WRW2016 - Chester's Chophouse

My second choice for Wichita Restaurant Week was Chester's Chophouse Wine and Bar, located on the beloved Waterfront.  Everything you have probably heard about this restaurant is true... it is pricey, it is freshly prepared, it does have a bit of a cold shoulder atmosphere, and it does mainly have a male clientele base.

Now with all of that said, none of that is negative in my eyes.  I don't mind paying top dollar for excellent food and service.  I like wait staff that knows not to interrupt my dining and conversation with unnecessary questions.  And I'm a woman, so the more men dining around me, the better!  Lol....

A friend and I arrived later on Monday evening to give the restaurant a go.  I had been twice before several years back, but my friend had never been.  Upon arrival, I mentioned the front doors.  It's one of my favorite things about this place.... large front doors.  Okay, okay...  on to the meal.

Our server was pleasant and let us know about all of the specials.  We started off with the recommended appetizer of shrimp cocktail, marinated in a lovely sauce and brought to us in a beautiful vessel.  We were encouraged to dump the appetizer on the plate provided so we could taste everything together.  My friend enjoyed it more than I did.  I prefer a classic shrimp cocktail.

I encouraged my friend to get a steak as I remembered the steaks were excellent and cooked to perfection.  He ordered the 12 oz New York Strip.  It was accompanied by three different sauces for dipping.  The sides chosen were asparagus with feta cheese and the warm German potatoes.

I had the recommended tilefish with risotto.  Delicious! I couldn't eat all of my meal and I wanted to make sure I had dessert.  We chose the creme brulee pie.  I was hoping it would be warm, but it came out cold and full of fruit.  Still good.

Asparagus with Feta

German Potatoes

New York Strip Steak

Slice of Creme Brulee Pie

Creme Brulee Pie

Tilefish and risotto

The dinner was good, the conversation and company even better.  Prices are a little steep, so be prepared to pay.  I wouldn't normally come here for a steak as I can grill a better one myself.  Also, if you are a woman, just know there are a lot of men who meet here for dinner.  So..... enjoy!

Up next... The Hungry Heart!

WRW2016 - Olive Tree

Wichita Restaurant Week..... ahhhhhh.

Not sure where I have been the past few years for WRW, but this year I decided to try as many restaurants as I could.  The plan this year was to eat at places I have never been or have not dined at for several years.

I am also happy the community has a way to work together in giving back.  I love how this is helping the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas.

I started on Sunday with the brunch at Olive Tree.  Olive Tree is located at 2949 N. Rock Rd (29th and Rock) and I believe is the former Piccadilly Grill.  This restaurant mainly does banquets and catering now, but they do a pretty decent brunch buffet.  For $17, we had choices from fresh pastries, salads, made-to-order omelets, a variety of entrees and side dishes, breakfast items, a dessert bar, fresh fruit and cheeses and a good selection of drinks and flavored coffees.  It's definitely worth the money if you can eat all that is offered.

The buffet itself reminded me of a mini Vegas style buffet, with each food category having its own table or hot bar.

Fresh fruit with a variety of meats and cheeses

Hot bar with breakfast and lunch items

Cold Lebanese table with delicious bits

My first plate.... breakfast to start!

All of the food was at the right temperature and looked appealing.  We couldn't try all of it.  There was just way too much to choose from!

They had a chef on hand to make omelets to order and there were several other items to choose from.  There was a bread table with lovely pastries and rolls, a full table with hot entrees and an entire dessert table with lovely sweets.

It was definitely worth the time and money.  Our server was nice and our drink glasses stayed full.  I never had to wait for my decaf coffee to be refilled.

So if you are looking for a great brunch buffet, please try the Olive Tree.  I know we will be back again!

Up next...  Chester's Chophouse.

Bella Luna

I love taking my son to new places to dine.  I want him to experience all the wonderful food available.  I was meeting his girlfriend for the first time earlier this week, so I gave them a choice of three restaurants to choose from and they chose Bella Luna.

Bella Luna has three locations in Wichita.  I had only eaten at the west and east side restaurants, so we decided to hit the one in College Hill.  The inside was quaint and tiny compared to the sister locations.  There is no front desk, so we were not sure if it was a seat yourself type of establishment or if they came to seat you.  After one minute of waiting, we took it upon ourselves to sit at a table.

