Uncommon Grill — Restaurant in Watertown

The Veal Meatball appetizer was outstanding, shrimp and carne asada tacos with corn tortillas good, beet salad still a unique healthy choice, and the drinks were decent. Our table for three in the back was kind of cramped with two other full tables on the same side across from three spacious booths. Patrons near us were eating hamburgers, short ribs on mashed potatoes and a charcuterie board. Our view included the wait staff cleaning station and stack of high chairs. Their bar room is spacious, well-served and has a large stock. The atmosphere is loud, bright and busy - not my thing, really. We prefer sitting outside, where space is more intimate, but being mid-November this option was closed.

We chose to sit outside despite a cool breeze because this restaurant offers two different seating areas with outdoor fires. Our table, closer to the restaurant, was in front of a long thin rectangular gas fire surrounded by clear pieces of broken glass that shimmered by the flames.

Service was friendly and quick. Our four drinks, two special orders and two bar menu specials all were flavorful and good pours. Mine even had a candied hibiscus flower in it which was tasty to nibble on along with the freshly crushed mint.

Our friends had eaten here before ordered the cauliflower pizza for an appetizer which they said was just delicious. Noting the unusual toppings we weren't sure we'd agree, but were pleasantly surprised that the caramelized onions, gold beets, arugula, blackberries and goat cheese with balsamic glaze melded together perfectly. We maybe would leave the blackberries off.

Our fried Brussel sprouts were good mixed with the usual bacon but different by being tossed in truffle honey. The fried calamari with an accompanying chili sauce was like most but with the bonus of a fresh blue cheese crumbled over it.

My three dinner companions thought more of the entrées than I did. The roasted beet salad with apples and fried goat cheese balls was perhaps the best choice, and had the benefit of fewer calories.

A special that night of macaroni and cheese in pesto sauce with a scoop of soft cheese on top was a huge serving presented in a cast iron skillet. It tasted to me more like shells in pesto sauce than Mac and Cheese. The chef needs to rethink this dish.

The buttermilk fried shrimp had a large count size so only three were placed on top of what the menu says is seasonal risotto, which is maybe what made it taste more like rice than risotto. The garnish choice was heavy handed with long green stems that hid the dinner when it was served.

Torn between the Gnocchi Bolognese topped with whipped ricotta or the Fettuccine a la Mar, that came with shrimp, crab and a pink cognac sauce, I went with the former when the waitress said their gnocchi was made by hand each morning. In retrospect, I wish I'd pick the fettuccine. It's not that the Gnocchi was bad, it was okay. As my companion's dinner suffered by too much garnish, mine suffered from having none. A mere sprinkle of chopped parsley would have gave it much needed color. Because my own Bolognese sauce is delicious, I'm picky about others, professional chefs especially. This one was thin with a slightly off flavor that didn't aid the dense gnocchi.

Checks for a four and orders many items is sizable, so knowledgeable patrons expect more defined cuisine. A neighboring table of young adults seemed happy with their baskets of different filled tacos, however. Sometimes keeping it simple is the way to go.

Our Crème brûlée with centered blueberries for a garnish was properly creamy. The added topping of brown sugar was unnecessary.

There is also a wood burning fireplace further from the restaurant with soft seating we'd hoped to sit by after our dinner, but a foursome who only ordered glasses of wine over the two hours we had our meal, seemed to have plans to sit there until closing despite their small tab. Our friend even brought a few logs of wood in his trunk because he said on a prior visit they did not have that fireplace going because they were...

My husband and I have been traveling 65 miles one way (1 hour and 10 minutes) on multiple occasions to dine at Uncommon Grill since discovering their restaurant this summer. The food is delicious. The menu choices are unique. The atmosphere is beautiful. We bring friends with us often and have aggregately easily spent upwards of $2k plus at this establishment.

