Cougar Cry
Restaurant Review Cont...
A Review of the Captain's Table By:
Sam Blevins
I have visited the Captain's Table on several occasions,
and I have left satisfied. However, things took a turn for
the worse this time.
I had been invited to a dinner in which my sister was go
ing to take our parents out to eat. We had a party of ten
all together that evening and to begin with, the service
was good considering the amount of business. As the
night wore on, the waitress began to become slack in
her efforts. She was late bringing the salad bowls to our
table, and she failed to bring a member of our party a
bowl. He later received it after everyone else had gotten
their food. Two of us ordered the Surf and Turf, which
includes steak and shrimp. When the food arrived, the
cooks and waitress forget to put the shrimp with the or
ders. It took her about five minutes to return with those.
Meanwhile, the gentlemen that had received his salad
bowl so late had never received his food. Finally, he had
to request it in a to-go box. His food was forty-five min
utes late.
As time progressed, things got even worse. The wait
ress had charged us extra for the shrimp and the to-go
order. Both of these things were orders placed at the be
ginning. She was charging us for her mistakes. We did
not receive any courtesy on refill or food at all. As a re
sult, we approached the management. The member of
management had difficulty seeing our point-of-view. The
manager was reluctant to take off the extra charges and
blamed the mistakes on us. However, the manager fi
nally resolved the issue, but did not take away anything
extra or offer something to make up for the misunder
standing.
The truth of the matter was that the waitress knew she
would get the tip because of the large group. She at
tempted to make up for her mistakes at our expense.
The waitress was horrible in that respect. In turn, I sug
gest that if you go to tlie Captain’s Table never go in a
large group. The wait staff will not be kind nor will the
management help if the staff fails in their duties. After all
the disadvantages of the meal, I found one advantage to
the experience; the food.
I would again like to say the food was excellent, but
please don't go in large groups due to adding of tips to
the bill. In most cases, the gratuity is justified, but when
the manager will not require the staff to uphold their re
sponsibilities, it is bad. You can make up your mind
about the Captain's Table and pick your place to eat
wisely.
Macaroni Grill Review
Vicki Scott
If you were like my family and I, we thought this restau
rant was all about macaroni and cheese when we first
drove by it and saw the name. We had to go inside to
see just what Macaroni Grill was all about. We found out
as everyone else does upon entering the establishment,
that it’s an Italian restaurant. It’s an authentic Italian res
taurant, not your generic spaghetti and Italian bread res
taurant. For starters, the bread served at the beginning
of your meal, shortly after you’ve been seated, is called
focaccia. it is served with their “butter,” olive oil; it’s a
special thick brand. You pull off hunks of this bread and
dip it into the ground pepper laced oil. Oh man, it is
good! You could practically make a meal on that and
one of their Caesar salads. They also have house sal
ads.
There are plenty of mouthwatering appetizers to choose
from. One of our favorites is thick slices of tomato with a
hunk of Mozzarella on each and big basil leaves strewn
around all in balsamic vinegar. Yummy! Portobello
mushrooms cooked in balsamic vinegar is another fa
vorite appetizer. The main courses either have pasta in
them or come with it on the side. Hence, the name
Macaroni Grill. There is penne, farfalle (bow tie), angel
hair, and macaroni pasta to name a few. There is maca
roni and cheese on the kid’s menu, by the way. You can
get ravioli, lasagna, and spaghetti as well as specialty
dishes. Of course, these already mentioned are done up
specially (they don’t look like they came out of a can).
They make their pasta on the premises. There are all
kinds of sauces. Their dishes come in fattening white
cream or lighter red sauces. They have certain dishes
and pizzas that are baked in their brick ovens. The piz
zas are like the ones served at Bertucci’s (but that’s an
other review for another time).
The desserts and coffees are outstanding. Save room or
get a to-go-box (the dinner portions are large and served
on huge platters and in big bowls). Back to the desserts.
There are different cheesecakes, tara mi su, a cream
canolli, fresh berries with cream, and a chocolate cake,
to name most of the desserts. For your viewing pleas
ure, they will bring around a tray with all the desserts on
it. By now you’ll be ordering one of everything. You can’t
help yourself.
If you’re lucky enough to be celebrating something while
you are there, you will get sung to in Italian opera. These
people can really belt out the songs. They are usually
the hosts and hostesses. Last time we were there, the
birthday person had to wave a red cloth napkin above
his/her head. I could do without that, but the music is
beautiful. The waiters and waitresses are nice, helpful,
and prompt. They are generous with the pepper grinder
and the real grated cheese. They encourage writing on
the tables, too. Right away they introduce themselves by
writing their names upside down so you can read it. The