Fountain City Grille

302 N. Main
DeSoto, Mo.
On the Web.

The Place:
This place is easily among our favorites. We've been there several times, never been disappointed. It has a lovely Main Street location and on the inside it is just the right size. Large enough, but still cozy and intimate. It has a black and white motif, throughout.  The walls are decorated with large framed photos, also black and white, of some of the old fountains in the Fountain City, DeSoto, Mo.
We were shown to a table near the front window, a four top. The menus looked new and different. Colorful, pretty, laminated pages easily navigated. We were asked about drinks by Josh, a charming and friendly young man. Tea, sweet tea and coke. Angel asked for two appetizers, the fish tacos (3) and the toasted ravioli, once again because St. Louis.
Lots of things looked good, heck, nearly everything did. Sandwiches, burgers, steaks, pastas and seafood. No salmon tonight though. Josh had apologized for being out of that. I threw down my napkin and threatened to leave.
The place was half or more full, families friends, all seeming to be enjoying themselves.
The tea was delivered, we asked for a few more minutes.
The Food:
I flip-flopped between three or four things as did everyone else. Finally we tabled our menus.
Me: A Trio of Minis. Three sliders based on the 'Fountain City Burger, and a side of fries.
Angel: Deep Sea Fish Sandwich and fries.
Adam: Three different chicken sliders, called Tre Pollos Locos.  Also a side of fries.
I wasn't really looking for a burger, the fish sandwich sounded heavy, so the sliders were a lighter alternative.

We ordered. Our appetizers arrived fairly soon after that. The tacos looked pretty good. I decided to try one. We'd been looking for a decent fish taco. The fish was breaded and fried dark. It was mixed into a bed of cabbage in slaw form, with a cilantro sauce. There were small tomato chunks as well. Angel mentioned not seeing cabbage in a fish taco before. I knew this was not necessarily a problem, since we both love slaw and have it at home fairly often. The tortilla was very soft, baby buttocks soft. It stretched and wrapped around the ingredients superbly.
I bit in and concentrated. Yeah, this was quite possibly the best fish taco I'd ever had. Granted I haven't had that many, but of all those we've tried, this had easily just shot to number one. The slaw was sweet and sour, like a good coleslaw, very fresh and the extra crunch was appreciated. Lettuce can get lost in a taco, hardly noticeable. This didn't hide behind the other ingredients, it harmonized with it, added perfectly wonderful new notes. Angel was equally impressed. Throughout the evening she repeated that she could have had those tacos, some fries and called it a night.

After a brief, but tasty few moments, the entrees arrived.
The sliders were encased in a roll that appeared a bit larger than needed. The beef, etc. didn't quite reach any of the edges. If I'd ordered a full size burger that wasn't as wide as the bun, I think I'd be a little irritated. I don't know the exact rules for sliders though. The fries were thick, but not crispy. They were well cooked, just a bit on the limp side. More of a home fry than a thin, crispy fry that you get from fast food places.
I squished my first slider and bit into it, getting mostly bun. It wasn't bad, but the thickness and mouthful of bread pretty much obscured the innards. I finally took the top off and set it aside, I finished two of the three sliders like that. Adam even said about his chicken sliders: "The buns were wrong."  The rolls/buns were quite good, fresh, tasty, but simply too much for a tablespoon of beef.

Angel loved her fish sandwich. It was the same fish that was in the taco. Breaded and fried a deep, crispy brown. As she was telling me
this I noticed her fries. She had drizzled it over the taters in a haphazard, lacy pattern, Jackson Pollock style. I'm a dipper myself. Pour a puddle off to one side then  treat each fry individually, never too much, never too little. It amazes me that we've stayed together so long with such chasm-like differences of core philosophy.
That's pretty much all I can say about the meal. the tastes were very good. However the taco nearly ruined that. The sliders were okay, but that fish taco had simply stolen the show.
When Chef Tremayne stopped by, which is just something he does, Angel mentioned to him that the tacos should be an entree rather than an appetizer. He let out a deep baritone laugh, as that is also just something he does. I like the man. I've met very few chefs as attentive, respectful  and proud of his work as Chef Tremayne.
Summary:
If you go there for nothing else, go for those fish tacos. Yes, they were that good. Not that the other options at Fountain City are bad, not at all. Yeah, the buns were too thick, that's easily fixed by not ordering sliders. The fries, well, not my favorite style, but they were fresh and fully cooked. I've had lots of different things at FCG,  steaks, pasta, burgers, etc. and can recommend it all. The chef is talented and meticulous, the wait staff is friendly and competent, Josh did a smashing job.
But definitely do try those fish tacos!

