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My wife and I dined at the new establishment, located next door to Ricatoni's, City Hardware.  The atmosphere was very good.  It is a little more open than the sister restaraunt next door.  The menu is extensive with a large variety of tiems from bacon wrapped meatloaf to shrimp n'grits.

The portion are very good, and for a restaraunt that has only been opened three weeks, the service was excellent.  You are served a nice piece of rustic brown bread with butter.  There are three choices of slads, iincluding a very well dressed and tasty wedge salad (my favorite).  I had the pork chop, served with homestyle mashed potatoes and grilled brussel sprouts.  The pork chop was one of the best I have had in this area.  Very tasty, juicy, and cooked perfectly.  My wife had the shrimp and grits, and it too was very good.  The only other place in town with shrimp and grits, I believe, is the Bronzeback, and this dish was better than that served at the Bronzeback, which in itself is very good.

My only complaint, and it is merely something I don't like, is that tables in the rear nearest the kitchen are too close together.  I hate to not be able to talk to spouse during dinner and have to worry with someone hearing my conversation.  They are just a little too cozy back there.  Otherwise, it was great and we will definitely be returning.

Hillary in 2016?  Why not?  We've already had one "girly man" serving in office for the past 7 years, we might as well give her chance as well!

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We loved it too! I had the shrimp and scallops, and my DH had the filet. Both were excellent! I'm not a fan of the crab stuffed deviled eggs, as fabulous as they do sound! Just a bit runny and missing that texture that deviled eggs must have. But the meals and service were great. I had heard that City Hardware was meant to be a competitor to Legends, and I just don't see that happening because the CH prices are so high! It was almost as loud as Ricatonis the night we were there, and that was the main drawback for me. I like to eat dinner in peace and quiet, or preferably with some nice soft, live music (like Karen Gruber!) I didn't see any space for entertainment at CH, so that's probably not in the works. But for some really good food, I highly recommend it!

 

By the way, the best Shrimp & Grits I've had in this town are at Sweet Magnolia Cafe!

 

My wife and I and some friends went the weekend they opened.   We all thought it was fantastic.   Service was very good, usually when a restaurant first opens things are a bit discombobulated, but not so there.   We started out with the spinach dip and pita chips.   The dip was above average but nothing special, but the pita chips were fresh and delicious.    My friend and his girlfriend both had the sushi sampler and was not too blown away, but I do know that Rick has just expanded his sushi menu, so that could be on the way up. 

 

My wife, myself and one of my friends all had the City Hardware burger.   Hands down, the best burger in the shoals in my opinion.   Very juicy, nice cut of meat.   And the flavors were just phenomenal.  It was a nice contrast of sweet and savory as it came with a fried egg (runny, just like I like it), black truffle mayo and red onion marmalade.   

 

We will definitely be back. 

I had heard this place mentioned and saw construction on it the last time I was in town, but I don't know very much about it. What "type" of food do they serve? Is it a generic Southern menu (not that that's necessarily a bad thing)? Steakhouse? I'm just trying to get a feel for it. 

 

Also, I agree that the name is strange. What is the history behind it? I'm wondering (and somebody may be able to confirm) if the building it is in used to be some sort of hardware store in the "olden" days. It's at least unique.

 

I'll give the place a try the next time I make it to Florence. Sounds promising.

I heard that Rick designed it after City Grocery in Oxford and made no bones about it. That may be where City Hardware came from.

 

Either way, the food is pretty dang good. I had the Hardware Burger, my wife had a salad, and my son had the grouper reuben. The burger was very tasty as well as the bite of the reuben that I had.

SmoothCat,

It is hard to describe the menu, but my best description would be a sort of a modern take on casual dining.  The menu includes such dishes as grilled pork chop, shrimp n'grits, crab stuffed deviled eggs, steak, grilled chicken, and other home style favorites, but also offers a seperate tasting menu of sushi and shashimi rolls.  They have some less ordinary sides, such as the grilled brussel sprouts which I thought were very good, and the homestyle mashed potatoes with carmelized onions.  Definitely worth giving it a try the next time in you are in town.

