Jerry’s Restaurant Reviews

Welcome to Jerry’s Restaurant Reviews

First, a few quotes that I truly believe in….

”The discovery of a new dish, does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.”

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. Oh, I'll accommodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant (aubergine) and zucchini (courgette) suits my food cost fine.”

"If a restaurant is known for steak, and doesn't seem to be doing much business, how long do you think those few orders of clams and mussels and lobster and fish have been sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for someone like you to order it? The key is rotation. If the restaurant is busy, and you see bouillabaisse flying out of the kitchen doors every few minutes, then it's probably a good bet. But a big and varied menu in a slow, half-empty place? Those less popular items like broiled mackerel and calves liver are kept festering in a dark corner of the reach-in because they look good on the menu. You might not actually want to eat them. Look at your waiter's face. He knows. It's another reason to be polite to your waiter: he could save your life with a raised eyebrow or a sigh. If he likes you, maybe he'll stop you from ordering a piece of fish he knows is going to hurt you. On the other hand, maybe the chef has ordered him, under pain of death, to move that codfish before it begins to really reek. Observe the body language and take note."

Anthony Bourdain

Reviews

On some of these I put an override factor. For whatever reason, the scoring mechanism didn’t adequately reflect my opinion. I rate lunch restaurants differently than dinner restaurants. I expect a cleaner place, better service and a nicer atmosphere for dinner.

