Food and Friends

Incredible Pizza

2011-02-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

The food bars are very good and the senior discounts for lunch are wonderful. Seniors are defined as younger there, I guess so grandparents will bring their grandkids.

Sinatra's

2009-09-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

We tried a new coffee shop, Sinatra's. It has mainly coffee and tea in a comfortable setting. There are overstuffed chairs and tables and chairs to choose from. They have wireless internet. There are also a half dozen sandwiches, a couple of salad choices and a soup choice each day. They have a few desserts to choose from also. I had a reuben and it was pretty good.

Some of the walls are old brick in an old building, which adds character. It is near a few campuses and is aimed at college and trade school students but the majority of people in there were adults over 30 but under 55, and 2/3 female. Possibly they were trade school students who, in this economy, are going back to school to get new job skills. Or they could have been instructors.

Bandanas

2009-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Bandanas is a barbeque place and the food is good. I have gone back there many times. If you go in on your birthday, they give you a bandana in your choice of red or blue.

Restaurants

2009-02-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

We haven't gone to many new ones lately.

Hemmingway's

2008-10-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

We tried the lunch buffett. They had a good selection of food but most of it was just okay, not great. The fried catfish was crispy on the outside but moist enough to be almost raw on the inside (it was not raw but the texture was mushy).

I liked the bread pudding. The roast beef was okay but not real flavorful. The peppercorn crust was but not the meat. I did like the horseradish sauce to go with it. The hawaiian chicken was just thighs and I do not care for dark meat. The augratin potatoes were pretty good but not quite as cheesy as I make them at home. The chopped eggs for the salad were hard and rubbery, just old. The lettuce and salad dressings were good and most of the toppings were too. I liked the bacon bits. The ambrosia was pretty good, although the whipped cream was a bit heavy. I did not try to soups or the rolls.

There were potato salads but I did not try them today. They had canned peaches and pears, which were normal for canned and they had cut up cantelope and honeydew melon. That's all on the fruit. Not much fresh. (I'm not big on melon) They had green beans, but it is not a veggie I care for much. I like most other veggies though. They did not have them except on the salad bar (raw broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower).

For $8.49 for the lunch buffet, it was okay but not something I'd want to go back to every week.

Kaldi's

2008-03-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Kaldi's is a coffee shop but they sell soups, salads, sandwiches, pastries and the like. I have had their soups, salads and sandwiches and all have been pretty good. Some were great.

I think there is a limit on the coffee refills but I'm not sure. There whole beans are good for coffee.

Churchill's

2008-03-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is a local coffee shop that roasts and sells their own coffee beans from all over the world. I buy coffee beans there and they are very good quality. I also like to go there and read and drink coffee. There are 3 flavored choices, 3 regular choices and 2 decaf choices a day and they vary from day to day. The coffee is in big caraffes and you just get what you want. That allows me to have more than 1 kind a day if I want 9and I always do).

They sell sandwiches, soups, salads, pasties and breakfasts. I like to order the oatmeal for breakfast. I have had a few of the other lunch items and all are good.

Starbucks

2008-03-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is a good place to go sometimes for coffee or frappiccinos. It tends to be a bit crowded here but I enjoy the coffee. Most of the places I go give free refills but this place does not. I have never eaten there. It is mostly expensive pastries, which are good but not something I eat much of.

Fire and Ice

2008-03-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

This place is good! It has a chef who is great. I have had most of their menu items now. I took the guys and they like it too. I have also been there with the girls and many other people.

The salmon and fish dishes are very good. The pork chop is about 2 inches thick and served with flash fried spinach and fried sweet potatoes. My husband, who does not like cooked spinach or sweet potatoes like both and ate them all.

They have a meat loaf called Not Your Mother's Meatloaf which is very good. I do not eat the pasta dishes but those with me have and say they are delicious. The steak is wonderful.

