Saratoga Grill

Located at 108 South Churton Street in downtown Hillsborough, Saratoga Grill specializes in seafood but also offers sandwiches and salads. The restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Saturday and for dinner Wednesday through Saturday. There are discounted wines on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and a $10.25 early dinner menu is offered from 5-6:30 p.m. Beer and wine are available.

Dining at the Saratoga Grill is both literally and metaphorically an up-and-down experience. It is located above a shop and accessible via a narrow stairway. Upon reaching the top, you’ll find yourself in a tastefully decorated loft area-turned-dining room. The wall art and lights make for a homey, welcoming feeling. However, in lieu of a hostess stand, you are asked to wait by a small table against the far wall, which puts you awkwardly in the path of servers moving to and fro. Tables are also positioned somewhat close together though not uncomfortably so.

Once seated, you’ll encounter a menu full of classics: clam chowder, French onion soup, a Reuben, a burger, etc. The selection of fish and seafood (including a honey almond salmon and a few scallop dishes) is commendable though, and vegetarians can find solace in a portobello sandwich and a few salad offerings.

For my first visit, I went with a crab salad half sandwich with a cup of French onion soup and a mixed greens salad. The food was competently prepared but unremarkable. The sandwich, as expected, was faux crab, and neither it nor the soup or salad were elevated in any way. However, my wife reported that the hot pastrami sandwich that I brought her was quite tasty.

The pedestrian food here is partially offset by very affordable prices. Whole sandwiches with salads run $8 and under, and for that price, you can substitute a half sandwich and soup while keeping the salad. Downtown Hillsborough is not known for frugality, so this was a welcome surprise.

Saratoga Grill seems to do a fairly brisk lunch business, and, as such, the kitchen moves at a pace that reflects the volume. Servers are friendly and attentive though, and you won’t go without water whilst waiting for that food.

Overall, Saratoga Grill is hard to pin down. The pricing and availability of seafood dishes are certainly draws, but the so-so food and quirky layout/location are causes for hesitation.

7.25/10