Cafe Adobe - Houston, TX - Great Tex-Mex With Ex-tras

Cafe Adobe

Location - Houston, TX

Meal - Dinner

Date - February 15, 2010

The Set-Up - We found Cafe Adobe early on our trips to Houston and return often for a quick, tasty and inexpensive Tex-Mex meal. Upon arriving in Houston on February 15, we had just enough time for dinner before heading to the nearby McGonigel's Mucky Duck for a 9:30 show.

The Meal - Kay went with the reliable Tacos al Carbon. I'm glad I ventured from my usual order pattern as the Fish Tacos were wonderful. The broiled tilapia pieces were marinated in chipotle cilantro and garlic butter sauce. The tacos were the soft kind and filled with red cabbage, so I had to deconstruct the dish to eat it, but no problem. They offer a plate of the same fish, Tilapia Cozumel, which I'll definitely consider next time.


Drinks - It was margarita time. We inquired about happy hour and to our happiness, the half-priced drink special was still on. More later on this part of the meal, but drinks were delicious.

Ambience - We like the area nearest the door for a number of reasons. Less walking in a big restaurant, near the rest rooms, and the area seems a little more open and brighter than the back of the restaurant.

Service - Always cheerful and efficient. The staff was especially helpful when our bill came with the margaritas at full price. We pointed this out and instead of correcting the price, which would have saved us $6.25, they gave me my fish tacos for free ($8.99 value), saying that it was too difficult in their system to correct the drink price.

The Check - With the credit, we got out of Cafe Adobe full of food and drink for an amazing $30, including tax and a nice tip.

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Five - I think I found a new favorite dish.

Drinks - Five - Hard to beat frozen margaritas in a good Tex-Mex place.

Ambience - Four - Our preferred seating area also includes the stairs to the club on the second floor.

Service - Five - Three cheers for their makeup on the mispriced drinks.

Price/Value - A big Five on this occasion - pretty close every time out.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - Definitely merits Favorite status with its combination of tasty food and drinks, reasonable prices and extended happy hour. We'll be back!

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


Other Info -

2111 Westheimer, Houston, Texas 77098 ... Phone: 713.528.1468 ... Fax: 713.528.5127

There are three other Cafe Adobe locations in the Houston area (Sugar Land, Spring Branch and The Woodlands) and one opening soon in Clear Lake.

Hours:

Call for hours. I know they're open Monday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner. They're probably open Sunday as well.

Cafe Adobe

Gary's Cafe - Orange, TX - If Only Man Could Live on Chocolate Pie Alone

Gary's Cafe and Family Restaurant

Location - Orange, TX

Meal - Lunch

Date - February 15, 2010

The Set-Up - On our most recent trip to Houston, we stopped at Steamboat Bill's in Lake Charles, hoping (at least me) to eat some boiled crawfish. At about 3 p.m. we saw their sign, "Boiled Crawfish at 5 p.m, and got back in the car. Next stop was Orange, TX, where we'd heard about Gary's Cafe.

The Meal - Kay got her fill of vegetables, which she enjoyed. I went for the fried catfish plate with Gary's signature batter. I've eaten better, both fish and batterwise in many catfish restaurants in Louisiana and elsewhere. We agreed that the chocolate meringue pie (just $2.25) was by far the highlight of the meal.

Drinks - Iced tea and Diet Coke. I had to get a side glass of water to dilute the tea, but that may just be my taste.


Ambience - Diner-style, reminiscent of House of Pies in Houston, or Catfish Campus (as yet unreviewed) in Columbia, TN based on the advertisements embossed on the table.

Service -My memory is sketchy. I don't remember it being either special or inadequate.

The Check - A bargain at about $25, including tax and tip.

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Three, with the pie bringing it up to acceptable overall

Drinks - Three, as the iced tea was just adequate

Ambience - Two. I'm really not into advertising on the tables.

Service - Four.

Price/Value - Three. Even though Gary's was cheap, I can't go higher for a restaurant whose best food is chocolate pie.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


2650 Interstate 10 West, Orange, TX 77632.
(409) 886 - 5850

There are other Gary's locations in both Orange and nearby Vidor, TX.

Hours:

Call for hours. I couldn't find a website.

