It makes me "Blue" to write this

I remorsefully have to give an update on one of my favorite restaurants and their bar specials - Blue.

We went there a couple weeks ago and much to my dismay they only offer 4 food selections now and 2 of them are basically pizza. If you read my first blog on this (see older posts) three of the four selections we tried are no longer available on their bar menu including my favorite Flavors of the Mediterranean - Tapenade, Baba Ghanoush, white bean and Parmigiano-Reggiano salad and traditional hummus served with a warm pita, Greek olives, roasted peppers and olive oil. And Jero's favorite Crisp Arrancini - Risotto balls stuffed with pancetta, sweet onions and mozzarella fried crispy and topped with a tomato sauce. We were very disappointed. We ended up getting 2 orders of calamari & 1 order of hummus. Just plain hummus which I really didn't even want to order because, well, it just sounded . . plain boring. But I was hungry & one app wasn't going to do it and I like variety. They did serve a couple of black olives with it that livened it up a bit but not enough. I took some of the fried green olives that came with the calamari and livened it up with that. Then Jero was still hungry and went and ordered the scallop appetizer for $12. It came with 2, yes 2, scallops. They were big scallops but not $12 worth or $6 each. Crazy. Did I mention we were disappointed. They still have their nightly drink specials - $6 martinis & $4 beers which is a good deal. So if you like pizza, calamari and plain hummus you are good to go. As for us, we will be going elsewhere if we want more than pizza :(

Firebird's "Firebar Menu" Totally Underwhelmed Me

OK, I was sooo disappointed with my experience here it has taken me almost a week to even write about it, I have been so traumatized. (Not really but I almost felt it was not worth my time to write about it & I like the drama aspect here)

Good news first . . . enjoyed my company (Miss Miss!) and Miss Miss liked the queso. I was underwhelmed. I always do my "pre" research and picked my 4 items before even getting there. I was under the impression half price apps/starters Monday thru Friday 3-7. I was wrong. I had chosen the Lobster Spinach Queso $10 (would have been $5) Coconut Shrimp (Also would have been $5) Seared Ahi Tuna (Would have been $6.50) and Crab Cakes (Also $6.50) NONE of which were on the "Firebar" menu. What WAS on the "Firebar" menu, to quote my previous blog, "Standard, traditional, greasy bar food" Apparently they have a separate "Firebar" appetizer menu than their regular "Starters" menu! The only items on it, and once again I quote, "standard, traditional, greasy bar food": chicken wings, sliders, bbq sliders, ranch ringers & the queso. Miss Miss had the queso and sliders, which honestly, if I wanted queso I would have gone to On the Border and had their queso, free chips/salsa & $3 margaritas. I was pumped for my 4 choices only to find out, not one of them was on the "Firebar" menu. I ended up getting their Firebirds BLT salad (trying not to eat greasy) which is always excellent but totally misses the point of the good food at a cheap price. So, short story short, if you want standard, traditional, greasy bar food at the Northlake Mall, go to Firebird's. If not, go to Bravo!

Now I feel like I have to go back to one of my faves to instill my confidence again. 131 Main, here I come!

Bar Bites at Mimosa were anything but standard greasy bar food fare

When searching the internet I came across a mention of a bar bites menu at Mimosa Grill in Uptown Charlotte, all items $5 Monday thru Friday 4-7pm in the bar and on the patio. If you are familiar with Mimosa it is in the square where Alive After 5 used to be before the grandiose EpiCentre came to be. Mimosa is a popular lunch and after work drinks spot. Good food, a little pricey for my range. (Hey! I'm all about a $5 lunch which are super hard to find these days. $10 is stretching it and with tax & tip you won't be spending $10 here)

