THE GEORGIA PINE
Overall rating: 1 of 5 stars
Food: contemporary American
Service: awkward, lacking restaurant rhythm
Best dishes: honey pork and greens sandwich, fish and chips
Vegetarian selections: salads, appetizers, grilled tofu sandwich
Price range: $$-$$$
Credit cards: All major credit cards
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Mondays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays
Children: fine
Parking: shared mall lot
Reservations: yes
Wheelchair access: yes
Smoking: no
Noise level: moderate to high
Patio: yes
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 1250 Scenic Highway, Lawrenceville. 770-978-1800
Website: www.thegeorgiapine.com
More options for this type of cuisine …
GWINNETT
Local Republic
This sister restaurant to the Georgia Pine is a more casual spot with the same focus on local sourcing and emphasis on craft beer selections. Here, you'll want to spend a good amount of time in the small-plate section of the menu. Try the chicken livers with tomato jam and bacon, and the lamb belly and mussels in coconut milk. Larger plates include oxtails, schnitzel and daily fish taco specials. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 225 W. Crogan St., Lawrenceville. 678-205-4782, www.thelocalrepublic.com. $$
GWINNETT
1910 Public House
Located in historic Lilburn, this young restaurant serves from-scratch foods prepared using ingredients sourced from local and regional farms and purveyors. You'll find menu items like gouda meatloaf steak, blackened catfish tacos and rosemary-roasted, honey-glazed chicken with three-cheese penne. Many items can be made gluten-free upon request. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 107 Main St., Lilburn. 770-564-6911, www.1910publichouse.com. $$-$$$
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Ten Bistro
This locally owned restaurant opened with menu items based on community-submitted recipes. It offers food prepared with organic eggs and milk, grass-fed beef and filtered water. The menu includes a number of farm-to-table salads, meats, fish and rice pastas. See the restaurant's website for weekly events, including tapas and wine-tasting nights. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Fridays, 5 p.m.-midnight Saturdays. 5005 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners. 770-375-8330, www.tenlocalflavors.com. $$-$$$
More options for this type of cuisine …
GWINNETT
Local Republic
This sister restaurant to the Georgia Pine is a more casual spot with the same focus on local sourcing and emphasis on craft beer selections. Here, you'll want to spend a good amount of time in the small-plate section of the menu. Try the chicken livers with tomato jam and bacon, and the lamb belly and mussels in coconut milk. Larger plates include oxtails, schnitzel and daily fish taco specials. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 225 W. Crogan St., Lawrenceville. 678-205-4782, www.thelocalrepublic.com. $$
GWINNETT
1910 Public House
Located in historic Lilburn, this young restaurant serves from-scratch foods prepared using ingredients sourced from local and regional farms and purveyors. You'll find menu items like gouda meatloaf steak, blackened catfish tacos and rosemary-roasted, honey-glazed chicken with three-cheese penne. Many items can be made gluten-free upon request. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 107 Main St., Lilburn. 770-564-6911, www.1910publichouse.com. $$-$$$
GWINNETT
Ten Bistro
This locally owned restaurant opened with menu items based on community-submitted recipes. It offers food prepared with organic eggs and milk, grass-fed beef and filtered water. The menu includes a number of farm-to-table salads, meats, fish and rice pastas. See the restaurant's website for weekly events, including tapas and wine-tasting nights. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Fridays, 5 p.m.-midnight Saturdays. 5005 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners. 770-375-8330, www.tenlocalflavors.com. $$-$$$
More options for this type of cuisine …
GWINNETT
Local Republic
This sister restaurant to the Georgia Pine is a more casual spot with the same focus on local sourcing and emphasis on craft beer selections. Here, you'll want to spend a good amount of time in the small-plate section of the menu. Try the chicken livers with tomato jam and bacon, and the lamb belly and mussels in coconut milk. Larger plates include oxtails, schnitzel and daily fish taco specials. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 225 W. Crogan St., Lawrenceville. 678-205-4782, www.thelocalrepublic.com. $$
GWINNETT
1910 Public House
Located in historic Lilburn, this young restaurant serves from-scratch foods prepared using ingredients sourced from local and regional farms and purveyors. You'll find menu items like gouda meatloaf steak, blackened catfish tacos and rosemary-roasted, honey-glazed chicken with three-cheese penne. Many items can be made gluten-free upon request. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 107 Main St., Lilburn. 770-564-6911, www.1910publichouse.com. $$-$$$
GWINNETT
Ten Bistro
This locally owned restaurant opened with menu items based on community-submitted recipes. It offers food prepared with organic eggs and milk, grass-fed beef and filtered water. The menu includes a number of farm-to-table salads, meats, fish and rice pastas. See the restaurant's website for weekly events, including tapas and wine-tasting nights. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Fridays, 5 p.m.-midnight Saturdays. 5005 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners. 770-375-8330, www.tenlocalflavors.com. $$-$$$
Indulge me in a quick game. Guess the Atlanta-area restaurant from this menu: Today’s appetizer is headcheese and entree choices include rabbit hindquarters, grilled tofu and rack of lamb with bacon Brussels sprouts.
