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| - I didn't expect much when we came here for lunch. I mean it wasn't even Three Musketeers, it was just Musketeers. I guess this must just be D'Artagnan flying solo. When we arrived there were two cars trying to get out of their parking lot whilst we were pulling in, and we both commented about how busy they appeared to be when we noticed the number of remaining cars in the lot. We walked up and tugged on the door and it did not give. Almost non-plussed, we walked around the spacious deadlocked entryway and tugged on it's counterpart. It opened. Why they don't open both is totally outside of my understanding.
We tugged on the door to the restaurant/bar proper and walked into the large dining area. It's size was magnified by the fact that it was just one large room. No nooks or crannys or jigs or jags, just one bigassroom. The vaulted ceilings added that much more to the ambiance of barn-dining.
It took a few moments for us to be acknowledged and seated.
A couple of specials were rattled off. One of which sounded like it might be a steak sandwich with fries for about 8 bucks.
That sounded at least as good as anything that had jumped off the menu at me, so let's give it a try.
The lady, who had taken the time to actually peruse the menu, found an interesting wrap, that had hummus, tzatkiki sauce, diced gyro meat, I think diced cukes and maybe lettuce and maybe more, but it was difficult to discern as it was, after all, in a wrap.
It was served with house-made chips which are apparently the go-to accompaniement, fries or whatever typically requiring an uptick in price.
She was in love at first bite!
Rarely effusive, she was so regarding this wrap.
She was less enthusiatic regarding the chips which were borderline overcooked and served at room temperature. Dunno. If you're gonna go to the trouble of making your own chips, serve the damn things hot for gawdsakes! Otherwise the effort is largely for naught!
When the waitress had identified the specials, she had made some comment about a side salad for a buck available with the steak special, and asked again when I gave her my order so I bought!
I was glad I did.
It was totally the product of a caring chef!
EVERYWHERE, the cukes are silver-dollar style slices, that require slicing and dicing on the part of the diner.
Here, they were diced, as were the tomatoes! And the two-types of grated cheese were hand-grated, not the grab-from-a-bag type many places use as they were sans the anti-clumping agent that coats the commercially supplied shreds.
Emily Post, Ann Landers, and Miss Manners, have all espoused that the use of a knife should not be required when consuming a salad.
Hey lookey here... a refined bar-chef!
When my plate arrived, it was a full-blown steak, not a sandwich. Done to order, (medium-rare.)
Prepared for a five-minute battle with the first bite, I was blown away when the flesh yielded easily to the knife. I was automatically suspect of the next bite, but hey it was flavorful, nicely done and totally sinew, tendon, fatback and connective-tissue free! As were all the bites that followed. Indeed there was no tell-tale partially chewed mass, (demurely), left on the plate as is typical of the genre!
The single issue I had with the place was either one very energetic, or several kamikaze biting flies that had laid out our table as their "hood."
If it hadn't been so annoying and frustrating, it would have been comical. The mega-eyed little buggers would give me no solace, alighting on my hair, my ankles, my back and everytime biting with all their little mandibles could muster!
At one point, my hands were a constant flurry of motion, as, determined to thwart the little bastards, I was flailing like a madman with rabies determined to out-last their dogged determination.
Indeed it was annoying enough, that had the waitress been more present than she was, I would have requested boxes, and taken the meal to a nearby park, where there were fewer, or at least less determined bugs!
My advice?
Come here.
Anytime between November and May, so as to avoid being fly-bait during your meal.
There just seems to be something about dining in Richfield that assures you will have unwanted dining companions!
I have, though solved the mystery as to what happened to the other Musketeers!
They all succumbed to deadly fly-bites!
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