Stop 3: All Good Mimosas Must Come To An End

Blackened Brew was my third stop on my Northshore brunch tour! Blackened Brew is a locally owned Hammond restaurant, with 24 taps available and a seemingly endless amount of bottled domestic and import beers. I was actually very excited to hear that they served brunch on Sundays! Keep reading and find out about my experience, along with my guest's experience.. yay Grant for being a good sport!

Food:

I'm going to dive into the menu, because that's where my heart lies. I was happy to see they had a Sunday brunch menu along with a lunch menu. I usually go straight to benedicts if they have the option available... but I was drawn to the Shrimp n Grits. The dish came out in a fairly large bowl and smelt amazing. The grits were smooth, cheesy, and delicious. Mushrooms, scallions, and other garnishes were generously mixed into the bowl. I was slightly disappointed to only see 3 jumbo shrimp in the dish, but damn were they good. Overall, the menu provided many options for brunch/lunch and each serving was more than enough for the price. My Shrimp n Grits came out to $11.99 and I cannot complain.

Quality: 9/10

Price: 10/10

Presentation: 6/10

Total: 25/30

Alcohol:

All Good Mimosas Must Come To An End. While there was a mimosa 'special', it wasn't bottomless. For a whopping $15, you are limited to 10 mimosas. You're probably thinking, why would anyone need more than 10? I don't know why, but for some odd reason bottomless sounds more pleasant then a limit of 10. Anyhow, the mimosas were good, but I was really missing that champagne to OJ ratio. The orange juice was on the heavy side, but I did leave with a buzz. While I wasn't 100% satisfied with the mimosa 'special', I love the variety of beer and other liquor they offer. Fun fact, almost all burgers on the menu come with a suggested beer to pair with.. which is awesome!

Transparency: 5/10

Price: 9/10

Other drinks/specials: 10/10

Total: 24/30

Restaurant:

Love, love, love! The service was great, especially for how busy it was. Our waitress was quick with the refills on mimosas and every other aspect of our experience was great. Live music was a huge plus! Will Vance is a local musician that proves to add an extra layer of enjoyment to any atmosphere and place he plays in. You can't help but to sing along with Will! The other customers were energetic, vibrant, and they all seemed to be enjoying their time just as much as we were. The restaurant has a shotgun style way of seating, an open airy bar, and bright lighting. Blackened Brew is a fun, bright, energetic place to be!

Service: 10/10

Atmosphere: 10/10

Ambience: 9/10

Total: 29/30

Guest Review: Grant Raphael

At first I was not sure what I wanted to order off of the brunch menu until I saw that the burger of the day was a truffle mac and cheeseburger dressed in bacon. I was not sure if a burger was technically considered “brunch”, but Alyssa assured me there were no labels when it comes to celebrating food. I will be honest, I was slightly disappointed in the mimosas as I thought their quality was mediocre and I would have preferred having the option of unlimited mimosas instead of being limited to ten. The fries were about what you would expect from your typical restaurant and were good, but nothing special. The burger itself was actually quite delicious, as Mac and cheese is one of my ultimate weaknesses. Honestly I was quite full by the time my food came so I boxed up most of it to save for later. After a much needed nap, I reheated the burger in the microwave and it tasted just as good as when it was fresh which definitely warrants bonus points. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the music, service, food, and all around ambience of the restaurant with the only thing I would improve being the mimosas. The pulled pork nachos we ordered as an appetizer warrants additional bonus points leading me to be very impressed with the restaurant overall and I highly recommend it.

Guest score: 27/30

Overall Score: 105/120

If you are interested in learning more about Blackened Brew, check out their Facebook!

Also, check out Will Vance's band, Delta Revelry, here!

Thank y'all again for reading along and keeping up with my journey! As always, I am looking for recommendations. So let me know where I should go in the comments below!!

-xoxo Alyssa