My wife and I had to make an emergency run to Gordon's Jewelers in Ingram Mall Saturday morning. I don't want to get into specifics of it, but I'm pretty much tired of diamonds falling out of the rings in our house. It isn't like my wife is doing construction or something. We've taken one ring in particular back three times this year to have diamonds replaced, and at some point, a husband just has to put his foot down. So $1,500 later...
While I was standing in Gordon's waiting for those people to take my money, I could not help but notice this fellow working at a place called Soapranos. I don't have the faintest idea what it is they sell, though the thought of soap came to mind. Anyway, this guy was holding a little strip of something, I guess a sample of some sort that he was trying to encourage passersby to sniff, I guess. As I watched this go on, people just kept blowing him off and it was really upsetting the poor guy. He would run from side to side of his kiosk hoping that if he darted out as someone approached, they would feel compelled to stop and sniff his sample. Sniff his sample. Maybe there is a better way to phrase that.
Anyway, during the close to 10 minutes I sat there watching the guy, it was not until we were walking out the door that he trapped someone into sniffing the stuff. The rest of the people either totally acted like he was not there, ignoring him completely, or semi-politely said "No thanks" or gave him the old wrinkled eyebrow look that conveys, "Don't get near me with your sample."
This made me think of those people standing on corners with those big signs trying to get drivers to pull into a business. Either a new home development, a going out of business and everything must go situation or the standard tax preparation service. What do suppose a gig like that pays?
And doesn't seeing Santa just make you want to get your car washed?
Oh, and speaking of cars. I loved this fancy way of mounting the required by law front license plate on a car. It's the new rage. I'm gonna go get some tie-straps and customize my truck today!
We stopped into Cheddar's yesterday just to grab a quick bite and decided on their burgers. At $4.99, I'd say it is a pretty good deal. Anyway, we remembered one time when we went and the french fries were really piled on, so because they charge separate for the fries, we decided to get just one order and share them.
This is the actual order of fries that we received with my burger. Yes, that is a normal, sensible size of fries for a small child eating a Happy Meal, but it was the least amount of fries I have ever seen served, especially considering I had to pay extra! We really laughed when we saw them.
What was funnier was when I asked the waiter to bring out some honey mustard to dip the fries in, he brought enough to slather each individual fry, fully coated, and still have enough left over for a Christmas ham.
I pulled a fast one on my wife this evening. When I walked in the door from work, she immediately announced that it was ham sandwiches or I could take her out for steak. I knew she had Texas Road House on her mind and I was quick to respond with, "Let's go."
So as we drove down Culebra towards Loop 410, I quickly jumped into the right lane instead of the left prompting her to remind me that TRH is located near Ingram, not Military. And that was when I suggested she try the steak at Cheddar's.
You may recall that we had a good experience at Cheddar's on our first visit but since then, have not been willing to endure a 45 minute wait to be seated. My thought was that if we got there early enough (it was before 5PM), we could beat the rush, and if not, TRH was just up the road.
This time around, the parking lot was as empty as I have seen it since before the place opened, and we were going to be in luck. One of my brothers in FLA swears by Cheddar's Cajun seasoned catfish, and just last week, our neighbor Gus added his complete endorsement of said entree. So I knew what I was going to have. I thought it would be easy for my wife to just order a steak since that was what she wanted, but she instead studied numerous options on the menu (and they do have a lot to choose from) before settling on the 8oz steak.
On the first report, I could not say enough about the good service we experienced while several of you readers left less than glowing comments about your own experiences. I guess today was our day for seeing the difference.
Nothing happened to make me not want to return, but suffice it to say that things seemed to be in slow motion. I have never waited 15 minutes for a beer in a restaurant, especially after the waiter brought my wife raspberry lemonade instead of the raspberry tea she ordered. After a while, he came out and told me they were changing the keg and it would just be a few more minutes. It was a few more minutes several times before I did receive the Luke warm beer. Thankfully, I've lived in England and can easily revert to old times. Plus, it would have been rude to ask for some ice cubes. The waiter was certainly polite and apologetic, but still...
