American Tap Room

12/21/13:

Stars: 3.2. out of 5.0

Pros: Outside Seating Area, Simple Lunch Menu, Food Prepared Perfectly

Cons: Poor Experience With Bar Staff on 2 Separate Occasions

     I will start out by saying that this post comes on the heels of a strange set of occurrences. I had a poor experience at the bar here while Christmas shopping. Then, SB had a similar experience while at the bar for a work happy hour. I will get into this in just a second. Normally a bad experience is enough for me to say screw it and move on. But the arrival of a set of Buy One Get One Free coupons in the mail (they were sent out to our neighborhood) allowed enough forgiveness in my heart to at least try the food. So, NK and I went on a sunny Saturday to see if my views can be changed.

     American Tap Room (American Tap Room) is a new restaurant in The Shops at Willow Lawn plaza. It inhabits part of a wonderful brick building in the middle of the plaza. It's an excellent location with ample parking and shopping in the vicinity. It's also very convenient to my house, which I greatly appreciate.

     NK and I were out doing some Christmas shopping and decided to use our lunch coupon for a quick refreshing break. As it was a nice day, we decided to sit outside. There are 2 nice outside seating areas. The first is right off the bar. On nice days the giant doors/windows are opened and tables placed outside. Great for a beer outside. The other out side are is right off the lobby. It's got a giant fireplace which puts out a wonderful amount of heat. There aren't many tables, but it's a nice area. We chose to sit here.

     Our waiter was very pleasant. After turning on the fireplace, he brought us our menus. He took our drink orders and was prompt on bringing them to us. He took the time to explain a few menu items and helped NK make a lunch selection. The lunch menu isn't extensive, but offers a variety of tasty looking choices. I appreciated it for it's simplicity and it's range. NK chose to do the soup & salad lunch combo while I couldn't pass up a burger as rare as humanly possible. Some restaurants refuse to cook it any less than medium. I shun these places. Allow me the simple pleasure of under-cooked ground beef!!

     Our meal didn't take awfully long, but we also arrived in that weird period between the lunch and dinner crowd. That most likely means the kitchen wasn't swamped which is a great time to go. NK's soup was a wonderful Maryland crab soup. It had nice flavor and didn't lack the crab. She also went with a Caesar salad that was fresh and crisp. I thought she made a good choice and she agreed. I went with the ATR Angus Burger that has caramelized onion, cheddar and ATR sauce on it. As I said, I ordered it rare as humanly possible and that is EXACTLY how it was served. It was perfect! This was a great burger from the flavor of the meat to the zest of the accouterments. And the fries were crisp and well seasoned. They were a nice side-car for my taste buds.

     My trip to eat was an excellent experience from the food to the service. Yet, it could not help but to have been tainted to my other experiences at American Tap Room. The very first time I was there was but a week before. BN and I were out looking for tacky Christmas sweaters and we needed a break/beer. We entered the bar area that had MAYBE 20 people in it. For the size of the bar, that isn't a lot. There were 4 visible bartenders working. We claimed 2 seats at the bar and perused the beer selection. We sat there waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and WAITING to be acknowledged by anyone. In that time I watched one bartender wash a few glasses, glance up at us and go right back to washing glasses. Another found himself so engrossed in chatting with 2 guys that he didn't even know we were there. One walked up and down the length of the bar serving some people at the far end. The 4th must have been responsible for filling restaurant orders. I only say that because they kept disappearing and reappearing in the general direction of the restaurant. As we stood there for what was probably 7 to 10 minutes, we weren't acknowledged once by anyone. Now before you say I'm unreasonable, allow me to explain my thought process. I worked in a bar. A college bar in Blacksburg to be exact. I know what it is to be swamped to the point where you feel like you'll never get all the orders filled, the beer restocked, or the glasses cleaned. But I never once saw our staff not acknowledge a person, even to just say "I'll be right with you". So, when your bar ISN'T busy, what is your justification for not acknowledging your patrons? Waiting at a bar for 5 minutes as a customer already feels long, but to not be acknowledged feels like an eternity. So, we left and went down the street. BN stated he would not be returning anytime in the near future. Now, maybe the bar was having an off day. Maybe they didn't see my not small frame. I can't really say.

