I drove through the drive-thru today and noticed on the sign the different new third pound Angus burgers that McDonald’s is serving.  I decided to try one since they had looked pretty good on commercials and had been curious.  The drive-thru experience was predictably top-notch here.  They usually get your order pretty quickly as well as take your money and serve you your meal.  I ate the fries on the way home, which were really good and hot.  Then, when I got home, I had the Angus burger.  The deluxe has mayo, mustard, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and cheese.  I must say that I was disappointed in the taste of this burger.  It just didn’t have the zing-factor that I like in a burger.  There was nothing special about it.  While it wasn’t terrible, I felt like I just ate it because it was there.  It was obvious that this burger contained more meat than the patties that are on a Big Mac or McDonald’s cheeseburger.  It was definitely a more significant type burger that you think of when you think of a ‘burger’.  However, I can think of a lot of other places that I would rather get a substantial burger from if I was in a mood for that type of burger.  As for a McDonald’s meal, I’ll stick with the cheeseburger or Big Mac.

Click here to see my past McDonald’s Reviews.

This Five Guys is located in Hamilton Town Center.  I walked into this Five Guys location and glanced at the slim offerings on the menu.  Your choices are burgers, hotdogs, grilled cheese, fries, and drinks.  Also on the menu board is the list of all the complimentary toppings that you can get.  After I walked in, I was promptly helped and gave my order of a cheeseburger with six of my favorite toppings.  The server asked if I would like any fries or drink to go with that and gave me my receipt with my order number.  I sat a while for my order, probably about 10 minutes (the restaurant was not too busy on a Sunday evening), and looked around at the decor.  They have a lot of articles posted on the walls about the different stores with reviews and stories.  As I waited, I saw several tables being cleaned off.  The restaurant had a very clean feel.  My number was called, and it was hard to hear the person saying it.  Every time the person would call a number, they would call it towards the wall, so it made it very hard to hear.  They should really come up with a different system here because I think it would have been difficult to hear even if he had been calling towards the customers.  They could give out the numbers to sit on your table or have an electronic number pop up while they call a number.  I ate my cheeseburger, and it made sense as to why the menu was so small.  They make burgers, and they make burgers well.  Wow, this was a delicious cheeseburger!  It was juicy, and it had such good flavor.  I am already thinking of when I will go back to get this cheeseburger again!

They went and changed McAlister’s Deli on me!  It all started when I went in, and the menu board had changed.  It’s more representative now of a bistro or such, than a traditional deli with the vivid colors and the pictures that are now up there.  My typical go-to meal, Taco Salad, was still there, but I also noticed a Chipotle salad that I don’t remember seeing in the past that also sounded pretty good.  The second thing I noticed was that the napkins were no longer readily available on the counter.  They used to have those and straws, as well as mints, out in between the seating area and the cash registers.  Now, the straws are up at the cash registers, and I had to ask for napkins at the counter.  (I’m assuming they typically come with your meal now.)  I didn’t notice any mints laying out this time, and they didn’t come with my meal like they typically do either.  We had to wait a little longer than usual for our meals to come out.  I’m assuming there was some confusion in the kitchen because I saw two tables who had the wrong things brought out to them.  When the person I was dining with and I got our meals, they switched whose was whose (we each had order numbers and the waiter clearly said whose was whose), and we didn’t realize it until we had already started eating (both had taco salads, just with little differences between each).  Then we realized the mistake after I had already mixed the sour cream into my salad, and doesn’t it figure, the person I was dining with does not like sour cream.  They had asked for no sour cream, but both of ours came with it anyways.  (If theirs would have came without the sour cream as requested, then we would have easily been able to tell whose was whose.)  So, after trying to get the sour cream portion out of mine as much as possible, we just switched and ate, so as not to have to wait any longer.  The one thing that they changed about the taco salad is that it no longer comes with black olives.  I say, bring back the black olives!  They also now serve the salads in bright colored bowls.  They used to serve in the black plastic saucer-type dishes with a piece of paper on the top that had the McAlister’s Deli logo written all over.  To me, that had more of a deli type look and feel to it.  The new dishes and menu board do update the place a bit.  It would be nice to see the decor updated along with these new changes.  We were given plenty of refills on our drinks during our meal.  There was a picture of the Colossial Carrot Cake, and it looked quite good.