The main dish I have ordered the most is the hamburger which is delicious! So is the calamari appetizer. The hot spinach artichoke dip is the best I have had anywhere, very rich. I have tried every appetizer, I think, and they are all delicious.

My favorite dessert is the Creme Brulee. Until I went there, I had never had it. It is now one of my favorite desserts. They serve it with fruit syrup swirls on the plate and a few fresh fruits such as strawberries and raspberries with a dap of whipped cream on the side. Once we even had fresh flowers on the plate.

The food is pretty but the portions are generous so the guys do not leave hungry.

Fudrucker's

2008-03-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

It took me a long time to try this place because of the strange name. Now that I have tried it, I have been back many times with many different people. It is a grilled hamburger place, but not fast food.

I always get the hamburger, well done, and a baked potato. The burger is seasoned like I like it and there is a food bar of toppings for the burger; lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa, pickles, jalapenos, black olives and several other things. The baked potato is big and generous. (I could eat potatoes at every meal).

Olive Garden

2008-03-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

The four of us girls went to the Olive Garden not too long ago. I'm not too fond of pasta but I like their salad. They had a soup with sausage that was wonderful (but they ran out).

The other 3 girls ate pasta dishes and I had an all you can eat soup and salad. The waiter will top the salad with cheese and we said we wanted lots.

They have hot breadsticks too that smell heavenly. I ate one but I'd much rather smell fresh bread than eat it. The smell is wonderful but my tummy protests the eating. My friends loved it and ate their fill.

Olive Garden is a good place to eat.

Heritage Cafeteria

2008-03-24T18:26:00.001-07:00

Heritage is very good in my opinion because of all the selection of vegetables. They have vegetables most restaurants do not carry like beets, brussels sprouts, brown beans (Tonya's favorite) and a lot more. There are probably at least 20 choices of veggies every day, not including potatoes and the selection varies from day to day a little. They also have fresh salads and fresh fruit.

I have my own little rut here too. I almost always get the baked fish, and a baked potato. The other veggie is usually beets or brussels sprouts for me. I always get a blueberry muffin (it comes with the meal as a bread choice) and take it home for the guys.

This place is great for anybody who likes a variety of home cooked style foods. It's not fancy so it doesn't appeal to those who prefer upscale but it is nice. It does not have a lot of fried foods, salt, etc, so the junk food advocates don't like it as much either. But I do.

Red Lobster

2008-03-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite restaurants but we only go there about twice a year. It is a bit pricey. But it was our 30th anniversary.

Seafood is delicious! I had the platter with a lobster tail, crab legs, broiled and fried shrimp, a baked potato and a caesar salad. John had the Admiral's platter, which is mostly fried seafood and also very good.

Dagwood's

2008-03-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

This was a fun sandwich restaurant. There is a flat screen TV on the wall that shows continuous Blondie comic strips.

I had a rueben sandwich there and it was good. The friends with me had other things and said theirs were good too. My sandwich cost around $7.

My family does not like sauerkraut but I do, so I order it out given the chance. Rueben's are high calorie sandwiches but are wonderful!

Chipolte Restaurant

2008-03-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago a new Chipolte's opened near campus and they were giving away free burritos. They were very good.

A friend of mine works on campus, heard about it and told us so 4 of us went to check it out. The offer was very generous and the burritos are huge. You go to the counter and have several choices on the types of beans, meats, salsas, etc. I would eat there again.

As part of the promotion, they were giving things away while we waited in line if we could answer their trivia. I got one right and won a stress burrito. Instead of a soft ball that you squeeze, it's in the shape of a burrito. I collect those promotional stress toys and have several including several types of balls, a globe, a chicken, a chair, a large pill shape and other things. The guys in the family take them out of the basket and juggle them.