Cafe Arnold

3946 Jeffco Blvd
Arnold, Mo.
On Facebook

There was an article in the county weekly paper that said that Cafe Arnold was reopening this week with new ownership. We'd not been there under the previous ownership, so we thought we'd give the new owners a fresh perspective. I know, I've told you countless times that I don't like going to Arnold, too busy, wind-y roads, traffic lights, lots and lots of traffic. I looked this address up though and found out it was on the southern edge of Arnold, out of the way of all that mess.

The Place:

In a shopping center that also holds a Chinese restaurant, a nutrition store, and across the parking lot, a McDonalds. Sort of hard to see from the road, the sign is large, but it is sort of hidden amongst several others.
We went in and were immediately greeted by two or three staff members at the reception counter. They asked whether we wanted bar side or dining side. Dining. They led us to a booth in the back.
The place was dimly lit, dark carpets, dark wainscoting and subdued wall colors. This was not slapped together cheaply, it looked substantial and like it had been around for a while. Not grimy, at all, just lived in.
In the dining area there were seven flat screen TV's all muted and showing basketball. Some sort of tournament of some kind, I think I saw a NCAAP logo or something like that. No one was watching it though, not  even in the bar area. A box was playing music, 90's stuff, Angel said that back in the day it would have been called 'Alternative'. As she was saying this I was trying to wrap my head around the notion of the 90's being 'back in the day'.  It was loud enough to hear the lyrics, but not enough to drown out conversation. Plus, I kind of liked most of it. Beck, Cake, etc.
Amanda, a young, friendly and energetic pony-tailed girl (lady) introduced herself, handed out menus and asked about drinks. Tea, Diet Coke (no ice) and root beer. "We serve root beer in a bottle, is that okay?" She asked Adam. Of course it was okay.
Amanda listed off a couple of specials, neither of which appealed to me, I'd done some research ahead of time and knew pretty much what I wanted.
Angel asked for the toasted ravioli as an appetizer. We're sort of comparing them with other places apparently, since everyone offers them.
The Food:
The menu was several pages, but not too complicated. It was mostly (more later), well arranged. I glanced over it knowing that the on-line menu I had seen, I think from the previous ownership, would be different than the new one in front of me.
On the online menu I had seen a 'slider' plate. Four mini sandwiches, barbecue pork, ground sirloin, chicken, etc. I looked on the 'Sandwiches' page on my menu, couldn't find them. Well, I knew there would be changes. Hey, a BLT!
Sounded pretty good. I love BLT's. Unfortunately it is very hard to review a restaurant based on that. Bacon, lettuce tomato, mayo, bread. The problem is that the restaurant adds no flavors to this, nor is much technique involved. Some places use thick bacon, some thin, a lot of bacon, or just a little, but it is really hard to screw up a BLT.(though it has been done)
Angel leaned over to me and asked if I was going to get the sliders as I had said I would. "I didn't see them." I told her. She shoved her menu in front of me, the 'sides' page I believe it was. There they were. Hmm, odd. Whatever, sounds good. Three kinds, mix or match.
Amanda brought our drinks, the tea looked dark and clear, always a good sign. It wasn't strong on flavor, but definitely better than most places serve up We'll call it a +3 or +4.
We'd all  made up our minds, Angel surprised me.
"Fish Tacos." She said, adding some some sick side dish of cauliflower and broccoli (blech!).
I couldn't recall Angel ever ordering fish tacos, ever. I knew I hadn't, this seems to be a rather recent offering, at least to the places we frequent. I've heard lots of people talk about them for quite a while, it just was never something I craved. Loyal fans will recall that I am pretty picky about fish, just see last week's O'Charley's review. I have several specific preferences for fish and 'taco' has just never appealed to me. No, I have never tried one. If you think this is finally, absolute proof that I am closed-minded, you haven't been reading this journal very long. I know I am, I've never tried to hide that fact. So yes indeed, like every child ever created, I can dislike something just fine without ever having tried it.
Adam ordered the sliders as well, one of each, pork, beef, chicken. I asked for two pork, one beef, we both asked for fries with that.