Restaurant	Score	Pros	Cons
Lunch (Possible Score 150) Of course, many of these restaurants in the lunch category can serve you dinner but for whatever reason I consider them lunch joints.
Arby’s	64	I never went for Arby’s until the came out with the chicken salad sandwich. I really like it.	The commercials look like they are serving blood sandwiches. The sandwich I like is a bit expensive. Their French fries and curly fries are lame. Some Arby’s sell Pepsi and some sell Coke. Very strange.
Bajio	90	Bajio replaced Qudoba. I liked Qudoba better but they have pretty good food.	Please, please…when you put the meat on my nachos, burrito or whatever; please hold the meat over the pan for like 2 seconds. You are turning my meal into soup. Nachos are supposed to be crisp, not soggy. Burritos are not supposed to drip. What’s with the cheese? I know it is gold colored but it is just rotten milk. Put some on the food. Even Taco Bell has stopped using the old tactic of grating the cheese so finely that nothing appears as something. Your prices are pretty high. For an $8 burrito I expect some cheese. Don’t be so freaking stingy.
Beto’s	72	Fun place. The rolled taco’s are pretty good. I’ve had different experiences at the different locations.	The food tastes pretty good but you have a dog food taste in your mouth the rest of the day. When you belch you want to die. Don’t ask me how I know what dog food tastes like.
Brand X	56	Nothing good.	Greasy restaurant. Hamburgers are lousy. They are so greasy that grease went through the bag and stained my jeans.
Burger King	81	Decent burger. I like that flame broiled action. Good cokes.	Pretty much empty. This place has lost its glory since Rodney Allen Rippy grew up. No wait! Rodney did Jack in the Box. Can you finish this, “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a ………….” All Burger Kings in the US have stale buns. They all fall apart. I think they have some ISO 9000 policy which makes them leave them out until they are stale. The new dipped fries are not as good as the old one’s that were never as good as Micky Dee’s
Burger Supreme	90	Good burgers. Good fries. Good Coke. Enough said. I put a jalapeño in my coke once. It wasn’t bad. Not an everyday thing but interesting.	The pastrami burger was good once but the next time it didn’t do it for me. Gyros? I refer to them as “stinky feet sandwiches”. I don’t like to see that processed meat food spinning on that rotisserie. If someone really wants one, they should have to be served outside by the garbage can.
BYU Market		I can’t remember what it is called. It is the old grocery store by Heritage Halls. It was Carsons Market then Kents Market. Ok food.	Burger’s are over rated.
Cabo Grill	91	This is a case where being all around average, gives you a pretty good score. I really feel like Cabo Grill, Café Rio, Durango Grill and Grilled Pepper are the same restaurant. I haven’t had any bad experiences at any of them. Though I always feel like I should have gotten more food. Lenito’s does not fit the mold of these shops. It isn’t as trendy. Try Lenito’s instead.
Café Rio	91	Ok
Carls Jr.	95	Excellent burgers and Cokes. Good children’s playground. I like all the burgers except the one with the onion rings on it.	Their commercials make me want to smash my television. Annoying doesn’t come close.
Chick-Fil-A	90	I like the wraps.	The lettuce is a bit wilted on the wraps but not bad enough to worry about.
Costa Vida	94	Pretty good. They are the only place I have ever seen that had Diet Coke with Lime in a fountain drink.	Drain the freaking meat before you dump it on my food. They have these goofy paragraphs on the walls, drink cups etc. “The ocean of life ebbs & flows. Life is meant to be lived. The greatest rewards come only with the greatest risks. Ride the wave.” Let me ask a question. Are the greatest rewards in life really from taking the greatest risks? I would say this is true in the financial markets but that’s about it.
Del Taco	63	Food is edible.	They don’t take a credit card. What’s with that?
Diego’s		Ok food.	They put beer in the salsa. Lot’s of beer.
Durango Grill	88	The food is pretty good. The rice is nothing special.	They stopped selling the deep fried tacos. A bit pricey for the food.
El Gallo Giro	90	Very good. I liked the beef enchiladas. Everyone I was with ordered something different and everyone was pleased.	Chips were a little stale. You leave smelling like smoke. They are working a few things out. They got a an order wrong but were anxious to fix it. Ordering the food took a little long. They don’t take American Express. Nothing big to worry about.
Ernie’s Sports Deli	79	I had a sandwich here once. It wasn’t bad. I don’t remember what it was.
Fazoli’s	102	Not bad. I like the meatball sandwich. The bread sticks are descent enough for a cheap lunch. If I were a bum, I would eat the free bread sticks for lunch everyday. The twice backed ziti is good. The chocolate chip cookies are good.	Don’t give me one of those buzzers. I don’t want to carry around some piece of plastic that’s been touched by 1000 people, right before I eat. I shouldn’t have to wash my hands between picking up the food and sitting down. Just have a board that says what numbers food is ready. UPDATE August 9, 2007: They got rid of the twice baked ziti. Huge mistake.
Five Buck Pizza	58		Worst pizza on Earth. Get in your car and go get a Papa Murphy’s.
Fudruckers	90	The food is pretty good.	Overrated
Grilled Pepper	84	Ok	The portions are too small.
Guru’s	74	Not bad.	Not great. I haven’t found a dish that brings me back. Maybe I should start ordering dessert.
Hogi Yogi	66	You won’t die eating here.	The food bites. I just don’t see why people like it. I think it is because people eat so many boxed dinners that they think they taste good.
Hot Dog Stand south of BYU	62		Not good. They are only open because it is a trendy spot. You don’t put sweet junk on a frank. They put some sort of honey glaze on it. Reminds me of barbacoa.
JCW’s	70	The hamburgers are pretty good.	Now this restaurant is really named after me. My initials are JCW. Forget the discount; I should be getting royalties.
Jerry’s	103	10-20-06: Out of business. Thanks for playing. Excellent fries. Fun atmosphere. Good price.	Donuts are nothing special. I think I should get a discount since it is named after me.
Joe Bandido’s		Very good. Chips and salsa are great. Properly salted chips. Service was great. They have Coke not Pepsi. What else could you ask for. About a thousand times cleaner than La Casita.	No issues.
Kentucky Fried Chicken	74	KFC, it’s an icon. The chicken is good. However, I want them to come up with an original recipe-extra crispy hybrid. Is that asking too much?	You feel like you’ve been slopping the hogs when you leave. You are sticky and gross. It is another Pepsi company so you Coke is not an option. I wish Pepsi drinks would just go away. Germaphobe or not; before you reach for the salt shaker, think of all those greasy, licked fingers that picked it up before you. As a side note: I heard that KFC boils the chicken until cooked. Then they dip it in batter and deep fry. The idea of boiled chicken with skin on it, isn’t very appealing.
Kneaders	100	Quality ingredients. The sandwiches are better than you can make at home. Make yourself a regular. I like the kneaders sauce. I think it is yogurt and mustard.	The desserts are beautiful. Too bad they taste terrible. Who can handle that much sugar? Talk about strong opposites. The sandwiches vs. desserts?
Lenitos	74	8-1-05: Out of business. They changed owners a bunch of times and they just kept dragging it down. Rolled tacos are the only thing I get. I love the chips and salsa. I also like the Pico de Gallo.	Typical trashy Mexican joint. They used to be much better. The new management got rid of the frequent visitor cards. They salt the meat too heavily and made some other cost cutting changes. I’m pretty bummed.
Lotus Gardens	92	I had never tried Mongolian barbeque until I went here. The sauces are really good. Good cokes.	10-30-05: Going down hill. Shrimp is nasty. Some of the food in the buffet is kind of nasty looking. If you eat sushi or muscles in a buffet you are nuts.
