Her perspective: B-
I went to the Keys downtown for lunch since I had been to other locations and wanted to try it out. I was seated in the bar area with a good view of the bakery counter.
My server was very pleasant and mostly attentive and observant. I did wait for a few minutes for her to take my order, but to be fair, it was pretty busy and she did apologize. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the side of the table where people had to walk quite close to me to get behind the bakery counter (which was also a wait stand).
I ordered a BBQ chicken sandwich with fries. I was not informed that the fries were more than $2 extra. Not that I would not have gotten them if I had known, I just would have liked to have been informed since that was not listed on the menu as far as I could see.
The food was quite tasty and the server checked back in an appropriate amount of time. I was given the extra sides I had ordered with my sandwich without me having to ask again when the food arrived. I know that may seem picky, but I would rather not have to ask for things twice.
Since it was so busy, and there was so much openness to the space, it was quite loud and the sound tended to ring around the walls to make it louder.
The bakery counter had cakes, brownies, cookies and bars. The rice krispy bars were so big, that they would better be described as a brick rather than a bar. I didn't try any of the bakery goodies -- I had to take half my sandwich home as it was.
I would probably go back with friends, perhaps more for happy hour than for lunch, though.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Red Lobster, Maplewood
Her Perspective: B+
The first thing I want to say is that this restaurant was a pleasure to visit. Carol was our server and she was very attentive and personable. She even talked to the table behind me since the little boy was kicking the booth seat and she had noticed that it bothered me. She also made sure that if he started doing it again that I would tell her and she would talk to them again.
This is service as it should be in a family-style dining restaurant. We were both impressed. The food was great, all of it was the correct temperature and they even accommodated my request to have my crab legs served a few minutes after the rest of my entree to make sure they didn't get cold while I was working on the rest.
I honestly don't have any complaints and we were both very pleased. We will definitely be back and may even ask for the same server. She attemped upsells without being pushy, she was knowledgable about the menu and she was observant. That's all that we have been looking for. I would recommend this location.
The first thing I want to say is that this restaurant was a pleasure to visit. Carol was our server and she was very attentive and personable. She even talked to the table behind me since the little boy was kicking the booth seat and she had noticed that it bothered me. She also made sure that if he started doing it again that I would tell her and she would talk to them again.
This is service as it should be in a family-style dining restaurant. We were both impressed. The food was great, all of it was the correct temperature and they even accommodated my request to have my crab legs served a few minutes after the rest of my entree to make sure they didn't get cold while I was working on the rest.
I honestly don't have any complaints and we were both very pleased. We will definitely be back and may even ask for the same server. She attemped upsells without being pushy, she was knowledgable about the menu and she was observant. That's all that we have been looking for. I would recommend this location.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Chili's Maplewood
Her perspective: D
This is the third bad experience we've had at this location, so we will not be returning. We will be trying other locations.
We were seated almost immediately, but it took quite a while for the server to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order. I ordered a Cherry Coke, Classic Nachos appetizer and the chicken fajitas. William ordered a Presidente margarita and the Honey BBQ Sirloin with mashed potatoes/gravy and seasonal vegetables.
My Cherry Coke tasted like the syrup was running out on their pop machine, so I had to ask her to check it and get me another one. When we got our nachos, we were given appetizer plates, but no napkins or sliverware. We had to ask for them, and it was extremely hard to get anyone's attention when we needed things our entire visit. William's margarita was pretty tasty apparently, and the only thing they got right in this visit.
When we got our food, my side plate with the fajita fixings on it had hard, crusty cheese and very little of it, and the sour cream was spongy, like it was old. I finally got our server's attention and asked her to replace it. She did so promptly, and it did look better, but she never once asked how our meals were, much less check on William for anything other than another drink.
William's steak was very over-done, which wasn't hard because it was so very thin. His mashed potatoes were crusty, like they were the dried out remains of the pan. By the time the server checked with us to see if we wanted dessert or anything else, I was mostly done eating and William was just so frustrated that he didn't even want to wait for them to cook another steak. Like I said, it was very difficult to get anyone's attention (we were back in a corner) and our server didn't bother to even look our way if she had gone to another table in her section. The server asked if he wanted another steak or if we wanted it taken off the bill or if we wanted her to have the manager stop by and William told her that taking it off the bill would be fine. She went to go do that and we saw her go to another table twice before the manager came over. He offered to buy the steak, another drink, the appetizer... William just told him to take the steak off. The manager came back with our bill and told us that he had taken the nachos off. We were confused since it was the steak that was the problem. The manager tried to make small talk asking us if we had been there before, which steak William usually likes, etc. It was rather annoying. After he left the table, I looked at the receipt to find out that he had taken both the steak and the nachos off the bill.
I appreciate the effort the manager made to try to get us to come back, but, like I said before, after three bad visits in a row, we won't be back to that location.
One more note: William had planned on staying there for a while after we were done eating to continue to drink, so they not only lost the money from the comps on the bill, but the other sales they would have had. We are generous tippers where we get even at least decent service, so the server lost quite a bit of money on her tip, too, much less the additional tip on the additional sales we would have given them had we stayed. This tends to be the case when we are disappointed in the service and/or food.
