Near the St. John’s Town Center, north of IKEA, a new event space called The Block is officially open. The new space offers an outdoor gathering space with various food options, live music venue, a playground and a dog park, according to their website.
The Block offers seven different restaurants: Chancho King, Dark Side Tacos, Hungry Owl, Just Kitchen, Slingin Wieners, Stack’d Burgers and Butt Hutt Smokehouse. They also have an ice cream place called Dairy Joy.
I tried ribs, burnt ends and banana pudding from the Butt Hutt Smokehouse. The ribs had a good smoky flavor, but the star of the order was the burnt ends, which were tender and were perfect for sharing, a good choice if you don’t need to get your hands dirty like you would with ribs. The banana pudding was very good with a fresh banana flavor.
I got there at opening, 11 a.m., and it was already starting to fill up. The environment was vibrant, as it is great for families because the little kids can play in the park and the family dog can run around.
Wherever you sit, either at a table or seat near the DJ area, there is a QR code to scan showing all the restaurants that you can order from so you can place your order from your phone and pick it up at the window.
Overall, it was a great experience, and it’s a great place to go with your family or friends. It is also a good option for groups that can’t decide on where to eat because there’s options for everyone to choose from.
For me, the only negatives were the loud music and high prices. It felt as noisy as a concert, so it was hard to talk to the person next to you without shouting. There were four of us and the total came out to $70.
Overall, The Block is a fun and new inviting space for everyone in a great area.