See my otherMcAlister’s Deli reviews.

Monday through Friday between 11a.m. and 2p.m., Izakaya serves the hibachi items from a lunch menu.  Several of the menu items were priced between $10 and $15 and came with fried rice as well as the vegetables.  Some of the items to choose from where the shrimp, scallops, chicken, and steak (not positive these were all in the $10-$15 range, but they would have only been a few dollars more being they were on the lunch menu).  They also had combos of chicken and steak or shrimp and steak.  The experience at Izakaya was very enjoyable.  The staff were very friendly and attentive, making sure all drinks were promptly filled and our orders accurately taken.  The cook was talented, displaying his skills on the hibachi grill in front of us.  The meal was very good.  All of the items seemed like they were a little salty, but perhaps this is the standard taste of this type of meal.  It’s been a while since I’ve eaten this type of food.  A person who was dining with me ordered the sushi, and they really enjoyed it.  They mentioned that it was the best sushi they had had in a while.  This was a very enjoyable dining experience.  I was with a large group and therefore we took up a whole table by ourselves.  It would be worth noting, if it was just a couple people dining together at the hibachi tables (where they cook your food right in front of you), you would likely be seated with other people you didn’t know unless you possibly went at a time of day when it wasn’t very busy.

I was planning on getting cheeseburgers when I went to McDonald’s today, but when I arrived I noticed that the sign said, “McRib is Back!”.  I decided to have that, and it was right on par with its normal quality.  The fries were good.  I was pleasantly surprised when I was handed a large soft drink when I had purchased the combo meal.  Typically when I order a combo meal from here, they have always came with the medium soft drink, even when they have the offer going on where the drinks (whether small, medium, or large) are all $1.  The prices have went up recently at this McDonald’s, so I’m not sure if they just built a large drink into the combo prices or if it was just a mistake that I received the large drink.

Click here to see my past McDonald’s Reviews.

YogoKiss must not be a chain because when I went to their website, only the 96th street location was listed.  When you go in, there is a list of smoothies you can get, or you can choose the frozen yogurt.  When I was there, there were three different flavors of frozen yogurt to choose from.  One was plain (which I was told doesn’t really taste like vanilla), the other was chocolate, and then there was a third.  There were quite a few toppings that could be added to the top of the frozen yogurt…everything from breakfast cereals to more traditional toppings.  You were able to sample the different frozen yogurts, and I wish that I would have.  Instead I opted for the Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie.  They made the smoothie as I was waiting, and it took a few minutes to make.  I was a little disappointed in the taste.  It seemed like maybe there was too much ice that was used because it had a very watered down taste for containing blueberry and pomegranate.  I was really looking forward to a strong, fruity taste.  However, it tasted more like a Popsicle, with a subtle fruit flavor.  I also felt that the smoothie’s cost was a bit high.  For a comparable price, I could have gotten a frappucino at Starbuck’s, and I would have enjoyed it more.  The Ikea (from what it appeared) decorated YogoKiss had several areas for sitting down and chatting with friends or enjoying your treat alone.  There were several couches as well as several round tables.  There were also many magazines in which to browse along the walls.

Today I had lunch at Ruby Tuesday.  I started with the salad bar, which was very clean and fresh.  I created a large salad along with the pasta salad, Waldorf Salad, and the potato salad.  The salad bar actually was included with the Ruby Mini’s on the lunch menu for $8.99.  Next up were my mini hamburgers.  If you’re in the mood for a big burger, this is probably not what you’re looking for.  The lunch portion comes with two of the small hamburgers with small little beef patties.  They are nice and light and are a good amount of food if you take advantage of the salad bar.  The little hamburgers were good, but they weren’t amazing or anything.  They each had a tiny amount of condiments on them, such as ketchup and little onion strings.  There isn’t a whole lot of taste to them like on a regular sized burger.  Also, about a handful of fries comes on the plate.  I really do like their fries, as they have a bit of seasoning to them.  The service was very good today, with our drinks being constantly filled and our orders and requests coming back accurately and timely.