I ate at this restaurant last night and it was fabulous!!  We had the crab cake appetizer, hubby had the bone in ribeye (wonderful!) my friend had the filet (cut it with a butter knife, so tender) and I had the chicken finger appetizer and it was great!  It was the size of an entree.  The downside is when we got there it was FREEZING in there, they had the fans on high and the air running.  (my normally hot hubby was even freezing, so it wasn't just me   I finally asked for the fan above us be turned off.  The manager himself came out and turned it off and and explained that they were still adjusting the to find the best setting. Not sure what he did, but it got nice and comfortable after that.  He came back to the table and asked if it was better and asked how the food was.  He went to to talk about the comfort of the customers and how it's easy to get it too cold when he and the servers are up moving around and the customers are sitting in one place.  (In other words he was trying to make sure he found a happy medium for the workers and the customers.)  It was a good experience overall and a pricey one at that...of course we tipped REAL good for the effort of making sure we were comfortable.

Totally thumbs UP for City Hardware!  Even with the "new" to work out they are doing a great job.  The taste of the selections we had was great.  The bread with the special butter was also unique to the area and kudos to Rick and the staff for their attention to the customer.  While dining there every table that we could see was visited by someone at the Restaurant inquiring as to how the meal was.  Also kudos to Rick for taking things slow and methodically, not trying to do too much at any one time.  

 

The only negatives were mild and totally understandable.  The wait was longer than we like but that will subside when they finish the upstairs and provide more dining tables.  Also, although it didn't effect us, the only hostess was pulling double duty as hostess and bussing tables.  I think if I was Rick I might have pulled one of the hostesses from Rickatonis and brought them over on a temporary basis.  Last, for those with Children, there is no Children's menu or at least none that we saw.  We had no Children with us but I'm sure that some families will want to dine there and having a kids menu is always helpful.  I did hear a few complain about the prices but I thought the prices were very much in line with the competition.  Texas Roadhouse has a $20 Bone in Ribeye and City Hardware's is $22.  When we left we felt we had got our money's worth and totally enjoyed our meal with a determination to return again.

 

UPDATE ---- Guess I was half blind when I viewed their menu because they very much have a Kid's Menu section.  The Kid's Chicken Tenders are $6.00 but at least they have a Kid's portion instead of having to order the $10.00 Chicken Tender Appetizer.  


I will though also update my post to reflect my most recent visit.  I tried the Baby Back Ribs and I'll have to add the first negative review.  The Baby Back Ribs we got were overcooked and actually tasted like they had been cooked a while and warmed up and sauced over.  We only ate maybe two ribs out of a whole rack and had 90% or more left on our plate when the waitress ask about our meal. We told her our dislike of the ribs and that we couldn't stomach eating them and although she said she was sorry there was no discussion about sending over a manager or doing something about them.  

 

When a person leaves 90 to 95% of their meal on the plate that's usually a signal that something was wrong and needed attention.  Guess that's part of breaking in a new restaurant or new server.  The Chicken tenders, bread, and Rotisserie Chicken were all great and the bone in Ribeye (that the couple next to us had) looked like Steak perfection but (my opinion only mind you) I would caution to stay away from the baby back ribs, at least for my part.  

We ate there last week and my wife had the baby back ribs and they were fine.  I tried some of the ribs and they were a little spicy but still tasted great.  I had the pork chop with the roasted brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes.  Mine was great and I even liked the brussels sprouts although I am not a brussels sprouts fan.

Are you sure they let you order the kid's meals. I've been places where my wife tried to order the kid's tenders and the waiters said that wasn't allowed. Tenders aren't good cold and reheated, so you really waste a lot. They didn't mind us sharing, but I don't like chicken. Sorry the ribs don't look there. I had anticipated trying them.

My mention of the Kid's meals was only to signify that they do have them on the menu.  When I first visited I looked over them and then voiced an opinion that they should provide for a kid's portion so when we visited again and I saw that indeed there was a kids menu I then wanted to retract my statement that they didn't have one.

