The Grit Offers Delicious Options for Everyone

By: Christina Conner

The Grit, opened in the early 90s near the artsy Normaltown neighborhood is a must-visit.

The restaurant is the perfect place to take anyone (including yourself). For the health-conscious vegan or vegetarian, it’s easy to eat a filling and delicious meal. For the lover of calories or meat-lovers, it’s easy to eat a filling, delicious meal without even realizing it’s vegan. The Grit doesn’t make a show of being entirely vegetarian and welcomes people with all dietary needs and restrictions, including people with celiac disease.

My classmate and I decided to visit on a rainy Sunday night and parked behind the building in a church parking lot. Parking is available either on the street or in the church lot when it’s not in use. But beware of the Bottleworks lot, Grit customers have been booted before. We walked in and were seated promptly amongst five or six other groups in the cozy room by the bar. It requires a calculated effort to avoid getting distracted by the lit case filled with cakes and pies on the way to your table.

The drink menu is modest, with about 30 total wines and domestic and local brews. Guests can also order a variety of craft sodas and juices, but I stuck with water. The menu has soups, sandwiches, salads and plates, and a specials board that was chock-full of a rotating list of items. For starters, we ordered chips and cheese dip. The cheese dip changes regularly, and the dip that night was jalapeno. When the chips and dip arrived, I was a little underwhelmed, but not too disappointed since it was the cheapest app on the menu. The chips were the classic restaurant-style white corn chips, and the jalapeno cheese dip could have been purchased from Kroger. But again, for $4.75, it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

I love a good noodle bowl and ordered the rice noodle dish listed on the specials board for $9.95. The rice noodles were served with steamed broccoli, cauliflower, red onion, and squash in a curried peanut sauce. The sauce, made with coconut milk, peanuts, and soy sauce was creamy, but I prefer a runnier sauce in Asian-inspired dishes. The bowl was massive, and I was excited to have leftovers the next day. Although their website proclaims “Our food is not timidly seasoned. We love garlic, onions, peppers, vinegar, and lots of other ingredients that give food a kick,” I found it a little bland. My classmate ordered the golden tofu wrap, which was delicious, the zesty sriracha mayo really made the wrap work.

But the best part of the meal was dessert. The dessert case had about 10 cakes and pies, and I was torn between the vegan chocolate death cake and the vanilla black bottom pie. Luckily, my dining companion had a similar dilemma, so we ordered one of each. On the first bite, the death cake was to die for. The cake was moist and thick, and the dark chocolate icing was creamy and rich. The chocolate death cake gave me life. As for the pie, I wasn’t entirely sure what was on the bottom of the pie, I imagined blackberries, but it was instead chocolate, a shocking twist. Again, it was delightful. The Grit would be an excellent dessert and coffee spot.

As the bill came, I observed: “Wait...my entire meal was vegan. Ah, nope. The cheese dip.” The meal went from lackluster to spectacular from appetizer to dessert. I enjoyed the meal, and am proud to support a restaurant that promotes healthy and ethical eating. The service is excellent, the prices are reasonable, and the food is delicious. Graduation season is soon approaching, and The Grit offers something to satisfy every palate in the family.