Like everyone else, I got in on the hype as soon as New York Times posted their top 50 restaurants for 2022, and it was well deserved. Although that came out almost 9 months ago, Amy has yet to go, so of course we had to make a special reservation. This is also the kick-off of our Summer Restaurant Tour where we’ll be visiting all of the restaurants we have yet to both visit, so stay tuned for more!

We were feeling a certain type of chaos while we were at dinner tonight, and our bartender was on our vibe perfectly (shout out to Dan – this man needs a raise!). Of the bat when it came to ordering, we narrowed it down to six items we were interested in. At this point we usually have to make some sacrifices and pick our top three. But not tonight. Tonight was the start of our Summer Restaurant Tour – how could we say whether we recommend a restaurant or not if we don’t eat the whole menu? And with that, we ordered all six items.

Now before we get into the food, we have to talk cocktails. We ordered the Leticia (left) and the Go Fig-yer (right). Amy is a big fan of egg whites, so the Leticia was a win in her book. Plus, I mean, look at how cute it is. The Go Fig-yer on the end looked a bit more daunting, but was by far the winner of the night. This drink made us ready to go on a cruise. It was deliciously sweet and kind of jammy from the fig flavors. This one is a must-order if you go here.

Now as our title implies, this was a boozy night tonight, so how did that happen? Tonight, bartender Dan came in clutch. It started off innocently with a paloma. We think he had accidentally made too much and gave us the leftovers as it was only about 3/4 of a glass. This was a delicious paloma as well, and possibly the first one either of us have ever liked. (Quick side bar, both Amy and I were forced by our dads to eat grapefruit as children and we think this has had consequences on our opinions of grapefruit today.) Next, we told him we were curious about the Brawndo, which is a cocktail that had avocado in it, which we have never seen before. Lo and behold, a Brawndo appeared before us. It was nice and creamy and a bit spicy. Finally, he said that we should order the Verde next, which is his favorite drink that he described as a spicy Mountain Dew. We weren’t planning on ordering more, but ten minutes later this drink appeared before us. This was our least favorite drink of the night, too reminiscent of a Four Loko for our tastes. Behold, our drink line-up.

Next: The Food

Of course we had to start with the oysters. We are oyster girls to our core. It was like Petite Leon knew we were coming because they were serving up our favorites tonight – the Sweet Petites! And for only $18 for half a dozen, they were at a great deal. Of course we can get these oysters for a dollar a piece at Coastal Seafoods, but saving Amy the trauma of stabbing herself with the oyster knife is worth the extra price.

Up next we had the Piquillo Peppers and the Toast. Ever since we went to Audrey in Nashville and had the most delicious piquillo pepper soup, we have yearned to be in our pepper era. Additionally, we have been on a goat cheese kick, so this was the perfect combo for us. We do wish this dish had come a bit warmer, but that could be due to how long it took Amy to take her content photos. We would order this again, but its nothing to phone home about.

Up next we had probably our least interesting dish of the night, the Royale, and I’m personally going to take the blame for that one. I knew it didn’t sound like anything we would typically order, so I wanted us to get it to branch out and see if we’re missing out on anything. Turns out I should trust our experience and what we like, because at the end of the day, this dish was just ham on a plate. Nothing bad to say, except that we would never order it again and we would never recommend it to anyone. It reminds me of our late night ham snacks in college from Amy’s dad.

Now onto the real winners of the night – the toast and the tartare. Let me start by raving about the toast. We will order this every time we go for as long as they have it on the menu. The ricotta was whipped just right, the toast the perfect balance of soft and crispy, the mushrooms were mushrooms, so perfect, and the hot honey added a nice bit of intrigue. And look at how beautiful that looks? Our homemade toast could never. And the tartare? I mean, come on. We will always order a tartare, but we especially had to here because of how unique Petite Leon does it relative to other tartare we’ve had. The bread it was on was different and it solved the age-old tartare problem – struggling to stack the meat onto a chip. It also had fairly large pickles mixed in, which was unusual but not unwanted. It added a nice bite and crunch, and man do I love a pickle!

Finally, we ordered the tamale. Again, this one was a bit of a different order for us, especially seeing as how Amy doesn’t like tamales. This also made me realize that I’m not sure if I know what a tamale is. This dish was fine, and we were also getting full at this point, so we did have to box it up to go. The texture concerned me, and it was a bit spicy if you like that. I don’t think we would order this again personally, but that’s all I really have to say about it. I think if you like tamales, go for it. Us personally, not so much.

And of course, there is always room for dessert with us. To come out with it, I have been here before, and I really hyped up the Basque cheesecake to Amy. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype. It wasn’t as creamy as I recall, there was a bit of a texture to it. Still worth a try again in the future, there’s no such thing as going wrong with a cheesecake, but sometimes you can really go right.

VIBE CHECK

We didn’t get many photos of the inside because we didn’t want to be weird. The vibes here are quaint and intimate. It’s giving cozy neighborhood restaurant you go to for a nice date night. Plus, with bartenders like Dan, the vibes are super on point here.

Dish It Out

Please reference our rating system, 1 being awful and 5 being fantastic.