Village Marquee Texas Grill & Bar

I went to Marquee Grill (now named Village Marquee Texas Grill & Bar) this past Tuesday. I met up with a couple friends for happy hour then dinner. I had a giftcard so I wanted to use it. :)

Village Marquee Texas Grill & Bar
33 Highland Park Village
Dallas, TX 75205
(214) 522-6035
http://marqueegrill.com/
Price: $$$-$$$$$

I had been there for brunch before but always wanted to check out their happy hour and dinner options. The restaurant is deceptively huge. The bar is upstairs and has some really nice seating areas. For the HH the specialty cocktails are $2 off. Still quite pricey since they range from $11-14 a pop. I normally don't drink very much and definitely don't on a weekday but we were at HH! Didn't want to leave my friends hanging. haha.

But before I drink... I needed some food! I was starving. Their HH doesn't include food specials though. :( Me sad. But we decided on the Mini BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (citrus slaw, fresh cilantro) $10~ as recommended by the bartender.

You get 3 to an order. They were so cute and looked amazing. SO delicious! The buns were toasted and buttery. The pulled pork was tender and juicy. And the flavors were so bold! I especially loved the crunch from the slaw with the pork. I would totally eat this again!

I ordered a girly fruity cocktail. Don't remember the name of it and it doesn't seem to be on their online menu. But it had Veev Acai in there. It was super pink! $11~

It was quite light which is good for me. I didn't taste the alcohol so much. My friend got the Scarf Dancer, one of their signature drinks. (sorry no pic) It was a beautiful cocktail. Deep pink/purple color from the berries and it was quite good. I liked that better than mine.

We chose to sit outside for dinner since it was such a nice day. Everything looked great on the menu... so hard to choose!

We were given some corn bread and flatbread/crackers after we made our orders. I really like their corn bread. Nice and buttery!

We started with the Salt, Pepper & Chile Calamari (grilled Texas peaches, spicy arugula, chile-lime sauce) $14~

This is different than other calamaris I've had before. The way it was breaded and fried is what sets it apart. The sauce was sweet and spicy and a little tangy. It paired really well with the crispy calamari. The peaches added a refreshing sweetness. It was a nice addition. And I don't know how they fried it but was not greasy at all. A very nice dish. We all enjoyed it a lot.

Both my friends ordered the Jumbo Texas Shrimp & Grits (chipotle jack cheese grits, tequila lime sauce) $22~

This is the reason they wanted to go to Marquee. We were told by someone that they had the best shrimp and grits. I really liked the presentation. Kind of wasted space on half the plate but really unique as well. haha. There were 5 jumbo shrimp and it looked fantastic. The shrimp had a nice char on the outside and were very juicy. I really liked the grits. I think there should be more grits though. There wasn't enough to go with all the shrimp! They really liked it. And even though it didn't look like a big portion, it was quite satisfying.

I went with the Seared Alaskan Halibut (grilled octopus, black forbidden rice, tangelo lobster broth) $35~

It just sounded so interesting! The plate was beautiful. The bright greens and white fish on top of the dark forbidden rice. I loved the crispy sear on the halibut. Nicely done. The fish was recommended to be served medium. It was tender but I felt a hair overcooked for my preference. The flavors of the dish are pretty light and mild but I felt like I could taste every element of it. I got the lobster essence from the broth. The octopus were cooked nicely. The peas and asparagus still had a nice crunch to it. It was a light and healthy dish.

We also got a side of Grilled Asparagus $9~

It was good. I always like more veggies with my meal. But for $9, I was hoping for a bigger portion.

We were stuffed so we didn't get dessert. I have yet to have dessert there, so I guess I'll be back again. And looking in from the outside I didn't see Chef Tre Wilcox. Oh well, until next time. Hopefully I can see him (third times a charm) on my next visit. hehe.

Our waiter was nice enough but not spectacular. We were all catching up with each other so we didn't really pay attention to the service.

Overall, good dinner. My favorite of the night will have to be the pulled pork. haha. It is a bit pricey for dinner but you can tell they use good ingredients. I'd suggest brunch if you want to spend a little less. I heard they recently updated their brunch menu too! And if you are into cocktails, they do have some interesting mixtures. I would recommend checking it out!

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