Bella Luna serves Mediterranean food and has a great reputation for awesome hummus.  Having been here before, I told the kids we could each pick an appetizer.  We opted for the hummus ($7.95), calamari ($8.95) and Greek salad ($5.95).  My son LOVES calamari.  We were sadly disappointed that the calamari was way overcooked.  Many restaurants will tend to do this.  It was almost inedible, but my son ate it anyway.

The hummus was excellent, the texture was light and creamy.  The hummus always comes with soft pita or the homemade pita chips.  The chips were stale, so we devoured our hummus with the soft pita.  Delicious!

Alli and I both ordered a side salad to accompany our meal.  Alli loves the Fattouch salad ($5.95) and I am a big fan of their Greek salad.  I absolutely love feta cheese and the brininess of the dressing against the crisp greens was perfect.  The Kalamata olives are my favorite olive, so I was super delighted to have several in my salad.

Up next were our entrees.  I went with the highly recommended Chicken and Shrimp au Poivre ($14.95).  This was excellent!  The peppercorn sauce used on the dish was superb.  It was light, not overpowering or heavy.  It paired excellent with the shrimp, chicken and vegetables.  Look at the beautiful plate presentation.  I loved every bite.

My son opted for the Kobe burger and fries ($10.95), which he claimed was the best restaurant burger he has ever eaten.  That's huge coming from him.  He really loves burgers!  Alli got the Seafood Trio ($15.95), which consisted of scallops, mussels, shrimp and crab with a lobster sauce over rice.  I tried a bite and it was tasty!

We were stuffed to the gills and needed to-go boxes.  These came quickly, but we had to wait for quite some time to ticket out.  My son finally asked another server to ring us up so we could get on our way.

Our server, Lina, did a pretty good job overall and was tied up on a conference call as we were leaving.  They were apologetic about the wait, but we didn't mind.  Our overall bill was $78.38 and I left a $14 tip.

It was a great dinner out with my son and his girlfriend.  I am so glad they enjoyed this place as much as I did.  If you are ever in the College Hill area and would like to try some great Mediterranean food, stop by Bella Luna and try that awesome hummus!

PF Chang's - Sort of Chinese

Some friends and I went out to dinner a few nights ago.  They have never been to PF Chang's, so we decided to help them out of the rock they were living under and dined around 7:30 this past Monday.

P.F. Chang's is an Asian-inspired restaurant who claims to give a modern "twist" to their food.  This rings true for a few menu items.  The one menu item I refuse to eat are the lettuce wraps.  Growing up in a Korean household, we know what REAL lettuce wraps are... and the wraps at Chang's are not it.  We can talk about that another day!

Getting along with our evening, the group let me be the food guide for the meal, so after ordering my Coconut yummy goodness (non-alcoholic), I decided we would order three appetizers and three entrees.

The first appetizer was the garlic noodles, easy on the spicy (we had a younger palate with us).

These were a hit with everyone!  The cucumber was refreshing in the mix of the noodles, garlic and chili pepper flakes.

Up next were the shrimp dumplings.

These can be ordered pan fried or steamed.  Pictured are the pan fried.  These dumplings are filled with shrimp and drizzled with a light chili sauce, not too spicy at all.

My all-time favorite was next... Dynamite Shrimp

This tempura-battered shrimp is drizzled in a spicy sriracha aioli that I could bathe in, it's so good!  Yumm!

The three of us were already heading to full bellies, so when our entrees came, we knew it was going to be party of three - 0, entrees - 3.

I ordered the Lemon Chicken (for the youngster), Mongolian Beef and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce.  The Lemon Chicken was my least favorite because it was the least inventive dish and lacked flavor.  It looked like a piece of fried chicken with a side of sauce.  I loved the other two dishes.  The Mongolian Beef reminded me a tiny bit of bulgogi and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is the one dish I order the most.

My friends took home lots of leftovers and really enjoyed their first trip to Chang's.  I won't likely come here again if it were my choice, but I won't turn my nose at it if friends are interested.

