Dallas "CapnZilog" H.'s Profile
DateSanta Clara, CA 95054
(888) 768-7469
Global Winter Wonderland
Category:
Festivals
Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 371-8729
Grill 'Em
Categories:
Steakhouses,
Burgers,
Sports Bars
We went to "Grill 'em tonight, the new restaurant at 2509 S. Bascom that I've been waiting to open for some time. Although the outside of the restaurant looks inviting, I have to wonder about the interior... what were they thinking? This is a restaurant with a split-personality. Essentially, it can't decide whether it wants to be a urban/modern martini bar or a steakhouse - maybe with a bit of downscale Hooters thrown in for good measure.
First: There is no partition, physically or in terms of décor, between the bar and the restaurant. Essentially, the restaurant is just one big bar, with tacky black padded booths around the edge that make me think about velvet ropes, bouncers and VIP's surrounding nondescript wooden tables - and not too many at that. The dining area is actually a lot smaller than you'd think given the size of the building from the outside. The real bar, however is foreboding in its isolation being separated as it is from the dining area by a bare walkway with absolutely no chairs or tables suitable for "just drinkin'" in its immediate vicinity.
The walls are completely free of art or bric-a-brac; the reddish bar paint and dark concrete flooring combined with a total lack of custom design work and depressing restroom area makes me think that I've walked into a Las Vegas strip club that decided to add food at the last minute.
The concept of grilling your own steak, which I do like, fails in its execution. First, there's a disconnect between the side dishes and the entrée here. When are the sides supposed to show up? The waitresses have no idea when to bring these to your table since there's no "kitchen" to keep all of these things in sync. And secondly, there's just something rather unappetizing about having to move plates of raw meat from your dining table, where you'll be eating, and back again. What needs to be done is something along the Mongolian BBQ model, where next to the grill there's a refrigerated section for you to pick up your steak, grill it, and then advance to a steam table for the sides. There's also the sanitation question - at what point are you supposed to wash your hands after (possibly) touching raw meat? I dunno, having some hand cleaners and an abundant supply of disposable tongs/chopsticks nearby might help.
As to the grill itself, while impressive it has no "zones" - which means that if you'd like to cook your cheese bread over low heat while your steak takes its time cooking, you're out of luck. Given that some of the most popular cuts of steak were as thick as my fist, I noticed that lots of people had problems cooking their meat properly. Undercooked steaks and overcooked bread were common, with people going back and forth to the grill after cutting into their meat.
Décor and process aside, the entrees were pretty good. The steaks looked as good as anyone could ask, as was the grilled chicken salad and chicken sandwich - although, for $8.95 I would have expected grilled chicken breast instead of thigh. My Coke, as has been mentioned elsewhere, was rather flat - while I didn't get any refills, it was large enough to last the meal. The steak fries we ordered were superb - although, as has been mentioned before, timing the sides to the entrees is a tricky thing and the waitresses weren't exactly attentive or particularly approachable.
We wrapped up our meal by sharing a very disappointing Bananas Foster, which is not listed on their Web menu. What is a Bananas Foster, you ask? The very definition, served tableside in all its glory at Brennan's in New Orleans, involves bananas, sliced lengthwise, grilled in brown sugar, butter and cinnamon with banana liqueur before being doused in rum and set aflame prior to pouring over vanilla ice cream. Absolute heaven : http://tinyurl.com/69agkh
That's not what we got.
The Grill 'em version consisted of a plate of bananas (sliced cross-wise, like hot dogs) that had been cooked in some kind of brown sugar/cinnamon sauce along with some rather sad-looking raisins (rum raisins?) mixed in with mini-marshmallows (!) and topped with an artless dollop of whipped cream. No ice cream, although my daughter mentioned seeing some fine print somewhere on the menu that ice cream costs extra.
Apparently this was a new item, because the cook/manager came out to ask us how we liked it. I mentioned the Brennan's dish, which she seemed familiar with, and how disappointed we were with this one and its presentation. No effort was made to give us an alternate dessert or refund our money - just an "oh, uh-huh" and that was about it.
