Lansky's

Restaurant: Lansky's
Address: 50th & L
Website: http://www.lanskys.biz
Genres: Pizza, Pasta, Phillies
Check Constraints: Short order.
Chain: Yes | More Omaha Locations: Yes

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Chicken Alfredo (7.69)
• Cheese Bread (3 pieces, 2.69)
• #1 Giant Chicken Philly (4.95)
• Soda (1.79)

Lansky's is not hard to find. It has what was, once upon a time, a prime location, and is now still a pretty good one. It also has parking lots on both sides of the restaurant, and an entrance for each lot. In fact, the place is pretty stretched out inside, with the kitchen and half the seating at one end, and the rest of the seating stretched down along the way. Of course, people tend to congregate at the end with the kitchen and the soda machine, but what else did you expect?

More importantly, Lansky's is a local chain, with a restaurant each in Omaha (this one), Bellevue, and Council Bluffs. The Lansky's menu is kind of a mix of Italian, pizza, phillies, and sports bar, as you'll see with the selection of appetizers we ordered. For the record, the cheese bread is excellent, and comes with an oversized cup of handmade marinara for dipping, as do like, half their appetizers.

Lansky's has three ways to order their phillies. You can get them plain, just meat and cheese, which is how I like mine, or you can start heaping onions, peppers, shrooms, and other such nastiness on them. For my money, a giant hoagie with two or three pieces of quality cheese over which is heaped a huge helping of well seasoned chicken and nothing else, just cannot be beat. I couldn't even -start- on it this time, so I took it back to work, threw it in the fridge, and had it the next day, and it was every bit as good as fresh.

The chicken alfredo, though, oh man. I ate it there, of course. Every last bit of it, nearly down to licking the plate clean. I have been to actual professed Italian restaurants in Omaha, and not one of them has given me an alfredo quite so delicious. They only have grated parmesan, but you won't need it at all, the sauce is nearly a perfect blend of garlic, cream, and parmesan, very much unlike the overly creamy and occasionally slightly bitter stuff I've had elsewhere. It comes with two big chunks of garlic bread, which also goes well with the alfredo, and it's made with a huge helping of the same chicken as they use for the phillies, which really just puts the whole thing over the moon.

I got two excellent meals for eighteen bucks, and I gave most of the bread to other people. Go to Lansky's. Eat. Enjoy.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Regular Chicken Philly Meal ($6.99)
  
• #3 Style, (Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms)
• Regular Drink, Fries
• Regular Fried Ravioli ($3.95)
• 3pc Garlic Toast ($1.85)
• Beer Cheese Dip ($1.25)

"Nastiness", says ND. Delicious, says I. The only right way to enjoy the phillies is with the full complement of sauteed toppings, including green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. If you're desperately in need of more flavor I would support getting a tub of the marinara for them, but ketchup is for french fries. And heathens. The food here is what I would call "generally solid". Could you find a better cheesesteak in Omaha? Probably. Will you pay more? Possibly. The advantage here is the known quantity factor.

Their fries are seasoned, but nothing overwhelmingly special. The ravioli can probably be avoided - it's not burnt to a crisp like some places, but it's essentially nothing but a taste-free carrier vehicle for the pretty good marinara - or the beer cheese dipping sauce. This stuff is worth it, but eat it fast, because as it cools down it rapidly moves from "delicious" to "government cheese" status. Their garlic toast is also decent, but there's no reason not to get the with-cheese version like ND did.

Last point - the menu is expansive. It's not Wheatfields-big, but it's sizable. I know businesses that order work lunches out of here, which not a bad option, because it's good, cheap, and there's really something for everyone on their menu.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Build it your way Calzone ($4.75 + $2.00 for 4 toppings)
• Canadian Bacon
• Pineapple
• Green Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
  
• Regular Drink, Onion Rings ($4.44 as a combo)
• Regular Spicy Pub Pickles ($4.45)
  

Knowing Lansky's has parking in the back is important for first-time visitors, because the front parking lot is kinda tight. I went with the pocket pizza option, as Lansky's will not only do pizzas by ingredients, but the calzones as well (with the same price as a personal size pizza.) This is good because their actual standard calzone selection, while containing a few delicious options, is very limited, and I didn't want to double up with anyone's choices there.

I think that next time, I'll sub out the tomatoes, which were admittedly good, for more cheese, as the calzone didn't seem to have quite enough cheese binding it on its own. The ingredients were solid (what do you want from pineapple?) and the crust itself tasty. This calzone, as prepared, was not hugely messy or difficult to cut, but I'm sure that can vary based on what exactly you get. They come with dipping marinara/pizza sauce, as there's not a lot (or maybe any inside), and I think that's the largest reason why this calzone, at least, wasn't a mess factory.

On the appetizer front, I actually liked the ravioli and could taste flavor in it, but it wasn't amazing or anything. The spicy pub pickles were as advertised, not too spicy though. Onion rings were fine too. The Beer Cheese sauce was pretty good as well. Cham's estimation of 'solid' for this place is not wrong, although I have to admit that this place has an excellent Aloha pizza (I like their topping choices) as well. And, having done it, the calzones reheat well enough, too.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Italian Sausage Calzone ($5.95)
• Regular Drink, Fries ($3.08 as a combo)

If I had seen the build-your-own calzone, I probably would have gotten exactly the same one Mecha did. I spotted the Hawaiian pizza option in the menu and thought that looked good, but wanted something more like the calzones. Italian Sausage was a fine choice, however. The calzones are pretty good sized. Due to work, I ended up taking home a corner of the calzone and a handful of fries. I could have finished there, but I felt like I needed to get back to work sooner and didn't really want it sitting in my stomach all afternoon anyway.

The calzone was pretty crumbly. It definitely could have used more cheese to hold it together. This style calzone had an awful lot of green/red peppers--maybe a little too much for my tastes. The marinara was a little hard to use with the calzone guts spread all over the plate. Still, it was tasty enough that I was pleased with it. The fries were actually pretty good. They weren't too dry or greasy. They were also lightly seasoned. The calzones reheat well enough, but the fries are another story. They were edible, just not nearly as good as the first time around.