Ruffino's - Baton Rouge, LA - Valentine's Lifesaver

Ruffino's Italian Restaurant

Location - Baton Rouge, LA

Meal - Dinner

Date - February 14, 2010

The Set-Up - As it has before on other holidays, Ruffino's came through for us on Valentine's Day by being open all afternoon and evening on Sunday. Without a reservation, we showed up at about 3:00 p.m., avoiding both the lunch and dinner crowds, which our waiter said would add up to the restaurant's busiest day of the year, and cap their busiest weekend.

Ruffino's is owned by Baton Rouge restauranteur T.J. Moran. Former LSU football star Ruffin Rodrigue donates his name to what Moran previously called Highland House and DiNardo's (after two LSU head football coaches ago - Gerry DiNardo). Moran, Rodrigue and Chef Peter Scalfani bill Ruffino's fare as Italian-Creole fusion - unique in Baton Rouge.


The Meal - Due to the high volume of diners, Ruffino's offered a limited Valentine's menu, but still with plenty of good choices. We took it easy, ordering just an appetizer, one entree to share and a bottle of wine. The crab ravioli was as good as advertised. Having eaten a lot of steak recently, we opted for the Pork Tchoupitoulas (there's a bit of a pun there) - two large pork chops topped with New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp. We also enjoyed bread and olive oil, though the olive oil part could have been at another recent restaurant meal.

Drinks - We washed it all down with a lovely Estancia Pinot Grigio from California.


Ambience - In between rush periods, Ruffino's was quiet and romantic, albeit a bit dark upon first entry. As with many restaurants operated by celebrities or near-celebrities, they like to hang pictures of their clientele posing with restaurant management. Fortunately, the displays are focused in the foyer and other non-dining areas.

Service - Top notch. Our 20-year veteran waiter answered all our questions about the menu (noting that the pork came with steamed asparagus, making it unnecessary for us to order a side of veggies), made recommendations, refilled our wine glasses and followed up for other needs.

The Check - The receipt has moved from my wallet, but I remember the total being about $100 with tax and tip. The pork entree was about $30, the appetizer about $13 and the wine another $30 or so

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - 4.5 - Ravioli was a five; the pork a little lower as the meat could have been more tender.

Drinks - 4 - very nice wine, but I've had pinot grigio just as good for about $10 less.

Ambience - 5 - perfect for the occasion, once I found our table in the relative darkness.

Service - 5 - what you'd expect and hope for at a high-end restaurant. Kudos also for the expanded Valentine's Day hours.

Price/Value - I'll call it 4.5. Going with the filet mignon might have provided better value, though the barbecue shrimp were a treat.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - Ruffino's isn't my first choice among Baton Rouge special occasion restaurants, but its overall quality and availability make it a more than adequate backup and a family favorite.

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


18811 Highland Rd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
225-753-3458

Hours:

Open daily at 4:30pm
Sunday 11:00am - 9:00pm

Ruffino's Italian Restaurant

DeAngelo's - Baton Rouge, LA - Pizza of My Heart

Restaurant - DeAngelo's Pizzeria

Location - Baton Rouge, LA

Meal - Lunch

Date - February 9, 2010

The Set-Up - More often than not, a mid-morning medical appointment at the Oschner Clinic on Bluebonnet Blvd is followed by lunch at DeAngelo's Pizzeria about a mile down the street. From a humble start in a small space in a strip mall, DeAngelo's has grown over the last twenty years into one of Baton Rouge's most popular restaurant chains. Founder Louis DeAngelo, then about twenty years old, borrowed money from his family and brought their recipe for New York-style pizza to Baton Rouge, a market where Pizza Hut was still the best choice if you didn't want to eat pizza in a bar.

Today, there are four DeAngelo's restaurants in Baton Rouge proper, two in nearby Denham Springs and Prairieville, LA and two more across the state in Lake Charles, LA. I've been a loyal fan of DeAngelo's pizzas and pastas (not to mention salad and garlic bread) for the whole run.


The Meal - I know what I like, and that's what I eat. On this day I got my standard 10" pizza on regular crust with pepperoni, anchovies and roasted red peppers. Kay went with soup and salad - probably the Isabella, which features Asiago cheese and a wonderful shallot vinaigrette dressing. It's probably my favorite salad anywhere. Kay often gets pizza with a whole wheat crust. Kallie, though not with us on this trip, is a fan of the crawfish diavolo. I also enjoy the Little Italy Foccaccia-Latta - Italian meats and vegetables on wrapped flat bread.

