Gadsby's Bar American - Columbia, Maryland

Gadsby's Chef Robert Gadsby featured in southernliving.com (at Bedford, his former Huston, Texas restaurant) 

Open kitchen 

This weekend, HowChow wrote about his visit to the new Gadsby's Bar American (located in the former Greystone Grill), so my family thought we'd give it a try too. 

We were literally the only people in the restaurant for a late Sunday lunch.  Since it was their first weekend lunch service and the word is still getting out about the new restaurant, we know this will be the last time we don't need a reservation. The restaurant is soon going to be stuffed with hungry customers.

The decor is still all Greystone Grill (including the sign outside), but it was always a cool, modern restaurant. Check out the open kitchen and large stone water fountain. 

What's changed?  The lunch menu is all Gadsby's  - soon to be followed by the dinner menu after the holidays. 

Although there were plenty of places to sit - 2 large dinning rooms - we choose the bar area to watch the Raven's game on a big flat screen TV. 

We each decided to try a different sandwich on the menu, which all came with a side of Idaho fries.

Thomas ordered the Herbed Chicken - grilled chicken, roasted peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper Jack mayo on a sesame seed bun. At Thomas's request the server put the avocado on the side. He didn't think he would like the roasted peppers but they added a sweet touch to the grilled chicken. The lettuce was cold romaine - just the way he likes it crisp and plentiful.

Herbed Chicken

 













I ordered the Smoked Turkey - grilled smoked turkey breast, honey mustard, lettuce and tomatoes. The honey mustard sauce was the bomb - the sweet and savory sauce complimented the smokey flavors in turkey. I only wish the honey mustard sauce was a little thicker.

Smoked Turkey

My dad ordered the Pit Beef - roast beef, horse radish, onions, toasted bun and Idaho fries. He doesn't normally order this type of sandwich, but he was glad he did. He said "the tender and well seasoned meat combined with the horse radish dressing was interesting and delicious."

Pit Beef

Texas Road Side Burger 

My mom couldn't decide between the "V" Burger  (eggplant, mushrooms, dirty rice, kale, tomatoes, and BBQ sauce)  or the Texas Road Side Burger (black angus beef, onion marmalade, honey glazed bacon, lettuce and tomatoes). She choose the latter and wasn't disappointed. She said it is now one of her top 10 favorite burgers. The honey glazed bacon was the deal breaker.

After we finished our meal, we met Chef Robert Gadsby, the former kick-boxer turned world-class & celebrity chef and Food Network's American Iron Chef competitor, who is a very cool dude in his own right. This British-born chef, has traveled the globe and studied cooking under some of the world's top chefs.

We had a really nice conversation about food with him. He told us about an experience he had with singer Stevie Wonder when the celebrity interviewed him to cook for a big party he was hosting after an awards show. During the interview taste tasting,  Stevie was able to correctly identify all the  ingredients in the food the chef prepared - and express how the tastes complimented each other.

He told us the encounter changed the way he cooked. The chef focused his cooking "as if people were eating food with their sense of taste first." This meant adding "depth of flavor" but only subtle hints that would not overpower the main ingredient's natural flavors.

Right after he told us the Stevie Wonder story, Chef Gadsby invited us to come back for a taste testing of some of his new creations.  What a lunch!!! We can't wait to go back. Stay tuned for another Gadsby's Bar American post soon.

Gadsby's Bar American - 8850 Columbia 100 Pkwy, Columbia, MD 21045, 410-715-4739.

 - Charles