==MapleSyrup==
Ordered:

• Vegetable Calzone ($5.25)
• Regular Drink, Onion Rings ($4.44 as a combo)

I was originally going to try the Reuben, but then I made the mistake of asking Moogle what he was getting and my fate was sealed. Unlike ND, I loves me some peppers and onions, so I went with the Vegetable Calzone. It was the size of a medium pizza folded over. The crust was a nice tasty crispy and chockful of mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, onions, and black olives. The peppers were cooked so they weren't soft and were on the verge of crunch. The onions didn't overpower any of the rest of the filling. Unfortunately, as Mecha lamented, the filling didn't bind together well. It could have used a good amount more cheese. I ended up cutting off a piece of calzone, scooping some crust and filling into my mouth, then shoving a half forkful of marinara in there to taste. It was a very good calzone, though next time I'll probably roll my own because a Hawaiian Calzone sounds really good.

It was a good price and a good calzone. I'll be going back.

Billy Frogg's Bar & Grill

Restaurant: Billy Frogg's Bar & Grill, West
Address: 8724 W Dodge Rd
Website: http://www.menuism.com/links/show/bfd6xEjW0r3BqKaby-t3N_ (Unofficial menu listing)
Genres: American, Bar & Grill
Check Constraints: None.
Chain: Local. | More Omaha Locations: Yes.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Chicken Parmesan Sandwich w/Fries ($6.95)

The inside of Billy Frogg's feels like a young rich dude trying to impress you with how much old stuff he's collected. The place is -saturated- with old time signs of all sorts, from Standard Oil to old tavern signs to a giant baking powder sign or something. I forget exactly what, but there's so much of the stuff, and it feels so inauthentic, that it's really kinda sad. What it -really- is is a sports bar, and it shows in the kind of food they have available.

The appetizers will be listed later, but for my part, the cheese balls were preprocessed mass produced stuff, and the potato skins, though not bad, were also preprocessed mass produced stuff and could have been so much better, if only they'd had real bacon instead.

As for the sandwich, it was surprisingly good. A nice sized chicken breast, on a nice thick bun, with two types of cheese and lots of (I think) handmade marinara. It was definitely not the super-processed marinara dipping stuff you get at most sports bars, and unfortunately, it was a bit on the wet side, so if you get this, be careful when you pick it up, as it's going to leave a mess on the plate and possibly your shirt. On the other hand, it was pretty damn good, with all flavors working together in harmony.

My only other note is that damn, that hot dog was HUGE. You'll understand when you get to Moogle's post. I am really kinda sad that I didn't order that instead.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Chili-Cheese Hot Diggity Dog ($6.00)
• Cheese balls ($6.00)

They charged me $6 for each item, but I'm not sure that's what was printed on the menu. It was close, though, and may have been something like $6.25 and $5.75. Either way, I got a good deal on the dog. The fried cheese balls were nothing special. You got reasonable number of them, but a runny ranch dipping sauce. The potato skins were pretty plain.

I was a little worried ordering the hot dog that I'd be hungry afterward. When this beast came to the table, I quickly decided it was a great choice. This thing was a footlong (as they said in the menu), but it was no wimpy, skinny dog. It was an inch diameter. The whole top was burried in cheese. The bun was splayed out to about 5 inches wide and almost all you could see was cheese. There really wasn't a lot of chili compared to the cheese, but to me, it didn't really matter. It was enough. I think more chili might have just made it a hot-dog soup. It was a fight to finish the last bits of it. I left at least half of my fries. This monster also comes without chili-cheese for a little less cost, but I think it's worth the extra charge. Impressive and delicious.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Patty Melt ($6.95)
• Side of Onion Rings ($2.95)

I think ND's being a little uncharitable in his characterization of the decor. It's true that the place comes in about halfway between a "Crap On The Wall" restaurant (e.g. TGI Friday's, Applebee's, &c) and a sports bar. It's also true that the signage felt like someone was trying too hard. But it's not an uncomfortable place to be in - in fact it reminded me of a bar & grill I used to visit in Terre Haute, Indiana (side note: Go there, the patty melts are delicious).

In fact, it was partially due to the memory of that bar & grill that I decided to go for a patty melt today. And while I was abandoning the pretense of eating healthy, I decided that some additional onion rings wouldn't be out of place. I should start with the onion rings, which were clearly dipped and fried on-site, but which were nothing special. That sentiment was echoed in the other appetizers - avoid them unless you're just looking for something to nosh while you drink.

The patty melt was surprising. The construction was the same as any good melt - a generous patty, some good marbled rye bread, and some cheese which may have been Swiss but was probably Monterey Jack (if it was Swiss it might as well have been MoJack, since it had no bite). This one eschewed any additional dressing, which was fortunate, as it would have overshadowed the melt's one unique contribution, which was a strong black pepper taste. I have to admit that recently I have been ... rediscovering black pepper, for lack of a better word - it's such a ubiquitous condiment that sometimes one can forget it's really quite a nice flavor when given some real prominence. So, returning to the melt, I will comment that the pepper flavor was a nice twist on a good execution of the patty melt, and it's recommended. I should mention there is a Fuddrucker's-esque condiment bar with pickles, lettuce, etc over by one of the walls, but the patty melt didn't need anything of the sort.

The prices here may be a little overinflated, but to be honest they're cheaper than something off TGI Friday's menu, and the food is decent enough if you're in the mood for the bar and grill genre. I'd be interested to try one of the other locations - there's one downtown, and a newish one on 72nd in La Vista (near the husk of the old Walmart, in the place that used to be Boston's).

The Drover

Restaurant: The Drover
Address: 2121 South 73rd Street
Website: http://www.droverrestaurant.com/
Genres: Steak
Check Constraints: None seen
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Pork Chop ($13.95)
  
• Salad Bar
• Cottage Cheese
  

It is clear - both from the website and the context of the paper menus we received - that the Drover's lunch menu is a pale and pitiful reflection of its dinner one. The flimsy paper forerunner for lunch concerned itself mainly with sandwiches and moderate fare, but as is evident from their site, the robust dinner menu prides itself on having $30 steak. Let me tell you this, though; if the dinner's as good as the lunch? It's probably worth it.

In all seriousness, the lunch menu is probably an excellent way to get a good meal out of the Drover without paying high prices. The steak on the lunch menu, as Mecha will attest, is only $12, and there are several other grilled favorites there in that price range.