Amanda had also brought the ravioli along with three saucers and a big pile of paper napkins.  The marinara looked thick and chunky, almost salsa-like. I dipped one, turned it ninety degrees and dipped it again, a method I invented to avoid the need for double-dipping a two bite treat. The sauce was indeed flavorful. The pasta was thick-filled, the filling was pretty good, meaty and cheesy. The pasta itself was a little doughy, but overall I liked it. Angel and Adam disagreed about it, Angel liking it, Adam, less so.   I'll call it a draw. Not the best in every way, but better than some, not as good as others. Mostly, the sauce was the best component.
Amanda took off, we all pulled out our electronic devices. This is something we do, because we live in the 21st century. We finished off the ravioli rather quickly, Amanda stopped by and interrupted our e-stares. "Can I take that away for you?" she asked, pointing to the empty dish.
"Can't you see we're busy?" I scolded. Fortunately she laughed, as Angel thrust her elbow into my side.
The place was starting to fill up, I mean, really fill up. I looked up and saw that all the tables were occupied. I overheard a waitress explaining to some other diners some of the 'different' menu choices, meaning these were people that were regulars during the previous ownership.
Angel looked up as well. "Oh, my. I guess 'dining side' also means senior citizen side." I looked around. Sure enough of the twenty or more tables, we were nearly the youngest group there.
"I think that has more to do with the time of day than anything else." I told her. We do eat out early, starting around five P.M. further perpetuating stereotype that older people eat dinner earlier than youngsters. We do it, not because we're old, it's because of the rigid dog schedule. The dogs dine at 4:30, and while they are sleeping off their meal, we sneak out.

Soon enough the plates arrived. My eyes popped open when I saw Angel's. There were four, count 'em four big thick tacos, served on a metal taco rack. (yes, there apparently is such a thing)
In comparison our sliders and fries looked quite small. Not too small, for my appetite, just about right. In fact I had been pleased that there were only three, not four sliders. The portion of fries was also, pleasantly smaller than expected.
I opened up my sliders. I was a little disappointed. There was not enough pork to cover the small, toasted buns. The same with the beef. It was thick, like made from a ball of beef then flattened a little, but it too was

smaller than the small bun. You can see this in the picture.
However, the taste of both kinds of slider was very, very good. the toasted buns were excellent as well. I just wish they'd filled the buns a little more.
Angel asked Adam about his fries.
"Look!" he said, holding one up horizontally. This was in reference to last week's O'Charley's meal, where the fries were limp. These were able to support their own weight, crisp, as fries should be. Adam really, really didn't like O'Charley's. "Boring and manufactured" He had exclaimed at the time. This reference came up again a couple of times during this meal. "It tastes like they actually made it here." He said of his sliders, instead of the 'manufactured' O'Charley's food.
Angel tore off a juicy chunk of one of her tacos and handed it to me. I tried it.
It was awesome.
Yeah, I mean it, Awesome!  The tortilla was cloud-soft, the fish, and there was plenty of it, was flaky, tender, and delicious. It was perfectly cooked. The sauce and veggies were delightful as well.
Angel pointed out that the fish wasn't breaded and deep fried. "I've seen some of these that looked like fried frozen fish sticks broken up." I had to admit that I had always assumed that's what it was supposed to be. But this, this was something I would actually order. This was something I could look forward to. So yes, Cafe Arnold has changed my life!
However, as I had secretly predicted, Angel could not finish even the third taco, much less the fourth. So she asked Amanda for a box.
Summary:

Warning: I'm going to go a little long here.
  If you are in a hurry, suffice it to say, for the most part, we loved it. Definitely an A+ for a first week opening.
The bill came in at a very respectable forty six dollars and change. Almost exactly what we paid for a very sub-par meal at O'Charley's the week before.
Since Cafe Arnold is a place we'd never been to, and since it is under new ownership, I'm going to treat Cafe Arnold like a brand new place. I do not know about the history, whatever it was or was not before, to me, is moot.
Loyal fans to this site, yes there are a couple, will know that I tend to give new places a little latitude. I understand that there's a new menu, new staff, new policies and procedures. It also means that we'll visit again in a few weeks/months to see how many of those start-up 'infractions' have been worked through.
Firstly though, the tastes were great. The pork and beef sliders and the fish tacos were simply quite tasty. The service, Amanda especially, was excellent. Well, the service was great throughout the meal.... the end of it, not so much. The wait for the bill and the wait for the receipt were way too long. But like I said, I understand new staff, policies and procedures. The place was very well staffed. I saw at least a dozen staff members just from my vantage point. None were standing around or idle. They all seemed to know what they were doing.
Coverage in the dining area seemed a bit light. Part of the delay at the end was because Amanda was covering a couple of, at least, larger groups. I watched as she patiently explained menu items, etc. to various diners. She was doing her job and doing it quite well. Perhaps spread a little thin though.
Our perspective of her was excellent. She knew the menu, answered our questions, cleared our table, refilled the drinks, all without a problem. I suggest she be given an enormous raise, she was working very, very hard and was not getting noticeably flustered.
The food, as I said, was quite tasty indeed. There were a couple of issues though that could be fairly easily corrected, in my opinion.
1. Fill up the sliders. The meat is not that expensive, the buns are small. The slider plate cost as much as the enormous fish taco plate. There was plenty of meat in those.
2. The menu was a little confusing about the sliders:
"Fresh mini toasted hamburger buns with your choice of cheese, lettuce . . . pickle and French Fries."
I recommend re-writing that part. It sounded to me like the fries were considered a topping instead of a side.
Maybe the sliders are considered a side or an appetizer, I suppose that's possible, but maybe they should be also offered as a 'sandwich' option. That's where I was looking for them, maybe, that's just me. They tasted great though.
3. Enormous taco plate. I'm curious, maybe it's just us, but how many tacos get 'boxed'? That sure was a lot of food. They were very, very good. Angel reheated the fourth one on Sunday afternoon, she said it was still really good.
4. You might likely disagree, but here's another thing I'd really, really like to see. From my seat I could see six of the seven TV's. The only one I couldn't see clearly was the one directly over my head. Could you please, please tune one or two of them to something other than sports?
I understand that sports is/are quite popular. But nobody in the senior citizen's, er, I mean, dining side of the restaurant even looked up at the games very often. I heard no one talking about them. Maybe things were different amongst the younger, hipper, bar side of the house. I understand there are eight TV's in there, but on our side, no one was particularly interested in the games. We probably would be if the Cards were in the pennant race, sure, but Texas vs. Michigan basketball (or whoever it was)? Not so much. How about HGTV, or the Weather Channel, or whatever that channel is that runs those 'How It's Made' marathons on weekends. Have you  ever watched that? The other day I got trapped in my recliner watching them assemble diesel locomotives, followed by a detailed accounting of  producing bronze cabinet door handles. It's simply mesmerizing.
Anyway, I'll  understand if you don't, but I sure would like it if somebody offered alternative options like that.
5. I mentioned this earlier. The meal service was fine, excellent in fact, but the staff seemed to be deployed a little lopsided. I'm pretty sure this will clear up as things become more familiar, but excessive waiting for the bill/receipt can be frustrating.
We really, really liked the food. "Better than expected" is what Angel said, then added "I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was better than that."
Well, I warned you that this would run long. I'm trying to be constructive though, not harsh and pointlessly critical. If we didn't like the place, we wouldn't bother with so much detail.
Good job, new owners, good job!

Quiznos

12676 Lamplighter Square
Saint Louis, MO 63128

http://www.quiznos.com

The Place:

We had decided to try Quiznos nearly a full week ahead of time. We saw a commercial and the ensuing conversation revealed that none of us had ever tried it, or if we had, we had no recollection of it. Odd perhaps, as Quiznos are relatively ubiquitous (4000 U.S. locations), but not so much in Jefferson County.

We’d all previewed the menu and had a good idea of what to order. The main difference between Subway and Quiznos is the default style. A sandwich at Quiznos is toasted unless you specifically ask for it to not be.

This one is located in Concord, one of the hundreds of St. Louis suburbs, and one I drive through each workday since it straddles highway 21 (Tesson Ferry)  near St. Anthony’s Hospital. It’s in a shopping center that also hosts a dozen or so shops that I have no use for.

It takes about twenty to twenty five minutes to get there from our rural compound as opposed to the fifteen to twenty minutes it takes to get to Festus where most of our reviewed eateries reside.

We entered and were immediately greeted by a woman who seemed to be having a good day. It only took her a moment to qualify us.

“You never been here before?” She asked.

