clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Offbeat? Yep. Hard to Define? Sure. HKR's Review of The Sparklings

“I’ll treat it like a Cirque du Soleil performance, quit trying to figure it out and appreciate it for what it is: a restaurant serving a varied menu of well-prepared dishes in a pleasant environment.”

HKR says The Sparklings "feels like a poker bar — a big barn of a place, tables widely spaced, located on a strip-center outparcel — but it’s not." It also feels like a neighborhood restaurant and a "hipster gather spot." But she says it’s not either of those things either.

"I’ll treat it like a Cirque du Soleil performance, quit trying to figure it out and appreciate it for what it is: a restaurant serving a varied menu of well-prepared dishes in a pleasant environment."

She liked the bacon-and-date-wrapped meatballs with tomato sauce ("The meatballs themselves were tender, but what made them special were the bits of date — and just enough date — and generous amount of bacon wrapping them"), the brown butter gnocchi with butternut squash, the turkey and cranberry sandwich with "a hefty slab of brie," the spaghetti with mushroom and bacon cream sauce, and the flourless chocolate cake ("just as fudgy as it should have been").

During her one visit, she said one server took care of the entire room and, "He also attempted a fair amount of upselling, which may be management’s directive but can be irritating to the customer."

She gave the food and atmosphere an A, and the service a B for an overall A-.

The Sparklings
8310 S. Rainbow Blvd.
702-293-5003