Food: ☆☆☆

Service: ☆☆☆☆

Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: $$

Must try: Fried Chicken Biscuit Appetizer, Root Chips

Root & Bone is all the rage in New York City and I have been twice now and had two diametrically opposite experiences.

The first time I went I was totally floored and couldn’t get enough of everything I tried. The second time I went – I liked the food, thought the fried chicken was over cooked and unimpressive as were the roots and didn’t think I would be going back in a hurry.

So writing this review is now a bit of a conundrum but I always like to give people and places the benefit of the doubt and begin my ditty with my first experience here.

Root & Bone is Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth’s ultra charming, Southern Restaurant opened up in the East Village. Both partners are super talented with experience in a similar styled restaurant called Yardbird in Miami and have made appearances on the popular TV show Top Chef.

I really love the vibe created at Root & Bone. It is dressed in farmhouse casual-chic and has the friendliest, most helpful crew working the front end and the tables.

The menu comprises of classic Southern favorites with a modern flair. One of my absolute favorite dishes served there is the “Fried Chicken Biscuit” appetizer, which is not on the menu. It was one of the first dishes I tried there and just blew my mind. I also love their root chips, which are thin, crispy and perfectly executed.

The big disappointments was the their “Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwich” which just didn’t work for me and their “Roots” dish which I was really looking forward to was really under seasoned and a bit on the raw side.

The much-hyped fried chicken is good but not the best I’ve ever had. The basket we tried was a little overcooked which was disappointing. I do really like the hint of lime flavor in the chicken and their really excellent tangy spicy honey sauce they serve with the chicken.

They did serve an excellent combination of vegetables with the Bone-In Pork Chop which complemented the succulent meat very well.

Root & Bone, all in all is a really great spot but I think perhaps they need to work on the consistency of food a little harder. Having said that – it has only been open a few months now and I’m sure given time, it will run like a well oiled machine.

Here is some of what we ate: