Today I was lucky enough to enjoy some QT with my dad (free lunch!).  We decided to try New York Deli.  It’s not too far from the Fox River Mall in Trasino Village shops on Casaloma Drive.  This was the first time either one of us dined with New York Deli. thought it would be a great break from the every day fast food chains.

Atmosphere: The interior is attractive.  You definitely don’t feel like you are in a fast food restaurant.   Windows along the front and side of the building allow plenty of natural light. There is bar style seating along the front windows, and tables throughout the rest of the dining area.  There is a comfortable area with a coffee table and four leather chairs to kick back a bit and relax.  The walls behind and on the counter are covered in metal siding. I am not real sure how to describe it, check out the pictures below to see for yourself. There is a few metal racks just outside the eating area where they sell brownie mixes, jams and a few other odds and ends.  One thing that jumped out at me was how clean and tidy the place was.  Makes for a great first impression.

Food: There is no waite staff, so you order at the counter.   Some non traditional beverages are available in the display case.  Sprecher and Italian sodas just to name a few.  The menu consists of paninis, sandwiches, soups, wraps and salads.  Plenty of choices, so you should not have difficulty finding something you like.  I ordered the ham and turkey panini and my dad ordered the blt.  Sandwiches do not come with sides. I passed on a side after the gentlemen behind the counter assured me that the sandwich was large.  For me that was a mistake.  If you like to eat like I do, get yourself a side.  Both sandwiches were delivered with a handful of grapes and a pickle.  My meal was great, toasted to a perfect golden brown and delicious.  The right amount of ingredients made this  a juicy, meaty well rounded panini.  I did not get to many details from dad other then ” this is a good sandwich”!

Two sandwiches, one soda and snapple =$17.50

Conclusion: I will be going back here again in the near future.  If a sandwich with turkey in it can taste this good I can’t wait to try some real meat!  I enjoyed the atmosphere and thought the price was spot on for this type of causual dining experience.  The only negative aspect was the slow service.  This could be a real issue for folks who need to get back to work in a timely manner.   I am not sure if this is normal or not but with only two people behind the counter many people get tired of waiting in line and walked out.

Give New York Deli a try and let us know what you think either in a comment here or in our forums.

New York Deli Info:
Address - 1853 N. Casaloma Dr. Appleton, WI 54913
Hours - 10am/7pm Mon-Fri   -   10am/3pm Sat-Sun
Menu (pdf)
Website - fresh-deli.com
google map

Brian $0-$8, Casual

This week we are visiting Plae Bistro in Green Bay. A casual atmosphere serving contemporary American cuisine.  Owner Jill Bassett refers to Plae as “a place  to laugh and eat”, definitely two of my favorite things in life.  Plae came highly recommended from a friend who lives in Green Bay, we gladly took the short road trip to see what they have to offer.

Atmosphere: Entering the front doors of Plae Bistro you are greeted by a beautiful, dimly lit, rich colored interior.  There is one main room filled with tables and a bar at the far end.  The room reminded me a bit of Wild Truffle, although Truffle did put more emphasis on interior design.  I tried to get some pictures but there was not enough light to shoot anything decent. The pictures below are terrible , but give you an idea of the interior.

Food: Plae’s menu offers a little something for everyone.  From gourmet pizzas, sandwiches to entrees, you are sure to find something that pleases you.    There is an extensive wine list and several specialty items such as martinis and mojitos.  Make sure to hit the menu link below to check it out.  Since we were with friends tonight we decided to sample two appetizers, you know… for the blogs sake.  We started with bruschetta and spinach & artichoke dip.  Appetizers were a tough choice tonight, lots of good selections here. The dip was definitely the better of the two.  The pita points that came with the dip were ok, but the bread bowl and the dip were excellent.  We all enjoyed them.   The bruschetta was average, nice presentation, but lacking in flavor.

Time to order entrees and once again everything sounded great.  My wife and her best friend chose the apple brie stuffed chicken breast with risotto and sweet potato as their sides. They both seemed to like the chicken, but said without the cherry sauce topping it would have been a little on the plain side.  The one thing that was missing was the true flavor of the brie in the dish.  The risotto was amazing though.  Prepared to perfection.  One of our friends ordered the pan seared salmon.  He talked very highly on how the salmon was prepared and was very happy with his selection.  I decided on cajun shrimp & andouille sausage pasta. The menu describes it as sautéed in a spicy oil & herb sauce tossed with penne pasta & topped with tomatoes and fresh basil. My dinner was excellent. It was rich, flavorful and everything was done just right. My only complaint was that I wanted more! lol.  Bread with olive oil and some chopped black olives were also served with dinner.

We tried three different deserts, as you can see below each one looked beautiful and tasted great.  From left to right they are pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate lava cake and orange creamsicle cake.  If I had to choose a favorite I would choose the cheesecake.

Our bill tonight with an appetizer, 3 drinks 2 entrees and 2 deserts was $62.00 + tip.

Conclusion: Overall we had a great time, and good food.  The atmosphere was nice and our service was excellent.  What a refreshing change of pace to have excellent service!  If your looking for a good place for “date night”  this is one to visit.

Plae Bistros information:
address - 2615 Decuria Lane, Suite 10 | Green Bay WI
phone - 920.632.7065
email - jill@plaebistro.com
google map
menu (pdf) - lunch and dinner - drink -wine

Brian $16-$22, $9-$15, Casual

Bates City BBQ is located in Appleton close to the Northland mall.  Not only do I love eating BBQ, I consider it a hobby!  I have 2 smokers and enjoy making ribs and pulled pork on the weekends.  Between constantly tweaking my own recipes and learning from great sites like thesmokering.com I know what I like in BBQ.  This week I am visiting Bates City BBQ on my lunch hour.

Atmosphere: As you look at the front of the building you see stacks of wood on either side of the front door and a large BAR-B-QUE sign in the window.  It instantly got me excited for some real authentic BBQ.  Stepping through the front doors you are greeted by that fantastic smell of smoke you get from your charcoal grill or smoker.  You can choose to sit in either a both or at a table.   Some of the walls have tongue and groove wood giving the place a warm and cozy feeling.  You choose your meal from a large menu on the wall before placing your order. Food is served cafeteria style, served on paper plates and trays.  Your meal is prepared behind the counter and you take your food to your table.   After receiving your food there is a traditional soda dispenser and a condiment counter.

Food: The menu consists of everything BBQ, ribs, pulled pork, chicken and brisket to name a few. I wanted to try a little of everything so I ordered the brisket and rib combo plate.  Luckily with a little persuasion my friend ordered the pulled pork sandwich.  After ordering I was immediately not liking what I saw!  I saw them take a large tupperware container full or ribs out of a refrigerator.  The meat was put on my plate then popped into the microwave.  A microwave?  I thought at lunch time they would pull a rack of ribs out of the large smoker behind the counter and cut me off a few.  Same story with my friends pulled pork, out of the fridge and into a microwave.

My plate came with 2 spare ribs, 6 to 8 thin slices of brisket and a bun. Sides and soda are extra, I ordered coleslaw. My friend received a decent  sized sandwich and french fries.  The ribs and brisket both looked good, ribs were juicy and they both had a good smoke ring.

The flavor side of things was a different story.  The brisket was definitely on the dry side, without some sauce on these I would have just passed.  The ribs were done just right, very tender but yet you had to bite them off the bone, just the way I liked them.  Although tender and done right flavor was also lacking here.  It was just plain pork in my opinion.  I really enjoy the flavor from the rub and smoke to compliment the pork, I was not getting any of that.  My friends comments were about the same as mine, without some sauce this sandwich it was just to dry.  Both the french fries and cole slaw were very good.

My lunch combo plate, a side of cole slaw and a soda was $10.50.

Conclusion: I really like the atmosphere of Bates City and the service was great. Unfortunately I was let down by the food and left unsatisfied.  This was my first visit and would love to hear your experiences either as a comment on this post or in our forums.

Bates Information:
Website - bcbarbque.com
menu (pdf)
Phone # -  920-882-2959
Address -  651 W. Ridgeview Appleton, WI
Hours - Monday - Thursday 10:30am - 8pm
Friday - Saturday 10:30am - 9pm
Sunday 11am - 6pm
Google map

Brian $0-$8, $9-$15, BBQ, Casual

UPDATE: Luck’s is no longer open for business - 12/1/09

Lucky’s bar and Grill is located in Appleton in the former Grazies building, just off Hwy KK.  We found a coupon in the Val Pack mailer and decided to give it a try. We did not have any idea on what to expect.  We thought it would be similar to Red Robin or Applebees. Lucky’s turned out to be much more of a sports bar than we had anticipated.  Not that this is a bad thing, as I personally love hanging out in a sports bar with a few hundred wings and a few sodas.  It was just not what we were looking for on a Saturday night.  We decided to make the best of it since it was getting late and our 5 year old was “going to die soon” if she did not eat.

Atmosphere: Lucky’s is an attractive brick building that is hard to miss with a large steeple over the front doors. There is an outside seating area just outside the front doors, but it was definately more of a drinking patio than a place for dining.  We both commented that this seating area looks strange in some way, like its part of the parking lot.  When you enter the front doors you are instantly greeted by a hostess. Next to the hostess is 2 large flat screen tvs on a table.  Both tv’s equipted with gaming systems, one of them had guitar hero loaded up.  Definately a nice touch for the avid gamer.  The concept of gaming systems for patrons is a cool idea that I have never seen before.  The overall atmosphere is much more bar than restaurant.   There is an open ceiling with exposed duct work and xmas lights all over.  Below are a few pictures taken from our both to give you a feel for the bar/dining area.  Directly off of the main area is a banquet room.  It was not be used while we were there.

Food: We were not expecting much more than basic bar food.  We were pleasantly surprised at the variety available on the menu.  Some of the menu options include, steak fajitas, lasagna, walleye, and even a Jack Daniels ribeye.  Not to mention brats from one of my favorite places in the world Haens Meat Market!  Someone knew what they were doing when creating this menu:)  I dont want to get off track, but if you have never been Haens you owe yourself a visit!  I believe it to be the best meat market in the area.

Service here was average at best. There were not many people in the restaurant and we needed to walk up to the bar and ask for our waitress. We decided to start our meal with hand breaded fair style cheese curds. Soon as I read that I had flashbacks of the cheese curd booth at Country USA, the best curds I had ever had. Is it bad that I remember that? These curds were a close second, no regrets on this order.

For our meals I chose steak fajitas, my wife picked the portabella quesadilla and my daughter had the cheese pizza..shocker. Our meals took longer then we thought they should have but that might have been because of the wood fire pizza. The pizza description reads “We guarantee you’ll love our wood fired, hand-tossed beer and honey dough crust”. The same dough was also used on the quesadillas. When are meals arrived we were pleasantly surprised, everything looked great! The only bar food we had was truly the cheese curds.  Very happy with the entrees.

I was lucky enough to grab a piece of my daughters pizza before she gobbled it down. Its hard to critique plain cheese pizza, but what I had was good. I would love to try the supreme. The fajitas came with a large plate of toppings. Salsa, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, two kinds of cheese and four shells. The steak came on a sizzling plate with caramelized onions and green peppers. Everything looked fresh and there was plenty of food, even for me.   The onions were sweet, the steak was good and I was happy with my meal. I looked across the table at my wife who I could tell was also enjoying her meal. The picture above is a little deceiving, I wish I would have snapped another picture of the inside of the quesadilla. It was filled with portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, goat cheese and spinach. The bite I had was good, I enjoyed it more then my fajitas. I am also a sucker for goat cheese.  Only positive things can I say about the entrees.  Atmosphere was not our style, but who can complain about $1 tap beer.

Conclusion: This was a slightly awkward visit for us. When we walked in, the interior of Lucky’s did not match its beautiful exterior design.  After having a meal better then we expected, we left as happy customers.  Lucky’s is not somewhere to bring the family if you have young children like we do. This would be a great place to meet friends for a fun meal, go to happy hour, or hang out on Sunday to watch the games. If this is the atmosphere you enjoy then you should check them out and let us know what you think.

Our bill for an appetizer, 3 meals, 2 sodas and a few beers was $36.00

Lucky’s information:
website - luckysbarappleton.com
phone - 996-9999
address - W6157 Lorna Ln. Appleton, Wi 54915
menu - website
google map

Brian $9-$15, Casual, Sports Bar

Wild Truffle Pizzeria and Italian Bistro opened July 13th 2009.  A few weeks ago,  my wife had lunch at Wild Truffle with a friend.  She liked it and suggested we go back for dinner.  Since the grand opening was only a little over a month ago,  I had not heard much about the restaurant.  I was not sure what to expect ,so I asked around on twitter.  I heard positive feedback from happy patrons of  Wild Truffle and from the  Olive Cellar, which happens to be a supplier to the restaurant.  If you are interested in learning more about the Olive Cellar or Taste of the Fox Valley, you can  follow on Twitter  @theoliveceller or Taste of the Fox Valley at @wallaper.  Back to business, so we arrived at Truffle around 7:30.  A little late for most, but that is when our childcare arrived!

Atmosphere: As we pulled into the full parking lot my wife said “you know this is the only business in this new strip mall right?” Really?  This busy this late on a Thursday night?   This is a good sign and we are in no particular hurry to get home.

We were greeted by the hostess who took our name and said it would be about a 20 minute wait.  At this point, we thought no problem, we will be at the bar.  20 minutes is the perfect amount of time to wait for a table.  This is exactly when things got interesting!  The hostess informed there  is no bar available for patrons waiting for tables.  Ok, now I am in shock.  This is Wisconsin people.  No bar is like a night without stars, a day without sun..  ok, you get the picture.  There is  a lovely outdoor seating area and the weather was comfortable, so we said, we will have a drink on the patio.  We were then told that the patio is reserved for diners enjoying their meals..  We were then asked to step outside, yes I said outside to the parking lot.  They said a waiter would come to the parking lot to take our drink order.  So we stepped back outside and joined about 6 others standing around.  Luckily they sent a waiter out to take drink orders while we waited.  I have to say that we did get some decent laughs out of this experience.

Let’s talk about some of the specifics of the restaurant..  Well from what we can remember as we are in the parking lot : )  As you enter Wild Truffle, you will be immediately greeted by a hostess in the main dining area.   Unique tile covered tables fill the room until you get to the  far end where there is a good size white granite bar for diners.  What is awesome about eating at the bar area is the wood fired oven and the chefs are right there making the various entrees.  Every entree is prepared in the wood fired oven, which is a great feature.  The chefs preparing the entrees and pizza serve as a great source of entertainment.

The walls are painted a rich color of green with framed artistic art of various food related items.   The ceiling is also unlike anything I have seen locally. It reminds me of a pergola you would see above a outdoor deck with lighting above that, very nice touch. Everything is new and impressive. There is also some big band / Frank Sinatra music playing in the background.  There is a large outdoor seating area which is located off of the main dining area.

Food: From the home page of Wild Truffles website “Our mission is being known as the finest artisan pizzeria in U.S.”  The menu here is not large but it sure is great. While glancing over the “starters” you see items like sweet Italian sausage, goat cheese and wood fired shrimp. They have salads, a few pasta dishes like butternut squash ravioli and lemon shrimp spaghetti…yum!  The main portion of the menu as you would guess is pizza.

