The Burrow — Restaurant in Pensacola

The short of it: great atmosphere, great service (from host to server to managers!), great appetizers, the French dip was an absolutely not according to the 3 of my people that ordered it. My pork belly BLT, the hot honey chicken, and shrimp and grits were all 10/10 tho.

The long review:

Service: I called in a tizzy because I have a deadly peanut allergy and the restaurant is researched, AND waited to be sat at, turned out to fry in peanut oil. And it was my birthday dinner! We called The Burrow, they don't fry in peanut oil and were so kind as to go ahead and put us on the list (as we were ten minutes away) and had two tables waiting when we arrived. The host was really so above and beyond on being helpful. Our server was busy, but friendly and prompt. There is little more I can ask of them, so that's an easy 10. The icing on this beautiful service cake was the assistant manager came by and when I expressed a bit of hesitancy for glowing love of some entrees she took my honest feedback so well and though we didn't expect it, she comped the French Dips that three of my party ordered and all had similar complaints about. I do hope they revisit that recipe. On that note

Food: Brie sticks: (pictured below) my God these were good. Expertly fried, and the sauce???? I NEED IT. It was honey and some delicious red stuff.

Raclette fries: my personal favorite. Typical bar fare loaded fries but with a fun twist that reminded me of my trip to Germany. My friend now insists we do a raclette night.

Shrimp and grits, burrow burger, pork belly BLT, hot honey chicken sandwich: all liked and all enjoyed. I got the pork belly and particularly enjoyed the nod to Asian flavors. It really leveled the dish up.

The French dip: this was the rough one, it was dry, the meat wasn't tender or flavorful and the Anjou was described as 'oily water' to me after the fact (rather than a flavorful gravy). Per my Service review, this was very kindly and professionally handled.

Kids dino nuggets: you'd think this doesn't warrant a review, but it does! The nuggets and fries were expertly fried (you'd think this isn't an issue but some places...) but even better was the presentation. Kiddo got his dinner on a pretty heavy stone platter and they put a little tiny cheetah toy nestled in for him. So the 8 month old couldn't toss the plate, and had something to keep him occupied. Also to note his plate came out just before appetizers so he wouldn't feel left out. I would absolutely rate them as baby friendly.

Dessert: Lavender creme brulee: they served it with a candle and happily joined in while my friends sang, the top was perfectly crusted, and the custard was a delight.

Booze: My friend loved his beer, I don't remember the name but he said it was British and it was dark and talked about it having a really nice balance of flavors.

I tried two mixed drinks, strawberry fields and another with prosecco that was reminiscent of an aperol spritz (in the best way). Both were good.

Atmosphere: placed in an old hospital they really made something lovely of the place. Beautiful decor, spacious tables, nice sound reduction with the use of cloth chair. Perhaps their AC was out though bc it was unbearably hot in there that evening.

Final thoughts: I'd eat here again, but for drinks and appetizers for a party rather than formal dinner, but paired with exquisite decor and excellent, fun and professional staff this place is a must visit if...

Atmosphere is great, it's exactly how you expect a modern hipster bar to feel. The beer is great as expected from Odd Colony. Unfortunately the food is where The Burrow fails, which is a shame because that was kind of the point of opening this location.

Personally, I did not like the smoked duck on the reuben. I thought the smokiness was a bad combination with the Russian dressing. The sandwich also completely fell apart a few bites in.

The buffalo wings did not taste like buffalo wings. They tasted like barbecue sauce with saffron, much sweeter than any buffalo sauce I've ever had or made. It was so sweet I had to ask my server if they mistakenly gave me the sweet chili wings, and they confirmed it was the buffalo. They did taste good and fresh, but I wouldn't call them buffalo in any sense.

The last time I went they were serving some kind of Japanese peppers with a yuzu aioli. The peppers were bland, it didn't even taste like there was any seasoning whatsoever, not even salt. At the end of my meal I realized I hadn't tried the yuzu aioli yet. I tried a little bit of it and it tasted completely rancid. I grow yuzu and am very familiar with its taste, and it tasted nothing like it. It tasted oily and foul and it was the first time in many years that I've physically recoiled from putting food in my mouth.

The brie sticks were excellent the first time, but the second time they burnt the bacon jam. I'd recommend the brie stix if the bacon jam is not burnt.

Overall, The Burrow is a cute little place to grab a drink and maybe an appetizer, but I won't be coming here for a meal unless someone...

Even if all you do is go there to take in the ambiance, the place is great. Nice outdoor area to relax and a more modern/retro interior in a really cool historical building. Also, free parking! Better than being downtown from that perspective. My only comments are that the cocktails are not quite stellar. For example, I had one with rosemary. I asked if you could really taste the rosemary as it is a favorite of mine. She told me it was quite subtle. Hmmm.... then why bother? It was a good almost non-rosemary cocktail. I felt similarly when I had another cocktail there a different time. We had their burger another time - wow! If all their food is this good, then it's a must do. One oddity that left us baffled is that our waiter tried to pawn off an already made artichoke dip that another customer had turned down, I think, because it was late. He wasn't offering it to us for free or at a discount, but wanted us to buy it. We had already shared, though, that we simply wanted to split the burger. I'm not sure why we would choose a food item made for someone else and that had been sitting around for some time. Also, the hostess seemed confused over our request to just sit and have a drink with the burger. It just made me feel we were doing something a bit wrong, but we did still have a nice time and...