Main Street Grill: Chris Mercer Leads Pioneering RR Bistro into New Era

The wine room at Main Street Grill in Round Rock has a lot of memories for me. When we first tried the restaurant 13 years ago, we had the pleasure to taste our first Monica’s Salad (which is still the most asked for salad) along with a killer Ribeye and a bottle of Caymus in its cozy confines. Then several years later my soon to be son-in-law John asked my daughter Jennifer to marry him in that same room. And a few weeks ago ago, I had the pleasure to sit down with Chris Mercer (who has worked at a number of Austin restaurants) and is one of the newer creative forces at Main Street. We took a fond look back at the many iterations of the Main Street Grill which was, by all accounts, the first truly fine dining restaurant in Round Rock when it opened in 1999. Before that the building had been home to many institutions, and the land dates back to 1877 when it housed a general store.

Main Street has seen ownership changes, chef and menu changes, the unfortunate opening and subsequent closing of sister restaurant Monica’s 701 in Georgetown, and finally the current team that seems to have found its balance and its stride. The one constant through it all, owner changes notwithstanding, has been the irrepressible Nacho, the unifying force in the kitchen. Together with Chris, he has steadied the course and continued to reinforce the image of the restaurant that has anchored the growth of East Main Street into a hospitality area for Round Rock. And during many tumultuous moments in the restaurant’s history, they have never hung out a closed sign.

The current menu still has some of the original dishes from 1999 but has evolved with many great new additions like terrific Grilled Lamb Chops with a beautiful red pepper jelly and a Fillet Elizabeth with Cajun accents. I had a red pepper soup that was also excellent. I’ll be filing a review shortly after another dinner there. But I have certainly thus far enjoyed this current version of a very gritty restaurant that has stayed the course where others in the same circumstances have failed.