McDonalds	70	Fries are good.	Micky Dee’s? Grow up. This place if for little kids.
Nathans	67	I like the Nathan’s dogs in the grocery store and the original Nathan’s on Coney Island.	Not great.
Pier 49 Sourdough Pizza	82	I like this place. I think the pizza is really good. I’ve been to all three locations in Utah Valley.	6-20-06: Don’t care for them as much as I used too. Don’t know why.
Qdoba	96	4-20-05: Out of business. Very sad. Their burritos are wonderful. A few years ago I went vegetarian for a month, (dumbest thing I ever did and my cholesterol went up 10 points) anyway, their vegetarian burrito pulled me through. The Cokes are good and so are the chips and salsa.	Don’t let them pour that pale colored sauce on top. It ruins the food. The “con” to this restaurant is that they are out of business. It is now a zTeca
Quiznos	74	I think they did a good job reintroducing the toasted sub.	Their sandwiches are not as good as they look.
Red Robin	102	The Whiskey River burger rocks. Fries are good. Good service. The switched from the dark side. They now sell Coke.	Drinks are flat. Once I had a waiter follow me and my part outside to tell us what bad tippers we were. I just walked away. Others went into their wallets to pony up. Later they realized we had originally tipped him 16.5%. They were ticked. Result-he got fired. We all got gift certificates.
Roasted Artichoke	48	10-4-04: Though out of business I’m keeping them bold. I want the memory of this dump to stay alive. The owner should be remembered for his mistake. They have some sandwiches that are pretty good.	I swear only one-person works there. He takes your order and does the cooking. For Pete’s sake, don’t snack while fixing my food. I can’t believe I have to say this, “don’t lick your fingers in front of me.” Parmesan cheese is Kraft from a can. Service is slow. Gross, dirty bathroom. Your toilet bowl was stained. That tells me the bathroom hasn’t been cleaned in a long time.
Rosa’s	87	4-20-05: Out of business. They are right in between fast food and sit down Mexican. The beef quesadillas are good. So are the chips and salsa.	Nothing to say.
Ruby River	81	The deep fried onions are good. Hamburgers are ok.	Not a real steak house. Greasy food. Nasty appetizer bread-super greasy. Enough with the lemonade with some raspberries floating inside. You can’t even taste the raspberries and they are from the freezer anyway. Take a fresh raspberry and toss it in the freezer for a hour. Then eat it. It is sour as a mad dog.
Sam Hawk	100	Get the spicy pork and the pulga holgie. I don’t know how you spell it. The spicy pork is great but hot. I like to mix a tiny amount of pulga holgie with it. If someone else is paying get the fried shrimp as an appetizer. I like the boiled pot stickers better than the fried. As a general rule I don’t eat pot stickers. Too much mystery meat inside you know. Could be roach bodies spiced up. I don’t think anyone ever died from a pot sticker. I just like to know what I’m eating. This place is very clean so I feel comfortable with them.	Don’t go there with someone who has Ebola. It is truly family style. No Coke. We had a foreigner with us once to ordered the squid. Now I love calamari but this squid was too primitive for me. No batter. Rubbery. Nasty flavor. I’ve eaten there lots of times and nobody ever took my picture.
Schlotzsky’s	58	Nope sorry.	I hate this place. That bread is like a sponge. The food bites. If you like it, you should see a doctor. My friends urged me to go back. I asked them if the pizza was made out of the same lousy bread. They said it wasn’t. Guess what, the pizza was horrible—any guesses why?
Sensuous Sandwich	64		I’m not amused by the not so subtle sexual references. It isn’t necessary.
Smiths Chinese	71	They have the basic stuff. Fried rice, sweet and sour etc.	I haven’t been here for years. My wife kept getting sick every time we ate here.
Smokehouse		Pork sandwich is good. So is the brisket sandwich.	Great concept but weak delivery. Portions are a little smaller than I like. The ham on the pizza’s is gross. The hush puppies are burnt. No Coke.
Sonic	90	Good Cokes and the ice is good. Little pellets like I like it. Mustard on a hamburger is the way to go. They must have a thousand different types of drinks. Slushes, malts, shakes, smoothies, etc.	The specialty drinks are too sweet.
Sounds Easy Pizza	93	Sad to say it is gone. In the old days, I used to eat there once a week. The pizza is pretty dang good. The sweet bread is good. I think it is the best value in the valley. Getting to watch a movie is good.	Some refer to this place as the cable company. Come talk to me and I will tell you why.
Taco Amigo	85	Good food. Burrito’s are good.	Bit expensive.
Taco Bell	80	The food is surprisingly good.	The only way Pepsi can sell their lousy drinks is to buy Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and give you no choice.
Taco Maker	70	I like the taco salad in the crispy bowl.	Tater tots with Mexican food? Not a good fit. I eat them all anyway.
Taco Time	60	Food is ok. The portions are huge. If you are used to going to Taco Bell and ordering two tacos and two burritos; don’t do the same thing at Taco Time.	I got sick on a deep fried burrito once. I couldn’t look at a chimi-changa for like eight years.
Teriyaki Bowl	62	Edible…but just barely.	Teriyaki is so overrated. Their food is too sweet.
Thai Chili Gardens	~~105~~	2-5-06: Hold on. Stop the presses. Tai Chili changed locations and has gone way down hill. What a shame! ~~Highest score in the lunch category!~~ Good food. Order the Spicy Pad Ped. I also like the little Tamarind candies. They sell in bulk for $3 a bag.	Good heavens their food is hot. Order mild and have water ready. I ordered medium once and it ruined my whole afternoon. I would adjust the proportions. There could put more meat and fewer vegetables in the dishes. This is really more of a dinner restaurant but so the rating may be a little off.
Thai Ruby	105	We have a new leader. Interestingly enough Tai knocked off Tai. Get the Pad Thai or the Thai Ruby special. They have lots of other good dishes as well. The cashew chicken is good. I love the dessert. I’m not sure what it is called but it is sweet rice with a mango on it. Fast service.	No Coke. I don’t know how they lead the list without serving Coke. There must be an error in my formula.
Wallaby’s	76	6-2-06: The idiot owner trashed many local companies. Wallaby’s was one. I used to hate this place but it is growing on me. I like the half chicken.	Smashers? Just call them “not so great mashed potatoes”. The bread is lame. I “WONDER^TM” why?
Wendy’s	83	Excellent fries. The 99-cent bacon cheeseburgers are good. Frosty’s rock the house. You can eat a Frosty with a spoon, while driving a car in a business suit, and not worry about it dripping on your cloths. They should patent that.
Zub’s Subs	75	Good sandwiches. They should franchise out. The bread makes them stand out.	No place to eat. Take out only.
Dinner (Possible Score 220)
Black Angus	110	Good food.	The place is a bit pricey.
Bombay House	142	Bombay currently has the highest rating. Excellent! Clean, nice, wonderful food. Must try Chicken Tikka Massala.	They don’t refill your coke very often.
Brick Oven	107		High priced. Pizza is lame. Desserts are lame. I had someone tell me that if you order food for a business and don’t tip good enough, they run your credit card back through. If someone did that to me, I would serve them dinner…..a knuckle sandwich.
California Pizza Kitchen	140	The Sicilian Pizza and Jambalaya pasta are great. The Jambalaya is spicy though. I can’t wait to go back.	Slow service. I wish the restaurant was more intimate. I felt like we were crowded in. They are not consistent between locations. The also changed their Jambalaya pasta recipe. The change was not an improvement.
