Cheddars Restaurant - Chicken And Ribs

The first time I went to Cheddars Restaurant it was a pleasant experience. The food was good, the service great, and the place clean. The second time however, well....

BBQ Ribs And Chicken

Twenty minutes later my dinner arrived. It looked good. It smelled good. But....
In a nutshell, the chicken was under cooked, well, it was barely cooked. The breading was soggy and the inside chicken was cold and chewy. Not a good sign.

The ribs were supposed to be "Fall off the bone" tender. They were not. It was a challenge to get the meat off the bone.

The saving grace was the dessert, croissant rolls. They were tender, flaky, hot, and very good.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2.5 out of 5 shots and recommends Cheddars for dinner just because of the previous experience.

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Eddies Grill - Geneva - Double Cheeseburger

Eddies Grill Counter Service

This was my first visit to Geneva for the 2013 Summer season and it began on a sad note. Coming into Geneva, I spotted the empty lot on the lake side of the road where an old little gray house once stood. It had lost its battle to erosion.

I needed some cheering up and Eddie's Grill was just the "Cow Bell" to do it. We luckily found a parking spot on the parkway and walked over to Eddie's. We bellied up to the counter and I ordered the usual. (A double cheeseburger, french fries, and a diet pop) The hot dog was my sons.

As soon as you sit down at the counter, you get the feeling of being magically transported back in time to the 1950′s. I always expect to see Fonzie smacking the jukebox to play his favorite song. Aeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

As usual, the cheeseburger was almost heavenly, cooked to perfection, juicy, and fresh. The fries were good and plentiful. The atmosphere out of this world. Even though Eddie's is always crowded, the service is very fast.

The Boys Of Summer will be going back again next week.

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Steak N Shake - Double Cheeseburger

Double Cheeseburger

Is Steak N Shake a fast food joint or a restaurant?
From the outside it has the markings of a fast food setup with a drive through window. However, when walking inside, the decor is 50's style diner, black and white tiles, booths, and even a counter to eat at.

We sat down and a waitress took our order. Chalk one up for restaurant. I ordered a double cheeseburger and fries. It was brought to our table in less than ten minutes. (Another restaurant feature) The cheeseburger was excellent, in the top 10 list for sure. I watched them make the burgers on the grill before. They start with a fresh round ball of meat and using the spatula, smash into a thin patty. A few minutes of sizzling and the patty is flipped. Cheese is added and then placed on the bun.

The fries were thin cut, (We will call them Mini Fries) and were tasty especially with the dipping cheese sauce.

The cost was very cheap, (A fast food feature) $4.00 with fries. We paid and left a higher than usual tip for our waitress and walked out the door.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.75 out of 5 shots and recommends steak N Shake for dinner.

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The Peddler Steakhouse Filet Mignon - Gatlinburg

When in Gatlinburg, you must make time to eat at the The Peddler Steakhouse. Yes, it is always crowded, but the wait is worth it.

Tip #1: To avoid a potential long wait period, simply go into the bar / lounge area and take an open table. Usually there is a table or two open. From there, simply place your dinner order when the waitress comes by.

We took the lounge option and and found a table upstairs. The view is nice, overlooking a small river running beside and under the restaurant.

Peddler Salad Bar

As on cue, the waitress asked if we were here for dinner or just drinks. We choose option dinner and drinks. After we ordered, we headed downstairs to the salad bar. And when I say salad bar, I mean amazing salad bar. As you can see by the pictures, I had of course lettuce as a base, several types of cheese, carrots, celery, hard boiled egg halves, green olives, real chopped bacon, (Not the cheap fake bacon bits from other salad bars) and about another half dozen items piled high on my salad plate. The salad was tremendous.

Peddler Filet Mignon

As if on cue, as soon as we finished our salads, our steaks were delivered. I order the Filet Mignon well done and butterflied and a baked potato. The steak was cooked perfectly and it tasted fantastic. No doubt the best steak in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The baked potato was well cooked and smothered with butter which was perfect.

Peddler Cherry Cheesecake

For dessert, we shared a piece of cheesecake covered with strawberries. It was the perfect topper for a splendid meal.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends The Peddler Steakhouse for dinner.

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Down On The Boulevard Tavern

Boulevard - Chicken Parmigiano

The Boulevard Tavern has been an icon in Youngstown, Ohio for a long time. Famous for their Friday fish dinner, the Boulevard also has some very good Italian selections. One of them is the Chicken Parmigiano with a side of spaghetti.

