Chops and Hops Restaurant is hitting its stride early on in its existence

My very first visit to Chops and Hops was a favorable one Wednesday evening. The newest restaurant in Mike Thornton's TownCenter was difficult for me to attend immediately out of respect to Maison Bleu, the former occupant of the odd two story suite at the end of the development.

The night I dine there it was packed and flowing relatively smoothly on an otherwise unremarkable weeknight. 14 tables were filled with three or four patrons each and one longer table remained with seven professional women (including my friend Sheila Turner-Seila from burton and BURTON). There was also some kind of reception going on upstairs as well.

I sat at the 14 seat bar with maybe a dozen other hungry diners and was served remarkably fast with my steak remaining medium rare. The potatoes and asparagus were perfect in portion.

It is sometimes hard to look at that large blank canvas of a two story wall and not wonder what happened to the Anne Miller-Andersen/Peter Andersen/Jim Shearon vision, but the new occupants have obviously struck a chord with the local as this Watkinsville restaurant  was packed with people waiting a dozen deep for a seat before 7 pm.

Next time I am going to try the salmon tacos and watch the Olympics on their HDTVs. They have sandwiches and salads and a rather extensive and obscure beer list. Their distinctive ampersand logo on the back of friendly wait staff is a nice touch as well.

This review is a tad bit short and premature but it is good to note that I was in and out of there insider of 45 minutes on a very busy evening, but perhaps the restaurant gods were smiling on me that evening.  We shall see as I was intrigued to eat there again. I recommend the same for you if you enjoy well prepared beef and beer.

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