Carvers	79	What’s good! THEY ARE OUT OF BUSINESS! THIS PLACE LASTED WAY TOO LONG!! Nothing good to say. This place is the worst.	This isn’t a restaurant-it’s a joke. The food is horrible. I had the brownie alamode once. They used a Little Debbie brownie. Once I ordered fries and a steak. The stake was a gristley, bloody mess. My fries were soaked in blood. Once I ordered the calamari. They put way too much salt in the batter. It was like spooning salt into your mouth. The fact that they are still in business makes me mad.
Chevy’s	128	5-6-05: Gone. The food matters. If I order a platter of five items. One is really good. Two are pretty good. One is ok and not for me.	Too hot. They mix all the food in huge batches and it is just too hot. I admit it. I don’t like hot food. I love spicy food. I don’t mind it when my nose starts running but when it burns your tongue? I just don’t see the point. It makes it so you can’t taste everything else. It seems like ninety percent of the population has to pretend that they enjoy their mouth burning. Somehow it makes them macho. Give me a break. I’m comfortable with my manhood. Turn down the heat.
Chilli’s	114	This is a good place to go if you want to fill like a college student.	A triple bogey.
China Bowl	136 +10 override factor	I’ve heard the stories about them going through the Smiths garbage to get cabbage. They have the best fried rice around. The five flavors pork and the mugu gai pan is great. He can go through my trash anytime.	The egg rolls are good but they seem to change recipes every few years. Don’t go through the drive through. You can see right into the kitchen. I think they get their MSG from a tanker truck. I keep hearing horror stories but I’m still going back.
China Lilly	117	The food is ok. I think the ingredients are good quality.	Overpriced. Go to the China Bowl instead. When ordering takeout from an oriental restaurant, always check your order before you leave. Too often they get things wrong. I think it is because half the employees speak Chinese and the other half speak English.
Chuck O Rama	76	Our team at work goes to Chuck O Rama whenever someone turns forty. It’s ok. You can always fill up on rolls and mashed potatoes and gravy. See Golden Corral.	My friends came in from Canada and saw the restaurant. They said, “in Canada to chuck is to throw-up”. I told them it was the same here.
Cracker Barrel	95	They specialize in “down home” food. The beef roast is good. Buy something for your kid when you’re waiting to be seated. Lot’s of toys to choose from. I always solve the triangle golf tee puzzle on the third try.	Nothing is great.
Don Pedro’s	135	Very good food. The chips and salsa are good. I love the chicken nachos. They have shrimp fajitas with bacon wrapper around them that are really good. They have this wild art. They artist carves a scene in clay and then paints the picture on it. It adds a cool 3D effect. I know that it is Tijuana art but I still like it. This is a good excuse to drive to Heber. Keep in mind that a family of four can bowl one game in Heber for about $12 bucks. That same round will be $27 in Utah Valley. It makes and excellent excuse to drive to Heber to eat at Mr. Pedro’s.	UPDATE August 9, 2007: I’ve been going to Don Pedro’s for years. They have gone way down hill. I can’t recommend them.
Frontier Pies	111	Out of business. The pies are dang good. I’m always thinking about their coconut cream.	The food is average.
Golden Corral	76	If you just want to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat……I suppose this place will do. Definitely quantity over quality.	My dad said, “I like the place because they have senior parking.” I told him, “the whole parking lot is senior parking”. My dad always announces, “I paid six bucks and ate 4 bucks just in cottage cheese”. Enough said. This place is for those who lived through the depression.
Goodwood	125	Nacho’s rock. Pork sandwich is good.	The barbacoa concept is evil. You take a good piece of meat and put some sugary glaze on it. Never ever ever order barbacoa anything. Their Ribs don’t really do it for me.
The Happy Sumo	140	I hate sushi. I think 99% of the people who like it are just trying to sound cool. It’s not that I’m squeamish. I’ve eaten plenty of nasty stuff and let me tell ya, I’ve had some nasty sushi. However, The Happy Sumo rocks! A few thoughts on sushi: I prefer my sushi warm. Preferably about 180 degrees. J No seriously, I want it at room temperature or above. I also prefer no cream cheese or sea weed. The Seared Tuna Tataki was good. A little mushy but good. For a main course I had and enjoyed the tempura dipped halibut and prawns. The only real sushi I liked was the Vegas roll. Good mints when you walk out.	The Mount Fuji chocolate cake was grainy. Absolutely nothing to write home about. Pricey
Home Depot	80	I ordered a hot dog and didn’t die. You can’t beat that.
India something??	115	Some dudes from the Bombay House defected. The food isn’t as good as the Bombay House but at least you can get Indian food at lunch.
La Casita	99	I’m revising my comments below. La Casita is freaking dump. Even I can’t ignore it anymore. I’ll go once or twice a year but the filth just isn’t worth it. ~~This is my favorite restaurant. Why? Because they make the best enchiladas I have ever had.~~ Order the following: “Three beef enchiladas. Two rancheros and one verde”. Flour tortillas on the side and a Coke. Listen, people go outside and get a tan when they know it is bad for their skin. On Thanksgiving they eat until they are sick. We play with puppies when they know those milk teeth are going to make our hands bleed. So a few abdominal cramps seems a small price to pay for good enchiladas. That’s all I’m saying.	Expect, flies buzzing around. Flies in food. Chewed gum in salsa. Strange petrified meats in chips. Chips taste burnt because they don’t change the oil often enough. They never bring enough flour tortillas. Generally dirty all over. With the dining area as bad as it is, who knows what is going on in the kitchen? My friend across the street says he always gets sick when he eats here. Listen, people go outside and get a tan when they know it is bad for their skin. On Thanksgiving they eat until they are sick. We play with puppies when they know those milk teeth are going to make our hands bleed. So a few abdominal cramps seems a small price to pay for good enchiladas. That’s all I’m saying.
La Dolce Vita	93	Ok food.	A fancy name don’t pay the piper.
Lee’s	91	Forget the food. Have you seen the fish tank? You must see their fish tank. I counted over 30 types of living creatures in the tank in addition to the fish.	Food is marginal.
Los Hermanos	105	Good atmosphere. They have a lime ice drink with sugar crystals around the rim of the glass. It is good.	Food isn’t very good. The whole restaurant smells like dishes. The smell of mixed food, detergent, and steamy water is very unappetizing. The Lindon site is especially bad.
Maccaroni Grill	112	I went to MG lots of times thinking none of the main dishes were any good. Then I discovered the shrimp ortofino. I loved it and it was an excellent dish. The bad news is that some dufus decided to switch from an olive oil base to some nasty concoction of who knows what. They have done it at all the locations. So guess what? Maccaroni Grill’s rating goes way down. The black chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream is excellent. Fortunately for me I’ve got the recipe. I’ve made it many times. It is exact. The atmosphere is good and the cooks are fun to watch.	The bread is not great. Price is a little high.
Mandarin	132	Good food.	Always a long wait. Bountiful is a long ways away.
Mayan	140	Fun place. Food much better in 2002. Sopapias are worth getting.	Kind of a weird format. The atmosphere is too much like a cafeteria.
McGraths Fish House	132	I’ve been pretty happy here. The kids love the kid’s meals. The coconut shrimp is good. The clam chowder is good.	Sour dough bread is too sour for me.
Ottavio’s	109	I heard they are owned by the mob. The food is ok.	Pricey
