John's Family Restaurant: 5/23/13

For this post I actually went with my grandfather! After work one day I decided to meet him at a restaurant owned by a local Greek family that my family has been going to for years called John's Family Restaurant, or John's for short. John's is fairly close to my office (a 15-20 minute drive) and it's only 10 minutes from his house. Now, this restaurant features good ole home-cooked meals and is not a common place for food critics to go, which is one of the reasons I chose it.

Here's the sign for John's Family Restaurant on Westinghouse Blvd.

Batter and crispiness: B-
-The batter on these tenders was very light that it was basically non-existent. Therefore, it did not have much taste to it. I think the tenders would have been better with more batter. One surprising aspect of the tenders was that they were quite crispy considering the lack of batter. I gave this category a B- because the tenders tasted good, I just wish they were modified slightly.

Tenderness and juiciness of chicken: A-
-I gave this category an A- because the chicken was clearly high quality, especially considering the moderate price, and the meat was above average when it came to juicy.

Portion size/presentation: B-
-The meal included 6 small tenders, a large soup of mashed potatoes, banana pudding, and a biscuit. Just thought I would note, you can choose any 2 sides to go with your meal and the sides change daily.

Side: C+
-Sadly I was slightly disappointed with my sides. The mashed potatoes needed salt, but they were smooth and creamy (I prefer my mashed potatoes to be this way rather than lumpy). The banana pudding was average, but I wish there were more banana slices and wafers to offset the large amount of pudding. Hands down the best side was the biscuit. I am not sure if you can tell this from the picture or not, but it was cooked to perfection so the outside was crispy and the inside was fluffy. I should definitely ask for more biscuits next time.

Reheating: D+
-This meal did not reheat well. The chicken tenders became chewy after microwaving and slightly soggy. However the mashed potatoes tasted almost the same as they did when I first had the meal.

Description:
-Fried chicken tenders with your choice of 2 sides. $6.95

 

 My chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and a complimentary biscuit. I always get mashed potatoes at John's.

Overall I would give the chicken tenders at John's Family Restaurant a B-. The whole meal was very flavorful and when you put everything together (the tenders, mashed potatoes, banana pudding, and biscuit) the meal was filling and there was enough for leftovers! Needless to say I will definitely be back to this restaurant. Not only is it a normal dining establishment for my family, but the wait staff is very helpful and it is always nice to be recognized at the places you eat.

Until we "meet" again,

LB 

PS. As always, if you have any recommendations of restaurants with good chicken tenders, please let me know. 

Steak n' Shake: 5/17/13

It is that time again. For this post I decided to go to another fast food restaurant, Steak 'n Shake. Now, I love Steak 'n Shake and I have been going there for many years, so it seemed appropriate to revisit the restaurant to see if they had the best chicken tenders (or in Steak 'n Shake's case "chicken fingers"...I'm simply going to refer to them as chicken tenders) in Charlotte. Here are my findings…

The Steak 'n Shake logo is quite simple and understated.

Batter and crispiness: B
-I had mixed reviews when it came to the batter on these chicken tenders. I thought the ratio of meat to batter was excellent and the tenders were crispy, but the batter was not very flavorful and thus I had to add Steak 'n Shake seasoning to them.

Tenderness and juiciness of chicken: A-
-There was not really anything spectacular of note in this category. The meat was tender except near the ends and it was very juicy for fast food standards.

Portion size/presentation: D+ or A
-Now you may be confused as to why I gave this category 2 grades, but let me explain. Since each chicken tender meal is only $3.99 you obviously do not get a lot of food (3 chicken tenders and 2-3 handfuls of fries), so from the start I knew that would not be enough to satisfy me for dinner and to reheat later. Therefore I gave the single order of chicken tenders a D+. The A comes into play because after I finished my actual dinner I then ordered a second serving of the chicken tender meal for later, so if you take the 2 orders into account, the serving size is very good...especially considering that you only pay $7.98 for 6 tenders and 4-6 handfuls of fries.

Side: B
-I have been going to Steak 'n Shake for years and a relatively new feature to the restaurant's menu is the option to add special seasonings to the french fries for a minimal fee of $0.29. I thought this was an interesting concept, so for my initial chicken tenders order I got the parmesan cheese n' herbs seasonings. As is standard for Steak 'n Shake, the fries were very crispy, which is one reason why I really enjoy them. But I felt as though the seasoning overpowered the fries. For my second order, the one I got for reheating, I ordered the fries with the standard seasoning and just added the Steak 'n Shake seasoning. The Steak 'n Shake seasoning was definitely the better choice of those options because it added the right amount of kick to the fries and they were very tasty.

Here's a picture of the fries with the parmesan cheese n' herb seasoning.

Reheating: B
-I was pleasantly surprised with how well these chicken tenders reheated since they were fast food tenders. The fries tasted pretty much the same as when I first ate them (just not as crispy). When it comes to the actual tenders 2 of them tasted just fine, the meat was still tender even, but the final tender was tough and almost unedible. Hence why I gave the meal a B when it comes to reheating.