The service was excellent.  The restaurant was clean, not too noisy and the wait time on our food was reasonable.  The temperature of the food was great and the portions were normal.  You can find reviews and more information about P.F. Chang's on Zomato.

Eating My Way Thru Doc Greens - Dr. Fiesta

I posted about this before on my other blog.  I absolutely love this restaurant!  I was first introduced to Doc Greens a month ago thru a friend at work.  He always gets the same thing.  I really liked the place and everything on the menu looks wonderful, so I decided I would eat my way thru the entire menu, one item at a time.  It's worked out pretty good so far.  I have already had the Chicken Breast Panini, the Dr. Beeks salad and the Dr. Grilled Veggie salad.

Today I got the Dr. Fiesta salad.  It is now my new favorite!  I usually get the salad to go and today was no different.  This salad has romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheddar cheese, red onions, black beans, corn salsa, julienned carrots, crispy tortilla strips, chicken and dressing.  I opted for the grilled chicken and a side of guacamole.  Holy cow Batman!  It was delicious!  I ate every bite.

Dr. Fiesta

I really like the atmosphere of the place, the workers, and the management staff.  It's also super clean.  They are constantly wiping things down and it's good to see an establishment care so much about the quality of their establishment as well as the quality of their food.  The manager has done an awesome job of training his associates.  The location I go to is on north Maize Rd.  I have not ventured to the one out east, but I am sure it's pretty good as well.  I try to stop once a week to try a new menu item.

If you get a chance to stop by and want a refreshing filling salad for lunch, I highly recommend Doc Greens!  You can also find their restaurant on Zomato.

Zomato

Looks like Urbanspoon is out and Zomato is in!

Big Buffalo Grill

We came back to the Big Buffalo Grill located in Bethany for brunch today.  It was our second visit to the restaurant since the ownership has changed hands.  I was slightly disappointed this time.  The food and service were... just okay.  I ordered coffee to start and waited for our guest to arrive.  While waiting, we reviewed the menu.  There were numerous items taped over, so many that there needs to be a serious menu makeover.  It was quite tacky.

I ordered the two egg breakfast.  The Grill was out of sausage patties today, so I got the links instead, eggs over-medium, country potatoes and a biscuit with gravy.  I asked for a pancake on the side because the pancakes were delicious the last time I visited.  Here is my breakfast!

The eggs came out over-easy.  The sausage links were super tiny.  The biscuit was okay, kinda cold.  Thankfully the gravy was warm.  I should have eaten the pancake first because it was ice cold when I finally got to it.  My boyfriend ended up eating almost all of my pancake and a sausage link.

The food was just okay.  Nothing special.  The last time I visited I got the chorizo omelet, which was outstanding.  Perhaps the new owners only know how to do good Mexican food.  Anyway, our server, Dee, was good.  She had to cover about 6 tables by herself while we were there.  I noticed the owners didn't even help her out.  In fact, there were three workers sitting at a table and talking, watching her work.  It's a bit of a turnoff.  I heard this server has been here for a long time.  I could tell she knew her customers as she would ask them if they wanted their usual.  This kind of service is hard to find.  I am hoping the new owners understand this and won't drive her or the business away.  I don't have high expectations.

You can read more about how the restaurant used to be on Zomato.  Kind of glad I wasn't a regular back then.  I would be upset with the new changes.

The Shack

I decided to have my first post back be my birthday dinner post.  This evening was wonderful.  I looked up several restaurants on Zomato, as I am not overly familiar with the restaurant scene in OKC.  Even though my boyfriend is from here, he only knows about a couple of dives and I look forward to sharing those places with you here.

Out of all the restaurants I could have picked for my birthday dinner, I decided on The Shack Seafood and Oyster Bar.  I wanted, no... needed a Cajun/creole and seafood fix.  It's been a long time since I had any sort of good Cajun/creole food.  I decided tonight would be a perfect night to try something new because it was the only way I was going to get my boyfriend into a new restaurant.