Olive Garden	92	I suppose if you eat there everyday for a month you could find something good.	You call those breadsticks? Save yourself time and money. Go to the Stouffers outlet in Springville. Buy a ton of Italian dinners. Let them sit in the freezer for about two years and you will have Olive Garden food. I’m constantly amazed at the lousy food that the general public enjoys. People eat disgusting dishes. I think people have eaten so much prepackaged junk from the grocery store that they don’t know good food when they taste it. When I was young I thought Spaghetti-O’s were good. I can remember cooking up a can and my dad coming home from work saying the house smelled like vomit. Now don’t get me wrong. I never liked the Spaghetti-O’s with the tiny meat balls or those with the little weenies. Even at a young age I had my limits. But the point is that once I got married and started eating good food, my tolerance for Olive Garden type muckamuck disappeared.
Papa Murphy’s	109	Pretty good. Great value. We eat get pies here a lot. We always take them home and doctor them up a bit. We add: fresh parmesan, pizza spice, and roasted bell peppers, sometimes some hard salami.	The round balls they call Italian sausage are pretty nasty. Choose Canadian bacon instead.
PF Changs	134	The Mongolian beef is by far the best item on the menu. The duck and mango chicken are pretty good. Nothing is bad. The service is some of the best I have seen. The place is clean and the atmosphere is good.	The lettuce wraps are good but are over rated. The same goes for the chocolate cake. The Changs chicken is good but the kung pao isn’t.
Pizza Factory	116	I like the corkscrew bread.	Just another unimpressive pizza joint. Come on guys. Pizza isn’t tough. Use quality ingredients and don’t burn the pie. Don’t use so much sauce that the ingredients slide off.
Pizza Hut	97	The older I get the more I grow out of liking Pizza Hut. When I was a kid, I liked Spaghetti O’s. Now they smell like puke to me. I think in another ten years, I will be completely done with Pizza Hut.	What’s with the grease? It’s like you deep fry the crust. It is loaded with oil. After eating here I drink water all night long. I can’t eat at the restaurant anymore. My standards just won’t allow it. And I must say, my standards are pretty low. The tables are just too gross.
Prestwich Farms	115	I have eaten here a few times and found the food to be good each time.
Rodizio’s	118	Brazilian restaurants are the rage. The best one, “A Taste of Brazil” went out of business. The bacon wrapped turkey is good. The tri tipped steak is great.	I’m not nearly as impressed with Rodizios or the other Brazilian restaurants, as many people seem to be.
Sundance Tree Room	114	Some food is ok.	Do you like raw duck? They had us outside where it was almost completely dark. My wife kept saying, “the meat is sticking to the bone.” I kept saying, “oh, I’m sure it is done”. Later I tried it. It was indeed raw. Actually raw duck isn’t too bad. They are so freaking pretentious up there that I can’t stand it. I try to get over it by reminding myself that these are just snot nosed BYU students that are treating me like dirt. One time I called up for reservations at the Grill Room. They said, “the only opening is for 5:30.” I thought that was too early but I wanted to get out of town. When I got there I found out that the Grill Room was gone. They made me reservations for the Tree Room. There is no doubt that I said “Grill Room” and they didn’t tell me it was gone. Note: there is a huge price difference between the Grill and Tree rooms. Like double! Them making the assumption that I wouldn’t care was idiotic. What if I were treating guests for dinner? What if I only had $70 instead of $150? What if I was going on a date and didn’t have the cash? Guess what? I would be hosed. Did they care? Not a chance. By the way, there was nobody there. We were the only one’s in the whole restaurant. I was so ticked. My wife and I just walked out. I wrote them a letter about it but they never responded. I can’t stand to eat there just because Robert Redford is a brainless liberal, who supported Bill Clinton. I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but I have to draw the line somewhere. While I am hear, let me mention the Summer theater. It is a joke. A bunch of liberal young drama mamma’s thinking they are cool. I’ve been to the theatre three times. Not one of them has been as good as the worst Hale Center theatre play. I’m all for theatre, but that Broadway attitude should be left in Sodom and Gomorrah. I could go on for weeks on this place. High priced, lousy service unless you are boozing it up or are from Hollywood. Did I mention that they are pretentious?
Tapanyaki Japanese Steakhouse	80 +10 Override for entertainment	Fun place. Great showmanship. The onion volcano is excellent. Food is good.	Pricey. Not real clean.
The Eating Establishment	131	Nice place. Food is ok. Nice people. Good location. We have memories there.	It is a bit expensive for the food. They are located in Park City.
Tokyo Boys	130	2-3-06: Gone The combo is good. Teriyaki is way overrated but theirs is better than most. Nice people. I asked for a phone book and they automatically brought me a piece of paper and a pencil. Now that’s service.	The soup is gross.
Tony Roma’s	121	10-5-05: No longer in the valley. Surprising. Pleasantly surprised. Really good ribs. Not the best I have had but dang good. The best ribs I have ever had? Do you remember the MASH episode when Hawkeye orders rips from Adams ribs in Chicago? I ate there once. It is called Murphy’s Pub. Oh, baby. I had a set of baby back ribs to die for. I had a hard time getting back on ribs. I ate some bad ribs at a place called Gwenny’s in Anchorage Alaska. It was a long flight home. Finally I barfed them up. It was two years before I could look at BarBQ.	I’ve been here before when the service was horrible. I don’t think that is typical.
Training Table	109	Kind of a fun place. The burgers are pretty good. I like the club sandwich but I think each one takes six months off my life. Anytime you have avocado, bacon and mayonnaise together; you’ve got trouble.
Tucano’s	113	Truly a man’s restaurant. Men walk around with swords with big chunks of meat on them. They provide you with tongs, a knife and a fork. Yes this is primitive. The tri-tip steak is great. The pineapple is great.	The buffet is not quite adequate. I would never go here if I had to pay myself.
Tucci’s	113	Good food.	The bread is lame.
Wingers	88	Nothing	This place bites. First, their hot sauces are too hot. They shouldn’t be kept around children. A little child could seriously hurt themselves. I would sue their modular walls apart if that junk got splashed on my kid. If you think I am over reacting, go try it. The service is slow. The wings are not cooked enough. Who wants to eat soggy chicken skin?
Dessert (Possible Score 140)
Baskin Robbins	102	Two lines I have been saying my whole life. “Two scoops chocolate almond in a cup” and “Large chocolate ice cream shake”. You must have them use chocolate ice cream. Not vanilla with chocolate sauce. And remember, “Baskin-Robbins products are certified kosher because of the high quality standards we maintain. Our ice cream, frozen dairy desserts, sherbets, sorbets, ices and frozen yogurt are made from the finest ingredients and under strict sanitary conditions. The non-kosher exceptions are: Rocky Road, Pink Bubble Gum, Grape Ice, Rum Raisin, Cherries Jubilee and any other flavor containing miniature marshmallows. Baskin-Robbins cakes, cones and ice cream novelties are also certified kosher when used in combination with a kosher ice cream.”
Cold Stone	91	Good ice cream joint. The ice cream isn’t as good as Baskin Robbins but the other stuff they add makes a good dessert.
Daylight Donuts	98	Excellent plain glazed.	Check the expiration date on the milk before you drive away.
European Connection	72	4-20-05: Gone Dessert crepes are good.	Holy Hanna from Hokamo, there meal crepe’s are gross. I’m talking “blow chunks” gross. Don’t eat here.
Krispy Kreme	85	The name is great. It makes me salivate.	Sorry to break it to you but Daylight donuts is better. They are crispier and they don’t have so much sugar. They also seem to use more doughnut flavor. Doughnut flavor comes from either mace or nutmeg. I believe mace is the husk from the outside of the nutmeg nut.

