District 2 Bar

If you head to the corner of Wisconsin and Macomb NW, you will find the newly opened District 2 Bar & Grille where you will be treated to innovative takes on traditional American bar food.

District 2 is named for the police department that is located around the corner. It seems appropriate because I could very easily see a bunch of policemen hanging out in the restaurant on their off hours. There are high backed booths, a long wooden bar and large flat screens TVs on just about every wall. I can absolutely envision people coming here to have a beer and watch football (they have the game-day package on DirecTV).

I went to the restaurant with two of my best friends from my college sorority, and we decided on this restaurant because their menu said they had fried pickles. One of my friends saw that and replied to an email by saying “I am not Snookie, but those just sound SO good.” Fair enough. And really, who am I to turn down anything fried, especially when it includes my favorite Kosher pickles.

Even though that is what got us in the door, we soon found out that the pickles were no longer on the menu due to limited kitchen space. Apparently they will be returning as soon as an additional fryer comes in, but for the time being they have been 86’ed. After inner Snookie got over the pickle disappointment we ordered the spicy Chorizo dip. The dip was not terribly spicy, but it did have a nice flavor. It was served with chips that were gave the creamy dip the touch of salt that it needed.

We decided to order two main dishes and split them among the 3 of us. The D2 Mac & Cheese was pretty much awesome, but I can only begin to imagine the sheer number of calories that it contains. The dish is cork screw pasta that is smothered in beer cheese fondue and topped with bread crumbs. The flavors blended nicely to create an enviable version of this classic.

In an effort to be healthy we opted to go with the grilled chicken platter as our second dish. As soon as the plate was set down in front of us we were validated in our decision to only order two main dishes. There was at least a pound and a half of chicken next to a larger serving of mashed potatoes and grilled mushrooms and onions. The chicken was moist and seasoned well, not something that is expected when ordering bar food.

Even though I would give the atmosphere and the food a thumbs up I have to give the service a bit fat X. It took over 10 minutes to get water and the waiter barely paid attention to us throughout our meal. I even had to get up to track down our waiter to get an extra set of silverware. If District 2 can get their act together I envision this restaurant sticking around longer than Alliance Tavern and Enology.