When I went onto their website and clicked on menu, there is a tab for "Bites" but "page is not found" when you click on it. So I called just to make sure the Bar Bites do exist and a youngish girl answered the phone and was very nice & very helpful. I told her the tab didn't work and she said they probably didn't want us to see what was on the bar bites menu because it is so exclusive. Huh? She then tried to remember what was on there and listed onion rings & fries, oh, parmesan fries, beef sliders, pork sliders, then proceeded to say and I quote, "You know, your usual, standard greasy bar foods" I think the manager/owner would have been appalled to hear her say that because the items we ended up getting were anything but! She then offered to go to the bar and got a copy of the menu and read it to me over the phone. They did have the above choices but also have Sea Salt & Tortilla Chips & Dip (guacamole & jalapeno cheddar) Wild Mushroom flatbread (with goat cheese & fresh herbs) We did not try these 2 because we wanted to try different things besides dip & pizza. We had the Mussel Bowl which was outstanding. A huge bowl of Mussels in smoked tomatoes & garlic. Mimosa's Signature Popcorn Shrimp where yes, I was thinking greasy but it is soaked in sweet chili & wasabi aioli sauce. Served in a cute wire "fry" basket and greasy does not describe this dish at all. Tasty yes! We also did try the Cab Beef Sliders with herb aioli & pimento cheese. Just a nicer version of a traditional slider. The Pork Belly Sliders were the best suprise though. I was thinking typical Carolina pulled pork but they consisted of a nice slice of white meat pork with cracked mustard and red dragon cheddar and carrot "slaw" A nice variation on our NC BBQ. Standard, greasy bar food? Far from it! We once again ordered 4 different "bites" and had just enough food. They also have nightly drink specials to complement their bar bites. I also wanted to mention that some of the normal prices on these "bites" are $8 or $10 so you are getting a good savings at $5!

Another good find in Uptown Charlotte at an upscale restaurant!

www.harpersgroup.com/mimosa.asp

New meaning to "Blue" Plate Specials!

I know when I think of Blue Plate Special you think of a diner or a "dive" type of restaurant. I was extremely pleased to find out that one of our favorite "treat ourselves" restaurants had a special bar/late night menu that was super affordable and super delicious.

Blue in Uptown Charlotte has appetizers Two For $10 in the bar Monday thru Friday 5-7 and late night (although if you go on their website, it's a little confusing. Sounds like they serve these specials until 11pm or 12 am) I ordered 4 different ones and it was too much food which is a good thing! Paired with the multitude of martini's my husband and I drank (OK, mostly the Hubster. He couldn't help it. His favorite were on special, Appletini's $6 which yes, I do believe we spent more on drinks than food, whoops!) Which brings me to another great feature to these bar bites - nightly drinks specials featuring a different beer & a specialty martini Monday thru Saturday. YES, including Friday and Saturday! I'm telling you, there are great ways to eat at the nicest restaurants in Charlotte at a really good savings!

The four appetizers we had were:

Number one, Flavors of the Mediterranean - Tapenade, Baba Ghanoush, white bean and Parmigiano-Reggiano salad and traditional hummus served with a warm pita, Greek olives, roasted peppers and olive oil. I could have made a meal out of this one itself. Lots of good variety and plenty to eat. My favorite was the Tapendade, a spread made from greek black olives, capers, anchovies & olive oil. Yum yum!

My second favorite was the Crispy Calamari with Fried Olives and Peppadew Peppers. Chickpea flour crusted with a lemon-harissa dipping sauce. The unusual twist on this that made it stand out from other fried calamari dishes I have had was the fried green olives & peppadew peppers. Great bursts with the calamari.

Third choice was the Duck Sausage and Rapini Flat Bread - Crisp flatbread topped with house made duck sasage, rapini, herb goat cheese and mozzarella. They had 3 choices of pizza and even though this is listed as flatbread, it was pizza. A good twist though with the duck sausage.

Lastly, Jero's favorite of the evening the Crisp Arrancini - Risotto balls stuffed with pancetta, sweet onions and mozzarella fried crispy and topped with a tomato sauce.

Everything was wonderful. Our servers at the bar were great. Had fun sitting there and chatting. The bar area I feel is just as nice as the dining area at Blue.

Check out their entire menu and drink specials at:

www.bluecharlotte.com

My first bad review. And the Award Goes to . . .

