It would appear that MySpace's new Local service is for Corporate restaurants only. I tried to review an independently-owned Mexican restaurant closer to where I live, and it pretty much said no. It did, however, give me the option to suggest a restaurant, so I suggested it, and I will copy this there when, and if, they decide to add it. If not, well, I'll have reviewed it here anyway, and that's fine.
Washington's El Tapatio restaurant, conveniently located on Highway 17 in Washington, next to Taco Bell, is the best place Jen and I have found for Mexican food in Beaufort County. In fact, I asked her, and we both agree that if we lived in Greenville, it would be worth it to drive 25 miles or so to Washington for El Tapatio if we were craving Mexican. In fact, when we're craving Mexican, El Tapatio is automatically assumed.
When you see the place, it's not impressive at all. It could be anything, and in fact used to be a Golden Corral before GC moved to the Walmart shopping center, just a quarter-mile to the north. Two cheesy fake palm trees (which light up at night) stand between the restaurant and Hwy. 17, but the parking lot is spacious and easily accessed from either the northbound or southbound lanes, even in rush hour, as the nearby McDonald's light (yes, Washington has a dedicated traffic light for McDonald's) often provides cover. The building exterior could use a paint job, and the little lobby is littered with fliers advertising mostly local Mexican music and wrestling/fighting events.
Once you come inside, it's much nicer. Murals inside show Mexican revolutionaries, and are nicely done. They have one of those new Internet jukeboxes which can download all kinds of songs, and you're liable to hear just about anything in there. Oftentimes it's Mexican music, but a lot of times it isn't. Either way, it isn't loud, so you can hear it, but it won't overwhelm you. I haven't sat at their tables, but their booths are all pretty nice, and they can be moved if you need more or less room, depending on your size. From the door, the entire right side is non-smoking, and the entire left side, with the bar and jukebox, is for smokers, so it's well separated.
I cannot stress how fast the service is. As soon as you're seated, you'll be asked what you want to drink. Drinks are brought out very promptly with freshly made tortilla chips and homemade salsa, both of which are very good. Once you order, they can have your meal out in as little as five minutes. We have fast food restaurants out here that can't serve you in five minutes (mostly Hardee's). You can't make a decent meal at home in five minutes, but El Tapatio can have good, hot Mexican food in front of you in five minutes. Unless you are extremely impatient, and they are very busy, you will not find yourself wondering when your food will arrive.
The food itself is great. It's served hot, and you'll often be advised not to touch the plate. The portions are generous, even when ordering side items. When I'm not very hungry, I just order three enchiladas. They come covered in sauce and the ground beef just falls out of them, no shortage of food. When I'm really hungry, I order their special nachos without guacamole (I'm allergic to avocados) and it's always more than enough. I have never once finished it. Jen usually orders lunch or dinner specials, of which they have a couple dozen. Chances are they'll have a combination you'll like, otherwise you can improvise with the sides. Neither of us have ever been disappointed with their food.
The service is also very good. Everyone we've seen there speaks fluent English. We never feel like they don't understand us, and everyone is friendly. After our food comes, within 5 minutes, the server will return and ask if everything's alright. After that, however, they tend to leave you alone for a while, so if you need a drink refill or more salsa, you might have to flag somebody down, and Jen said I should note that, but at the same time, I like to be left alone when I eat. Plus, I order my soft drinks without ice, so they don't get diluted and they fill the glass. I really don't need a refill - the cups hold 16-20 ounces. They are shy about bringing the check, but have no problem finding your order in their computer if you just walk up to the register to pay. We've never paid more than $20, including a good tip, for both of us to eat and have soft drinks. We have drank beer and/or mixed drinks there once before, and I don't recall the prices, but I do recall that they were fair.
