On The Border Mexican Grill Capital BLVD

Lets get right to the point. On The Border menu looks great if you are in to southwestern style Mexican food. The menu is very creative with lots of updated Mexican dishes. My mouth was watering as I gazed over the menu selections. I really wanted one of everything. We started with the free tortilla chips and salsa, which were average in taste and big on portion- with refills which is important. Our waitress sold us on the guacamole appetizer to go along with our tortilla chips. The chips came out first with a mild to spicy salsa served along side the chips. Our drinks, however, took at least 15 minutes to get to our table - which if you are serving chips and salsa to a guest, please have their drinks delivered to the table along with the chips. The guacamole was very disappointing to us. It sat in a small white bowl with chopped tomatoes on top. It wasn't seasoned very well either. I prefer the guacamole at Chipotle on Glenwood myself. On The Border insisted on insulting its customers with their guacamole by serving it over a bed of shredded lettuce that you didn't realize was there until you started to dig in to it. That immediately made me feel like they were being cheap and sneaky. I ordered the B.B.Q. Brisket Tacos. They looked so good in the picture and the waitress assured us they were great. Once again, disappointment was delivered to my table. The food was luke warm at best and did I say it took at least 40 minutes for our meals to get to us by then we were ready to leave as we filled up on chips. I really hate it when these chains can't live up to there own hype. Another person at my table got the fajitas with beef and shrimp and ordered the veggies very well done. Well, they came out crispy and nearly raw. I blame bad management throughout the restaurant from the kitchen manager to the floor manager who couldn't see that we were waiting way to long for both our drinks and food. That was the first and last time I will ever step in to On The Border Grill. Again I just felt we were served sub par frozen food by untrained help and it is really insulting when they charge you $50 bucks for it. I don't feel that a second chance is worth giving to a chain restaurant since they have policies, rule books and protocol in place to run their business they way they see fit. I mean they train everyone the way they want their food cooked or (re heated) and displayed to the way they greet the guests at the front door every thing is scripted and if they still screw up then they are to blame not the customer. If it were a family owned place I would understand and revisit them a few times. Not a chain.They have the money behind them to make it right the first time. It seems I have nothing but bad things to say on this blog but I am being honest and I know there are some great places to eat and I will find them one by one. Any suggestions?

The Melting Pot

Well A group of us went to the Melting Pot restaurant on Old Wake Forest RD. in Raleigh, N.C. I thought the atmosphere was great with the place packed and people enjoying their meals and spirits through out the restaurant and bar area. Our server was very helpful in choosing our meals and desserts. She was extremely knowledgeable in regards to the menu and how every thing works, since we were mostly first timers at The Melting Pot it was hard to immediately understand the ordering process and menu packages they offered. But our server was very helpful with that. OK the food, You should know that The Melting Pot is a franchised based fondue restaurant and that is all they serve. The starter items are the classic fondue gooey cheese melted in a pot with wine, garlic and a blend of herbs, basically you get a bowl of bread cubes a few long skewers and you dip them in a hot pot filled with melted cheese of your choice. The cheese fondue was great and everyone at the table had that this is SO good look pasted on their faces. But the main course really lacked presentation and flavor. What you got was a plate full of mixed raw meats and raw seafood along with a bowl of raw or blanched vegetable. You were then suppose to skewer your raw meat and dip it in a bubbling pot of basically chicken or beef stock with added herbs and wines for flavor, but it really looked like dirty water to be honest. Once the meat was dipped in the pot you needed to let it stay there and cook for a bit. When you took the skewered meat out of the pot it was shriveled and gray looking and not that tasty. My recommendation would be to save your money and skip the main course and just get the starters and the desserts. The desserts were great as they should be, being every ones favorite part of the meal. Who could pass up the chance to dunk mounds of fresh cut fruit in to a pot filled with melted chocolate with flavors that resemble the likes of bananas foster. it is a fun place to try once in a while and it is very different from your basic fast casual food chains that line the roads these days. We all would go back to the Melting Pot some day.

Wake Forest Coffee Company

On Main St. in Downtown Wake Forest sits this jewel of a coffee shop. It takes me back to the original days of Starbucks. A destination place where you feel welcomed and at home with a great cup of coffee in a relaxing and inviting setting. The staff is very friendly and the coffee is outstanding, they even offer Breyers ice cream by the scoop. This is a must try place for a great cup of gourmet coffee and to really relax and enjoy the settings in old Wake Forest. Don't forget your lap-top this is a Wi Fi spot as well . They really fill the void since the Well Coffee shop moved on to the business district. They even have local artists paintings on the wall to enjoy or purchase. See you all there!