Nix Burgers Uptown. Believe it or not I'm writing this because the food was bad not the service. You all thought this was going to be about service now didn't you? My fellow friends, countrymen that know me so well. I can't blame our servers, either time we went (and yes, this is based on TWO bad experiences, not just one) I can't even blame the manager, the first visit anyway. Ironically, I did have one of my worst service experiences at one of Nix's "sister" restaurants"

Our first visit was a couple months ago. We had our Citipass BOGO. It was a slow night and we were only 1 of 3 tables, the other tables having 2 people and 3 people at them, so no large parties. We both ordered right off the menu, nothing special, neither of us pulled a Meg Ryan from "When Harry Met Sally" Extra points if you get that reference - I know Meme will :) It was taking forever and our server told us they had a new cook. He had only been there 2 weeks. She kept apologizing and went and stood over him at one point until our burgers were done. I ordered mine medium and my husband ordered his medium well. They both were so overcooked when we got them they were just about inedible. The medium well one was actually less done than the medium one. Our waitress took one look at them and called the manager over for us. She apologized profusely and gave us cards for 2 free burger/meals for our next visit. We did use our BOGO so we were happy with that.

Fast forward 6 weeks later. Even though it was 6:30 on a Saturday night, a few more people than last time but still not crowded. Most tables were taken by the time we left an hour later but we beat the crowd. We were a little worried about service when we both ordered Blue Moons and were asked if we wanted an orange slice with that? Uh, yeah! That's part of what makes a Blue Moon so good! We both ordered burgers again, right off the menu. This time we both went with medium since we figured if it was done right it should be a nice, pink center. This time they erred on the opposite end. They were so raw I couldn't eat it. Jerome's was medium raw so he ate his. Mine was actually cold in the center so yes, you got it, we sent it back. We didn't have the same server as last time but we told her what happened and she knew exactly what cook we were referring to and told us he was no longer with them. She sent it back and took my sweet potato fries with her which I really would have liked to munch on those waiting for my burger to be re-cooked. The manager came over again (this time a guy) and apologized. He said that that is how he likes for his to be made. Not sure exactly what that meant but I told him, not the way I like mine to be made (really?!) They brought my new burger, which by that time I was no longer hungry and we were Uptown to watch the Criterium and running out of time. I took a couple bites. Cooked the way it should have been but this late in the game, I took 3/4's of the burger with me. I need to mention at this point it looks like they took my original sweet potato fries and refried them so now 9/10's of those were inedible and burnt. We were not offered any other compensation and honestly, even if they gave us 2 more free burgers/meals I would not have taken them up on it. Burnt is bad but I feel undercooked is worse. You can get sick by undercooked meat and they did not instill any confidence in me that they could cook burgers properly, either way.

So I absolutely would NOT recommend spending your money here. I don't know about you, but we only eat out once a week for dinner if we are lucky and I want to make sure I feel like I'm getting good food for the money. This was not. Even free if you know what I mean. Very disappointed that someone that bills themselves as a burger joint does not know how to cook a burger. I would rather spend my hard earned money at Big Daddy's or a turkey burger at The Burger Company. Would love to hear if anyone else had the same experiences here! So bottom line, yes, wait for it . . nix on Nix!

By the way, went to PF Chang's this past week for Happy Hour AND the free lettuce wraps (for liking them on Facebook) It was just as good as the last time and they had their dessert shots too.

If you want to know about one of my all time bad service stories at LaVecchia's let me know and I will add on comments section.

Half Price Sushi! How did it taste . . .

. . . pretty darn good!

I have been coveting Cat Covert's cravings (how is that for alliteration?) for 1/2 price sushi for weeks now and finally checked out what all the fuss is about! Edomae at Northlake Mall, in the Super Target shopping center offers 1/2 price Maki rolls on Wednesdays from 3pm to closing (10pm) I took my son who usually loves sushi but he had just had a McDonald's strawberry lemonade on the way over so I don't think he was super hungry. More sushi for me! We tried a couple of our standards, Spicy Tuna Roll & California roll. We usually get Unagi (cooked eel over rice) but since that was not half price we tried the Eel Avocado Roll. We also tried the Spicy Crunchy Salmon Roll. It was all very tasty! Definitely on par with Rusan & Nikko's. I thought we were getting regular Spicy Tuna but it was the Crunchy Spicy Tuna so honestly, it was hard to differentiate between the tuna and the salmon. They were both very good but too similar. If Heath had been a little hungrier I would have liked to have ordered a couple other items. A couple different items that I have never tried before. But that's OK! At half price, guess what we will be eating next Wednesday?! Plus I want my husband to try some of the items too. He usually likes a "Firecracker Roll" breaded & fried but I told him that wasn't on special. Our bill came to $10 for 4 rolls or 24 pieces. Our waitress Amanda was super so I tipped her well! I based it on the $20 we would have spent before the 1/2 price. I just realized as I was writing this who she reminded me of, the actress Gina Gershon! She was a fellow Pennsylvanian! But I digress. Cat orders her sushi to go and I really think that is the best deal. For what I tipped I could have potentially ordered the other 2 rolls I wanted to try. They have 28 different Maki rolls to choose from ranging from $3.95 to $7.50. Remember, cut those prices in half! Definitely going to try them again and order more, different items!

