Marcs BBQ Grilled Chicken Take Out

Marc's Grocery Store in Boardman, Ohio is my usual place to stock up on Coke Zero. Marc's runs some deep discount deals on pop every so often and that's when i stock up.

The other day after loading my cart with Coke Zero, I spied in the cold section some packaged grilled chicken breasts with BBQ sauce. The cost was $3.09 for the package. Feeling saucy, I decided to try a pack.

After loading the Coke zero in the basement I fired up the microwave and warmed that chicken BBQ up. I wasn't expecting much, (It was cheap, in a plastic container, and it was from Marc's) but I was hungry. The portion was generous with the cost at just over three bucks. I cut a small piece off and tasted it.

WOW! I was impressed. The chicken breast was juicy, tender, with no fat. The BBQ sauce was tangy and flavorful and complimented the chicken perfectly. It tasted really good. Not just plastic wrap take out from a grocery store good, but from a respected BBQ restaurant specializing in BBQ chicken good. Shocking! I rate this BBQ right up there with the Outback, Calhouns, and Texas Roadhouse. Yes, it was that good. And it was cheap.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Marc's Grocery Store BBQ Grilled Chicken take out for dinner.

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Smoky Bones Restaurant - BBQ Combo

Smoky Bones is located on South Avenue, a very busy highway in Boardman, Ohio. Today, we decided to stop driving by and instead pulled into the parking lot.

We were seated quickly as it was not very busy and our waitress came over to take our drink order. We ordered diet Cokes. She returned with our drinks and took our dinner order.

I ordered the pretzels as an appetizer as they looked intriguing. Fifteen minutes later, the pretzels arrived at our table. I asked the waitress for plates, napkins, and utensils to eat the pretzels. After asking three times, I never received them.

As I stated earlier, it wasn’t crowded leaving no excuse for lousy service which we were receiving. It took our waitress 30 minutes after she delivered our pretzel appetizer to deliver our dinner.

Triple Combo Platter

Finally, our dinner was served. I ordered the triple combo and selected BBQ pulled pork, BBQ chicken strips, and BBQ grilled chicken. A baked potato and garlic bread completed the dinner.

Inspecting the plate, I noticed the pulled pork was not the BBQ variety. Nor was the chicken strips and the grilled chicken. Luckily our waitress returned with refills on our diet Cokes. I informed her I ordered BBQ and she said for me to use the tubes of BBQ sauce kept on the table. I then noticed she had given us iced tea instead of diet Cokes.

I once again sternly asked for napkins and at least a fork to eat my dinner. I also pointed out that we ordered diet Cokes and not iced tea. She said she would be right back with them. Instead of waiting, I got up and found an empty table and took the napkins and utensils and returned to our table. Our waitress never did bring us any.

I also noticed in our thirty minute wait patrons that came in after us and serviced by another waitress were served their dinners before us. There were four other tables served before us.

Side Note: As we were eating, the table behind us had a problem with their bill and it took the waitress (Our waitress) several trips to the cashier to remedy the problem.

Still want to read the critique?

OK, the baked potato was cold, seriously, it was cold. Not hot, not warm, but cold. It was not baked all through and the center was hard. Score for the potato, zero.

The pulled pork was maybe warm, tasted OK but was bland as Hell. I was afraid to use any of the sauces our waitress directed to use on the table. Some of the tubes were oozing several foul-smelling odors and the sauce was dried and chunky on the tubes. Score, zero.

The fries were also cold. See the trend here? I really think our waitress forgot about our order. I hate cold fries. Score, zero.

The chicken was adequate at best, and could have been better if hot, at least warm.

Our waitress should be fired.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 0 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommends Smoky Bones for dinner.

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C Staples - BBQ Chicken Dinner

Charlie Staples Chicken And Ribs

Charlies Staples BBQ restaurant has been around Youngstown for many years serving his own special blend of BBQ Ribs, Chicken, Pulled pork, and even Fish. This evening I was in the mood for chicken.

The restaurant was crowded, must have been a party happening that evening. (Wink) I made my way to my table and was quickly approached by our waitress who asked us for our orders. Very nice waitress and very fast service. I commend them for such service on such a bust evening.

