Hudson Grille Opens at Perimeter

The transformation of the old Garrison's at Perimeter Mall to Hudson Grille has been completed. Although there were was still ongoing construction in the main entryway, the restaurant soft-launched last week.

Hudson Grille considers itself and "upscale sports bar", and the furnishings and surroundings of the place seem to support that. The place is beautifully appointed, with the bar and some seating on a main level, and a more elegant restaurant section up a brief flight of stairs. And unlike your typcial sports bar where waitresses adorn tight, breast-accentuating t-shirts and shorts (not that there is anything wrong with this), the staff at Hudson Grille wear shirts with collars and pants. Even in their first week, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.

Like your favorite sports bar, there are flat screen tvs at every turn of the head, and the menu is much more sports bar than fine dining. The two sided menu is 50% appetizers, 25% dog/burgers/sandwiches, and 25% entrees/steaks/seafood. We started with an order of the chips and guacamole, and Little Steakhead and I made quick work of it. We also split a cheeseburger and an order of wings. The burger was great. We had two flavors of wings- wasabi/ranch and the asian Samurai wings. The wasabi ranch, while sounding interesting, was a horrible choice. First they look unappealing, with a thick yellow sauce. The taste was equally as uninviting. The asian wings were better, but if I want wings while watching a game, I will almost always go to the Taco Mac across the street.

Herein lies their challenge. If you look at what I ordered, chips, a burger and some wings, I might as well have gone to Taco Mac. The thing that Hudson Grille has going for it, is it could be a destination where someone wanting to watch sports and get a good meal can go. If the menu pushes the apps, burgers and 6 flavors of wings, they are playing in Taco Mac's wheel house, and will likely lose. In fact, I went in leaning towards getting a steak, but was scared away because the price was too low at $15. Believe it or not, if it was priced in the low-20s, it may have instilled some confidence.

I will go back to Hudson Grille to try out a couple of their entrees next time. I am also interested to see if they expand the menu at all. Being so close, I really want to see this place succeed. Upscale dining and sports would be a great combo for me.