Here are the details on a few scores:

LUNCH RATING

Wallaby’s

Factor	Importance 1 – 5	Score 1 – 10	Overall
Price	3	5	15
Atmosphere	3	5	15
Food	5	6	30
Cleanliness	2	5	10
Service	2	3	6
Total			76

DINNER RATING

Bombay House

Factor	Importance 1 – 5	Score 1 – 10	Overall
Price	4	6	24
Atmosphere	5	7	35
Food	5	9	45
Cleanliness	4	5.5	22
Service	4	4	16
Total			142

DESSERTS RATING

Baskin Robbins

Factor	Importance 1 - 5	Score 1 - 10	Overall
Price	3	7.5	22
Atmosphere	1	5	5
Food	5	9	45
Cleanliness	3	6	18
Service	2	6	12
Total			102

Here are a couple of really good articles

Don't Order Fish on Mondays and Other Advice on Eating Out

By LAURANN CLARIDGE
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle

Call it a frank, no-holds-barred expose, a salacious tell-all, or an autobiographical romp into the sometimes seedy, nearly always hectic world of the restaurant industry, but regardless of what you label it if you're a self-described foodie with a taste for a great meal out you won't want to be without Antoine Bourdain's new book Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Bloomsbury, 2000).

Bourdain, Executive Chef at the Manhattan brasserie Les Halles, is a Vassar grad and CIA trained chef who has toiled for more than 28 years in a variety of restaurants from humble New England tourist joints to the finest New York palaces of haute cuisine and in these 307 riveting pages he gives everyone interested -- from neophytes to seasoned culinary pros alike -- a searing earful. This story is a great read, told with a shocking "take you aback" bravado and Bourdain's unmistakable swaggering style.

As a former professional chef, I can attest to the fact that little in this book can be labeled wild hyperbole. The circumstances and work conditions he describes are dead on. Yet few writers have managed to convey the grit and seedy side of the restaurant business so colorfully (not to mention as accurately) as Bourdain has; instead many choose to paint a picture of life in the business as a glamorous, publicity high (a false reality that couldn't be farther from the truth.)

