"The Brixton, an English-inspired gastropub in Cow Hollow, opened in 2011, closed in 2019, and then went through a seven-month remodel in 2024. Still with us? Good. The most exciting thing about the second iteration of The Brixton is the new dining room. It’s steeped in natural light with high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, long leather banquettes, and a sidewalk patio where you can see that same bright red “Brixton” neon sign from before. Sadly, the updated menu is a lot less memorable. Entrees like pan-roasted chicken breast and herb-crusted halibut are either too heavy on the salt or missing it entirely. The quadrilateral Osaka-style sushi “stacks,” while fun to look at, are difficult to eat and piled with so many ingredients that you can't taste the individual components. And what is described as a soft serve sundae is actually just a scoop of icy vanilla ice cream with triple the amount of whipped cream. Take a cue from the other Cow Hollow-ites stopping by for Happy Hour and skip dinner. That's when we'd suggst beelining to a barstool and ordering from an extensive list of cocktails, mocktails, and wines, as well as the deviled eggs topped with bourbon bacon and mozzarella sticks with house ranch that survived the renovation. Once Happy Hour is over at 6pm, head elsewhere to pad out your stomach. Food Rundown photo credit: Patrick Wong Deviled Eggs With Bourbon Bacon Just as good as they were before The Brixton 2.0. Yolks are creamy and the salty-sweet bacon bits on top have so much audible crunch you’ll need to warn your neighbors before you take a bite. photo credit: Patrick Wong Mozzarella Sticks A solid choice. Ask to keep the ramekin of house ranch for dipping and drizzling emergencies. photo credit: Patrick Wong Osaka-Style Sushi “Stacks” We appreciate these rectangular pieces of rice and fish for the novelty—it’s tough to find this kind of sushi in the city. But trying to get everything into one bite is a test of persistence, as at least one ingredient will tumble down to your plate before it reaches your mouth. And when you do successfully complete a bite, the flavors and textures are muddled. photo credit: Patrick Wong Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast We expect a lemon and caper sauce to be salty, but this one is overwhelming. It distracts from an otherwise well-cooked juicy chicken breast. photo credit: Patrick Wong Herb-Crusted Halibut Just like the chicken breast, the halibut is cooked well—it’s moist and flaky—but tastes like it wasn’t seasoned at all, despite the visible specks of herbs and spices in the crust. It’s served atop a layer of corn risotto with cherry tomatoes, which is tasty, though too cold. photo credit: Patrick Wong Soft Serve Sundae The ratios—and the name—are off. There’s no soft serve, rather a small solitary scoop of ice cream. The sundae itself is 80% whipped cream with the remaining 20% wobbling between ice cream and hardened fudge." - Patrick Wong
