| rev:text
| - J & L Grill has a bit of a ways to go to get things running smoothly. The space is very modern and comfortable, and they have outdoor seating as well. Location is great, right on Carson Street with convenient parking garage access in the Southside Works. We were seated promptly, and that's where things slowed down. It took quite a bit of time for the waiter to take our drink orders, so much so that we had ample time to peruse the menu offerings, chat, and then consider leaving as we realized this might not fit into our lunch hour.
The waiter came over to take our orders. I opted for the cold cucumber soup ($4) and a homemade veggie burger ($10). I was disappointed to hear that for that price, the veggie burger did not come with anything else, just the burger. We decided to order sweet potato fries ($3) for the table.
Shortly after, the waiter returned to tell us that the soup of the day had changed. It was now tomato bisque. I decided to take the soup off my order, as it was about a hundred degrees outside, and I wasn't in the mood for hot soup. Not a minute later, the chef came to our table to tell us he could accommodate the original soup order. Not sure what that was all about.
The soup arrived to the table. It was perfect for a hot summer day, refreshing and tasty. But then, things slowed down again. It took another 15 mins after we finished for the rest of the food to arrive. The sweet potato fries were soggy, and didn't hold up to dipping them in ketchup. The veggie burger seemed similar to a falafel consistency, however it was overcooked and blackened on one side. It was supposed to come with lettuce, onion, tomato and avocado. In actuality, there was a pile of spring mix, and a small amount of avocado paste; no tomato, no onion. The roll had been toasted to the point of being way too hard. In addition to having to ask for the proper toppings, we had to ask repeatedly for refills on our drinks.
Midway through picking apart the food for the edible parts, one of the owners came out to talk to us. We were happy to engage her in polite conversation about our experience, as this location is near our office and we were hopeful that it would be a new lunch option, particularly for clients and visitors. She offered to remake the veggie burger. At that point, having looked around at other tables' food, I declined. She did not make an offer to discount the bill (not that it is expected, but would have been a nice gesture considering most of the food was untouched and clearly inedible). We mentioned that the price seemed really high for the burgers and sandwiches to not come with a side. Her reply was that the sandwiches are really large. My sandwich certainly wasn't large, and looking around, the burgers weren't either. We also mentioned that we thought the lunch should fit within the hour, as we were going on an hour and 15 mins for cold soup and a simple grilled veggie burger. She said that they are more set up for a dinner service but within the year, they are looking to add a faster lunch option.
She also let us know about their happy hour, which is $2 domestic bottles and 25 cent wings.
After she thanked us for the feedback, we finished up. We had to ask for the check, and wait quite awhile for them to return to pick up our payment. (Which came to a startling $50 for 3 people for a lunch of sandwiches and soup, and one plate of fries). From the time we came in the door, to the time we left, the total visit was an hour and a half.
My takeaway: With several well known chains known for quality and value right nearby, and many popular independent restaurant options along busy Carson Street, the J & L Grill is going to need to do something to stand out from the competition. Cheap wings and beer will get patrons in the door, but the menu is too overpriced to stay for anything else.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)