Longhorn

For a rehearsal dinner this past weekend, we had Longhorn (the one downtown, not on decker).  Ive been to Longhorn a bunch for lunch and dinner and usually don’t have a bad experience.  This time was no different. I had part of a Rocky Top Chicken and part of the Renegade sirloin. Both were excellent, full of flavor, and cooked just right.  It came with a salad and some fries.  The service, even for our larger party, was excellent. The atmosphere is pretty standard for a chain steakhouse.  Overall I think Longhorn is a great choice for an above average steak at a chain steakhouse for a reasonable price. Ratings:

Entree = B+

Sides = B

Service = A

Price = B+

Quality = B+

Overall = B+

The Kingsman

Last week, Lee and I visited another burger joint on the list.  The Kingsman in cayce (online review here). The Kingsman is famous for its Ribeye, in fact I think it just won another award in the Free Times for the Ribeye. Anyway, we enjoyed the environment in the past, so we decided to check out the burgers.

Lee ordered the cheeseburger all the way (- pickles), fries, sweet tea.  I followed that up with a bacon cheddar burger with onion rings and a diet coke.  The burger here was pretty good.  Could have been a little thicker, but even with the small burger it didnt get lost in all of the toppings.  I thought the cheddar added a unique and tasty twist to my burger.  The onion rings were average.  I think becuase I saw the guy throw them in the fryer from a frozen bag hurt (I know most onion rings are frozen but seeing it just lost something for me). They needed to be cooked a little longer as well.  The fries were crisp and hot, but the striaght from the bag variety. Lee reported that the tea wasnt great and this trip I didnt tempt fate with a desert.

The atmosphere has a good diner feel.  They have a bar top right in front of the griddle right as you walk in the door.  They also have a sit down section in the back of the restaurant.  Of course we picked the bar top and got to watch some MMA on the tv as the cook prepared our meal.  Service was good and friendly.  We did get to talk to some of the wait staff and the cook about the restaurant and our previous experiences with the place which was a plus.  Overall a good burger with a good atmosphere, could improve on the sides, but a good place to stop for that community dive feel. Ratings:

Burger = B

Onion Rings = C

Fries = B

Atmosphere = B+

Overall = B

Sub Station II

Yesterday for lunch, the guys from work went to Sub Station II on Decker Blvd up by the office.  I recently had my first experience here, and I have become a pretty big fan.

I ordered the #9 which is the ham, cappicolla, cheese on wheat with no oil and just about everything else.  I like the fact that the meat is cut fresh here which definitely gives it a deli feel.  The bread is straight out of the bag which I like and dislike.  On the one hand its not very original, on the other it makes me feel like its a sandwich that I made.  The sandwich has good flavor, very Italian, and all of the ingredients are fresh.  I have had the carrot cake here too and it is really good.  The price is right, the menu has a lot of choices, and the food is good.  Overall, a sandwich shop that is growing on me. Ratings:

Sandwich = B

Quality(bread brings this down) = B-

Menu = B+

Price = A-

Overall = B

Cracker Barrel

This past weekend, some guys from church got together and shot each other with paintballs.  It was awesome.  Afterwords we went to the Cracker Barrel to enjoy some good food.  Cracker barrel used to be a place where I loaded up on some fried goodness and breakfast, not to mention all the biscuits I could eat.  Recently, I have discovered that they have good salads (I know, its ridiculous) and some healthy meat and veg options. Considering that I had just seated out about 7 punds of water playing paintball, I was not in the mood to eat everything in sight.

I orderd the grilled chicken tenders with some green beans and mac & cheese.  The chicken was a small portion but was cooked right with a good marinate on them.  Green beans were awesome, cooked down southern style with some onions and some meat(probably bacon or other pork fat) cooked in them.  Mac & cheese was creamy, cheesey, and not over done.  And then there was the biscuits.  I only had one, again it was hot, but amazing as always.  I am convinced that I could go to cracker barrel and get nothing but bicuits and be just fine, they are that good.

The atmosphere here is always good with the old country feel and a store that can amuse me for a while before Im seated.  The service this particular trip was slow.  We showed up on the tail end of the lunch shift an dI have a feeling that our waitress was on her way out, really the only not bright spot on the trip.

Overall, cracker barrel is great with a lot of variety depending on what hankering you have at the time.  Im a huge fan of their breakfast which I will have to rate later on.  For a meat and three, cracker barrel is good, but not great.  It doesnt quite have the right feel, where everything is fried in the same grease and it is a little on the expensive side. Ratings based on meat and three:

Meat & Three = B

Atmosphere = B

Service = C+

Price = C+

Quality (this includes biscuits) = A

Overall = B

Mellow Mushroom

Last night, Lee and I went to a favorite pizza place called Mellow Mushroom.  I personally have been going to the various Shrooms since college and really enjoy a pie or a calzone.  We decided to split a chicken/tomato pie with pesto as the base instead of marinara.  They used to have a pizza like this on the menu with more toppings but I personaly like this better.  The pie was amazing and dare I say, one of if not my favorite pizza. I love pesto.

The prices are reasonable to high, with the atamosphere being pretty laid back and relaxed.  It is the “Mellow” Mushroom and you cant be in a hurry when you come.  Even though I know this I feel like they could do a better job with service.  I realize it will take a while to get my pie, but it shouldnt take 5-10 minutes to get a greeting and a drink.