Overall, this is one of those restaurant concepts that has so much promise, but not in its current state. In general, any restaurant with decent entrees deserves 3 stars just on the face of it, but somehow I can't quite bring myself to here - 2.49 stars is the best I can do, as rounding up to 3 wouldn't do justice to convey my overall disappoint
2 Previous Reviews:
-
8/25/2008
We went to "Grill 'em tonight, the new restaurant at 2509 S. Bascom that I've been waiting to open for some time. Although the outside of the restaurant looks inviting, I have to wonder about the interior... what were they thinking? This is a restaurant with a split-personality. Essentially, it can't decide whether it wants to be a urban/modern martini bar or a steakhouse - maybe with a bit of downscale Hooters thrown in for good measure.
First: There is no partition, physically or in terms of décor, between the bar and the restaurant. Essentially, the restaurant is just one big bar, with tacky black padded booths around the edge that make me think about velvet ropes, bouncers and VIP's surrounding nondescript wooden tables - and not too many at that. The dining area is actually a lot smaller than you'd think given the size of the building from the outside. The real bar, however is foreboding in its isolation being separated as it is from the dining area by a bare walkway with absolutely no chairs or tables suitable for "just drinkin'" in its immediate vicinity.
The walls are completely free of art or bric-a-brac; the reddish bar paint and dark concrete flooring combined with a total lack of custom design work and depressing restroom area makes me think that I've walked into a Las Vegas strip club that decided to add food at the last minute.
The concept of grilling your own steak, which I do like, fails in its execution. First, there's a disconnect between the side dishes and the entrée here. When are the sides supposed to show up? The waitresses have no idea when to bring these to your table since there's no "kitchen" to keep all of these things in sync. And secondly, there's just something rather unappetizing about having to move plates of raw meat from your dining table, where you'll be eating, and back again. What needs to be done is something along the Mongolian BBQ model, where next to the grill there's a refrigerated section for you to pick up your steak, grill it, and then advance to a steam table for the sides. There's also the sanitation question - at what point are you supposed to wash your hands after (possibly) touching raw meat? I dunno, having some hand cleaners and an abundant supply of disposable tongs/chopsticks nearby might help.
As to the grill itself, while impressive it has no "zones" - which means that if you'd like to cook your cheese bread over low heat while your steak takes its time cooking, you're out of luck. Given that some of the most popular cuts of steak were as thick as my fist, I noticed that lots of people had problems cooking their meat properly. Undercooked steaks and overcooked bread were common, with people going back and forth to the grill after cutting into their meat.
Décor and process aside, the entrees were pretty good. The steaks looked as good as anyone could ask, as was the grilled chicken salad and chicken sandwich - although, for $8.95 I would have expected grilled chicken breast instead of thigh. My Coke, as has been mentioned elsewhere, was rather flat - while I didn't get any refills, it was large enough to last the meal. The steak fries we ordered were superb - although, as has been mentioned before, timing the sides to the entrees is a tricky thing and the waitresses weren't exactly attentive or particularly approachable.
We wrapped up our meal by sharing a very disappointing Bananas Foster, which is not listed on their Web menu. What is a Bananas Foster, you ask? The very definition, served tableside in all its glory at Brennan's in New Orleans, involves bananas, sliced lengthwise, grilled in brown sugar, butter and cinnamon with banana liqueur before being doused in rum and set aflame prior to pouring over vanilla ice cream. Absolute heaven : http://tinyurl.co...
That's not what we got.
The Grill 'em version consisted of a plate of bananas (sliced cross-wise, like hot dogs) that had been cooked in some kind of brown sugar/cinnamon sauce along with some rather sad-looking raisins (rum raisins?) mixed in with mini-marshmallows (!) and topped with an artless dollop of whipped cream. No ice cream, although my daughter mentioned seeing some fine print somewhere on the menu that ice cream costs extra.
Apparently this was a new item, because the cook/manager came out to ask us how we liked it. I mentioned the Brennan's dish, which she seemed familiar with, and how disappointed we were with this one and its presentation. No effort was made to give us an alternate dessert or refund our money - just an "oh, uh-huh" and that was about it.
