Restoration, an American bar & cocktail restaurant in Lindenhurst, New York, is a popular destination for weekday and weekend brunch that locals flock to constantly. Opened in 2018, Restoration offers classic American bar and family style food and new twists on drinks both indoors and outdoors.
Located on a busy intersection in Lindenhurst and right in front of the busy Long Island Railroad, it’s easy to see why locals driving or walking stop by to look at the patrons inside or grab something to eat. It’s simple, home-like exterior makes you feel that you’re about to enter someone’s house eat at, only to be seated at a traditional brick and mortar restaurant decorated with wooden pillars, tables, and a bar inside. It’s one of the many perfect atmospheres to have a Sunday brunch, complete with cocktails.
Starting off, the Lavender Lemonade mocktail is a nonalcoholic version of the cocktail, leaving out the gin if you’re not up for a boozy brunch. Lavender syrup contrasts with the clearness of the lemonade and club soda inside of the glass, and it’s recommended to mix the drink to fully taste both. Initially, it tastes sweet and refreshing, but as time goes by, the drink becomes mostly lemonade as the ice waters down the lavender flavor. Club soda being just literal carbonated water that reverts to basic water overtime also hurts the lavenders flavor. The spring of lavender inside the glass does look pretty, though.
A bourbon cocktail rightly called The Wake-Up Call; certainty lives up to its name, especially if it’s one of the first things you’ve put into your system for the day. Bourbon is infused with espresso beans, vanilla syrup, and black walnut bitters, and garnished with espresso beans floating on a lemon slice. The whisky scent and flavor are strong, but not overwhelming as bitter and more subtle notes of coffee and syrup hit your palate. It’s surprisingly pleasant especially coming from myself, who does not like anything remotely whisky related.
The BECA quesadilla, or Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Avocado, quesadilla proved a great contender considering its hefty portion of eggs inside it, as well as its size. Unfortunately, it was missing out on key elements. The bacon that was listed to be inside the quesadilla was almost nonexistent and would have been more than welcomed in between the yellow conglomeration of eggs and cheese. The soft fluffiness of the eggs inside the quesadilla loses some credibility because of its lack of seasoning. Cilantro marinara, a rather interesting combination for a quesadilla, goes well to give the quesadilla a savory sauce side and some extra flavor, combined with another side of sour cream.
It’s a similar story with the breakfast tacos. Soft, fluffy eggs cooked perfectly, but are just missing salt. In the tacos, the egg to tortilla ratio for the filling almost overwhelming and combined with under seasoned eggs makes it a bit hard to eat so many eggs in one sitting.
The seasoning must have went to the home fries. Crispy home fries are seasoned well, which makes me wonder if it should have been in the taco originally instead of just in a side dish.
Whatever mood you feel after eating, you can probably be glad to know your money spent at Restoration goes toward a charitable cause. Net profits of Restoration are given to the charity ELIJA Farm, a sustainable, non-profit farm located in South Huntington, NY. ELIJA Farm is a part of the ELIJA Foundation, which is an acronym for “Empowering Long Island’s Journey through Autism. ELIJA farm provides fresh and local produce to restaurants like Restoration.