Since I am currently - still? again? whatever - watching my food intake, I opted for the pork chop with the salad bar and the relatively healthy option of cottage cheese. Well, initially I opted for the prime rib, but they were out of it. A mild interrogation of our server revealed that they receive the meat daily in time for dinner, and then cut it as necessary. If there's any remaining, it's sold at lunch the next day. The tone in her voice indicated this is a rare occurrence, with the notable exception of Wednesdays, when Whiskey Prime Rib is the special. If that Thursday was like any other, the special then was meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

But I ordered the pork chop, and that is what I will review. First I should mention the salad bar, though. If forced to pick a single term to define it, I'd go with "traditional". It had iceberg lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, and olives, among a few other toppings, most notably beets. I'm not sure at what point my brain classified these as "traditional" salad bar fare, but it seems to me that when I was a child all salad bars seemed to have these dark red taste-bud landmines. Of course, now that I like them, it's actually difficult to find them anymore. Regardless, the salad bar's only real failing was the iceberg lettuce. The fresh cracked peppercorns (located on the top of the bar itself) were an extra plus that should not be ignored.

The pork chop, which at the server's suggestion was cooked to medium, was delicious. There was good flavor to it, and just enough fat remaining around the edges to give an added boost of flavor at times. It was bone-in, though the bone wasn't obtrusive, and the meat had a good amount of moisture still in it. If I were a man who truly feared trichinosis I'd have ordered it sent back and scorched, but I never saw the need to cook all the moisture out of an already lean meat. Regardless of personal preference, if you like your pork cooked to death, the plate comes with cinnamon applesauce for added moisture. Nothing too special about it, but certainly not bad. It also comes with two slices of grilled toast, and - as garnish, apparently - a slice of what we surmised was spiced apple. A strange rarity, and though you're probably not supposed to eat it, we all did.

In short, it's definitely worth a visit here at lunch, and if you've got the scratch for it, probably dinner as well. That said, I know that one's choice of steakhouse is a matter of often no less than religious import in this city; keep in mind that I didn't have the steak here. I'll leave it to the others to tackle that.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Beefy Cheese Sandwich ($9.25)
• Cottage Cheese
• Cup of Beer Cheese Soup (Soup of the day) ($3.25)

Those apple rings were standard Christmas apple rings. If they're not made to be eaten, nothing is. Delicious. What's also delicious is their beer cheese soup, by the way. It was very thick, nearly to the point of forming soft-peaks, and it was fabulous. Thick and cheesy, with strong smoky flavor and bits of very good ham, with just a tiny bit of celery, and a good beer flavor throughout. I don't think I could take a full bowl of it, but as a cup of soup, this is as good as it gets.

I grabbed cottage cheese with my beefy cheesy sandwich. I continue to be amazed that Mecha didn't realize that serving cottage cheese with a pineapple ring was traditional. I don't know how he could not know this. It was a little less than properly cold, but it wasn't warm like I got at McKenna's. If you do not love cottage cheese as much as I do, go with the fries, because the plate comes with a big dipping cup of quite good barbeque sauce, and you are NOT going to want to put it on the sandwich.

The sandwich is on toast, just crisp enough to more or less withstand the onslaught of melted cheese and prime rib juice. The meat is a reasonable portion of prime rib, cooked medium rare or so, and sliced thin, with swiss cheese on one side and cheddar on the other. All the flavors blend together superbly, with the cheese managing to always be there without even coming close to overshadowing the flavor of the prime rib. If you want a sandwich, get this sandwich. It is king of cheese and beef sandwich. If I ever taste a better sandwich, I may die of the explosion of awesome in my mouth. And if you put barbecue on it, then may whatever god you believe in have mercy, because I will not.

Lunch, dinner, if you want steak, this is a good place to go. Well worth the money.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Luncheon Steak ($11.50)
• Fries
• Beer Cheese Soup

Pineapples are from the tropics! Cottage Cheese isn't! I don't know how that doesn't seem weird to anyone else. Ahem.

The Beer Cheese Soup was a 'Soup of the Day' as well, so it's unclear what kind of soups they have other days (although Chili seems always on the menu.) The soup, however, had a strong beer flavor note (which not all beer cheese soups have!) as well as the smoky cheese and ham flavors ND mentioned above. It kind of reminds me, texture-wise, of a thick cheese salsa, complete with blobbing on the top instead of just flowing back together. It's very good, though. Hopefully their other daily soups are as good.

The steak was a fairly small portion (7 oz) but as steaks go, this is about as well made as it gets. A thin layer of browned/blackened on the outside, and then a large area of medium-rare inside (I ordered it medium-rare). It had excellent flavor for a steak, and I ate it in thin slices, slowly to get the most out of it. The fries are normal long squareish fries, neither too thick or too thin, and tasted like the fries at a chain of steak houses back in my home town, so I'm figuring it's standard steak house fare on that front (as opposed to big honkin' steak fries) and they went well with ND's BBQ sauce. I also got the candied apple (and it was good) and some buttered (and maybe garliced lightly? We theorized it might have tasted garliced from what was cooked in that oven earlier, it was so light on the garlic flavor to ND and Cham's taste.)

On the overall, it was a good place to go eat a lunch and get some real flavor. The speed was a little slow (not annoyingly so, just noticeable) but that probably happens sometimes. I really am curious what the dinner looks like, though. Another time, perhaps.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Beefy Cheese ($9.25)
• Coleslaw
  
• Texas Chili ($4.00)
  

The chili was good. You have the choice to add onions and cheese. I picked both, but could have done without the onions. They ended up a bit overpowering. It was nearly a beanless chili, and not too thick or runny. It's not a bad choice, but you could probably do better for the money with the cheese soup, from what I hear.

The Beefy Cheese sandwich was amazing, and disappeared way too quickly. It came on two regular pieces of buttered toast, didn't seem terribly large. It had plenty of flavor, however. It came with a side of BBQ sauce as ND mentioned. It wasn't bad sauce, but it was way too strong for the sandwich. I tried maybe a third the sandwich with it (I'm a fan of BBQ), but it really overpowered everything else. The sandwich has a really good flavor all by itself. The coleslaw was pretty bland and not terribly creamy. I would pick fries as the side next time.