Overall, this is one of those restaurant concepts that has so much promise, but not in its current state. In general, any restaurant with decent entrees deserves 3 stars just on the face of it, but somehow I can't quite bring myself to here - 2.49 stars is the best I can do, as rounding up to 3 wouldn't do justice to convey my overall disappointment. -
7/26/2008
We went to "Grill 'em tonight, the new restaurant at 2509 S. Bascom that I've been waiting to open for some time. Although the outside of the restaurant looks inviting, I have to wonder about the interior... what were they thinking? This is a restaurant with a split-personality. Essentially, it can't decide whether it wants to be a urban/modern martini bar or a steakhouse - maybe with a bit of downscale Hooters thrown in for good measure.
First: There is no partition, physically or in terms of décor, between the bar and the restaurant. Essentially, the restaurant is just one big bar, with tacky black padded booths around the edge that make me think about velvet ropes, bouncers and VIP's surrounding nondescript wooden tables - and not too many at that. The dining area is actually a lot smaller than you'd think given the size of the building from the outside. The real bar, however is foreboding in its isolation being separated as it is from the dining area by a bare walkway with absolutely no chairs or tables suitable for "just drinkin'" in its immediate vicinity.
The walls are completely free of art or bric-a-brac; the reddish bar paint and dark concrete flooring combined with a total lack of custom design work and depressing restroom area makes me think that I've walked into a Las Vegas strip club that decided to add food at the last minute.
The concept of grilling your own steak, which I do like, fails in its execution. First, there's a disconnect between the side dishes and the entrée here. When are the sides supposed to show up? The waitresses have no idea when to bring these to your table since there's no "kitchen" to keep all of these things in sync. And secondly, there's just something rather unappetizing about having to move plates of raw meat from your dining table, where you'll be eating, and back again. What needs to be done is something along the Mongolian BBQ model, where next to the grill there's a refrigerated section for you to pick up your steak, grill it, and then advance to a steam table for the sides. There's also the sanitation question - at what point are you supposed to wash your hands after (possibly) touching raw meat? I dunno, having some hand cleaners and an abundant supply of disposable tongs/chopsticks nearby might help.
As to the grill itself, while impressive it has no "zones" - which means that if you'd like to cook your cheese bread over low heat while your steak takes its time cooking, you're out of luck. Given that some of the most popular cuts of steak were as thick as my fist, I noticed that lots of people had problems cooking their meat properly. Undercooked steaks and overcooked bread were common, with people going back and forth to the grill after cutting into their meat.
Décor and process aside, the entrees were pretty good. The steaks looked as good as anyone could ask, as was the grilled chicken salad and chicken sandwich - although, for $8.95 I would have expected grilled chicken breast instead of thigh. My Coke, as has been mentioned elsewhere, was rather flat - while I didn't get any refills, it was large enough to last the meal. The steak fries we ordered were superb - although, as has been mentioned before, timing the sides to the entrees is a tricky thing and the waitresses weren't exactly attentive or particularly approachable.
We wrapped up our meal by sharing a very disappointing Bananas Foster, which is not listed on their Web menu. What is a Bananas Foster, you ask? The very definition, served tableside in all its glory at Brennan's in New Orleans, involves bananas, sliced lengthwise, grilled in brown sugar, butter and cinnamon with banana liqueur before being doused in rum and set aflame prior to pouring over vanilla ice cream. Absolute heaven : http://www.brenna...
That's not what we got.
The Grill 'em version consisted of a plate of bananas (sliced cross-wise, like hot dogs) that had been cooked in some kind of brown sugar/cinnamon sauce along with some rather sad-looking raisins (rum raisins?) mixed in with mini-marshmallows (!) and topped with an artless dollop of whipped cream. No ice cream, although my daughter mentioned seeing some fine print somewhere on the menu that ice cream costs extra.
Apparently this was a new item, because the cook/manager came out to ask us how we liked it. I mentioned the Brennan's dish, which she seemed familiar with, and how disappointed we were with this one and its presentation. No effort was made to give us an alternate dessert or refund our money - just an "oh, uh-huh" and that was about it.
Overall, this is one of those restaurant concepts that has so much promise, but not in its current state. In general, any restaurant with decent entrees deserves 3 stars just on the face of it, but somehow I can't quite bring myself to here - 2.49 stars is the best I can do, as rounding up to 3 wouldn't do justice to convey my overall disappointment.
