Jump to content

Villain & Saint - Gastropub and Live Music on Wisconsin Avenue Adjacent to Montgomery Farm Women's Co-op


Recommended Posts

Went last night for dinner and a show.

First of all, it's a great venue for music. The sound is great throughout the place, which is surprising because it's pretty narrow. The stage is at the front right by the front door. There are 4-top tables along the wall heading back, opposite a long bar with stools. Note that the bar stools are cleared 30 minutes before the show; this sounds punitive but when you see the traffic flow you'll understand. Unfortunately, the 2-tops are all in the back at the other end of the bar. There actually still is a decent sightline for the stage from those 2-tops, and it's not THAT big a place, but you still feel penalized for only being a 2-top.

Also, a note of caution. You can make a table reservation from the website, and you can buy show tickets, but one does not include the other. They're not bringing in name acts, so the likelihood of having a table for dinner, and being booted out before the show starts because it's sold out is probably nil. But there were people who came in last night with tickets, who were disappointed that they could not sit for dinner or the show.

Food was mostly very good, with one NOTABLE exception.

Pimento Cheese with Bacon Jam, Grilled Bread, $8 was very good and a generous portion of food. More than sufficient for a shared appetizer.

Pork Shoulder Sandwich Slow Cooked & Dry Rubbed on a Toasted Roll. White Vermont Cheddar, Spicy Broccoli Rabe, Caramelized Vidalia Onions, & Chipotle Mayonnaise, $12 (online menu says $14 and includes sweet potato fries) If you skip the mayo (served on the side), this is halfway between a Philly roast pork sandwich and what Roberto Donna used to serve at Galileo for his $5 lunch sandwich. Would definitely order again.

Saint Louis Slow Smoked Pork Ribs V&S BBQ Sauce, Baked Beans, Coleslaw and Fries ½ slab $17 BBQ sauce, beans, slaw, and fries all excellent. The ribs were awful. And I mean, even awful for a sports pub awful. There is no way that any manner of smoking ever touched this meat - no smoke taste or ring. I would guess parboiling and then finished in an oven. The meat was bland and soft. but edges were dry. AVOID.

Simple cocktail list that was well prepared, but a very good beer list.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Food was mostly very good, with one NOTABLE exception.

Pimento Cheese with Bacon Jam, Grilled Bread, $8 was very good and a generous portion of food. More than sufficient for a shared appetizer.

Pork Shoulder Sandwich Slow Cooked & Dry Rubbed on a Toasted Roll. White Vermont Cheddar, Spicy Broccoli Rabe, Caramelized Vidalia Onions, & Chipotle Mayonnaise, $12 (online menu says $14 and includes sweet potato fries) If you skip the mayo (served on the side), this is halfway between a Philly roast pork sandwich and what Roberto Donna used to serve at Galileo for his $5 lunch sandwich. Would definitely order again.

Saint Louis Slow Smoked Pork Ribs V&S BBQ Sauce, Baked Beans, Coleslaw and Fries ½ slab $17 BBQ sauce, beans, slaw, and fries all excellent. The ribs were awful. And I mean, even awful for a sports pub awful. There is no way that any manner of smoking ever touched this meat - no smoke taste or ring. I would guess parboiling and then finished in an oven. The meat was bland and soft. but edges were dry. AVOID.

Mostly agree with all of this. Two other dishes that I've really enjoyed there are the Eggplant (Saint) and Chili (Villain).  Still wish they would bring back the Banh Mi sandwich that Markham's used to serve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...