Laurus: Southern European Bistro

If you were planning to go to Laurus before it's scheduled last day on the 27th, DON'T! Laurus closed early which is such a disappointment for all of my friends and family that had planned to go for their last day. Goodbye Laurus! I'll miss your calamari, truffle fries, turkey burgers, beet salad and most importantly your bread pudding! Now I suppose we will have to check out the happy hour at Stomp, or wait with baited breath as the new rotisserie restaurant comes into this location by the owners of Sasa!

Review #400. Dedicated to my fiance, Jac C. (Don't worry I promise not to get sappy. A few weeks ago, Jac C appeased my need to make sure that the driving directions we are providing our wedding guests are correct by driving the route from our ceremony site to our reception site. As a thank you, I treated him to lunch at Laurus. We each started with a house cocktail. I enjoyed my passion royale a lovely pink champagne drink. They also brought out bread and house churned butter. I especially liked their spin on this standard starter with the butter being topped on one side with an olive tapenade and the other side with herbs. Everything on the menu looked delicious and I was having trouble making a decision so I suggested that we split a few small plates. We ordered the white bean hummus, crab cakes and butter leaf salad with breaded, warmed brie. The white bean hummus was smooth, creamy and rich. Very flavorful with olives and tomato on the side. The crab cakes were cooked perfectly and I thought there was a nice balance of large chunks of crab and roasted red pepper. The salad was good but not quite as enjoyable as the other dishes. The brie was prepared well and the salad was pretty to look at but the butter lettuce leaves were really large and difficult to maneuver and eat, especially when sharing with someone else. Our waiter was extremely friendly and contributed to the warm environment. I very much enjoyed having lunch here. I think it helps that I was there with Jac C and I always have a good time when I am with him. He is also good at sharing. Be sure to bring someone who is also good at sharing so you can sample a few of the delicious dishes that Laurus has to offer.

I love the butter, olive oil, olive herb dipping mix for their bread! Crab cakes lamb spare rib appetizers were great (took most of the lamb spare ribs to go and they were sooo yummy the next day) Roasted half chicken is their specialty and did not disappoint. The skirt steak was mediocre, served w/ a pile of frisee and sweet potato fries. A better cut would qualify the price. Service was good, nice ambiance. If I go back I will try the flat breads, as those seem to be a big hit among Yelppers!

I should have updated this a couple weeks ago. I still love Laurus! Our office went for our Holiday Lunch. We were there for 3 hrs enjoyed every moment. Menu (what I can remember) Crab Cakes: full of crab couldn't get enough of the sauce. Calamari: crispy again- the sauce was excellent. If you like Hummus- you will NEVER go wrong with theirs. Main: I had the Truffled cauliflower bisque with sweet corn-pancetta relish and chives- the bisque was awesome however, there was ALOT of salty pancetta. I love salt pancetta, but didn't expect so much. Main- Baby spinach and golden beet salad with grilled lemon-marjoram chicken, hazel nuts and feta. Just so good. Looking forward to going back! side note: they took the menus off the clipboards!! yeah for them!

Had lunch here today and I bet, had it been a nice warm sunny day, I would have enjoyed eating al fresco ! I wasn't expecting such a fancy schmancy lunch, but it was and the place was quite WOW! The wait service was superlative. My waitress kept checking on me and made sure I was well attended to. I selected my lunch choices from the executive menu. I thought it was automatically a three course meal, but I guess you get what you ask for and I only chose an appetizer and an entree when my waitress was taking my order. I mistakenly thought she would ask me later what I wanted for dessert, but she didn't and I only got charged for the two course meal. It didn't matter really since I was so full after my cauliflower bisque (which I found awfully salty and mini pizza (which to me was more like a flatbread; nonetheless it was yummy! . I was served bread before my meal alongside this very delicious butter/oil concoction spread. I cannot wait to come back and I would mos def recommend this place to one and all!