A new restaurant which has set itself up in downtown Dayton, Table 33 is an interesting concept; focusing on locally-produced ingredients which are constructed into more creative recipes for lighter cuisine, while a friendly bar in the center of the establishment offers an inviting place to grab a drink in the evening. While the concept remains new and its ideas refined, Table 33 has begun to differentiate itself in a way its predecessors did not, as a place for greater experimentation and a push to grow, make, and eat local.The restaurant has a small food menu relative to the average spot downtown, but it’s also got a lot of locally-sourced dishes and many of them can’t be found elsewhere at this level of quality. Some of the things I’ve tried:
- Breakfast Tacos: Cooked up with eggs, mushrooms and vegetables, and topped with cheese, these two tacos have a mountain of ingredients which are nonetheless filling. The tacos are meatless but they’re a great load of food. They’ve also served with a garnish of jicama.
- Chicken Salad sandwich: This creamy chicken salad is heavy on the meat and chopped grapes to make it thick and flavorful. Then it’s served as a sandwich — I highly recommend you eat it with the croissant — and it’s a very filling option by itself. But then you get a side of kettle chips to top it off, and you’ve got a very delicious lunch.
- Posole: A Mexican red chili with pork shoulder and hominy as well as cilantro and red cabbage. Slightly hot. But just a bit.
- Carne Avodado Tacos: A red chili braised pork shoulder, pineapple and cilantro give an accent to this dish. A roasted jalapeno cream gives it a slight heat.
- The Burger: Locally-produced ground beef patties topped with provolone, onions braised in local beer, and a tomato bacon jam. Savory to the max!
- Breakfast Sandwich: A wonderful, locally-produced croissant, topped with an egg over-easy,bacon and a bacon jam with some smokey gouda cheese. It’s a nice bite to wake you up and fast.
- Chicken and Waffles: Chicken strips and made-in-house extra thick waffles. A little bit of spiciness and sweetness in that maple syrup thanks to a sriracha surprise!
- Chorizo Hash: An enduring favorite for breakfast or any time of the day. Sweet potatoes and chorizo topped with a cremy egg. No wonder it’s popular.
- Volcano cake: I don’t know how regularly this shows up on the menu but it’s worth the experience every time. Melty brownie cake can’t ever be wrong.
The restaurant occupies a space that has housed a number of other concepts of diverse type, from the popular Sidebar to the more prosaic Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers and the Downtown Grill, but each struggled to find an audience in downtown’s changing workforce and growing residents. This one seeks a higher-brow experience, and in that I think it is laying the foundation. The price points are pretty good, the staff is very friendly and it seems to be managing the steadily growing traffic of people pretty well.
I hope to see more from this restaurant as it continues to roll out its ideas. It already seems to have attracted interest from plenty of people around downtown, and if it can continue to fill out a niche that isn’t otherwise easy to find, there are a lot of possibilities for the place.
Recommendations
- The restaurant has a lighter menu, which is brunch focused, but the food is still good for a light lunch.
- There are plenty of drinks to try if you want to come to the restaurant in the evening.
- This is an ideal spot for a small group or one or two people. Small tables make for a welcoming experience.
Another Food Critic 