     I was ready to write it off as a 1 time incident. But then SB (another restaurant veteran) told me of her experience at the same bar for a work happy hour later on. She said the bar had a few people at it and a crowd from work, but it wasn't busy. She pulled out her debit card and stood at the bar holding it, ready to order a drink. No one said a word to her. It was as if she didn't even exist. A customer ready to pay and she can't even get a word of hello... It boggles my mind.

    American Tap Room as a restaurant proved itself to have all of the right things going for it. It's waiters are informed, polite and on point. The food has flavor and is cooked just as requested.  I look forward to eating there again. As a bar, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I hoped for so much from someplace that promotes itself as a Tap Room. The lack of focus by the bartenders has soured me on ever going there for drinks in the near future. I hope for American Tap Rooms sake that these incidents are highly rare. I guess others will just have to go and see for themselves.

Tazza Kitchen

12/15/13:

Stars: 4.7 out of 5.0

Pros: Atmosphere, Friendly Service, Gluten Free & Varied Menu, Food

Cons: I Hate Driving in Short Pump

      MC and I had to face the truth... it had been WAY to long since we broke bread together. This had to be rectified immediately. Since MC had a friend in town (AC), we decided that meeting for breakfast was a wise and necessary choice. And breakfast clears up hangovers, which we both knew would be the situation for a Sunday morning.

     MC, as is the case 90% of the time, chose our destination. She tends to choose pretty damn good places, so I allow it. This time she chose Tazza Kitchen (Tazza Kitchen). Tazza Kitchen is located in the Short Pump Crossing off of Pump Rd. I know that I have driven by it in the past without knowing it was there as it's not pretentious on the outside. The first thing I noticed when I pulled up was the large outdoor sitting area complete with fire place.Upon stepping inside, I was immediately impressed. The rustic, almost cabiny feeling of the building is permeating in the best way possible. The fire place is double sided so there is one on the inside as well. The colors are soothing and inviting. Regardless of where in the restaurant you are sitting, you seem to get the woodsy feeling. I personally loved it.

     After we were sat, our waitress appeared at our table. She was super bubbly and overly friendly. She seemed like one of those people who is good-natured on a 24 hour basis. She tolerated my bad jokes which truly speaks volumes. When AC told the waitress she was gluten-free, she went and got the manager. He brought over a special gluten-free menu and took a moment to go over it with her. He showed a genuine interest in making sure she was satisfied with everything before leaving us back to our waitress. I am a big fan of a motivated and attentive staff. Tazza Kitchen certainly has that in spades.

    As we studied the menu, we all took a second to look over the gluten-free menu. It was really quite impressive. It offered a lot of different options and didn't pin the eater down into a few bland choices. Having watched my sister attempt to find gluten-free food to eat back in the day, I know that the struggle is real. It is always great to see a restaurant take care of all their customers. After seeing how great their gluten-free menu was, I eagerly read over the standard menu. It was excellent with a nice variety of breakfast dishes to choose from. My eye was immediately drawn to the Huevos Rancheros. MC went with the breakfast pizza and AC went with steak & eggs. All excellent choices.

     Our waitress brought us our meal. The smells were intoxicating. Before she left the table she also made sure to top off our waters. She was excellent about that. I also really loved the water bottles. I've seen them before and have always appreciated them. She was very good about pushing full ones on us on a regular basis. All three meals looked stunning. They weren't huger, but were perfect size for each of us. My huevos was a wonderful blend of flavors and textures. I was certainly very pleased. I also had a piece of breakfast pizza (thank you MC) and that was GREAT. It just melded together perfectly. The fried/baked eggs were beautifully cooked and the crust was crisp. I loved it. The steak & eggs looked to be spot on. The steak had a perfect rare/med-rare color to it. I was actually pretty envious of it.

     Tazza Kitchen impressed great vibes upon me from the moment I arrived to the moment I left. It was the perfect storm of great things I want to see out of a restaurant. Aside from the fact that I rather allow deranged iguanas to nibble my toes off rather then drive in Short Pump, it's a must attend all the time. I will muster up some bravery soon enough and when I do I will spend it all in pursuit of another great experience at Tazza Kitchen.

