Joy G.
Yelp
Let's start with the positives that Mint has got going on. This is a situation where I'm yet again begging Yelp to institute half-stars because Mint is more accurately rated as a 3.5 rather than a 3 or a 4.
1. First, I'm a sucker for anything that's half restaurant, half specialty or gourmet store. We didn't get a chance to poke around the front part of the restaurant but I glimpsed a variety of cheeses, meats, and crackers.
2. The dishes we ordered, across the board, were delicious. I liked my grilled dates salad; can't go wrong with the combo of dates, prosciutto, and goat cheese. The salad also came with orange slices and pistachios. Overall, something I'd definitely recreate at home. My favorite dish was my mom's shrimp and grits, the shrimp were huge and cooked perfectly.
The not-so-goods:
1. Prices were really high for the portion sizes. I get that this is a thing across the industry, inflation yada yada yada, but these were Manhattan prices basically. The cheapest salad on the menu, the Mint house salad, was $16, with no protein ... and a topping of grilled chicken was %10. The grilled dates salad was definitely appetizer-sized, not enough for a stand-alone entree.
2. From sitting down to getting the check, brunch took around 2 hours. Great if you don't mind sitting and chatting without anyone bothering you, not great if you want to get a quick meal. Service was absolutely slammed but our waiter did his best and I appreciated him coming by to take our order before another table who had waved him down (we were seated before they were).
3. The side of French baguette was probably the worst baguette I've ever had - stale, dry, ripped apart the roof of my mouth. Charging $5 for such a stale old piece of bread was highway robbery.