&Co. The New Hot Spot
Published December 21, 2011 at 7:06 am
It’s a Sunday night, and I wasn’t particularly in the mood to cook and thought of trying out the newly opened “& Company Resto Bar” aka &Co. I noticed the advertisements on Celebration Square’s jumbo screen a couple of months ago and took a mental note to check it out.
My online search for this intriguing yet confusing name, &Co. took me back to the 1990’s having difficulty searching for the location of that weekend’s afterhours venue. There it was on Google search, about 4 pages in, the website and the resto/bar’s location – 295 Enfield Place, in central Mississauga.
I had no idea what to expect of this new venue. I approached the restaurant to find a sweet Audi R8 parked in the front of the restaurant. That must be the owners. The entrance to the resto/bar was very Torontoesque, and as I walked in, first noticed the hostess dressed to kill in a tight black dress with heels that could in fact kill.
Music was lightly playing in the back ground, and the Sunday night dinner crowd was a mix of young urbanites, groups of friends and a couple of families celebrating holiday cheer and just a night out together. Weekends at &Co. will host world class dj’s which will lure Mississauga party-goers on Friday and Saturday nights.
The ambiance was very sultry, and a venue that is not typical of this suburban area called Mississauga. First impression is that it is a place to see and be seen. It is an open concept space with built in bottle service booths lining the outer layer of the resto/bar, a few high tables and regular height tables, and the sunken dance floor. The walls were scattered with very cool hologram art work which will be even cooler to look at when you’ve had one too many drinks.
Where does the &Co. name come from? Andrew, Assistant GM, indicated it was a name chosen from a list of names that was unique enough to call it their own and one that will grow on you. Andrew, a former bartender, created the notable drink menu which is an impressive lineup of very unique mixes and trendy named drinks which pair well with the menu.
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Chef Rob Lussier’s menu is a mixture of flavours from East to West, which includes something for everyone. I had the Grilled Vegetable Flatbread, and their Signature 2 Potato Blue soup for $14. The dish was very well presented however the soup was heavily salted, too much so for my taste. Our friendly waitress, kindly exchanged it for another option without question. Instead of a soup I had the Smoking Hippy Chicken Salad which comprised of trinity vegetables, avocado puree, hemp seeds and smoking oil which I enjoyed.
My company ordered the &Co. 8 oz Burger which was a double burger patty with a mango salsa topping for $13. &Co. has adopted the a la carte side menu similar to many Toronto venues which charge for sides to your entree choice of protein.
The burger had good flavour, but was $13 without fixings’. Comparably, the Earls 1/2 Pound Burger with a choice of a side is $12.75. In my opinion the best burger insauga is Canyon Creek’s Cheese Burger with choice of a side for $14.45. &Co should consider decreasing the cost of their burger or include side dishes with their entrees to keep in line with their neighbours.
At around 8:30 the lights dimmed and music got louder, in queue with the groups of families leaving.
This looks like the new place to be in Mississauga. Hopefully, this time around the new owners of this cursed corner of Mississauga have found a formula that works (which I think they have). RIP Texas Longhorn, Bert N Ernie’s, Pomegranate Nightclub, Guess Nightclub, and others.
Have you been yet? Let us know what you think?
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