Anyway, that is minor, minor stuff. It happens at the best of places and I simply can't let stuff like that get me upset, especially when I can come here and whine about it.
Onto the vittles. My wife got the steak, a baked potato without sour cream, and some baby carrots. In spite of pointing to the white stuff on the potato, the waiter assured her there was no sour cream on it. Once she picked off the sour cream, she said her baked potato wasn't that great. I had a bite and thought it was fine, but compared to TRH, I'd have to go with the baked potato at TRH every time. The baby carrots were very good - she liked them and so did I!
The steak was simply not as good as TRH. I had a small bite and thought it was good, per se, but unfortunately, my wife had TRH on her mind and even if I would have done my own happy dance upon tasting it, I don't think I would have swayed her opinion.
The Cajun grilled catfish that I ordered was brilliant. It comes served on a bed of some sort of rice (that was a tad bit undercooked - in fact a little hard), and it came with two sides. I selected the green beans and the mashed Idaho potatoes.
My green beans were simply wonderful. I usually am not a fan of the flat style, but they were cooked - in fact, they may have been simmering on the stove for a week for all I know, but they were delicious, and I will definitely order them again. The mashed potatoes with gravy were simply excellent. Again, compared to the semi-warm baked potato my wife got, my mashed potatoes were outstanding.
I am usually a fried catfish type of guy, and fried catfish nuggets are even better. Our first time to Cheddar's, I didn't order the cat because of the fact it wasn't fried. But thankfully, I was told how good it was and now I am telling you: Order the Cajun seasoned grilled catfish and you will not regret it. It was melt in your mouth good, the seasoning was not overdone in any way and combined with the sides, it was well worth the less than stellar service. Next time, I hope to say good things about the bed of rice it comes sitting on.
Have you tried the Cajun grilled cat at Cheddar's? Do you like the steak there? How was your service now that they have been in operation for a few months? Tell me about it or leave a comment here.
I don't think we have had a restaurant opening so greatly anticipated since... Mr. Cod..., but the new Cheddar's has finally opened for business, and against better advice, we made it in for lunch on Day 2. And they were ready for us!
The parking lot was packed and there were two or three full rows of parked cars away from the building which we later learned were the employees. Upon entering, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a member of the wait staff or a manager or greeter. Off to a good start in my book.
As we were seated, the hostess told us about some appetizer or something that we ought to try and seemed not only friendly, but genuinely professional, not like some disinterested ditz we may have interrupted from an important text message.
We have never been into a Cheddar's before, but assumed it to be a standard mix of Chili's, Friday's, Applebee's, Bennigan's etc, and I suppose it was, but for some reason, it just seemed, a bit more upscale, at least in appearance. Perhaps they just have better designers. I liked the brickwork and huge planters around us, and in the center of the place, they had this huge horizontally rotating fan system. They also had a really nice aquarium set-up, so I won't have to take my wife to Corpus Christie this year to see fish.
The menu offers up a fairly wide variety. Between the short time that our waiter took our drink order and brought them, we had both changed our minds numerous times on what to order.
By the way, speaking of waiters: we have had some good luck recently. I mentioned a few weeks ago the waitress at Spanky's being exceptional; our waiter James G. at Cheddar's was so on the spot professional that I suspect some business owner will come in for lunch and attempt to lure him into the business world. The guy was simply impressive. We never felt like we were being pressured, but he would casually suggest items or simply work the idea of dessert into the conversation. Ask for him when you go.
On to the vittles. As an appetizer, we had to order the onion rings. They come neatly stacked on a plate and the order is easily enough for a table of four people. They were good and I would gladly order them again. I could have stood to have them cook for even another 20 or 30 seconds, but they were certainly tasty and not too crunchy. I do not like crunchy onion rings.
