The Greenhouse Gastropub — Restaurant in Newark

With family in town we were looking for a good Newark downtown dinner spot. It was near their hotel had great reviews and a varied enough menu everyone was good with the selection.

Our waiter would be a perfect Disney cast member though he didn't know any magic tricks. He was enthusiastic, upbeat, and great at his job.

I had the Chicken corn chowder it was amazing with varied layers of flavor, fresh corn and not too creamy.

Russell had the French onion soup he wasn't as excited by it as I was mine. He's really picky about his FOS. it had a TON of onions in it. He described it as having lots of spices but not a lot of flavor.

I got a cob salad for dinner. It was good but all spinach. I would have preferred romaine because too much spinach starts to feel weird on my teeth..does this happen to you or just me?

Russell had the fish and chips which I sampled and loved. My SIL had the shrimp tacos which she loved. I wish I was taking video when my BIL tried it. His face was all OH WOW.

My nephew got the roulette wings. He ended up with the super hot one and got through it well...declining the milk he was offered...but I noticed he didn't finish them after that so was it worth it? I don't eat spicy food so I can't really comment in all fairness.

Russell got the bananas foster dessert and my nephew and his GF got the churro dessert. Both were very happy with their choices.

We didn't get the specials or any cocktails.

The atmosphere was amazing and the stargazer lily behind us gave us a wonderful aroma throughout dinner. It wasn't overpowering...but more like when you walk by a honeysuckle bush when it's flowering. We were a large party so they sat us against the pothos wall so my view was awesome...all I could do all meal was think about the strands of pothos I wanted to break off and sneak out with, but other than that temptation, it was a beautiful backdrop to an overall well executed and tasty meal.

Because of our party size they added a 20% tip to the check. Our server told us about it when he brought it out so we didn't have to read the fine print to catch it.

Now for the bathroom: Clean, well appointed, lit mirrors, and a garbage receptacle right by the door for touchless exit. My one complaint is a minor one... I couldn't tell which side of the door to push to get in and I chose the wrong one so it was awkward and heavy.

Pee or pass:...

Everything pictured was very flavorful and the wait staff are very friendly.

Not pictured is the Victorian salad with salmon. We switched out the maple dressing for the green goddess. The dressing was very good. Very creamy. The salad itself was fresh but the salmon was only okay. They gave us a few small pieces instead of one big one and slightly overcooked.

The hummus is very light and airy and the squash was perfectly sweet, mixed together with the savory hummus? A wonderful combination. We could have used a few more naan bread or broccolis but otherwise.. delicious.

The steak was cooked just as we asked and the fries were perfectly seasoned. The broccoli could have been roasted a little longer but the dish originally comes with asparagus and they switched it out for us free of charge.

The roasted pork sandwich was filled with plenty of pork and had good flavor. Personal preference but we could have used a little more sauce. The fries were cooked and also seasoned very well.

The vegetable risotto was probably our favorite. Not only was it cooked to perfection but it was packed with flavor. There were plenty of vegetables and it was quite cheesy.

We reserved a table and I would recommend doing so. They have a decent amount of seating but the restaurant gets very busy and we were there on a Wednesday night.

EDIT: went back to get brunch:

The biscuits were moist and very flavorful. It probably didn’t need the garlic butter but it was still good on top of it regardless.

The Crabcake Benedict was also cooked to perfection with a ton of flavor.

I feel like their food tends to run slightly on the salty side because everything is seasoned so well but by no means am I complaining.

Highly recommend...

First time visitors and we will definitely be back. The restaurant and atmosphere are very comfortable. To be in downtown on U of Delaware, there is lots of foot traffic and vehicle traffic. However inside the restaurant you don't hear all the noise. We were greeted by a friendly hostess and were immediately seated. Tommy was our waiter and he was very attentive. We started with drinks. The Pineapple Jalapeño Lemonade had a nice spicy kick while The Blacker The Berry was smooth. For appetizers we had the calamari and smoked wings in the Maple Bourbon sauce. The flavor was very good but they both could have been crisper. The skin on the wings were as if we were at Buffalo Gummie, I mean, Wild Wings. The squid was a bit chewy. The main dinner was the Mediterranean Wrap with chicken, a Turkey Burger, and the Blue Hen Burger. DELICIOUS!! They all came with French fries that were cooked and seasoned perfectly. The fries came with a malt vinegar dipping sauce but we also got the garlic aioli dipping sauce which was a better choice. To wrap up dinner, we chose the Tiramisu. Finding some really good Tiramisu is hard. This one was great. Not too much mascarpone, just enough dark chocolate powder, and a light but filling portion. Next time we will try...