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| - I didn't pick this place. The Girlfriend's Aunt picked this place. She picked it because there was a good coupon in the paper for the kinds of foods she likes - seafood, southern food, bit of Cajun influence. As this was her birthday dinner - we didn't argue. Even after looking at their web site. Oh, what you'll do for family...
The parking lot was packed, but the restaurant had only about 5 tables occupied on this Saturday night at 7pm. I meant to check out the bar as it must be the slamin' Mesa hot spot based on all those cars. The Aunt tells me that they were having all you can eat ribs in there from what she heard.
We walk in and immediately the 4 of us under the age of 50 start either giggling or staring in open mouthed wonder. To your immediate left - case of lovely knives for sale. Forward and to your right - some inspirational cards. A few more steps and there are stuffed animals galore for your viewing and purchasing pleasure. To your left as you keep walking are some lovely sparkly mini-purses. View straight ahead and you'll see a shelved display of fairy figurines for sale. (Not until we were walking out did we see the hand painted Jesus or the hand painted Pope John Paul with Mother Theresa figurine. At only $45 bucks it was quite the bargain.) We were tempted to run until we heard The Aunt say, "Oh, this is nice". Reminder - why we are here...
The hostess takes us into the room of our dreams - the one we'd seen on line and actually wanted to sit in for the pure giggle factor. They have a giant tree in the center of the room. Yes, ...yes they do. (See the picture to check it out in all it's glory.) You can sit under the tree's silk leaves and flowers - and even the bird house. We were led to the table in the corner with its own white weave walls. And a gigantic fish on the wall right above The Aunt's head. We couldn't have asked for more.
The menu is varied. There is a wide variety. Their special that night actually inspired her to not use her coupon - Lobster tail, King crab leg and fried shrimp (with a soup or salad, baked potato and veggie) for just $16. Who isn't impressed at that price? I got one of their other specials - Fillet Mignon with shrimp (bacon wrapped, stuffed, fried, or scampi) with all the fixins for just $12. How can you screw that up too badly, right? Someone else branched out to try their frog legs with red beans and rice. None of us were waiting to be impressed, but we were just curious.
During our 20 minute wait for salads and our most likely total 45 minute wait (ordering to plate) time for dinner we did a great job of keeping each other entertained. We're a bit of a lively group. We aren't shocked to be louder than your average table as our group of 5 is filled with loud laughers and generally funny folks. In this place though - it was shocking. No background music. No background noise. In a not too large room we hardly heard anyone else talking. Another waitress (whom we wish we'd had as she was a hoot, and actually stopped by several times to tell us a joke or comment about the good time we were having) joked about how we'd gotten far too quiet (as one does when telling dirty jokes in Mesa) and she was relying on us to put some sound in the place.
And finally to the food. It wasn't good. It wasn't awful. My medium well fillet was super dry well and only about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch thick. A chewy hockey puck. The bacon wrapped shrimp weren't awful - but were far over cooked and dry. I was told the frog's legs weren't bad at all. The red beans and rice had only a theory of spice - but they are most likely well suited to the older Mesa crowd. The Aunt loved her food. This means nothing to most of you - but The Aunt has been in Arizona for a year, and we've taken her to many great spots and they've done nothing for her. This is the first one that she's really, really liked. Really.
Service wasn't great. Wasn't awful, but we really got the slow server. One nice thing - for just $3 they brought out a individual sized cake (about 4 inch round) all frosted up nicely with a candle and we all sang Happy Birthday. They weren't super slick about it so she knew something was going down, and the cake had obviously been made long ago and defrosted (cracks in the side) - but it looked nice to her and that's all that mattered.
If you have high culinary sensibilities - drive on by. It's not your kind of place. If you're looking for a cheap seafood alternative without too much focus on quality - it isn't too bad. If you're looking for a great spot to take pictures for your MySpace profile - it's totally worth it.
2.3 stars from me. But I'm letting The Aunt's interest bump it to a 3 star review. (Happy Birthday!)
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