Need another clue? This restaurant stocks a nice sampling of Georgia craft beers.
Chances are, you’ll need a little more help. Let’s narrow the geographic location. If I told you the restaurant is in Gwinnett County, more specifically Lawrenceville, I’d bet the lightbulb would illuminate. Have it narrowed to a couple of spots now? That sounds about right.
I’m describing the Georgia Pine, which opened last May in what’s now known as the Shoppes at Webb Gin. Both it and its sister restaurant, Local Republic, fit the bill.
These two restaurants are among the first to offer this suburban area a taste of chef-driven fare made with mindfully sourced ingredients, as well as craft beer, in a sleek, current space.
The Georgia Pine has struggled to earn the trust of area residents with unfamiliar dishes like octopus with pickled ginger and rabbit with raisin jus.
The process is further complicated by awkward servers who don’t quite have restaurant rhythm, and the kitchen’s consistency issues as it tries to push the envelope with varying degrees of success.
The restaurant should shift its focus to what it does best — preparing approachable sandwiches and small plates for customers to pair with craft beer.
Locals likely have no trouble settling in with such Georgia craft beer options as a Jailhouse Misdemeanor Ale ($5.50).
I also doubt the fried chicken sandwich ($8) is a hard sell. It’s difficult to go wrong with greasy thigh meat encased in a crunchy cake of fried batter. The reuben ($11) also will do. Reuben enthusiasts may prefer the marbled rye toasted and the corned beef sliced (not chopped), but with the powerfully pungent sauerkraut you’ll barely notice.
Your best option, however, is the honey pork and greens sandwich ($9). Take a Cuban roll, stuff it to bursting with honey-laced, slow-braised pork and red-peppered-collards, and leave it soft so that the pork and collard juices begin to seep in. There you have the best bite on the menu.
It’s when you move into less familiar territory that things get tricky. I enjoyed the restaurant’s take on deviled eggs ($7), with a perky smoked trout filling and crispy trout skin garnish, but I observed others promptly discarding the triangle crackle upon learning what it was — despite my assurances that the skin was the tastiest bit.
The kitchen also tries to get crafty with the buttermilk-panko-dredged portobello fries ($6), but it takes a heap of garlic aioli to add flavor to the under seasoned, grease-soaked mushrooms shaped like fingers of biscotti.
If you’re using your lifetime allotment of grease points, go for the beer-battered fish and chips ($12). Granted, the fish may dribble oil down your hands and wrists, but the moist and flaky insides compensate for the sacrifice. Just have a pile of napkins at the ready.
According to chef Scott Smith, seemingly exotic entrees like the rabbit ($17) have gained little traction with customers. I do admire his gumption for keeping them on the menu while folks acclimate.
Though slightly dry, the rabbit isn’t a bad option. It has no gamey flavor and comes with a sweet raisin jus that pairs well with the rich meat.
Same goes for the thick rack of lamb ($28). Mine was only slightly gamey, but that was masked by the generous slather of dijon mustard and sprinkling of pistachios.
However, while the pork ($17) sounds like a safe choice, you might be disappointed. The hefty bone-in chop, nicely marked, came overcooked. Worse, the accompanying overflowing pool of acrid mashed turnips obliterated all other flavors.
Kudos to the Georgia Pine for taking risks and for bringing something different to the community. I hope the neighborhood will come along for the ride until it hits its stride; maybe more independent restaurants will follow.
Hopefully, sometime soon narrowing the geographic location to Lawrenceville won’t be such a dead giveaway in our guessing game.
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