If Im not in a hurry, definitely one of my favorite places to get a unique pizza. Ratings:

Pizza = A

Atmosphere = B+

Price = B

Service = C

Menu/Quality = A-

Overall = A-

Milano’s

Today was bring your own lunch day at the office, so we went to Milano’s.  We dont stick to our own rules very well.  Milano’s is an italian pizza place in a strip mall on two notch.  We had thought about tryin the place out for awhile now because it is right beside a Dunkin Donuts.

We decided not to try to pizza today, a little heavy in our week of supposively being good.  We each ordered sandwiches, I ordered the Itailano Supreme and Jason ordered the Turkey.  I was impressed with the sandwich, really good flavor , the bread was baked warm and crisp but soft and chewy on the inside. The sandwiches came with fries and we topped it off with a diet coke.

The atmosphere was similar to other small italian/greek places with good music and nice decorations.  I was really impressed with the menu/portions/and MOST pricing (drinks = $2).  They had a small but good selection of lunch specials that are really cheap.  The service was not very good as there was only one lady that was competent enough to multi task her way through the lunch crowd.  I watched the other server drop a drink on a customer and it took almost an hour just to finish off  some sandwiches, which if you know me, is a long time.  Overal, a great lunch destination for somone who has a lot of time and wants a variety of good food at good pricing.  Im sure this place will get better reviews when we try the pizza:

Sandwich = B

Atmosphere = B+

Service = D

Menu = A

Price = B

Overall = B-

Groucho’s

Today, lunch was at grouchos.  I did something there that I never do which is order a “low-fat” sandwich.  I know, doesnt make sense, but I have to be in some weddings coming up so Im acting like a woman and watching what I eat.  It was the low fat chicken critter.  The sandwich had good flavor, had some pretzels wtih it, portions were small but that is what the sandwich is going for.  The 95 sauce for the lowfat sandwich is not very good.  Some spicy mustard, sweet thing that was a little too overpowering.

I normally get the STP with the 45 sauce which is amazing, so I guess my judgement will be based on both.  The atmospher is a nice deli environment, and the service was good and very quick.

Overall Grouchos is a great place to go to get a good sandwich quick.  The restaurant doesnt feel like a chain which is nice.  My biggest complaint is the price.  Not enough sandwich for the money. Ratings based on both sandwiches:

Sandwich = A-

Quality = B

Environment = B+

Price = C

Overall = B+

Firehouse

The guys at work went to Firehouse on Sparkleberry today for lunch.  I ordered what I always order, the medium hero on wheat, no mayo, no mustard combo.  It was amazing as always.  Firehouse is slowly becoming my favorite “chain” sandwich destination, and I personally think it blows the doors off of Subway.  All of the sandwiches are served warm with fresh bread.  I absolutely love the captain sorensen’s sauce.  The only complaint about this particular restaurant is the chip selection is not as vast but it has doritos, which is all I need.

The overall atmosphere of the place is nice, fairly small, with two tv’s that are both on espn which is a plus.  The price is pushing the higher end of the other sandwich places in town, but for the food, I believe its worth it. Ratings:

Sandwich = A

Quality = A-

Price = B

Atmosphere/Time = B+

Overall = A-

What-A-Buger

Today, Lee and I hit up another burger joint, What-A-Burger. We actually were headed to a diner, but they were closed due to the 4th. The good news was that we found some interesting places in the West Columbia/Cayce area that will be tried and reviewed soon.

The food. I went with the typical bacon cheese burger all the way with some onion rings and a diet coke, which is kind of funny. The burger was good but not great. This burger was definitely different than the rest of the burgers I have sampled. It had good flavor but was dry and thin. I felt like the meat got overwhelmed a little bit by the toppings. The onion rings were amazing, right crunch, great flavor, still had a light batter. The fries were cooked perfectly and were of the crinkle-cut variety, which is a plus. Tea was average and the strawberry shake to finish it off was not very good.

The overall atmosphere of the place was pretty “diner”. I thought they could have done a little more with some local flavor on the walls but overall nice dive feel. The only thing holding What-A-Burger back is the burger, which happens to be the main point, but overall a place that was worth it and will have to be visited again. As for the ratings:

Burger = C+

Onion Rings = A-

Fires = A-

Tea = C+

Atmosphere = B

Overall = B

Bonefish

I must admit before I offer you my thoughts that I’m not a huge seafood fan. I normally limit myself to grilled/baked whitefish and some sides, but last night was the stunningman’s birthday and that is where he wanted to go.

Someone in our group, the beloved Kim Neely, recommended the pork tenderloin to me, so that is what I went for. Great taste, great tenderness, great sides. I also tried the famous bang bang shrimp which had a nice kick and a great flavor. The only reason the food didn’t contend for a higher mark was that the tilapia was a little fishy. I thought the menu was not very expansive, I’m thinking they went for a few things that they could do well, which they do but, I would like to see more choices. The service was good but a little slow, and I realize that we were toward the end of the dinner crowd and were not in a hurry, but the response times could have been quicker. Atmosphere was nice, but laid back. Some of the food items are overpriced and some are a good deal. Just because you use a nice plate and present your food, doesn’t mean you can charge 19 bucks for grouper. Overall, a really good experience with good friends. Ratings:

Food = B+

Atmosphere = B+

Service = B-

Menu = B-

Price = C+

Overall = B+