Revolution Grille is a tucked-away jewel that offers our community a quirky, tasty, and fun dining experience.

Very few things came into question at the upscale restaurant that made its home in a shopping strip in West Toledo about four years ago.

Chef and owner Rob Campbell has been with the establishment for most of its existence. He has continued the great tradition he started there when it first opened under Mainstreet Ventures: a friendly, open atmosphere and staff, inventive craft drinks, and a menu that boasts fresh, local ingredients. It is no longer tied to the restaurant giant, but chef Rob seems to be doing just fine on his own.

Don’t look for a menu online because it changes constantly, but during two visits there was plenty to choose from. The cooking arena is placed squarely behind the bar where patrons can see the chefs work their magic.

On a first visit, the chef offered a scallop appetizer ($12) served over a vegetable puree with bacon and crunchy microgreens atop. The scallops were fork delicate and the flavors married well together; they danced around in my mouth for quite awhile. I thought to myself that I could have been happy with just a giant plate of those.

MENU: Revolution Grille

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Even so, that thought was fleeting, as more satisfying surprises were to come. We got a basket of bread straight from the oven that was warm and olive-oil slicked with caramelized onions, and the Everything Salad ($11), which co-mingled fresh greens with bleu cheese crumbles, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, and a slightly tart salad dressing that blessed the vegetables without overpowering them. It was heaped onto a large plate and could have been a meal in itself.

The digital menu — a tabletop tablet handed to you that allows you to read a description and see a picture of each dish — offered plenty of fish and chicken entrees, and some vegetable-covered flatbreads and more appetizers and salads for the vegetarian in the house, but we went in for the kill and ordered a pork shank with cheese grits ($20) and a 13-ounce ribeye steak ($24).

The pork shank resembled a dish that might delight Fred Flintstone: The tender meat fell off the dinosaur-like bone, coating itself every time in spinach and cheesy grits. My dining companion was nowhere near Bedrock, but maybe closer to heaven as he forked up every drop.

The steak was charred perfectly and cooked a pretty pink medium rare. It was covered in soft, whole onions and sauteed mushrooms and melted in my mouth. 

If I was forced to offer a quibble about anything, it might have had a little too much fat on it, even for a ribeye.

It was a Thursday night and there was a healthy crowd genuinely having a good time. We lingered over a rich cup of coffee made with a french press and soaked it in.

A second visit was equally enjoyable. We decided to begin the evening by noshing on steamed mussels ($9) and fried asparagus ($9). The mussels were small and dainty and were not overpowered by the hickory porcini stock, pea tendrils, and bacon that pooled below them. The asparagus, on their own, had just the right amount of crisp. Two out of the three of us weren’t impressed with the lemon dill greek yogurt dip that came with them. It was a bit too tart with no other real pizzazz.

A dining companion ordered the lamb chops ($34). I liked that when the customer and server forgot to discuss how to prepare them, the server returned with a recommendation from chef Rob that they be sizzled up medium rare. They were hang-on-the-bone perfect, served with a carrot puree, and harissa and curry spicing.

The chicken schnitzel a la Holstein ($16) was a tremendous piece of chicken pounded flat, lightly fried and covered in pancetta and asparagus. The star of the show, an over-easy fried egg on top leaked its gold all over the meat. My friend said she grew up eating schnitzel, and was thrilled to see someone do a different take on the normally lemon-focused dish.

Out of the four fish entrees offered that evening, I chose a grilled Hawaiian lemon snapper ($27), which was served with fingerling potatoes and halved Brussels sprouts. The fish was solid yet flaky and the chef let it do all the talking. The saffron-infused cream underneath was a happy sidenote and as a fair weather fan of saffron, I was glad to note that it didn’t take over the plate.

If you enjoy a drink with your meal when you go out to eat, Revolution Grille magnifies the experience with some pretty unique craft drinks. On our first visit, the bartender was making Campfire Manhattans by smoking hickory and maple wood chips underneath cocktail glasses to infuse the smoke into the alcohol. They add jalapeno to a fantastic margarita and offer a gin drink called the Shrub that’s strong and fruity without being too sweet. Nothing kills a good drink like a sickening sweetness that overrides taste.

A dessert of Zeppole ($6) was last but definitely not least, and may draw me back on its merits alone. The ricotta doughnuts were served warm with a crispy shell that fractured to velvety dough inside. But the crowning glory was the warm salted caramel, chocolate and raspberry sauces made in-house and served alongside for dipping. We sopped up the leftover sauce with our fingers like 4-year-olds.

Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com.

First Published January 28, 2016, 5:00 a.m.