Does Arlington need a non-chain, and slightly, I emphasize the word slightly more upscale location to enjoy? Yes. Is Sprout's that place? Yes. Contrary to popular belief held outside of the Arlington area, Arlington is amazingly diverse. Especially when taking in consideration of its size Arlington is very diverse. There is a large Vietnamese population, significant African American population (consisting of the more traditional definition as well as many first and second generation West Africans most notably Nigerian and Ghanaian immigrants), and a large Hispanic population consisting of Mexican as well as many Central American groups. This leads to a food culture that is diverse, but needs to have a little more respect for itself. Arlington is a place that could have so much to give if it wasn't for the dreaded chain. I'm not a class warrior, but I do believe in keeping dollars in the community. I don't shun chains, but I do chafe at the over-proliferation of them. This is definitely what I see in the Arlington area. While cities like Austin tout their liberalism and inclusiveness, Arlington while not liberal, unobtrusively and without much fanfare lives a diversity and inclusiveness I've seen less practiced and more preached in other parts of this country. Which is why I was so excited to see Sprout's Springroll and Pho tentatively about to open in Lincoln Square near Collins and I-30.
The interior of Sprout's is sleek, elegant, but not too self conscious, dark woods and some silver trim in select places. Walking in, immediately to the right you are greeted with a chopping table in an open air style where you can watch your vegetables as fresh and non-prepackaged as can be being prepared for your pleasure. The waitstaff is young and friendly and just hair shy of the off putting and intimidating hip, but they are definitely cool.
Knocking on the glass of the aforementioned Sprout's before opening to inquire when I might be able to sample their delicacies, I was greeted by a professional, clean cut, young sober eyed, and friendly Asian couple that looked to be in their mid to late twenties who assured me Sprout's would be opened by the end of the week. I was happy to see such serious, youthful, hip, and happy people who were either intimately associated with the running of Sprout's or the owners. Arlington needs a place like Sprout's and so does DFW. I may not have traveled too far and wide in my beloved Metroplex, but one thing I have noticed is a large Vietnamese population, but no large Vietnamese restaurant culture supported by the wider community outside of the Vietnamese community. Living in Houston I noticed that most everyone there consumed Vietnamese food (and authentic Vietnamese) as commonly as we in Arlington and in the DFdub consume our so called "Chinese". We didn't have that at all. We may have a population that is not as large as Houston's, but we do have a large enough population that leaves one to wonder, "What the hell North Texas? Why don't you get out there and grub with your Viet Compatriots?" To be fair there are many little Vietnamese restaurants, bakeries, pho and sandwich shops in the central south Arlington area, but people in our little burb between the big Metroplex nodes tend to stay away. I do believe the adventurous do pull belly up, but when I go there we tend to give each other the knowing glance of lonely wayfarers wondering what the hell is with everyone else.
Back to Sprout's! Once more into the breach my friends! This is why I was pumped. This is why I was psyched. I walked in with a good friend of many years, a vegetarian of the fish don't count variety, and bellied up. As I said the decor was smooth elegant, but unintimdating and the staff was friendly. Why 3 stars? I'm going to come out and say it. This will be a 4 or 5 star restaurant in good time, but I'm rating based on as it was at time of service. The food was excellently prepared vibrant vegetables, beautiful greens. She had the seafood pho which I sampled, delicious! I had the crisp egg roll vermicelli. I added a little oyster sauce for good measure. Delicious, but uhhmm....erhmm...excuse me...uhmm...cold. Yeah that's right cold. The execution of the dish was spot on until timely delivery kicked in. My friends fried rice was a bit frigid as well, as a Brits bedroom actually. I don't get picky about many things, but cold food is one of them. It took quite a while for our food to make it out and then it was cold which led me to believe it sat in the kitchen for a while until our server who disappeared for some time brought it out to us. Not good, not good at all. To be fair our servers were a combination of a sweet girl and guy who seemed to struggle with the menu items. I was actually told that they didn't serve one of the menu items, while looking at it printed on the menu. I'm going to chalk this one up inexperience. I believe they will improve greatly when they get their internal routine down. read more