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| - I dined here with a friend of mine this week, and I must say I'm a big 'ol fan of AZ 88; this place has a very cool, chic ambiance that I wasn't expecting. The decor, too, was very intriguing (and I think changes occasionally?) - there was a deconstructed taxi cab suspended from the ceiling (which surprisingly I didn't notice until I had sat down and was surveying the restaurant - it's not as overhwhelming a piece of art as you might assume), and the wall behind the bar is entirely populated with license plate numbers of NY cabs, which was unusual but like I said - intriguing.
It's a seat-yourself kind of place, and the service wasn't terrible - our waiter was oddly expressive the entire time - almost like he was acting. It was bizarre. But whatever; no complaints otherwise.
I ordered the Key Lime Martini for starters (on my never-ending quest to find a Key Lime [Pie] Martini to beat the one at Magnolia in L.A.), and it was delicious...because it was missing the "pie" part of the martini that I love, it didn't top the charts, but it had great flavor and wasn't overpoweringly alcoholic.
My friend and I went with the dipping fries as our appetizer, which were waffle fries (WAFFLE FRIES!!) with three dipping sauces (hence the name): a remoulade, a spicy chili ketchup and a Buffalo bleu cheese. All of them were great, but my fav was definitely the spicy chili ketchup...I'm a true ketchup lover, so this spin on an old favorite was something I could appreciate. The waffle fries were - sorry to say - NOT as good as Chick-Fil-A's (oh come on...you know they're good), but my friend and I enjoyed them nonetheless.
For my entree, I ordered the Burger Au Poivre, mostly because I'm obsessed with peppercorns. This thing was covered with peppercorns and sautéed in a burgundy sauce with minced red onion...OMG YUM. I added to this a bit of that spicy chili ketchup and was seriously in burger heaven. It was so juicy and warm...I'm salivating just thinking about it. Another yelper talked about a drippy sandwich that they had here, and based on my experience, it seems like drippy sandwiches are basically AZ 88's thing. And ya know what, it works for them, it really does.
This is one place I'd definitely go back...I feel like there's just so much I still want to try! And best of all, AZ 88 won't break the bank.
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