I was in Ohio this week for my grandmother's 90th birthday. So, no consipracy, but some random food notes:
Other than that, I had some pretty good pizza from a local (to Macedonia) pizza place that I didn't get the name of, and a good breakfast at another local place I've forgotten the name of. (Cheryl and Allan, can you fill in the blanks?) Also, the Arabica chain of coffee houses is pretty good.
Tips of the proverbial SDC Hatlo hat to: the people at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Goodyear World of Rubber, and the Cleveland Police Department museum. Huge, giant, enormous tips of the hat along with a deep bow in their general direction to Terrance and Jonathan, and to Cheryl and Allan for being gracious hosts while I was up there.
There was a time.
When I first went to Florida Seafood Grill, the plantain chips were nice and crisp, with a good dipping sauce. This time, they were limp and tasted stale. They used to have excellent shrimp and conch fritters: last time the menu changed, they became shrimp fritters only. When I tried the fritters, they tasted burnt.
Good bread (if you get it: the waitstaff doesn't offer it consistantly, and I dislike having to ask), okay salad (they do have a nice spinach salad available). As for the main dishes, the crab cakes seem to be mostly real crab, not a lot of filler: I've found, however, that they often have shell fragments in them, and the fries that come with the meals aren't terribly good.
The sad thing is that FSG is another venture from the Truluck's folks. You can get a better meal there for not much more money. You can get a better meal, cheaper, at any Rockfish location. The only advantages FSG has are being near Border's, and a slightly nicer men's room than Rockfish or Razoo's. FSG is like...well, like a few teeth are stripped from one of the gears in the mechanism.
Florida Seafood Grill was a real mixed bag.
First off, those wicker ceiling fans are starting to be as a big a chain restaurant cliche as the BMTCRSC. And the fact that yet another restaurant didn't have Diet Coke or Diet Dr Pepper annoyed me. Once we got to the food, things improved.
Though a touch overpriced, the cup of gumbo I had was actually pretty good, zesty, flavorful, and with adequate amounts of meat; though a notch or two below Yoli's and JC's, but it was still a very credible effort. Likewise, the sourdough bread they served up gratis was very good, served up hot right out of the oven, easily as good as that they used to serve at the Spaghetti Warehouse (they could still, for all I know; I haven't been there in over a decade; in fact, I may not have eaten at the Austin location since Reagan was President...). My salad was quite good as well. The calimari was decent, but nothing to write home about. The long-cut plantain chips were a big disappointment, easily the worst plantain chips I've ever had, flat and flavorless without the dipping sauce. Somebody in the front office was smoking banana peels when they came up with this recipe; they should be yanked off the menu, post-haste.
My crab and steak medallion was also a disappointment; the crab didn't seem particularly fresh (I suspect it had been frozen twice), the drawn butter seemed to be missing something (namely salt and garlic), and the steak medallion, while good, was pretty small; too small for the price. Plus the fries were pretty limp and flavorless. Red Lobster (any location) blows this place away for crab and steak combos.
Finally, the fried banana tortilla ala-mode dessert I had was very well executed. Not among the top ten desserts I've ever had in Austin, but still a credible work.
Florida Seafood Grill seems to be wildly inconsistent. Depending on what you order, you could get a really excellent meal, or an overpriced, thoroughly mediocre one. I wouldn't rule out a return visit, but except for location and parking, there's no reason to choose this over Pappadeux.
Somebody wrote the SDC a while back and asked what TexMex places I did like. Well, there's Enchiladas Y Mas, there's Antonio's, and then there's this place. I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, because Abuelo's appears to be a (non-local) chain, but yeah, I dig it.
Why? Well, they have good service, without hovering. I like the papas con chile (sort of mashed potatos with peppers) a lot, much better than I do the Spanish rice most places serve. (Rice is also available as an option, by the way.)
I'd only ever had lunch here with my co-workers, so I was somewhat shocked when the waiter brought out my Grande platter; the damn thing was not only hotter than a $2 pistol on Saturday night, but it was also the size of Rhode Island. Seriously, I've seen whole turkeys served on smaller plates than this. Of course, size doesn't matter if the food sucks, and Abuelo's turns out pretty tasty enchiladas and tamales.
I do believe this is the best TexMex I've found south of the river so far.
As far as TexMex chain restaurants go, I rather like it.
Though I'm not as keen an observer of restaurant ambiance as many critics, I did rather like the decorating scheme, which emphasizes big murals of Mexican life; sort of like Diego Rivera without all that annoying Communism.
One of the biggest points Abuello's has in it's favor is the portion size. The plate of nachos they brought out seemed like a pretty decent deal for the price. I liked the steak on my combination plate, which seemed well-cooked and large enough, but the enchiladas on the side were nothing special. However, what impressed me the most was the size of Dwight's Grande platter; I've seen smaller serving platters. And I have no complaints at all about my cheesecake.
Service was attentive, with the sole exception of forgetting to bring out my salad. Since they didn't try to charge me for it either, I'm willing to let it slide.
All in all this was quite a pleasant dining experience, and this strikes me as a better choice for Mexican food in the area than Tia's TexMex, Las Palomas, or the local Serrano's.
I have nothing to say, other than that this wasn't the fiasco I had feared.
Has success spoiled the Salt Lick? I was quite miffed to call for
reservations
on Thursday night to find out that:
After all the above, I was fearing the trip was going to be a barbecue debacle (and I'd just like to pause for a moment and note that "Barbecue Debacle" would be a good name for a rock band). However, once we got there after being traffic-control directed by phalanx of sheriffs (how big does a restaurant have to get before they have to hire people for parking and crowd control?), and despite the large party, we were seated almost immediately. And, glory of glories, they actually have Diet Dr Pepper on tap.
And then the BBQ arrived and all was forgiven. The sauce is still head and shoulders above any other offering, the brisket and ribs are still among the best in Texas, and the sausage is still strangely mediocre. And the price ($13.95 for the all-you-can-eat family style) is a downright bargain.
Here's a reverse spin on the old Jedi mind trick: "This is the barbecue you're looking for."
You'd get the impression this is more of a tea house/pearl drink place. Not that there's anything wrong with that; you just wouldn't think of going here looking for real food. Oddly, though, I thought Coco's actually had some pretty impressive dishes.
In particular, their rendition of the scallion pancake is quite good: I would actually give it just a slight nod over Pao's (which, for me, is saying a lot). They also do a pretty good shrimp dish with black pepper, which reminds me a lot of the very good salt and pepper shrimp at T & S Seafood.
As for the pearl drinks, I'm not sure I'd order one again, but they weren't bad. Thumbs up from me as a quick lunch or dinner spot.
Let's face it, the food is pretty much an afterthought here. Dwight' scallion pancake was nice, but my roasted pork dish, while cheap and packed with plenty of rice, was pretty undistinguished.
The star here are the "Pearl Drinks," slurpie/slushie-type ice beverages with strange little balls of Tapioca floating in them. (Remember, Tapioca isn't pudding, it's magical pudding. It's actually better than it sounds, but drinking two after a hard bike ride may have not been a great idea, as I soon suffered from a bit of "brain freeze."
I can see why people like this place, but it's really more of a hangout for 20-somthing Asian-American girls, and I doubt I'll be coming back anytime soon. (And Atkins dieters can just go ahead and cross this off the list entirely.)
See the logs for June of 2004.