We were seated right away and we placed our orders. The waitress was very nice and we had our Cokes in just a few minutes. I ordered the chicken Parmigiano with spaghetti.

The portion was very generous, large chicken breast cooked perfectly, topped with cheese with a zesty sauce. It was very tasty, fresh, and the spaghetti completed a great meal.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends The Boulevard Tavern for dinner.

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Scarsellas Restaurant Lasagna Dinner

Scarsella's Italian Restaurant is one of Patty's and mine favorite eating haunts. The service is almost always great, the food is always excellent, and prices are just right.

As usual, Patty and I stopped on the way home from work at Scarsella's. We were seated right away and the waitress took our drink order and our dinner order. (We knew what we wanted) In no time our diet pops were at our table along with fresh Italian bread and our salads. 

The salad was standard fare, fresh, and with the added grated cheese on the table, was very good.

Tonight I ordered the Lasagna and it was a good choice indeed. The portion was generous, the sauce zesty, the meat spicy enough, the noodles cooked well, and the taste was very good. All for around 13 dollars not including tip.

Scasella's Lasagna Dinner

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Scarsella's for dinner.

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Apple Barn Chicken Plank Dinner - Gatlinburg

Apple Barn - Gatlinburg - Chicken Dinner
The Apple Barn, located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is one of my favorite restaurants. The reason are simple. Excellent home style cooking food. Reasonable prices. Good service. Cheerful and nice employee's. As you can see, I ordered the chicken planks dinner with mashed potatoes with gravy, mac and cheese, fresh rolls, plus a diet Coke.

The chicken was hot, crispy, and excellent tasting. The mashed potatoes were real, not the fake flakes from a box. The mac and cheese hot and good. And the roll, fresh, hot, and tasty. All for about 12 bucks.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends Apple Barn for dinner.

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Hungry Howies Thin Crust Pizza

Hungry Howie's Pizza Shop - Boardman, Ohio
When deciding on a pizza for dinner, several factors come into play.

One: First and foremost, the pizza must be good tasting.
Two: The pizza Ohio has to have a very quick take out service.
Three: The pizza box must be sturdy to survive the ride home.
Four: The pizza must be affordable.
Five: The pizza shop must be close by.

Hungry Howie's meet these requirements. The thin crust is good tasting, not fantastic or exceptional, but good. The drive through pick up is pretty spot on. You pull up, they take your money and hand over the pizza. The box, yellow in color, is sturdy to handle rough roads and perhaps another box stacked on top and still the cheese will not be sticking to the top of the box. Howie's is fairly cheap, and check on their weekly specials for some good deals. And the shop is only five minutes away from us. 

BTW, the chicken nuggets, or strips, or tenders, whatever they call them, are not bad.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Hungry Howie's for dinner.

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Davidsons Restaurant Bacon Cheeseburger

Davidson's Restaurant - Austintown, Ohio
From the looks of the restaurant, it appears small on the outside but once you walk inside, there are plenty of rooms with many a tables. Don't be concerned if the parking lot is full, there will be a table for you inside.

This evening I was intrigued by one of the appetizers, the "Mini Corndogs." Yes, corndogs! There were 10 of them, dipped in batter and browned to a nice crunch. I was surprised at how good they were.

My main course was the half pound bacon cheeseburger with fair fries. The burger was well done as specified, the bun fresh, the cheese melted and thank goodness the bacon was cooked. (I hate when I order a bacon cheeseburger and there is soggy uncooked bacon on top) The burger was delicious.

The fries to my surprise, were fantastic. I am in search of the elusive "Idora Park" french fry taste and this night was the closest I came. On a Idora Park scale of 1 to 10, these fries were a 9. The texture, the taste, the look, feel, the presentation, all Idora Park like. Only thing missing was the white paper cone holder that Idora fries came in.

Completing the meal was a slice of cheesecake topped with strawberries. It was very good and ended the meal on a high note.

The reason for 4 stars and not 5, the service is a tad lacking. No offense to the wait staff, they are working hard, but they are spread to thin. Our waitress was covering an entire room, which was to much for one to handle. Management needs to add more help.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Davidson's for dinner.

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OCharleys Restaurant - Steak And Chicken

Patty and I stopped at O'Charley's restaurant chain last week for a bite to eat. It was not crowded, but it was busy but we were seated immediately. Our waiter came right over and took our drink order and returned promptly with them.

Our waiter returned with our drinks and took our order. I had the potato soup and it tasted good. Plenty of chunks of potato, creamy sauce, and bacon scattered on top.

