1951 West Green Bay, WI

Restaurant Review of 1951 West in Green Bay, WI

By Patricia Summerfield
July 23, 2009
For dinner I decided to try the restaurant 1951 West Cocktails and American Cuisine which is located on the West side of Green Bay. As you walk in you hear the relaxing sound of a waterfall which is located on a side wall and directly ahead there is a massive and beautiful fresh flower arrangement by the hostess stand. The interior of the restaurant was well designed with a well thought out plan, which utilized their space advantageously. The decor is upscale contemporary with warm colors of golds, browns, and blacks. To the right is a very spacious bar and lounge with many large comfy booths, tables, and a very long bar with a lighted gold background which displays various liquor bottles. The ceilings are high and dome shaped with loads of wonderful recessed lighting throughout.

They have a large and very diverse menu and a full bar with specialty cocktails. They offer a combination of home style cooking and fine dining selections with a moderate price range. For an appetizer I ordered the Homemade Maryland Crab Cakes served with lemon aioli and broccoli slaw for $8.99. The two crab cakes were large and presented nicely. The crab cakes were lightly browned, warm with a nice texture but tasted more like a fish patty. It tasted as though they reused the same oil that they fry other fish in to make the crab cakes. The broccoli slaw tasted stale with no stand out flavor. For my entree I ordered the Seared Sesame Tuna for $17.99 which included your choice of soup or salad and a bread basket. I chose the salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. My salad was served with the bread basket and a small plastic cup of whipped herb butter. The salad portion was generous and consisted of mixed greens with cucumber, tomato, red onion, and red cabbage. My dressing was served in a plastic cup on the side. Unfortunately the salad looked pre-made, not fresh or crisp and was lackluster in flavor. The bread basket contained white and whole wheat rolls with seasoned flatbread crackers. The crackers tasted fresh but the rolls were bland, however the herb butter helped mask the blandness of the rolls. My entree consisted of a Sashimi grade tuna crusted with sesame seeds and cracked peppercorns, pan seared to medium rare, sliced and served with rice pilaf, Asian slaw, pickled ginger, wasabi horseradish, and wasabi dipping sauce. The tuna was presented beautifully and again more than generous in portion. The tuna was excellent; it was done correctly - fork tender and heavily seasoned on the outside which gave a great explosion of flavor. The rice was moist, lightly seasoned, not sticky but just right and very pleasant. But again I was disappointed for the Asian slaw was bland and tasted old. My service throughout the evening was attentive and cordial.

To finish off the meal I ordered the cobbler for two for $7.99. The night's flavor was blueberry and used locally grown fresh produce served with whipped cream. The cobbler was not what I imagined it to be, it was served on a huge platter with the blueberry sauce in a shallow flat dish with just a scattering of tiny crumbs on top and there were 4 thick slices of pound cake arranged flat on the plate with small dollops of cream placed in between the cake. Well the whipped cream was store bought not whipped cream made from scratch and the blueberry sauce was overly sweet and contained the herb Basil which over-powered the fresh flavor of the blueberries, an awful chemistry. We told the server of our dislike for the dessert and that we would like to order a different dessert. He said he would get the manager. The manager was very friendly and asked what we did not like about the cobbler, she then suggested their carrot cake, which is made in house and was very good. The cake cost $4.95 and was a huge thick slice of cake decorated with thick cream cheese frosting with coarsely chopped nuts on the side. It was very dense, spicy, and tasted delicious. The manager then came back to see if everything was satisfactory and told us she sampled the blueberry sauce and agreed that it tasted too strong of the basil. The accommodating service and concern for the customer was appreciated, but the food was not consistently good.

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