We decided to start with an appetizer before our dinner arrived, tonight our choice was Wood-Fired Tomato & Wisconsin Goat Cheese Fondue with smoked garlic-rubbed crostinis. Other then the crostinis being a little hard and chewy it was a great appetizer.
My wife ordered the baby spinach salad consisting of wood roasted crimini mushrooms, balsamic onions, roasted red peppers, white truffle champagne vinaigrette, herbed ricotta and toasted pine nuts.
I had to try the pizza so decided on the Sweet Italian Sausage pizza. The toppings are roasted crimini mushrooms, balsamic onions, fire-roasted tomato sauce, whole milk mozzarella, imported Italian grana, padano and Italian parsley. Makes me hungry just remembering it!

Both meals were delivered and looked beautiful. Well, a salad is a salad but my pizza looked amazing! The first thing about the pizza that catches your eye is the crust. It was a perfect golden brown, puffy and what looked like a thin layer of butter on the crust. I had to dig into it before I could even snap any pictures. Click the pics for a larger view. The pizza was good but I was not wowed, there was just something missing. It needed a little sweetness or some saltiness, just something to make your mouth wake up and say yum! Dont get me wrong, this pizza was good. Just not as good as it looked.

For desert we ordered Mt. Vesuvius Italian Red Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Gelato. This was delicious in every way, nothing but happy.

Conclusion: This Pizzeria has alot going for it and we will definitely be back. Service here was great, and the prices were reasonable. An appetizer, 1 pizza, 1 dinner salad, desert, 2 beers and 2 glasses wine was a total of $60. Take a look at the menu links below for more details.

I was lucky enough to talk to the owner during out visit and I asked him what he is doing about the lack of a waiting area  and the lack of a bar for patrons.  He mentioned that there is more room next to the current restaurant and they are considering an addition.  I could tell by the look on his face he has heard that question a time or 10.

Wild Truffle information:
Web site - wildtrufflepizza.com
Phone Number - 920-733-3330
Fax - 920-733-3447
Address - 5120 W. Michaels Dr. Appleton, WI 54913
Hours - Mon - Thur 11:00am - 10pm
Fri - Sat 11:00am - 11:00pm
Menus (pdf) - Main Drink
Google Map

Brian $9-$15, Casual, Italian

I would like to start this review by saying thank you to a few of our readers who have given us feedback on our reviews.  I am thankful to say all of the comments were excellent and will help us make this a better site.   Starting this week we are going to add the price of our meals at the bottom of the review. Even though we have categories with specific price ranges it can still be tough because of the large swing in price on most menus.  If you would like to give us your comments,  suggestions or complete a guest review, please contact us at info@tasteofthefoxvalley.com.  Moving right along to this weeks review!

This week we decided to focus on one of the Supple restaurants, Fratello’s Riverfront in Appleton.  I wanted to focus specifically on this location as we just had dinner on the patio the other night.  In addition, this location is very close to my place of employment, so I have visited the restaurant numerous times for lunch, dinner as well as company Christmas gatherings and happy hours.  For those of you not familiar with the Supple name, Fratellos has other locations at the Fox River Mall, Oshkosh, Green Bay and Milwaukee.  The one new element to this trip was dining on the outside patio which happened to be on a cool summer night.

Atmosphere: One of the draws for me with Fratellos Riverfront is the view. I am a big fan of being able to sit at the bar or at the table and have the ability to look out over the water while enjoying conversation, beverages and food.   The Riverfront location is situated on the Fox River and gives you a good view of the river from just about any seat in the place.  As you can see from the pictures below, the outside seating  is a large brick patio with black metal tables and chairs. Just below the seating area is a short walkway with a black metal railing. Quite often you can get a good shot of bald eagles flying around the river hunting for fish, way cool!