Caliente

12/7/13:

Stars: 4.4 out of 5.0

Pros: Lots of Seating, Good Drink Menu, Flavorful Wings

Cons: Bathroom Door Sticks

     Part of going to the Dominion Christmas Parade is going to get lunch after. It allows time for traffic to clear out and it allows us a chance to warm up. This year we walked down to Caliente (Caliente) because it was close to where we all parked. Also, I was craving wings and I knew Caliente served them. Win for me!

     Caliente is located on the corner of Park Ave and N. Sheppard St. in The Fan/Museum district. It is a fairly big building. It has a really nice looking outdoor seating area (which was of course closed because it is winter) that I want to hit up in the summer. You enter into a fairly spacious dining area with a bar. It was fairly empty when CB, LB and I got there. We knew JK and the boys were coming so we took a big corner table. Our waitress brought us both drink and food menus. She explained the deal with brunch (was being served) and entrees (not being served). That is very helpful information to know. Sometimes brunch is needed.

     She also ran down the drink specials. One being a Poinsettia, which is cranberry juice and champagne, CB and I went with those without a second thought.The drink menu at Caliente is quite impressive. They have a lot of good craft beer both on tap and in bottles. They offer a wide variety of styles and brewerys. You shouldn't find any trouble picking something to drink. They also offer great mixed drink specials. I was very impressed. I will certainly be back to try their happy hour specials.

     After JK arrived with the boys, the serious business of ordering began. JK, CB and I all agreed that wings and a salad (it's important to balance your meal) was the way to go. LB, went with a bowl of chili. The boys split a sandwich, some fries and some cucumbers.

     We got our salads first. I will say I was a bit taken back for a few seconds. There was dried fruit on my salad. I was not aware this was going to occur. I have a thing about fruit on my salad. Just don't feel it belongs. However, I also resolved to try to move past old food prejudices and try new things. So, I left the dried fruit on and went to town. I hate to admit how good it was. Damn you dried fruit... While we were finishing up our wings and chili came, as did the boys meal. LB's chili was a big old bowl. It smelled great and looked warm & filling. She said it wasn't bad. She noted a hint of cinnamon which was pleasant, but unexpected. The boys devoured their meal, but refused to give me a detailed report on it. Being only 2 is NOT an excuse... I had ordered the General Tso flavored wings to step outside the box a little. I thought the flavor was very rich and warm. It didn't have much spice but I liked it. The wings themselves were fairly meaty. It was a filling meal and set my taste buds off nicely.

     One of my only complaints occurred after we were done eating. I went to the bathroom and found that upon exiting, the door got stuck. It took a little maneuvering and pushing to open it up again. Nothing is as terrible as the thought of being trapped in a public restroom. I hope someone looks into fixing that soon.

     Caliente was an excellent choice for our after-parade lunch fix. The drinks and the food were top notch. The atmosphere was great. The waitstaff was very pleasant. Aside from that creepy sticky bathroom door, it was a wonderful trip. I'm pretty sure that I will be back, if only for the wings and beer.

Dominion Christmas Parade

12/7/13:

Stars: 5.0 out of 5.0

Pros: Draws Big Crowd, Family Friendly, Great Floats/Balloons, Long

Cons: NONE! It's a PARADE!!!

     I look forward to the Dominion Christmas Parade (Christmas Parade) with a deep passion. I love a good parade for all the typical reasons: floats, fire trucks, candy and the potential to maybe see some hot cheerleaders (here's looking at you Richmond Raiders Cheer Squad). Richmond delivered last year so I was stoked for this year. I sent all the appropriate emails, requested all of the needed breakfast foods and packed a bag to be ready to get out early. PARADE!!!

     I arrived on W. Broad in front of the DMV promptly at 7:45am. There were very few people out on the street as the weather was a little rough (cold and windy) so I had prime spots to choose from. I set-up my camp chair and roped off my area and began the waiting game. The cop parked across the street must have thought me insane, but we all have a touch of the crazy. Don't you judge me policeman.

     As I waited for everyone (ok, anyone else) to arrive I got to see all the floats being moved into position. Nothing like seeing Santa's sleigh sans Santa to get the party started. I also watched all of the bands, dance groups and miscellaneous other participants get all jazzed up (that felt a little corny... lets go with it). It was an interesting view of the day to come.

