A family friendly restaurant in downtown Brooklyn opens.
Years ago my husband’s group at work planned a dinner at Hill Country - I love BBQ, so I was very happy when I was able to tag along. Fast forward a few years, and I love bringing the kids to Hill Country - which, prior to a month ago meant bringing them into the city - but now they have a new location in downtown Brooklyn (345 Adams Street).
I find Hill Country to be super family friendly - once you are seated, a server will take your drink order, but then you are on your own - which sounds scary when you have multiple mouths to feed - but this means you can let the kids check out the items, see what looks good, and pick out what they want. You will move through the line, select your meats, sides, and desserts (which are very hard to resist - trust me!) and the staff will simply mark off your card to indicate what you selected.
What also makes it super multi family friendly is once you are done, you go up to the register and pay for what is marked on your card - so now, dining with friends becomes a little easier when you aren’t worried about things like my family has 2 kids and your family has 4 kids, or you drank 5 beers and I had one club soda…. everyone pays separately, so eat as much, or as little, as you want, and you only have to worry about paying for your family without the uncomfortable moment of trying to add up what you ate or splitting a bill when equal amounts were not enjoyed.
The Brooklyn location is amazing - large, corner windows let in amazing light, there are two floors, so plenty of seating (they also do private parties), and the staff was beyond attentive. My waiter did that amazing thing that I wish every waiter would do - noticed that my drink was almost empty and brought me a fresh one without even asking! (I hate when I finish a drink at the worst time and really want a refill and of course you can’t find your server for like 10 minutes…. ) I digress…. back to the location - another cool factor was that the photos are real photos - there is even one of Marc Glosserman’s grandpa playing football (Marc is the awesome guy who happens to own the place, and has a lovely wife, Kristen) I love fun facts like that. And, an even more fun fact is that Carolina Ro did all of the chalkboard signs - do they look familiar fellow north Brooklyn mamas? Ro also did the sign’s for Greenpoint’s own Cafe Edna (195 Nassau Ave). Very cool.
Anyway, my son and I enjoyed a lunch date there - he even got to meet the butchers! We took a quick G ride down from Greenpoint and walked over. But you can also do that funny thing when you take the L from Brooklyn, transfer somewhere along 14th Street in Manhattan, and go back to Brooklyn (the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, F are all nearby).
Some final thoughts….
- Hill Country is stroller friendly! No steps to get into the restaurant, and an elevator to the second floor.
- They have baby friendly food - meat as tender as can be, sweet potato bourbon mash, longhorn cheddar mac & cheese and more delicious sides that are soft (and flavorful!) for baby (and toddlers, and kids and parents!) to taste and devour.
- Is little Billy thirsty? They have cups with lids! I have learned the hard way that not all restaurants have these…. :)
- Finally, they also have some cool coloring sheets and crayons for the kids to color while waiting.
Parents only: Smoked Orange Margarita – they actually smoke the oranges in the pits with the meat!
Posted & photos by Erica Young
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