Since we dined outside this visit I do not have any of my own pictures of the interior, only pictures take from the website.  Fratellos Riverfront boasts a  warm and  inviting atmosphere. The dining room consists of a two tiered room with large windows overlooking the Fox River.  The picture below is from the bottom tier overlooking the river.  At the back of the top tier is a large wall of wine behind a glass wall and behind that the kitchen. If you have visited any of the other locations you will know what I mean by a large wall of wine. I would love to have that same wall in my wine cellar, well if I had a wine cellar!

The main dining room is a separate room from the bar area.  Between the two rooms are a coat room, the main entrance as well as the reception desk.  The bar room is attractive, but has some design flaws.  It is a long narrow room with windows on both sides, a large granite bar, pub style seating opposite the bar and long glass shelves showing off the spirits.  The downside to the bar is that the walkway between the bar and seating is very narrow. On a busy night or if you are there for a party it can be cramped.

Food: We started this this meal with “The Big Dip,” which is  a selection of hummus, spinach and artichoke dip.  The various spreads are served with bruschetta, corstini and flatbread.  Everything tasted good and was delivered in a timely fashion. My wife ordered the Strawberry Spinach Salad consisting of baby spinach, fresh sliced strawberries, gorgonzola cheese, pecans and red onions drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette.  She added blackened chicken for a nominal charge.  According to my wife, the salad was amazing!  A great combination of tastes to enjoy on a summer evening.

I was in the mood for seafood so I ordered the Thai Shrimp Noodle Bowl. This dish came with shrimp, vegetables, mushrooms and udon noodles in a thai peanut sauce. When I was served my meal, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of shrimp!  You know how it is when you in the mood for seafood, your entree comes and there are 4 small shrimp and a boat load of noodles. Well that was not this dish, it was loaded with shrimp and the other ingredients were fresh and cooked to the point where the vegetables were still a little crunchy and flavorful, just how I like it.

Make sure you take a look at the menu link below.  One of the great things about the Fratellos locations is the wide variety of choices on the menu.

Conclusion: Overall its hard to go wrong with any of the Fratellos Waterfront locations. The menu has plenty to offer, the food is fairly priced and the views are great. The only negatives to this visit was service was only ok and the mix drinks were way to weak, seems to be an ongoing trend with us.  Our waitress had to take multiple visits to the kitchen to find a cheese grader that worked, she brought the wrong drinks and they were out of half of the beers that they make at their own brewery. How does that happen?

With our two meals, appetizer, a beer, a mix drink and a few glasses of wine out bill was $60.00.  Should note we were over the 75.00 price range and were able to use the Entertainment coupon.  Bring it along if you plan to dine,  save yourselves a few dollars.

Fratellos Information:
Web Site - Appleton
Address - 501 West Water Street, Appleton, WI 54911 - (920) 993-9087
Menu - download pdf
Email- info@supplerestaurantgroup.com
Google Map

Brian $16-$22, $9-$15, Casual

Becket’s is located downtown Oshkosh in the City Center overlooking the Fox River. This location offers customers easy access either by boat or car.  Not many restaurants can say that!  For this dinner out, we were celebrating my wife’s birthday and wanted to try something new.   This review is from a one time only visit.

Atmosphere: When you drive into the parking lot of Becket’s,  nothing  spectacular catches your eye.  Becket’s is nothing more than a small corner of a  large concrete building.  At this point I was not too excited, I snapped a few photos and we made our way to the front door.  As we stepped into the front of the restaurant we both looked at each other and said WOW, this is really nice. It looks modern, casual and a bit hip.  A nice wooden bar with glass shelves on the wall to hold a large selection of spirits, I always thought glass shelves add a unique touch.  In the middle of the bar area is a gas fireplace with what looks like crushed colored glass topped with a stainless steel hood. I really wanted to see this when it was lit,  but we were not so lucky.  As you walked down past the bar there is a contemporary room with a large glass wall overlooking the outdoor seating area and river, every table has a great view.  Teak  booths line the other side of the hallway so you get a little height above the tables on the floor.  The layout of the dining area is very conducive to enjoy the waterfront view.    The ceiling is open so you can see all the large black painted duct work, this really adds to the atmosphere.  We noticed all the references to architecture like a drafting board for a hostess table and random types of art work on the walls.  At this point we were really enjoying our visit.