HOWEVER. There are a two overarching themes of devastating concern to me that are described below in three parts 1, 2a and 2b. If you don’t read the below please know this — Uncommon Grill DOES NOT VALUE YOUR SAFETY and they will go to extreme lengths to publicly humiliate their customer base and keep pertinent health information from you (particulars about their recent COIVD EXPOSURE)

1. CONSUMER HEALTH AND WELL BEING. I’ve consistently seen (every time we’ve been there) their owner WITHOUT a mask on. Not when he takes a drink or eats. All of the time. He walks around the restaurant WITHOUT his mask on. Aggressively shouts at staff and customers WITHOUT a mask on. Stands near, over and around customer food WITHOUT a mask on. If you don’t want to wear a mask in personal life, so be it. However, management of public establishments should 100% be wearing masks to protect their customer base. I am fearful customer health and well-being are a very low priority for this establishment. This is devastating, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

2a) MALICIOUS BEHAVIORS. The restaurant has social media platforms, Facebook and instagram for example. As of late, they have been leveraging it to share their RECENT COVID EXPOSURE (not surprising given the lack of mask wearing from management). Uncommon Grill has DELETED previously written constructive criticism from the comments, are BLOCKING those users from their platforms and are AVOIDING sharing details about their COVID EXPOSURE. Uncommon Grill has not identified in a comprehensive public post a) the date the exposure occurred or b) the role of the carrier at the restaurant - whether they’re a random customer or employee. They are withholding pertinent information relative to your safety. They are intentionally and maliciously silencing voices.

2b) MALICIOUS BEHAVIORS. Management of Uncommon Grill has also found it acceptable to publicly call out individuals who have “wronged them” on above mentioned social media platforms. Coming from restaurant business management, you account for pit falls commonly effecting your business, the unfortunate but likely occurrence of a dine-and-dash is an example. Management has agreed to an antagonistic practice of publicly shaming these individuals. Does it hurt your business to be the victim of this type of occurrence? Absolutely. Is it appropriate and/or professional to maliciously and publicly attack these individuals? No.

Theres a lot more I could say but this is as concise as I could make this review without leaving out important details.

If you value your mental health, physical health and general safety, the Uncommon Grill doesn’t deserve...

Updated review October 10, 2020: My in-laws invited us out to dinner, so I decided to give this place a second try; wish I could give zero stars. We had a 4:30 reservation, we arrived 10 minutes early and were seated by our reserved time. Service was as painfully slow as I remembered previously, we didn't even get silverware until about 45mins after being seated, when I took it upon myself to go into the restaurant to get it because our waitress was nowhere to be seen. The cilantro sriracha wings were good this time, as was the pretzel; pretzel sauces were a stone ground mustard & velveeta-based cheese sauce, which were lacking, but the pretzel was good enough on it's own. Our sons chicken fingers & fries came out about 30minutes after ordering it; he finished eating before we received our meals. We didn't get our food until at least an hour after ordering it. I ordered a steak, "black and blue" waitress said "rare?" I reaffirmed "black and blue, so very rare" my steak arrived medium well. I didn't get a chance to send it back until about 45minutes after it had landed at the table, by that point everyone had finished eating, having not touched it outside of the initial cut to check doneness, I requested it be removed from the bill and left hungry. We requested the check at 6:25, and got it by 6:27 - that was the fastest service we received all evening; all in all it was a disappointing 2hr adventure, and we will not be going back. Review from June 2019: Oh man where to begin. Dining room is too loud, so we opted to sit outside. Cilantro sriracha wings were mediocre, basically sriracha sauce over some wings. Calamari was actually pretty good, the wasabi aioli was dreadful however, so skip it. The biggest disappointment for me however was the short rib poutine, they destroyed the fried egg on top, rendering the yolk hard/fully cooked through and the bottom and edges of the white a blackened mess. Beyond that the "mozzarella cheese curds" appeared and tasted to be just melted cheese, and some of it was orange cheddar to boot. My son's "flat bread" was actually Italian bread with sauce and cheese on it, which was good, but definitely not flat bread. My wife's burger was good, aside from the bacon which was simultaneously overcooked yet limp and chewy at the same time, a real feat. Vodka cranberry did not taste right, either it wasn't cranberry juice or it was surplus from WW2, they brought a second, which turned out to be the same one, just cycled back from our table to the bar and back, I'm assuming taking it for a walk might have helped in their minds. It was removed from our bill however, so there is that. Service was very slow on top of everything; and the wait staff kept forgetting things, even though they were entering everything into a tablet. Would not suggest it to anyone who enjoys food or going to a restaurant, unless you enjoy being...