6.06.2010
5.15.2010
7.10.2009
The Cheesecake Factory - Easton
Friday night at the Easton Cheesecake Factory with a table of six. Impossible, right? No, 30 minute wait. I know, I was as shocked as you were. Maybe the opening of the Polaris Cheesecake Factory has helped with the amount of people needing Cheesecake on any given night.
I only have two exercises to express my issues with tonight's meal:
• Please say aloud, "Chicken Bellagio" and now say, "Chicken Madiera". Did those two meals sound alike? No... they don't taste alike either.
• Now say, "To Go" and "For Here"... Again, don't sound alike, right?
I think our waitress needed a hearing aid. *sigh*
I only have two exercises to express my issues with tonight's meal:
• Please say aloud, "Chicken Bellagio" and now say, "Chicken Madiera". Did those two meals sound alike? No... they don't taste alike either.
• Now say, "To Go" and "For Here"... Again, don't sound alike, right?
I think our waitress needed a hearing aid. *sigh*
California Pizza Kitchen - Easton
UGH! Can I tell you that we have been going to the California Pizza Kitchen since before it left California, and this one experience might ruin it for me. It was a beautiful June day (I realize it is July... give me a break) so we decided to sit out on the patio... Probably red flag right there. We all know about my bad restaurant mojo... so I should have known better than to sit on the patio. So back to the review... we are seated on the patio, by the door and there were a bunch of other people seated outside as well. I thought, "we'll be fine. There are tons of people out here, we won't get forgotten."
We ordered our drinks and chatted. The waiter was somewhat friendly and joking with us, another sign that I thought we would be fine. We ordered our pizzas and I asked if they could bring some bread and butter since I was starving. The waiter said he would be right back. Drinks arrived with no problems except for the fact that Brian (the husband) got water poured on his leg. 10-15 mins later, still no bread, and we had empty glasses. A food runner drops off a salad to my friend. We didn't have silverware, but the runner had already run off. 5 mins later, we finally track down a waiter (not our waiter) to get some silverware. Finally our waiter stopped by and refilled drinks and dropped of pizza.
Needless to say, the service was terrible, but the food was decent as it always is. Again, probably attributed to the fact that I was at the table, but still... sit at the patio at your own risk.
We ordered our drinks and chatted. The waiter was somewhat friendly and joking with us, another sign that I thought we would be fine. We ordered our pizzas and I asked if they could bring some bread and butter since I was starving. The waiter said he would be right back. Drinks arrived with no problems except for the fact that Brian (the husband) got water poured on his leg. 10-15 mins later, still no bread, and we had empty glasses. A food runner drops off a salad to my friend. We didn't have silverware, but the runner had already run off. 5 mins later, we finally track down a waiter (not our waiter) to get some silverware. Finally our waiter stopped by and refilled drinks and dropped of pizza.
Needless to say, the service was terrible, but the food was decent as it always is. Again, probably attributed to the fact that I was at the table, but still... sit at the patio at your own risk.
Luce Enoteca - Powell
In an attempt to revitalize GNO - Girls Night Out, we went to Luce Enoteca up in Powell. It is a bit off the beaten path, but worth the drive up north. We arrived around 6pm and got right in, which made me a little worried about the location. Hopefully it'll hang around because the food was delicious.
The restaurant does not fit in to the strip-mall-laden Sawmill Parkway area. It looks like an Italian villa with a big patio featuring lots of folage to add privacy. The day we went to Luce Enoteca was about 95 degrees so we opted to sit inside. The decor indoors is beautiful. They have bar seating as well as restaurant seating. Since there were few customers, the noise level was low, but I could see it getting pretty loud if it were a busy night.
We perused the menu and opted for a glass of wine and the artisanal cheese plate. The menu has a few options of small hot plates and small cold plates as well as pizzas and pasta. The cheese plate is lovely with a variety of hard and soft cheese with fruit, bread and nuts to accompany the cheese. I highly recommend the cheese plate. It comes in two sizes - two cheeses or all four.
We also ordered the bruschetta trio. Six pieces of bruschetta arrived, two pieces per flavor: Steak, brie and fig jam, shrimp with boursin and mozzarella with roasted red pepper. I was not impressed with the bruschetta. Maybe you will like it better, but I am not a fan of it. The shrimp was huge, and overpowered the rest of the flavors. On the other hand, the flank steak was overpowered by the fig. There was an arugula salad in the middle of the bruschetta that was loaded with salt for some reason. Eh... I would pass on the bruschetta.