 

As for adults ordering a child's portion ... the only restaurant that I know of that promotes that is Cracker Barrel who specify their kid's portions are for "Kid's of all ages".  Most other restaurants cut off their kid's menu offerings at 10 yrs old, then there are places like the fast food places where they just don't ask.

My third, and quite likely my last for a while, visit to City Hardware was greeted with an adjustment to their menu.  Rick has said that the were in a trial period and learning period.  Another thing I had heard, with respect to City Hardware, was that they were hoping to compete with Legends and Crocodile Ed's.  One of the changes we noticed right away was that the 18 oz Bone-In Ribeye ($22) was no longer on the menu but was replaced by a 14 oz Ribeye, no bone, at the same price.  Upon inquiry I was told that there was a 20 oz Bone-in Ribeye available, although it wasn't on the menu, but the price was said to be $35.00.  Don't know about Legends or Crocodile Ed's but I do know Texas Roadhouse has a very good Bone-in 20 oz Ribeye on their menu for around $19.00 so unless City Hardware is doing something great I doubt they will actually compete with some of the other restaurants.

 

Another noticeable change to the menu is that Salad/Soups are no longer offered with an entree.  You can still order a dinner salad/wedge salad for an additional $3.50 to the regular Entree price.  There is still two sides offered with the Entree (sides such as the caramelized onion mashed potatoes and broccoli) and I don't know if one of those could be substituted for a dinner salad but it does appear that a price increase has been factored into the new menu although it's not evident from the prices listed on the new menu.  I had hoped to try the Crab Cakes as we love Ricatoni's Crab Cakes and since it's the same owners I felt most likely they were the same crab cakes or at least came from the same suppliers but City Hardware's price is around $5.00 more than those same two Crab Cakes at Ricatonis.  

 

Now regarding the service, or in my case lack of it, I can certainly recommend a change in the way the waitresses interact with their customers.  Okay maybe that is unfair because I have judged all waitresses, there, by the actions of just two but those two certainly made our visit feel unwelcome.  It was as if we should be honored that they are waiting on us rather than they being happy that we were there to justify their jobs.  My wife certainly felt intimidated and afraid to ask for a refill of bread as with each request for a refill of drink brought a rolling of eyes and a begrudged "OK".  We seldom saw our waitress, even when our food was brought to the table.  The initial order was also not correct and we had to have additional time to make it right.  Although their prices aren't the highest in town they are in the category where you expect to have professional service and if not that at least not someone to belittle you or make you feel like they are doing you a favor by them just being there.  We had the rotiserie Chicken and the serving size was very good but the server's attitude and service overshadowed our particular meal.   I would still encourage anyone who hasn't tried them out to give them a try.  They have opened up tables in the upstairs and are constructing what will be a very large bar.  Upstairs, also, in the summertime it appears that they will open it up to the outside as the whole front of the restaurant's upper floor is a large garage door that can be opened.  I hope they get all their issues worked out but for our part we'll most likely give them a wide berth of time before we decide to return.

 

 

CrustyTeen was home from college and it was my birthday, so we went to City Hardware this last Sunday.  There wasn't much of a crowd (never is anywhere on Sunday) so it is hard to tell how they are doing or if the service was in normal mode.

 

Our waiter was as expected, not chatty, helpful with information, and kept us in drinks and otherwise checked up on us regularly.  We were upstairs, and that didn't affect service.  I assume they have some way of moving the food from the kitchen downstairs to the upstairs - the bar seems to be right above the kitchen, so a simple dumbwaiter would be no problem.  Just guessing, since I didn't notice any of the the waitstaff trudging up and down.

 

We started with crab stuffed deviled eggs, which were interesting, but not something i am going to crave. 

 

I had the filet, and it was excellent.  Came with asparagus and mashed potatoes.  The asparagus was fresh and cooked perfectly - so that it wasn't crunchy, but not slimy-soft like canned.  The mashed potatoes were fine.  I also had a mixed green salad with balsamic vinegar dressing.  The greens were fresh, tasty, and the dressing also fine.  The steak was outstanding, and I would say that it was at least as good as George's (though I haven't eaten there in quite a while).  The only problem I had was that they had salted the steak prior to serving, and for some people this wouldn't work at all.  I'm sure you could ask them not to do that. They obviously used fresh ground sea salt (they have said grinders on the table), so had I wanted to, I could have scraped it off.

