Famous Dave's Review

As many of you know, this okapi just had a birthday.  Okapis love deals, so I always join e-mail birthday clubs.  Normally places just send a free dessert coupon which frankly kind of sucks: if you're in a restaurant on your birthday you almost always get a free dessert if you tell your server.  A few places give a free appetizer which is a small improvement, because those places usually also sing you "Happy Birthday" and give a free dessert (except for Joe's Crab Shack).  But, the BEST places (such as Famous Dave's) give a free meal.  

So, Fancy and I headed to Famous Dave's and had us some fine BBQ.  Fancy was happy to learn that we were within the 4-6pm happy hour and draft beers (including Sam Adams Winter Brew) were only $2.  A Sam Adams drinking Fancy is a happy Fancy, and a happy fancy makes me a very happy okapi.  We decided to grab the Nachos for Two (not available at all locations), pictured above.  The menu describes the nacho toppings well: Wilbur Beans, Famous Chili, jalapeños, Rich & Sassy® and your choice of Texas Beef Brisket, Georgia Chopped Pork or Barbeque Pulled Chicken.  We picked the chopped pork and the they were goddamn awesome!

The free meal is up to a $15 value, so I could score one of their fine combo platters.  I grabbed the rib tips and chicken tenders with garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, corn, and a corn muffin ($14.99).  The chicken tenders were some of the best I've ever had.  I do not give that compliment loosely.  I've had chicken tenders at dozens of places, and these are spectacular.  The rib tips weren't too bad, and everything else was delicious.  I thought it was a little odd that they didn't offer gravy for the mashed potatoes, but they really didn't need any.  The corn muffin was sweet and fresh.  I would recommend this meal to anyone.

Fancy had a combo as well with a half chicken, beef brisket, country green beans, mac & cheese, corn, and a corn muffin.  She said everything was delicious, especially the beef brisket.  They accidentally gave her mashed potatoes instead of mac & cheese which they corrected immediately, but they let us keep both.  This folks, is an example of great customer service.  If every restaurant did these small things, they would have a lot of happy customers.

They didn't sing "Happy Birthday" or give a free dessert, but that's just fine.  I'd rather have a free plate of BBQ than a free sundae any day.  Anyway, everything was just about perfect:  the food was hot, fresh, and delicious; the waitress was efficient and friendly; and the birthday freebie was perfect.  This experience was such an improvement over my last one at this place that I told the manager how awesome it was.  Okapis are equal opportunity: if the place is particularly bad, I let someone know-I do the same if the place is particularly good.  Famous Dave's gets a full 5 stars for this visit, so if you're in Greece, get to Famous Dave's and get your BBQ!

Carmine's Review

First, I'd like to thank all of you for still coming to check out the blog. I haven't been posting as much as I would like to for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm wicked, super, unbelievably busy with law school and 2) (okay, this is really an extension of #1) I do nothing much worth talking about. So, I have only been posting once or twice a week, but stick with me, it'll pick up again. 

Anyway, back to the good stuff: Carmine's has a very nice "plate." The hot sauce is very spicy and they give a nice volume of home fries and mac salad. Their plate actually comes with mac salad, home fries, AND baked beans, but I decided on extra home fries in place of the beans. The bread that they give with the plate is one of their on-premesis baked rolls and it is delicious!

Fancy went with the roast beef sub and really liked her roll as well. Overall she gave the sub a 7 out of 10 with a Wegman's sub being a 10 and a Subway sub being a 1. There could have been more meat, but otherwise it was very tasty.

The brownie was large and moist with roughly a quarter inch of frosting and scraped white chocolate on top. We thoroughly enjoyed the brownie. Overall I would give Carmine's 4 stars. So, check 'em out y'all!

Monte Alban: Irondequoit Review

Ah, the Monte Alban in Irondequoit...it is just so wonderful. I recently reviewed the Webster location and mentioned how Irondequoit is way better. So, when Fancy and I met a friend for dinner there this week I had to review it for you guys.

The fantastic salsa comes free, and I always add the (world's best) cheese dipping sauce to round out my chip enjoyment experience.

The combination platters are around eight bucks and provide plenty of food. Everything was hot, fresh, and came out of the kitchen fast.

Fancy had a burrito plate which she says was quite enjoyable. Fancy goddamn loves the giant Dos XX beers, they make our dining experience a happy one.

This is my favorite meal: the fried chicken burrito. They are served a la carte, and so goddamn delicious that they melt in your mouth. Everything was delicious and my only complaint would be the service. Although it was better than the Webster location, it still fell flat. This was odd because they usually do a great job. Overall rating: 4.5 stars! Go eat Mexican tonight...go to Irondequoit...go immediately!

Pino's Review

As you might remember, this okapi sure does love pasta and my favorite place to have lunch pasta is Pino's on Ridge Road. The sauce is delicious and this (ultra heavy container) runs just under $6.

Fancy is more of a greens and beans girl, and they do it for $3.99 per pound. Today when I popped by for pasta I grabbed her a pound. She said it's definitely good. 

