My "Go To" Restaurant- Saltgrass

There is nothing more important in life then finding a darn good steak house in town! For years my husband and I were like the rest of Colorado Springs waiting 1-2 hours for a table at Texas Roadhouse thinking their cuts of meat are awesome (I do love their prime rib). But, little did I know there was another chain steakhouse in town that was going to blow my mind. Saltgrass!

This restaurant is quieter then Texas roadhouse, the atmosphere lacks the littered peanut shells on the floor or being pushed up against the wall waiting for a table. Yet, they still have the TVs on the wall on some random sports channel and they have a wide variety of adult beverages one of my favorites is the spiked sweet tea.

Saltgrass is my "go to" restaurant if I can’t think of somewhere new to go then I go to Saltgrass because  I am always going to be extremely satisfied with my meal. It is a chain restaurant owned by Landry's Inc. which owns restaurants, gaming and etc. Of course I am a Landry's select club member (Oh I sound like I am special) you pay $25 to get the membership and then your next meal you get $25 off; so if you go here often the card offers opportunity to gain points to receive discounts on your meals. Just so you know it is not just I who thinks these steaks are great. Now if you go to the Saltgrass website you will see numerous awards on the site; specifically first place, best food at the Taste (A Taste of Colorado).

My husband and I often go to Saltgrass for lunch and dinner so I have highlighted what we ate over a few visits at this restaurant once for lunch and twice for dinner.

Super sweet tea!

Like any good Texas steak house it offers a sweet tea which is so sugary it will rot your teeth...just the way I like it. Then each table is served a warm perfectly round loaf of their Shiner Bock beer bread with butter. Delicious!!!

For an appetizer we usually order the chuck wagon cheese fries which is a plate piled high fried potatoes that are topped with gooey melted jack and cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream & chives. I usually 86 the chives and get the bacon on the side. My husband loves bacon but I don’t eat cute little piggies. But my favorite appetizer of all would have to be the fried mushrooms which I choose to have with the dill ranch. These little morsels are perfectly zesty, crispy on the outside and juicy & tender on the inside. The mushrooms are simple delectable! But be careful these suckers can be stove hot so don’t burn your tongue, you are going to need it for the main course.

Then I order a house salad with the dill ranch, shredded cheddar cheese, tomato, croutons and I add red onions. I love the salads because of the creamy dill ranch which tastes homemade and the perfectly buttery crotons.

For lunch I ordered the chicken fried chicken and my husband ordered the chicken fried steak. You can tell we were both on diets that day (joking).

My husband’s chicken fried steak was huge (Texas style everything is bigger) but it doesn’t always mean better. I believe the chicken was more scrumptious then the steak. Both the fried chicken and fried steak had a crispy lightly fried layer but the chicken was much more juicy and delicious taste then the steak. My husband ordered his meal with a basic baked potato with butter and I opted for the garlic mashed potatoes drowning in the white gravy.

Now to the really good stuff…DINNER!

I order the Maudeen’s center cut filet which is a tender, juicy, succulent 6oz or 9oz filet that is topped with garlic butter and onion straws. My husband usually orders the grilled gulf shrimp with his filet and I will order the cognac pepper sauce but not the pepper crusted. Also we go all out and order the sautéed mushrooms to top the filet. Now this steak would be perfectly delicious solo, but if you add the sauce and mushrooms your taste buds will go into overload. This steak is luscious... and never have my filets been fatty or chewy like so many other steak houses but always perfection. This filet is mouthwateringly delicious.



The rich and decadent cognac pepper sauce.



I order the mac and cheese with my steak showing off my refined palate. The mac and cheese is dripping in cheddar and smoked Gouda cheese which is rich and I enjoy the smoked flavor thats adds a nice twist to a classic side dish. I find the cheesy, ooey, gooey, smoky-ness of this side dish to be sublime.

My husband for dinner ordered the grilled chicken breast & gulf shrimp combo that is a moist marinated grilled chicken breast and grilled marinated gulf shrimp with a melted butter to dip those suckers in. My husband always goes on and on how fresh the shrimp are but I am too much of a picky eater to try seafood. Of course my husband ordered the baked potato which was dripping with an overload of melting butter.

 

But there is more….we ended up coming back another night and tried the beef ravioli, something different. The ravioli is simply exquisite; it is made with tender slow roasted beef ravioli topped with sautéed mushrooms & sun dries tomatoes that add a bit of tanginess to the savory taste of the creamy cognac sauce. This is pasta bliss!

Oh now I have to go back after wiriting this....I am drooling! Saltgrass is my go to restaurant when I want a good steak or good meal!

Colorado Mountain Brewery

I should have known better to check my urban spoon app for the rating on Colorado Mountain Brewery before waiting for a table at a restaurant that can be best described as mediocre. And that is being polite….I hate a bad meal. It was so dreadful that we ended up going to Burger King afterwards so my husband could get the horrid taste out of his mouth.