J Bucks

2008-03-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

A friend and I had a good coupon for the restaurant so we went there. A $9 hamburger seems a bit high for my tastes but we had a buy 1 meal, get 1 for $1 coupon.
We both bought the blue cheese burger with a side salad. I chose caesar salad. The whole thing was good but very filling. I took part of it home and ate it later. Blue cheese is very good from time to time and most caesar salads are wonderful.

I would eat there again with a coupon but it's a bit high without one.

Restaurants That Closed

2007-01-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Restaurants come and go. It makes it an interesting adventure trying all the new foods. There was a hot dog restaurant down the street from us that only lasted a few months it seemed. We ate there a few times and it was okay. They had a selection of different kinds of hot dogs and sausages with a wide variety of toppings. I think the major drawback for that restaurant was the prices. You would pay $5-$6-$7 for a hot dog and a simple side (like a small bag of chips). Hot dogs on a bun are sometimes sold at gas stations 2 for $1. Granted, they tend to be raunchy, but it takes a lot of toppings to make up that difference in price.

There was a barbeque place right next to it that went out of business also. I'm not real sure what happened there. There prices were a bit higher than the competition, but not that much. I like to go buy a barbeque sandwich and just have water with it. When I went in there, they didn't know how to do that. They just had plates with fries and soda. I tried it twice and it was a hassle getting what I wanted (once I think they refused to sell me just a sandwich) so I didn't go there any more. It's a shame. I like barbeque beef.

One restaurant that went out of business was owned by a friend and was a pizza place. It went out of business partly because the location was a nightmare to get in and out of, partly because of so many problems with the building and equipment that they could not get out a consistent product in a reasonable length of time and partly because they did not advertise much. They opened in a new location and are doing fine now.

Another restaurant, a donut shop, used to be down the street and it went out of business. They had a good product at good prices and the smell was wonderful and brought people in. They lasted a few years. The reason they lost customers is that the only workers at various times of day did not speak English. The business was apparently owned by an Indian family. Some times of the day there would be members who spoke English, sometimes there were those who spoke it a little and, one poor older lady who worked most nights and did not seem to speak any English at all. We just had to point to what we wanted. We did not quit going there but lots of people did.

Anton's

2006-03-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

Anton's is a breakfast and lunch place. It is open early and closes in the afternoon. Anton is the owner. He serves very good breakfasts and lunches, hearty, traditional food. Anton's has been around for many years. I enjoy eating there. It's down to earth and not for the fussy upscale types, just for ordinary people.

Canton Inn

2006-03-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite fast food "Chinese" food restaurant. Their prices are very good and so is their food. I like their Americanized versions of cashew chicken and sweet and sour chicken. It is Americanized in that the chicken is fried. Their egg rolls are very good and so are their crab rangoons. There is often a crowd there eating.

Kyojin Japanese Buffet

2006-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

If you like sushi, this is a good place to go. They fix it fresh in front of you, whatever you want. It is a favorite of one of my family member's. They have what they call a Hibatchi grill that they cook a dish of your own choosing on and bring it to you. There is also a salad bar and a food bar. My favorite part was the steamed crab legs. They also had lots of other good stuff. The time I went they were really skimpy on desserts. The pans were pretty much empty and stayed that way. Someone had told us about their wonderful green tea ice cream but they were all out the day we went. I will go back to this restaurant.

Fuji Japanese Restaurant

2006-03-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

At this restaurant, the chef prepares the food in front of you on a large grill. Each grill has a table with seats for 8 in front of it. The chef puts on quite a show, spinning and chopping and sauteeing the foods. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had teryaki beef with fried rice, fried noodles and grilled vegetables. The others with me had a variety of things including chicken, shrimp and scallops. I would recommend this restaurant.

Little Tokyo

2006-03-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

This restaurant has moderate priced Japanese food. They do not fix it in front of you as in some Japanese restuarants. We had a very good meal and I would recommend this restaurant.

Incredible Pizza

2006-01-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

This is the place to go if you have kids. They have a pizza buffet and will make any kind of pizza you request. They also have a large salad bar, a pasta bar, a baked potato bar, and a small dessert bar that includes ice cream.