Drinks - Along with making the best salad in Baton Rouge, DeAngelo's serves the best iced tea. At dinner we usually choose from the wine list, which is a very nice one for a restaurant that started as a pizzeria.


Ambience - DeAngelo's has upgraded their restaurants over the years to the point that they about the nicest pizzerias you're likely to find. Despite the sign at the Bluebonnet restaurant, they're trying to move away from the pizzeria tag to be known as Louis DeAngelo's Casual Italian Dining.

Service - DeAngelo's uses the team approach as well as any restaurant in Baton Rouge. Essentially any member of their staff, including managers and hostesses, will help with any request.

The Check - Our bargain lunch (one small pizza; one soup and salad; two soft drinks) came in at less than $30, including tax and tip. Ordering entrees and wine can push the bill up, but at any meal DeAngelo's provides good value.

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Five - The best pizza and salad in Baton Rouge.

Drinks - Five - If iced tea can be a five, DeAngelo's qualifies.

Ambience - Five - Many DeAngelo's restaurants feature works by local artists.

Service - Five

Price/Value - Five - As you can probably tell, I really like DeAngelo's.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - The menu isn't quite special occasion worthy, but based on the dozens of meals I've eaten at DeAngelo's over the years, favorite definitely describes our relationship.

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


Other Info -

7550 Bluebonnet Blvd. (Bluebonnet Village Ctr)
Baton Rouge , LA 70810
Phone: 225-761-4465

Other Baton Rouge locations are on Jefferson Highway, Coursey Blvd (at Hickory Ridge) and Lee Drive (at Burbank).

Hours:

Monday 11am to 9pm
Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 10pm
Sunday 11am to 9pm


Louis DeAngelo's Casual Italian Dining

The Chimes East - Baton Rouge, LA - Updated Version of an Old Favorite

Restaurant - The Chimes East

Location - Baton Rouge, LA

Meal - Lunch

Date - February 8, 2010

The Set-Up - Kay and I both had 1 p.m. medical appointments so we decided to go to lunch at one of our favorite local restaurants along the way. The Chimes East is a second location of the popular restaurant/bar, The Chimes, at the north gate of the LSU campus. I first ate at the original Chimes in 1987 when I first came to Baton Rouge. Whereas The Chimes still feels like a restaurant that has grown up around a bar, The Chimes East is clearly a restaurant first. Like all Louisiana restaurants, both locations are non-smoking, though Chimes East does offer a patio where smoking is allowed.


The Meal - Kay got her usual Caesar salad with blackened chicken, but with the house dressing. Monday is usually Catfish Jacques (fried catfish with crawfish sauce over egg noodles) day for me, but I've never felt that Chimes East measured up to The Chimes on that dish. My second choice would have been the blackened salmon sandwich with tomato basil crab soup that I had on my last visit, but the soup wasn't on the menu, so I went with a Chimes club with blackened chicken, a sandwich I'd enjoyed on at least one other occasion. At $7.50, this huge sandwich that also includes bacon, ham and swiss cheese, is a real bargain.

Kay was a little delayed eating her food as the wait staff struggled to bring the "to go" box that she asked for. She likes to put half of the large salad in the box to eat at home, but needs to make the split before she puts the dressing on the salad. After two requests and a followup, the box arrived and lunch proceeded. Kay claims that the salad is the best in Baton Rouge. I know that the side salads that I get with various plate lunches are outstanding. The freshness of the vegetables and the tasty house vinaigrette dressing a great combo. DeAngelos' Italian restaurants are the only places that compete in this category.

Drinks - Usually it's diet Coke and iced tea at The Chimes, but Kay went with the pomegranate martini. I had one sip, which was delicious. I'm not sure how people handle that much alcohol in one drink. Chimes iced tea, at either location, is always great, and usually refilled promptly, though on this day I got through the entire meal before being offered seconds on tea.

Both locations feature an extensive selection of beers from around the world. A major feature at The Chimes (lesser at Chimes East) is earning "Round the World" status by drinking beers from a wide variety of countries. I think the target is 30 in a period of six months. Drinkers who accomplish this are memorialized on a plaque. The walls at The Chimes are almost literally covered with such plaques. Some drinkers have been "around the world" dozens of times. Surprisingly, I never made it even once. I have my favorite beers and I stick with them.


