Red Star

Red Star
906 S. Wolfe St.
Fell's Point, Baltimore
410-675-0212
www.redstarrestaurant.net
bar/pub
Cost: $$
Reservations: Varies
Date of meal: Thursday, September 20, 2007 (8pm)
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: On It

I went to Red Star last night with a large group of people. While reasonably busy, there were tables available. (I believe we made a reservation but our group was 10+.) Red Star fits nicely into the upscale brew pub category. The environment is clean and pleasant with lots of highly varnished, medium-dark wood paneling. Lots of light for a bar. Lots of exposed brick. Clearly a converted industrial space. The lack of cigarette smoke at this (and all other) bar makes it a lot more pleasant. (Expect more than one post from me on the economics of smoking bans in the not-too-distant future.) I would say that the place lacks a bit of personality, which is surprising given how hard I think they tried to make the place just right. By appealing to groups of yuppies, I think they are forced to go for unobjectionable. You don't want to take risks when you take a group of co-workers out for drinks after work.

Red Star has a wide variety of yuppie, micro-brew beers on tap. I think the place would be improved if these were explained in more detail on the menu so patrons could better choose between unknown beers.

For a brew pub, food is very upscale. For a yuppie brew pub, options are pretty much what you would expect. They have burgers, but with "gouda and smoky horseradish BBQ sauce with lettuce and tomato in an herbed tortilla"; they have pizza, but with "Smoked Duck and Truffle house smoked duck breast, brie, baby spinach and roasted pepper sauce, finished with white truffle oil".

I tried the Tuna Starshimi ($11, a respectable sushi-like tuna roll but probably an ordering mistake at a pub, even a yuppie one), the fish taco special ($11?, quite good with avocados), artichoke and crab dip ($13, disappointing at this price point), and their Margherita pizza ($9, decent production of a standard). I also stole one of my companions sweet potato fries, which were quite good. The diversity of the menu means that it works well with large groups. Overall, I would rate the food above average for a pub and slightly above average for a yuppie pub.

Red Star is an excellent place to come with large groups. (I know Baltimore has alternatives, notably DuClaw's nearby, that I need to check out.) To my taste, it lacks soul and as a result I probably wouldn't come with only one other person.