Blue Planet Natural Grill

Restaurant: Blue Planet Natural Grill
Address: 6307 Center St. Suite 101
Website: Blue Planet Natural Grill
Genres: Cafe, Organic
Check Constraints: Short Order
Chain: Sorta| More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Macaroni & Cheese Bowl (5.49)
• Chicken (1.00)
• Beef (1.00)
• Bacon (1.00)
• Sun Baked Fries (1.49)
• Apple Muffin (1.99)
• Orange Muffin (1.99)
• Drink (1.49)

If you like eating outdoors, Blue Planet has a nice looking outdoor patio area for you to eat in. I do not like eating outdoors, especially in the heat, so screw that crap. The inside is nice and roomy, though, which I can get behind.

In any case, this is really about the food. The apple muffins are really more wheat or bran than apple, the apple flavor is very understated. Instead, opt for the orange muffin, which is better than any place short of Wheatfields.

The sun-baked fries are cooked via hot air instead of oil, and it shows. They're reasonably crisp, plenty good, but you're going to want to make use of their three different catsup blends. I am especially fond of the garlic catsup, and would not recommend the pineapple-mango. The sweet potato fries (with just a bit of cinnamon) are also excellent, and give an odd but not unpleasant flavor when combined with the catsups.

The macaroni and cheese is not really macaroni and cheese. It's penne rigate in a light cream sauce with a bare hint of cheese. If you come here expecting to get CHEESE, you are going to be disappointed. On the other hand, if you order the right meats with it, you can get a good flavor going. I suggest avoiding the ground beef, as it tends to overwhelm other flavors, but if you went with, say, chicken and ham, you could get a good not-quite-chicken cordon bleu going. On the up side, though, they are VERY generous with the grilled chicken, it's in large, tasty chunks and there's plenty of it. Well worth the buck it costs to get it.

I'd definitely eat here again, though it wouldn't really be my main choice, but being at around 60th and center makes it nice and accessible for a lot of people, at a pretty good price for what you get.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Santa Fe Salad ($7.99)
• Drink ($1.49)
• Edamame ($1.49)
  

As near as we can tell, this is the only Blue Planet Natural Grill in existence. Their website mentions franchise opportunities but doesn't list any additional locations, so I feel fairly safe in saying this is not only a new restaurant for Omaha, but a new restaurant in general. I also feel safe in saying it's a good thing it's here.

The thematic gist of the place is natural/organic and/or healthy food which does not beg unpleasant comparisons to giant bricks of shredded wheat or overcooked brussels sprouts. That puts it, culinarily, in the same vein as McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe, which is pretty much an Omaha staple as far as I'm concerned. Still, this place is to McFoster's what Chipotle would be to a good Mexican restaurant; a streamlined, more publicly-accessible version of the food.

That's not to say it's a fast food joint, but it's quite definitely short-order. You get a number at the counter and wait for your food. Personally I think the inside of the place can get a little cramped when it's full, but there is actually room to sit down, as opposed to Worker's Take-Out. While you're waiting I suggest you avail yourself of the ketchups, all of which are organic. They've got original, and as ND mentioned, garlic and then pineapple-mango. They also have a chipotle ketchup. They're all pretty decent, but the garlic is the clear winner, and it's tough not to put it on everything.

It's pretty easy to eat healthy at Blue Planet (not surprisingly). Their salads double as wraps - or is it vice versa? - and they're tasty. What might be called the one downside to the Santa Fe salad is that there was too much stuff in the bowl to get it properly mixed. Additionally, it was an entirely spinach salad, which I usually find too monotonous but which in this case worked pretty well. as ND mentions, they're not shy about the chicken, and I got a fairly large serving for something on top of a salad. Their dressing selection, if you care beforehand, is Newman's Own.

The edamame side dish was interesting - it comes in-shell, and to be perfectly honest I wasn't certain if one was supposed to eat the shell or not. If you're supposed to be able to, then Blue Planet needs to cook it more, as I found the shells tough and fibrous; this leads me to conclude I was supposed to do what I wound up doing, which was squeezing the beans out of the pods individually, like a legume Push Pop.

I've eaten here maybe a dozen times before, and danced around the menu quite a bit. Their pizzas are good, if you can get one - they have a tendency to sell out of the materials by dinnertime (they may have fixed this, but I don't know for sure) - but the thing I like most on their menu is probably their bowls, which combine a decent amount of food with some good tastes. Definitely better - and better for you - than a trip to Burger King.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Asian Style Chicken Burger ($7.99)
• Orange Kick Smoothe ($4.49)

Their burgers come, by default, with the sun fries. The 'problem' with them really is lack of any seasoning or spicing whatsoever. They just end up very dull to my tastebuds (who just eats potato with no flavor? At least butter or something!). That's why the others went for ketchup, and I'm not a huge ketchup fan. The sweet potato fries, much more flavorful, and probably worth it even though they're a 79 cent substitution on the basic fries (according to the page.)

The burger itself had a very large chicken patty (overlarge, really, for the burger, but you can take care of that with some preemptive eating), and a very good mix of flavors. The wasabi mayo in particular had just a hint of wasabi, that I for one would have liked a little more of. The pineapple and teriyaki and everything worked together extremely well. It's definitely something I'd like to have again. I'm not sure it would work as well with the beef, with all the kinda subtle flavors, due to overpowering flavor on the part of beef. The pineapple also needs, perhaps, to be a bit smaller/some help with sticking, as it and the teriyaki were the two things most likely to leak/slip.

The place advertises their smoothies, so I had to give one a try. The orange kick was pretty simple in description, orange, cream, sugar. And that's exactly how it came down. The orange part was surprisingly sharp, like lemon instead of the nice unobtrusive orange most people are used to. The cream was very noticable (in fact, the only word I could use to describe that flavor/texture note was 'cream') and added an enjoyable lightness. The sugar cut that sharpness down to tolerable levels, I think, was the point. However, we are not talking a huge smoothie here, which makes the price point a bit unfortunate (there are a lot of other generally expensive drink flavors I enjoy at various resturants that are less expensive than this/have more flavor).

The place has a lot of options that seem worth pursuing, and I'd definitely consider it a second and third time. My main curiosity is how well it works for pre-order/takeout, since it has to compete with Gandolfos for me there (they're in the same minimall area), and Gandolfos is no slouch.

Crystal Jade

Restaurant: Crystal Jade
Address: 7255 Cedar Street
Website: N/A
Genres: Chinese, American, fusion
Check Constraints: None
Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• General's Chicken (7.95)
  
• Eggdrop Soup (w/main dish)
  
• Crab Rangoon (2.95)
• Thai Iced Tea (2.50)

Howdy, true believers. We've skipped lunch for the past few weeks, for various reasons, and even worse, there are some places that we went to, but won't be reviewing until we go again, mainly because we got owned by work and can't remember what the heck we had. This is one of those revisits.