“No we haven’t”

This pleased her, she pointed out the mounted menus, told us what was new, and added that we should take our time and feel free to ask questions. I was already set, Angel shifted from what she’d thought she was going to get, Adam stood by quietly.

The Food:

BLT Sliders for me, French Dip (5 inch) for Angel, and a Mesquite Chicken (8 inch) for Adam. We each grabbed a bag of chips and that was it. I asked to see the size of the sliders, the lady showed me the rolls and I said I’d need two of them. “That’s the way the order comes.” She replied.

Angel settled up as I checked out the reasonable and sane drink dispenser and well appointed and neat condiment bar. Adam handed me a cup and I went straight for the unsweetened tea. It poured clear and warm, immediately melting the shallow pile of ice I’d put in the cup. I sipped it and was quite pleased. It had body, flavor and seemed fresh.

We sat and sipped for a couple of minutes. More customers passed through, most opting for to-go.

The lady engaged us a few more times, asking where we were from. “Oh, Jefferson County!” She exclaimed as if I’d said ‘Uzbekistan’. Concord is only about three miles from the Meramec River, the river that separates St. Louis County from Jefferson.

It was not long at all before our sandwiches were ready. One thing was immediately obvious, we’d be snacking later. The sandwiches were smaller than we’d imagined but not necessarily in a bad way. It was the bread that was smaller.

BLT Sliders

Subway is pretty good and we have one in Hillsboro. That’s right, Hillsboro has a Subway, a McDonalds, a Taco Bell , Hardees and Dairy Queen, but it has no public Library. That’s a problem I’m trying to help resolve by serving on the campaign committee to establish a branch of the Jefferson County Library. (subtle eh?)

Anyway, Subway to me is pretty good, and I’m certainly not unhappy when instead of cooking a meal, as a good wife should, that Angel just brings home a sub for me. I have always found them to be a bit too bready though. I like the bread, there’s just so much of it that I usually strip the stuff from inside out and leave some bread behind.

French Dip

Quiznos does not have this problem. The bread is not only more reasonably proportioned, it’s quite good and it is toasted by default. Even the slider rolls were crunchy on the outside.

The bacon was all broken up in my sliders, a nice touch. Some BLT’s put entire whole strips in their sandwiches, which often leads to dragging out an entire strip in one bite. The blend of tomato, lettuce and mayo was just right. You don’t have to put a lot of bacon on a BLT. Bacon is so strong and distinct it is often just as satisfying to have a little, spread around evenly, than try to compensate with quantity. I shy away from places that brag about how much bacon they put on sandwiches and burgers, Those places just don’t know how to treat bacon properly.

Mesquite Chicken

“That indeed is toasty.” Adam declared spontaneously. Which is probably the longest spontaneous comment Adam has made in the three years we've been doing these things. (yes, three years and over 150 reviews!)

This prompted Angel to make an assessment as well about her French dip, served with steamy au jus. “Everything’s better with au jus.”

Adam responded as if on cue: “Bless you.” (get it? ‘au jus’ sounds like achoo!). This is always funny.

I was thoroughly enjoying my sliders and chips. Adam finished his sandwich rather quickly and shared his ‘Sun Chips’ with his mother. They discussed them for a moment while I ignored the irrelevant conversation. I’m rather a purist about chips, plain, ruffled and barbecue. Civilization would be just fine without all the others. I have tried many others, I just don’t see the need. Like Ice cream, I ‘m not impressed with ‘103 flavors!’ since I can do quite well with the three original flavors that God created; vanilla, chocolate and chocolate swirl. All else is just gilding the lily.

As we were eating, a pair of women strolled in. They seemed familiar to the staff. One was older than the other but both were dressed in very tight jeans and boots, with form featuring tops and the younger one sported multi-hued hair and a furry, shaggy purse. The older one had long blonde hair, too long for a woman her age. I immediately knew what was up.

“Mother daughter prostitute team.” I whispered to Angel and Adam.

Angel immediately objected to my assessment of the pair. “They are not prostitutes!” She scolded. I dismissed this since she never accepts that any of the women I point to as being prostitutes are actually that. She simply doesn't know what one looks like so her defense of them is meaningless. I've pointed out literally hundreds of prostitutes, and to a one, she’s denied it every time.

“They just look like they went to Nordstrom’s. She countered, as if that would mean something to me. “I don’t know what a Nordsorm is, but I don’t see it as being relevant. I've been to Korea so I know what a prostitute looks like.” I countered, clearly winning the argument. A few moments after the women left, an SUV drove by the window, inside were the 'ladies'.