Finally, we ordered the brie and pear flatbread. This flatbread was good, but had alot of potential to be great. First, the pear was diced, which led to a scattering of pear on the pizza. If they had sliced the pear, there would have been a better consistency and more of a chance to get all the flavors in each bite.
We couldn't leave without dessert. We opted for quantity and got the sampler. The sampler includes lemon curd, s'more, panna cotta, semifredo. This sampler was a nice mix of flavors and textures. Lemon curd is very refreshing, s'more is super rich (and I don't usually use that word), panna cotta is creamy and light, and the semifredo is nice and sweet. I think semifredo means melty ice cream, but it is very delicious.
I am highly recommending Luce Enoteca. It seems pretty fancy, but I doubt there is a dress code. Check out their website for events they are promoting. For two glasses of wine, two appetizers, flatbread and dessert sampler, the bill came to $70.
So I am trying a new rating system: Gold Spoon (excellent), Silver Spoon (good), Bronze Spoon (average), Plastic Spoon (terrible).
Decor: Gold
Atmosphere: Gold
Food: Silver
Wine: Gold
Service: Gold
Price: Silver
Location: Silver
Overall - Silver
The restaurant does not fit in to the strip-mall-laden Sawmill Parkway area. It looks like an Italian villa with a big patio featuring lots of folage to add privacy. The day we went to Luce Enoteca was about 95 degrees so we opted to sit inside. The decor indoors is beautiful. They have bar seating as well as restaurant seating. Since there were few customers, the noise level was low, but I could see it getting pretty loud if it were a busy night.
We perused the menu and opted for a glass of wine and the artisanal cheese plate. The menu has a few options of small hot plates and small cold plates as well as pizzas and pasta. The cheese plate is lovely with a variety of hard and soft cheese with fruit, bread and nuts to accompany the cheese. I highly recommend the cheese plate. It comes in two sizes - two cheeses or all four.
We also ordered the bruschetta trio. Six pieces of bruschetta arrived, two pieces per flavor: Steak, brie and fig jam, shrimp with boursin and mozzarella with roasted red pepper. I was not impressed with the bruschetta. Maybe you will like it better, but I am not a fan of it. The shrimp was huge, and overpowered the rest of the flavors. On the other hand, the flank steak was overpowered by the fig. There was an arugula salad in the middle of the bruschetta that was loaded with salt for some reason. Eh... I would pass on the bruschetta.
Finally, we ordered the brie and pear flatbread. This flatbread was good, but had alot of potential to be great. First, the pear was diced, which led to a scattering of pear on the pizza. If they had sliced the pear, there would have been a better consistency and more of a chance to get all the flavors in each bite.
We couldn't leave without dessert. We opted for quantity and got the sampler. The sampler includes lemon curd, s'more, panna cotta, semifredo. This sampler was a nice mix of flavors and textures. Lemon curd is very refreshing, s'more is super rich (and I don't usually use that word), panna cotta is creamy and light, and the semifredo is nice and sweet. I think semifredo means melty ice cream, but it is very delicious.
I am highly recommending Luce Enoteca. It seems pretty fancy, but I doubt there is a dress code. Check out their website for events they are promoting. For two glasses of wine, two appetizers, flatbread and dessert sampler, the bill came to $70.
So I am trying a new rating system: Gold Spoon (excellent), Silver Spoon (good), Bronze Spoon (average), Plastic Spoon (terrible).
Decor: Gold
Atmosphere: Gold
Food: Silver
Wine: Gold
Service: Gold
Price: Silver
Location: Silver
Overall - Silver
6.06.2009
2.21.2009
BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse - Polaris
I thought I had already reviewed BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse because we have been there a number of times, put it on "the list" and then went back like the unimaginative lemmings we are.
So, its Friday night and we are trying to get the group out for dinner. If you have ever tried to go to dinner on a Friday or Saturday night in Polaris, you would be hard pressed to get a table without waiting for at least an hour. So places with call ahead seating or reservations have become a mainstay with our group of six. For some reason chain restaurants in the Polaris area do not accept reservations and I will NEVER understand this. But I digress, BJs does have call ahead seating, however, its not a fool proof system to not wait more than an hour for a table. We called ahead a few weeks ago and still waited 1.5 hours for a table. Let me tell you, the food isn't good enough to wait that long. This time we called ahead a hour before we were planning on arriving and they told us that you can't call more than 30 mins before, which, let's be honest, doesn't really help the situation. A typical Friday night produces an 1.5 hour wait, calling ahead 30 mins, you are still waiting an hour. So, we beat the system. We called an hour ahead, and then called 30 mins later with another name. When we went to the restaurant, one name had an hour wait, and the other 20 mins! HA. Take that BJs.