     LB, CB and BN arrived bearing treats and conversation. I was very grateful for both. The crowd this year was a little smaller then last year, but I think the weather was to blame for that. It was windy as all get out which made it a scoach chilly. Thankfully, we huddled together, had fleece blankets and had tasty apple muffins to get us through. So, we waited and chatted until 10am when the parade started.

BN, LB & CB respectively.

     I wont go into terribly deep detail about the parade because that would be long and tedious. I will say that everything was well done and a lot of fun. Everything was family friendly with candy for the kids and a lot of personal interaction. The floats were very well done by all groups who submitted them. All of the dance groups performed well. The bands played with loud gusto in a cheery Christmas way. Overall, a great presentation by everyone. It was worth standing in the cold for 2 hours. I also LOVE that it's such a long parade. Two hours is perfect.

     I will always be a fan of Christmas and parades. And I am deeply in love with Richmond. Combining the two together really is the jump start to the holidays. If you haven't been yet, get your life together, bake some muffins, gather your friends or family and GET OUT THERE!!!

Going Outside of Richmond- Main Street Cafe in Valatie, NY

12/1/13:

Stars: 4.7 out of 5.0

Pros: Small Town Feel, Friendly Service, Huge Portions, Delicious Food

Cons: Long Wait, No Website

     One thing I will say about my family is that they do not hesitate to drive a bit of distance to find quality food. Especially if it allows us to combine IMPERATIVE stops that must be made while in NY. These include the following purchases that are hard, if not impossible to find in VA: NY style pizza, Bruegger's bagels, a 30 rack of Labatt Blue for $14 and fresh apple cider doughnuts. It's that last pick-up that requires us to drive 20 minutes outside of Albany to Valatie. While we are out there, we like to hit up the Main Street Cafe for breakfast. It is always a wonderful choice.

     The Main Street Cafe is an old building located along an old school strip of classic small town Americana. It's a refreshing step out of the hyper-developed landscape that is a lot of where we seem to reside. It's the main street of the town all those country songs are set in. And, in it's simplicity it is wonderful. That feeling continues into the building. Everyone seems like a regular and they all seem to know each other. It truly provides a fantastic atmosphere that envelopes you from first step in to last step out.

     The only really issue with being the only joint in town is that you are the ONLY joint in town. This leads to really really long waits. That's never something you want to have happen for your first meal of the day. Causes lots of grumpiness. Now, I can't really fault the Main Street Cafe for this. They are simply at the mercy of the response to the quality products they put out. Add to the fact that it's 2014 and there is no website... I deduct no points from the restaurant itself, but I remove .3 from my total experience because I said so. LAY OFF ME, I'M STARVING!!!

     We were sat by a very friendly young waitress. I will say that both times I have been there the waitstaff had been very pretty. I applaud that as it never hurts my experience to be helped by a pretty woman.I will also say that our waitress was extremely nice. She had a friendly demeanor and really took an interest in our table. She was attentive to water glasses, which for me is a big must. It was just a solid showing by a well trained and smart waitstaff all around.

     The menu for breakfast is classic dinner fare. Nothing fancy and outrageous. Just good, hearty meals meant to stick with you all day. My dad and I went with basic omelettes with home fries (he added a side of sausage. My brother had corn beef hash and eggs. My mom chose cinnamon raisin french toast. A semi-variety of menu items for our sampling pleasure. Both omelettes were of a good size and well filled. Mine was the farmer which meant it was filled with onion, peppers, tomato, ham and sausage. It was very good. It had a good balance of meat and veggies which is not an easy thing to achieve. And it was filling. I almost didn't get to the home fries (ok, we all know that's a lie...). The home fires could have been a bit crispier, but they were excellent with a little hot sauce. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal as they ate all of it. My mom was a fan of her cinnamon raisin french toast. She's gotten it before so it must be pretty good.

Sorry about the bad quality...

     Overall, I am fairly impressed with the Main Street Cafe. It's just quality food at cheap prices in a great environment. It is a step out of the fast-paced life for an hour or so. If you ever happen to find yourself in Upstate NY, maybe for some apple picking, try to stop in for breakfast. I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did.