Outpost Of Fun

The space that currently houses Outpost 45 is one of those revolving-door ones. Everyone seems to date it back to the original location of The Steak Knife, which has been happily operating as Lakeview’s beloved steakhouse

across the street. 

And then a flurry of places followed, with each staying a long time except the one immediately preceding this one.

Barataria and Mondo respectively stayed the longest, with Elle J’s a blip on the radar. I’m sure there are others I can’t remember. The place has a history of good restaurants, and Outpost 45 is no exception. What makes it special is not so much the food, which is good but not fantastic.

What makes it special is that it is fun. There are swarms of servers inching their way through crowded tables overflowing with people. There are just lots of people in this place, with tables close together. It is dense. And these people are having fun. It is loud and festive. And that is what makes Outpost 45 special.

It is not the food, though the food is fine. On the night we visited, it was tough to make choices, The menu is large and appealing enough.

We started with onion rings as an appetizer. These are light, greaseless, and crispy, and fall into the thin-cut universe, by far my preference. They are not strings, which are too thin for my taste, but they are thin. What I really loved on this plate was the heavy horseradish component of the dipping sauce. It made for a tasty bite.

The idea that anyone is doing house-cut potatoes of any preparation excites me. The fries here are not fresh cut but the chips are. I had to try the nachos, which were brisket debris over house-cut potato chips. What’s not to love? But I didn’t love it. Some other components were bacon and Danablu and a red pepper coulis.

The Danish Bleu Cheese completely overpowered every other flavor here. The brisket was tender and plentiful, but it was intertwined with the red pepper coulis. And the chips were cold and a little greasy from sitting a while. Frankly, it was sort of a mess. This was the least likable thing on the table that night.

Tom had an appetizer of oysters. These were crispy with wasabi and a red pepper Hollandaise. It’s hard to imagine a fried oyster dish not being a hit with Tom, and this was no exception. He liked it rather well.

We had been talking about the burger on The Food Show (airs 2-4pm weekdays on 990AM WGSO) and our producer Patty gave it rave reviews. I had to get it.  Instead of fries, I got the Gouda mac’n’cheese. The burger was almost excellent. The meat and cheese and dressings were very good, but the bun was about as basic and boring as it gets.

What was surprisingly exceptional was the Gouda mac’n’cheese. It had a bechamel base with large elbow macaroni and an intense Gouda cheese. I liked this a lot more than I expected.

We also got two desserts, because the menu for desserts was large and appealing, and I was swept up in the fun atmosphere. Tom had the Bread Pudding with Caramel and Sea Salt Sauce with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, and he was thrilled with it. 

I got a Chocolate Toffee Cake with Whipped Cream and Vanilla Ice Cream, which was surprisingly delicious and I ate it all. 

If we had been with more people we would have ordered the silly signature dessert sampler that comes with a mannequin head with cotton candy hair. Ridiculous but fun. We’ll do that next time. There will definitely be a next time. When we stepped outside the door to leave, Tom exclaimed, “Boy, that was some party!” And sums up Outpost 45 rather succinctly.