Back in February, we went to Green Bay for my brother’s wedding. Because of the festivities, we left the dogs back in Minnesota. We didn’t want to have to worry about getting back to my parents’ place at any point in the weekend to feed or let out them out. Thankfully, their Auntie Jen-Jenn agreed to watch them over the long weekend.

It was very strange not having the pooches with us on the long drive; but it also felt odd that we didn’t have to drop them off at my parents house before going to lunch upon arrival. Instead, we drove right to Chives in Suamico.

Chives is a restaurant in Vickery Village, which is a cluster of historical buildings with quaint little shops. It’s beautifully decorated over the holidays.

Across the street is a boulangerie called Bread Bank. Chives owns this little bakery, so all bread served at the restaurant is fresh-baked. I love that it is housed in an old Suamico Bank building! #clevername

It was lunchtime on a Wednesday {February 11th to be exact!}; so it wasn’t very busy. But the restaurant is small, so I can imagine reservations are often preferred in the evening. However, on that Wednesday afternoon, we weren’t the only people sitting at the tiny bar! In this part of town, that surprised me.

They had a pretty decent wine selection, so I went with a glass.

Rob, on the other hand, went with a local tap beer. They have four {what I believe are rotating} taps which are located just under their board of specials. The specials are difficult to read in the photo below. But let’s suffice to say that they focus on fresh ingredients and use flavors you might not find in a town this small. {Population of Green Bay =104,000, Population of Suamico = 11,700}.

It’s a pretty freaking adorable place. For the hour and a half or so that we were there, I could have counted the phone ringing at least two dozen times for people requesting Valentine’s Day reservations for that Saturday. Of course, an establishment like this was fully booked. They had decided to start taking reservations for lunch that day; but not many people seemed to take Chives up on that offer.

I ordered the quintessential lunch – soup and sammie.

The soup of the day was their tomato of some sort. I wasn’t that much of a fan; but I’ve been spoiled by some pretty tasty tomato soups back home. But the salad hit the spot and that grilled cheese – THAT GRILLED CHEESE! {Yes, that was me yelling.} It was perfect comfort food for a bitterly cold winter Wednesday. The bread was all sorts of wonderful with its perfectly toasty exterior with just the right amount of crunch. What’s even better – it still let the cheese shine through! Decadent is a word that comes to mind. Now that I think about it, I may need to get my mom some bread from the Bread Bank next time I’m in town.

Rob, of course, couldn’t stop himself from ordering the burger.

He was very happy with his choice and I know he’d order it again. Everything was fresh and the ingredients were top notch. Those fries were topped with – you guessed it – CHIVES!  There was a healthy amount of garlic, too. They were addicting. We picked at those fries long after we were full.

It’s so cool to have a scratch-cooking style restaurant so close to my parents’ house! Chives is another breath of fresh air in a region that is often overrun with chains and sports bars.

Are there any new gems that have popped up near where you grew up?

Cheers~
Carrie