Tucked back behind the Omaha Tower, trapped inside an old Village Inn, is where you'll find Crystal Jade. Outside, it's... well, it's a Village Inn. Inside, it's a surprisingly nice place, with well padded chairs with steel backs and no arms (a blessing if you're larger than life). More importantly, though, there's a simple two page menu, half of which is filled with American food. barbecue ribs, chicken alfredo, stuff like that. We went there for Chinese, though, so no alfredo for me. The other half of the menu is a somewhat truncated selection of traditional Americanized Chinese food.

I've now had the General's Chicken twice, and this is sort of important, because General (whether Tao or Tso) chicken is always a tossup. One version of the dish is basically chicken McNuggets in corn syrup. The other version, the one that Crystal Jade serves, is chicken McNuggets in corn syrup and lots and LOTS of spice. Okay, that LOTS is probably overkill, because while it's at the top of my spice range, Cham still couldn't taste it at all, which I teased him about mercilessly. On the other hand, I'm going to be joining him in the spicehag club, eventually, I think. Mostly thanks to my growing love of horseradish.

The first time I was here, I actually got TWO bowls of soup. The eggdrop I got this time, and the creamy potato on the other side of the menu. I'll tell you now, to be complete, that the creamy potato is nothing special, and if you're out for potato soup, go to Petrow's or Brazen Head. The eggdrop soup, on the other hand, is pretty good stuff, enough that I grabbed it a second time.

The crab rangoon, everybody pretty much agrees, are above average, and both times I've been there, they came out piping hot straight from the deep fryer. Ditto the fried wontons, which Cham ordered twice, and both appetizers are quite affordable, at 4 or 6 for three bucks. There are also carafes (syrup bottles, no kidding) of sweet & sour at each table, for dipping. It's pretty good sauce, too, no catsup base here.

And then there's the thai iced tea. I love thai iced tea. Unfortunately, there's no refill on it here, but I gave strong consideration to getting a second glass anyway. If you love thai iced tea, you will not be disappointed, and the milk in the tea makes a good way to kill the burn of a spicy dish.

In any case, Crystal Jade's a great restaurant, and I hope anybody who reads this gives it a try, because it's totally worth the money. Give them a shot, you won't regret it.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Mongolian Beef Sandwich (8.95)

I've been a little sick of Asian food lately. There's no real good reason for it, but it caused me to take a look at some of the non-traditional food items here. The have some American-type dishes, like ND mentioned, and a couple of things listed under "fusion". I went for a bit of a fusion dish. The sandwich was really just mongolian beef on a ciabatta bun. It was hard to hold due to the soft bun and quite messy, but it was actually pretty good. The mongolian beef worked well as sandwich innards. The look reminded me a bit of a cheesesteak, but there was no cheese and an Asian flavor of course. I thought the mongolian beef here was really good by itself. The last time I had the dish, it was from China Garden, and it was overrun with (probably yellow) onions. I couldn't stand it. Here they were green onions, and they faded into the background, providing more of a look than a taste.

A bad mark on the service, however: the sandwich was supposed to come with fries, and I never received them. I didn't really notice they were missing until we had left, but it did seem a bit strange to see just the lone sandwich get delivered to the table. I considered ordering eggrolls (because the meal seemed so light), but the waitress was never at the table long enough for me to ask. She'd quickly drop something off, then take off again for who knows where. I believe they also forgot something of Maple's. I don't think there was any issue last time we went, however.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Wontons ($2.00)
• 2 Eggrolls ($1.50 each)
• Chicken Rendang ($7.95)
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Steamed Rice
• Side Salad

ND's characterization of the place is spot on. It's actually a bit of cognitive dissonance to walk inside what appears to be a Village Inn and find a restaurant with place settings and tablecloths. So don't let the exterior fool you, this really isn't someplace you should walk in with flip-flops and a shirt with the arms cut off. Not that you should do that anywhere; there's sanitation to be concerned about.

I am pretty sure this is exactly what I ordered the last time we visited, and I am pretty sure I had exactly the same experience, so the place has that going for it. Their wontons were crispy and had a delicious nugget of pork in the middle; though some at the table weren't fond of them, I liked them enough to get them again. The eggrolls seemed off to me, however, though I couldn't put my finger on why. They were fairly large in size, though at $1.50 they really ought to be. A small note; the "salad bar" here is a chilled pot of salad mix sitting on a table at the middle of the restaurant. They don't tell you this, so if you're waiting for them to deliver a side salad to your table you'll be waiting a while. Though honestly it's not worth getting up for unless you're hard up for iceberg lettuce in your diet. The only interesting thing are the wonton strips you can add, and perhaps the sesame dressing. On the other hand, the hot and sour soup is good, if not much above the average.

Despite my mixed reviews on the appetizers and sides, I can unequivocally recommend the chicken rendang. It's a curry-like concoction, and though I wasn't able to pick out many of the components of the sauce, it's pretty good. It comes with rice, either fried or steamed. I've gotten steamed both times so I can't speak to the quality of their fried rice. Still, when ladled out over the rice it's a tasty meal and while it's more filling than you'd expect, I'm still glad it comes with the extras.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Thai Iced Tea (2.50)
• Lemon Chicken (6.95)
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Fried Rice
  
• Side Salad

I actually missed the first visit here, due to something a long while back. Place is pretty solid on the overall, though, so I'm glad to have given it a shot. The Thai Iced Tea came in a big mug, actually, it's worth noting, as did the water and I think the other drinks. They do alcoholic drinks too, but it being lunch and us being responsible, we didn't have any. I agree with ND, it's very good. I need to not keep forgetting to look up how to make it myself.

The Lemon Chicken dish came with Hot and Sour of the good variety, and Cham is right about the salad bar: iceberg to fill up on. The dish itself was breaded chicken absolutely covered in a bright yellow lemon sauce. The sauce was exceedingly strong, sweet, and bitter, (and lemony), to the point where someone who wasn't huge on lemon couldn't have eaten it. I was expecting something with a lighter lemon flavor, so I was surprised. I still ate quite a bit of it and enjoyed, but be forewarned, this is not 'chicken with some component of lemon flavor', this is lemon chicken, heavy on the lemon sauce like general tso's chicken is usually heavy on the sauce.