Renee brought out our dinner in a timely manner smiling and having a good time. I ordered the sirloin and chicken combo with a baked potato.

The chicken strips were lightly battered, well cooked, crispy, and surprisingly good.
The 6 ounce sirloin was cooked perfectly, juicy, no fat, and tasted great.
The baked potato topped off the meal. There was no room for dessert.

The service was fantastic all the way around, the experience was very pleasant, the prices reasonable, including diet pop but not tip under $20 dollars, and the food tasted great and was prepared perfectly.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 5 out of 5 shots and recommends O'Charley's Restaurant in Boardman, Ohio for dinner.

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San Francisco Chinese Pizza

Chinese Pizza In San Francisco

Walking the streets of San Francisco, I happened upon this pizza shop in an out-of-the-way corner. I was hungry and decided to enter. It did not have the appearance of a standard pizza shop, but hey, there was a picture of a slice of pizza on the sign outside so it had to be good, right! I ordered a slice of cheese pizza with sausage and pepperoni.

This is what I got. I will say, it mostly resembled a slice of pizza, it certainly was triangular, and flat. But I was looking for taste. And,... well,... it wasn't awful. It was warm, which was a plus, the crust wasn't stale, the sauce from a jar, the cheese from a bag, but all in all, it wasn't awful. The price, $3 dollars, which, in San Francisco and being hungry, wasn't awful.

To sum up. It wasn't awful.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Shawerma Chinese Pizza for dinner.

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Nathans Hot Dogs - MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas

A month ago, I attended the ASD Las Vegas trade show. After a very long day of travelling and show set up, I was tired and returned to the MGM hotel. Not having a bite to eat all day, I found myself wandering the MGM food court. I spied Nathan's hot dogs and got in line. I ordered two hot dogs and french fries. I paid my $9 dollars and waited for my number to be called. A few minutes later I had my tray of Nathan's.

The hot dogs are unique. The casing is different than most hot dogs. It has an almost crunchy casing. I loaded them up with ketchup and went to town on them. Nathan's hot dogs taste good, the bun was fresh and warm, the hot dog itself fresh and not over cooked. The fries were standard fare but were good. For a quick bite to eat after a long day, Nathan's in the MGM Grand Hotel is a good choice.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4 out of 5 shots and recommends Nathan's Hot Dogs inside the MGM Las Vegas Hotel for dinner.

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Marinos Italian Cafe - Austintown, Ohio

I have heard about a quaint little restaurant called Marino's located in Austintown, Ohio. During Lent, we decided to stop in and try it. On a Friday night we were a little stunned that it was not busy. In fact, there were only about 4 tables being used by customers.

Anyway, we were seated right away and I ordered the fish dinner and a fried cheese appetizer. In about five minutes the cheese was brought to our table. There were five small pieces and a small bowl of dipping sauce. The sauce was OK, standard fare. The cheese sticks the same way. Standard, nothing bad, nothing good, just average.

The rolls were good though. I suspect they were home-made, they were warm, fresh, and tasted good, especially with melted butter.

The salad was standard fare. Excuse me for the late snapshot of the salad. I ate more than half when I realized I forgot to snap the picture.

About 20 minutes went by and our fish dinners arrived. I ordered Mac and Cheese as a side dish. As you can see, the fish was thin, and skinny. The breading was adequate but a little soggy. It had a "Fishy" smell to it which to me means it was not as fresh as it could be. The taste was OK. Certainly not what I had expected as several people told me about the place. The Mac and Cheese was cold.

All this for a Friday special of $12 dollars plus coke and tip.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2.25 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Marino's Italian Cafe for dinner.

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New Village Cafe Breakfast - San Francisco

The New Village Cafe located in San Francisco is a quaint little cafe that has a good breakfast at reasonable rates. I always ask the locals where the best places to eat are. Several nice folks directed me to this cafe.

We walked into the cafe and noticed it wasn't crowded and had the look and fell of an old 1950's diner making me wonder about the name, New Village Cafe. Anyway, reports were positive about the joint so we took a table and our waiter came over.

He was a Chinese man and apparently was the only waiter in the joint. He was hustling all over the cafe. he was very efficient. A few minutes passed and he was at our table to take our orders. 

The cafe breakfast was scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage links plus some white toast with butter and jelly. All for around $5 dollars. As we waited for our order, I noticed his wife was the cook and popped her head outside the kitchen from time to time. The cafe was a two person operation.