Ambience - The Chimes East was designed and built from the ground up on an open site, so the layout and ambience are essentially perfect for this style of restaurants. TVs arrayed high in the corners let you keep up on the latest sports events and news. The booth they originally seated us in was pretty cramped, even for two, but we moved to a table without getting any feedback. Both Chimes locations are generally pretty noisy. There are better choices for a quiet, romantic meal or a lunch or dinner where you want to get some business done.

Service - The veteran waiters at the original Chimes do a somewhat better job than at The Chimes East. Between the go box and the iced tea, this was not their best day.

The Check - We usually can get lunch for two for about $30. Today the martini pushed the tab to $35.65 with tax and tip.


The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Five - There isn't much that they don't do well.

Drinks - Five - The pomegranate martini was a new treat. Chimes iced tea is always perfect.

Ambience - Five - Our table by the window allowed enough light for me to take pictures without a flash!

Service - Three - They usually do a bit better than this - at least a four.

Price/Value - Four - The salad is a little pricey, but makes two meals.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - In twenty-plus years I've eaten innumerable meals at either The Chimes or Chimes East. They rarely disappoint.

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


The Chimes East
10870 Coursey Blvd.
Baton Rouge La. 70816
Phone: 225.296.4981

The Chimes
3357 Highland Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Phone: 225.383.1754

Hours:

Monday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

The Chimes East

The Chimes

Middendorf's - Akers, LA on Lake Maurepas - Worth the Detour

Middendorf's

Akers, LA on Lake Maurepas

Lunch

February 5, 2010


The Set-Up - We stopped at Middendorf's for lunch on the way home from the New Orleans airport. We've been going to this out-of-the-way seafood restaurant for years. Sitting on the bank of Lake Maurepas, the restaurant has been damaged by several hurricanes, most recently Hurricane Ike in 2008. The site has side-by-side restaurants with the second one opening on the weekends to handle overflow business. The second restaurant also came in handy when the first one was flooded. It opened just a few days after the storm, while the original restaurant took about a year to restore.


The Meal - I usually eat a bowl of the world's best oyster stew and a plate of fried catfish, but for some reason I knew I wasn't hungry enough for both. I settled for the thin fried catfish plate (small - $10.50), which is the restaurant's signature dish. The small portion is huge. Be VERY hungry before you order the large portion. Ultra-thin strips fried in cornmeal batter are a unique offering in the area. Kay got one fried softshell crab ($15.75; two for $22.50). She usually gets broiled softshell crabs, but Middendorf's only offers fried.

The meals are preceded by a loaf of warm bread (yummy but filling, beware), hush puppies (fried cornmeal with jalapeno seasoning) and cole slaw, which is a bit too dilly for my tastes.

Drinks - Iced tea for both. I was happy to see that they'd switched from small to large glasses, eliminating the need for at least one refill.


Ambience - Similar to Steamboat Bill's in Lake Charles, Middendorf's has an ultra-casual roadhouse feel, but in this case without a lot of decoration. In Carnival season, they had a few Mardi Gras beads.

Service - Friendly and efficient. We had a surprisingly young waitress. During past visits, we've seen the same veteran waitresses over and over.

The Check - Lunch for two (no alcoholic drinks or dessert) came to $37 with tax and tip.


The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Five in the category of fried seafood. As mentioned, the oyster stew is always terrific - big juicy oysters and loads of butter.

Drinks - Four - No problems with the iced tea, but I don't think their beer menu is extensive if you go that way. They do have Abita, which is a good local brew.

Ambience - Four - Clean and unpretentious.

Service - Five - Checked often for our needs and filled them promptly.

Price/Value - Four - $15.75 seemed high for just one softshell crab. Catfish and iced tea ($1.50) are more reasonable.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - Many times we've detoured from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and stopped at Middendorf's for either lunch or dinner.

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


Travel Tip - If you're heading from New Orleans to Baton Rouge or further west on I-10, take the I-55 North exit toward Hammond. Drive north about 15 miles to Exit 15 (Manchac). Turn right onto Manchac Way. Middendorf's is less than half a mile on the left (the second building being the main restaurant). Afterwards you can continue on I-55 North to I-12 West, meeting back up with I-10 in Baton Rouge.

Restaurant Address and Hours of Operation

75 Manchac Way • Akers, LA 70421
985.386.6666985.386.6668-Fax

Open Wed thru Sun 10:30AM - 9:00PM

Middendorf's

Not Middendorf's - this is Reno's Seafood just up the road. I don't think they have table service, but I'm tempted to stop and get some of their specialty meats.