Joe E.'s Profile

This place has a nice comfortable atmosphere and good food. I ordered the sirloin burger with sweet potato fries. Aside from maybe needing a tiny bit of seasoning on the meat, the burger was pretty tasty. Sweet potato fries were cooked nicely.

The people were friendly - I get the feeling that this would be a nice place to just come by to hang out and relax.

I really don't expect much out of a food-court place, but even so, this place was pretty disappointing.

First off, I was planning on ordering a brisket plate with mac-and-cheese and hushpuppies, and an iced tea. They were out of brisket, out of mac-and-cheese, and had discontinued the hushpuppies even though they were still on the menu. Oh yeah, and there was no iced tea and no ice (they did refill the ice). So zero percent of what I wanted was available.

I ended up ordering pulled chicken, with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. The chicken was pretty dry and tasteless, even with the rub, and the sauce was pretty bland. The mashed potatoes were old, and had some kind of weird skin (not a potato skin, more like the skin you see on pudding). The corn on the cob was actually ok.

To their credit, they did give me a discounted price because of everything being unavailable.

If you're stuck eating at the food court at the outlets, I'd suggest going to one of the safer places, like the Chinese place, or the sandwich place.

This is just a great place to get a cup of coffee, some food, and get some work done. Plenty of seating, including comfortable chairs at the tables, and nice furniture to kick back on.

They make a pretty decent breakfast burrito too.

This really was nothing special, and not a place I see myself going back to.

First up was the bread. I'm not sure if I just got a bad batch, or if it's supposed to be like this. It tasted like someone took saltine crackers, set them on fire, then after they were sufficiently burnt, they were put in the refrigerator for a day or two. It was cold (not room temperature, but actually cold) and tasteless.

I ordered the Al Sole pizza, which actually wasn't bad. It was 12 inches, so a pretty good deal for $11, and was more than enough to take some home for breakfast tomorrow. It might be a little inconsistent, with the crust being just shy of burnt and the top a touch soggy. But the flavor was pretty decent.

After I had finished, I sat back and basically twiddled my thumbs for 15-20 minutes, with nobody checking up on me. I was planning on ordering dessert, but I did want to get home at some point, so I didn't risk another long wait. Finally the server came by and got me a box, asked if I needed anything else (no), and then proceeded to not get me the check. Finally after another wait the (owner? manager?) came by with the check.

Once in a while, I get the feeling that since I usually eat alone and don't order alcohol, I get lower quality service because they wouldn't get as big a tip as with a big party or a big drinker. When I'm alone and treated good, I always tip way above average (30-40%), but not today.

This is not the kind of place you see from the street - it's tucked away in a small complex. But not terribly hard to find - just find your way to the parking garage and it's just a few doors down.

I ordered the "Hatch" omelette, and it was very good. Chicken cooked perfectly, just a tiny bit charred, along with onions and green chilis. Add a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, and it makes an excellent breakfast.

This was a good breakfast stop. I ordered the meat and cheese omelette, which had a few meats along with smoked gouda. Delicious. On the side was a generous portion of potatoes and a cup of fruit, along with toast.

The food was cooked very nicely, and the smoked gouda was the perfect flavor to go along with the rest of the plate.

Just make sure you bring your apetite, since you'll get a lot of food.

This is a decent enough place, but not something I'd go out of my way for.

I ordered the pesto penne with chicken dish. First out was the salad, but only about a minute before the entree - there seemed to be some confusion somewhere in the kitchen, so I think the timing of my salad was a victim of that. But no big deal.

The pasta dish was okay. It may have been a little light on the pesto - there wasn't much green on or in it at all. The chicken was breaded a little differently than I'm used to - not bad, but I think it would have been better if it was flavored with something a little more distinct instead of a generic dark breading.

I ordered a cannoli for dessert. This was pretty decent - not my favorite cannoli in town, but it had all the right stuff.

This was a pretty nice place to stop for lunch. Nice environment, friendly and attentive service, and pretty good food.

It's a small menu, but there are a few things that look to be worth trying. This time I went with a French dip with fries. The sandwich was good - quality meat and bread with a nice flavored dip. The plate was piled high with fries - easily twice as much as there should have been. But they were very tasty - nicely seasoned, with a little sugar and maybe a hint of cinnamon.

For a nice place with all organic food, the prices were definitely reasonable.

Fairly decent prices for the type of place it is. It's got some history and an interesting atmosphere.

I don't know about the food. I ordered the filet mignon with a side of wild rice. The steak was ok, but definitely nothing special. Same goes for the rice. Included was a thin slice of tomato and a leaf of lettuce - didn't really seem to go with the meal.

It's priced reasonably, but I think I can do better for the same money.

This place apparently used to be a YC's, so I've got to make my comparisons against YC's (which I love).

The setup is pretty much identical, starting with the meat: choice of beef, pork, chicken, and turkey (and I think there was a fish choice). I always go with turkey - by far the healthiest of the four.

Next up are the vegetables. At YC's, I always go with white onions, green onions, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes. Unfortunately, no green onions, tomatoes, or peppers here. The rest of the stuff seemed similar to YC's, with a couple extras. Nothing that caught my eye, so I went with just carrots and onions.

The noodles are pretty standard. Sauces come next - a few less choices than YC's, but there was YC's BBQ (which I assume is just "YC's Own"), garlic, ginger, a spicy sauce, and a lemon sauce.

The food was pretty good. The meat was cooked nicely, the carrots and onions cooked but not overcooked, and the noodles maybe a tiny bit firm, but still good. The sauce was not quite as good as I'm used to with YC's, but it's trial and error to get your flavor perfect, so it's possible I just didn't make the right combination.

I'd come back, probably reasonably often, but only if they added some more vegetables - I'm not a fan of spinach or broccoli or some of their other choices, so I really need those tomatoes and peppers to add some color to the dish.