Webster’s serves tasty food in a “homely” setting
Webster’s doesn’t immediately stand out as a restaurant; it’s on the edge of a residential area on Claiborne Avenue, in a converted house. With cars parked all around, only a non-intrusive sign in the yard is a giveaway that this isn’t a family reunion in progress.

Inside, the décor is modern country home, with baker’s racks tastefully adorned and historical pictures of Greenwood on the walls. There are at least three different dining rooms, which are literally separate rooms of the home. In the middle of the house and straight ahead from the foyer is the bar, with a dark and inviting look.

My dining companion and I were quickly seated in what appeared to be a somewhat more modern addition, down a few stairs. This area had a very open floor plan, with stone tiles. It also led out to the patio for al fresco dining. The hostess also took our drink order of two sweet teas, which was delivered fairly promptly. It was nicely sweetened and tasted fresh-brewed.

It took just a few minutes for our server to finally take our order. For an appetizer, we chose the Artichoke Cheese Dip ($9). My dining companion ordered the Beef Kabobs ($15), while I opted for the intriguingly named Sweet Tea Fried Chicken ($14). I’d never heard of chicken breasts marinated in sweet tea before!

It took a while for the appetizer to arrive. In fact, it seemed as if our server forgot about it. After about 10 minutes, she came back to inform that they were out of the fried chicken, so I chose the cheese Ravioli Marinara ($10) instead. After inquiring about the cheese dip, our server quickly brought it out to us.

The dip was hot and gooey, served with tortilla chips. The balance between artichoke and cheese flavor was perfect.

Salads are served with each entrée and Webster’s version is simple: dark greens, a wedge of tomato and dressing. They were nothing special.

Like the appetizer, the entrées were slow to arrive. Overall, both dishes were good. The beef kebobs were tender and lightly seasoned. They also took on some of the flavors of the onion and mushrooms on the skewers. My diner opted for fries as the side item. They were limp, but not greasy. Despite that, they were tasty but would have been better if served crispy. The Ravioli Marinara dish didn’t appear very substantial at first, but it was. There were many large manicotti-stuffed ravioli in a homemade marinara sauce that was chunky and thick, without an overpowering amount of seasoning. It was very good.

Each entrée included a little square roll. It was a dense bread, not light and fluffy like a yeast roll. It was good but needed some butter brushed on top to counter its dryness.

Overall, Webster’s provided us with a good meal. The prices are comparable to other area restaurants. Only the slow service and noisy dining room were drawbacks. Unlike the other rooms of the house, the addition we dined in was an echo-chamber, and the children’s voices from across the room boomed around. It wasn’t very conducive to the relaxing atmosphere they were going for, unfortunately.    [18 Jan 2008 03:22:28]

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Recommended Dishes: Ravioli marinara

     ­Tom Servo, ChefMoz - MS editor