I don't think the place will be supplanting as my favorite chinese anytime soon, but the increase in options and difference in styles gives me the option of a slight break in ordinary chinese food, and that's a good thing.


Editor's Note: MapleSyrup is being a huge tool and refusing to write his post. I am posting this anyway.

Gusto Cuban Cafe

Restaurant: Gusto Cuban Cafe
Address: 7910-7920 Harrison Street
Website: Gusto Cuban Cafe
Genres: Cuban
Check Constraints: $3.50 for splitting an item. No checks. 15% gratuity for 8+ people.
Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Papa Rellena a la Gusto ($12.95)
• Congris
• Black Beans
  
• Fried sweet plantains.
• Bread Pudding ($3)

More or less halfway down the block around 80th and Harrison, Gusto is not as small as it looks on the outside, but they crammed so many tables into the area that it feels smaller than it looks, and that's unfortunate. Also unfortunate is the mix of seemingly-homemade seating and somewhat uncomfortable... I'm not sure what to call them. Porch chairs, maybe? They have somewhat flexible seats, and stiff arms, and are not at all comfortable for people who are significantly wide, and even if I wasn't, I couldn't imagine being quite comfortable in them. They seem the sort of chairs I would tolerate, at best.

In any case, the waitress was reasonably attentive, and we took a long, LONG time for this lunch. Like, two hours. Mecha has the price on the appetizer sampler later on, but we all devoured it, of course. For twenty three bucks, it was a heaping monster platter of food. It wasn't even a platter, actually. This is the first place I've been to that actually served their sampler on an honest-to-goddess big wooden lazy Susan. It was incredibly convenient, and I kinda wish more places would do that. Aaanyway, the sampler is basically damn near every appetizer they offer. It costs a boatload of money, and you get a boatload of stuff to try. When the menu says "...etc" in the sampler description, it is NOT kidding. Almost all of it was good, too, a rarity among appetizer samplers. Be on special lookout for the roast pork bits, which are a tad try, but are cooked in an awesome vinegar and lemon based sauce. Mecha got that stuff as his main dish, and I'd eat it for both appetizer and main dish.

After that, though, this ended up being a spectacularly bad lunch for me. When I ordered the main dish, I was under the impression that the menu was not lying to me, and that I was ordering a baked potato stuffed with heavily seasoned ground beef and topped with a bunch of cheese. What I actually got was that, plus a bunch of onions, olives, and tomatoes, which more or less ruined my lunch. The congris turned out to be black rice with bits of pork, beans, and heavy spice in it, which was not particularly appetizing to me. The black beans were more like a soup, but were so beany that I couldn't stand them, and the plantains were, well... plantains. They practically define the word 'plain'.

We had already taken two hours by the time dessert time came, and I had wanted to try the bread pudding, so I gave it a shot and had them box some up to take back to work with me. That was a mistake. It was bitter. Not as bitter as, say, the alfredo at Indigo Joe's, but bitter like "We put so much cinnamon in here that you can't even actually taste cinnamon anymore."

I say, if you're going to go here, get the stuff the other guys got. Or the appetizers. Unless that potato sounds good to you. Honestly, I'd have preferred getting some Taco Bell. Or the stuff the other guys got. Man, that fried chicken was good. Not as good as mine, but damn good nonetheless. And those roast pork bits were to die for.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Gusto Cuban Cafe Sampler Platter ($2?.??)
  
• Masitas De Cerdo Fritas ($?.??)
• Congris
• Black Beans
  
• Fried sweet plantains.

I have been so, so fried mentally. Hopefully, I will find the receipt for this place, as the online menu lacks prices.

So. Cuban food, a first for me, but I do like trying things. The Sampler Platter had a huge amount of stuff. One we identified as a sort-of crab-cake-like seafood item. It had three different plantain/banana looking chips, some very thin crisps, some longer sweet fried, and another type. The lime/lemon and such fried pork bits ND mentioned above. There was some sort of BBQish beans-flavored thing. Homemade thin potato fries of some sort. There was really nothing on this sampler that was bad, but they warned us that we were looking at a half-hour+ to make it beforehand, and they weren't wrong. I wish I had better descriptions, hopefully Cham will be able to shore this up in his section, and I'm sure the menu at the place describes the individual items better. If you've got the time and the people, you would be foolish to not give this a try.

The main meal was actually oddly disappointing in its size/delivery. Not that I didn't walk away full, but that it seemed small for its price. That said, it was all the fried pork with citrus undertones that ND talked above, for the main dish, and that is delicious. A little bit tough, but not too tough, the texture reminding me muchly of the 'teriyaki chicken' skewers that you get at various Chinese restaurants, but as pork. The flavor is fairly complex, and has those citrus notes (I think of them as lime, but ND clearly thought of them as lemon. Not really the crucial points) that really give it some bite. I don't know if I'd eat it as much as ND wants to, but I was glad to eat a good portion of it. The black beans actually had a very strange flavor, with the first note of it being cooking sherry, and then into the black bean flavor. Not my thing. The Congris was advertised as having pork, but there was no real pork flavor to it. Not bad at all, though, to me. Now, the fried plantains, those I would definitely go for again.

The place bills itself as having many a drink, but as usual, that's not something we got to try. It seems to more bill itself as a fun place to drink and karaoke and have unique good food at a leisurely pace, and the lunch we had supports that theory fairly well. It doesn't look like it would necessarily be too slow if you came in for lunch fare, either.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Mango Shake ($4.85)
• Kidney Beans ($3.85)
• Chicharrones de Pollo ($11.99)
  

This has not been the best winter for any of us. There has been plenty of mental frying to go around, and additionally I just purchased a house, so when I sleep at night, I dream of boxes, and when I wake up, I am in a valley between two walls of boxes, rising like a canyon around me. It is dark, and there may be grues. This is my flimsy excuse for my part in letting posts slip for weeks.

I am not 100% positive when the restaurant in question opened in this location. I dimly remember this being the previous location of, perhaps, something called Mimi's? But such memories are lost in the fog of time. Regardless, there has been time enough for the Omaha World-Herald to perform a review and for the review to be on the wall, so I feel fairly safe in saying that the restaurant has had time to work out the kinks. The service was decent despite there being only one waitress there, and the food was prompt (with the exception of the monstrous sampler platter).

