Redrock Canyon Grill (Silver Spring, MD)

Working in downtown Silver Spring, I’ve had the opportunity to dine at Redrock twice; once for business, and one time that was supposed to be for pleasure.

The first time I ate at this Midwest-based, upscale chain restaurant was my first day at my new job. Trying to keep it cheap for my boss, I ordered only lunch and stayed away from appetizers and dessert.

I ordered the chicken pot pie, which was average at best. The crust was flavorless, and so was the filling. The chicken, which was meat pulled from their “famous” rotisserie chicken, was good, but overall, the seasoning was lacking and the meal fell flat.

With a former Silver Spring resident, and friend of Sarah’s, visiting town, we found ourselves with another opportunity to try Redrock Canyon’s food. Honestly, I welcomed the chance to try a larger sample of the menu.

Unfortunately, I left wishing we had tried one of the many other fine restaurants in Silver Spring.

The beer selection at Redrock Canyon Grill is complete but not exceptional. As a beer lover, my skin crawls when restaurants try to pass Blue Moon and Stella off as premium or gourmet beers. Both are good, but neither is spectacular…and a six pack of both can be bought for less than $10 at a Giant supermarket.

We began our dinner with the Fiesta Eggrolls, a southwestern style eggroll with chicken, spinach, corn, black beans and two kinds of cheese. The eggrolls were tasty, with just the right amount of crispiness. The “campfire” sauce served for dipping was also very good, with just the perfect amount of heat. Unfortunately, these eggrolls would remain the only good part of our meal.

For a main course, I ordered the Persimmon Hill Meatloaf Stack. The meatloaf, a combination of beef and pork sausage topped with a tomato-based sauce, was dry and overall uninspired. The flavor of the sausage in the meatloaf was lost, and when coupled with the tomato sauce, which was horribly overpowering, the meatloaf’s flavor was lost altogether.

The side dishes served with the meatloaf were tasty, and included red-skinned, garlic mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. It was the unexpected discovery of a black, long, gelatinous mass in the mashed potatoes that left me uneasy and a bit disgusted. The manager of the Redrock Canyon Grill assured me that it was a piece of wood (something they use in multiple cooking techniques) that had fallen into the potatoes…I was not necessarily convinced.

Moving on from dinner, Sarah and I decided to give dessert a try. We ordered the apple blossom pastry; an apple, wrapped in pastry, topped with an apricot and caramel glaze, and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The concept of the dessert was great, and the flavor wonderful, but someone forgot to cook it. The pastry was raw and gooey, instead of warm and crispy, and it had to be kissed goodbye and sent back to the kitchen.

Overall, Redrock Canyon Grill has some great ideas, but seriously lacks on execution. Unidentifiable, gelatinous masses should not be found in the mashed potatoes, desserts shouldn’t be raw, and management should show some serious concern for the quality of the product coming out of the kitchen. Comping entire meals due to unacceptably poor quality is not, after all, a way to keep customers...or make any money.

Redrock Canyon Grill

Address: 928 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland
Cost: $15-$30 per person
Dress: Casual
Bar: Yes
Date Spot: Only if she likes “surprises” in her ‘taters