“Prostitutes don’t drive Mercedes SUV’s.” she said, pathetically trying to save face.

“The good ones do.” I flattened her, game, set, match.

We wadded up our wrappers and tidied up our table. The lady in charge came up to us, thanking us for about the fifth time. “We have chili.” She said. She was very good at reading people. Our reaction to that made her smile. “It’s very good, would you like to try some?”

“YES!!” I whispered.

She stepped behind the counter and dipped some into a little plastic cup, handing it to us along with two spoons. She’d read our collective reactions well enough to notice Adam didn't seem interested.

It was very hot, and once it cooled, very good. Meaty, with large red kidney beans, which Angel pointed out since she knows I’m a big fan of the big red beans. I tasted it. Multiple flavors, rich, brothy, and just a bit spicy. Angel and I shared it all the way to the bottom. Then we both sniffled. Just that much had cleared our sinuses which had been reacting to some sort of vile airborne spores all day.

“We could get some to go.” Angel suggested. I declined. Not because it wasn't good, it was very good. It’s just that the previous night I’d made a small batch of chili and ate too much and it had stayed with me too long, well past bedtime. I’ll certainly go back for more sometime.

Summary:

They're pretty generous with coupons!
Free Sub (with purchase of another)

Very, very good, very, very satisfying. The very reasonable tab came in under twenty five dollars.

The bread was exceptional and was deemed better than subway because of its proportionality. The ingredients all seemed fresh, the service was beyond good.

The lady engaged us several times, but with genuine enthusiasm, not salesman-like at all. She seemed proud of the place and its offerings, and quite happy to be at her post. Even the young man in back carving the meat was friendly and casual.

The food was great, the tea was fresh and excellent, the entire experience was without flaw. Sure it’s a sandwich shop and not some fancy sit-down Italian restaurant, but it was by all measure great for what it was.

I wish there was one closer to home, though I now know since I pass right by it every work day, that I can stop in and get good service, really good food, for not much money. I like Subway just fine, but Quiznos is just better.

Ruby Tuesday

1120 Shapiro Dr.
Festus, MO

www.rubytuesday.com

This option pretty much chose itself. We’d been to Ruby’s a couple of times during the quest, but it had been awhile. It probably wouldn’t have been the choice had it not been for an email I received from the chain. “25% off your entire food purchase.” It said. That’s hard to pass up. I gave Ruby’s my (alternate) email address a few years back. I feel no conflict about this I’m not asking for any advantage at any restaurant that isn’t also offered to the public at large. Some places send out deals like this from time to time. I don’t always accept the offer, but it’s available to everyone.

The Place:

Above I-55, just below Lowes and the Waffle House. It had changed on the inside. Gone were all the sports-related knick-knacks, sleds, jerseys, oars, hockey sticks. The walls were painted a muted neutral color and a few, and only a few generic art prints were scattered about. The Large TV’s were limited to the area around the bar and muted. The background music was soft, and forgettable. The place was still dark, even with the large shaded lamps hanging from the ceiling. So dark that I immediately realized that any attempt at photographing the food with my flimsy phone would prove to be a disappointment. I could take my good camera, but in this place that would still require me to use a flash, and I don’t imagine those around me would appreciate that.

The wait staff was still ninja-like, black pants and shirts, though a couple of the young ladies had hems of bright red peeking out from beneath their overshirts. Our hostess reminded me a great deal of the Actress Stana Katic, who plays Kate Beckett on the TV series “Castle”. She  had those same slightly exotic Balkan features that are not Hollywood-template-pretty, more eastern-European pretty. (Katic’s parents, Serbian father and Croat mother immigrated to Canada and later Illinois, from Yugoslavia.) I do not know if our hostess was of similar lineage, I thought it would be rude to ask. I did note that the hostess carried more meat on her bones than Katic does. The actress can’t weigh more than seventy five pounds dripping wet and if you ask me is way TOO skinny, unattractively so.

We were seated in a distant booth pretty quickly though the place was filling up fast. Among the patrons were a dozen or so young ladies in prom-style dresses. Evening or party dresses I guess, I was not aware of a homecoming or prom in the area, though there was obviously something like that going on. I watched as small clutches of them would venture to the restroom together. Why girls want company in restrooms is of course, a complete mystery to me. When I go to a restroom I really am not about to do anything I wish to share with even my closest friends.

