Anise

I decided to eat here after a quick Google search of restaurants nearby and Anise caught my eye. At the suggestion of my server Noah, I started with the whipped ricotta, served with warm, freshly made soft pita which was amazing. I then tried the crispy octopus, which was crispy but moist and tender on the inside. It was presented perfectly sliced over firm Fava beans and a light chipotle aoli, so delicious. The duck rillettes was the final plate I choose and the date jam was phenomenal, I would have enjoyed more of the pickled onion pieces to cut the sweetness and fattiness of the dish but it was still great. Last but not least was the housemade hazelnut icecream. It was the perfect ending and not overly sweet or heavy. The portion sizes were as one would expect and prices were reasonable. Anise offers appetizers, charcuterie and small plates to share, main courses and a few vegetable sides to accompany your meal. Service was friendly and very attentive. I will definitely return !

I was disappointed.
The restaurant was beautiful and upscale so we expected high prices, but the portions were SMALL and the flavor profiles fell flat of expectations. In short, it was good, but not great. Not somewhere I would return for a special night out.

I had wanted to like this restaurant so it is a little bit disappointing that the experience fell flat. I had found Anise through Google Maps and saw that they had great reviews. The interior, as others have mentioned, is quite cute. I can imagine it being a nice place to hang out with friends, if the food and service were equally amazing.

Starting off with the food, my friend and I had ordered the fattoush salad, margherita flatbread, and the lamb kofta shakshuka. While the food certainly looked great (for the most part) my first thought was “is this all we had ordered”? While I had not expected extremely large portions, I had thought that the portion size would be a little larger than what we had actually been served. It feels like the server should have mentioned, or made suggestions, if portion sizes were on the smaller side.

Putting that aside though, in terms of taste, the fattoush salad and the margherita flatbread were the most disappointing. The fried pita within the salad tasted pretty stale, which I am not sure is the norm or not. Additionally, the margherita flatbread not only looked pretty disappointing but tasted kind of like what you would expect, in terms of quality, of frozen microwaveable food. In other words, not very great considering you are expected to pay $16 for the flatbread. The lamb kofta shakshuka was decent but I do not think it was anything to rave about either.

In terms of service, I think it was the most disappointing part of this restaurant experience. It could be that it was just a bad day for the server, or perhaps the restaurant was understaffed. However, I just remember that the server did not seem very happy and the overall service was really slow. I think it took over 30 minutes to get our order taken and then it took even longer to get our checks after finishing our meal. I had glanced at the parties next to our table, who were seated after us, also waiting quite some time for their check to arrive.

Honestly, I feel like rating this restaurant 3 stars is being generous considering the mediocre food and service.

Went to brunch here this morning. The decorations and ambience are very inviting. It definitely has a Mediterranean feel. We had the morning bread, egg white frittata, and the mezze plate. Everything was delicious. We also got the mimosa platter which was fun for mixing juices. The service was also outstanding. We will definitely be back but probably for dinner next time!

Anise is a great development for the village. It brings a Mediterranean menu to the area but most importantly it brings brunch. I stopped in and ordered a couple things and loved it. I'll be back for dinner.