Now where do I begin….the décor was attractive giving the customer a false sense of possibly having a good meal to come. But little did we know how the night would end. We order our drinks which were a lemon drop martini and a pale ale called the Hefeweissen. The lemon drop was tart and I could tell the vodka was not top shelf but that was my fault for not saying something to our waiter beforehand. The pale ale was a wild boutique of fruity undertones which was actually quiet overwhelming. Needless to say my husband was not a fan.

 We perused the menu while asking our waiter for suggestions and then we eye-balled other tables’ meals to determine what we should order for our meals. While reviewing the menu I noticed something interesting in the ingredients; not one item on the meal was simple it was all an overindulgence in fusion recipes. Fusion recipes can be exciting and interesting for your taste buds if executed properly i.e. don’t go overboard with herbs and spices.

We started our meal with a cup of the three cheese beer soup that had parmesan croutons and freshly chopped jalapeños for a little kick. The soup was creamy and spicy; I really enjoyed the combination.


Hence I was looking forward to the main course. I had chosen the herb & gorgonzola crusted beef tenderloin; normally this meal comes with Brussels sprouts with bacon but I had a rather lengthy conversation with the waiter that I don't eat pork so I substituted the asparagus and put the gorgonzola sauce on the side.  The meal also came with a twice baked potato which I thought didn’t have bacon in it. Well, my meal came and guess what happened…. the potato had bacon in it. At this point the manager happened to come over to our table and I discussed with her that I was frustrated that on the menu bacon wasn't described in the potato. She seemed flustered because she kept interrupting me by repeating "I am sorry"; rather then listening to my concern. It seems that poor customer service is an issue at this local spot since many other patrons on Urban Spoon describe the same poor quality service. A solution was finally met and garlic mashed potatoes were brought out instead. I thought the garlic potatoes were smooth and creamy and all in all delightful and the asparagus was lightly grilled just how I like it.

But the beef tenderloin was horrid. Beef tenderloin is usually tender, lean and juicy; but what I received was chewy and fatty. The paste of herbs on top of the meat  really didn’t taste anything more than tomato paste out of the can and the gorgonzola dressing was even worse tasting, like sour cream that had gone bad. Let's just say I didn't finish it.

My husband ordered the seared Ahi Tuna Steak which was crusted with spices served with a Thai peanut sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes and veggies. The tuna was so over seasoned with spices you couldn’t even taste the fish and the spices were extremely overwhelming and way too hot. What was even worse was the wasabi mashed potatoes tasted like raw horseradish. I don’t know about you but eating raw horseradish as a side dish is not at all appealing to me. (FYI “Wasabi” in the US is usually horseradish paste mixed with maybe a little bit of real wasabi if you are lucky and then they add food coloring to make it appear nice and green). Needless to say my husand did't finish his meal.

We were originally going to have a dessert but decided not to push our luck at this restaurant and just asked for the check. Please note that this restaurant is too pricey for such low quality food and beer that is just okay. If you are looking for a good brewery in town then try out the Phantom Canyon.

Which Wich? And this Witch!

Gone are the days of limp or burnt subs; at "Which Wich?" you can truly have it your way. For a difficult/picky eater this sandwich shop is heaven. Being a picky eater I often feel as though I am being a Witch because I am so particular on what I eat and how it is prepared. But in a sandwich shop where I am supposed to select whatever I want... I really can’t feel bad at all for being so picky.

I appreciate the fresh and high quality ingredients. I even love the fun way of ordering, which the children that were there that day seemed to get a kick out of as well. You feel like you’re in control and it is lovely not having to yell across the counter at the little sandwich boys like at other sub places.

When you walk in you will be greeted by an employee who will help you order if you get confused (so don't be scared; it isn't rocket science). It really is not too hard to figure out the ordering process. You pick a brown bag which has a category at the top of the bag in red for example: turkey or seafood or classics.  Then on the bag you select whatever items you want on your sandwich. Please see examples below.

I chose the turkey, regular size sub, toasted with pepper jack and provolone cheese, chipotle mayo and lettuce & tomato. My husband went for a classic roast beef and swiss cheese toasted; it is basically a French dip. The bread was beautifully toasted to make a perfect crispy vessel for our cheesy meaty goodness.

They have homemade potato chips which are crispy warm and simple not over flavored or over processed chips. I was even excited to see the little brown bag the chips come; I quickly became nostalgic because the little paper bag reminded me of when you took homemade lunches to school. I thought that was a cute little touch.

So if you are ever in the mood for a really good sandwich and you are feeling a little picky, then definitely check out "Which Wich?"