We read through our menus though I’d previewed it online earlier and was all but decided. We asked for drinks, tea, sweet tea and Coke.

The Food:

Ruby’s best feature is its salad bar. I’ve spoken of this before and it bears repeating. It is far and above the best salad bar I’ve come across anywhere. Well stocked, well managed, diverse and fresh. I knew this going in and planned accordingly. It’s very easy to overdo the salad and not have room for a big steak and potato meal. So I ordered from the salad/meal combination section. ‘Mini’s and Garden Bar’. Angel ordered form the same section, obviously aping my cleverness. Her choice was the Lobster Mac and Cheese & Garden Bar.  Adam, continuing and completing the aping ordered the Mini’s and Garden Bar as well. We were directed to the salad bar and Angel already had her plate half-filled before the various papers and napkins stopped fluttering in her wake. She loves this salad bar.

Three kinds of lettuce, spinach, peppers, onions mushrooms, cheeses, peas, bacon bits, potato salad, fruit salad, on and on and on. At least ten different dressings, I like to mix them up. A little blue cheese, some Thousand Island, a drizzle of Italian. . .

My little plate was packed, but I was okay with that knowing that the follow up, the little burgers, would still fit into my gullet quite nicely. Returning to the table we sat our plates down and began the pseudo-vegetarian carnage. The drinks had arrived, the tea was actually quite good. Ruby’s is kind of hit and miss on the tea, it was a good night though. And the biscuits. Ruby Tuesday’s luscious cheesy biscuits. Those little delights and a big sloppy salad are enough for a meal in themselves, All-you-can-eat, yummy goodness.

The arrival, a bit premature, of the main courses was almost a non-event. Adam and I were given our small plates with two sliders, a small dose of fries and a small tin bowl of ketchup each. Angel’s mac and cheese was cheesy, steamy, drippy served in a small, half-inch tall rectangular stoneware bowl. Chunks of lobster were prevalent. I almost hated pushing my awesome salad aside, but I was hankering for some meat.

The sliders were about the size and shape of White Castle’s but were a bit meatier and didn’t have whatever WC puts in theirs to make them both insanely addictive and violently diarrhetic at the same time. The tiny burgers were cooked medium well, no small feat as the patties were quite small. There was ketchup and a pickle on the top side, and the bottom of the small bun was coated with mayonnaise. Why mayonnaise? I have no idea. I think it’s a Canadian thing.

“Where do you get such small buns?” Adam asked, staring at his slider.

“Treadmill, lots of time on a treadmill.” I answered, adding: "and better DNA"

Angel oohed and ahhed over her chunky cheesy dish. “Lots of lobster.” She said with strings of melted cheese hanging from her chin.

As we slowed down for the final stretch the topic of haircuts came up, as I was going to get one the next day.

“I just grab a pair of scissors and head to the bathroom and start chopping off the parts I don’t like.” She boasted.

“I have to have mine done by professionals to maintain a professional appearance.”

“Are you saying I don’t look professional?” She accused.

“You’re a dog trainer, the frontier look works just fine for your profession.”

Oddly enough Angel took exception to this innocent and flattering comment. I spent the next few minutes trying to get her to understand that it was a compliment. She remained stubbornly unconvinced. I tried to steer the conversation to neutral ground by bringing up the Super Bowl. This didn’t work well since none of us are the least bit interested in football, we couldn’t even agree on who would be playing in it. Finally we started discussing evening entertainment and decided to stop at Blockbuster after our meal. Bullet dodged.

Summary:

All good. Ruby’s has disappointed us before, and yet they have been quite exceptional at many other times. This was a good night indeed. The coup de gras of course was that not only did we have a 25% off coupon, we, for once, actually remembered to bring it with us. Thus this great and satisfying meal only cost us about thirty five dollars. Sure we didn’t have big steaks or appetizers, but the meal was excellent.  The portions were intelligently chosen to accentuate the place’s strong suit, the salad bar. The main courses were small yet satisfying. Adam even mentioned that the fries were among his favorite. Angel’s dish over time seemed very rich, but since the portion was small, it was great. I found no fault in the food or the service and the price? Wow!

Highly recommended, but read the menu ahead of time and for the love of all that may or may not be holy or even just coincidental, get a coupon!