We started off with drinks.  I usually get water, no lemon, but decided to get iced tea, no lemon.  I will school you on why no lemon some other day.  It's a foodborne illness nightmare.  Anyway, after mulling over the menu for what seemed like hours, I finally decided on the fried pickles.  I am picky about fried pickles.  I really dislike the thick breading and super thick slices of pickle many places have.  But the Shack did it up just perfect.  The fried pickles were lightly breaded and tender.  The pickles had the perfect amount of brininess and the breading was flaky.  It came out with a side of ranch.  It really doesn't need ranch as it was good all on it's own.

You will have to excuse my extremely amateur pics.  I'm not a professional.  Lol... After looking at the menu, I asked our waitress about recommendations.  She recommended the Crawfish Half and Half, which is what I chose.  My boyfriend decided on a cup of the red beans and rice and a cup of the chicken and sausage gumbo.  The red beans and rice were okay, I guess.  Nothing special.  The chicken and sausage gumbo was delicious!  The roux was dark (not as dark as the red beans and rice) and had a great flavor.

My dish was simply amazing.  There is no other way of describing it.  It came out with the crawfish etouffee on one side and the fried crawfish tails on the other.  Down the middle were two beautiful scoops of dirty rice.  Let's start off with the etouffee.  The stewy goodness had crawfish tails, a blend of vegetables and seasonings.   The sauce had a perfect amount of heat, just enough to tickle the back of your throat, clear your sinuses and leave that warm feeling in your belly.  It was the kind of spiciness that kept you wanting more, like a good bowl of kimchi soup on a cold day.  The crispy crawfish tails were the perfect interruption between bites of etouffee.  The fried nuggets with the aoli cut thru the richness and spiciness of the other half of the plate.  It was a perfect marriage.  I am so glad I took the recommendation.  Here's what my plate looked like:

Empty!  If you want to know what it looks like, you must go to The Shack right away and find out.  Honestly, the food looked so good, I forgot to snap a pic until it was too late.  If I could have licked the plate and not been stared at like a mongrel, I would have.

We ended my birthday dinner with a free dessert.  I originally ordered the chocolate chip bread pudding but they were out of an ingredient.  Darn!  So we decided on the Mudslide.  It was a good choice.  The chocolate cake was warm and moist (yes, I said moist) and the chocolate center was fantastic.  I like to mix it with the whipped cream while my boyfriend prefers the ice cream.  This dessert is rich, so it's an easy share with someone you love!

Our meal, without dessert totaled to $33.54 before the tip.  We left $8 to our waitress and decided to take one of the cups home as a memento for my birthday dinner.

I absolutely love this place and will be recommending it to all my friends.  It's right behind Abuelo's and La Quinta on Memorial Rd.  I am kind of glad it's not right on Memorial.  It's almost like it's a hidden gem and it's all mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update

I do believe it's time to update and get this blog back up and going.  Stay tuned!

Bonefish Grill

It's been forever and a day since I last did an update. Well, here we go! Last night my niece and I went to Bonefish Grill. It's one of our favorite places to dine, so much, we almost eat here every 4-6 weeks.


We started off with the Mussels Josephine. This is one our most favorites! The broth is to die for! Yumm! We love sopping up the broth with the crusty bread they bring to the table. I got the Chilean Sea Bass, cooked perfectly. I opted for the whipped potatoes and a Caesar salad. Both were great pairings with the fish.


After our main meal, we decided on dessert. Featured last night was their fresh strawberry shortcake, which my niece devoured. I chose the traditional creme brulee. Despite the mountain of fresh whipped cream, the desserts were delectable. The creme brulee was rich and the sugar shell was done perfectly. I love the sound my spoon makes when I break through to the creamy goodness below. It's almost like unwrapping a Christmas present ever so gently, as to not disrupt the package. Ah! What a lovely meal.


Our server was awesome. We always get great service when we come here. Tonight, we had Steven O. Oh my goodness Steven! You rock!

After School Snack

Spending time with my son is always a real treat, especially now that he is a Freshman in high school and has a social life that usually does not include his mom. All while he was growing up, I made our dining experiences around the Wichita area as frequent as possible. I wanted him to grow up comfortable in those settings. He's been ordering his own food since he started reading and is quite particular about his food. Certainly, he doesn't get that from me, right? lol....