I hope you stay away from Chili's in Maplewood. We'll update our review with other locations, I'm sure.
This is the third bad experience we've had at this location, so we will not be returning. We will be trying other locations.
We were seated almost immediately, but it took quite a while for the server to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order. I ordered a Cherry Coke, Classic Nachos appetizer and the chicken fajitas. William ordered a Presidente margarita and the Honey BBQ Sirloin with mashed potatoes/gravy and seasonal vegetables.
My Cherry Coke tasted like the syrup was running out on their pop machine, so I had to ask her to check it and get me another one. When we got our nachos, we were given appetizer plates, but no napkins or sliverware. We had to ask for them, and it was extremely hard to get anyone's attention when we needed things our entire visit. William's margarita was pretty tasty apparently, and the only thing they got right in this visit.
When we got our food, my side plate with the fajita fixings on it had hard, crusty cheese and very little of it, and the sour cream was spongy, like it was old. I finally got our server's attention and asked her to replace it. She did so promptly, and it did look better, but she never once asked how our meals were, much less check on William for anything other than another drink.
William's steak was very over-done, which wasn't hard because it was so very thin. His mashed potatoes were crusty, like they were the dried out remains of the pan. By the time the server checked with us to see if we wanted dessert or anything else, I was mostly done eating and William was just so frustrated that he didn't even want to wait for them to cook another steak. Like I said, it was very difficult to get anyone's attention (we were back in a corner) and our server didn't bother to even look our way if she had gone to another table in her section. The server asked if he wanted another steak or if we wanted it taken off the bill or if we wanted her to have the manager stop by and William told her that taking it off the bill would be fine. She went to go do that and we saw her go to another table twice before the manager came over. He offered to buy the steak, another drink, the appetizer... William just told him to take the steak off. The manager came back with our bill and told us that he had taken the nachos off. We were confused since it was the steak that was the problem. The manager tried to make small talk asking us if we had been there before, which steak William usually likes, etc. It was rather annoying. After he left the table, I looked at the receipt to find out that he had taken both the steak and the nachos off the bill.
I appreciate the effort the manager made to try to get us to come back, but, like I said before, after three bad visits in a row, we won't be back to that location.
One more note: William had planned on staying there for a while after we were done eating to continue to drink, so they not only lost the money from the comps on the bill, but the other sales they would have had. We are generous tippers where we get even at least decent service, so the server lost quite a bit of money on her tip, too, much less the additional tip on the additional sales we would have given them had we stayed. This tends to be the case when we are disappointed in the service and/or food.
I hope you stay away from Chili's in Maplewood. We'll update our review with other locations, I'm sure.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
The Nook
Her perspective: C-
After seeing a special on this place on the Food Network, we decided to head out and see if it's as good as Matt's Juicy Lucy that we love.
This is a very small restaurant with barely any waiting room. We had to hear from someone in line that the bartender was taking care of the waiting list. I was hoping that the long line meant the food was worth the wait. It was completely packed. We waited about a little less than an hour and ended up sitting at the end of the bar, in perfect view of the kitchen. Bill ordered a Coke and I ordered a Cherry Coke (Coke and grenadine). They both tasted a bit odd.
For an appetizer, we decided on cheese curds. They seemed undercooked and didn't have much flavor. The Ranch dressing they were served with it was really tasty, though.
We both ordered their signature burger: "Juicy Nookie". It mentioned in the menu that they are all cooked to medium and all are served with their fries which we had learned from the Food Network were "marinated" in vinegar. When we got our burgers (which have the cheese in the middle of the burger, in case you're unfamiliar with a Juicy Lucy), we noticed that they weren't very hot, especially the cheese in the middle. The meat tasted better than the burgers we get at Matt's, but not by much, and my burger was cooked Medium Rare to Rare, rather than the Medium it said in the menu. My stomach is very delicate right now due to my medical issues, so this was not good news. Also, both our orders of fries were very overcooked. We had noticed that the cook had cooked some fries, left them sitting over the fryer (which makes them soggy), then popped them back into the grease when he got an order for them, just to heat them and crisp them up a bit. That explains why ours were overdone.
We heard the bartender talking to the party next to us at the bar and she was saying that they were busy before they appeared on the Food Network, but were even busier afterwards. There is a second location about a mile away, but neither of us remember them saying anything about a second location on the show. So all the extra business is going to this location, which can't handle it. It just seemed like they were so busy, that the cooks were just trying to get the food out to the guests, but not making sure it was properly cooked.
The bartender had mentioned that the other location (which in the menu was called "The Irish Nook") was on Randolph and West 7th St. We looked for it and couldn't find it. The only pub that was there was a place called Shamrock's. When we got home, I looked on line and found out that the actual name of the second location is Shamrock's Irish Nook. The words irish nook were nowhere to be found on the sign outside, so there was no way for us to know that it was the right place.
