Report From the Field – Graziano’s Lunch Buffet

Susan says…

Having just returned from lunch with a very full tummy, I thought I’d pass along what you can expect if you go to the new Riverwalk Graziano’s location for lunch.

1. Expect a crowd. We were unsure if there would be a seat for us but a table cleared just in the nick of time.
2. Expect limited hours for the buffet: 11-2 Monday through Saturday.
3. Expect to pay ~$7.50 for the buffet, which includes unlimited refills on a fountain soda.
4. Speaking of fountain soda, they have Diet Dr. Pepper.  I like that.
5. Expect lots of choices:  Sicilian salad, marinated veggies, iceberg salad, pasta salad, cheese ravioli, pasta, meatballs, marinara, cheesesticks, jalapeno poppers, fried shrimp, pepperoni bites, rolls, pepperoni rolls, several different toppings on pizza, cookies and cake.  Whew!  No wonder I’m so full.
6. Expect good service. When I asked about the availability of pizza without meat on the buffet, not only did they hook me up, but they delivered two slices right to my table.

They also offer 2 slices with a drink for $4.49 – I think I’ll get that next time to prevent myself from overdoing it again.

Old News and New Gripe – Graziano’s Pizza

Dan says…

If you only go to the Town Center Mall in the 4th quarter then you probably don’t know that one of the most popular Picnic Place eateries has flown the coop.  They chose to move instead of paying a much higher lease.  Graziano’s can now be found at Riverwalk Plaza in South Charleston.  Today a busy lunch crowd was enjoying the lunch buffet, which is now available until 2P.

Now for the GRIPE. My family wanted to eat pizza a couple of Saturdays ago. So after mowing the lawn and doing a day’s worth of chores we finally got around to leaving for dinner at 8:45P. Now I think most people believe you should be able to order a pizza until at least 11P.  What time do you think this new location of Graziano’s closes? If you guessed 9p, you’re right.  They kept their mall hours.

That Saturday, 12 people (including my family) were greeted by a locked door. Consider yourself warned.

Low-Calorie Meals at Long John Silvers

Susan says…

Have you ever ordered something thinking it was healthy only to find out later that it is not?  I know.  I have, too. 

Take Captain D’s, for example.  Now I like the Captain’s fried fish a lot.  And their baked/grilled “healthy” meals are yummy, too.  I cleverly placed the word healthy inside a pair of quotation marks to indicate it seems healthy but is a lot worse for your waistline than they want you to believe.   We thought the baked tilapia with rice pilaf and a side salad would be a rather low-point meal by Weight Watcher standards, but figured they must put butter on the tilapia to get the fat grams so high.   I just go for the gusto by ordering a kid’s fish and fries, subbing broccoli for the fries. 

We had seen the commercials featuring the new <350 calorie meals at Long John Silvers so we knew going in how many calories we would be consuming.  We ventured to the worn down Kanawha City location to give it a try.

We Were Only Halfway Pleased – Half Time Sports Bar and Grill

This restaurant is CLOSED

Susan says…

The former Gratzi location at the Town Center mall has been transformed from cozy Italian villa with virtual fireplace to sparsely decorated sports bar with 137 televisions and is now home to Half Time Sports Bar & Grill.  Ok, it might not be exactly 137 because I did not count them, but I know there were a lot.   The “fireplace room” now has a pool table in it.  There was a cardboard stand-up of a NASCAR driver greeting people as they wait for the hostess to walk you to your seat.  Despite all this, the decor was merely ‘okay’ in my opinion.

Guys may feel their website is more than merely’okay’, though, due to effective use of cleavage and fishnet on female “referees”.  If you hit refresh, you can enjoy the intro all over again.  Your beer won’t be delivered to your table by one of those ladies, however, and that’s not the uniform for the servers.  Instead they wear different team shirts.  If you’re looking for scantily clad waitstaff, go to Hooters. 

Beer News – Tasting Event at Billy’s

Billy’s Soho’s @ Southridge will play host to a beer tasting event on Monday, May 18.  Proud Eagle Distributing will be providing free samples of three Starr Hill brews.  Aside from the comfortable facility, Billy’s is contributing appetizers to accompany the beer. 

The beer tasting event runs from 6-9 Monday evening.  There is no charge for the event.

If you’d like to make an evening of it, don’t forget that you could also order dinner from Billy’s full menu.  We recently celebrated Fork You’s first birthday at Billy’s and enjoyed salmon quesadilla, grouper tacos, filet, create-your-own pasta and boca-mozarella bites.  And, of course, plenty of $1 draft beers!  Everything was fresh and delicious. 

Don’t be surprised if you see some of our crew Monday night.

Are We Really Gonna Eat Lunch Here? – The Dome

NOTE: This is Fork You’s

100th West Virginia restaurant review!!!

 

Daniel says…

At Stanton’s suggestion we met at the Dome Grill and Bar in early April for another Charleston food blogger summit.  Albeit Stanton will argue that Fork You is not a Charleston food blog.  Just like his nationally famous, WV Hot Dog Blog, our not so famous blog reviews restaurants across WV.  You can read Stanton’s review of the Dome’s WVHD here.

I like hole in the wall type places and Stanton’s blog has given me the gastronomic courage to try many great, but shabby looking joints. I used to think if they don’t take the time and energy to improve a customer’s first impression, then I hate to think about the effort going into the food. The Dome has taken zero effort to enhance ones first impression. The inside is not much better. A matter of fact it’s pretty worn. Keep it mind if it was dark outside and you had your beer goggles on it would look just fine, but the Fork You Five had the benefit of sunshine.