Anyway, after school the other day, we decided to grab a light snack at Panera. I opted for the cinnamon chip scone and a low-fat mango smoothie. They were delicious. The cinnamon chip scone reminds me of the little cinnamon rolls my mother used to make when I was a kid. My teenager decided on not one, but two brownies and a cinnamon roll for a "snack" later. He usually does not eat a lot of sugary foods, but that day, he went all out.

Times like these are the best. We sat, drank, ate, and talked about school and friends. Times like these will be more scarce as he gets older, so I am taking advantage of it now.







 

Birthday Favorites - Old and New

Yesterday was perfect! My boyfriend finally turned 30! Yay! We decided to head over to our all-time favorite breakfast place, the Copper Oven. Yumm! I love this place! The coffee here is fantastic and the service is wonderful. The management team are all familiar faces and every Saturday, there is a line going out of the door to get a seat. It has truly become a gem to the Wichita area.

I decided on the mushroom and fresh spinach omelet ($6.82). The omelet is made with three eggs, sliced button mushrooms, a handful of fresh spinach, and topped with cheddar cheese. The omelet comes with their signature salsa, ranch potatoes, and your choice of bread side. I opted for the biscuit
and a side of cream gravy ($1.00). The biscuit is flaky and beckons you to dip each bite into the seasoned gravy. Ah! So tasty!

After we waddled to our car, we decided to drive down to the Farmer's Market located at 21st and Ridge. Big mistake! We drove right past. There was a line to get into the parking lot! Looks like we will have to arrive much earlier in order to walk around and browse the local hearty fare.


For dinner we decided to try a new place. We chose the Cactus Cantina and Grill. It is located on 2802 S. Hydraulic in Wichita. It's right next door to the very good greasy spoon, Fat Ernie's, a place we are known to lurk in every so often.

The Cactus Cantina has really good food! The menu states, 'If you can't go to Mexico, we'll bring Mexico to you.'


The salsa and guacamole are made fresh. The chips come out to your table warm. I ordered something from the "Real South of the Border" portion of the menu. It was the Teocaltiche Plate ($9.95). It was basically chunks of pork meat simmered into a special blend of spices. It came with rice, beans and tortillas. Sooooo gooood! My boyfriend ordered the #4 combination (9.95), which consisted of a chile relleno, beef enchilada, beef taco, rice and beans. That chile relleno was excellent! I loved that small bite of chile relleno almost as much as I loved my whole meal. It was that tasty!







Everything was to our liking. The manager was our waiter and he took excellent care of us. This is definitely a place we will come back to. If not for the chile rellenos, then definitely for the guacamole!

Sizzling!

The only time I usually come to On the Border is when I am craving a Sizzling Fajita Salad. This comes to you and topped at your table-side with sizzling steak and grilled onions. Get it with the Chipotle-Honey Mustard Dressing and savor all the flavors of AmeriMexican!

We went here for lunch and were taken care of by Mikey. Cool name guy! He was a fantastic server. Of course, I ordered my iced tea w/no lemon($2.19). We started off with the usual chips and salsa, but added a side of guacamole ($4.59). I love their guacamole!

I decided on my favorite craving of Sizzling Fajita Salad w/Steak ($9.99). Yumm! Cool, crisp lettuce and tomatoes topped with hot sizzling steak strips and grilled onions. I drizzle that delicious honey mustard dressing on top and go. to. town.


It's almost too much for one person to really eat. I never get to finish it all and everyone knows salad does not taste good later on in the day.


It was another successful dining experience for us. It's all about the service. Even if the food is correct, it's all about how they take care of it and you.

Salty, Greasy Goodness

We all know.... salt and grease are not good for me - or YOU. But the other day, I had the urge to eat something salty and greasy for lunch. I knew I wanted a cheeseburger, but couldn't decide where to go. What would you have done? It's like when you get that urge, that ridiculous food craving, and you just have to have it. Almost like when a woman is pregnant. Sooooo, I picked up the boyfriend and drove to Smashburger. This place rocks the salty, greasy, goodness!

I ordered the 1/3 pound mushroom swiss burger ($5.99) with guacamole (99 cents) and grilled onions (99 cents) added on. I also ordered a side of the fried pickles ($1.99) and a water to drink. Many have said this place is overpriced, but I would have to disagree. If you were to order the same burger and side in an actual restaurant with wait staff, you would pay the same amount. I mean, Outback Steakhouse isn't exactly charging the "$3.99 are you out of your mind!" meal deal. The price is just right here.

