Nightjar — Restaurant in Berea

Nightjar is a new restaurant in Berea! Food is AMAZING. All locally sourced, all freshly prepared. Signature drinks are inventive, unique and tasty. It is currently located inside of Native Bagel.

I had the Nighthawk, which is a bourbon cocktail with a great flavor profile leaving you to want more. My wife had the Mocking Bird and Crowned Heron. She opted to forego the curry in the Crowned Heron, and while she enjoyed it - she thought it had a strong taste and was lacking something (probably because the curry was missing). She thought the Mocking Bird was a deliciously refreshing drink and was a fantastic drink.

For food, we split the Soft Pretzel, and as someone who doesn't like mustard, thought the honey mustard and Obatzda were a great pairing for your dipping pleasure. Then we both had classic cheeseburgers, she had hers without cheese and I had mine without mayo and lettuce. I think that is one of the juiciest and tastiest burgers I have had in a long time. 10/10 - if you like burgers, I implore you to try this. The hand cut fries were a great side and had a great texture about them and they were cooked to perfection. Lastly we got the spicy Hungarian sausage to split, and despite being full from our burgers we tried the sausage and thought the aroma of it was great. It was leaner than I anticipated, but overall the spice profile was a pleasant surprise and we ate the leftover for lunch the next day. (PS - the potato buns don't get soggy or hard when you take them for leftovers so this is a safe option to order extra and save it until morning!)

My only concern for this place is that they need to streamline their dining experience. This was only their second night, so I won't hold this against them, but it was loud and difficult to order food/drinks - some tables had waitresses and waiters come take their orders while others had to walk up to the bar or counter, where they had a single POS. When food or drink was done, waiters and waitresses were just yelling names. The staff was extremely willing to help, and they were incredibly friendly though!

Given that, I hope this was identified as a possible gap and that they work to close this quickly as I see Nightjar is a bright flame in this community and I would hate to see it extinguished before it has time to really shine.

Pictured: Nighthawk and Spicy...

On a chilly Friday evening, Fat Man Reviews took a solo mission to visit Nightjar in Berea, KY. Nightjar, located inside Native Bagel, serves Pennsylvania Dutch-German inspired food, bird inspired craft cocktails, beer and wine.

I sampled a cocktail called the Night Hawk. It was made with Old Forester bourbon, honey, rosemary, and lemon. The drink is served in a chilled rocks glass overtop a square ice cube. You can smell the honey right away with a hint of the rosemary, but the drink is not very sweet. The lemon is very forward and the bourbon is hidden until the end, coupled with the honey it adds a slight bite to the drink.

I started with the Sauerkraut Fritters. This is prepared with mild sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, speckwurst sausage with honey mustard on the side. The fritters were fried to a perfect golden brown, and they were delicate. The sauerkraut was soft but still crunchy with light flavor. The cheese gave the inside an ooey gooey creaminess and helped bind the fritter. The surprise star was the sausage. It gives each bite a salty, fatty pork flavor. The mustard is stone ground and has a good tang to it, but I did not catch much honey in its flavor.

The special burger of the day was a Bacon Blue Burger. This burger was made with two 6oz patties, bacon jam, blue cheese on a Martin's potato roll and served with hand cut fries. The fries were fried and seasoned well. The bacon jam was slightly sweet and there was plenty on the burger. The bacon reminded me of bacon bits and the onions were finely chopped too. The blue cheese was melted and added a nice saltiness, creaminess and sharpness to the burger. The bun was soft, fresh and the burger to bun ratio was great. The burgers had a very hard sear on them, and they were almost burnt. The burger was not bad at all but if they were a little juicer it would have been even better.

Nightjar sources their ingredients locally, and their beef specifically from Berea College farm. They also have a small menu and have limited seating. A wait is possible. The service was pretty good as well. The Fat Man says that Nightjar is Fat Man Approved...

By day, the location is Native Bagel, but at night the space transforms into Nightjar (appropriately named after the nocturnal bird) where you can get some of the best burgers and drinks in the entire county. The signature cocktails here are variations of wonderful classics, also named after birds, masterfully crafted with care and served with friendly faces and conversation.

Fresh ingredients for their food are locally sourced from Berea College Farms or similar local producers. Their burgers and fries are amazing. A cheeseburger here with a runny egg on it is life-changing. In addition to burgers, they have numerous sausage based dishes and they have some vegetarian options as well, which are all excellent.

Nightjar is very popular, some would say "hip" and on most nights it is surprisingly busy for a small business in a small town. The crowd here is all ages, with college students rubbing elbows with local middle-aged couples out on a date. This is a fantastic date night destination unless you are looking for something very quiet. Ambient noise is just enough to grant some privacy between speakers. You won't be whispering to your table party, but you won't be yelling either. It has a very lively, vibrant and welcoming atmosphere, with ambient music and conversation.

In summary - a lively little cafe with excellent staff, great drinks, locally produced delicious food, locally owned, with everything given great care and attention. Highly...