The Technician

            In the recent past, Flint has been known for many things. Having a booming downtown area isn’t one of them, but the city of Flint is doing their best to change that by opening up bars, restaurants student housing, and rebranding Flint as a college town.

I recently drove downtown to inspect the recently opened Blackstone’s bar and grill, an Irish pub, located in the heart of downtown. I went with a group of 13 people, and they were more than happy to seat us. If you choose to go there with a decent sized group I suggest that you call ahead and make reservations so you don’t have to wait. We ended up waiting about 40 minutes for a table, but that most likely had to do with the fact that it was right in the middle of the dinner rush and we didn’t give them advance warning. Once inside the building, you can appreciate how much time and effort was spent prepping for the opening. The architects left most of the original structural brick work and rebar in place so you can see how everything fits together (we’re all engineers so we can appreciate that stuff as we wait for our food)

Once seated at our table, we noticed something almost magical. The restaurant had a good deal of ambient noise, but we didn’t have any issue hearing the people sitting across the table from us. It was really slick. Their menu is very impressive, and consists of 5 pages of entrées with food ranging from traditional American food such as burgers to traditional Irish food like Sheppard’s pie. After much debating, I decided on the buttermilk chicken. They describe it as “½ roasted chicken that has been brined in buttermilk, herbs and seasonings for a incredibly tender chicken. Slow roasted and served with vegetables and mashed potatoes.” (Blackstone's pub and grill, 2008) Because it is an entrée, it also comes with a basket full of Johnnycakes (think corn bread) and house bread. The Johnnycakes were much sweeter than normal corn bread, but after the initial shock, the taste grew on me. The house bread was traditional white bread and had good flavor.

When our food arrived, we had a disappointing realization. The restaurant isn’t aimed at college-aged kids. The portions were way too small. For my vegetable, I got three sticks of asparagus. Granted, it was very good asparagus, but still not enough food. The chicken came as advertised. It was quite literally a half a chicken. A very small…half chicken. Once I got past this disappointment, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. Their blend of seasonings was spot on and even the white meat was very juicy and had good flavor. 

I asked some of the other people at our table what they thought of their meal. One attendee responded with “I ordered chicken tenders with fries. The chicken tenders were very mediocre. Nothing stood out about the restaurant for me.” (Farinelli, 2009) Another responded with “Atmosphere was great, prices were middle of the road, portions were small. Good cornbread.” (Naismith, 2009) When asked about going back he said “We don’t have to go there to eat, they do have a full bar and pool tables. We can go there to enjoy the atmosphere.”

Personally, would I go back? Absolutely. It is convenient to patronize, has a great atmosphere, and is upbeat. At the same time, considering what you get for food, it’s a bit on the pricy side in terms of going there for a meal. In an overall view, it is one piece of the puzzle that is downtown Flint. I believe this restaurant, along with the rest of the development downtown, will really pull together a community and make people visiting downtown Flint realize that Flint isn’t the ghetto it once was and is making great strides towards its goal as a college town.

Blackstone's pub and grill. (2008). Entrees. Retrieved May 5th, 2009, from Blackstone's pub and grill: http://www.blackstonesgrill.com/entrees.html

Farinelli, D. (2009, May 3rd). (J. Jezewski, Interviewer)

Naismith, G. (2009, May 3rd). (J. Jezewski, Interviewer)