The restaurant has serveral rooms with different decor. One dining room is showing an old movie (movie varies). Another has a TV. Another has a stage where people sometimes perform or sing kareoke. Another is like an old fashioned diner. Then their are the private party rooms people reserve.

In the back room of the restaurant is an arcade with many games, mini golf, bumper cars, go carts, rides for little kids, etc. The games are the arcade type where you get tickets for points and you can redeem them for trinkets when you are done.

I do not take kids normally. I go because I just enjoy the food.

Bambu Vietnamese Cuisine

2005-12-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

If you want to try something really different, a food adventure, this is your place. The owner is a very nice man who comes out and visits with customers. The food is authentic Vietnamese and contained ingredients I had never seen or tasted before. It was an adventure. Several times I asked the server what a particular thing was that I was eating. Everything I had was good.

This restaurant is not for people who do not like to try new things.

Tong's Thai Restaurant

2005-12-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have eaten at Tong's 2 or 3 times. The food is very good at a reasonable price, particularly for lunch. When I order I chose the dish with the type of meat I wanted, then I chose the kind of curry I wanted whether mild, medium or hot. I like dishes with curry. Each meal started with a small egg roll as an appetizer.

If you like Thai food, this is a good place to try.

Ocean Zen

2005-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

If you want to go to a nice restaurant with a classy atmosphere and good food at an affordable price, this is for you. (Okay, so classy is an old word. I'll update it when a better one comes to mind) A person in formal dress would not feel out of place there. Most people are dressed in business or casual attire.

The food, when served, is pretty (artfully displayed). Not only that, it tastes delicious and they give generous portions! This is not just a "girl" restaurant. Some of the times we have eaten there, there have been more men than women.

I have ordered a Crispy Orange Beef a few times. It's kind of like a big chicken fried steak on top of rice with vegetables and a very good orange sauce. But it's pretty.

If you go around noon, it is almost impossible to get in. First you have to find parking and that sometimes means parking in another lot and walking a bit. There is more seating inside than there is parking outside.

In my opinion, this restaurant fits the description of upscale dining without the huge upscale prices.

Qdoba Mexican Grill

2005-12-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

Qudoba is a little bit like a Subway restaurant but with Mexican food. You tell them what you want to order (nachos, burrito, enchilada, etc) and then you tell them what ingredients you want in it. Depending on what you order, there is a wide range of possibilites. If you know what you like, it can be fantastic. If you have no clue what you prefer and what goes well with what, you might have to experiment a few times to get a combination that you like.

Overall, I like this restaurant because I like choices. The first time I ate there it was so so because I requested some combinations that didn't go as well together as I thought they would. The next time I ate there, I chose much better and it was good.

Imo's Pizza

2005-12-29T14:52:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite pizza place right now. They serve St. Louis style thin crust pizza and use an American type cheese. My favorite is the hamburger pizza.

Pappy's Place

2005-12-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Pappy's Place is an old restaurant in a tiny 100 year old building. I enjoy going there although it is not at all elegant. It's a barbeque place. During the day they served a mixed crowd that includes people who work at the Assembly of God Headquarters, people who work at the courthouse and other government workers, and lower income workers who live in the area. If you come at the peak lunch hour, you will probably have to wait for a table. It's a fairly popular place. They have tables outside in a little garden for people to eat at in good weather. Since Pappy's also has a bar, they probably serve the drinking crowd in the evenings. (I've only been there for lunch)

Pappy's has a good barbeque sandwich plate every day and it's huge! There may be as much as 3/4 lb of meat on one sandwich. It comes with a huge mound of fries. I enjoy going there every so often. They have all kinds of knick knacks on the shelves, old pictures and menus on the walls and old dollar bills tacked to the ceiling. Going there is a bit like going back in time 50 years.

