Adult Night Out

I am having a pretty hard time figuring out how to rate this restaurant. As my husband put it…”it was neh.” The inside of the restaurant was well decorated, well lit and perky. The noise level was terrible due to the all wood interior. The waitress had us memorize a number so she could keep the check orders correct. I had the Garlic Bread for an appetizer. It was better than average but it was a very small portion. I tried one of my donkey wings and just didn’t like them. I must say that the wing tasted like ass. No pun intended. It was hot with no dominate flavor. I had the white pizza with diced tomatoes, chicken, mushrooms and 2 cheeses. Again, it was average with no defining tastes. At the beginning of our ordering of the food, I ordered an expensive martini which only arrived after I asked for it again after 45 minutes. I might have e njoyed the food better if I would have had my drink! The staff was charming and the company was good! (The company is always good!) This place is just no match for my favorite Winking Lizard or even my second favorite BW3’s. There was nothing in particular that would draw me back into the restaurant. For the price, I have had much better meals elsewhere!

NYR - Not yet Reviewed
1 - poor, 2 - fair, 3 - average, 4 - good, 5 - excellent

Food:3

Decor:2

Service: 2

Cost:2

Overall: 2.5

First of all I have to say that I really don’t like the traditional sweet and sticky BBQ. I didn’t have very high hopes for this place because of my personal preferences. The restaurant was set up like a fast rood restaurant and it had the aire of the usual family dining. I had the Kansas City which consisted of 4 ribs and chicken. My two sides were Brunswick Stew and succotash. The food was GREAT! The meat can stand alone as far as taste. Their grilling technique. is the best tasting that I have ever had. The stew and succotash was phenominal. I did end up using their Screaming Beaver sauce. It was pretty spicy but had a lot of flavor. It is very unusal for me to not have leftovers….I practically licked my plate. (Don’t tell my Mom!)This place was so great that I decided to use their catering services for my sisters wedding reception!

NYR - Not yet Reviewed
1 - poor, 2 - fair, 3 - average, 4 - good, 5 - excellent

Food:4.5

Decor:4

Service: 4

Cost:4

Overall: 4.1

The first impression that I had was that the tables were really small. We had a party of seven and it seemed like we had to take turns moving our arms. We had a good waitress but there were several times that the service just seemed to lag. The restaurant was pretty full. A big problem arose when the table ordered 3 steak meals and we were informed that they only had two to cook for us. I had the lobster bisque soup. It was good but it was cold in the middle. I cannot remember the exact name of the chicken dish that I had. It was a grilled chicken breast in a white cream sauce with capers over the top of mashed potatoes. It was okay. I think I make better chicken at home. My scoring is: Decor: 4

Food Service: 2

Cost:3

Food:2 Overall: 2.75 for other reviews go to www.adultnightout.org

Scoring:
NYR - Not yet Reviewed
1 - poor, 2 - fair, 3 - average, 4 - good, 5 - excellent

Food:2.5

Decor:3

Service: 2.5

Cost:2.5

Overall: 2.5

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When we first arrived, it was easy to see that the place was busy. They boast having 30 screens to watch various sports events on - so yeah. We expected it to be busy. I was told by the passing waitress that until the game was over, they couldn’t seat such a large group (of 10).

As I was about to call Amy and inform her that there was only 3 minutes on the clock, which means the game had just started - the manager came by and said that it was our lucky night. A group was leaving and they had a table for us. Within 5 more minutes we were seated.  The decor was interesting, sporting the trademark rooster everywhere along with quirky signs that read things like “God must love stupid people, he made so many” and “Help keep our streets clean, wipe your feet before you leave”.  The wood was all nice and polished and the ceilings were vaulted. Nice to look at but very bad for sound. It was loud. We don’t like loud.

The waitress, one of many who served us, asked us to remember an assigned number so that she would remember what check to put our orders on.  I’m sorry but a good waitress can remember what her tables order. You don’t say “hey, you’re number one and you guys are number two, remember that so I get it right”. We also had to ask her for things she forgot a number of times. It took almost 45 minutes for Amy to get her martini.

The food. Being a place that advertises they are “the place for wings”, I was seriously disappointed. The appetizers were very small for the price and the wing selection was limited to nine sauces that all pretty much were the same with varying degrees of hot. I had mac & cheese bites - which cost as much as Dan’s large burger.  I also had the BBQ and Mild wings and a BBQ burger. The mild - was plain. There was little flavor and little spice. The BBQ sauce was, well, generic. The burger was large but just like any burger I can get anywhere in Belden Village.  We sampled most of the wing sauces and the ones that were “hot” were all heat and no flavor. Very sad. $55 for two soft drinks, 35 wings, two very small appetizers and one burger. Meh.

Needless to say we ended up back at the Lizard later for dessert and more wings and drinks. Would I go back? Probably not, nor would I suggest it as a place to go on the spur of the moment. If I were with people who were going, sure, I’ll return but not on my own.

Scoring:
NYR - Not yet Reviewed
1 - poor, 2 - fair, 3 - average, 4 - good, 5 - excellent

Food:4

Decor:2

Service: 2.5

Cost: 3

Overall: 3.5

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Going in, I expected it to be like all the other places we’ve been. You arrive, are seated by a hostess, look at the menu and order.  It was more like, you go in - the menu is on the wall, you order at the counter, get a numbered ticket and find a place to sit. You get your own drink and plastic utensils. Very much like a fast food place. There’s a roll of paper towels at every table.  I think a lot of people who haven’t been there will have the same surprised “ooooh kay” reaction that I did.

The food however, is not like fast food. Not by a long shot. I ordered a full rack of ribs with a baked potato and green beans. They have five sauces to choose from and I sampled two but didn’t do more than dip a few times. It wasn’t that the sauces were bad, they were very good - it was just that the dry rub on the ribs was that much better. The meat practically melted off the bones.  Just the way BBQ should be. It’s no wonder they won awards at the Ribs Burn-Off this year.

There’s not much to be said about the service because there wasn’t any beyond the preparation of the food and taking our order. I will say it didn’t take more than 15 minutes for our food to be done.

The cost for what we got was good as well. We were full when we left and for our group - that’s saying something! I would certainly go back and recommend this place to others. I’d like to go in for lunch some time as well.