Graze, while it has obvious potential, falls short with its lackluster interior and modern twists on southern dishes.

Located in Patriots Plaza, Graze serves up a dynamic and ever-changing lunch and dinner menu. The restaurant opened back in 2012, and in the meantime, has grown to become a popular spot for lunch or a night out. 

When I walked through the doors, I could only describe the atmosphere as stark and hospital-like. The interior was a bold neon green contrasted with a dark gray, decorated with paintings hung up for sale. 

The place was also decorated with little pots of grass to highlight the namesake, but for me, this was a failed attempt at DIY decor. 

As for the food, the menu varies for lunch and dinner, but the constant items range from craft tacos to crab cakes and everything in between. All items on the menu range from $10- $30. 

Cult classic southern dishes like fried chicken and waffles and corn flake crusted catfish were spotted on the menu, along with different takes on southern cuisine like pulled pork & collard green mac n cheese and pulled pork barbecue tacos. 

I ordered the latter, and it came with two haphazardly placed soft shell tacos piled to the brim with pork and topped with grilled pineapple, pickled onions, and a drizzle of cilantro aioli.

While the flavors complimented everything very well and the pineapple added a refreshing sweetness, I was disappointed by the overall presentation of the meal. 

My mother, the top critic of all critics, ordered the cornflake-crusted catfish, which was plated on a bed of butterbean succotash and topped with tomato-onion jam and honey-tabasco mayo.

Now, I will say, that the presentation of this dish was beautiful.

“The catfish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside,” my mother said as she was describing her meal, “and the succotash was good and added a nice flavor profile.”

Of course, we could not leave without trying some of their decadent desserts, so we ordered a chocolate lava cake paired with what I assumed to be a scoop of classic old-fashioned vanilla ice cream. 

I am a self-proclaimed lava cake enthusiast, so I was pretty excited to see how this would compare to my favorites.

However, the chocolate lava cake fell flat for the whole table, as it was quite a small bite and looked to be from a third party that they had warmed up and served. The “lava” part of the cake was very disappointing, partly because of how little filling there was, and partly because of the overall ‘gooey-ness’ of it. 

Overall, I would say that Graze is a good restaurant for an on-the-go dining spot, and they definitely come in hard with the mix of flavors and appetizing menu items. However, if you are looking for a high-scale eatery and dining experience, I sadly would not recommend this place.