David Arnold

Review of Torey's Restaurant and Bar

This review is for the new Torey's in downtown. My...

This review is for the new Torey's in downtown. My mom and I went at 6:30 pm on a Friday night. We had reservations. My mom has a knee issue so she asked for a booth, which was accommodated even though they had to clean off the table, so that was good. The decor was not very appealing. It's more upscale then most of what you're going to find in Owatonna, but there is nothing really alluring about the space. The tables, chairs and booths are clearly on the cheap side. I saw some pictures of the other location and that looked better. It just has that new, trying to be trendy, but ultimately cheap feel to it.

The first thing we noticed was that it was extremely noisy. We were seated next to the window in an alcove facing the street. This might have made an echo chamber effect. The place was packed, and the people near us were pretty loud. As the evening wore on and people left, it got better, but understand, this place has a huge bar as it's centerpiece and the space itself it pretty small. If you're looking for quiet, make sure you make that very clear and choose your seat wisely. Else, Perkins might be your speed.

I was surprised that the prices seemed reasonable. Pretty much in line with an Applebys in town. Apps for 9-13. Several entres under 20 on the dinner specials. I tried to figure out what makes this place different from Applebys. Probably the biggest thing is the drink selection, mainly the wine list. The menu seemed like pretty standard fare.

Our waitress was friendly, competent and professional. That was good. My mom wanted raspberry iced tea, which they didn't have, but she offered to put some flavoring in a regular iced tea. Fair enough.

We both started with French Onion soup. The soup was executed perfectly, both in terms of taste and presentation. So that started off very nice. The soup made me happy and forget about the noise for a bit.

I had the lamb chops. I was asked how I would like them cooked and I said however the cook thinks they should be done. They came out a little inconsistent. Some were on the verge of medium, some were closing in on rare. But I didn't ask for something specific, so I didn't worry too much about it. They were very good and I enjoyed them. The rice pilaf was good, and there was a bed of greens that was OK. My mom had the jumbo shrimp, battered. They were huge. Her baked potato was lovely. She liked the shrimp a lot. We ended with a Italian lemon cake thing. It was a bit plain, but the whipped cream and drizzle made it pretty enjoyable.

So in short. The decor is so-so, the noise was incredible and the food was pretty good and reasonably priced. The downtown location is a great asset, but it's disappointing that they didn't select a decor that more accentuates the history and feel of the vibe there. It might very well be the best option in Owatonna for a finer dining experience, but it doesn't quite set itself far enough away from an Appleby's experience as it could have, and that is a bit disappointing.