Culinary Dropout — Restaurant in Gilbert

A bunch of us got together at Culinary Dropout to host our White Elephant Gift Exchange. *Personally, a couple of us in our group remembered when the first one opened in Scottsdale years ago! The idea allowed professionally trained culinary students to create new culinary dishes. We loved it then & still enjoyed it on this day.

We went to the one in Downtown Gilbert.

First, the arrival: Using Goggle Maps, it brought me directly to the restaurant. Once I turned to the restaurant, as directed, immediately. I immediately noticed straight ahead of me was a 3 - or 4-story parking structure! Needless to say, parking was not an issue.

The appearance was modern and allowed for inside & outside dining.

The service was good. Our server was Mathew & he was awesome. He was knowledgeable about the menu, personable, and made our group feel as if we were his only table. He amplified the experience.

The food: Being roughly 17 of us, we all ordered different dishes. Some of the dishes I will highlight are dishes we shared and agreed were tasty and one dish that missed the mark.

We started with drinks: Between the group, we tasted various mix drinks and beers they offer. I recommend the Evil Jungle Princess - has more of a pineapple flavor. The standard Margarita - on the rocks with salted rim were my favorites.

Once the drinks were ordered, we then ordered various meat & cheese appetizers. A new experience for me - and most of which we agreed tasted good. I couldn't tell you what they were & I was too late to grab pictures, but trying the various platters did open up my culinary experience. (See what I did there 😀).

For the main course(s). I will attach the picture of the menu and some dishes we ordered. Most of the dishes were really good & a couple missed the mark - also realized people have different taste views.

I had the Fried Chicken - it had a smokey southern style coating and was juicy on the inside. I enjoyed it as did others who I shared it with.

Others had: Cheap House Salad & ordered some wings. The salad was good , but let's be honest, it is hard to mess up a salad. Now the wings were right up my alley. They had a little kick to them & the flavor was good. Now, what put this on my list was their homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Added it to the wings, and we really enjoyed them.

The Rainbow Trout was cooked perfectly & enjoyed. I didn't get a chance to eat it, but my buddy gave me the thumbs up.

The Ma..The Meatloaf was also a favorite for another.

The 36 Hour Pork Ribs were also enjoyable.

The Steak Frites looked good but was okay - according to the report, it was average.

Overall: Fun experience! Partly due to the company of friends, and partly because Mathew (our server) was personable & fit right in with us. The drinks, appetizers, and food were enjoyable (remember only 1 average dish was discussed). Taking advantage of some dishes we were able to share in a variety of food flavors.

Bonus: The host who brought us all together did get a gift from the establishment - although I don't know the details but I am sure he will enjoy another dining experience...

My wife and I ate here on our trip to visit friends and family in Mesa. We were looking for a chill place to catch up with some unique food and decided this was the place.

They do live music from time to time also, we learned. There was a lady playing guitar and singing when we went. They tend to keep the volume levels reasonable, so conversations can still be held.

Wait staff were hyper-attentive to our table, keeping a close eye on our drinks and making sure our experience was going well.

My wife and I both got the Fried Chicken plates, which comes with a breast, thigh, and leg, with mashed potatoes, brown gravy, a square biscuit, and long cut coleslaw (also with the pretzels & fondue).

Born in NC, I come from a lineage of fried chicken and southern cooking. I can confidently say that this fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuit are in the ballpark of the best southern style meals I’ve ever eaten. The chicken was perfectly cooked with the crunch factor, moist/tender inside and ease of eating, but was a tiny bit lacking in flavor/seasoning.

The mashed potatoes and gravy encapsulated what southern mashed potatoes and gravy are supposed to taste like, with a creamy, flavorful potato base, small skin chunks, and were complemented by the brown gravy.

The biscuit was immaculate, and in my top 3 biscuits I’ve ever eaten. Nice, slight crunch on the golden top, with a soft, sweet middle.

The coleslaw, I was unfortunately not impressed with. It was a bit dry, and had very little flavor. It is a good, basic coleslaw, but has the potential to be the best out there, with the addition of more flavor and moisture. Perhaps a bit of Mayo and a pinch of salt, pepper, and tiny pinch of sugar!

The pretzels and fondue are a great appetizer. The beer taste in the fondue is slight, which I applaud.

Most beer cheeses have an overpowering beer taste, which often dismantles the flavor, in my experience, but I digress.

The quality of food is a bit out of proportion to the pricing, I must admit, but it’s not outrageously disproportionate by any means. The price you pay is a bit more geared towards the atmosphere.

Overall, a pleasant experience, and we will come back to try other items from the menu next time we...

Update: Although this may seem like an unusual reason for a visit to Culinary Dropout, my father loved this place so it seemed like a logical choice for a Celebration of Life get together. Throughout the short notice planning for a large group, Brea was very accommodating to our requests. She listened to my story and proactively included my dad's favorite menu items. We used The Coop private dining space which was perfect for this event because it provided an apropriate level of privacy. Nolan and Nicki who helped with set up and serving were AMAZING to say the least. The food was good and replenished as needed. PREVIOUS REVIEW: We went to the Gilbert location as a group of 8 people for Father's Day at 3:00 p.m. Since we were there early, the restaurant was not busy. Despite the fact that we had a reservation, the host staff did not seem ready for us. In their youthfulness, the host staff does not seem to understand the struggles of guests with mobility issues. While they tried to sort out where to seat our group, my dad was left in the entrance area clinging to his walker for balance. When we were directed to the table, a staff member did not step aside to allow my dad an easily navigatible path. There was some confusion regarding who would be our server, but it was eventually determined that Harley would be assigned to our group. The drink menu is more extensive than the food menu. The drinks are good with one odd exception: they do not have ginger ale on tap and tried to substitute a combination of Coke and Sprite. We then asked if they served Ginger Beer, which they did. As a server, Harley was friendly and had a great sense of humor. We ordered many items off the menu: Chicken Katsu, Pub Burger, Salmon, Fish and Chips, Vegan Curry (modified with shrimp, Meatloaf, Sliced Beef Sandwich, Brussel Sprouts, Pretzel Bites, Popcorn Shrimp, Toasted Bread with Balsamic. With drinks, our bill was just over $300 which was fair for the size of our party. After dinner, Harley escorted us outside and took a picture of our group. Parking is easy and free in the nearby garage. It was easy to drop off and pick up my dad right at the door so he didn’t have...