By the Gastronomes

With Father’s Day celebrated this month on the 15th, we decided to highlight one of the Old Town eateries that the kids could take Dad to for this annual celebration. Unlike Mother’s Day, we decided on a no white table cloth and fine China venue that serves good sized portions of high-quality BBQ and seafood with lots of culinary options in between. With that in mind, we chose one of our favorite new Old Town restaurants, Mystic Bar & Grill. Located at 220 North Lee Street, just a block and a half of King Street, Mystic celebrated its first anniversary this spring.

Some of you “seasoned” diners that were here in the late 1970’s might remember the French-inspired Cafe Biarritz, with its baby grand piano in the back room, that occupied this space. Later the location was home to the popular Ecco Cafe, then Overwood’s and most recently Myron Mixon’s BBQ.

Mystic is named in memory of the owner’s wife and mother and her love of music. It is a play on the Van Morrison lyrics – “We were born before the wind, also younger that the sun. Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the Mystic.” You will hear this era of music as well as other familiar tunes as you dine.

The physical layout of the restaurant is pretty straight forward. There are three distinct dining areas all located on different sides of the bar area. The medium sized bar anchors the main room with several tables and high tops scattered about. New this spring is an outdoor seating area that adds another dimension. The décor is very contemporary and open and rock and roll images adorn the walls.

This casual restaurant has it all starting with some of the best BBQ and southern sides in the area in addition to fabulous seafood and several Creole dishes rounded out by many old favorites. This is a restaurant you can visit four nights a week and have four different dining experiences.

This was not our first visit to Mystic. We went right after they opened last spring and I discovered their crabcake sandwich. It is an excellent sandwich or main course without the bun. The crab meat is all backfin lump and plenty of it. It is not fried like many crabcakes are, it is just pure lump meat mixed with just enough special ingredients to hold it together, piled high and broiled and placed on a soft bun with lettuce, tomato and a Florida mustard sauce (we are sure you could substitute cocktail or tartar but give this sauce a whirl first) on the side. I usually forego the French fries, which are very good, and opt for the coleslaw, it always pairs well with crabmeat. Compared to other crab cake sandwiches in the area, the $28 price tag is a bargain.

They offer ten items as starters. We have previously ordered the “Mystic” Fried Oysters. They were great – lightly battered with secret “mystic” stuff and fried to a very light, tasty crust. The tomato-onion salad & horseradish sauce nicely compliments the oysters. The other bivalve offering is the Chargrilled Oysters – six oysters grilled with lemon-garlic butter, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. One of our dining neighbors ordered them and they looked way tasty. Definitely trying them next time.

While we didn’t order the ribs on our most recent visit in order to experience something different, they are a “go-to” for us. The Mystic Baby Back ribs are on the BBQ Plates menu – you have your choice of said ribs or a ½ pound of Texas Brisket, Creole Pulled Chicken, Carolina Pulled Pork (both available on the sandwich menu as well) or a combo of any two. The ribs are meaty and perfectly seasoned and smoked and lathered in a hearty dark barbeque sauce that, by the way, is fantastic. While the ribs are a meal in itself, you have a choice of two sides (fries, coleslaw, mac and cheese, collard greens, Creole white beans w/Tasso ham and cornbread w/honey butter) to accompany them.

On our recent trip to Mystic, I enjoyed the Shrimp & Crawfish Etouffee. The Etouffee was slow simmered with fresh vegetables, firm shrimp and tasty crawfish. The rice was firm and cooked just right. The meal was excellent. I am not too keen on a lot of spice but this Etouffee was perfect…just enough and very flavorful. The other half ordered the Short-Smoked BBQ Salmon. This dish consists of a good-sized piece of salmon coated with BBQ sauce, smoked and grilled (to perfection according to her) and topped with mango salsa, avocado and tortilla strips. Served over a bed of rice, this dish is definitely one worth trying.

In order to save some space for photos, we won’t pontificate on the details of everything that we have had over the course of this last year (we drink/dine at least once a month here). In addition to what we have covered here, we highly recommend the Smoked Chicken Wings, Mystic Cobb Salad, She Crab Soup, Gumbo Ya-Ya, Buttermilk Fried Chicken (both sandwich and entrée) and every one of the sides! If you are in dessert mode, you can’t go wrong with the Pecan Pie and Key Lime Pie.

Mystic has a full bar offering craft beers and cocktails and a pretty impressive wine selection for a Bar & Grill type establishment. We always sit at the bar when we dine unless it is an event the merits a white table cloth. We like to converse with other patrons and the bartender, of course. Many of you may know Kat who is behind the bar a few nights a week. She was the anchor bartender at R.T.’s for several years and is a character as well as a fantastic bartender. She hasn’t been on duty the last few times we’ve been in so we have had the pleasure of getting to know Sam and he is a treasure. His attention to service and genuine interest in his customers is impressive. He is a great ambassador for the restaurant. Be sure to introduce yourself to whomever is behind the bar and tell them the Old Town Crier sent you. Happy Hour runs Tuesday through Friday from 3-7pm with food and drink specials including the likes of Nacho Tuesday, Wednesday Wings & Beer and Thursday Surf & Sip.

No matter what Dad’s cravings are, they have it at Mystic Bar & Grill. They even have a Kids menu consisting of Chicken Tenders & Fries, Kids Mac & Cheese and a Kids Burger with Fries. The Davis family has found a trifecta of dining choices, seating and a nice bar. Toss in a friendly staff and what more could you ask for?

Mystic BBQ & Grill

220 North Lee Street

Old Town

703-565-9808

Mysticbbqandgrill.com

Closed Mondays