Restaurants come and go in New Hope with a fury. But for the last few years, GreenHouse has held firm. After many times walking past, stopping to read the menu, and then heading somewhere else, we finally gave this place a try last month after seeing such a large crowd. It was a pretty warm afternoon, and their outside patio and bar were filled to capacity. Justin and I then went inside and got a table, but as soon as two stools at the indoor bar opened up, we moved to grab them. The interior is very comfortable, with lots of wood and earth tones, and the front window does indeed make it feel like a green house. This then gives way to a surprisingly large dining area which includes an upstairs with a pool table.

The bar itself is a small one and the bartender was moving swiftly to keep up with drink orders. Having recently become a fan of Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, I immediately wanted to try their Chocolate-Peanut Butter Old Fashioned, on the specials menu. The base for this was Templeton Rye, while the Skrewball was used in place of simple syrup or a sugar cube. The drink was then rounded out with chocolate bitters, a cherry, and an orange slice. This ended up being a delicious cocktail which was nutty and not too sweet. I could taste each component individually and blended together at the same time. It was delightful on the palate. While the price was $14 (steep anywhere but New Hope), the pour was so large that it was essentially a double. Since we wanted to stop at another place later on, I limited myself to only one. If I ever come back, I would order this same drink.

Justin drank something called the Air Mail which was sparkling wine, coconut rum, and lime juice. It was beautifully presented and he enjoyed it. The burst of citrus was lip-smacking. This was definitely a summer cocktail for a warm evening, but given the surprising temperatures outside this winter, somehow it was appropriate.

We ordered one appetizer to share between us. Just listen to this title: “Chicken Tikka Naanachos”. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Like a dream come true, if you ask me. Now look at the picture below. Notice how it looks nothing like how you might imagine. In fact, it looks rather boring and we at first thought they brought the wrong item (it looked like a salad with a side of pita bread). It is nothing like the menu’s actual description either: “classic tikka masala sauce with chicken over naan nachos topped with all the fixins”. The sauce was not over the naan “nachos” (they were just slices of naan), and the “fixins” were simply clumps of diced tomatoes, lettuce, shredded red cabbage, and a lemon wedge for some odd reason. The actual chicken and sauce was under all of that, which you cannot even see. While the flavor was good, this was an incredible letdown that played out more like a hummus platter or salad than anything else. If they want to serve a plate like this, fine, but call it something else or at least change the description. Outstanding idea, wrong execution. This could have been a homerun and actually brought the final score down a notch.

Overall, this was a positive experience at GreenHouse. The bartender was highly skilled with well-prepared and presented drinks, instilling a real cocktail culture here. Regardless of environment, there are not many places where mixed drinks outnumber beer and wine nowadays, but I believe that was the case here. I would definitely come back for cocktails in this relaxed atmosphere, but the food would be a “maybe”. The crowd was a younger one and there were good vibes in the air. 3.5 out of 5 stars.