RestauRant ReVIeW Up and Under Pub and Grill Bread Pudding August 2016 MARKETPLACEcontracosta.com 23 The location at the corner of West Richmond and Railroad Avenues in Point Richmond required two years of restoration before Up and Under Pub and Grill opened its doors. The century-old building has a long history in the Point, having housed numerous saloons and restaurants, as well as a serving as a rooming house and a brothel. The wedge-shaped building, formerly gray, but now painted a deep red color with black and green trim, is hard to miss. The main entry is a large, heavy wooden door, rounded at the top, with a large porthole inset. A large barrel-shaped meat smoker, used daily to smoke the meats served at Up and Under, sits outside the main entrance against the right wall of the building. As you enter the dark-ish interior of the Pub, a long copper-topped bar with seating for twelve extends beyond the middle of the main dining area. Lighting is provided by a twelve-arm brass chandelier hanging in the center of the gleaming pressed-copper ceiling. Lighted wall sconces adorn the walls, and hanging above the bar are light fixtures crafted from re-sewn rugby balls. There is also a beautiful backlit redwood burl “valance” that extends across the top of the bar area, along with two mounted flat-screen TV’s, primarily for sports viewing. The room has brick and wood paneled walls, heavy wood molding, and a wooden floor. Seating consists of 8 booths, and two four-top tables in the main dining area, all wrought from thick redwood slabs. Eight additional tables provide quieter seating toward the back of the Pub, and there is also outdoor seating along the Railroad Avenue side of the building. My guest and I visited Up and Under on a Monday mid-afternoon. There were numerous patrons at the bar and several sitting outside, and only a few others in the dining area. We were seated and given menus by an upbeat and gracious host named Rob. As we reviewed the available selections, our server, Ali, stopped by to let us know that it was “Happy Hour” and provided us with a second, smaller menu featuring happy hour appetizer selections. The six appetizers on the Happy Hour menu are available every day from 3:00 – 6:00 PM; however, we did not learn whether any of their bar drinks were also discounted during happy hour. The main menu lists Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers, and Large Plates ranging from $8 to $26. There are also separate listings for Sides and a Kid’s Menu. We immediately noticed that the names of some of the selections seemed quite unusual; for example, sandwiches named “The Hooker”, “The Dirty Hooker”, and “The Wet Frenchman”. There are also burgers named “The Crash” and “The Loop”, and large plates named “The Sin-Bin” and “The Multi Grubber.” Hours: Mon. - Thurs. 11am - 10pm | Fri. 11am - 11pm | Sat. 10am - 11pm | Sun. 10am - 9pm
Contra Costa Marketplace - Aug 2016
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