The eggs were good, standard fare, well cooked. The hash browns were well cooked, not greasy, and tasted good. The sausage again was well cooked, and was standard fair. All in all, excellent service, good food all at an affordable price. The locals were correct, The New Village Cafe was a good place for breakfast.

Oh yes, don't want to forget about the toast, well toasted, warm, not soggy, and plenty of butter and jelly.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends New Village Cafe for breakfast.

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Youngstown - A&W Restaurant Last Meal

A&W Restaurant

A&W Family Restaurant located on Route 224 and West Boulevard is closing tomorrow. The details are sketchy but apparently the owners wanted to retire and attempted to sell the business but there were no takers. So, on December 31st, 2011, A&W will serve it's last mug of root beer and close it's doors for good. I believe Advanced Auto Parts purchased the property and will begin building shortly after the new year.

A&W was one of those old fashioned fast food restaurants. So old fashioned that they had car ports and waitresses would come out to your car and take your order and bring it out on a tray and attach it to your car window. Just like at Arnold's from the Happy Days television sitcom. The car ports are still there but alas, that type of service was discontinued a long time ago.

However, I remember back in my teens I would take my 68 Camaro to A&W and order up some cheeseburgers and root beer floats. The food was good as fast food goes, and the root beer was unique, a very good blend. Those were the days. But those days are gone my friends.

Patty and I went inside to order, it was not busy, perhaps 10 people sitting in the booths and two people ahead of us in line. We placed our order, I went with the double cheeseburger special. (A double cheeseburger and Root Beer for $3.49) I added a large order of french fries ($1.99) to complete my last meal at A&W.

Cheeseburger And Fries

Our meal took about five minutes to be ready and we took the tray of food to our table. As I unwrapped the cheeseburger, it didn't look at all like the A&W burgers from old. The bun was a generic bun, you can see the powder on the top of the bun. It was not buttered, not toasted, not warmed, just a plain old generic small bun. The burgers were also small, not at all as I remembered. And the taste, well, it was nasty. I liken the taste to horse meat. Patty told me to keep my voice down as I was ranting about the terrible taste. I replied, "What are they going to do, close the place down!" I choked down half the burger and left the rest in the wrapper.

I had hope for the fries. Alas, they were simple standard generic fries. No real taste to them and salty as all hell. And for $1.99 I was expecting perhaps a little more fries.

A&W Root Beer

Perhaps the root beer would be better than the meal. After all, the root beer is what made the restaurant favorite. I remember the tall thick frosty mugs they used to serve for in dining orders. That root beer just tasted fantastic. Not today's however. It was in a paper cup, and was flat and stale. No fizzle, no taste. I would think it was perhaps the worst soft drink I had the displeasure of tasting.

That was strike three for me. Patty however, said the chili dog was excellent so we have that.

Perhaps the restaurant was merely unloading what was buried back in their freezer long ago. (They never did find Jimmy Hoffa's body you know) Perhaps they didn't want to change the CO2 tanks in the soft drink machine. Who knows. Who really cares anymore. The place will be open only another 24 hours or so.

With heavy heart, because I really wanted A&W to go out of business on a high note, The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1 out of 5 shots for the final meal at A&W Family Restaurant in Boardman, Ohio.

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Quattro Restaurant - Houston Texas

Quattro Of Houston

This year the Halloween Trade show took me to Houston, Texas for five fun filled days. After a hard days work we stopped at Quattro restaurant housed inside the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston.

Quattro Fresh Bread

We were tired and as we were going to our room we spied Quattro so we decided to stop and eat. The restaurant was dark, I don't mean closed, but very dimly lit. We were seated quickly and as my eyes focused to the cave like lighting, I noticed that there were not many people in the joint. No matter, we waited for the waiter to take our order. Twenty minutes later he arrived at our table. (Perhaps the dim lighting prevented him from finding us) Anyway, about ten minutes later, hot fresh rolls were delivered to our table.

9 Inch Pizza

Wanting to just get a quick bite, I ordered a personal pizza. Just plain cheese. It was another half hour before it was delivered to our table. The cost was $15 dollars for a 9 inch pizza.

As mentioned earlier, the service was glacier like. I walked in clean shaven and left with a beard.

The pizza itself was OK. It was hot, but apparently the cook forgot to cut the pizza in slices. All I had was one of those butter knives. I didn't want to ask the waiter for a knife, it might have taken another 20-30 minutes for him to return.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1.5 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Quattro Restaurant for dinner.