If you go or have gone, please share your experiences with me!

You can check out their entire menu at: www.edomaenc.com

Food Happy Hour at P.F. Chang's! That works for me, how about you?

It's not all about an alcoholic Happy Hour, now is it? I had to recruit a friend who was a little flexible for P.F. Chang's Happy that is 3-6 daily. I have to admit I was a bit perturbed at trying to get here by 6pm. This is not an easy task for anyone who works until 5:30, even 5pm if you don't work near a P.F. Chang's location. (We went to the one at Northlake Mall) I asked our waiter, Brian, if they had many customers that take advantage of their Happy Hour and he said mostly on weekends. I did not realize the specials were offered on Saturday and Sunday and I would assume that this would work better in most people's schedule. Even my son & I tried to go after a movie on a weekday and we couldn't make it, too rushed. Plus Brian did tell us, if you tried to order anything after 6pm, the register is programmed to not accept the specials even at 6:01. Good to know!

With that being said, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The Happy Hour Menu is exclusive of their regular menu, meaning there are items on it that aren't on the regular menu which was a fun option. I would have only made one change which I will get to, and that is because I was sharing with another person and the change would have given us a little more food. My "buddy" and I usually go to P.F. Chang's for lunch where we share a big bowl of the hot & sour soup and the lettuce wraps and finish up with their "dessert shots" which totally rock. Soooo, we wanted to try different items than any of those. We tried 4 different items. I wanted to try 5 but my buddy was too full :) We started with the Crispy Green Beans which they claim are more addictive than potato chips! They were very good. Breaded green beans, deep fried and served with a special sauce. Only $4 and almost too many for us to finish with the other items we chose but we are not complaining! We also shared the Spicy Shrimp Tacos - wok-seared red curry shrimp served on soft taco shells. Add the tangy sauce they make for you at the table and these totally rock! You get 2 for $4.95. Tuna Tataki Crisp - Sliced Ahi tuna, seared rare on a crispy wonton, topped with fresh diced Ahi tuna, crisp cucumber and scallions tossed in a citrus-sesame soy sauce. Finished with a hint of spice and toasted sesame seeds (3 per order) $4.95 Only order this if you like sushi, which both of us LOVE sushi! Very tasty, very good. Our fourth choice was recommended by Brian, our waiter, the Pork & Rice Siu Mai - Peking pork and sticky rice with ginger, garlic and sriracha. Very, very tasty but there were only 3 little ones for $3.25 and this is where I would have tried something different. I would have tried the Flaming Red Wontons - pork dumplings in a spicy garlic and sesame soy sauce finished with scallions and pickled chili peppers (6 per order) $5 which to me is a little better deal.

We were going to splurge for a $2 dessert shot but they were all out of them. Brian recommend their Banana Spring Rolls - six warm, crispy bites of banana served with coconut-pineapple ice cream and drizzled with caramel and vanilla sauces but we knew we were too full for this. The dessert shots are a perfect portion of their popular desserts without being too filling.

Our total split bill was only a little over $10 each including tip and not including drinks. I asked if they had any alcoholic drink specials but not really. Check out their Happy Hour Menu at: www.pfchangs.com to see all selections and drink menu.

Good food, at a good price. If you can get there before 6 on a weekday, great. Even better, going on a Saturday or Sunday before or after shopping or a movie!