BRASAS MEXICAN GRILL
(Reviewed by Lane)

Lane's Grade: B-
Mike's Grade: C

It was my turn to pick this week, and it was also Cinco de Mayo. I typically try to choose new places to add a little variety to our rotation, and so a new place AND a Mexican place seemed fitting. A coworker suggested this place, and it fit the bill, so it sort of all fell together and I fired off the texts. We've actually eaten at the other outdoor location, but never this one.

Ernie and I got there a couple minutes early, the first thing I noticed was the location is kind of in a dead zone. Movies 8 is closed now. ShopKo and Food4Less and...pretty much everything else except Cafe Rio and the Quarry (that I noticed, anyway) was gone. I guess the whole area is scheduled for a kind of overhaul...apartment buildings (surprise!) and I don't know what else will be going in. Consequently the place, which is actually pretty large inside, was mostly empty. I think there was maybe one other party. I don't know how a place like this survives in such a lousy location.

I glanced over the menu and a couple items caught my eye. I'm kind of a burrito person, and the "Loco Burrito", one of their specialty burritos, had bacon, chicken, steak, and...well, I don't really remember what else there was. They had me at the combo of those 3 meats. :) I also noticed a 31" super turbo burrito (what was the official name? I don't remember now) they offer for like freaking $27. If you can eat the entire thing in an hour then it's free and you get your picture on the wall or something. I don't remember seeing any pictures on any wall. I don't know if the place is just too new, or if it's physically impossible to do. I offered to pay for half of it if anyone would give it a go...but no takers today.

We sat at a nice roomy table with pretty comfy chairs. There are large windows which offer some nice views of the surrounding mountains, and it was especially nice outside. Since there weren't many people there it was easy to have a conversation without straining to hear (I'm looking at you, Gallo Can't Hear-o). So ambiance-wise it was a fairly pleasant place to have lunch.

They finally called my name and I went and picked up my huge burrito. This thing probably weighed a couple lbs at least. It's about on par size-wise with a full breakfast burrito from Beto's. I also got a basket of chips ($2.50, no free chips here) and got a cup of a tasty chipotle salsa from the salsa bar. They had several other flavors, but I didn't try them all out. Perhaps some of the other guys can chime in about the other salsas. The chips were the thick, almost burnt variety. I actually really like them, but I know not everyone does. I like basically all chips, however. :) The first few bites of the burrito were very satisfying, if not a little heavy on the cilantro. Okay, by a little heavy...I mean quite heavy on the cilantro. Mikey would have been heading for the dumpster if he'd gotten the Loco Burrito. After about 1/3 into this beast diminishing returns started to kick in hard...esp with the overpowering cilantro taste. Overall it was good...but not great. I would much rather have had a couple fajita wraps from Joe Bandido's. Or even a breakfast burrito from Beto's for that matter. It definitely filled me up, though. I think with the burrito, the chips, and the drink...the whole meal ran me about $17. Not cheap! You can do much better for yourself at, say, El Mexsal...a similar amount of food for about 1/3 the price.

Anyway...always fun to try a new place. But with the combination of the long drive, the expensive meal, and the so-so burrito...I prob would not care to come back, even with the relatively pleasant ambiance.

Salsa Bar

Loco Burrito and Chips / Salsa

Mike's Al Pastor Plate with 6 Tortillas

Station 22
(Reviewed by Mike)

Mike's Grade: B
Dave's Grade: B
Scott's Grade: 
Lane's Grade: B

It was my week to choose and I was getting suggestions from Jessika - Station 22 was high on her list. We ended up having a late lunch (12:45) because Dave had a meeting in SLC. Dave, Jessika (and Cora), Karen, Lane, Scott, and I had a nice meal.

My meal: I had a Golden State Burger with roasted red peppers, avocado, mozzarella, and pesto mayo. I love roasted red pepper so I couldn't resist. The burger was cooked well (slightly pink) and all the ingredients went together nicely. I wish there had been a little more roasted red pepper though. I ordered a side salad with Memphis Ranch. I liked the ranch at first, but then I burned out.

