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

Brian Event

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

I first learned about Sliders new patio from an article in the local paper.  What intrigued me about this patio was that it has a heated concrete floor, outdoor fireplaces and cost 100,000!  I later heard from Tom over at foxvalleyfun.com that this new patio was beautiful and worth checking out.  If you are looking for more outdoor patios to enjoy check out the patio finder at foxvalleyfun.com.

Sliders is a sports bar in Menasha. They have Friday night fish and live music on Saturday nights. Today our visit was only to check out the new patio, we did not have time to eat.

This patio is a large two tier patio surrounded by decorative fence and stone pillars. The lower level has a heated concrete floor, a S shaped brick formation with a fireplace on each end. There is even a heated waterfall. A creative way to extend the short summer season. There was country / soft rock music playing while we there. Drink service was excellent.  I am looking forward to going back after hours to see the fireplaces and lights in action.

Sliders information:
website - slidersbarandgrill.com
phone -  831-9550
address- 890 Country Rd. LP - Menasha, WI 54952
google map

Brian Sports Bar

September 25 - 26 2009

Since 1981, Octoberfest has been bringing people to downtown Appleton in the spirit of community pride and celebration. Thanks to your support, Octoberfest is able to provide a fundraising venue to many local not-for-profit organizations. Many of the groups say Octoberfest is their largest fund raiser of the year! Plus, Octoberfest has been able to give grants to the Appleton Police and Fire Departments, Appleton Art Center, Appleton Downtown Incorporated and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.

Top 5 reasons to why Octoberfest should be on your event calendar:

• Over 300 vendor and exhibitor stands serving a wide variety of ethnic and traditional foods, one of a kind arts and crafts, and variety of other items you won’t find anywhere else.
• Family Fun Area featuring games, entertainers and rides
• License to Cruise, a classic and collectors’ car show on Friday, September 25, 2009.
• 5 Stages of Live Music from some of the area’s top performers.
• Best of all, you and your family and friends can enjoy all three days for FREE!
• Food Booths will operate from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday.

Proceeds from Appleton’s Octoberfest are directed to causes that support the quality of life in the Appleton area. This strong history of giving back to the community has helped Octoberfest to grow into one of the largest events in the state of Wisconsin.

For all the information on Octoberfest please see there website at octoberfestonline.org

Brian Event

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

We are very excited to announce our new forum. We want to invite everyone to share their own experiences and become part of the community here at Taste of the Fox Valley. We will do everything we can to keep it spam free and family friendly.

Enter the Forum!

Brian Wine Bar