Ryan's Steak House

2005-12-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

I love food bars and this one is very good. In my opinion, for a food bar to be good, it has to have beef and fish (the other stuff is okay for other people). It also has to have a variety of fresh and cooked fruits and vegetables that aren't swimming in any kind of sauce or goop. They also need to have baked potatoes to make my "best" list. This place has it all, so I recommend it.

Pasta House Co. Restaurant

2005-12-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

I discovered this restaurant in 1993. My favorite food is their all you can eat house salad. It has romaine lettuce, parmaesan cheese, artichoke hearts, red onions (I pick most of those out) and a vinegar and oil type house dressing. That's my whole meal, the only thing I buy when I go there. (There's only 1 salad of this type I like better and it is very similar but has pimentos too. It's the Rich & Charlie's Restaurant house salad in St. Louis) The bread they serve with it is wonderful.

My son and my friends have ordered the pasta and say it is very good. Pasta is okay but not my favorite food. Noodles are cheap and so are the bits of meat, sauces and vegetables they put in it. It doesn't make sense to pay $7 or $8 or more a plate for it as if it were something exotic.

Update- I went there this week and the menu has changed. They still have my favorite salad but it is no longer all you can eat. You can get a little one or a big one and that's it. They did add pimentoes. Prices on everything went up out of my comfort range. The attention of the waitress was fair. It did not seem nearly as busy with customers as it has in the past so maybe some things besides the salad changed.

Big Easy Restaurant

2005-12-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

The Big Easy serves New Orleans style food. It's a fairly new restaurant that has only been in Springfield a few months. Both times I went it was very busy.

Someone told me that the service there was bad (but it isn't). They had gone there and waited over half an hour to be waited on, so they left. It's a shame they didn't know that you order at the counter and they call your name when the food is ready.

Anyway, I had a Poor Boy (Po'boy?) sandwich which was very good. I'm looking forward to going again and trying something else. I would recommend this restaurant if you like this type of food.

Buckingham's Barbeque

2005-12-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

Buckingham's has the most wonderful smell when you drive by on the road. Overall, it is one of my favorite barbeque places. My favorite meal is a smoked brisket sandwich with 2 sides of baked beans. Normally I don't care much for baked beans but these are different. I have been known to make a meal of them. Their beans contain chunks of smoked meat and have a sauce that is both sweet and hot. It is wonderful.

They used to have hot sauces on the table to try on your sandwiches but they didn't have any out the last time we went. They did have 2 types of barbeque sauce.

Ziggie's Restaurant

2005-12-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is my Dad's favorite restaurant. Apparently, a lot of people in Springfield agree with him because there is always a wait to get a table. The portions are generous, there is a big selection including breakfast and homecooked type foods like turkey and dressing or chicken fried steak and the prices are moderate. It's possible to get a meal for around $6.

The breakfasts I have had there are very good. The plate lunches have been just fair. Given the crowds, I've probably just ordered the wrong stuff. People don't pack into a restaurant like they do this one if the food is only fair.

I will definately go back to this restaurant. If anybody is reading this, what food would you recommend there?

Crossroads Barbeque

2005-12-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

This used to be one of my favorite restaurants when they were in their little, old building. They smoke their own meat and it smelled heavenly. The portions were generous, the food delicious and the people were friendly. They had board games to play inside the restaurant and you could get a sandwich for less than $5.

Then they moved. I guess they need to because they were doing so well. The new place smelled like a new place, lacking the heavenly smoked meat scent. The waitress/waiters were more hurried and less friendly. The prices went up, I guess to pay for the new building. And that wouldn't have been so bad but the portions got pretty skimpy at the same time. I commented on it to one of the servers and I was assured that it weighed the same as it had before. She even had somebody in the kitchen (the owner maybe?) come out and assure me it was the same. But it wasn't. It was skimpy compared with all the times before. I went back 3 times, just in case it was a fluke, and it was skimpy every time. So I quit eating there. It's a shame. I really liked that place until they moved. At least one friend agreed with me that they quit eating there because the portions got skimpy.

