Patricia G.
Yelp
Came to COLAB on a Saturday evening. When you walk in there's a little storefront where you can buy items which is really awesome.
The inside is big, open and spacious, and there's a huge outdoor area as well. This place can get packed! It was pretty noisy when we went as we were seated at a table near the bar.
However, we were seated right away and the service was really friendly.
I mean selling point for us on this restaurant, was there sourdough starter. We quickly found out that there were quite a few discrepancies between their website menu and actual menu, so be careful of that. The sourdough was actually replaced with their stuffed focaccia.
So we ended up ordering two drinks, the stuffed focaccia, deviled eggs, colab tempura, feta watermelon salad and a kids grilled cheese with chips (or you can get fruit) and strawberry yogurt (I believe you can choose from chocolate or strawberry)
I'll start with the tempura which was pretty salty, but it wasn't heavy nor greasy, and came with a nice array of veggies. The deviled eggs were fantastic and we appreciated the fact that it was vegetarian (most come with bacon), the mustard seed on top really kicked it up a notch. The feta watermelon salad was unlike anything I've had before. It was refreshing, flavorful, and guiltless. Nutty, zesty, salty, can't really ask for more (and it was a big portion!) The focaccia was actually the best part of the meal. Granted there may have been too much cheese (which isn't something I ever thought I'd hear myself say), the bread was fresh, thick, flavorful and really filling. They even squeeze freshly roasted garlic for you at the table! Id come back just for this dish alone. The kids grilled cheese probably wouldn't suffice for a typical kid who is a fan of a more 'basic' grilled cheese (but thats fine because then the adults can eat the leftovers :P) the chips were nice and crispy, not oily, and the yogurt was so creamy and flavorful. It was very surprising.
For dessert we had ordered (and already paid for) a slice of blueberry bundt cake and a peach bread pudding to-go. Come to find out they were out of the blueberry and the only other option was a lavender slice. The bread pudding was fantastic, even though it was to-go. But the lavender bundt tasted exactly like soap, which I figured it would,, and I wouldn't have gotten it had I not already paid.
This definitely wasn't a cheap meal, but it was nice to experience things I wouldn't have typically tried and the food was really fresh. Stuart also has a nice little downtown area to walk afterwards. I would for sure come back as their menu seems to rotate a bit, to try new things.