The Pastrami Reuben ($9.99) comes with mustard, Russian dressing and homemade pickles. The Pastrami Reuben ($9.99) comes with mustard, Russian dressing and homemade pickles.[/caption]

Hyde Park Bar & Grill owner Bick Brown said the company’s core value is, well, value.


Throughout the restaurant’s 34 years—including 10 years at its location on West Gate Boulevard—Brown has always preached affordable food made with quality products.


“People know that we have fought the fight to keep those prices where they are and not give in to temptation to charge more than we should,” he said. “It’s not cheap to go out and eat these days. It’s expensive; it doesn’t always have to be.”


Recently, another challenge has been maintaining its beloved menu, which features comfort food such as burgers, pimento cheese sandwiches and meatloaf, while also staying contemporary and evolving with culinary trends.


Brown said he has done that by offering meals for a range of dietary needs and preferences, such as vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and other allergy-sensitive dishes.


But the staple at Hyde Park Bar & Grill remains its seasoned, buttermilk-battered fries. Over the years the restaurant has garnered critical praise for them, including from both local and national media outlets.




The Hyde Park Fries ($4.99 for two to three people, $7.99 for four to six people) are dipped in buttermilk batter. The Hyde Park Fries ($4.99 for two to three people, $7.99 for four to six people) are dipped in buttermilk batter.[/caption]

“It’s become a very popular dish,” Brown said. “I’ve got one guy; that’s all he does—make fries.”


He joked that he turned a typically low-cost and low-labor item into a work-intensive and high-cost—for the fresh potatoes that are hand-cut to make them—labor of love.


Other popular menu items include the chicken-fried steak or chicken ($11.99); Pork & Mac ($12.99), which is slow-roasted pork shoulder served atop macaroni and cheese; and the Asian Chicken Salad ($10.99).


Customers can listen to live music at the West Gate location. The restaurant opened a patio in 2008 where one can hear such music as vintage country, British Invasion tunes, bluegrass, folk, polka and jazz. Brown said the patio is in the midst of an expansion to allow for year-round booking of live music events. The patio will soon feature an extended roof that will allow bands to play whether it rains or is cold.


Brown said he would like to open a third location in the future, but the circumstances have to be just right.