I may try it again some day because it really used to be good and maybe they'll change back.

Panera Restaurant

2005-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

Panera used to be called the St. Louis Bread Company. Then they expanded all over the country and changed their name. The reason they are doing so well is that the food is very good!

Panera is partly a coffee shop and bakery with wonderful breads and pastries. The coffee is in large containers on an island and you get whatever you want. There are 4 varieties to choose from. For lunch and dinner, they have a selection of delicious soups, sandwiches made with a variety of their own fresh baked breads and very good salads.

I have never been to a place that has better soups than theirs (except maybe my own homemade). (No, on second thought, the "gold standard" of French onion soup for me is what the Famous Barr restaurant used to serve, but they are long gone.) There are 2 or 3 soups that are offered every day and then several more that are offered on a rotating basis. I think there are about 7 soup choices a day. My favorites are French Onion, broccoli cheese, and potato. Soups are available in a bread bowl and that's delicious too.

I love their sandwiches, especially the turkey artichoke panini and the Asiago roast beef. Their salads are never bland and include all sorts of flavorful ingredients, depending on what you want.

All of the Paneras in Springfield have outdoor seating available. When the weather is nice, I love to sit outside with my hubby and my coffee and enjoy the day.

Galloway Station Restaurant

2005-12-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we tried out Galloway Station Restaurant for lunch. It's an old train station that has been converted into a restaurant. The decor is interesting with a lot of memorabelia to look at on the walls. This restaurant is also a bar and would probably be pretty smokey at night.

We sat near a fireplace at a wooden table. The waitress was friendly and we had a good time talking. I had a 1/2 lb hamburger that was very good. It came with fries that were handcut and homemade they said. They were good too.

I would go back here. Like many restaurants, this one has character and is unique in many ways.

Heritage Cafeteria

2005-12-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Heritage Cafeteria has been around a long time and it has very good food. You go through the line and choose the salads, meats, vegetables, fruits, breads and desserts that you want from a wide variety. Just tell the server what you want and they put it on a plate for you. A person can pay for each item individually or they can order a plate. The plate I order often, has a meat, 2 sides and a bread (I choose which of each).

If you like a healthy variety of homecooked, healthy foods this is where you want to go. They have vegetables no one else carries like beets, cabbage, brussels sprouts, greens, different beans and lots more. Expect to wait in line at lunch time because this is a popular place. The majority of the people who eat there are over 60 yrs old and appear to be healthy active people. I think they know something the younger crowd hasn't figured out yet about good, healthy eating.

I recommend this place. The fish is delicious (and the roast beef), the pies and desserts are wonderful and, if you like vegetables, there's no place better.

Ben's Carriage House Restaurant

2005-12-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

Ben's Carriage House Restaurant is open 24 hours a day year round. We have eaten there several times and normally the food is good, the prices reasonable and the portions generous. I believe the owners are from Macedonia and are very friendly. The restaurant offers things like gyros as well as a variety of American foods.

When the city of Springfield made an ordinance banning smoking in restaurants except in a few cases, this restaurant installed the required wall/room to separate smokers from non smokers. Smoke in a room doesn't bother me much unless I'm sick. It's only temporary while I choose to be in that business. (I'm not one of those people who demands that everybody else, even strangers, go around and change their behavior to suit me. That's selfish.)

If a person has a true problem with cigarette smoke, such as lung disease, they may not be comfortable there, even in the non smoking section. The cash register to pay is in the non smoking section and some smokers continue to smoke while paying their bill. While this is inconsiderate behavior on the part of the customers, it is not the fault of the proprieter. (Last time I was there, one guy was hiding around the corner in the non smoking section, chain smoking, while his friend paid the bill. Defiant jerks happen.)

