Merrick Inn

Merrick Inn is loud and expensive.

I can pretty much sum up my review with that.

I wasn't disappointed with my meal. I had a lovely spinach, orzo and meatball soup as a starter. For an entree, I had the crab cakes (described on the menu as "lightly sautéed and served with Vidalia onion and applewood bacon remoulade and Kentucky chow chow") and roasted red pepper cheese grits. It was all really rather good. The crab cakes were full of crab, not filler. The cheese grits needed a bit of salt, but that could just be my grease laden palate. But at $25 for some pretty small portions, I didn't feel like the value was there compared to some other fine dining establishments in town.

Why not?

Well for one, our server took about 15 minutes to greet us. For this I don't entirely blame our server. He was running (literally) all night. They seemed to be inadequately staffed. Plus we were seated by two very large and very loud parties. I had to yell to be heard by the people beside me. It would have been nice to have put those parties in a separate area of the restaurant so the rest of the establishment could enjoy their dinner company. I would expect this volume out on the patio (which is large and very lovely), but inside (at this price point) I'd expect something a bit more subdued.

Another small fault--they were out of the night's special. We were eating at seven o'clock, not near closing time. And, as a dining companion noted, she's never been to Merrick when they were NOT out of the special.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my meal. The food was great and the service was warm (if a bit harried). But if you're looking for some place special to dine, this probably wouldn't be number one on my list.