impeccable service with a smile and good food. i arrived on tuesday night at around 6:30 pm. it was raining and the parking lot directly across street from the main entrance was flooded a bit. the outside of the building is decorated with a very large mural the cover the entire length of the building. there is also a window which i later discovered was a takeout window directly to the right of the main entrance. the entrance itself is nicely covered, so the rain outside was not much of a hindrance.
as i walked in, the lobby contained assorted local magazines and newspapers in the large corridor with bench seats on both sides. the overall the core of the place is a little dated, with wood slat walls and all of the bench/booth tables made out of wood as well. at least the seats have nice padding.
my server kim quickly greeted me with a smile. she was very product knowledgeable and recommended the special to me which was royal red shrimp. she described them as the sweetest, tenderest shrimp ever. apparently the shrimp come from deep in the atlantic ocean at 1200 feet! it was a dozen shrimp served with hot butter. i got them broiled, also on her recommendation. the dinner comes with two sides. i chose cheese grits, a good southern favorite, and a side salad with balsamic dressing for a dollar extra. while i was deciding on what i wanted to drink, i asked for a glass of water and she returned with that and a complementary small basket, overfilled with powdered sugar covered, deep-friedcornnuggets. i tried one, it was pretty good, but i’ve always been a little skittish havingcornfor dessert. i mean i get the concept and the batter part is great, but having actualcornpieces in a “pastry” just seems funny to me, even in cornbread, powdered sugar or not.
after hearing the selections of draft beers which were all domestics, and not the good kind, i opted for a bottle of sam adams oktoberfest to accompany my meal. she returned very quickly with my salad and my beer. my beer was served with an ice cold pint glass. the salad was quite large and contained eggs, bacon, croutons, cucumbers, and iceberg lettuce. the dressing i was told was ken’s steakhouse dressing. the dressing was quite good and the eggs and bacon seemed fresh however the lettuce was wilted. noticing something was wrong kim was quick to the spot, apologizing as she took it away. only a minute or two passed and she brought out my entrée. the shrimp were laid out in a circular pattern around a small cup of drawn butter. the presentation itself was a very good. my initial thought was that they could have used a small porcelain ramekin for the butter instead of plastic. and the butter was actually covered with a small cardboard french fry basket. as a result it didn’t “feel” like it should be worth $18. the side of cheese grits was quite ample, served in a large porcelain boat. having been raised in the south i prefer my grits with salt, pepper and butter. having high hopes, i dove into them first. i found these grits to be creamy, cheesy, and with salt-and-pepper, perfect. after about three bites i received my salad again, minus any dressing. visibly this salad even looked better than the first one. and after i got a replacement side dish again plastic, of balsamic it was quite nice as well. enough about the side items, now let’s talk about that shrimp. i decided this was probably a hands-on deal since they left the tails on and i made use of that drawn butter. just like kim, the server stated these are simply the sweetest shrimp ever! with the drawn butter they even have somewhat of a lobster feel, divine. it took all the strict constraint that i had in order to not simply devour them in seconds. yes, they were that good.
along the way kim checked on me as a good server should. in the end, she suggested three or four desserts and after some mulling, i decided on the fresh key lime pie made in merritt island. when it arrived, my immediate thought was that it was quite a small piece. it was presented on a small white plate and it was topped with what was obviously canned whipped cream. something smelled a little odd about this pie though and i later decided it was the whipped cream which i did not eat. the pie itself was properly tart and had a graham cracker crust that was just right but after two bites i could not get past that smell. it was a shame really but kim handled it with the utmost professionalism whisking away and telling me she would take care of it immediately. while i waited for my check and finished my beer, i glanced around and noticed there was lots of dust on the wood at the end of my booth. i was very glad i had finished eating as seeing “dust bunnies” is not very encouraging while dining out. since kim seem like she really cared about her workplace i decided to let her in on my discovery. she said that they were in the middle of doing a spot clean of the restaurant and had not gotten to the area that i was in which was, at the front of the restaurant.
overall i rate this place above average. the food was quite good and even those problem areas were quickly corrected. the service was quite impeccable. kim was knowledgeable, friendly, caring, and professional clearly an asset to this company. i would recommend her on your visit without question. when the bill came i was pleasantly surprised. bottled beer or at least the sam adams oktoberfest that i had ordered was only five dollars! so total meal cost was $25.43. i will definitely return.