We have had some really good meals there. The last time we went we did not. It was Christmas eve about 8:45pm, after church and we wanted a bite to eat as we had not had dinner. The Texas Steak House had been telling people they would be open until 11pm so we went there first to try it out. They changed their mind and decided to close at 8:30, just as we, and several other customers were arriving. So we went to Ben's Carriage House.

We were met with a new, much higher priced menu with less choices. I heard a waitress talking to somebody else and there may have been 2 menus, with this one being the holiday or night time menu. I ordered a Greek or Mediterranian salad and it was terrible. It had so much salad dressing it was almost like soup. And the salad dressing was awful, some kind of bitter low cal Italian with sweetener (the menu said nothing about it being sugar free dressing). The feta cheese (if it really was that)was mushy and flavorless. So, for about $7.50, I got a really bad salad. I don't think John's food was all that great either.

Galloway Village Tea Room

2005-12-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a "girl" restaurant, this is it! The decor is very feminine with flowers and fancy touches. The placemats are shaped like a large leaf with a twisty stem to hold the multicolored dinner napkin. It's a very pretty place to eat.

At lunchtime, the restaurant can be pretty crowded and it's not unusual to have to wait for a table. It's rare to see a man in there, although most times I have been there, there have been one or two in the sea of women.

The menu consists of flavored teas, quiches, soups, salads, and things made with chicken. I think chicken is a "girl food" unless it's fried. Since I prefer beef first and seafood second when I eat out and chicken only when I'm in the mood, I notice if the menu is almost all chicken. They also serve pretty desserts. Portions tend to be smaller in keeping with the feminine atmosphere.

The week before Christmas I ordered broccoli cheese soup and a caesar salad. The soup was pretty good, almost as good as what I make (and yes, I would order it again). The salad was okay. The dressing on it was good but the salad itself was all lettuce. They serve a tiny muffin with their meals (maybe an inch across) and it is delicious. They also serve slices of fresh fruit as a garnish and that is tasty.

In the past, I have had their quiches and some other things. The quiches are good but I left hungry when I ordered them. At about $7 a slice, my frugal nature will not allow me to order 2 slices.

When I go here, I mainly go for the company and the atmosphere. My friends love it (but then they love chicken too).

Mexican Villa Restaurant

2005-12-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Mexican Villa is another one of our family favorites. I especially like the one on National near MSU. It is over 50 years old and has character! I have been going there since I was in college several years ago. (Some of my friends prefer the newer Mexican Villa Restaurants in other parts of town, especially if they are from other parts of the country)

Mexican Villa's taste is unique. The food is Americanized. When the restaurant was opened years ago, Mexican food was new to the Ozarks. The owner changed some things to make it more appealing to those in Springfield. He did a wonderful job. It's not authentic Mexican and there are probably no restaurants outside of Springfield quite like it.

The sauces, which they make themselves, are sweeter than authentic ones (and delicious). They use a different kind of cheese, a white cheese that does not melt in the microwave, and has a wonderful flavor. The hamburger used in the food is boiled and not fried (I don't know if this is different or not but it seems a lot healthier). All food is mild unless you order it hot.

Nobody goes away from Mexican Villa hungry. The portions are very generous. Here are some of my favorites. The tacos are delicious with their crisp shells, homemade sauce, white cheese, hamburger, and lettuce spilling out generously. The burritos, dinner plate size, also have the cheese, hamburger, refried beans and special sauce and are wonderful. And to have burritos enchilada style is heavenly. The burritos are covered in enchilada sauce and melted cheese then topped with mounds of lettuce and some tomato and sour cream. The nachos are delicious also. When you order it you get a large plate mounded with chips, covered in cheese, meat, sauces and whatever else you ordered on it. It's enough for a meal for at least 2 people. There are lots of other things I haven't tried (and some I have but forgot to mention), but everybody I have been with has always enjoyed what they ordered.