We sat out on the patio, enduring the strong Kansas wind. Whew! My basket wanted to move across the table right into my lap! The place was packed and the food totally hit the spot. That cheeseburger is just what I needed. The meat was hot, juicy, and the creamy guacamole smeared on the burger with the grilled onions and mushrooms was perfect and harmonious. The fried pickles were a little too salty, but the cool ranch dressing helped take the edge off.

I got my fix for salty, greasy goodness at Smashburger. Yumm!

Dear Anthony,
I know you hate the restaurant chains, but don't you ever have a food craving for something like this?

Even Better Than Ever

I just can't get enough of the Outback Steakhouse on the West side of Wichita. I did give the East location a poor review on Zomato, but I stand by my words and decision.

I must tell you of the experience I had today at the West location. Folks, if you haven't been here lately, you MUST GO!

My son and I headed here for lunch, straight from the airport. We were famished! After watching Survivor this past week and seeing the villains enjoy a fabulous dinner from the Outback Steakhouse, I have been craving the thousand island dressing they make fresh.

They have transformed the inside and parts of the menu. The former somewhat "rugged" look has been replaced with lit wooden panels and soft hues of blues and greens to accent the room. This spectacular restaurant feels warmer, a more romantic feel than before. This remodel was definitely an upscale re-do with the same familiar and friendly staff.

After we were seated, our server offered us a sample of their new strawberry and peach fresca a la shot glass. It was cute and quite refreshing, but I ordered my usual iced tea w/o lemon ($2.29).

The bread was different, but had the same great flavor. Our salads ($2.50) came out on lovely new square plates. I would pay good money to get the recipe for that thousand island dressing recipe. It's made fresh daily and you can taste it!
















Outback is always known for their excellent steaks. Knowing that, I wanted to see if they could do seafood the same way. I chose the Norwegian Salmon. So glad I did! They actually know how to cook salmon to perfection. I paired the Norwegian Salmon ($13.95) with the grilled seasonal vegetables and a sweet baked potato.

Okay now, if you are Logan's or Texas Roadhouse, listen up!!!! Your baked sweet potatoes come in a far second place behind this Outback Steakhouse. Yumm! Perfect sweetness of brown sugar and melted butter plays tingly little notes on your tongue. Oh, joy!




The salmon was cooked to perfection on their wood fire grill, so flaky and flavorful. I love the fresh mix of vegetables on the side. It was the perfect combination.

Service was absolutely outstanding. Our server was Tyler W. He did a fantastic job. The store manager even visited our table twice to make sure everything was perfect. This restaurant is definitely customer first!

We love coming here and usually dine here a couple times a month. As I have said before, it's better out West!

"Green" Visit At Ted's Montana Grill

A friend suggested lunch at Ted's Montana Grill today. I haven't been in about four years. Ted's has the wonderful little pickles at the table when you wait for your food.

The bison burgers are great. I ordered the Vermejo bison burger. It comes out cooked perfectly at medium well. The melted Monterey Jack cheese and the grilled onions and mushrooms are some of my most favorite toppings. This burger was sooo moist and delicious. The juice from the burger rolled down my chin a few times.

I also ordered the wedge salad with the house ranch dressing. That salad was refreshing. Each bite was crisp, clean, and fresh. I love roughage like that.

I noticed the "green" straws right away. This is new since my last visit and something my kid would appreciate. These straws are cardboard. Kind of weird since I am known to bite on my straw. Couldn't do it. I did throw an extra in my purse to show my "recycling" 15 year old.

Overall, the place was clean. Atmosphere was pretty low-key. The service (Chris) was excellent and our food quality was great. Not a fan of the straws though.

Fat Happy

Dinner was amazing this evening. We had reservations for 7 p.m. at Hereford House. Nestled in the Terradyne Country Club, this restaurant's ambiance was rugged elegance. The modern West decor was laid back, yet innovative.

