Earlier this week I had an afternoon meeting with some folks I work with and the selected destination was Acadiana off Loop 410 between 151 and Marbach.
I was pretty sure I had written about Acadiana before, and sure enough, a quick search of the blog revealed that in fact I had. Here, co-workers and I attended lunch but I hadn't driven, so I didn't have my camera, a firm requirement for taking pictures of my vittles.
So anyway, I'll keep this short. One of my colleagues suggested an order of the fried pickles. Before I could whip out Mr. Camera, half the plate was gone, but here you can see a good representation of what the fried pickle is all about. It is a pickle, and it is fried. Add a little Ranch dressing and your high blood pressure will be off the charts. They seemed a tad bit salty this time around, but I simply could not help myself. I have been asked, by the way, if I am pregnant, and I assure you I am not. It only looks that way.
I shan't embarrass anyone and go around the table describing each meal in detail but I will tell you that I enjoyed my standard Acadiana dish. As much as I am open to new things, it would seem I am incapable of going into Acadiana and ordering anything different, even down to the sides. Of course, catfish is always a given when it is made available to me. I am a fan of green beans and at this place, I am down with the red beans and rice.
Have you ever tried the deep fried turkey they sell at Acadiana? I am told it is out of this world. Do you suppose people from Louisiana in the Acadiana area come to this restaurant and laugh at us San Antonio folks as if this place is the equivalent of hitting Mickey D's for a fine burger? I hope not. I'd like to think that my taste buds are on target.
Is it the best catfish in SA? Not in my book, but a fine place to dine just the same.
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!
Perhaps I was taking a nap when E-Z's on Bandera closed shop and Goomba's moved in. Then again, I had not been to E-Z's in roughly three or four years, so it wouldn't be much of a trick to slip one by me. At any rate, my wife and I went down a long list of places we should eat lunch at this afternoon, but all seemed to be too far to drive in the sudden rain (that has since stopped).
We made a half-hearted effort at driving toward Fatso's Sports Garden for a burger when the Goomba's sign caught my eye. My thought was, if all else failed, I could get a slice of pizza.
From the minute we walked in, I started having doubts. First, and sorry, I don't have pictures or an audio tape to fully deliver the experience of it, there was a family using an entire half of the place for a kids birthday party. What, Chuck E. Cheese was closed on a Saturday? Second, when I looked at the appearance place, it looked like someone had walked into E-Z's, glued some fake bricks on the walls and stapled up a bunch of Soprano's posters.
We grabbed menus and I sort of stared at mine for a while hoping something would jump out at me. Right away, my wife knew she would be getting a calzone, but I had my standard internal debate with myself over a sandwich (and if so, should I get a cold one or a hot one), or wings (and if so, should I get an order of 10 or 20, hot or bbq) or maybe pizza (and if so, should I get just a slice or order the whole thing) and so on. This is what it is like to be me in a restaurant I have not become familiar with.
My wife actually suggested that we leave and go someplace else since I couldn't come to a quick decision, and that was why I quickly stepped up to the counter and ordered the Sausage Parm. Only then, I couldn't decide on the half or full. As I decided, my wife ordered her calzone with sausage and pepperoni. I did ask the girl taking our order the difference in the half or full size subs and she made some fairly quick hand gestures to represent 6" and 12", though her 12" calculation seemed might short compared to what I got.
I should have realized how big it was when I saw a pizza going into the oven. Huge!
We took a booth as far away from the birthday party as possible, but I'm afraid that the power of infants screaming and kids on those little roller shoe things zooming by us to go to the game room didn't make it any better. Granted, they have a soundtrack going on over the speakers with lots of Frank Sinatra and various Italian Opera standards to drown things out, but to be very honest, I could have easily just gotten up and walked away without even getting our food. Instead, considering they make your order from scratch, it came fairly quickly.
And of course, you can't blame the restaurant for having people create an instant party at their place; and you can't blame the kids for thinking that this was a place they could scream and run around in, after all, all the kid wanted for his birthday was some tokens and two hours in the Chuck E. Cheese that is exactly one exit west on Loop 410.
