McEwen's on Monroe
120 Monroe Ave.
Cuisines: American
About
The exposed brick walls, white table cloths, and well-spaced tables are your first clue that McEwen's is a classy, comfortable kind of place. It offers a relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere with food to match. Located downtown on Monroe Avenue, McEwen's is a lunchtime favorite with the business crowd, but at night it caters to a wide swath of folks looking for delicious food in a genial setting. The crowd here can choose from a number of "Southern fusion" appetizers including sweet potato empanadas, barbeque duck confit enchiladas, and buttermilk fried oysters, and entrees such as pan-seared scallops with stone-ground cheddar grits or peppered seared beef tenderloin served with a lobster potato cake. Though this is no place to stick to your diet, they do have a few options on the lighter side. At lunchtime go for the soup and salad combo. After dark, try the watercress salad, with mandarin oranges, roasted red and yellow bell peppers, with a cojita cheese blood orange vinaigrette. Ask to see their sizeable wine list. For dessert, nothing will make you happier than McEwen's famous banana cream pie. The award-winning confection will make you swoon, Southern style.
