Champps

1/14/13:

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: food, ambiance, bathrooms, portion size

Cons: so-so service, short happy hour

     Monday, the start of yet another work week. Generally a day of misery and annoyance. Nothing to look forward to on a Monday except for Friday. But this Monday was different. Our friend AV was coming to visit! It's been a while since I have seen AV so I was really glad she was making the drive to visit us. Now, the question of what to do for dinner was upon us. To cook or to go out? After a coin flip (yes, that's how real people settle things) we decided to go out. A second coin flip determined our destination to be the Stony Point Fashion Park. Well, Champps Americana (Champps) to be exact. So, out into the rainy 53 degree night we went.

     I was going to give a quick word on Stony Point here, but I decided it will be a separate post. We got to Champps at exactly 7:02 pm with the thought of a beer in our minds. Well, at least in mine. Low and behold, happy hour ends at 7 pm. Now, maybe this is all me, but I thought happy hour was supposed to be a little longer then 5 to 7. Is that not right? Am I the one confused? It just seems that ending at 7 makes it inconvenient to those of us that work until 6ish. Mayhaps I'm just bitter as I tend to miss happy hour all the time. But it still makes me a little unhappy. So, I chose water instead as did AV. EG did get a beer though. Granted, it was a Miller Light draft, but still it's a beer. And I will say that I have had beer here in the past. They have a very good selection. They have quite a variety on draft and in bottle. Make sure you take the time to peruse the menu. Champps certainly has beer down, that I'll give them.

     Champps is a fairly big restaurant for being part of a mall. It has a very open layout with no walls dividing sections. The bar area has a lot of tvs on which they play a variety of sports. They are also very accommodating when it comes to switching to a game you would like to watch. We have watched a VT game (if you call any time we played this season a game) here before. They also have a sort of open kitchen. Basically this means that you are able to see into the kitchen and watch them make your food. I always like that because that tends to hold the cooks to a higher standard.

     Let's talk bathrooms for a second. We have all been to places where, as a guy, I hesitate to pee. I can only imagine the acrobatics you ladies must do in such places. Champps has a nice mens room. It's clean and well maintained. While we don't always think about it, that's important. Do you want your cook using a bathroom someplace that I wouldn't let my dog do her business? Keep that in mind next time you go out.

     Champps also has a good menu. It's not all made from scratch or farm-fresh such as you would see in a local restaurant. But Champps is a chain and like any chain, their menu is fairly big. EG is a big fan of their appetizers because the portions are generous and the prices cheaper. I haven't had any of their "real" entrees, like pasta, steak or fish. But I have had their burgers. Good size burger cooked right with great toppings. Tonight I was feeling a salad though. It's rare for me to order a salad out at a restaurant bacuase they are so cheap and easy to make at home. But the urge hit me and who am I to argue? I chose to go with the Fajita Salad, which is a basic salad topped with grilled chicken served in a tortilla bowl with salsa, sour cream and guacamole. By no means a healthy salad, but I never said I wanted healthy. Both girls went with the Chicken Ranch Wrap and a side of tortilla chips.

     I will break in here quickly to discuss our waitress. She was... ok. Not great or even good. She was ok. Her personality was good and she was very friendly. She was just fairly over-attentive, especially after she dropped off our food. It felt like the flow of table conversation was interrupted every 5 minutes by her checking on us. While I much rather have that then a waitress that you never see, it's equally annoying. And maybe some of you think I'm a jerk for being annoyed by that. Well maybe I am, but I feel as a waitress you need to give your table some space. Any of my waitress readers care to give some imput? And she also did one little thing that annoyed only me. Every time I was out of water she brought me a new glass of water. She never refilled the old one, just brought me a second. I'm VERY happy she paid attention to my water glass. I just wish she didn't dirty so many in the process. Now, in past visits our waitresses have ranged from ok to great. I have yet to have a bad one so I won't deduct too much on the start scale for that.

     When our food came it looked pretty good. Both girls wraps were done nicely. The ends didn't hang open and they weren't soaking wet. Generally, if they have sat under the heat lamp or someone doesn't know how to drain lettuce they get soggy. That's never good. These looked great. And the tortilla chips are a nice change from french fries. They bring a whole different element to the side dish. Both girls really seemed to be pleased with their choice. My salad was bigger then I thought it was going to be. Granted a lot of the size came from the tortilla bowl, but still. The chicken was cooked and seasoned nicely. It was cut well with out the tearing that comes from a dull knife. Presentation wise it looked just as you would think it should. It tasted just as a salad should. Nothing mind-blowing, like everything sliced fresh and homemade. But I wasn't disappointed by low value ingredients or old produce. I also like the tortilla shell as it gave me a vessel which I could scoop up all the guacamole and other assorted bits. I would certainly order it again.

     Champps is a good casual dining restaurant after a day of shopping Stony Point or a good place to catch the game. They don't try to be more then they are and have taken the care to master that. Now if we could just extend that happy hour...