When my sausage parm sub came out, I couldn't believe it. It looked huge, smelled good and right away, from the first bite until the last, it was hot and delicious and gooey in the parts that were supposed to be gooey. I'm not kidding when I say, get the half order unless you are a glutton for punishment, or just a glutton, for that matter. It was so good that, in spite of the ringing in my ears brought on by the high pitched wailing of some kid possibly teething or perhaps having his genitals pierced, I was nearly lulled into unconsciousness by the continuous flow of beautiful sausage, delicious bread and spicy grilled onions and peppers flowing too my oh so waiting tummy. I need a nap just thinking about it.
Meanwhile, my wife went to town on a meat calzone that was easily enough to feed us both. The first thing she noticed was that it was cooked completely through. Sometimes people try to make a calzone and in an effort not to burn the outside, the inside is not fully cooked. Not a problem with that here. Inside, the cheesy goodness was all gooey and melted well with the sausage and pepperoni. In fact, as we were leaving, she made it a point to tell the cook that it was the best calzone she has had in San Antonio.
I would like to tell you that we each picked at our food and asked for a large box to bring the left over contents home, perhaps to heat up at a later date and enjoy a second time around. I'd also like to tell you that I can fit into the slacks I wore when I was a senior in high school, but we both know that ain't about to happen. It was simply too good. Remember that guy in the old Alka Seltzer commercial - he couldn't believe he ate the whole thing? Well believe it.
I'm not really impressed with the inside of the restaraunt and I can't say that everything was perfect - but what place is? Get it to go.
The bottomline is, we were extremely pleased with our orders and the service was fast and the vittles were good. That friends warrants a Tasty Treat for Goomba's.
Okay, maybe it was closer to lunch time, but we ordered breakfast none the less.
My wife has been eager to try out this place that opened up at Westpointe on Highway 151 just north of Loop 410 called The Egg & I. Let me tell you right up front, I resisted because I just don't like the name. It just sounds like a goofy name for a restaurant. Perhaps a book, a blog site, or a childrens song, but I just don't see a sign for a place that says "The Egg & I" and suddenly think lunch. But I could be wrong.
Business was brisk - in fact we had to wait close to 20 minutes to be seated, which I did not care for one bit. But you gotta figure that if so many people are willing to wait, it must be worth it, right?
If you are going to have to wait anyway, the folks at E&I smartly placed a coffee bar in the front area so you can get a cup of their excellent coffee, free of charge. What a great idea. Since it was close to noon, my wife was pretty much coffeed out, so the free little cup was just enough for her. I wonder if Chili's would consider dispensing free Dixie cups of beer while you wait for your table?
Once seated, we already knew what we wanted to order (we had about 20 minutes to figure it out) so when the waitress came to get our drink order, we gave her the full meal request. A few things you should know. First, on weekdays, they offer free wireless Wi Fi. Second, they have outdoor seating if you'd care to be roasted in the sun, and third, bring a paper, a book, or perhaps a board game to play, because the wait for our meal was forever.
Honestly. In terms of crowds, Jim's and IHOP handle this amount of people routinely, yet the wait for food doesn't seem to take nearly as long. My wife attributed this to the fact that E&I is more of an upscale, Magnolia Pancake Haus sort of set up. So I think what that equates to is, you won't appreciate your vittles if they come too fast. I reckin'.
My wife ordered up the "Waffle Eggspress", a golden Belgian waffle, two eggs and two strips of bacon. This was pretty good. The bacon was especially tasty (yea, I tried some). My wife would have liked the waffle to be cooked just a tad longer - a little more golden brown if you will, but it was also very good.
I thought the Wisconsin Scramble sounded good. It is three eggs scrambled with a quartet of cheeses: Swiss, Monterey jack, cheddar and cream cheese, then topped with green onions. The eggs come with ranch potatoes, toast and sausage. A few notes: First, the scramble was very good. Who would have thought of cream cheese in your eggs? Good stuff. The potatoes had some sort of ranch taste. I think I would have been happier with the "regular" taste. The sausage was excellent just like the bacon. The toast may have been buttered back in the kitchen, but they don't serve any additional butter with it. Enjoy the Smuckers. To do it again, I think I would have opted for biscuits.
Overall, the food was all good and in spite of the name, they also serve lunch. The Reuben caught my eye, so I'm sure we'll be going back for another try. If you are just interested in getting a quick breakfast, I'm not seeing this as the place to go. But if you've got an hour or so to hang out and wait for your food, be sure to give it a shot.
Mark another off the list...