If you've always longed to learn more about what happens on the other side of that swinging kitchen door, I urge you to follow the masses and read Bourdain's best-selling tome Kitchen Confidential (Bloomsbury, 2000). To whet your appetite, however, I thought I'd start you off with an amuse bouche: a few bon mots from Bourdain's eye-opening chapter "From Our Kitchen to Your Table." But one warning, for those of you with an idealized picture of the restaurant business and a squeamish constitution, think twice before reading Bourdain's account of the realities of a restaurant kitchen detailed below as it will forever change the way you dine out.

Eight Things You Should Know Before You Ever Eat Out Again

Never order fish on Mondays unless you're eating at Le Bernardin (New York's famed four star fish eatery) where you can be rest assured that they're buying their fish directly from the source. As a rule most seafood served in restaurants on Monday is about four to five days old. As Anthony Bourdain writes, "Here's how it works: the chef...orders his fish on Thursday for delivery Friday morning. He's ordering a pretty good amount of it, too, as he's not getting another delivery until Monday morning. All right, some seafood purveyors make Saturday deliveries, but the market is closed Friday night. It's the same fish from Thursday! The chef is hoping to sell the bulk of that fish-your tuna-on Friday and Saturday nights, when he assumes it will be busy. He's assuming also that if has a little left on Sunday, he can unload the rest of it then, as seafood salad for brunch, or as a special. Monday is merchandizing night, when whatever is left over from the weekend is used up, and hopefully sold for money.

Brunch and Eggs Benedict and Hollandaise sauce. "How about hollandaise sauce? Not for me. Bacteria love hollandaise. And hollandaise, that delicate emulsion of egg yolks and clarified butter must be held at a temperature that is also the favorite environment for bacteria to copulate and reproduce in. Nobody I know has ever made hollandaise to order. Most likely, the stuff on your eggs was made hours ago and held on the station. Equally disturbing is the likelihood that the butter used in the hollandaise is melted table butter, heated, clarified, and strained to get out all the breadcrumbs and cigarette butts. Butter is expensive, you know. Hollandaise is a veritable petri-dish of biohazards. And how long has that Canadian bacon been festering in the walk-in anyway? Remember, brunch is only served once a week-on the weekends. Buzzword here, "Brunch Menu". Translation? "Old, nasty odds and ends, and 12 dollars for two eggs with a free Bloody Mary? One other point about brunch. Cooks hate brunch. A wise chef will deploy his best line cooks on Friday and Saturday nights; he'll be reluctant to schedule those same cooks early Sunday morning, especially since they probably went out after work Saturday and got hammered until the wee hours. Worse, brunch is demoralizing to the serious line cook. Nothing makes an aspiring Escoffier feel more like an army commissary cook, or Mel from Mel's Diner, than having to slop out eggs over bacon and eggs Benedict for the Sunday brunch crowd. Brunch is punishment block for the "B" team cooks, or where the farm team of recent dishwashers learn their chops. Most chefs are off on Sundays too, so supervision is at a minimum. Consider that before ordering the seafood frittata."

Recycling bread and other unsavory restaurant practices: "The reuse of bread is an industry-wide practice. I'm sure that some restaurants explicitly instruct their busboys to throw out all that unused bread-which amounts to 50%--and maybe some places actually do it. But when it's busy, and the busboy is crumbing tables, emptying ashtrays, refilling water glasses, making espresso and cappuccino, hustling dirty dishes to the dishwasher -- and he sees a basket full of untouched bread-most times he's going to use it. This is a fact of life. This doesn't bother me and shouldn't surprise you. Okay maybe once in a while some tubercular hillbilly has been coughing and spraying in the general direction of that breadbasket you might find that prospect upsetting. But you might just as well avoid air travel, or subways, equally dodgy environments for airborne transmission of disease. Eat the bread."

Filthy bathrooms most often translate to filthy kitchens. "I won't eat in a restaurant with filthy bathrooms. This isn't a hard call. They let you see the bathrooms. If the restaurant can't be bothered to...keep the toilets and floors clean, then just imagine what their refrigeration and work spaces look like. Bathrooms are relatively easy to clean. Kitchens are not. In fact, if you see the chef sitting unshaven at the bar, with a dirty apron on, one finger halfway up his nose, you can assume he's not handling your food any better behind closed doors. Your waiter looks like he just woke up under a bridge? If management allows him to wander out on the floor looking like that, God knows what they're doing to your shrimp!"

I ask, "Why would any one go to a steak house and order a slice of filet mignon cooked well-done?" 'Saving for well-done' is a time honored tradition dating back to cuisine's earliest days: meat and fish cost money. Every piece of cut, fabricated food must, ideally be sold for three or even four times its cost in order for the chef to make his 'food cost percent'. So what happens when the chef finds a tough, slightly skanky end-cut of sirloin, that's been pushed repeatedly to the back of the pile? He can throw it out, but that's a total loss, representing a three-fold loss of what it cost him per pound. He can feed it to the family, which is the same as throwing it out. Or he can 'save for well-done'-serve it to some rube who prefers to eat his meat for fish incinerated into a flavorless, leathery hunk of carbon, who won't be able to tell if what he's eating is food or flotsam. Ordinarily, a proud chef would hate this customer; hold him in contempt for destroying his fine food. But not in this case. This dumb (sic) is paying for the privilege of eating his garbage! What's not to like?"

