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Tony Roma's: Ribs - Seafood - Steaks (USA)
by magenta23
Tony Roma's is a worldwide restaurant chain and now has branches popping up in the UK, I have become quite a regular of the branch in Kingston. The food is delicious, prices are resonable and the staff are super friendly.
The food isn't high end cuisine, no fancy little bits of food on the middle of the plate, this place does ... BIG portions! Luckily it's not a case of quantity instead of quality as the food is delicious. As the claim to be 'world famous' for their ribs, I though it only polite to sample them!! You can order ribs by the rack or half rack, baby back or big beef ribs. They come with your choice of basting from a list of four. (Carolina Honeys is my favourite but they're all good). You also get a choice of sides. Their signature dish does not disappoint, the ribs are most succulent and juicy I have tasted before and since. The meat just falls off the bone.
The have an extensive menu, and serve up lots more treats than just ribs. Burgers, steaks, fish, salads and pasta are also good here. The focus is all on the meat dishes though.
The value for money is amazing. You can get a substantial lunch for a fiver and on the main menu, a rack of ribs and sides is around £13. They also have special nights, such as endless ribs night, where you can get as many ribs as you like for £15 and Steak nights where you can get steaks at amazing prices. Steaks really aren't my thing, so I've not tried that but I hear it's very good. We discovered Tony's when they were doing their Wednesday feasts. Each person paid around £10 and they're not joking you really did get a feast!! We had to take over another table to fit all the plates on, it seems they give you a little bit of everything to try!!
If you have a sweet tooth or like a drinky, the cocktail menu and dessert menu (if you have any room left) are also impressive and calorific I must add, but god they're worth it!!
Staff and the branch we've visited are so helpful, always around if you need them, but never feel intrusive. The customer service of the company in general is fantastic. We completed a questionairre at the end of the night, to win a free meal. Alas, I did not win a free meal. (Just as well it took me a month to work the first one off!) Since then, however, I have recieved regular freebie coupons and list of upcoming events plus a copy of the new menu when it comes out. Events they have on are tribute nights on a Thursday, including Elvis and Sinatra sound a likes. . I've never been to one of these nights so I can't comment on whether they heighten your enjoyment of the evening, or put you off your food! I shall just have to try it out (for reviews sake, of course!)
The restaurant itself has a relexed feel, more burger bar casual-ness than restaurant but was clean and well decorated in an all american theme. A nice touch was you could see the food being cooked by the chefs from your tables. Entertaining.. and reassuring!!
All in all a good restaurant, for friends, family or couples.
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Red Robin (USA)
by bamamo
A couple of summers ago I worked at a camp in Maine and on our days or evenings off, we would generally head to nearby Augusta to eat. Despite being the state capital, Augusta isn't overly exciting and we soon exhausted our dining possibilities, usually ending up at our favourite, Red Robin, without too much thought.
Red ... Robin is a chain of burger restaurants with about 250 locations at present throughout the United States and Canada. It's cheap, cheerful and most importantly has great food, the perfect antidote to camp grub!
I would say I have probably eaten at that particular branch in Augusta close to 10 times that summer (yes, we really did like it!) and I have also been to a Red Robin restaurant in Vancouver. The interior of both looked quite similar - there is a lot of red in their restaurants as you might imagine. They are cheery, family-friendly places closer to a more upscale diner than fancy restaurant, although they are somewhat more civilised than hectic, kids-running-round types of joints. Which let's face it is the last thing we wanted on our day off from summer camp!
The only drawback to Red Robin is that there is very little on the menu other than burgers or sandwiches. This isn't at all a problem for me because I often feel like I'm taking the easy option when I really just fancy a burger on a menu somewhere, but I wouldn't recommend it as a place to go if you are looking for a low-fat meal or vegetarian options. They do have "lighten-up" burgers and options, including wrapping your burger in lettuce rather than a bun, but they still aren't at all ideal.
There are a few salads but they are huge and come with so much "stuff" in them, you probably may as well enjoy a burger!
Burgers themselves range from chicken, pork, prime rib sandwiches and battered fish (strangely in the lighten-up section!) to traditional beef burgers with all kinds of toppings. My favourite is the Banzai Burger - marinated in terikayi and topped with pineapple and cheese. Very messy but delicious! Most burgers cost $9.50 and come with bottomless fries - although I've never managed to get through my burger AND the first helping of fries, portions are big! If you don't fancy anything on the menu you are able to concoct your own.
There is a decent kids menu with most items costing $5. The dessert menu isn't too extensive, but there are a range of starters which are pretty standard for any American restaurant - onion rings, quesadillas, nachos, etc, although mains are so big I've never tried these out.
What I can talk about is the bar! I turned 21 halfway through the summer and I'm so glad I didn't have to miss out on Red Robin margaritas - the mango in particular is delicious and so huge I got a whole lot of brain freeze getting through it. Margaritas in several flavours and cocktails are around $7 and they also have several beers and wines on offer. There is a bar area where you can sit to eat if you wish, or just stop in for a drink.
The atmosphere is fun and friendly and staff are really great, especially with children. Our favourite waiter had a really weird dance he would treat the kids to. Of course we also enjoyed this on several occasions, and appreciated the balloons he gave us when we left! (We then headed outside to inhale the helium...rock and roll lifestyle or what?!). In both branches I've visited, staff were attentive and kept bottomless soft drinks (both favourites such as Coca Cola, Sprite etc and Red Robin specials) coming.
The website (www.redrobin.com) has a branch locator, and if you're in the States and fancy a quick bite with a nice cold one, you can't go far wrong by stopping in a Red Robin!
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Denny's (Las Vegas, USA)
by duchy
Denny's is one of the most famous resturant chains in the US.
If you want a reasonably priced meal in a strange town do what the Americans do -Hit Denny's !
Best known for breakfast-well they DO serve it 24/7 but lunch nd dinner are also available -if a burger or meatloaf floats your boat instead.
I've yet to visit an ... American town that doesn't have a Dennys franchise (yes it's franchise but so are most name resturants in the US). They have standardized menus-you know exactly what you'll get to get whichever state you happen to be visiting.
Prices are incredibly reasonable-$4 for a Grand Slam (bacon and eggs with pancakes-you'll be stuffed when you get up from the table). There are always deals-Kids eat free, seniors discounts, early bird specials and of course your coffee cup is always bottomless with constant free refills.
The service is generally pretty good and most of their waitresses are either college students or "grey haired ladies eeking out their pensions-these senior ladies are usually either incredibly friendly and helpful or dead grumpy-but either way the service is good, the food is hot and arrives promptly.
You haven't "done" America until you've tried Denny's-it's a national institution !!
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