Meadowlark brunch, Dayton OH

[Niki in Dayton]

Yesterday we finally got around to brunch at Meadowlark, on Miamisburg-Centerville Rd, AKA State Rt 725, not too far from the Dayton Mall. Meadowlark has long been a favorite for lunch and dinner, but we generally don't go out for brunch unless we're traveling, so hadn't sampled their brunch fare. Meadowlark serves brunch on Sunday only, from 10 to 3, and yesterday they were packed. We stopped in about noon, were told there was a half hour wait for a two-top, and decided not to wait. We headed down toward the Springboro Dorothy Lane Market, but didn't see anywhere else we wanted to eat. We stopped into Marie's Scrambler, which is evidently a chain that we'd not heard of, but nothing looked good there, so we called back to Meadowlark for "call ahead seating". We got back there about 1:00 to find even more folks waiting to be seating, but we were seated within five minutes thanks to the call ahead.

Some of the regular lunch items were on the brunch menu (the portobella patty melt, the Lark burger, the Vietnamese noodle salad), along with plenty of more traditional brunch items. Meadowlark features local, seasonal food and that was reflected in the fried green tomato sandwich with goat cheese and bacon that I had yesterday. Served on DLM multi-grain bread which was grilled, this had Neutske bacon and was wonderful. DH had the potato rosti, with bacon and Gruyere cheese, and we split a side of the artisanal sausage. Some of the other offerings were an Israeli-influenced tomato, pepper, and egg dish, and shrimp and grits (which an older lady told me was wonderful, as we held the door for her to leave the establishment).

One of the things I love about Meadowlark, besides the fabulous food, is the wine list. It's small, but very well chosen, and most attractive is the pricing - about 25% above the retail cost of a bottle. That's quite a bargain in my experience. We had a lovely Taburno falanghina, and the total for brunch with the wine was only $56. Worth every penny!

I've read that Meadowlark is looking for a larger venue, somewhere with a bar for folks to wait, and is considering the previous site of Madison's restaurant. I'd love Meadowlark to have more space, especially somewhere comfortable to wait for a table (which is something they lack in their current strip-mall location). I think they currently only have a beer and wine license, so am unsure if they are looking to expand to a full liquor license as well.

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Meadowlark Restaurant
2094 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Dayton, OH 45459

[mrnyc]

ahh we've been here before, but not for brunch thx.

nikki we went to butter cafe near UD with the in laws recently and enjoyed it. usually we go to first watch, which is fine, but it was a nice change.

[Niki in Dayton]

Is Butter Cafe the new place on Brown St? We'll have to remember it. First Watch is OK, for a chain; I've had several work breakfasts there and like the Greek omelet.

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First Watch
168 Market St, Westlake, OH 44145

[Benjamin B]

We went to Butter Cafe, but were decidedly underwhelmed. Everything was ok, but seemed... bland. The service was good, and everyone was quite friendly. We tend to go to the Winds for brunch if we do brunch.

I hope to go visit the meadowlark soon.

[Fibber McGee]

FYI-Meadowlark is now indeed at Madison's old spot on Far Hills just south of Rahn.

[Niki in Dayton]

As Fibber mentioned, they've moved, and one of the consequences of that move is they aren't currently allowed to serve alcohol at brunch on Sunday. We've been there twice since the move, once for brunch where the food was good but we missed having a mimosa, and once for restaurant week dinnner, which was excellent.