Restaurant: Luxe

By: Katherine Bird

After arriving at Luxe on a Tuesday night, I went in with the mindset today would be the day I would have to deviate from my usual order of sweet potato fries and try something new, for the sake of journalism. I took one for the team and ordered a greek salad with chicken. My first observation was how long it took to make the salad. I mean, sure they had to grill the chicken, but my goodness; it’s tossing a salad, not rocket science. Once the salad arrived I was disappointed it wasn’t tossed and I had to do the labor myself. It makes me wonder what they were doing back there for 30 minutes.

My first bite, on the other hand, did not let me down. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and all the ingredients worked great together. The flavor was there, but the ratio of ingredients to lettuce was a little off. Too many olives, not enough romaine. Overall I give this salad a 8/10 and can say I may be more willing, next time, to return to Luxe to get something other than sweet potato fries. No promises though.

By: JD Standish

Walking into my favorite weekend joint, I knew I was not going to be disappointed. Time and time again, Luxe outdoes itself with their food.

In the first of the five stops, I decided to have a cup of chili. Not a normal soup I choose when going out, but I gave it a chance. Boy, was I blown away. The beans were cooked to perfection, and the consistency of the chili was phenomenal. It had enough beef it and wasn’t overwhelming. I was highly satisfied.

Moving away from the soup, I was a little disappointed in how long it took for our one soup and one salad to come out on a non-busy Tuesday night. I have been to Luxe on a hectic Saturday night, and I almost received my food faster.

 I would give the chili an 8/10, taking a point away for price. While I’m no chili connoisseur, I would highly recommend the soup if you are looking for a warm. comfort food style soup and a great atmosphere that surrounds Luxe.

Restaurant: Mack Ave. Grille

By: Blair Cullen

I’ve always known Mack Ave Grille as a breakfast spot, but to my surprise, they have a large lunch and dinner menu which includes the classic chicken caesar salad. I was hasty at first since I am used to their scrambled eggs and not salad, but with the task in mind, I went outside of my comfort zone.

The salad came in a timely fashion.; I wasn’t ravenous by the time it came. Some immediate negatives I picked out right away was the amount of dressing they served you. In the event you used all of that you’d probably suffer a clot or go into cardiac arrest. Upon my first bite it tasted like the croutons had been sitting in a cardboard box for the past five days. Mhm five days, try five weeks.

On the bright side, the chicken was cooked very well and was seasoned to perfection. The lettuce was very fresh and had a perfect amount of parmesan. I didn’t feel like I was shoveling cheese into my mouth. A nice added touch was the pita they brought you on the side. Overall I give this salad a 5/10. Next time I return to Mack Ave Grille I may consider getting another salad, but just not a caesar one.

By: JD Standish

Our next stop was down the way, at Mack Avenue Grille; one of my favorite lunch spots. I usually go for the good ole chicken noodle soup, which is outstanding. But I felt like switching it up.

I went with my second favorite soup, chicken lemon rice. It was nothing short of amazing. The soup was creamy with the right ratio of chicken to rice. I was also very satisfied with the overall taste, it was not overwhelming with lemon flavor, it was perfect.

Looking back, the service of our experience was great. It was quick as I expected it to be for two salads and a soup.

The soup also came out at the perfect temperature. It was not too hot and not too cold. That was a big plus for me. I want to be served my soup and have it ready to eat. If the soup is to hot I usually get a little upset, and same with the soup being to cold.

Overall, I would recommend the the chicken lemon rice at Mack Avenue. For the price and service along with overall flavor I give it an 8/10 as well.  

Restaurant: Park Grille

By: Katherine Bird

Greek salads tend to be a hit or miss at most joints, but at Park Grille, it was a homerun. To my surprise, this restaurant has more to offer than just their Chicken Shwarma and PG dipping plate. It was up in the air as to whether I should get a small or large, but since it was my main course I figured “go big or go home”.

When the salad arrived, it came very well presented. I felt as though I was getting some sort of special treatment. Dressing was on the side (sigh) but they provided a large enough bowl to where I could toss it myself, without making a mess.

The first bite into this salad was exemplary. All the ingredients were nicely proportioned and I had the perfect amount of dressing. The one thing it lacked was some sort of protein, but wasn’t the end of the world. Overall I give this salad a 10/10. Whenever I am in the Park and looking for a light bite to eat I can say with confidence I will stop by Park Grille.

By: JD Standish

The third stop in our excursion was Park Grille. This was a first time at the establishment and it didn’t give me good reason to come back.

To be fair I only tasted the lemon rice but I was not impressed. It took a substantial amount of time to come out, and it was blistering hot. That was the first off-putting thing.

Taking a look at the actual soup, it was not very impressive. First off, they didn’t offer chicken with the lemon rice, so I knew it was going to be bland. However, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt.

After waiting way too long for the soup to cool down, I gave it a first taste. There was barely any rice and no chicken to even that ratio out. The lemon flavor was overwhelming and the consistency was way too liquidy.

Going in with high hopes, I unfortunately have to say I was let down. I would give the soup a high 2/10.  As for the overall experience, I would say I was presently surprised and not let down i’m sure the other food and soups are great and I would still make another trip back for a different soup.

Restaurant: Red Crown

By: Blair Cullen

When I think of my ideal meal, I definitely would not be picturing a kale and quinoa salad. That could be why I wasn’t Red Crown’s number one fan. After eating this salad, my opinions on kale remained the same. When the salad arrived to the table, the price clicked, a big plate of fresh quinoa and kale, as green can be. The kale was crisp, and the quinoa and watermelon radishes were crunchy with a cool taste.

This salad was lacking one thing, dressing. Maybe you like dry kale, me, not so much. The citrus vinaigrette with cumin and cilantro was just the right mix. I just needed more, and a lot more at that. Overall I give this salad a 5/10. Aside from the bitter taste of kale, the service really made the environment of the restaurant much more enjoyable.

By: JD Standish

Red Crown was an interesting and pleasant experience. Entering our fourth location, I had high hoped it would outdo Park Grille. At first glance at the menu, I was a little nervous that all they offered was the soup du jour. It was not very common soup, and I didn’t want to try it.

Luckily, the soup du jour was minestrone, and it was very good. It was not a traditional kind of minestrone. The noodles were large but not plentiful. However, the vegetables made up for the lack of noodles.

The soup was tasty, and the vegetables weren’t soggy, which you would suspect from them sitting in a warm soup. The minestrone, by the way, was at a perfect temperature. Moving on from the temperature, the soup is self was perfectly seasoned, where each bite packed a punch but not to the point where it was overwhelming.
Over all my soup was unique from the original minestrone we all know and love. I would give it a 6/10.

I would recommend this soup if you are looking for an interesting soup that changes up the way you may think of minestrone.