As my wife and I were making our way back to San Antonio from our afternoon in San Marcos, naturally the topic of eating came up. This happens often when we get in the car.
Anyway, since we were near New Braunfels, she suggested that maybe we should stop into the Clear Springs Restaurant off Hiway 46. Hindsight being 20 - 20...
Anyway, she also had mentioned the fact that she has never been to Pappadeaux. That was about all it took and I made a beeline down I-35 and off of Loop 410 and onto McCullough so we could get some.
My only previous experience with Pappadeaux involved a business meeting, an expense account, lots of steak & shrimp and numerous beers, so even though I would be paying this time, I was sort of happy to return.
The first thing you need to know is that the place is fairly big. The place looks mighty friendly on the outside with great landscaping, covered porch with rocking chairs, and just an inviting atmosphere to it.
Inside, there is a fairly large bar area where you can imagine people staying in nearby hotels routinely use for an after work hang-out.
We sat at a table near the center of all traffic; every person entering the place seemed to walk by us and every member of the waitstaff hung out or got their trays loaded in front of us. Sure, we could have asked for a different table, but I like to watch the excitement.
Pappadeux offers something I really like to see in a restaurant and that is a hustling staff. The people were really moving and maybe it was the time that we visited (around 5PM), but our appetiser and food arrived fast.
With our drinks, we got a loaf of hot & fresh french bread that was nothing short of outstanding. In fact, I could have just stopped there, but my wife wanted some too.
We decided to get the calamari as a starter and it was out in a matter of minutes, very hot (which is required for calamari) and it came with two sauces. One was some sort of cocktail sauce that was out of this world and the other was some sort of creamy, lemony sauce that I can't recall the name of, but it was also good.
My wife ordered the fried shrimp and instead of fries had the steamed broccoli. Dude, look at the size of that broccoli! Once she cut away all the excess undercooked parts, she was good with it. She was also happy with the shrimp, though in fairness, it was basically bland. At a Cajun place? Really.
If I had seen a steak & shrimp combo, I probably would have ordered it, but I just didn't see it on the menu. Instead, I went with the ol' standby and ordered catfish and shrimp. How can you screw that up if your a seafood place, right? Can I just say that they give you entirely too many fries? Of course I can, it's my blog. I mean, is it any wonder why people in San Antonio are so enormously fat?
More importantly, it creates a logistics problem. I don't really care for fries, so they just get in the way. Not to worry, the catfish was hot, but again extremely bland.
I know that the Pappadeaux people will spice up your meal if you want it really hot or they will tone it down if you can't handle the pica, but geeze, this crust was just so without taste that it seemed a shame to cover the nicely cooked catfish beneath it. And the shrimp was not special at all. Look, if we were talking about Long John Silvers, I'd be okay, but in case you hadn't seen the menu, prices for this stuff start at about $20.
It's a shame too. We had great service, it was fast - in fact my wife joked that the meal came faster than a lot of fast food places we have been to - and although it was loud, the place has a nice atmosphere. But when you into a place and spend $60, it should be at least as good as what you can get at Chili's or some place like that for $35.
In a head on comparison, I'll put Clear Springs restaurant and their catfish and their shrimp (and their fries for that matter) up against Pappadeaux any day of the week. And I promise it will cost a lot less.
Fire the cook.
I was pretty sure I had written about Acadiana before, and sure enough, a quick search of the blog revealed that in fact I had. Here, co-workers and I attended lunch but I hadn't driven, so I didn't have my camera, a firm requirement for taking pictures of my vittles.
So anyway, I'll keep this short. One of my colleagues suggested an order of the fried pickles. Before I could whip out Mr. Camera, half the plate was gone, but here you can see a good representation of what the fried pickle is all about. It is a pickle, and it is fried. Add a little Ranch dressing and your high blood pressure will be off the charts. They seemed a tad bit salty this time around, but I simply could not help myself. I have been asked, by the way, if I am pregnant, and I assure you I am not. It only looks that way.
I shan't embarrass anyone and go around the table describing each meal in detail but I will tell you that I enjoyed my standard Acadiana dish. As much as I am open to new things, it would seem I am incapable of going into Acadiana and ordering anything different, even down to the sides. Of course, catfish is always a given when it is made available to me. I am a fan of green beans and at this place, I am down with the red beans and rice.