All in all, El Tapatio offers a great Mexican dining experience; the best we've found in eastern North Carolina. If you're in New Bern, Williamston, or Greenville, or anywhere in between, and want something good that won't break your wallet, give them a try. If you're near Hwy. 17, just head up/down the road. Look for the Taco Bell; they're right next door. If you're in Greenville, take 264 to Washington, turn left on 17 (there's a Kangaroo Express gas station on your left) and it's about a mile up the road on your left. Here's a map:
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Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Review: The Olive Garden, Greenville, NC
This week, MySpace launched a new service called MySpace Local. There doesn't seem to be anything for my neck of the woods, so as a project, I'm going to review restaurants in and around Greenville, North Carolina (including Washington and Chocowinity) to represent my (current) part of the world. From this blog you can read all of my reviews (though, this is just the first one) by browsing my labels and looking under Review. The review follows:
Greenville's Olive Garden restaurant, on Greenville Blvd., is nice, but the overall experience is not all that spectacular.
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The building itself is very nice to look at, and it's nice and cozy inside. The waitstaff are all clean and sharp, and I've never seen anything damaged or worn inside. However, as it's very close to the mall, plus it's in a badly designed parking lot, the lot immediately surrounding the restaurant is almost always full. If it's cold, don't forget your jacket, you might have a fair walk to and from. If it's raining, forget about it. (And it rains hard in North Carolina.)
The service is well organized, but it's not good for handling large loads. On Valentines' Day, for instance, customers were asked to wait outside in near-freezing temperatures. They were telling people 2 hours. (In the cold. With no offer of breadsticks or anything. We waited about 50-55 minutes. Not quite an hour. On a given Friday or Saturday night, you can expect a wait of 15-30 minutes, and they have those coasters which double as pagers, and you can usually wait inside.
Seating is conservative, meaning they will try to seat you at a table first. The chairs are not very comfortable; I've sat in worse but also much better. Upon request they'll seat you in a booth, but as these are in higher demand, you'll have to wait a few minutes.
Once you're seated, you can expect to get your drinks in relative short order, provided you know what you want when you sit down. If so, they'll ask as soon as you sit, and they get them out quickly. That's for soda and sweet tea, anyway - for fancy beverages, your mileage may vary.
One of Olive Garden's "big things" is the free breadsticks. They are quite good (if a little salty) but you have to ask for them sometimes. You can usually get them soon after you get your drinks if you have a nice server, but most likely you'll have to wait until you have your soup and/or salad.
I have only tried one soup at Olive Garden, and it's the single best thing on their menu. I'm not lying. I can't say enough good things about their Zuppa Toscana soup. It's potatoes, sausage, and spinach in a broth. As we sometimes say on the Internet, it's made of pure win. My wife has never complained about their salad, however.
Olive Garden has two menus. The first is their regular menu, subject to change but almost always the same stuff. The second is the seasonal menu; this changes every month or two. Their regular menu doesn't offer much variety. Their seasonal menu, however, will often have at least one good thing on it, but that depends if you like the theme. Last time we went, it was seafood, and I'm not a seafood person, so I wasn't attracted to a single thing on that menu.
Mostly, their food is as good as you can expect for Italian food. It's hot, just the right amount of spice, and very flavorful. The portions are generous; if you're not a big eater, after the soup and breadsticks, you'll be likely asking for a to-go box. As such, we don't often try the dessert, but last time, I got a tiramisu, and it was good. Not great, but good. The white chocolate cake (cheesecake?) with the raspberry drizzle is also very good.
The prices are high, but not unfair. Two people can expect to run up a $40-45 bill between two soft drinks and an entree each plus the breadsticks and soup or salad, and that usually comes to $50-55 after the tip. So we go to Olive Garden and plan to spend "about sixty bucks". As such, we don't go often, but we do go a few times a year when we can.
This Olive Garden can't help its location, at least not in the present, but if there's one thing it can do, it's increase accuracy. The servers pride themselves on remembering your order (at least until they get to the back, and can jot it down for the kitchen) but this doesn't always work. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, it's kind of annoying considering what we pay to eat there. When we say something, they're good about fixing it, though.