Carlos Miguel's Es No Bueno

Mexican food….now this cultural delight I am extremely picky about. Maybe it is because there seems to be an interweaving of my favorite ingredient…cheese; that makes me an “expert” on Mexican food. Or it could be the fact that my mother-in-law can make some killer tamales, the world’s best homemade Spanish rice and (when I did eat pork) she has a phenomenal / mind blowningly delicious smothered green chili burritos. ßThis could be the reason why I gained 20lbs after marrying my husband.    

Yes there is a special place in my heart for Mexican food. So if you take me to a Mexican Restaurant it better be darn good. Now there are different types of Mexican food believe it or not there is more authentic which finds it roots in Mexico City and in my opinion the cooking style found a home in El Paso Texas. There is the Tex-Mex, New Mexican and then my least favorite water downed Mexican Food (mainstream Americana Mexican food i.e. on the border). My preference is for New Mexican cuisine which staple is the red or green chili that drowns unsuspecting sopaopillas, enchiladas and/or burritos.

Now that I have gone through my very long winded and scientific explanation of different types of Mexican food let’s get to the review of Carlos Miguel’s; which is located on the North East side of town, off of Powers near the new Cordera Super Target. This restaurant is swanky in its décor and the place was packed when we went for dinner on a Saturday night but we didn’t have to wait too long for a table. I do have to say the service was slow which could be just growing pains of a new restaurant but it took forever to get our food and when it came my husband’s order was wrong.

I liked the salsa it was chucky with a lot of cilantro and onion which I am a fan of but can be overpowering to some people.  We ordered the chile con queso which was rather milky and runny; it came out boiling hot but lacked the consistency that I like in my queso.

I went safe after seeing the queso and ordered the steak fajitas which ended up not having that much steak at all. The flavor was simple run of the mill fajitas; nothing special.

My in-laws got the ground beef burrito that had beans and cheese. My husband ordered a combination beef burrito and chicken enchilada but they brought him a taco and chimichanga. We had to wait for our waiter to come by to tell him that my husband's order was wrong; but they finally brought the correct order over after the rest of us were finished with our meals.

We all decided to order the sopapillas; which is one of my favorite desserts. Now this fried pastry is supposed to be light and fluffy like how my mother in law makes them. But the sopapillas came out thick and doughy. It was cute that they were heart shaped but I rather they would taste good instead of looking cute.

All in all the Carlos Miguel’s off of north powers is just an okay Mexican restaurant and Colorado Springs has plenty of those already. The food was good but it wasn’t anything that warranted a return visit.

Aloha Colorado

I am naive when it comes to the Hawaiian culture; therefore I need to interject the views of my friends who frequently visit Hawaii and my family members who are Hawaiian. L&L Hawaiian BBQ is a staple for my friends who visit Hawaii and they never forget to stop by and eat there when vacationing. Another viewpoint of my close family member is L&L is yuck (equivalent to McDonald’s of Hawaiian BBQ).Now after hearing these opinions you can imagine I was a little more hesitant to go there with my husband for dinner. Finally after much persuasion; I caved in.  

L&L is an extremely bright lit restaurant (I am guessing it is so dang bright in there to simulate the Hawaiian sun) which did have an incredibly fast food feel to it, due to the excess of plastic and gimmicky memorabilia. Yet I did appreciate Hawaii’s beloved export that was represented with a hanging SPAM beach ball. 

The food is served to you in to go Styrofoam boxes which needless to say gave me Goosebumps every time my fork and knife hit the container while cutting my meat. I could have been happy with a paper plate. I had chosen a safe selection… chicken; you really can’t go wrong with chicken right?

The chicken Katsu it is a crispy breaded chicken served with a Katsu sauce. What is Katsu sauce you say? I had no clue. It tasted like kethup, soy sauce and was incredibly salty but it had the consistency of a honey based BBQ sauce. The chicken and sauce were just okay; nothing that would make me want to come back. But, I can be a bit picky. The chicken was served with two snowball size servings of sticky rice (one of my favs) and macaroni salad. I loved the macaroni salad!!! It was extraordinarily basic… and I mean basic. It consisted of elbow noodles, mayo, and finely shredded carrots. But hey sometimes less is more.

My husband ordered the Hawaiian teriyaki beef … which was you guessed it beef sirloin strips marinated in a teriyaki sauce. This dish was delightfully delicious because the beef was tender and juicy. This dish reminded me a lot of Korean short ribs for some reason which again I love (can you tell I am secretly in love with food?). I ended up eating the rest or my husband’s macaroni salad and tasty teriyaki beef.

So if you are in the mood to try something different then give the L&L Hawaiian BBQ an Ahola (ßthat was cheesy). Just don’t get the chicken opt for the beef ribs. Or be a little bit more daring then I was and try one of their many other Hawaiian dishes.