own with the same results after reading the instructions on the box. The caramel and chocolate chip cookie ($3, and $3 with ice cream) fared better, mostly because we got it with ice cream. The cookie was decadent but very soft and slightly underdone.
While we applaud the effort to entice diners to eat outside in a more casual environment, we know what the main restauran is capable of. If they want to keep people in the garden, with the culinary glory that is Opa just on the other side of the door, they might want to try a bit harder.