| rev:text
| - We just returned from the restaurant tonight. First off, I'm giving this 5 stars because the food was wonderful (and really, that's 95% of what you should be rating a restaurant on) and the service staff was incredibly attentive but not annoyingly so that it interrupted your experience. I do have some suggestions that I'll get to in a second - but first, the food!
The meal started with a free appetizer of biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were wonderful and not overly floured or dense - they were quite airy for a biscuit and tasted homemade. The gravy was also delicious - it was not gloopy/lumpy and didn't get that "film" that appears when it's been sitting around too long - i.e. it was fresh. there were bits of sausage in it as well that really added a nice dose of the south (I hope they are some day able to expand to offering breakfast with biscuits and gravy this good.)
My wife and I both dined tonight, she had meatloaf with fried cabbage and green beans and I had fried chicken (paid the $1 extra to get the white meat) with macaroni and greens. We're both from Florida and miss this food dearly as it's certainly in short supply out here. The chicken pieces were quite large, had a wonderful batter, and the meat was not dry at all. My wife is incredibly picky about meatloaf but absolutely loved it. It's much chunkier than meatloaf you'll find at most restaurants but that's simply because they don't overdo the bread crumbs in the recipe. I will say that I would actually order the meat loaf myself (and I generally do NOT like meat loaf at all because it always has too much bread added to the mix).
The sides are really the star of the show here, my greens were sensational, they weren't of the "canned spinach" consistency that some places fall victim to - nor were they undercooked. They were juuuuust right! My wife was not overly fond of the green beans but I on the other hand loved them as that had that faintly sweet and smoky taste and included bits of onion to compliment the beans. We were similarly divisive (albeit in reversed roles) with the fried cabbage as she loved it but it just wasn't for me - different tastes is all that boiled down to, there was nothing wrong with it, and again, the wife loved it and would get it again in a heart beat. Oh, and last but not least, the macaroni and cheese, if they ever get around to catering, we both agreed that we could see ourselves ordering a tray of this magical blend of pasta and cheese. It's been a long time since either of us have had macaroni and cheese that is done that well. The menu states that it's a 5 cheese blend - I can only say it was utterly and insanely delicious. It did taste oven baked but at the same time the pasta wasn't complete mush like what happens. Regardless of how it was made, just wonderful all around.
We did end our meal by sharing a banana pudding and I do believe the wife would have eaten the entire thing by herself had I stepped away for even a minute or two. One thing you'll notice right off the bat if you order it is that the pudding isn't the dyed yellow pudding you see in stores. it's the real-deal with vanilla wafers that aren't stale and mush. It was the perfect compliment to a wonderful meal. I believe they serve it in the jar it comes in so they don't have patrons licking the surface clean. I'm eager to try the sweet potato pie next time (the wife is looking forward to peach cobbler).
Now, that I've had a chance to go over the food I wanted to mention a few other things that I've seen some folks point out on here. First off, please, please, PLEASE, pay attention to the hours the dining room is open before you come out here hoping to dine-in as this is a restaurant you should want to see thriving in Surprise (otherwise known as the land of chain restaurants). They have limited dining room hours and do take-out only for a good chunk of the day. For instance today they were open from 11a-4pm for take-out only and then 4p-8p for dine-in. We had actually come by for lunch earlier and had to leave since it wasn't open for dining yet.
Another suggestion I would have (if any of the restaurant staff happens to read this) is that you add a menu option that maybe offers 4 sides as your meal (yes, your sides are that amazing). I know there is the option to order individual sides, but much like the reduced price you get by ordering a "meal" that includes the two sides I think you could do fairly well adding a menu option that gives you your choice of 4 sides for maybe $12.
Finally, towards the end of our meal the owner came out and walked around and greeted everybody except for us lol (we were sitting on the backside of a large 6 top and she just got distracted by the interaction with that table - no offense taken!). But had she stopped by our table I would have gladly given a hug back (she certainly gives them out) for the wonderful food you've brought to our very own backyard. We'll be back!
|
![[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)