Hibachi Express (Raleigh)

Ok, we went to Hibachi Express last night. They have three locations - one in Cary, one in Apex and one in Raleigh off of Capital Blvd near BJs (that's the one we tried). I love the idea of having an Express Japanese style restaurant - fast Japanese food is a great idea. They serve lunch which will run you any where from $4.75-$6.00 depending on your appetite . The prices rise rise after 4 P.M.

They serve chicken, steak, shrimp and vegetable options with your choice of rice or udon noodles and choice of sauce - basically teriyaki or a soy-ginger sauce. First, we were greeted by an all American staff which I thought was unusual for a Japanese restaurant , but - ok. We ordered our food and were directed to choose a seat amongst the many empty booths. They call out your order number when your food is ready. Then you have to go and pick it up. I felt like we were in a Japanese style Moe's Southwest Grill without the 'Welcome to Hibachi" when you walk in. First of all, they messed up our orders and then when I looked at the bill, they didn't place my order for my starving 4 year old son - so this was the second order mess up. It took forever to get our food - and to top it off my son's food didn't come until 10 minutes AFTER everyone else's food. Way to go! To my amazement the food was simply awful. I really thought it would be hard to mess up the flavors of sweet teriyaki mixed with Asian noodles but you can -and they did. The steak was very tough and chewy. The noodles were more like linguine, rather than an authentic Asian noodle. The sauce was thin and had a very light teriyaki taste to it. The spring rolls were pretty much empty and tasted like grease (and the grease dripping down my fingers led me to believe an amateur made them). Everything else we tried was really disappointing and needless to say, this was definitely a thumbs down from our crowd of foodies. Hopefully they can rebound on our next visit.

Vic's Downtown Raleigh

We went to Vic's Italian restaurant in market square in Downtown Raleigh on Saturday afternoon for lunch. I've been there a bunch of times and have always had nice things to say about the food and service at Vic's. This time was no different. The pizza is N.Y. style fold able crispy outside and chewy inside with a nice sauce. I think they have one of the better pizzas in the area. Their meals are always served with a basket of knotted rolls that are brushed with garlic oil and are very addictive and always disappear fast. We did try the meat Lasagna for lunch and thought the presentation was terrible as it was served in the dish it was baked in and it was all burnt around the edges with sauce splattered around the rim it was just messy looking and not very appealing. The Lasagna over all for a lunch portion was kinda small and did lack flavor. Most of Vic's dishes are very traditional Italian and should satisfy your appetite. But their main attraction is the Pizza and the charm of the old interior and wonderful out door patio which is great for people watching. The staff is still run by family and most of the employees are Italian and have been there quit along time. Vic's is one of those old neighborhood gems that should be enjoyed considering things are really changing Downtown with a lot of smaller businesses selling out to developers aka Cooper's BBQ. I recommend Vic's for a nice romantic dinner that won't set you back a ton or a enjoyable lunch for a great afternoon spent walking around Downtown. Vic's is a very charming place and a local favorite. Vic's gets a 7 for it's Pizza.

Ziggy's @ The Factory in Wake Forest N.C.

I was checking out the lunch scene around South Main St. in Wake Forest today. And I remebered I wanted to try Ziggy's at the factory on S.Main St. in Wake Forest N.C. Well the first thing I ordered was the pizza I got a small cheese pizza photo above. Now it looked good but we all know looks are decieving right? and they were. Tasteless sauce,avg. processed cheese, and among the worst dough I have had. And as you can see they need to clean out the oven once in a while. That chared stuff gave it an awful taste and the dough tasted old. On a scale of 1-10 Ziggy's gets a 3 for it's pizza. I also tried their meatball sub with provolone cheese. Lets just say I prefer and expect real homemade meatballs for more than $8 bucks a sandwich. Once again I was dissapointed. The meatballs were from a frozen origin and were not even sitting in sauce before they were put in the bun. A good meatball is always homemade and always cooked in and sitting in homemade sauce so that it soaks up the flavors. These balls were just unfrozen then topped with sauce and served. And the roll it was served on was like a wet sponge. It was soo doughy and way to soft to hold a meatball sandwich together. Ziggy's gets a 1 for it's meatball sub el yuck-o! Go in for a cold beer and save you money for some real food.

Ate out last night and...