The sampler platter had an extremely vast array of food. I will do my best to dredge recollections up from underneath the horrific visages of cardboard, but you should expect at best a faulty list:

• Thin cut yucca fries, rather moist and oily, but possessing good flavor. It pretty much required a fork to eat them, though.
• Plantain chips; these devices were fried cross-sections of plantain, allowed to cool. They were, essentially, the same as banana chips, but as expected were not sweet. Their primary application at the table seemed to be a delivery system for the next entry in the list.
• Garbanzo beans with chorizo. Said beans had more than a hint of "BBQ" sauce in their flavor profile, but that may just have been due to molasses or other flavorings in the sauce. Regardless, they were fairly good.
• Taro fritters. These objects were essentially pressed and fried cakes of taro, though everyone else at the table swears they could taste corn in the mix as well. They were perhaps a tad bland when compared with the rest of the heaping platter, but would probably have stood up okay on their own.
• Fried plantain slices. These slices, unlike the chips, were warm (not to mention cut on a diagonal). They did well at playing to the plantain's strengths; namely, being a potato substitute with a slightly different flavor.
• Roast pork in mojo sauce. These were quite clearly the star of the show, at least as far as our table was concerned. The bright citrus/herbal taste of the mojo sauce was a very high soprano paired with the pork's baritone, and the juxtaposition made for some delicious eating. If you're going with a single appetizer, pick these. For reference, I am pretty sure there was both lemon and lime in the mojo sauce, along with cilantro and some other herbs.
• Papa Rellena Cubana; these devices were fried balls of mashed potatoes, stuffed inside with ground beef. They were excellent - we almost forgot they were there because of how fast they disappeared off the platter.
• Ham and chicken croquettes; I suspect these were the items we thought were seafood (though those could have been the cod fritters). They were deep-fried to a brown crisp, and they went quite well with the mojo sauce we got on the side.

I am fairly sure that was everything, though with the large degree of fried foods arrayed before us it would have been easy to misidentify something. The only real solution is to go and check it out yourself.

On to the kidney beans, which were in the "soup" section of the menu. They were reminiscent of creole-style red beans, though with more liquid and with a more complex flavor. I can recommend them, though I'm not sure it would be worth it to get more than a cup.

The entree I got was, the menu assured, a Cuban version of fried chicken. I wasn't disappointed, though I was perhaps pleasantly surprised when the plate arrived and I was served pieces of bone-in-chicken which had been cut into smaller chunks, just the right size for picking up and then devouring down to the bone. The chicken was very flavorful; either brined or properly seasoned before frying. The biggest shock was perhaps the breading - a breadcrumb-based substance which had a sort of Shake 'N' Bake feel to it, but which was far better executed than anything from a box. The serving size was perhaps a bit small. Had I not stuffed myself to the gills with the monstrous sampler platter I could probably have gone through two of these, no problem. Still, the entrees are served with sides.

Everyone seemed to dislike the black bean side but me. I admit that after my initial taste I wasn't too keen on eating the rest of them, but the taste grew on me as I worked my way through the cup. As Mecha mentions, they had a very, very heavy bean taste, shored up by a rather strong wine flavor; initially I thought it was cooking sherry or some other intended-for-cooking-wine but as I was digging the last bean out I came to the internal conclusion it was just a very strong red, like a Shiraz.
Comparatively, the congris had a far lighter taste, and with the other strong flavors on my plate, it wound up being not much more than filler for me; which I definitely didn't need.

I'd be more than willing to go back here several times, eating around the menu and exploring various flavors. Though it'd be tough not getting that chicken again. Or just the sampler platter.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Ropa Vieja sandwich ($8.99)
• Columbiana ($3.75)
  

Plantains. So many plantains. The appetizer plate was a fun thing to get, but it's definitely for more than four people. The pork was great. The BBQ-ish garbanzo bean stuff in the middle was pretty good. I liked the sweet plantains--the soft ones. The regular plantain chips weren't anything to go out of your way for, but they were good to munch on. I almost forgot there was a smashed plantain patty-thing too, but that's because it was rather bland. You could really tell which items were the seafood ones because they were pretty strong (but not bad). Anything else on the plate has blended into the mix in my mind by now.

The sandwich was delicious and pretty filling. I had a hard time eating it all with the huge appetizer plate. It was tangy and simply sauced brisket on a bun. I asked for plantain chips as the side, and it came with a SERIOUS load of them. No, more than that. It reminds me a bit of the potato chips I had at Dundee. I ate maybe a third of them. If I had known I would get so many, I wouldn't have eaten any chips off the appetizer plate. As it is, we didn't finish all of the appetizer chips either. The Columbiana was an interesting experiment. I had originally asked for the Pineapple drink, but they were out of it. It turned out to be a can of orange-colored cream soda. It reminded me a lot of the Barq's Red Cream Soda I used to have often when living in Indiana. It still had a slightly different flavor than that. For the price, it isn't worth a repeat buy for me, however. To me, those drinks are probably a try-once deal. It was good food, but it was a very long wait. I'm glad I wasn't in a hurry.

Worker's Take Out

Restaurant: Worker's Take Out
Address: 1317 S 50th St
Website: Worker's Take Out
Genres: Cuban, Deli, Sandwiches
Check Constraints: Nada
Chain: No| More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

• Cuban Pork Roast ($6.50)
  

When these guys say take out, they mean take out. You get your food in a styrofoam container, and there is no seating. None. The guy working said after we ate out in Moogle's van that we could have sat down in the bar next door, since it was closed, but really, plan to take it and run. It looks pretty much like the little grill below my college dorm, actually. Music on the radio, a TV/DVD player for the employee to watch, and a youngish guy who was probably college age behind the counter working the grill.

I didn't get much, because it was take out and I didn't feel like awkwardly trying to hold a lot of stuff like Cham did. I did try a bit of Cham's hummus, and it was better than most of the other hummus I've had. The sandwich came with an optional pickle spear, which automatically makes me like the place a little more, because it was a decent pickle. The sandwich wasn't great, but was one of those sandwiches where if you change a little bit to suit your taste, it'll be outstanding.

The base of the sandwich is cuban bread, buttered and topped with a bunch of shredded roast pork. The pork is pretty well peppered, just the way I like it, and very good. Top that with provolone, ham, pickles, and mustard, then squash it flat and grill it for a few minutes. My recommendation? Take out the pickles and ham, and just let the roast pork and provolone speak for itself. Totally worth the price on that.