Overall, we were very disappointed. It is definitely not worth the wait. I might go back for appetizers if I want to go someplace that's packed - and that will never happen... We will probably give the other location a try at some point, but most likely not soon. We would much rather get our Juicy Lucy's from Matt's at 35th and Cedar on Minneapolis.
After seeing a special on this place on the Food Network, we decided to head out and see if it's as good as Matt's Juicy Lucy that we love.
This is a very small restaurant with barely any waiting room. We had to hear from someone in line that the bartender was taking care of the waiting list. I was hoping that the long line meant the food was worth the wait. It was completely packed. We waited about a little less than an hour and ended up sitting at the end of the bar, in perfect view of the kitchen. Bill ordered a Coke and I ordered a Cherry Coke (Coke and grenadine). They both tasted a bit odd.
For an appetizer, we decided on cheese curds. They seemed undercooked and didn't have much flavor. The Ranch dressing they were served with it was really tasty, though.
We both ordered their signature burger: "Juicy Nookie". It mentioned in the menu that they are all cooked to medium and all are served with their fries which we had learned from the Food Network were "marinated" in vinegar. When we got our burgers (which have the cheese in the middle of the burger, in case you're unfamiliar with a Juicy Lucy), we noticed that they weren't very hot, especially the cheese in the middle. The meat tasted better than the burgers we get at Matt's, but not by much, and my burger was cooked Medium Rare to Rare, rather than the Medium it said in the menu. My stomach is very delicate right now due to my medical issues, so this was not good news. Also, both our orders of fries were very overcooked. We had noticed that the cook had cooked some fries, left them sitting over the fryer (which makes them soggy), then popped them back into the grease when he got an order for them, just to heat them and crisp them up a bit. That explains why ours were overdone.
We heard the bartender talking to the party next to us at the bar and she was saying that they were busy before they appeared on the Food Network, but were even busier afterwards. There is a second location about a mile away, but neither of us remember them saying anything about a second location on the show. So all the extra business is going to this location, which can't handle it. It just seemed like they were so busy, that the cooks were just trying to get the food out to the guests, but not making sure it was properly cooked.
The bartender had mentioned that the other location (which in the menu was called "The Irish Nook") was on Randolph and West 7th St. We looked for it and couldn't find it. The only pub that was there was a place called Shamrock's. When we got home, I looked on line and found out that the actual name of the second location is Shamrock's Irish Nook. The words irish nook were nowhere to be found on the sign outside, so there was no way for us to know that it was the right place.
Overall, we were very disappointed. It is definitely not worth the wait. I might go back for appetizers if I want to go someplace that's packed - and that will never happen... We will probably give the other location a try at some point, but most likely not soon. We would much rather get our Juicy Lucy's from Matt's at 35th and Cedar on Minneapolis.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
I Am Legend...
Ever seen Resident Evil?
If you have, then you've seen this movie. Couple changes - One actor and dog to carry most of the movie (couple more people show up later). Still, it was creative and well thought out, but I felt like I'd seen it before (Resident Evil again) so I kinda knew what to expect. After awhile of watching, I started predicting things and was right more than half the time.
I don't like predictable movies, especially when they are supposed to be action-adventure-sci-fi-drama flicks.
Will Smith did well, and really does carry the movie for the first hour or so. The CGI (computer graphics) work and special effects were pretty good, though I've noted in the last couple years that its getting easier to spot and pick out the CGI work in movies. It still looks artificial and almost out of place to me. Maybe that's my color blindness making it stand out more, or maybe its just getting that noticeable again.
Either way, we'll probably end up buying this one after it's been out on DVD for a bit and the price drops. It was mostly enjoyable with a predictable ending (for me anyway).
Still, were trying to find another theater to see Michael Clayton in so we can catch it on the big screen and review it. Also working on Spiderwick, Golden Compass, Jumper and Vantage Point before we miss them entirely. Also looking forward to the next Narnia movie (coming soon!).
We saw I Am Legend at the GTI 4 in Roseville....
If you have, then you've seen this movie. Couple changes - One actor and dog to carry most of the movie (couple more people show up later). Still, it was creative and well thought out, but I felt like I'd seen it before (Resident Evil again) so I kinda knew what to expect. After awhile of watching, I started predicting things and was right more than half the time.
I don't like predictable movies, especially when they are supposed to be action-adventure-sci-fi-drama flicks.
Will Smith did well, and really does carry the movie for the first hour or so. The CGI (computer graphics) work and special effects were pretty good, though I've noted in the last couple years that its getting easier to spot and pick out the CGI work in movies. It still looks artificial and almost out of place to me. Maybe that's my color blindness making it stand out more, or maybe its just getting that noticeable again.
Either way, we'll probably end up buying this one after it's been out on DVD for a bit and the price drops. It was mostly enjoyable with a predictable ending (for me anyway).
Still, were trying to find another theater to see Michael Clayton in so we can catch it on the big screen and review it. Also working on Spiderwick, Golden Compass, Jumper and Vantage Point before we miss them entirely. Also looking forward to the next Narnia movie (coming soon!).
We saw I Am Legend at the GTI 4 in Roseville....
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