They sell the sausage individually at $1.50 per link, so I grabbed one for each of us. It should be noted here that Pino's  doesn't always have the same hot food items each day and they usually run out of several selections by 12:30. Also, they're usually rather busy, so take a number when you walk in!

These mini loaves of Italian bread are called "paninis" at Pino's and they are made fresh daily, but only cost $0.75. Awesome.

Lastly I got this nice, large brownie for us to split. Pino's always has subs, cold cuts, cheeses, and pepperoni for sale. They also feature baked goods from Debbie Fedele's (this brownie not included). It's a true "NY Deli" experience as they are super busy and expect you to know exactly what you want when you get to the counter.This okapi gives Pino's 4.5 stars. I would totally recommend this place for lunch, so if you're ever in Greece around noon, check it out! 

Monte Alban: Webster Review

Some of you long time readers might remember me posting that Monte Alban was one of the three best places to eat in Irondequoit. Last night I was in Webster, so I stopped into their sister location with Ewok and Spider Lady. 

This was my second time at the Webster location and I must say that the Irondequoit one is far better. I have never had a bad meal at the Irondequoit one, but the Webster one has let me down for a second time.

We started out with chips, salsa, and I ordered the cheese dip. The first basket of chips were a little stale which is not a great start and the salsa was watery. Usually it's thick and flavorful, but not this time.

For our main meal Ewok had the "special" which was a fish burrito. How that is special or why anyone would want to eat that is beyond me, but the Ewok swears by it; so if you like fishes and burritos, give it a try! Spider Lady and I each had a combo platter and these run just under 8 bucks. 

The combo platters were good, but stopped short of fantastic. I also bought my favorite thing which is this fried chicken burrito pictured above. It was good, but would have been better had it been hot. This is the second time at this location that I have gotten less than hot food while they were busy.

This fine dessert is a "xango" which is cheesecake filling in a flour tortilla fried. This was delicious and served with ice cream. It bears mentioning here that although the place was busy, the waitress was very nice and I believe the ENORMOUSLY long wait for dessert as well as the chicken burrito issue was the fault of the kitchen staff.

Under the light, fluffy whipped cream forcefield is a thin layer of honey and then a nice big scoop of fried vanilla ice cream. This too was very tasty. We were going for a dessert platter experience here, can you tell?

Ewok had ordered the Fried Banana, but after several minutes we were notified that they had run out. What are the chances? So, we got the flan. Ewok wanted me to let you know that it was bad and the texture was all wrong. 

So, overall this okapi has to give Monte Alban: Webster 3 stars: a mediocre rating for a very mediocre experience. (Note: I went back and forth between 2.5 and 3 stars for this rating and settled on 3 due to service and price.)  

Joe's Crab Shack

Tonight we went to check out the new Joe's Crab Shack that opened in Henrietta. I've never personally been to a Joe's Crab Shack before, but boy am I glad that I went! We met up with my parents and when my dad asked for a bib, the waitress asked if he wanted an insulting one. When he agreed and I cheered, she said she had something in mind and then came out with this. She is goddamn awesome.

Many people do not like themed restaurants where they make the waitstaff do ridiculous things. I am not one of those people. Every time that someone walks out of the kitchen with an order of crab they yell, "I'VE GOT CRABS!!!" I smiled every damn time. Oh, and every half hour or so a song (like YMCA) comes over the speakers and the entire staff stops what they're doing to dance in unison. It's like a crab staff flash mob and it is glorious to watch.

If you sign up for their email list they send you a coupon for a free appetizer, so naturally we ordered the calamari. This was cooked well (not chewy or rubbery) and the spicing was decent, but I've had better. Sorry about the late (and half eaten) pic, I was in the restroom when the food came...

Fancy ordered the Old Bay Steampot and it was delicious. There was crab, clams, corn, potatoes, and a sausage. The crab was cooked perfectly and the clams were quite tasty. This came in at just under $25, so you know, expect to spend some dough at this place.

Mom had fried shrimp and french fries which she reports as being very good. 

I'm a pain in the ass, so I asked if I could get the coconut shrimp and have half of the order as regular fried shrimp. They were happy to oblige which is a good sign for sure.

Dad had the Bean Town Bake which ran him around $40, but came with two lobsters. He enjoyed it thoroughly. So, the dinner was good and the waitress awesome (she gave this okapi a second glass of water while the first was half full), and the atmosphere was super entertaining. Now for the bad news: it was so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you and there was no bread. The no bread thing really gets me because seafood isn't terribly filling. It's definitely worth checking out if you like seafood, so this okapi gives Joe's Crab Shack 4 stars.

Dirty Dave's Review

Dirty Dave's or D&D's as it is often called is a little hole in the wall bar and grill right outside the village of Scottsville. My parents live 10 minutes from the place and we've always had great pub grub there, so yesterday we decided to pay a visit with the folks.

We goddamn love their hot buffalo wing sauce; it's hot, but sweet at the same time and usually the wings are swimming in the stuff. We ordered them extra crispy, but they were barely cooked for some reason. I've never had wings this ugly (soft, watery, barely any sauce) from D&D's before and was very disappointed.