It was very average at best. There were four of us going out together for the very first. We wanted to go to a place that was not a franchise and not too foofy (aka) expensive and small portioned. So we all decided to head to Downtown Raleigh and check out The Duck & Dumpling. This is sort of an upscale eclectic Chinese restaurant in the heart of the city right across from Moores Park. I have eaten there for lunch in the past and really enjoyed the food and service. However this time was a bit different. The place wasn't that busy for a Friday night, maybe that was a sign. We all reviewed the menu and bounced entrees off each other trying to decide what to eat. I will say the menu is on the brave side paring pineapple with curry sauce and adding brussel sprouts to many of the dishes. But It really made the menu pop and gave all of us something to talk about. We had the impression based on the menu that we were in good hands and the Chef really knew his food, Soon to be our food floating around in glory inside our respected bellies. That was not the case at all. We were all looking forward to the dumplings hence The Duck and Dumpling name. BTW there are numerous duck options on the menu as well. Anyway back to the dump-lings, on a scale of 1-10 they were rated a 5 at best. After seeing Bobby Flay on the Food Networks Throwndown show creating fresh made dumplings that look like works of food art with perfect carmelization and perfect dumpling formation. I was really watering at the mouth before they came out. Then bam! there they were screaming let down. I was deflated by the odd hand formed ob longish, squarish shape they had and they were not all shaped equal either. But there was always the taste right? that is what really counts. And counting numbers on a scale of 1-10, I give the taste a 4 very bland boring taste. Now I had these at lunch a few times before and they were quit tasty so it may have been a bad night in the kitchen. We also tried the spring rolls we received two very small and narrow shaped rolls a top two small bundles of lettuce with dipping sauce on the side. Once again these were not very tasty I thought the dumplings were better and that is not saying much. As for the entrees they all looked picture perfect I mean really sexy glistening edible art work straight out of Bon appetit magazine. But they do say don't judge a book by its cover, very true in deed. To keep it short and sweet the entrees where very bland and tasteless. I had the Noodles with summer seafood with a soy ginger glaze and vegetables. Sounds good enough but the portion was small and the sauce really tasted like a watered down teriyaki sauce. It had shrimp and scallops in the dish that were steamed. They should have been pan seared scallops and grilled shrimp to really bring out some flavors. I love Asian noodles but these were fried and served as a bed for the rest of the dish. I was really looking forward to atleast enjoying some noodles as all else had failed me. Eating semi fried noodles with chop sticks doesn't work so well. I had to convert to using a fork and knife to eat them only to realize they were not worthy to rumble in my tumbly. This dinner was very expensive for two of us with only one drink between us the cost was over $90 bucks. best bet for the Duck & Dumpling in Raleigh, N.C. is the lunch fare or go there at night for the drinks & the sites and sounds of Down Town.

Chinese food take out

In Boston Chinese food take out is huge especially on the North shore of town. Everyone and I mean everyone as long as I can remember orders Chinese food for New years eve. It is a phenomenon! if you go outside of Boston and tell people this they think you are crazy! but these Chinese joints are making a bundle on this holiday. They actually are so busy during this day that they have special menus that you order from and in some cases you need to place your order a few days in advance.

It's a crazy but tasty tradition that I really love Any other local traditions out there when it comes to food?

Oh Pizza pizza where are you?

OK am I old school or just being picky? but what happened to pizza? I mean when I grew up pizza was made by hard working people usually with there family by there side with names like Vinny, Tony, Frankie and Sal, you get the picture. Pizza was primarily cooked in those big steel double Decker ovens with pizza stones inside unless they had an old coal oven or one of those huge rotating stone ovens that I remember at Santarpio's pizza in East Boston, Ma.. You would watch these guys work the dough, sauce and top the pizza's with such speed and accuracy it was amazing. then the way they slide that pizza pie in the oven and move it around to just the right spot to cook evenly. It really was an art form and I know it is still alive but it is threathen big time now. Recently all I have been seeing pop up all over are those conveyor belt pizza shops. It just ain't right. Take little Caesars Pizza for instance, they are becoming the McDonald's of the pizza world. They actually offer pizza hot and ready and at only 5 bucks a pie people are flocking to them on the week nights for cheap eats. The pizza is awful and it sits under a heat lamp until someone drives up to the drive thru window to pick it up. And they are cooked with zero skill in one of those high tech. conveyor belt ovens, all they care about unfortunately is the cash and not their product. It really takes away from the art of pizza making and the true taste of homemade dough and sauce which varied from pizza shop to pizza shop and from neighborhood to neighborhood back in the day. Look at Pizza Hut the self proclaimed America's favorite pizza, God awful stuff but still they make millions. What's going on in America when big chains with less quality pizza are winning the fight for hard earned consumer dollars and putting Mom and pop pizza shops out of business. What's next? Pasta? oh yeah Pizza Hut is trying to make a play in that market as well. I say forgetabout it! we need to get Tony the pizza maker back and open up a pizza academy to teach all the pizza shop entrepreneurs the real basics of pizza making and the true taste, texture and love that the old timers put into every slice. How hard could it really be to make a great chain pizza when they have all the dollars to back them up? Support your local pizza shop and demand better pizza. Who's your favorite Pizzeria?