The place itself? Would eat again, now that I know what to expect. If you're gonna send one or two people out for take-out, give this place a shot.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

• Franco ($5.79)
• Texas Caviar ($2.99)
  
• Hummus & Chips ($3.99)

It's hard to look at a menu with some interesting-looking appetizers and then, once you've arrived at the place, realize there's nowhere to put the dang things while you eat, and you have to scale back. As it was I wound up doing a lot of balancing on my knees inside the van, and at one point I flipped the styrofoam container my sandwich was in and it did an awesome 1080-flip directly onto the van's floor. Totally my fault, of course, but ND's advice is good, here. Grab the sandwiches and head back to work (or home).

ND mentioned this in passing but I wanted to point it out more explicitly... there was one (1) person manning the place. From orders to cooking to cashiering, there was only the one guy. And it's not like there were spots for people to hide, either. In one sense, this is good, as he didn't screw up any special orders and remembered what each of us had ordered. On the other hand, it means the process here is rather linear, and if you come in with an order for 15 sandwiches for your office, only one sandwich can be assembled at a time, and only two put on the sandwich press simultaneously. Hopefully there are more people here most of the time, but honestly you shouldn't let this dissuade you. Bring a book, read a chapter or two, then truck the delicious back.

Speaking of the delicious. The hummus here was very heavy on olive oil, a flavor I am immensely fond of, so I could find no fault with it. It made for a smooth hummus, but the other flavors in it shone through quite well. I do have to say that this is the first time I've had hummus with corn chips, but it worked reasonably well. The hummus is lower on salt than it would be if I'd made it myself, but the chips added the last bit of sodium I wanted.
"Texas Caviar" was a new thing on me; it was a construction of beans, onions, sweet bell peppers (the orange and yellow ones), and perhaps a hint of spice in a sweet vinegary sauce. As I read about the dish on the internet I am informed that sweet Texas Caviar is "a New Jersey imitation", and that the "real thing" always includes hominy and black eyed peas, but honestly it was good, for what it was. Not that I'd turn down "authentic" stuff either. The appetizer's served with the corn chips, making for a sweet/salty blend.

The sandwich was good stuff. When you press a sandwich like this it can be hard to discern individual flavors from the mix, which is to be honest part of the point. I received a constant blend throughout the sandwich, with the salami and pepperoni riding herd on the rest of the flavors, but with everything making its own contribution. The bread gets crisped excellently by the press (though it's actually clear that one side of the press is hotter than the other), and the end product would take a Quizno's or Subway sandwich out in the back alley and beat it with a panini press until it admitted that "fresh" is not an FDA-controlled keyword, and that there really is no excuse for horrible sandwich bread.

All of which should be taken as a recommendation for this place. One of the only ways it'd get better is if they delivered.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

• Cuban Pork Roast ($6.50)
• Hummus and Chips ($3.99)
• Butterscotch Shake ($2.99)

Man, Maple did all that crowing about Butterscotch shakes, and then doesn't write anything about it. So sad. It wasn't a strong butterscotch flavor, but it was noticeable. Not too thick to deal with with a straw, which is what they gave me, so hooray for that. I'm not sure it was good enough that I'd get it often (3 bucks? Aiyah.) but it ain't bad if you're in a shakey mood.

The hummus was indeed fairly smooth, and I agree that the chip choice was a little weird. I would have probably preferred more interesting chips, but the hummus is supposed to be the star, and it's good as it was. The 'Texas Caviar' was also a flavor I really liked. I'd probably take it over the hummus if I go again, so it's my dip recommendation for the place. The menu does not note that the caviar comes with chips and IS a dip, so now you know.

They make an excellent Cuban here. Not super-messy (as one would hope), and a good blend of flavors. These are good sized sandwiches too, in my opinion. Since ND got the same dish there, I don't have much to add to his notes, although I wasn't bothered by the pickle, and the ham did not completely dominate in the flavors for me. That said, I'm sorely tempted to try out the Reuben next time, because I need to figure out this Reuben thing.

Everyone's covered the layout of the place fairly well, but I don't believe anyone mentioned that this week, the guy was out of hot dogs, which is a shame because I know we wanted to try them. They say they've got Chicago dogs, and Cham's never too full to turn down an available Chicago dog. I believe he said his shipments come in on Monday, so perhaps it would be good to plan ahead if you want a meat tube. But you'll find a good meal even without.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

• Spicy Tuna Melt with Pepper Jack on Wheat ($4.29)
• Coleslaw ($1.09)

We ate in the van partly because it took quite a while to get to all of us and partly because I was worried that the food would get cold on the way back. I'm pretty sure I didn't have to worry about that. The sandwich nearly burned me. You could pick the bread and cheese for this sandwich, and I picked pepper jack on wheat. Once I got past singing my mouth (I have a bad habit of just eating through the heat when I'm hungry), the sandwich did have some spice heat to it. I'm not sure if it was all the pepper jack or not. The sandwich may have been left on the grill a bit longer than the others because it was nearly blackened but thankfully not burnt. It actually made for a home-made feel. There was plenty of tuna and cheese as well. Some sandwich places seem to skimp on the tuna these days. I thought it was a good sandwich for a pretty good price. The coleslaw was ok, but not impressive. It was slightly peppery, but generally bland. I would probably get something else as a side next time.

==MapleSyrup==
Ordered:

• Cuban Reuben ($5.49)
  

As everybody else has intimated, this was the kind of place you'd expect to be in the back of a mobile vending truck. It was a very straightforward operation with just the one guy, a sandwich press, some meat and bread, and sauerkraut and such on warmers.

This wasn't your standard reuben. It was salami, ham, swiss, pickles, sauerkraut, and special sauce on a good-sized, hot-pressed roll. Of the flavors, the pickles were unfortunately the strongest. The ham still managed to make an appearance, but the sauerkraut and special sauce (I'm guessing it was Thousand Island. It's always Thousand Island.) didn't show through very well. I'm generally a fan of pickles, but I'd recommend passing on the pickles on this one.

The sandwich was assembled then put in a flat hot-press, so a good crisp was added to the top and bottom, but the bread itself wasn't toasted or made hard. This also, as Cham said, melded the flavors (which may have been part of why the pickels came through so strong).

I look forward to going back, but I'll probably try the Cuban Pork Roast that the others got.