The Long-Awaited Bourbon

I don't know about y'all, but there's this little restaurant down on Main Street in downtown Columbia that I've been waiting for months, and months, and months to try out. We waited so long that it felt like years before the restaurant got around to opening for business. I stalked their facebook page on a regular basis trying to determine when they would open for business. I was positive that it was going to be April 15 but they held out another two weeks.

It opened up early last week and on Friday, Patrick and I hit it up for lunch before beginning our wedding weekend road trip to Charleston. If you know somebody who loves bourbon and/or cajun creole food... Bourbon is absolutely the place to take them.

I'm going to warn you though. The place is tiny. There's a bar that probably has 15-20 seats and a handful of booths. They do not take reservations so your best bet is going to be going at an off time, like 1pm on a Friday afternoon for lunch.

Another warning: as soon as you walk in the door it drops down. So watch your step!

We ordered the Creole Pimento Cheese appetizer, served with saltine crackers.

It was different, but good.

For lunch I ordered the Vegetarian Gumbo with house made andouille sausage. Patrick ordered the Slow 'N' Low Pork Po'boy.

For the record, the menu said that the gumbo consisted of roasted bell peppers, onions, braised celery, and rice. There was absolutely no mention of okra. The entire dish consisted of okra and until Friday, I'd never ventured out and tried okra. I tried it - not a fan. So I ate the rice and the sausage and called it a day. I won't get the gumbo again but not because it wasn't good, just because it wasn't what I expected or wanted. Patrick had some and said it was delicious.

I would instead get what he ordered for lunch. I stole a few bites and it was great!

Patrick got a side dish with his meal and he ordered the Creole Pimento Shells 'n' Cheese. Um... do yourself a favor and don't get this unless you're the type of person that enjoys eating pimento cheese straight. It was overly pimento cheese-y. I love pimento cheese but this was way too much... you couldn't taste the pasta at all.

Patrick also got two drinks - a Whiskey Smash & a Manhattan.

Both were great {according to him}. I don't do bourbon and I was the one driving us to Charleston right after lunch, so I passed on the drinks this time around.

I think we'll be back sometime. After all the hype surrounding this place I want to give it another try, but I wasn't super impressed on my first go round. I want to try the burger with the creole pimento cheese on it though because I've heard from multiple people that the burgers are fantastic.