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Hoss's Steak House

Hoss's Steak House, New castle, Pennsylvania, is a Ponderosa style restaurant where you order your steak or other selection when you walk you and then you choose your seats. The meal begins with the salad bar. The selections were plentiful, fresh, and clean. You select what you want, and as much as you want.

I also spied some Chicken pasta soup. I was surprised at how good it was. Nice big pieces of chicken. I filled the bowl with shell pasta, chicken, large carrots and celery. I went back for another bowl.

I ordered the 6oz filet, medium well done and baked potato. The steak was sizzling hot and was cooked to my liking. It had absolutely no fat and was very delicious. The baked potato was hot and very tasty as well.

The service was excellent, the food fantastic, and the price, about $15.00 plus tip, was very reasonable. The Grassy Knoll Institute score Hoss's 4.25 Shots out of 5 and recommends Hoss's for dinner.

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Terrace Cafe - Las Vegas

Terrace Cafe, Treasure Island Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

During my several trips each year to the ever changing Las Vegas, I sometimes stop for breakfast. The now closed Terrace Cafe offered a really good breakfast. (When Treasure Island switched over to TI, the name of the restaurant changed)

I ordered the big breakfast as I had a show to set up and would not be eating again until late in the evening. Of course, there was bacon, cooked and crispy, sausage, spicy just enough, two scrambled eggs, not runny or burnt, hash browns, browned and cooked very nicely, three buttermilk fluffy pancakes with maple syrup, and a slice of cantaloupe. And of course fresh and cold orange juice.The service was quite fast, courteous and the order was correct. And the food was hot. Silverware was clean. All for about 10 bucks which wasn't bad.

If the Terrace were still in business, the Grassy Knoll Institute would recommend it for breakfast with an award of 4.25 out of 5 shots.

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Thanksgiving Turkey Tradition

Thanksgiving Day Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Grassy Knoll Institute rocket scientists.

Typical Thanksgiving at the GKI.
Of course, our Thanksgiving day meal is all about the turkey. Doesn't it look just delicious?
Stuffing, home made and cooked with the turkey allowing the natural juices of the turkey to soak through adding that perfect blend of taste and texture.
Mashed potatoes, not the instant type, but peeled and mashed and cooked potatoes. (Sidenote: peel a potato. Run it under cold water for 30 seconds. Sprinkle just a dash of salt and bite into a delectable treat)
Corn, not on the cobb, but fresh corn smothered in butter and pepper.
Cranberries, a little wild tasting, especially if you take a sip of cold milk right before or after taking a bite on cranberries. (Go ahead, you know you want to try that)
Pea's and carrots, which I usually pass to the family member on my left.
Crescent rolls, hot from the oven, smothered in butter.
Celery, plain, with cream cheese, and peanut butter.
Green olives, Cashews, Chocolates.
Dessert, Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie.
A lot of football in between and after.

And today as we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us all remember John F. Kennedy, out 35th president who was assassinated this day 44 years ago.

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I Am Glad I Picked You

I saw you across a crowded room.
Among all the others that were there.
The lights seemed to shine down on you alone.
I knew then that I had to have you for my own.
Willingly, you came with me to my home. From the car, I carried you through the door.
Looking at you, I admired your body, your well shaped legs, and breasts.
Slowly I remove what wraps, were around your body so tightly,
fitting you like a glove. Exposing your tender white skin.
From your neck, I remove your charms, and carry you off in my arms, to the warm water that waits.
The water cascades down your neck, flowing over your soft breasts and then, making your legs glisten with wetness.
Droplets of water cover your taut skin.
My hands rub your body all over....ummmmmmmm,
running them through the beads of water.
Making them trickle down off your body.
I place my fingers inside you.
You are warm and moist, so ready.
I carry your still dripping body, to a laying place,
so that I can put inside you what was well prepared to enter you before we even came through the door.
As soon as I lay you down your legs spread open wide.
You are ready now and so am I.
I put a little in slowly at first,
getting a feel for how much you can take in.
I put in more, you take it willingly.
In anticipation, faster and faster I put it in.
Pushing it in deeply as far as I can, until I can't put any more in.
You are so tight.
With your legs wrapped tightly, not wanting to release any of it,
I make you so hot for a very long time,
until your sweet juices escape from within.
Then I taste you, with my tongue at first,
your skin is so soft and tender.
I taste more of you with my mouth,
you are so hot and moist, you taste so good.
Your juices coating my mouth, making me drool in anticipation of eating you more, with every taste.

Oh yes, I say to you, I must say grace........

Thank God for Butterball turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving From The Grassy Knoll Institute.

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