The Helm

The Helm opened about a week and a half ago. They gave an impressive face lift to what used to be a second-rate Thai place, and I'm hopeful about what it will become. It's super new, so it was understandably empty on a Wednesday night. Generous happy hour, limited but intriguing food menu, cocktails were all in the $11-$13 range at normal pricing. Decent draft list at generally $6-8 per pint. Wine list was very standard. One cocktail was very boldly flavored, the other was on the sweet side. Staff was friendly, drinks took a while to make but I'd chalk that up to the whole thing being super new. Great attention to detail with the internal renovation (saw lots of outlets with built in USB ports by tables inside), and the shady front porch will be excellent in the summer. Definitely worth a first visit, and I absolutely plan on coming back.

We came in for a light dinner and were really disappointed. I'm fine with going with a small plate menu, but when 4 mini crab sliders cost $22, they had better be great... and these tasted like it was regular crab dip on regular bread. The risotto was also way undercooked. It ended up being $75 with tip for 4 mini appetizers (no drinks). I would have expected to pay maybe $30 for that quality. The service was good and the atmosphere was really cool, but the food was below average if you're going for a tapas style menu. Wouldn't recommend for food.

We've had a few hits and a few misses here. The sunchoke soup is wonderful and the bees over the high seas was marvelous. Flops included tiny and unflavorful crab rolls, some unimpressive wine, and the 15 minutes that passed after we had finished our meal where we couldn't find an employee in the restaurant.

I haven't had the food here yet, but have been here twice for drinks and haven't been disappointed. It was a bit hot inside and the smell was pretty bad. They must have had a fridge not working because damn...But can't really fault a fish place for hot days and no a/c. The drinks are bomb, I will be back for food.