I had lunch at this offshoot of Tony Roma's on Monday. I had fried chicken with mashed potatoes for $8. The chicken was a breast/wing section and was double fried. I'm not sure if they set out to do that way, but, it was crisp. I question their intent because it seemed like this may have been a case of refrying yesterday's yard bird over doing twice within the hour. I cite this concern over the dryness of the meat. That aside, the portion was nice and the quality of the bird seemed good. It wasn't a juiced out Franken-bird or a caustic Creature From the Brine Lagoon. The crunchy skin had a nice hint of agave syrup. The potatoes were real. Chunks in the mash. The texture was glue like and the flavor was a bit off. They were obviously overworked and I think the cream in the recipe went bad. It had a sour taste that I can't blame on the chicken gravy. Once again, I hope this isn't evidence of using stale ingredients or failing to discard unsold meals. The dish also came with some barely pickled pickles.
The menu is small. It is one of those three column menus that "finer" dining gastro pubs adore. The dinner menu is pretty similar to the lunch. It has some chops and steaks. The prices on both are good. The steaks get a little expensive, but, the rest of the menu only reaches the teens. I do have a problem with a $3 soda. Think of the injustice of being charged $3 for half a cent of chemicals when some idiot raised a chicken and grew potatoes and another idiot picked and packed them so another idiot could ship them to another idiot that distributed them to another idiot to cook them (to a genius who ate them). A 3 to 8 ratio hardly seems fair.
The decor is nice. It (like the rest of the place) is straight out of the "emulation" playbook and charged with exuding warmth. You are greeted by a fake fireplace behind the hostess stand. A show case of their best wines on your left. The room is wood on wood. Fake wood floor tiles and wood around the walls. The chairs and tables are wood. Different tones of wood. They have a bar area for the sports guys (filled with Scotch, etc) and a chef's table "bar" for the food nerds (although you pretty much just see salads getting tossed (unprison wise). The room has different eye levels. Booths then high tops then tables then more booths. The room has flow and privacy at the same time. They even have a little, curtained off private room. They have patio dining with a fountain view. They accent the place to seem "artisinal". Things like herbs in pots with their names hand written on them and the de rigeur iron chandelier with old timey, factory bulbs. It's almost too perfect. A kind of Stepford restaurant. Although, I didn't see the original (movie) and barely paid attention to the Matthew Broderick/Nicole Kidman one, so, I'm not sure if that is a good analogy.
Here's another bad one. The longer I stayed there, the more Coughlin's assessment of young Flanagan's bar concept in Cocktail ran through my head - "So, you are going to bring the corner bar to every suburban shopping mall in America. Complete with it's own surly bartender and local drunk". There is nothing wrong with this place. It just may be too perfect. Too de-constructed and re-constructed. I do have an antipathy towards commoditization. I guess because I can't then say mine is better. I have to acknowledge though, that the people who are deploying these restaurants (ie Firebids) are getting damn close to imitating the real thing. An accomplishment that the first gen like Chili's, Applebee's and even Tony Roma's, fail to do. I once had an argument over chocolate chip cookies with some nitwits. I said that I thought a machine should potion out the exact same amount of chips in each cookie. They liked the idea of chance. Now putting aside the reality that these "extra chip expecting positivists" would bitch until the end of days if they got shorted a single chip, I think I am guilty of the same logic here. I'm consistently inconsistent. I should like the reliable, repeatable experiences. I guess I just don't appreciate that they try and trick you into thinking they are a one off (ie putting owners and chefs names on the menu). However, I understand why they do it.
So, that is a long way to go for you to hear that it was a good value. It could be a nice switch from the cafe like Coop (similar menu). It's next to the Miller's Ale House (in the fail column) on 17-92 and Lee Rd. It has been open for two months. Service was good. They make everyone dress in unis. It seats about a hundred. Parking is no problem. Just get the food right next time.
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