Tag: onion rings

Food Review: Minute Club in Mountain View, AR

The Minute Club is a long-awaited new restaurant that took over Mikey’s Smoked Meats and Deli down Hwy 5. I went in to dine solo after a hike one day and was thoroughly impressed. Here’s the breakdown:

ENVIRONMENT

The bright blue of the outside of the newly updated building does set the perfect precedent for the entire atmosphere of Minute Club. Everything is updated, new, clean, and shiny! With a blue and red theme (your drink even comes in a red solo cup), tv’s playing sports all around, and a digital juke box, this place is fun! While there’s plenty of tables to sit at, there’s also a bar. There’s even a nice patio outside for when the weather isn’t freezing.

What stuck out to me most when I arrived, however, was how genuinely friendly the staff is. The waitress was beyond nice and patient with me as I tried to quickly decide on what to order. She let me know her favorites and didn’t rush me in the least. Then, I believe the owner (or manager?) came by a couple times to answer questions, make sure the food was good, and he was just as friendly as could be! I really appreciated everyone being so kind and talkative, especially when I was dining solo.

MENU

While the menu is typical southern food, mostly sandwiches, they have some unique items not found around the area. They have cheese curds, fried mushrooms, beignets, fried oreos, and daily specials. However, they are best known for their many different burgers, which are supposed to be the best in town. Their pizzas look very enticing, as well!

FOOD

The first thing you see when you walk into the restaurant is this full dessert display case full of at least one thing you’ll want to try. I couldn’t decide, so went with the owner’s suggestion of the strawberry pie to go. I know we should talk about dessert last, but we’re already here.

STRAWBERRY PIE- $5

With a graham cracker crust, a sweet and creamy filling topped with perfectly delicious macerated strawberries, this pie was very tasty!

BIG ROG- $12 with hand-cut fries.

This sandwich comes with fried bologna, cheese, bacon, lettuce, and mayo on a hoagie bun. I got mine without the cheese, but added an over-easy egg, which they did not charge for. Yay! Instead of house-cut fries, I opted for the beer-battered onion rings instead for $2. These rings were delicous! Crispy, not greasy. Dang near perfection! I didn’t even need the ketchup they provided.

The sandwich was the star, however. Was it messy and required me to use SIX napkins?? Yes. But that’s okay- any good fried bologna sandwich is a big ole mess to eat. It was sooo good! There’s the right amount of bolonga and all the toppings. The crispy bacon was a delicious addition I had never tried on fried bologna sandwiches before. The egg, though MADE IT! Perfectly cooked egg with nature’s gravy (egg yolk) running throughout the sandwich. I loved it!

The only downfall was the price. I ate all my food and took home a dessert for almost $20, not including tip. This is a little steep for the area, but worth it for a nice meal out.

If you give this place a try, let me know what I should get there next!

Food Review: Grampa’s Catfish & Seafood in Maumelle

Grampa’s Catfish & Seafood has been around for a while, at different locations,  but they are now located on Maumelle Boulevard. Luckily for me, I live in Maumelle! However, it took me a while to finally get out and try the place. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Grampa’s Catfish is in a building that has been many different restaurants over the years. It’s nothing fancy, but now the decor is a little Southern/ country, with plenty of things to look at on the walls. Interestingly, there framed pictures of, I assume, the owner’s family and friends all over the restaurant as well.
Our server was very friendly and made us feel right at home. He talked to us throughout the meal and made sure we had everything we needed at all times. Great service!

Menu

   

The menu is mostly southern fried foods, but there are plenty of healthier options as well. So, you can get anything from fried zucchini chips and a fried shrimp po-boy, to grilled mahi-mahi (plain or in a taco) with sauteed veggies.

Food

Coleslaw for the table- FREE

As soon as we sat down, a big bowl of coleslaw was ready for us to share as we decided on what to order. More came when that was gone. It is your typical mayo-based coleslaw, but with good seasoning, better than many others.

Fried Green Tomatoes, $5.99

We started off with the fried green tomato appetizer, that came with some lettuce leafs and ranch dressing. While they were cut thin and crispy, there wasn’t very much flavor in the breading. They were good, but I wouldn’t order them again. Next time, I’ll have to try the fried zucchini chips.

Dinner for Two: Fish and Fowl, $25.99
Description: Four catfish filets and eight chicken tenders, served with two large sides.

What a deal! This enormous meal is more than enough for 2 people. Drew and I couldn’t even eat half of it. The fish was large and the breaded was seasoned well. I took most of mine home, though, to cook it a little longer in the toaster oven, as I like my fried catfish very crispy.
The hand-battered chicken strips were long and thin and plenty. They were good in dipping sauces, but lacked flavor overall.

For one side, we got grilled veggies, and they were garlic-y and delicious! I will always order these.

For our other side, I was a little less healthy and got onion rings. Alongside them came many hush puppies. The only rings seemed hand batter in a beer batter of sorts and were very crispy. The hush puppies were typical, non-spicy balls of fried dough. But I’ve never met a hush puppy I didn’t like.

In the end, we carried home a completely packed to-go box and left with very full bellies. For about $30, we got so much food, and I love a good deal…so I like this place.