 

CrustyTeen had the ribs.  It came with slaw and fries, and she also had the same salad I did.  The ribs are just as I remember them from Court Street Cafe.  They were outstanding, meaty, and could be eaten with a fork.  Someone told me once it takes two days to cook their ribs.  The fries were the same ones as those at Ricatoni's but without the seasoning, and the slaw was to my liking, no vinegar that I could tell, and a nice creamy dressing. 

 

I don't remember all the desserts, but they had creme brulee, bread pudding, some kind of chocolate cake, and a cookie.  We had the bread pudding, and it was quite good. 

 

I'm looking forward to my next trip and trying out the other items on the menu.

Went to city hardware last Thursday while I was in town for business and was impressed. We had a spicy tuna roll for an app that was very good. I had the ribs with grilled asparagus and they were also very good. We sat upstairs by the open garage door which was nice. It's great to see restaurants like city hardware and sweet magnolia on the scene.
Originally Posted by gbrk:

They do offer Chicken Tenders, at City Hardware, and they are very good however the wife and I believe that the closest place, in the area, that has the nearest tenders to that which Court Street and Princetons used to offer is found at New Orleans Transfer on Wilson Dam Road.

Thanks for the info.  It almost surprises me that they don't offer that, sort of a throwback to Court St. Cafe.  At the same time, I realize he's definitely not trying to recreate Court St.

Rick was trying to serve the type and taste of the Chicken Tenders that Court Street had.  Rick was actually 1/2 owner of Court Street and should know the recipe.  City Hardware does offer them and they are good.  I just don't think they are the closest to the ones that Court Street served.  That honor (being most like Court Street's) belongs to (in my opinion) New Orleans Transfer.

UPDATE!


The wife and I ate there the other night (Sunday) and we had the Chicken Tender appetizer.  I have to modify my last post and say that the tenders at City Hardware Restaurant are indeed closest to the old Court Street.  I said New Orleans Transfer was and they are a lot like Princetons tenders but no doubt the tenders we had Sunday night were so close to the old Court Street that I had to modify my report.

 

I too ate there, a couple weeks ago. My food was okay, I had a Cheeseburger, it is hard to screw up on a cheeseburger, but am unimpressed by the menu. It is just not my style.

 The wife was entirely unhappy with the barbecue chicken flat bread. I tried it and while it did have a good taste the amount of chicken given on the item was totally insufficient.

 If I am with a group of friends who decides to go, I will gladly do so, but it is unlikely I will ever eat there based on my choice alone.

The wife and I went back the other day also.  One of the differences I have noticed, over the time it has opened, is a gradual modification of the menu to eliminate some of the better deals.  First it was the elimination of salad from many of the entrees and on this trip the elimination of the appetizer Chicken tenders.  Now they force you to select Chicken Tenders as an entree rather than appetizer as they have eliminated that selection all together. 

 

I had the baseball sirloin which was very tasty and not a bad cut of meat, from all outward appearance.  It was cooked as we had requested and had a very good taste to it.  City Hardware is a very nice place to dine and the ambiance is also nice, especially if you get to set by the window/door upstairs, but it is no bargain and I doubt that most will patronize it as they do Ricatonis but I don't know if that's the crowd that Rick is going for. 

 

I think Rick is trying his hand at "Fine Dining" although I don't know that I would classify City Hardware in anyway as Fine Dining.  I think the closest thing that we have to Fine Dining is the 360 grille or possibly Magnolias, at 7-Points but then I'm certainly no expert to be able to know what "Fine Dining" is .  Either way it goes City Hardware usually has good food, not exceptional, and I hope they do good but it's just not something that the Wife and I crave that often. 

 

I will though say that they are about as close to the old Court Street or Princeton's Chicken tenders than anyone else in town.  The only other ones that comes close is New Orleans Transfer.

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