Food: Before we planned our trip to Becket’s the friend that we were dining with us warned us that she had a bad lunch there a few weeks ago.  Since the atmosphere was so great we blew that off and continued looking at the menu.  My wife had gotten another tip from a friend who lives in Oshkosh who said that the burgers and appetizers are good, but that anything from the dinner menu is completely hit or miss.  Keeping that in mind, the 4 of us each ordered different meals as well as two appetizers so that we could get a good feel for what Becket’s has to offer.   The menu has a good assortment of food but nothing really grabs your attention.  The menu said all entrees were served with a side and a starch,  but  I was unable to locate those choices on the menu.  Salads are an additional nominal charge.  We started our meal with an appetizer, shrimp & crab quesadilla and artichoke & spinach dip.  Both were delivered in a timely fashion and were good.

Then we waited for what seemed like an eternity to place our dinner order.  Not sure if the waitress forgot about us, but when she came back to check to see if we were enjoying our appetizers, we had to ask if we could place our order.  Just a little odd.  When it was entree time , I ordered the mahi-mahi en papiotte and my wife ordered the five cheese lasagna. The friends we were with ordered the lemon chive tilapia and slow roasted ribs. When our food was delivered everything looked great, it was when we started eating that everything went down hill rather rapidly.  My fish was baked and delivered in a paper bag, an interesting presentation, the problem was that there was little to no taste. Luckily I had french fries, asparagus and plenty of wine left for dinner:)  My wife enjoyed her lasagna but said it was nothing more than a prego lasagna that one could purchase in the freezer section as any local Walmart.

Our friends tilapia was the topic of conversation. Although it looked good we could not place what the strange taste was. Was it the seasoning in the breading or a problem with the fish?  We all took a bite and came to the same conclusion, not edible. It tasted as if it was stored in a refrigerator that badly needed to be cleaned.  We mentioned the issue to the waitress who was very nice about asking if we wanted another piece of tilapia or a different entree.  The fourth dish, the ribs were ok.  The ribs had a nice flavor and were very tender but were so fatty that you had to work through every bite to strip out the tendons and fat. They eventually became to much work and he left half of the rack on his plate.

After being thoroughly disappointed with dinner, we saw a glimmer of hope in dessert.  We ordered the key lime pie, which the waitress informed us would be served parfait style.  Again, huge disappointment unless you happen to enjoy key lime instant pudding served over a smashed graham cracker.  Not the dinner we were hoping for on my wife’s 35th, but we can’t say we were not warned.

Conclusion: Because of the great bar atmosphere and the fact that you can sit outside along the river I would definitely go back with friends for happy hour, but I cant imagine us going back for dinner again.  After talking with friends about our bad dining experience we quickly learned that many people have been disappointed in the service and food at Becket’s.  This was so disappointing because the atmosphere was exactly what we like.

Becket’s Restaurant:
address - Jackson and the fox
1 city center, Oshkosh, WI 54901
Phone - 920-233-3333
Fax - 920-233-3334
Web Site - becketsrestaurant.com
Email - welton@becketsrestaurant.com
Menu - pdf
Google Map

Brian $0-$8, $16-$22, Casual

This week we wanted to find a restaurant that was not a chain and something not as fancy as a supper club. We decided to give Beefeaters a try.   Beefeaters opened in November 2007 and is located by US 41 and Ballard Road.  It wasn’t until I started browsing through the menu that I found out that they are affiliated with Good Company, Pullmans and Nan Sorellas.  I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the Pullman’s connection because I have never been impressed with the food quality their, but lets save that for a future review.

