When we entered, the place was a bit fancier (in a down-home tea room way) than I had anticipated. But, there weren't many people there, and I had read that it's kid-friendly, so I wasn't too worried. The first pleasant surprise was that they brought the boys two cups full of crayons--no fighting over colors, and no creations limited by getting only two colors. Plus, they got to draw directly on the butcher paper covering the table. They loved it. You can see some of their creations (those are dragons) in the photo.
On to the food. I ordered Dad's Crunchy Chicken ($7), which was a chicken breast "dredged in seasoned bread crumbs, sauteed in olive oil until golden brown, and finished in the oven." It was not, as the name may have implied, the least bit crunchy. It did have great flavor, and I ate it all up, but I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't at all crunchy. I had my choice of two sides with this one, so I opted for pepper jack mac & cheese (so good) and broccoli slaw (pretty flavorless). Even though it sounds pretty hit-or-miss, I was pleased, overall, with my meal. The chicken and mac were really great and the flavor outweighed the lack of crunch and the pretty miserable slaw.
Tim really enjoyed his meal, I think. He got the Smoked Salmon Wrap ($9)--"spinach wrap spread with wasabi mayonnaise, smoked salmon cucumber, asparagus, and curly endive." It was pretty large and had great smokey flavor. It actually reminded me of the Sakura Bob's Roll, which contains smoked salmon and asparagus and is one of our favorites. Tim didn't seem bothered, but I personally wondered why this didn't come with *any* sides--even offering only one with it would have been a more well-rounded meal, and surely it wouldn't have put them out too munch financially. At least throw on some potato chips or something. Amiright?
The kiddos stayed pretty simple. One just wanted Pasta and Parm ($3), and we got him a side of Baby Carrots ($1--they turned out to just be regular carrot sticks). The other wanted Mac and Cheese ($2), but since it was listed under the side portions and we weren't sure if it'd be enough, we opted to get him a Grilled Cheese, also ($3). The pasta with parm (and butter) was fairly standard, but he loves that stuff and ate it all up. The grilled cheese was pretty good--hearty, crusty wheat bread with cheddar inside. It was only a half, though, which for $3 seemed kind of steep. But hey, we fed one kid for $4 and the other for $5, and that is pretty average, or even cheap, these days. The mac and cheese turned out to be a decently sized portion, and was baked. Sometimes our kids are okay with baked, and other times, less so. In this case, he didn't love it, but did eat it. It could have used a bit more seasoning and it was a bit dry, but not bad. We got so many carrot sticks that we split them between the two kids (and had a few ourselves)--they were the sweetest carrots I've had in a long time!
(Edit 11/12/13: Tim thinks I was harsh about the mac & cheese, and said he enjoyed it. I retract my 'dry' comment as perhaps that was not the best way to describe it. It was certainly not a creamy mac & cheese, and I do personally feel that it needed salt. That doesn't make it bad in my book, but it was not enthusiastically received by our son. On the plus side, it had lots of cheese on top, which is always good.)
Tim and I would really like to go back sans kids and try some of the dinner specials--they sounded great!
After our lunch, we headed across the street to try Wyliepalooza for ice cream. For some reason, I was under the impression that they made their own ice cream, but I don't think that's the case. Still, it was very tasty. I got Iced Latte-Da, which was "caffeinated" espresso ice cream with a fudge swirl and chocolate chunks. It was really great, with lots of strong coffee flavor and quite a lot of chocolate dispersed throughout. Tim got one that mixed Oreos with their Zanzibar Chocolate ice cream--it was so chocolatey, it was black with just small streaks of white from the Oreo centers. One child opted for the always classic cookie dough, and the other wanted Superman ice cream--a fruity blend that is red, blue, and yellow. He LOVED it. The space is pretty kid friendly, and I definitely want to go back to try another of the yummy sounding flavors or possibly one of their sundae creations! Can't remember exact prices, but I got ice cream for all four of us for well under $10--again, not bad in this day and age.
Websites: The Legend and Wyliepalooza
I did enjoy my wrap, immensely! The wasabi mayo had some serious kick. - Tim
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