Five Creeks Tavern
Five Creeks Tavern is the newest addition to Highland Park Village. The restaurant was created by Ben Ralston and Buddy Cramer, the minds behind Katy Trail Ice House, Katy Trail Ice House Outpost, Bandito’s Tex-Mex and KT Burger. This new concept opened September 1 and features a wide selection of wines, beer on tap and cocktails served alongside Neopolitan pizzas, paninis and pastas and other Italian dishes. I stopped by last Friday to check out the place and here are 5 things I came away with (good and bad):
1) Five Creeks Tavern is a much needed casual dining experience in Highland Park Village (which has gotten a little too fancy pants for their own good in recent years, in my opinion). The place basically looks like a nice sports bar. Lots of dark wood, booths and TVs. I am confused, however, by the sports photos in the bar area and the brightly colored paintings of Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen in the other room. Huh? It looks like Ben & Buddy decorated and that's not a good thing.
2) They serve wine in juice glasses. This needs to be halted. Immediately. We might call it "Mommy Juice" but no one wants to drink wine out of a juice glass. Please buy stemware. Now.
3) They have a wood burning pizza oven but haven't yet mastered how to make pizzas. I tried three different pizzas during my visit. They weren't bad, but they were spotty. Lots of bald spots with no sauce or toppings. The pizzas were 12" (roughly the size of a dinner plate) and were $15-$17. They either need to take down the price or make the pizzas bigger.
4) The ambiance and staff are great. Although the restaurant is primarily comprised dark woods, it has a spacious feel to it and the patio above the movie marquee provides an amazing view to people-watch. The staff I encountered were friendly and knowledgable.
5) Regardless of the fact that they are serving wine in awful glassware and need to make some menu adjustments, Five Creeks Tavern is a breath of fresh air to the HPV center and will be welcomed with open arms by the Park Cities community.
I will definitely be back to see if any of my suggestions have been implemented. In the end, I just can't resist a good people-watching spot and no place beats HPV for voyeuristic behavior. To learn more, visit http://fivecreekstavern.com/