Atmosphere: Beefeaters calls itself a British themed restaurant serving up classic pub dishes with their own twist, as well as American favorites.  My wife called classifies it as “British invasion meets modern day sports bar.”   Since this restaurant was built in recently,  the interior and exterior is both attractive and well maintained.  One of the first things that caught my eye was the  gas fire pit located on the outdoor patio.  Very nice touch and one that I have not seen before.

The British theme is a mainstay throughout Beefeaters.  Some of the specifics include a classic red phone booth filled with British police helmets,  large flags, writing on the walls and various Beatles memorabilia.  In the dining room where we sat was a nice fireplace from floor to ceiling and British artwork on the walls.  You can get the idea from the photos below.    We both appreciated the “Brits to Yanks” glossary on the back of the menu, it made for a good laugh.  We thought the high back booths were a nice compliment.  You might be wondering why we value the high back booth?  Not only are they great for privacy, but a huge bonus for dining out with small children.   The bar area is very stylish  with its wood floors, and dark wood bar accented with  copper beer taps.  The pub style table is available in the bar area if you prefer to enjoy your meal in a more bar like atmosphere.  The are a few flat screen televisions to catch important games such as the Packers or Brewers.

Food: The menu is quite large (see link below), it covers all the standards and then some.  They have a few unique things on the menu like grilled paninis and signature dishes which are their version of a few British classics.  London Broil, Shephard’s pie and of course fish ‘n’ chips to name a few. After spending some time looking over the menu I decided on one of my favorite’s, the reuben.  Reuben’s are hit or miss for me, it seems like they are either great or just dry and tasteless.  It came with a choice of waffle chips or cole slaw, that is  a no brainer.  Fries of any sort will always win out!  The large menu honestly is always a concern for me.  I have found that when a restaurant offers too many options, they do most things average at best.  I always prefer to see fewer choices.  My rationale is the jack of all trades master of none philosophy.

My wife ordered the black and blue burger which was topped with blue cheese and garnished with pickle and tomato.  We kicked the evening off with an appetizer of spicy buffalo dip and were surprised when complimentary bread and scones arrived.

One a scale of 1-10, with 10 being outstanding, I would say the spicy buffalo dip and chips was about a 5.  It was not fully blended and was laced with many hot spots from the microwave preparation.  It had a good flavor, if you are looking to cure a salt craving.  The scones and bread that was brought out with the appetizer was awesome.  Much better than the appetizer anyday!  Only problem with the scones and bread is that it is so filling, but very delicious.

On to my entree…..drum roll please…………….I am pleased to announce my reuben was very good.  As I mentioned earlier, it is either hit or miss with me in the reuben department and this one was definitely  a hit.  The waffle fries delicious, seasoned well and very tasty, they did not last long.  My wife’s black and blue burger was about a 5, similar as the appetizer.  It was Ok, just not great.  The blue cheese was sprinked in the top and I was hoping that it would have been inside the burger, not used as a garnish.  It was a bit dry, but the presentation was good, but nothing to write home about that is for sure.  She ordered the mashed potatoes and those were excellent.  You know it is a good sign when you can see about half a stick of butter melted on top! Click image below to enlarge.

Conclusion: Overall the food was good and so was the price.  Our bill was around 40.00 for the both of us and that included one soda, two beers, two entrees and an appetizer.  If you are looking for an good meal in an nice but a little quirky atmosphere, then Beefeaters is your place.  This is not the type of restaurant you want to seek out if you are in anyway attempting to watch your caloric intake.  The food was definitely prepared with lots of butter, cheese and other good stuff..I mean health hazards.

Beefeaters information:
Address - 2331 E Evergreen Dr. - Appleton, WI 54913
Phone - (920) 730-8300
Web Site - beefeaterspub.com
email - contact@beefeaters.com or web form here
Menu - pdf
Google Map

Brian $16-$22, $9-$15, Casual