Description:
-Chicken Fingers. Three breaded chicken fingers and your choice of honey mustard, BBQ, or buffalo sauce. Served with fries $3.99

One serving of chicken tenders at Steak n' Shake.

Overall I would give the chicken tenders at Steak 'n Shake a B+. The tenders were succulent, made with good cuts of chicken, and the batter was proportionate to the chicken meat. However, the batter did not have much flavor to it and you have to order 2 helpings of the chicken fingers in order for it the meal to be considered satisfying. I will definitely be back for these chicken "fingers," and when I return I'll be sure to order 2 servings and a milkshake (I didn't have one during this visit, but they are delicious) to ensure I leave full.

Until next time,

LB

The Philosopher's Stone: 5/12/13

It's time for another blog post.

For this chicken tender blog post Madison and I went to The Philosopher's Stone near Uptown. The restaurant is near a few other restaurants/bars and it's a pretty trendy location with games such as shuffleboard and corn-hole outside. Now, on to the review.

The sign for The Philosopher's Stone. I told you it was trendy...I don't think the restaurant was been in business that long.

Batter and crispiness: A-
-I enjoyed the batter of these tenders for the most part because it was light and had a great seasoning to it. And since the batter was so light, the tenders were not crispy at all, which was kind of disappointing.

Tenderness/juiciness of chicken: B-
-The actual meat in the tenders was peculiar. It was juicy and tender in parts, but then there were sections (mostly at the ends) were the meat was very tough and unenjoyable. Overall though, I think the juiciness of the chicken redeemed this category somewhat.

Portion size/presentation: C
-I was slightly disappointed with the size of the chicken tender dinner, but I feel like the main reason for that was the fact that I have had tenders at so many restaurants. At The Philosopher's Stone you get 8 small chicken tenders and about 3 handfuls. Needless to say, there was not enough to take back.

Sides: C
-The french fries at The Philosopher's Stone were about average. They were crispy, which was good, but they did not have any seasoning.

Reheating: unknown
-The portion size of this meal was small and there was not enough for me to take back.

Description:
-A basket of battered chicken tenders served with your choice of one side and dipping sauce. Buffalo or nuclear on request. $6.95

My dinner from The Philosopher's Stone.

Overall I would give the chicken tenders at The Philosopher's Stone a B-. The seasoning on the tenders was delicious and the meat was tender, but the portion size was very small and the batter was not crispy. Also, the fries had no flavor, but at least they were crispy. I will definitely try The Philosopher's Stone again because I've heard good things about other food options and I've had one of their burgers, which was really good. However, when I return I will forgo getting the chicken tenders again.

LB

Sonny's BBQ: 5/2/13

Hello blogging world,

For my next visit (once again I am late on this post) my mom, brother, and I went to Sonny's after our workout. Sonny's is known for its BBQ, but I am not a big BBQ fan and I used to always get chicken tenders at Sonny's. When we got there none of us saw the chicken tender plate on the menu, but apparently Sonny still serves chicken tenders, you just have to ask for them...there is a note about that on the menu. Now, on to the review.

Here's the sign for Sonny's...it's one of my favorite restaurant signs.

Batter and crispiness: C+
-The batter of these chicken tenders was very tasty. The batter was light, flavorful and had lots of pepper. Also, the tenders were just crispy enough and I really enjoyed them.

Tenderness/juiciness of chicken: B+
-The chicken in the tenders was quite juicy, but some parts were tough and I had to discard some chunks. Overall though I think the juiciness outweighed the toughness of some of the chicken.

Portion size/presentation: A+
-I thought the portion size was fantastic for the price! With the dinner plate I got six big chicken tenders, a lot of fries, 2 pieces of garlic bread, and macaroni and cheese. I do not think I could ever eat all of this food in one sitting.

Sides: A-
-When it came to the sides I was very impressed with them. The positives were the garlic bread was fantastic and the macaroni and cheese was the best I have had in a restaurant in a long time. The negative about the sides were the fries. They just lacked seasoning, but on the plus side they were crispy. 

Reheating: C
-I had leftovers for lunch at work and I was a little disappointed in them. First off, the fries were soggy and bland. Secondly, the meat in the chicken tenders tough and I actually had to throw away one of the tenders because it was impossible to eat through. In case you were wondering, I ate all of the garlic bread and macaroni and cheese at Sonny's.

Description:

-This item actually was not on the menu and the only way I was able to get it was by asking the waiter. Regardless, the price was $10.95

 My very filling dinner at Sonny's.

Overall I would give the chicken tender plate at Sonny's BBQ a B. The meal was very filling and tasty and I enjoyed the tenders for dinner. However, I did not like the meal as much when I reheated it because the tenders did not do well in the microwave (I think I also missed the garlic bread and macaroni and cheese). With that said, I would get the chicken tender plate at Sonny's again.

LB