Sandi West (29 June 2006)

What a great American/BBQ restaurant. OK, so you may not be impressed with what you see when you first walk into the joint, but don’t let the upstairs high tables and uncomfortable-looking stools put you off the food. Besides, if you wait until 18:00, you can be seated in the more comfortable downstairs dining room. The menus upstairs and downstairs are slightly different, but I didn’t figure out why…maybe they’re trying to offset the funky upstairs seating with more menu options (full dinner menu as opposed to ala carte downstairs). Personally, I prefer the downstairs ala carte because that way if I want to pig out on just BBQ beef ribs and have nothing else, I can. Pig out is what I felt that I did even though I only had the half portion. Just the smell of the BBQ sauce was enough to get my mouth salivating and I was not let down by the BBQ beef ribs. When I finished, there wasn’t any meat left anywhere on those bones, but then I did eat them American-style (using my fingers). I had a side of onion rings and my mouth wanted more of those as well. The brownie I had for dessert was fab. No wonder I felt like an over-stuffed chair when I left!

The service was also great. I had a young black girl who was cheerful, funny, and very service-oriented so I rewarded her well. I had booked ahead, but at 6 p.m. it probably wasn’t necessary; later on, it would definitely have been required because there were a good number of “booked” tables waiting for people and all of the others were full, although there were still places to sit in the street-level eating area. Whether you just want a quick meal of good, old-fashioned American food (they do all sorts, but especially BBQ) or a nicer sit-down evening meal (or even a take away), this is the place to go. As Arnie said, “I’ll be back!” Sandi (ex-pat from California)