My wife finally decided on the chicken pot pie. We didn't know what to expect, but she was pleasantly surprised with the thick golden crust and the piping hot contents. I even had a taste and it was enjoyable.
She chose the house salad as her side and I would say it was comparable to what you get at Chili's. Fresh croutons and a good size for a side. Not shown in the picture here (because either I was too slow with the camera or she was too fast with the bread) was a really soft and delicious croissant that came with the salad. It was fresh and good.
Because I could see myself being stuffed on onion rings, I opted to just get the triple cheese hickory burger. You will notice that the plate came without a side of fries or anything. I like that. Since we ordered the rings as an appetizer, there was no reason for me to get fries or a salad or anything else, and with the burger, the side was an option. That means the price of the burger was comparable to What-a-Burger. For the size, at a sit down restaurant, I'd say under $5.00 is pretty good for a burger. And it was good. No, I won't go as far as to single out this burger as a favorite, but it was certainly very acceptable and well delivered.
As we sat there enjoying our meal, there was some commotion at the booth behind us. There was a family of four and from what we could see, they had also ordered onion rings as an appetizer. One waiter came out and delivered the onion rings and within a matter of seconds, a second waiter came out and delivered the rest of the meal. The mom in this group seemed to go a little overboard in my opinion, but her point was that they had waited way too long for the appetizer, and now, with it being served with dinner, what was the point?
A third waiter quickly came to the table to hear the complaint and as he was talking to the folks, another person went to retrieve a manager. By the time the manager arrived (20-30 seconds, max) the waiter had defused the situation by telling the loud lady that the manager would make things right for them.
From what I could observe and hear (the manager kept things very calm and quiet), there was simply no excuse for the bad service and he would be adjusting the bill accordingly. Further, before anyone could even ask for it, someone was bringing the husband at the table a new beer (even though he had only taken a few sips of the one he had) and I suspect it was on the house.
The point in my mind was, these people were not happy, and in order to gain their future business, this manager and staff were going to do whatever was necessary to have them come back for another visit. And I bet they will.
And we will return as well. Look, you go go to any number of places and find bar & grill food at pretty much the same price. If the Cheddar's folks can deliver on service like we received (or have managers that can fix it like the people behind us received), on only the second full day of operations, then they are well on their way to becoming a favorite choice for us.
Don't wait a month, they seem ready for you to visit now, and my wife promises you'll be doing the Happy Dance too!
While I was standing in Gordon's waiting for those people to take my money, I could not help but notice this fellow working at a place called Soapranos. I don't have the faintest idea what it is they sell, though the thought of soap came to mind. Anyway, this guy was holding a little strip of something, I guess a sample of some sort that he was trying to encourage passersby to sniff, I guess. As I watched this go on, people just kept blowing him off and it was really upsetting the poor guy. He would run from side to side of his kiosk hoping that if he darted out as someone approached, they would feel compelled to stop and sniff his sample. Sniff his sample. Maybe there is a better way to phrase that.
Anyway, during the close to 10 minutes I sat there watching the guy, it was not until we were walking out the door that he trapped someone into sniffing the stuff. The rest of the people either totally acted like he was not there, ignoring him completely, or semi-politely said "No thanks" or gave him the old wrinkled eyebrow look that conveys, "Don't get near me with your sample."
And doesn't seeing Santa just make you want to get your car washed?
Oh, and speaking of cars. I loved this fancy way of mounting the required by law front license plate on a car. It's the new rage. I'm gonna go get some tie-straps and customize my truck today!
This is the actual order of fries that we received with my burger. Yes, that is a normal, sensible size of fries for a small child eating a Happy Meal, but it was the least amount of fries I have ever seen served, especially considering I had to pay extra! We really laughed when we saw them.
What was funnier was when I asked the waiter to bring out some honey mustard to dip the fries in, he brought enough to slather each individual fry, fully coated, and still have enough left over for a Christmas ham.