The dinner consisted of four pieces of chicken smothered in a tangy BBQ sauce, two pieces of bread, and french fries. I received a breast, leg, thigh, and wing. The breast was the main part, and was fair sized and meaty. All the pieces were well cooked. The BBQ sauce just tangy enough to let you know you were dining in a BBQ restaurant.

The fries were surprisingly good. Well cooked and crunchy enough. I left the white bread alone.
The cost was just under $10 dollars with a diet Coke which was very reasonable.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3.5 out of 5 shots and recommends C Staples Restaurant  for dinner.

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Alliance Texas Roadhouse - BBQ Chicken And Ribs

Texas Roadhouse - Alliance Ohio

I was introduced to the Texas Roadhouse years ago in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The food was great and became one of my favorite places in Gatlinburg. To my surprise I found a Texas Roadhouse in Alliance, Ohio, just a mere 35 or so miles from my home. We had to go.

The Special Rolls

We got there around 4pm and it was crowded but not to bad and we were seated right away. The building interior was exactly the same layout as the one in Gatlinburg. I was pleased to see that the famous cinnamon rolls were also the same. Fresh baked, hot, and with a cinnamon butter spread to die for.

Coke Zero

I was also impressed that Texas Roadhouse carried Coke Zero, the best tasting diet cola on the planet. The waitress refilled my glass twice. Did I mention that Coke Zero really tastes good...

BBQ Chicken - Ribs - Bacon Cheese Fries

The Texas Roadhouse offers a combo platter of BBQ chicken and BBQ ribs plus two side dishes. The chicken was tender and with the tangy BBQ sauce, it was fantastic tasting. I couldn't wait to get to the ribs. Let me tell you, the ribs were worth the weight. They were fall off the bone tender and bursting with flavor. The BBQ sauce as I said before was a perfect blend of flavor that complimented the ribs, not over powered them. They were excellent.

Mac And Cheese

The side dishes selections were bacon cheese fries and macaroni and cheese. The fries were plentiful, the cheese melted perfectly over them with plenty of bacon pieces. (Not bacon bits the fake kind, but real bacon) The fries were well cooked, not soggy, not crunchy, but a good blend in between. The macaroni and cheese dish was very generic. I'm thinking Kraft right out of the box. A little pepper sprinkled on top and they were adequate.

The service was very good, the food excellent, and the price was nice, under $20 for the entire meal with bottomless Coke Zero, rolls, and roasted peanuts. 

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends the Alliance Texas Roadhouse  for dinner.

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Ruby Tuesdays - BBQ Chicken Dinner

Ruby Tuesday Menu

Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Boardman. A restaurant that I drove by countless times until one day, we decided to stop in for dinner.  The interior was standard fare, and the hostess came over and seated up promptly. She handed us our menu's and informed us our waitress would be with us shortly.

She wasn't lying as she was right behind her. She took our order drinks and returned quickly and proceeded to take our dinner order.

Ruby Tuesday BBQ Chicken Combo

Feeling a little saucy, I opted for the BBQ chicken with two sides which were baked macaroni and cheese and french fries. In less than 10 minutes, our dinners were delivered to us. Very good service.

First, the mac and cheese intrigued me. To my surprise, it was a very tasty side dish. Very good mac and cheese as mac and cheese goes.

The fries were hot, well cooked, and standard fare. They were good and past the mustard.

The BBQ Chicken on the other hand, well, it wasn't what I expected. As you can see, I was served a a piece of grilled chicken and topped with a few tablespoons of BBQ sauce. I was hoping the chicken would have been cooked in the BBQ sauce. It looked like the sauce was squeezed from the plastic bottle of BBQ sauce that was on all the tables.

However, the chicken was well cooked and the sauce was adequate at best. The mac and cheese saved this meal.

The cost was $13 dollars plus drink and tip which was reasonalbe, not pricey, but not in the wheel house either. This was an adequate meal all around.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3 out of 5 shots and recommends Ruby Tuesday's BBQ Chicken for dinner.

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