Restaurant Review: Savor Gastropub

Since the restaurant opened, the bar at Savor has been one of my favorite places to grab a drink downtown. On a recent Friday evening, I ordered the Savor Vacation, a margarita with a champagne twist, and stayed for my 8 pm reservation. The service took such an awkward turn that it ruined what could have been a perfectly nice meal. Rather than inquiring if we had any questions about the menu, our server bent over my friend’s shoulder and read it to us. We asked for the wine list, and he held the clipboard hostage while he rattled off his favorite inexpensive bottles. The food fared better than his approach. My friend loved her roasted salmon, cooked the advertised medium, with its crispy brown skin. The pork tenderloin was a rich Jackson Pollock plate—medallions of meat, swirls of puréed sweet potato, small white mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts. But the side of mac and cheese that our server pushed with a sassy “You know you want that mac and cheese, girl” turned out to be a bland, boring bowl of noodles in basic melted goo. The dessert special, five beignets with dipping chocolate, disappointed, though we were asked if the thick, egg-shaped nubs of dough were “yummy yummy.” Perhaps we should have just stayed at the bar.