Where and when you'll find the freshest meal in a busy restaurant. "If a restaurant is known for steak, and doesn't seem to be doing much business, how long do you think those few orders of clams and mussels and lobster and fish have been sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for someone like you to order it? The key is rotation. If the restaurant is busy, and you see bouillabaisse flying out of the kitchen doors every few minutes, then it's probably a good bet. But a big and varied menu in a slow, half-empty place? Those less popular items like broiled mackerel and calves liver are kept festering in a dark corner of the reach-in because they look good on the menu. You might not actually want to eat them. Look at your waiter's face. He knows. It's another reason to be polite to your waiter: he could save your life with a raised eyebrow or a sigh. If he likes you, maybe he'll stop you from ordering a piece of fish he knows is going to hurt you. On the other hand, maybe the chef has ordered him, under pain of death, to move that codfish before it begins to really reek. Observe the body language and take note."

Watchwords every savvy diner should remember. "Tuesday through Saturday. Busy. Turnover. Rotation..." Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best nights to order fish in most large cities. The food that comes in Tuesday is fresh, the station prep is new, and the chef is well rested after a Sunday or a Monday off. It's the real start of the new week, when you've got the goodwill of the kitchen on your side. Fridays and Saturdays, the food is fresh, but it's busy, so the chef and cooks can't pay as much attention to your food as they-and you-might like. And weekend diners are universally viewed with suspicion, even contempt, by both cooks and waiters alike; they're the slack jaws, the rubes, the out-of-towners, the well-done eating, undertipping, bridge-and tunnel pre-theater hordes in to see Cats or Les Miz and never to return. Weekday diners, on the other hand, are the home team-potential regulars, whom all concerned want to make happy. Rested and ready after a day off, the chef is going to put his best foot forward on Tuesday; he's got his best-quality product coming in and he's had a day or two to think of creative things to do with it. He wants you to be happy on Tuesday night. On Saturday he's thinking more about turning over tables and getting through the rush.

Distinguishing a good restaurant from the bad before your even taste the food. "If the restaurant is clean, the cooks and waiters well-groomed, the dining room busy, everyone seems to actually care about what they're doing-not just trying to pick up a few extra bucks between head shots and auditions-chances are you're in for a decent meal. The owner, chef and a bored looking waiter sitting a front table chatting about soccer scores? Plumber walking through the dining room with a toilet snake? Bad signs. Watch the trucks pull up outside the restaurant delivery entrance in the morning if you're in the neighborhood. Reputable vendors of seafood, meat and produce? Good sign. If you see sinister, unmarked step-vans, off loading all three at once, or the big tractor trailers from one of the national outfits-you know the ones, 'servicing restaurants and institutions for 50 years'-remember what institutions they're talking about: cafeterias, schools, prisons. Unless you like frozen, portion-controlled 'convenience food.'"

Things to avoid when eating in restaurants
Anthony Bourdain
Saturday August 12, 2000

I saw a sign the other day outside one of those Chinese-Japanese hybrids that are beginning to pop up around town, advertising 'Discount Sushi'. I can't imagine a better example of Things To Be Wary Of in the food department than bargain sushi.

I never order fish on Monday, unless I'm eating at a four-star restaurant where I know they are buying their fish directly from the source. I know how old most seafood is on Monday - about four to five days old!

I don't eat mussels in restaurants unless I know the chef, or have seen, with my own eyes, how they store and hold their mussels for service. I love mussels. But, in my experience, most cooks are less than scrupulous in their handling of them. It takes only a single bad mussel, one treacherous little guy hidden among an otherwise impeccable group... If I'm hungry for mussels, I'll pick the good-looking ones out of your order.

Brunch menus are an open invitation to the cost-conscious chef, a dumping ground for the odd bits left over from Friday and Saturday nights. How about hollandaise sauce? Not for me. Bacteria love hollandaise. And nobody I know has ever made hollandaise to order. And how long has that Canadian bacon been festering in the walk-in? Remember, brunch is only served once a week - on the weekends. Cooks hate brunch. Brunch is punishment block for the B-Team cooks, or where the farm team of recent dishwashers learn their chops.

I won't eat in a restaurant with filthy bathrooms. This isn't a hard call. They let you see the bathrooms. If the restaurant can't be bothered to replace the puck in the urinal or keep the toilets and floors clean, then just imagine what their refrigeration and work spaces look like.

Beef Parmentier? Shepherd's pie? Chilli special? Sounds like leftovers to me. How about swordfish? I like it fine. But my seafood purveyor, when he goes out to dinner, won't eat it. He's seen too many of those 3ft-long parasitic worms that riddle the fish's flesh. You see a few of these babies - and we all do - and you won't be tucking into swordfish anytime soon.

'Saving for well-done' is a time-honoured tradition dating back to cuisine's earliest days. What happens when the chef finds a tough, slightly skanky end-cut of sirloin that's been pushed repeatedly to the back of the pile? He can throw it out, but that's a total loss. He can feed it to the family, which is the same as throwing it out. Or he can 'save for well-done': serve it to some rube who prefers his meat or fish incinerated into a flavourless, leathery hunk of carbon.

Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. Oh, I'll accommodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant (aubergine) and zucchini (courgette) suits my food cost fine.

Jerry’s Tips

If the men’s restroom is gross, really gross…….walk out. If the lady’s restroom is dirty….RUN!

Avoid specials. Sure they are a bargain but too frequently it is because they are serving leftovers. Even if they are not serving leftovers they are selling something because they got it cheap. Why would a fish salesman sell fish cheap? Because it’s been sitting around too long.

I admit that I’m a bit of a germaphobe but think twice about picking up salt shakers. Every sick person before you has licked their fingers and then salted their food.