I decided to be adventurous today in choosing the lunch destination for the boyfriend and me. That meant NO restaurants inside our comfort zone of tried and true destinations in our section of Charlotte. We had driven by the area on numerous occasions but had never given Roscoe's a try. After checking out the menu on their website and being curious about the offerings of homemade crab cakes, Roscoe's got the nod.
Now the location is easy to miss as the restaurant is tucked into the back corner of a strip mall just as you are about to come to the Pineville-Matthews Road intersection with Monroe Road. But I implore you not to be snobby about the location. It is small, with the bar of the restaurant being as large as the dining area, but it is inviting especially if you want a casual meal with big screen TVs on three walls. I think there were 12 tables, with eight of those being two seaters and the rest accommodating four diners each. I could see where this would be a BIG plus if you were dining out during a big game on Saturdays or Sundays. It was a little after 1 pm when we got there. A few folks were inside the bar area so we were the first of the dining crowd and the woman behind the bar, who would also be our server, told us to sit wherever we liked. Though we didn't need it, I saw out of the window patio seating in a small, low walled terrace complete with about six to eight tables with four chairs each, all black wrought iron. I assume it takes on an added role as a compromise to the new indoor smoking ban since it was also easy to get back inside to the bar if needed.
The server was very friendly and the menu had your basic choices of American style food- a mix between some beer food like burgers and pizza, then more casual items like Reuben sandwiches and wraps and entrees such as a crab cake sandwich, pasta entrees and beef stroganoff. They appeared to have a good selection of beers and other alcoholic beverages, but not being drinkers we went for two glasses of sweet tea. I am from the Deep South, so I have been known to determine whether I choose a certain place to eat based upon the quality of their sweet tea. It was good so big check for Roscoe's right there. As I mentioned, the crab cake entree was what caught my attention, but I decided to go a little cheaper since I wasn't completely convinced how homemade the crab cakes would be and ordered the crab cake sandwich. It comes with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce, but I don't like tomatoes and thought that the tartar sauce didn't fit with the crab cakes. A remoulade sauce would have been better we thought, but more on that later. Significant other opted for the grilled tilapia and we both had the homemade chips with a side of ranch for dipping. He got a pub salad- which is a small house salad consisting of spring mix lettuce, cucumbers ( I think it also comes with tomatoes, but he didn't have those) and grated white and yellow American cheeses- as a second side for his entree. I could see the chef in the kitchen from my seat when he would appear at the kitchen window, but he wasn't there during much of the preparation of our meal- a good sign. So we sat back and chatted while we waited to see if I had made a good choice for lunch this Saturday.
The food came out and I was first taken by how good the homemade chips looked. They weren't greasy and they weren't burnt either. My crab sandwich was a nice size and it, thankfully, had Iceburg lettuce on it. Go eat at a chain restaurant that has Billy in it's name and you will see why I was apprehensive about the lettuce selection. I had the choice of having the crab cake fried or grilled and chose fried. It was a very nice shade of golden brown and I could tell by looking at its shape that it wasn't frozen- hallelujah!!!! The tilapia looked pretty good- not frozen either- and came with a side of tartar sauce. Again, we commented that a remoulade sauce would have been a better choice, but we both tasted the tartar sauce and felt badly that it was going to be wasted as it was very good. A few minutes into the meal, the chef came out to our table and asked us how everything was which surprised us both as we couldn't remember when the last time the chef come out and asked us about our food was. I thought that was a very nice touch. It was then that I seized the opportunity to comment on the lack of a remoulade sauce after we both complimented the tartar sauce. He told us that all of their stuff was homemade, including the tartar sauce, but that he would have remoulade sauce for me the next time we came back in to eat. The crab cake was moist and it had a nice flavor to it. The tilapia was nicely grilled and we both agreed that we would order the items again.
Bottom line: Roscoe's is a nice neighborhood place for a good meal that isn't simply reheated in the microwave. The prices are affordable, the mood very laid back. We will be back!