State Street's 50's Grill

Review
State Street Grill is definitely bigger than it looks.  Not only was I surprised upon entering to see it bigger than I expected it to be, but I also found that the menu was bigger than expected as well.  I've driven past here several times and wanted to stop by but for whatever reason didn't make it until now.  I'm glad I stopped.


Although I've always wanted to come, it wasn't until some friends of mine dropped by and really enjoyed it that I decided to give it a try.  According to them, this place makes the best onion rings they've had (and they know onion rings).  With a review such as that, I couldn't wait another week to stop by.


I arrived after the dinner traffic and ended up having the entire place to myself (which was nice).  They have two flat screen TVs on the corners near the entrance for their guests to watch while dining (and I was able to choose what I wanted to watch).  The whole setup has a 50's car shop ambiance but clearly was designed to be a grill.  I really like their theme; it is a small place (which I think is fitting for a grill), but it feels (to some degree) like you've gone back in time to when things were a bit smaller and more personable.  I really like the design; it suits the place well.


For my order I went with the Boston which is their version of a pastrami burger.  I also ordered their onion rings and topped it off with a brownie a la mode.  You can order different kinds of cheeses on it; I went with the swiss cheese.  As soon as I placed my order, the grill fired up and the burger was cooking.  These burgers are made fresh so it took a little bit to make it, but it was worth the wait.  The pastrami on the burger seems thicker than normal and really has some good seasoning on it.  The bun looks rather scary (I thought it was doughy when it first came out) but it was well cooked, very soft and went well with the sandwich.  I don't mind a greasy sandwich (I know some do) and this sandwich is very greasy but I think it really enhanced the flavor.


The onion rings were really good.  Fair warning -- they are more batter than onion and greasy as well, but I enjoyed them.  Even though they were greasy they weren't soggy which is something I really appreciated (I'm not a fan of soggy fries or onion rings).  The fry sauce has extra flavors in it and goes well with the onion ring.


As for the brownie a al mode, I thought it was excellent.  The brownie itself isn't something that I would like just by itself but it combines very well with the ice cream and chocolate syrup.  They put the brownie in the microwave before adding on the ice cream and syrup so when it was served the soft ice cream melted over the brownie and tasted really good.  I prefer my ice cream soft and just starting to melt -- I think that kind has the best flavor.  And their ice cream is served soft.


In general I really liked this place.  Some of the lunch crew has eaten here as well and enjoyed it, too.  Can't wait to try it again!


Cost and Big John Rating
$9.48 = Boston Buger Combo (including fries and drink) + 0.50 for the onion rings instead of fries
$2.47 = Brownie A la mode (with combo meal; $3.47 without)
Ambiance = 9
Quality = 9
Service = 9
Taste = 9
Price Rating = 9.0
Big John Rating = 9.0


Notable URLs

China Isle Very Good Chinese

Review
This is one of my personal favorite Chinese places.  Not only do the plates come out with lots of food, but it comes at a very reasonable price.  First of all, the lunch menu takes up a full page.  For $5.55 at lunch your meal comes with an egg roll, soup (either egg drop or hot and sour), rice (default is ham fried but you can ask for steam or for a $1.00 extra it comes with Lo Mein Noodles), fried wonton, and, for a $1.50 extra, a fried shrimp.  Although the fried shrimp is a big shrimp, it's still one shrimp; not worth it in my opinion.

Usually I order the orange chicken which is some of my favorite.  The orange chicken has some spiciness to it and the breaded chicken is well cooked and tastes great.  The lemon chicken is good as well -- the lemon isn't too strong but still has the great lemon flavor and the sesame chicken is my friend's personal favorite.  He typically craves that weekly.

For the price combined with the taste, China Isle is a great place to come for lunch.  Not only does it come with a variety of food, but it is all very good as well.


Big John Rating
Quality = 7
Ambiance = 8
Service = 8
Lunch Price Rating = 8.9
Big John Rating = 8.2


Notable URLs
China Isle Menu

Good Philly's at Chubby's Cafe

Review
I seriously thought this was a lawn tractor store.  Or a repair shop.  I've driven past this place for years thinking it was a warehouse or some other such item until one day, out of the corner of my eye, I caught the word "Wings" frosted on a window.  In checking out Urbanspoon I noticed that Chubby's Cafe is much more than just a wing shop -- it's also a burger joint and offers southern food.  Finally the day arrived that the lunch crew decided to give this place a try.  Driving up to the location I realized that underneath the tractor repair shop facade existed a rustic eating establishment.

This informal barbecue / burger / wings / southern cooking restaurant offers good tasting food at a great price.  Today I went with the Philly Cheese steak and the beer battered fries.  This Philly comes with thinly sliced rib-eye, swiss cheese, pepper jack cheese, green and red bell peppers, and a horse radish mayonnaise.  The bun was soft, the meat was greasy and perfect, the cheese and horse radish offered a great variety to the taste of the Philly and introduces a uniqueness that sets this cheese steak apart from others.  The beer battered fries started out tasting very good, but as they went along the taste became a little too much and they ended up being difficult to finish, but they are something I will order again even if they cost $0.50 extra.


All in all, the Philly was pretty good.  However, the swiss and pepper jack although creative alternatives are not my favorite cheeses on a Philly; I'm more of a provolone or cheese whiz guy myself.  I've had better Phillys, but I was still very impressed with the eating establishment and will definitely have to come here again sometime.  Not only is the food good, but the service was great and the staff really offered some southern hospitality.  Definitely worth a repeat.


Big John Rating
Quality = 8
Taste = 7
Service = 8
Ambiance = 9
Price = 8.3
Big John Rating = 8.0


Notable URLs
Chubby's Cafe Facebook Page
Wings -N- Things Critique

Jim's Family Cooking

Jim's is a place that the lunch crew likes to go to every once in a while.  We like it not only because of its nice interior, but also because of how close it is to work.  The interior is rather homely and sports an outdoorsy decor.  The center of the room features a fireplace and wood posts line up every so often perhaps more for looks than to actually hold up the ceiling.  This is the kind of restaurant one would expect to find in a small town and offers a nice escape from the everyday big city feel.

Usually the lunch crew ends up getting something different every time, and this time I decided to go with Jim's Special which consists of two choices of meat, potatoes covered with American and Cheddar cheese, three eggs, and a choice of pancakes, toast, or for $0.89 extra biscuits and gravy. Because I went later than usual (about 2:30pm) the meal came out very quickly and went down about as quick.  The over easy eggs were cooked as I like them and the meat was excellent.  Some of the potatoes, though, were a little undercooked but the cheese was nicely melted on top of them.  I liked the cut style; you wouldn't want the eggs and ham on top of hash browns.  As it is, though, the cut is very nice and offers a great balance to the rest of the items.

The biscuit, though, I have mixed feelings about.  The gravy was excellent; I thought it was some of the best I've had on a biscuit.  The biscuit itself, though, was rather heavy and dense not light and flaky like I was expecting.  I wasn't too disappointed with that, though, because I thought it went well with the gravy.  However, next time I won't pay the extra amount for it.

All in all I've enjoyed every meal I've every had from Jim's.  I highly recommend it -- especially if you want a small town meal.