So on to the actual review. Like I mentioned before, we have been to BJs many times and the food is at best okay. Nothing to write home about, but evidently not so bad that we won't go back. They have a very diverse menu including giant baked potatos, burgers, pasta, pizza, a selection of sandwiches and soup and salad. You shouldn't have trouble finding something to eat there. As evidenced by their name, they are also a brewery. They have a nice selection of beers ranging from your light pale ale to a dark stout. I tend to opt for the Pear or Berry Burst Cider, both of which are delightful. Since I have been to the restaurant a few times, I have ordered a lot of different things off their menu. Their pizzas are probably what they are most known for. They are deep dish so very doughy with very little sauce. I have asked for extra sauce in the past because I am a saucy pizza gal. Last night I opted for the Scampi Pasta which has shrimp, roma tomatoes and garlic tossed with angel hair pasta. I got a side garden salad added to that for a few bucks more. The garden salad was not all that good. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage with two cuke slices and two tomato slices. Pretty sad excuse for a salad. I chose this meal because it seemed to be somewhat healthy. I don't know if I am accurate or not because BJs does not have their nutrition information posted anywhere. (Which is annoying, I might add). The burgers are big and looked really good, coming with steak fries. Their dinner salads are huge and I am partial to the Field of Greens salad, but its always way too much food as was my dinner last night. For a burger, fries, 3 ciders, garden salad and scampi pasta, our bill came to about $52.
We did not get dessert last night, but they do boast a pizookie which is a cookie cooked in a deep dish pizza pan served warm with ice cream.
All in all BJs hasn't been put back on "the list" because of food or service, but the wait is ridiculous on a Friday/Saturday night. Be aware, but if you are familiar with going out on these days, you are used to waiting anyway.
So, its Friday night and we are trying to get the group out for dinner. If you have ever tried to go to dinner on a Friday or Saturday night in Polaris, you would be hard pressed to get a table without waiting for at least an hour. So places with call ahead seating or reservations have become a mainstay with our group of six. For some reason chain restaurants in the Polaris area do not accept reservations and I will NEVER understand this. But I digress, BJs does have call ahead seating, however, its not a fool proof system to not wait more than an hour for a table. We called ahead a few weeks ago and still waited 1.5 hours for a table. Let me tell you, the food isn't good enough to wait that long. This time we called ahead a hour before we were planning on arriving and they told us that you can't call more than 30 mins before, which, let's be honest, doesn't really help the situation. A typical Friday night produces an 1.5 hour wait, calling ahead 30 mins, you are still waiting an hour. So, we beat the system. We called an hour ahead, and then called 30 mins later with another name. When we went to the restaurant, one name had an hour wait, and the other 20 mins! HA. Take that BJs.
So on to the actual review. Like I mentioned before, we have been to BJs many times and the food is at best okay. Nothing to write home about, but evidently not so bad that we won't go back. They have a very diverse menu including giant baked potatos, burgers, pasta, pizza, a selection of sandwiches and soup and salad. You shouldn't have trouble finding something to eat there. As evidenced by their name, they are also a brewery. They have a nice selection of beers ranging from your light pale ale to a dark stout. I tend to opt for the Pear or Berry Burst Cider, both of which are delightful. Since I have been to the restaurant a few times, I have ordered a lot of different things off their menu. Their pizzas are probably what they are most known for. They are deep dish so very doughy with very little sauce. I have asked for extra sauce in the past because I am a saucy pizza gal. Last night I opted for the Scampi Pasta which has shrimp, roma tomatoes and garlic tossed with angel hair pasta. I got a side garden salad added to that for a few bucks more. The garden salad was not all that good. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage with two cuke slices and two tomato slices. Pretty sad excuse for a salad. I chose this meal because it seemed to be somewhat healthy. I don't know if I am accurate or not because BJs does not have their nutrition information posted anywhere. (Which is annoying, I might add). The burgers are big and looked really good, coming with steak fries. Their dinner salads are huge and I am partial to the Field of Greens salad, but its always way too much food as was my dinner last night. For a burger, fries, 3 ciders, garden salad and scampi pasta, our bill came to about $52.
We did not get dessert last night, but they do boast a pizookie which is a cookie cooked in a deep dish pizza pan served warm with ice cream.
All in all BJs hasn't been put back on "the list" because of food or service, but the wait is ridiculous on a Friday/Saturday night. Be aware, but if you are familiar with going out on these days, you are used to waiting anyway.
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