See my past Ruby Tuesday Review.

Today’s meal at Ruby Tuesday was very nice.  I started out with the salad bar.  You can add it to your entree for a few dollars.  Every time that I have gotten the salad bar, the items have been fresh and pretty full in their dishes.  I’ve also seen workers cleaning around the bowls of food, and they do keep it very clean and fresh looking.  It’s a small salad bar, but they do have quite a few different things up there.  They have a few different types of lettuce to chose from along with many things to put on the lettuce such as eggs, ham, broccoli, mushrooms, a couple different cheeses, croutons, sesame seeds, and several different dressings.  I also usually see a pasta salad, a potato salad, a very creamy Waldorf salad, and a few other things.  I had a salad, pasta salad, potato salad, and the Waldorf salad.  Everything tasted very fresh and was quite good. 

Next, my Parmesan Shrimp Pasta came.  The first thing I noticed was the abundance of shrimp that came on it.  I would estimate that I had about 15 decent sized shrimp on top of the pasta.  The second thing I noticed was that there wasn’t a whole lot of the Parmesan Cream Sauce on the noodles.  However, when I was eating it, it was enough, it just would have been nice to have a bit more.  The sauce was very tasty though and the shrimp had a nice subtle spice.  One thing that the dish was missing was a piece of garlic bread or breadstick or something. 

The meal was very good, and the service was pretty good.  Overall, it was a very good dining experience.

I’ll start with the one that sticks out that was not so pleasant.  It was in Noblesville, IN at the Hamilton Town Center.  There, I dined at Stone Creek Dining Company.  From the outside and the interior decor, it looked as if this was going to be a really nice dinner.  After about a half an hour  to 45 minute wait, we finally were following some girl as she speed-walked to the table we were going to be sitting at.  Then, no friendly chit-chat or anything, she handed us our menus and was off.  Then, we were greeted by one of the worse servers I have had.  This person literally was sweating and wiping the sweat with their hands.    Yes, the same person that brought us our meal and drinks.  Well, I should add that this person was supposed to bring us our drinks…our drinks were empty for most of the meal.  The server never even came around much for us to ask for drinks, and when we did tell them, we would usually have to mention it again to actually get it.  We just left this dining establishment frazzled.  On top of that, the meal we got was just okay.  I really hope that things have gotten better there because we were extremely dissatisfied.

On a much better note, a place that I really enjoyed was Kincaid’s in Clay Terrace in Carmel, IN.  The service was okay, but the food was great.  I’ve been there twice in the last two months because I enjoyed the food so much.  I have had the Seafood Linguine for dinner and the Pacific Tiger Prawn Linguine for lunch.  The seafood is a good size, and I really enjoy the white alfredo sauces they use for both of those.  Here is the menu for both the lunch and dinner.  I have dined with others who have gotten the Bering Sea Red King Crab Cakes for dinner and the Fish and Chips for lunch, and they really enjoyed both.

I also dined at Buca di Beppo in Castleton.  There they serve a majority of their food family style, so you pick a couple dishesand share with others in your group.  Some items that we got were the Bruschetta, Mozzarella Garlic Bread, Cheese Manicotti, and Raviolli with Meat Sauce.  All the items were very good, and the dishes remind me of home cooking.  It’s definitely a different taste than other Italian restaurants such as Carrabba’s and Macaroni Grill.   Those two taste more like what you would expect when dining out, and to me, Buca di Beppo has more of a taste like my grandma had worked in the kitchen for hours preparing the meal.

When I drove up, the line for the drive-thru was really long so I decided to go in.  There was only one cash register lane open (perhaps all there ever is?) once I got in there, and there was a very long line.  It took a long time, probably about 10 minutes (possibly more), for me to get up to the counter to order.  Once I did order, my chili was handed to me in about 30 seconds.  Despite the ridiculous wait, the chili was very good and warm.  They also gave me plenty of crackers to enjoy with the chili.