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 244-5599
99 Chicken
Categories:
Korean,
Chicken Wings
I have to say that I was disappointed with the fact the only chicken you can get at 99 Chicken are drumsticks and wings. As far as taste and texture goes, it's incredibly basic - if you were to just drop chicken pieces in fat and then sprinkle with salt, you wouldn't be far off. The overall result was crispy, but kinda tendon-y and dark-meaty drumsticks that seemed slightly undercooked, even if they weren't. I ordered the 6-piece, which comes with a free (very basic) salad bar and so-so steamed rice.
Nothing to write home about, this - give me some good pressure-fried chicken cooked in peanut oil with some batter bits to pick off and a bit of spicy zip. This chicken came a little too close to what I might have made myself at home in a pinch before the Pressure Magic came along. Friendly atmosphere, but not particularly special (or quick.)
The menu boasts dozens of burger combinations to choose from, along with a few other BBQ items like chicken, ribs, hot dogs and hot lousiana sausage (yeah!). Basic burger is $6.95, double burger $9.85. Superb topping options - I ordered bacon and sharp (real) cheddar, which came with 3 large slices of BBQ'd bacon, very good - but not quite as amazing as the ultra-thick applewood-smoked bacon you might find at the Country Inn or Kirk's. Huge fresh onion rings were very good at $3.95. The lemonade wasn't so good - it had a rather chemical taste, coming from a soda fountain rather than the more naturally-made house drink one might have expected at a place like this.
Nice open-air indoor patio seating; the earthy roadhouse ambience makes Clarke's a friendly and relaxing place to escape to. However, the burgers weren't exactly life-changing! You could compare them to a less tangy, but more charred, version of Kirk's. The burger, rings and two drinks ran me something like $17.50, ouch. I'll definitely be back to try the hot dogs and LA Hots - those are the items that keep me coming back to two of my other Bay Area haunts, the Garrett in Campell and the aforementioned Kirk's.
Counter service was friendly and quick, and the busy waitresses were pleasant with the "hon's" and the soda refills. Not interested in the fries or the shakes - just the burgers, although they had plenty of other items on the menu. Ordered a Mama Burger with bacon on a french roll, served medium well - which was delicious, and basically identical to what you'd get at a Kirk's Steakburgers in San Jose. Even the meat was similar - very lightly pressed, with a little bit of that tangy 'aged' flavor to the meat which is sometimes too prominent at Kirk's.
I have no doubt that Val's is a real treat in this otherwise uninspiring section of the East Bay, but down South we already have our Kirk's, our Clarke's, and our Country Inns which are every bit as good, with nicer atmosphere. 3.49 stars, rounded down.
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"Illegitimi non carborundum."
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7 Useful, 2 Funny, and 4 Cool
Cupertino, CA
Yelping SinceMarch 2008
Find Me Infront of a pair of reference studio monitors
My HometownCupertino, CA
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I'm reading a book. Or Mixing. Or listening to music with lots of notes.
Why You Should Read My ReviewsBecause I put the "J" in "INTJ"
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadThe Age Of American Unreason
My First ConcertDay On The Green, 1980
My Favorite MovieStar Wars
My Last Meal On EarthRocky Point, Big Sur
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...Chinese Hot Fruit Flavored Beef Jerky is da bomb
Most Recent DiscoveryOur common banana is called the "Cavendish"
Current CrushWest Highland White Terriers.
However, the lights by themselves make for a bit of a lonely exhibit over so much space, and the rather sad constructo-barn built for the Food Court & knicknack shops (long-eared fuzzy Hello Kitty earmuff hat, $13) weren't enough to make up for it. Same goes for the Midway, which was well lit, but rather sterile and missing whatever carny magic it is that makes midways interesting.
As far as the food goes, the Giant Pizza Slice ($10, incl,. medium drink) was, I will say right now, excellent - I'd be a regular if this was a real restaurant. The salmon sushi ($12 for a large roll) was also very good, and hand made on the spot which I was surprised to see. My fish-critical Japanese wife was happy with it.
Overall, it felt like an event that would have been perfect as a Chinese New Year event in Cupertino's Memorial Park, but was struggling slightly in the isolated loneliness of Great America's vast, treeless parking wasteland.
For first-time execution, 3.5 stars (round up) is very fair, but if the show comes back next year refreshed and with the feel worked out (what this needs are some live performers, foliage, artificial snow, better shops and music besides the food court band) it could easily be a 4.5 star event.
-djh