Service was absolutely outstanding. Our server, Kelsea, did a great job in making sure everything was to our liking. She was quick to get us refills and was there to take care of our every need. Kelsea was one of the best servers I have ever met.

Our entire table decided on the Thursday night special, which was the Bone-in Ribeye. This "cowboy cut" of beef was so beautiful. It was massive, almost like a Fred Flinstone cut of meat. I thought the boys had died and gone to heaven. The men at our table are butchers by day, so trying to impress them with a good steak can be tricky. The steaks were cooked perfectly. I love the little char of the crust and the moist hot pink center melted in your mouth. Our baked potatoes were heavenly vessels for the "out of this world" chive butter and thick creamy sour cream. Do you hear me people????? This food was amazing!!!!!

There was so much food and we did not want to leave any of it behind. We tried to eat as much as we could, but alas! Much to my sorrow, I could not eat all of the steak. I was stuffed to the gills and was fat happy for the moment. You know what I mean by fat happy. You are so full, you can barely move, yet you want more but just can't do it. Fat happy is only good once or twice a year. This was definitely a fat happy moment, one to remember.

If you have not made it out to the Hereford House, it's a must go. They really don't advertise which I am thankful for. It's kind of like my own little secret special place to go on nice occasions, a place where you don't have to fight the crowds. Tonight was a special night and I have to thank this restaurant for doing it right.

Service was first-class, food quality was outstanding, and the atmosphere was superior to many fine dining restaurants in Kansas. This Hereford House will blow any of the Kansas City establishments out of the water. We were extremely satisfied customers. Thank you Hereford House!

Hereford House

I am super excited this evening! We are having dinner at Hereford House at Terradyne in Andover.

We are taking my boyfriend's retired boss out for dinner. He retired on Tuesday. We will be having dinner with he and his wife.

I have been to Hereford House in Kansas City twice and I can't wait to try this one. It's one of my favorite places to visit while in KC.

Well, gotta get ready to go. I will be giving you an update soon!

Thanks Salina, KS

We met some friends for dinner in Salina this evening. When I was asked what restaurant, my response was "Something we don't have in Wichita." My friend chose Tucson's Steakhouse. This restaurant is located on South Ninth, right smack dab in the middle of construction. It was not hard to get to. The inside was pretty clean, with several big screen televisions to watch sports. It was kind of distracting to have. Some places I don't mind, but when I am meeting friends for dinner, the boyfriend has a tendency to tune out conversation and just watch the sports. Sigh.... what's a girl to do?

Anyway, I chose the Ribeye - 10 ounce cut ($17.49), with a side salad and baked sweet potato. I also ordered a side of grilled onions ($0.99). My usual drink was an iced tea with no lemon ($1.79).




The steak was cooked to a perfect medium-rare, almost medium. The side salad was average but was good with the warm, marble wheat bread. The sweet potato was fairly large, but almost undercooked. Overall, the meal was fine. It wasn't the best I have had at a steakhouse, but it was good. Our server (Sean) was nice and was accommodating, however, I only got one glass of iced tea and would have like another.

Of course the best part of eating here was to see our friends. They live in Omaha and I don't get to see them often unless it is a work-related meeting or conference. Salina was good to us this evening. Thanks Tucson's Steakhouse for a good meal away from home.

Birthday Dinner

I love my birthday. We decided to try the Imbiss Grille in Old Town. German cuisine.... Yumm!

The restaurant has a nice relaxed atmosphere and was warm and cozy. Our server was sweet and tentative to our needs throughout the night. I ordered the traditional Sauerbraten. The onion soup came before as a little appetizer. Very good and filling! The Sauerbraten was okay. The meat was tough and my potatoes came out cold the first time. I had to send them back, which I hate to do, but it was definetely necessary. The red cabbage was the bomb! I could have just eaten that and been perfectly content.

My mother-in-law got the liver and onions. I was eye-balling her plate the entire time. She did let me sneak a bite and I was so jealous. Why didn't I get that instead? Well, now I know for next time.

Overall, it was a nice meal, but could have been much better if the food was prepared correctly. I was able to enjoy a great meal at Edelweiss in Colorado Springs, CO, and that restaurant hits one out of the ballpark. Until I find a better local German restaurant, this one will have to do.