Inside the New Serpentine, a Dogpatch Favorite with a Fresh Spin

What did Dogpatch diners do for a whole month while Serpentine underwent a remodel? Who knows, but on September 12, they can return their old ways, as the restaurant will be back with an updated look and menu.

Erin Rooney (also of Slow Cub) made Serpentine a Dogpatch neighborhood staple over the course of nearly a decade before she passed the baton to new chef/owner Tommy Halvorson. He maintained the status quo for 6 months or so, but after learning the ropes, is “putting his fingerprints” on the restaurant, as he told Eater this summer.

A longtime Serpentine regular with a resumé including Chez Panisse, Bix, and Gary Danko, Halvorson promised “a refresh, but not an overhaul.” That came from design firm [RE] Union Creative, co-owned by a longtime Serpentine employee. There’s now more light in the industrial space, with brick removed to expose more windows.

Halvorson’s new menu takes some cues from southern cooking, with honey fried chicken on the lunch and dinner menus and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich on the brunch menu. There’s buttermilk biscuits, yeast rolls, and mac and cheese, but southern ingredients take a more supporting role in dishes like wild Alaskan Salmon with black eyed peas, pork with Carolina gold rice, and a burger served with “pimento” aioli. There’s also a new menu of cocktails, like the aptly named “Out with the Old.” It’s 12 apple jack whiskey, fresh lemon juice, amarena cherry syrup, and a dash of absinthe.

When the restaurant reopens, lunch, dinner, and brunch will all be served right off the bat. Brunch is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m on Saturday and Sunday, lunch is Monday to Friday 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner is served 5 to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday and till 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations, including for brunch, are available through OpenTable.

• Dogpatch Institution Serpentine Is Getting a Refresh [ESF]
• Longtime Dogpatch Favorite Serpentine Receives a New Chef/Owner [ESF]