Golden State Burger with side salad

The rest of the group:
Lane didn't love his salad (the arugula?) but liked his Alamo burger I think.
Scott got the same thing as me and it disappeared quickly. =) He really liked the salad with a citrus vinaigrette.
Karen got a Caesar salad with salmon.
Dave got a Memphis salad which I think he enjoyed.

Memphis Chicken Salad

The Memphis salad had a nice piece of hand-breaded fried chicken breast on it.  The dressing that was served with the arugula based salad is their Memphis Ranch Dressing.  It is just on the edge of being spicy.

Jessika got pulled pork and a mound of mashed potatoes. She liked it.
We also ordered the Hillbilly Hummus. I think everyone liked it well enough.

My impressions: At $12 for a burger and salad, it's definitely over-priced. After tax and tip I think Jessika and I were at $30. Our server was great and attentive, although Karen did go without water for bit (we arrived in intervals, so you can't really blame her). Food was very tasty. Ambiance was fine - not too loud, nice big table for our group of 6, good temperature, etc. Would I go back? Maybe once in a while. The high price is a tough pill to swallow. If it were $3-4 cheaper we'd be back more often.

Negatives: Over-priced and far away restroom.

Adding Labels

I suggest we add labels to the design.  Maybe something simple.  We could make it complex like everyone rating the restaurant.  But, the simple way is to have five labels and you choose one for each restaurant we go to.  Maybe the labels are"

A - Excellent
B - Good
C - Fair
D - Below Average
F - Failure

By keeping it simple, the inquirer can go directly the restaurant and get the details.

Scott

Villa Del Sol --- 370 East 800 South, Orem

Our visit to Villa Del Sol (3-31-2017)

Today we went to Villa Del Sol.  It was good.  Not great, but good, if you know what I mean.  The restaurant is clean, the paint is still fresh.  You don't get the idea that you are going to catch any food borne illnesses.

Our waitress --  We all liked the personality of our waitress.  She was quick to offer service and made some pretty good suggestions as to what was available.

The Menu --  The menu was all sorts of screwed-up!  There were scratched out menu items on both sides of the menu.  And, just to make things interesting, on some of our menus things that were scratched out were still evidently available on other menus.

Pricing -- The pricing was moderate.  I spent a little more than I would have liked for the fajitas and drink.  My total bill ended up being $16.  That isn't too much for dinner.  However, I felt that it was too much for lunch.  I prefer keeping my lunches at around 10 bucks.  After all, at 10 bucks for lunch, that is still $50 for a week of lunches.

Location -- This restaurant is located in a strip mall that is pretty easy to find.

Final decision...  We probably won't go back.  The cost was high for plain Jane Mexican food.  The menu was screwed-up.

GreenScooter's thoughts
Price - $9
Friendliness - Excellent
Quality - Average
Quantity - Average
Speed of Service - Average 

Creating a blog about lunch....

It has been suggested that we create a blog of where we eat for lunch.  At least once a week, a group of us get together and eat out.  We have a website created by one of our group that allows us to take turns choosing where the next weekly lunch will be held.  The website is pretty cool because it allows its users to make comments and keeps track of the most popular places that get chosen.

Our meals are usually centered around Provo, UT since that is where most of us work.  So, these reviews will also mostly be centered around Provo.

We do have our comfortable places that get chosen time after time.  But, we are continually trying new places.  Have I mentioned that we LIKE food?  Hahaha......  Maybe it was obvious because we now have a blog tracking our eating experiences.

Opinions?  Heck yeah....  We have opinions.  We can tell right off if a place is going to make it or fail.  I would bet that we have a tack record of nearly 100%.  We can almost always make the call as to whether a place will be successful.  It is kind of funny.  However, it is also kind of sad.  So many restaurateurs pour their heart and soul into a place.  They try so hard, yet as we eat somewhere and talk about the experience, we can tell pretty darn soon if it is going to make it.  Sometimes it takes two visits to make the call, but we are pretty darn good!