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| - Went here last night for my birthday, and I have to say that I'm more than a little disappointed at the place now. It used to be one of my favourite restaurants ever but I'm dropping it to three stars now (it barely missed out on two).
In order to explain why I have to take you back in time to my very first visit to a Claim Jumper back in 1999 or so. It was in California and I was visiting the US for the first time. There was a two hour wait (which I had NEVER experienced in Oz - who the hell would wait two full HOURS to eat dinner?? #murica, that's who). Back then they had cards with words on them - like "Golden Nugget" or "Prospector's Trail" that they gave you because restaurant pagers hadn't been invented. They would call out "Golden Nugget, party of four" when your table was ready, I suppose so that your privacy wasn't invaded by your name being blasted out over the intercom? Anyway. We all went in and the first thing I noticed were the size of the seats and tables. I was wondering what manner of creatures needed seat benches a full two yards deep, until I saw some of the patrons. Five hundred pound people waddling about, it was straight up like being on that spaceship out of Wall-E. Anyway. Got my meal and it was gigantic! There was even a red apple on the plate as a bonus. I was amazed and delighted at the variety of foods and the portion size.
Fast forward several years to after I'd moved to the US and been living here for a few years. My teammates and I went to this CJ's for lunch one day. I wasn't feeling hungry so I thought I would just order an appetizer, and got the nachos. When everyone's meals were brought out, the nachos plate was singularly the largest thing on the table. At least two pounds of food, and my god was it delicious. I ate and ate until I was stuffed, boxed the rest and STILL had two meals' worth out of the remainder. Best/biggest nachos EVER.
They have an appetizer/side called cheese potatocakes, that are served with this white "herbed salsa" drizzle. They and the nachos were my absolute favourite appetizers of any restaurant. Purely divine. And then the have their prime rib - not spectacularly prepared or anything, just really well cooked and delicious. The prime rib became my favourite prime ever, over and above any steak restaurant I'd ever been to, except perhaps the one from Cattlemens which used to be on 83rd Ave in Peoria.
I didn't go to CJ's super often, because it is a little on the expensive side, but each time I went I enjoyed my meal thoroughly and it was quite a treat no matter the dish or the time of day.
Back to the present now. I went to CJs fully expecting to order my classic favourite, the prime rib. I didn't see it on the menu. And I learned that they don't sell it anymore. Not only don't they serve apples on your plate now, but they don't even have the bowl of apples at the front door that they used to have. They no longer serve the country's best nachos platter anymore. They no longer serve the "I Declair", a giant custard/pastry/whipped cream dessert that was the size of a loaf of bread. They no longer have the goat cheese and beet salad. Their menu has shrunk to about half its size.
The waitress was okay, but just a little clumsy in her delivery. She asked us if we wanted dessert when one of us was actually in the restroom at the time, for example. Nothing real bad but just.. *shrug*
They still have their potatocakes and those were still as delicious as ever. But the bread used to be this darker pumpernickel if I recall, and now they have some sort of cheese loaf. They used to have this amazing texas cheesy toast served as a side. Last night I didn't see that as an option. And my thirty dollar (!!!) one-pound ribeye was NOT worth thirty dollars. Honestly, I can buy a one-pound ribeye myself for eight dollars and pan fry it in some Penzey's spices at home with no drama at all. For thirty bucks I want something that's pretty damn close to Gordon Ramsay quality. This was a good steak, but it was absolutely nothing special. And finally, I got a honey pineapple margarita. It was okay, but tasted very little of honey and nothing whatsoever of pineapple. I should have just got the standard frozen marg.
Actually, we should have just gone somewhere else. I'm dropping the score here not because I got a cockroach in my meal or the flatware was dirty or anything like that. I'm dropping it because of my abject disappointment at returning to a restaurant I once considered among my top five eateries that has completely fallen from its previously-great heights and is now nothing more than an average crapbox place with woefully overinflated prices. The lack of a significant wait for a table on the Saturday night before Mother's Day seems to prove that I'm not alone in this sentiment. Bye CJs. It was real.. once.
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