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| - Long gone are the days where you'd eat peanut shells and throw them onto the floor. They still have the brown paper on the tables with crayons though! Today's Jack Astor's is at a distant from the 'nutty' mess and medicore bar food of yesterday ... or is it? I received a $10 off of $30 coupon to entice me to try their new menu. With a fellow officemate, I headed here for lunch and see if there was anything great on the new menu.
I arrived and this location has the look and feel of a normal sports bar except with dimmer lighting. The restaurant is split into two parts: a fairly big bar area that has over 15 TV screens and a seated dining area that has maybe... 10 smaller screens. All of them are on sports channels so I know their target audience isn't me... that clue was reinforced by the skimpy waitress and hostess outfits that befits the Moxie's chain next to them. I get that attractive waitstaff makes for a better environment but it's November... in Canada... could you not put your waitstaff in more than a pair of black short shorts and slightly see through black t-shirts?
We arrived shortly after 12 pm and left less than 50 minutes later... so this restaurant is completely appropriate for a business lunch if you're wanting casual bar food. The menu is definitely bigger and more diverse than before. Pad Thai, fajitas, pizzas, stir fries, and entree salads join the usual deep fried bar foods that I remember. Poutines and steaks are now added to the menu pages as well. I order a Smiling Buddha salad and my friend orders a burger with a diet coke. The wait staff here is smiling and they're pleasant. Orders are taken quickly and our particular waitress is very accomodating with my dairy restrictions and tweaks the salad.
Both lunch entrees arrive within 10 minutes of ordering and they're decent sized. Compared to other restaurants (like Union Social), the fries portion is definitely smaller and they're not as crispy or well salted. My salad isn't bad but it's not as good as Sprouts or Union Social either. The chicken breast is real chicken but you can tell it has that slightly processed watered texture. It's not completely gummy but it has that pre-frozen texture. The quinoa, dried cranberries, apricots, apples, and pears are all good. Nothing is overly dried or old. It's all nicely soft textured and taste like real food. Apples are sweet, strawberries taste like strawberries instead of white bland fruit, and pears have a nice crisp texture. The greens are all fresh too.. nothing wilted here. My only complaint would be the chicken breast.. not great. As for the burger, I got an 'ok but not great' mention from my friend. He took out the huge chunk of onion they put in it. I'm not joking when I say there was a 1/4 inch full slab of onion... not an onion ring but the entire slab of onion. As for service, it was pleasant and quick but it gets a bit downgraded as they forgot to refill my friend's diet coke after being asked.
Lunch came out to over $30 before the coupon... is it worth the $30 ++? I say no. Union Social and Sprouts are far better options and tastier as well at a lower (or similar price). That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to coming here for a group lunch as it has decent selection and quick and pleasant service... provided someone else is paying!
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