Dad ordered the nachos with cheese and jalapenos and felt that he was short changed on the jalapenos. There was plenty of cheese, but these were more like fair nachos (liquid nacho cheese) than restaurant nachos (melted shredded cheese), so if that's what you're expecting they're pretty good.

These are the D&D's version of "loaded fries" which is something that lots of Rochester places like to put their own spin on. These have nacho cheese, meat hot sauce, and bacon served with sour cream for dipping. I didn't expect nacho cheese, I expected a melted cheddar or some other type of "real" melted cheese, so I was a little let down. I will say though, that they were not skimpy on toppings and they tasted pretty damn good.

My dad ordered the beer battered jumbo clam strips which he reports as being very tasty, although a bit thick on breading. They were only $4.50 which is a good price for the amount of clam given.

I ordered the classic clam strip dinner which for $6.25 got me fried clams, french fries (double order in place of coleslaw-okapis goddamn hate coleslaw), and a dinner roll. Everything was cooked perfectly and very tasty. The price can't be beat and there was more than enough food.

Mom ordered the fried shrimp dinner which came with the same stuff as the clam strip dinner and cost just over 7 bucks. She was very satisfied with the portion and taste. Nothing was over or under cooked and the fries did not have a residual "fishy" taste from over use or cross contamination from the fried fish items. 

Fancy had the turkey club with mayo on the side because Fancy goddamn hates condiments applied to her food by restaurants. This was a large sandwich served with a small bag of Lay's chips. She enjoyed it thoroughly.

The atmosphere at D&D's is total dive bar. It's not well lit or large and everyone crowded around the bar know each other. I personally dig that atmosphere, but if you don't like the neighborhood bar vibe, this isn't the place for you. I feel a bit silly (and cursed) by having to say once again that this reviewed experience is the worst I've had at this location. I have often gone out of my way to get chicken wings from D&D's because I believe that they have the best wing sauce in Rochester (seriously, it's that good), but this experience was awful with the wings. Overall, however they are still a good place for cheap pub grub. I would say that their biggest issue is consistency, so based on this experience I would give D&D's 3 stars. If you're ever in the neighborhood, it's worth a stop in for sure.

Texas Bar-B-Q Joint Review

This place used to be called "Taste of Texas," but recently changed names, not owners. Why? Who knows. Anyway, Fancy and I continued our anniversary weekend celebration by hitting this old favorite of ours for dinner. 

They are located in Spencerport and are a tiny hole in the wall place where seating is usually pretty full. They take your order at the front counter where you pay for your meal, and they yell your name when it's ready, so you can come grab it and sit down.

They offer complimentary soup, but have a donation bucket. Half of the donations to the local soccer club, so drop in a buck or two when you try their delightful homemade soup of the day. That up there is bean soup which this okapi doesn't like, but Fancy loves. 

We each ordered the "cattle drive" which is an option of two meats (not ribs, those are $5.99 for 1/3 rack added on), two sides, and a corn muffin. Fancy grabbed a half chicken, beef brisket, baked beans, and mac and cheese. All of these items are made from scratch and she reports that the beans were amazing, the chicken delicious, the mac and cheese pretty good, and the beef brisket over cooked/chewy. This is the first time we've had an issue with anything from this place, but Fancy didn't like that brisket at all (the mastiff on the other hand was glad to take it off our hands when we got home).

I also got a $9.99 "cattle drive." I had pulled pork, pulled chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and mac and cheese. The pulled pork was the best part of my meal: nice and sweet while juicy and not over cooked; the pulled chicken was good, too, but I'd go all pork next time. The real mashed potatoes and chicken gravy were delicious and I really enjoyed the mac and cheese. Also of note: the BBQ sauce itself is some of the best I've had in the area.

The difference in opinion on the mac and cheese has a lot to do with personal preference in the okapi family. Fancy likes hers extra cheesy with a little something else thrown in like jalapenos or a really sharp cheese whereas I like a plainer mac and cheese with a light, not over-powering cheesy flavor. This particular mac and cheese fell in line with my preference perfectly and I would recommend it (unless you're like Fancy, because then you'll just cry). 

I also got an order of fried green tomatoes. This okapi goddamn loves fried green tomatoes! This order only cost me $1.85 and was more than worth the cost. I'd actually say that this place has the best fried green tomatoes in Rochester. You should go order some, because damn they're good.

This is a locally owned place where folks are real friendly, food comes out fast, the atmosphere is inviting, and like Fancy says "We've never gotten a bad meal from that place." People around here tend to talk up places like "The Dinosaur" or "Sticky Lips," but I think Texas Bar-B-Q has them easily beat from taste, to atmosphere to price: all across the board. I would have to rate it 4 and a quarter stars because of the brisket, but I will mention that last time Fancy had it, she loved it, so maybe on my next visit we'll see a redemption and a re-review? Anyway, if you have a hankering for BBQ, make the drive to Spencerport, it's worth it.