While we wait for our order, the waitperson brings a bottomless basket of chips. No matter how much you eat, they refill it and there is sauce for dipping also.

Great Wall Restaurant

2005-12-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall Restaurant here in Springfield, MO is one of my family's favorites! It is a Chinese food buffet that includes Mongolian Barbeque.

We had lunch there Christmas day. On holidays and special days they have steamed crab legs and they are wonderful!

The Mongolian Barbeque is delicious. They have a lot of ingredients to choose from. You can also have a small steak grilled at the same time from the Mongolian Barbecue bar. One of my favorite items is what they call cheesy shrimp. It's fried shrimp in a sweet white sauce (if that's cheese, it has to be cream cheese). I also really like the barbequed pork, boiled shrimp and all of the fresh fruit. Everything is good and I think I've tried about everything.

My family could probably eat there several times a week and never get tired of it.

Logan's Roadhouse

2005-12-29T09:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we tried Logan's Roadhouse, a new restaurant in Springfield. I ordered a bowl of broccoli cheese soup and a super stuffed baked potato. It was just okay. The soup was luke warm and not the best I'd ever had. I would not order it again. The super stuffed baked potato was a bit skimpy on the fixings. At $2.69, I'd expected a bit more than a normal side dish.

I will probably try this restaurant again before writing them off. I did not try one of their main dishes. Their prices are skirting the edge of my top comfort zone. I think a hamburger was around $8. Dinner prices tended to be over $12.

They had a problem with our order. The computer left the baked potato off all together and my friend ordered her hamburger with no onions but it came with them anyway. She said the hamburger was good and a very large portion.

Several people, probably managers, kept coming by and asking how everything was. They were very attentive. I had no legitimate complaints so there was nothing to say but the food was just okay, not real good.

I did enjoy the bucket of peanuts on the table!

Food and Friends

2005-12-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

Eating out in Springfield, Missouri is an adventure for me and I have decided to share what I think. I welcome the opinions and input of others as my tastes as uniquely my own (just like everybody else).

My adventure in trying out restaurants started with a New Moves In's Bible study class at Second Baptist Church. It is a fantastic ministry/class that I hope to offer at our church some day. After a few weeks in the class, I decided I wanted to try out restaurants in my new home town and I invited the other new resident classmates to join me in going out for lunch. (The class lasted from about 9-12).

At first nobody would go, so I went by myself. This town has a lot of great restaurants. I went to Crosstown Barbeque and Pasta House (more on them later).

The first time somebody went with me, she and I went to Buckingham's on N Glenstone and ate at a picnic table outside. This friend moved to Texas very shortly after that and the restaurant is now closed. I kept inviting people and, starting the next week, some started coming. By the time the class was over we had 12-15 people, including a couple of little kids, coming every week.

As is the nature of people who move, the majority of the people have moved someplace else and it is now a different and smaller group. Each time I would join a new Bible Study, I would invite everybody there to join us.

I had an email list of people letting them know each week where we were going to try the next week since we were not always in the same Bible Studies any more. Second Baptist was running several at a time. There were a bunch of people who wanted to remain on the list and to be included in the invitation, but they never came and joined us. A few friends even asked to remain on the list when they moved to other parts of the country! I was glad to oblige. If it makes their life a little better to be included, why not?

Over the years the group has changed and it is much smaller. For the time being, I have not invited very many new people to join us, but that may change as other things change. Most of us have gone through some major life changes and we talk about things we are not comfortable sharing with strangers. (One friend calls it our weekly group therapy) We still try new places every week. (Springfield has loads of restaurants for it's size!)

Eventually I may start an additional group when I find a group of interested people. Trying new places, including the unusual, is fun!

There is a category of restaurant I will probably not be reviewing because I am frugal. That category is high priced restaurants, the ones that like to call themselves upscale. If a meal costs more than $7 to $10, depending on what it is and whether it is lunch or dinner, I won't be ordering it.