I am not surprised by the amount of stars FATZ has but I am surprised and how hard people are slamming it. Is it generic, yes. Is it a chain, yes. is it predictable, yes. Is it bad, no! FATZ is not bad compared to other chains (especially Applebee's which is just an insult to the restaurant industry).
We live within walking distance of FATZ and I wish I could saw I crave them more often but I don't. We go because it's there and we get tired of the Tilted Kilt's (recently) sub-par food.
We go because the first time we went it was nice and Becky and I had a nice quiet dinner. That first time too we ordered the Bloody Mary which came garnished with a shrimp.
Our last visit, over the weekend, was out of boredom and not wanting to drive anywhere. The service was nice and professional as every other time we've been and the food came out within normal expectations.
We ordered the Cajun Firecracker Sticks which were excellent but I wish they were a little crisper. The Onyum sauce goes really well with the appetizer. The portion is huge and we were pretty half-way full by the time the two of us finished this appetizer.
Becky ordered the crab cakes with coleslaw and the house salad. The whole dish was good enough. I had a bite of her crabcake and it tasted like crabcake. The coleslaw was a little bland but you could still detect some nice sweetness.
I had the Calabash chicken with the Greek salad and a loaded baked potato. I like their Calabash breading and the loaded baked potato was good. At this point I was pretty full so I barely even touched my salad which looked and tasted pretty generic.
Here's the biggest gripe, which is really not that big. We go for the Bloody Mary, not because it's the best, but because it's a fond memory of the first time we went and the shrimp used as garnishment is the glue. We both ordered Bloody Marys and they came without a shrimp. That knocked off half a star... If Yelp allowed half stars. But since they don't it didn't affect it much.
And then there's the little bread basket with cinnamon butter. Need I say more?!
We will definitely go back.
P.S. to FATZ: Keep the shrimp in the Bloody Mary.
P.P.S. to FATZ: If you do keep the shrimp in the Bloody Mary, make sure it's cold.