Oh wow. Where to begin?
For our very first Five Fork Fridays review, I asked my lovely wife Meredith where she thought we should go. She immediately mentioned a place called Graffiti Market, somewhere she’d been wanting to try for quite some time.
I’ll admit, I was intrigued mostly by the name at first.
Graffiti Market? That certainly sounds like it could be interesting.
As it turns out, interesting was an understatement.
So, with our first review officially underway, we headed out for what turned into a fantastic night.
Courtesy & Timing
Friday Sept. 4/26 – Approximately 6:00pm
From the moment we walked through the door, we were greeted by smiling faces ready to get us seated.
We were asked if we had a reservation. We didn’t.
Then came the question I wasn’t expecting:
“Would you like an interactive dining table or a regular table?”
Well… that’s a new one.
I had no idea what an interactive dining table even was.
Graffiti Market’s smart dining tables are actually a pretty cool concept. You can place your order right from the table, play games either by yourself or against the people you’re dining with, and perhaps my favourite feature, you can even stream the kitchen in real time and watch the culinary magic happening behind the scenes.
That’s certainly one way to make waiting for your food more interesting.
There was about a 45 minute wait for an interactive table, so we decided we’d save that experience for another visit and took a regular table instead.
And we were seated right away.
After getting settled and having a chance to take everything in, I have to say the evening was off to a very good start.
Graffiti Market earns 5 Forks for Courtesy & Timing.
Overall Cleanliness
The atmosphere was pleasant and lively without being overwhelming.
Even with the restaurant busy, the dining room didn’t feel crowded or chaotic. There was a nice amount of space between tables, and everything looked clean, organized and well cared for.
From floor to ceiling, Graffiti Market was looking sharp.
And there’s plenty to look at.
The dining room has a very visual personality, with decor that incorporates the work and style of local artisans. It fits the whole Graffiti Market concept nicely and gives the restaurant a character of its own.
It’s the kind of place where you can look around and discover something new while you’re waiting for dinner.
5 Forks for Overall Cleanliness.
We hadn’t been seated for more than a few minutes when our waitress came by to get us started with drinks.
We both ordered the Strawberry Lemonade Sangria.
Strawberries, zesty lemonade and crisp wine, with plenty of fresh citrus and berry flavour.
Light, fruity and refreshing.
A very nice way to start the evening.
Bathrooms
Yes, we’re reviewing the bathrooms.
Because let’s be honest, if you’re going to spend an evening in a restaurant, the bathroom matters.
After ordering our drinks, I took the opportunity to have a little look-see and wash my hands.
I was happy to see three individual bathrooms, and I grabbed the last one.
Inside, I was pleasantly surprised.
It was neat, clean and actually had some style to it. And that’s something I appreciate. A restaurant can have great food, but if the bathroom looks like it hasn’t been touched since 1997, it definitely gets noticed.
After washing my hands, I grabbed some paper to dry them, another little bonus in my books. I’m always happy to see paper towels rather than being forced to stand there and use an industrial-strength hand dryer to finish the job. Also paper is great to not have to touch the door handle on the way out.
Then I noticed something else.
The styled brickwork on the wall had been tagged by a few guests, adding another little touch to the graffiti culture that runs through the restaurant.
It wasn’t messy. It actually felt like part of the atmosphere.
Graffiti Market earns 5 Forks for Bathrooms.
Food
Now for the part we were really there for.
The food.
Everything on the menu looked good, which didn’t make choosing particularly easy.
Meredith went with the Southwest Chicken Bowl — blackened chicken breast, romaine hearts, pico de gallo, black bean salsa, spicy duro blando, pickled red onions, charred corn, crispy tortilla chips and southwest dressing.
From what I understand, she enjoyed it immensely.
I had read in their menu that Graffiti Market makes their pasta fresh in-house, so naturally I had to put that to the test.
I ordered the Gnocchi.
Potato gnocchi tossed in a roasted red pepper purée, with eggplant, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and roasted red pepper fillets, finished with garlic shallot, white wine, browned butter and fresh herbs.
We also ordered a side of Calamari to share with our food, something we tend to do when we’re out together.
And wow.
I was in for a treat.
The gnocchi was incredibly fresh. Soft, flavourful and practically melting in my mouth. There were a lot of ingredients happening in that dish, but they worked together rather than fighting for attention.
I would absolutely recommend the gnocchi.
Then there was the calamari.
The cornmeal crust gave it that perfect crisp exterior while the calamari inside stayed tender and fresh. Add the sweet peppers, Diavolo sauce and grilled lemon and you’ve got a pretty fantastic appetizer.
We tend to sample calamari whenever we get the chance, and I’m comfortable saying Graffiti Market is now in my top two places for calamari.
That’s saying something.
I’m not much of a dessert person. Meredith is more of a dessert person than I am, but we decided to call it a night before dessert.
For those who are interested, Graffiti Market had three dessert options available: crème brûlée, cheesecake and chocolate cake.
Maybe next time.
For the food?
An easy 5 Forks.
I was genuinely impressed.
Value
At the end of the day, there’s another question that matters just as much as the food:
Was it worth the money?
Most of us work hard for our money, and when we go out to eat, we want to walk away feeling like we got something worthwhile in return.
Graffiti Market delivered.
With two entrées, an appetizer and two drinks, our bill came to $115 before tip.
For two people, that’s an excellent price for the quality of the food, the service and the overall experience we had.
We weren’t simply paying for dinner.
We were paying for a genuinely enjoyable night out.
And in my opinion, that’s what good value is all about.
Another 5 Forks for Value.
Which means Graffiti Market has officially done something I already suspect will be pretty difficult to do again, but I’m sure not impossible.
They’ve earned the first 100% perfect score in Five Fork Fridays history.
That’s a pretty good way to start our new restaurant review and food tour.
One Little Thing…
On a closing note, we really didn’t have anything to complain about.
It was a fantastic night, and Graffiti Market left a very good first impression.
There was, however, one very minor detail we noticed right at the beginning of the evening.
Finding the restaurant.
When we first arrived and were driving around the parking lot, we couldn’t immediately figure out where Graffiti Market was.
There isn’t any obvious exterior signage identifying the restaurant as Graffiti Market.
There are umbrellas outside on the patio displaying the name Stock Yards, but if you’re not familiar with Stock Yards or the companies they own, you wouldn’t necessarily make the connection.
And, as it turns out, neither did we.
It’s certainly not enough to take away from the experience, especially once you’re inside, but a little more signage out front would make finding the restaurant much easier for first-time visitors.
Final Score
Graffiti Market — 25 / 25 Forks
Courtesy & Timing: 5 Forks
Overall Cleanliness: 5 Forks
Bathrooms: 5 Forks
Food: 5 Forks
Value: 5 Forks
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 100%
Not a bad way to kick off Five Fork Fridays.
If you enjoyed this few minute read would you mind taking another 10 seconds and sharing it with your world. It would really mean everything to us.
Thank you so much. Take care and we’ll see you at the next review. 🙂