This review came out a little longer than expected, but that's fine, I gave a lot of good information that I hope helps you, the reader and restaurant seeker, make a better choice about where you want to eat in Greenville, NC. I do recommend this Olive Garden, but I'm not hesitant to point out the caveats. I give them an 8/10; or in school grades, an A-.
Greenville's Olive Garden restaurant, on Greenville Blvd., is nice, but the overall experience is not all that spectacular.
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The building itself is very nice to look at, and it's nice and cozy inside. The waitstaff are all clean and sharp, and I've never seen anything damaged or worn inside. However, as it's very close to the mall, plus it's in a badly designed parking lot, the lot immediately surrounding the restaurant is almost always full. If it's cold, don't forget your jacket, you might have a fair walk to and from. If it's raining, forget about it. (And it rains hard in North Carolina.)
The service is well organized, but it's not good for handling large loads. On Valentines' Day, for instance, customers were asked to wait outside in near-freezing temperatures. They were telling people 2 hours. (In the cold. With no offer of breadsticks or anything. We waited about 50-55 minutes. Not quite an hour. On a given Friday or Saturday night, you can expect a wait of 15-30 minutes, and they have those coasters which double as pagers, and you can usually wait inside.
Seating is conservative, meaning they will try to seat you at a table first. The chairs are not very comfortable; I've sat in worse but also much better. Upon request they'll seat you in a booth, but as these are in higher demand, you'll have to wait a few minutes.
Once you're seated, you can expect to get your drinks in relative short order, provided you know what you want when you sit down. If so, they'll ask as soon as you sit, and they get them out quickly. That's for soda and sweet tea, anyway - for fancy beverages, your mileage may vary.
One of Olive Garden's "big things" is the free breadsticks. They are quite good (if a little salty) but you have to ask for them sometimes. You can usually get them soon after you get your drinks if you have a nice server, but most likely you'll have to wait until you have your soup and/or salad.
I have only tried one soup at Olive Garden, and it's the single best thing on their menu. I'm not lying. I can't say enough good things about their Zuppa Toscana soup. It's potatoes, sausage, and spinach in a broth. As we sometimes say on the Internet, it's made of pure win. My wife has never complained about their salad, however.
Olive Garden has two menus. The first is their regular menu, subject to change but almost always the same stuff. The second is the seasonal menu; this changes every month or two. Their regular menu doesn't offer much variety. Their seasonal menu, however, will often have at least one good thing on it, but that depends if you like the theme. Last time we went, it was seafood, and I'm not a seafood person, so I wasn't attracted to a single thing on that menu.
Mostly, their food is as good as you can expect for Italian food. It's hot, just the right amount of spice, and very flavorful. The portions are generous; if you're not a big eater, after the soup and breadsticks, you'll be likely asking for a to-go box. As such, we don't often try the dessert, but last time, I got a tiramisu, and it was good. Not great, but good. The white chocolate cake (cheesecake?) with the raspberry drizzle is also very good.
The prices are high, but not unfair. Two people can expect to run up a $40-45 bill between two soft drinks and an entree each plus the breadsticks and soup or salad, and that usually comes to $50-55 after the tip. So we go to Olive Garden and plan to spend "about sixty bucks". As such, we don't go often, but we do go a few times a year when we can.
This Olive Garden can't help its location, at least not in the present, but if there's one thing it can do, it's increase accuracy. The servers pride themselves on remembering your order (at least until they get to the back, and can jot it down for the kitchen) but this doesn't always work. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, it's kind of annoying considering what we pay to eat there. When we say something, they're good about fixing it, though.
This review came out a little longer than expected, but that's fine, I gave a lot of good information that I hope helps you, the reader and restaurant seeker, make a better choice about where you want to eat in Greenville, NC. I do recommend this Olive Garden, but I'm not hesitant to point out the caveats. I give them an 8/10; or in school grades, an A-.
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