This is our first guest review by a writer known as Jeff. If you'd eaten somewhere and want to comment (even if it is outside Central Wisconsin) please send it to me! Thanks Jeff for your hard work.
Christian's Bistro
Christian’s Bistro has been open for around nine months. It is in Plover, WI near the Hampton Inn. The physical set up is very nice. It seats around eighty, but they only have six booths, so if you want a booth make sure to ask for one when you make reservations. By the way, you should definitely make reservations. We’ve found that even what you’d think of as a slow night can get busy. The one bad thing about its physical set up is the high metal ceiling and hard floors make it an echo chamber. Christian’s features an open kitchen with a food bar – it is fun to watch the goings on of the cooks while waiting for your food.
The food itself is simply a delight. The waitress told us that they rotate the menu every three months; their current menu includes entrees such as New Orleans Muffaletta Sandwich, Grilled Flat Iron Steak Panini (w/ Brie Cheese and Sweet Potato Fries), and Bacon Wrapped Gulf Shrimp, and appetizers such as Baked Three Day Duck & Wild Mushroom Strudel and Wisconsin Artisan Cheese Plate.
On my recent visit I had the Steak Panini ($9.95). It was excellent. The Brie cheese worked with the steak to create a flavorful combination. My co-eater had one of the six specials offered the night we were there – Monkfish served with broccolini on a bed of arugula ($20.00). After tasting her dish I wish I had chosen to spend the extra money. It was delicious. Our waitress told us that they get their seafood overnighted and it is never frozen. This sounded a bit like a sales pitch, but after tasting the Monk fish, I believe her!
The service was wonderful – our server was attentive but not annoying. Our only complaint is the time it took to get our food. It was a busy night, but I still think thirty minutes to get our entrees was a bit long. Combine that with the fact that they don’t provide any munchies while you wait, and it probably seemed longer than it was.
All in all, Christian’s gets an A+ from us. Excellent food, reasonable prices, good atmosphere.
EDITORS NOTE
Just wanted to add some information from their website:
Christian Czerwonka is an acclaimed chef with an A.O.S. Degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Beginning as a line cook, for superstar chef and TV personality, Emeril Lagasse, at his famous New Orleans eatery, NOLA Restaurant, he gained his southern cuisine flare and refined the art of food and wine pairings. Over the years, he moved his way up to the Chef de Cuisine, designing the menus and running Emeril's Delmonico Steak House in the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, and his Atlanta restaurant. Under Christian's supervision, Delmonico was voted the best Steakhouse for two years running.
3066 Village Park Drive, Plover, WI 54467
Hours of Operation:_
Open at 10:30 a.m. with seating until 8:00 p.m., Tuesday-Friday_
Open at 7:00 a.m. with seating until 8:00 p.m., Saturday_
Closed Sunday and Monday_
Monday, November 19, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Quick List…Updated 11/13
Here’s an alphabetical list of places we (meaning me) would recommend eating at in the Stevens Point, Plover, Wausau area of Wisconsin. I’m not including large chain restaurants, since you know what you are getting in those anyway…
I’ll be adding to the list, but wanted to get it posted and started up. Suggestions are welcome.
Chef Chu's
Open for lunch and dinner
Chinese cuisine - great Sunday buffet
$5-$20 entrees
Christians Bistro, Plover
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$30 entrees
The City Grill, An American Bistro, Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
El Mezcal
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
Excellent traditional Mexican food
The Hill Top, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$5-$25 entrees
Hudson’s Grill, Plover and Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
Pagliacci
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$35 entrees
a little overpriced, but good food
Silver Coach, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$20-$30 entrees
Water Street Grill, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
The Wright Place on 6th St, Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$20-$35 entrees
The Wooden Chair, Stevens Point
Open for breakfast and lunch
$5-$15
I’ll be adding to the list, but wanted to get it posted and started up. Suggestions are welcome.
Chef Chu's
Open for lunch and dinner
Chinese cuisine - great Sunday buffet
$5-$20 entrees
Christians Bistro, Plover
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$30 entrees
The City Grill, An American Bistro, Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
El Mezcal
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
Excellent traditional Mexican food
The Hill Top, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$5-$25 entrees
Hudson’s Grill, Plover and Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
Pagliacci
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$35 entrees
a little overpriced, but good food
Silver Coach, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$20-$30 entrees
Water Street Grill, Stevens Point
Open for lunch and dinner
$10-$25 entrees
The Wright Place on 6th St, Wausau
Open for lunch and dinner
$20-$35 entrees
The Wooden Chair, Stevens Point
Open for breakfast and lunch
$5-$15
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Insta Review - The Wooden Chair
Located at 1059 Main Street, Stevens Point, The Wooden Chair is another fixture in Stevens Point, much like Bernard's. Unlike Bernard's, I wholeheartedly recommend eating there. The place is full of mismatched chairs, hence the name. They are open only for breakfast and lunch, (7am-2pm). Traditionally, The Wooden Chair has been a great little eatery. Stevens Point held its collective breath a few years ago when it was sold. Thankfully, the quality hasn’t changed. They have a nice array of standard breakfast dishes with especially good omelets – my favorite the sausage and potatoes – as well as sandwiches that range from traditional to stuff the vegetarian crowd likes. The only downside is the service can be spotty. Don’t let that stop you; it’s a great little place to grab a bite.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Insta Review - Bernard’s Country Inn
Bernard’s Country Inn has been a fixture in Stevens Point for longer than I’ve lived here. Maybe that can explain why it is spoken of in such venerating tones. My dinner there was unexceptional. The décor was a mishmash that I suppose was designed to create a homey atmosphere. It didn’t. The breadsticks served before dinner were good, but the olive oil with which they were served was not. It was flavored, and not delicately. I would have preferred at least the option for of plain oil. Ok, so who cares about the free bread? Well, the entrees were no better. I had a rib-eye steak that didn’t measure up to any I could have purchased at the grocery store, but at least it was edible. Which could not be said of the Steak au Poivre – the meat was satisfactory (not great) and was covered – totally covered – with WHOLE black peppercorns. In fact, they were pounded in, rendering it impossible to scrape off the peppercorns. This was not a crust of crushed peppercorns, rather it was an impaling of whole peppercorns. I could barely get down a few bites before my mouth was aflame – and I like spicy food!
On the bright side, the service was exceptionally good and the food came out fast.
For the price of the dishes ($20 and up) I expected a whole lot more. I would have liked to try Bernard’s in its heyday. As of now, unless my visits were total aberrations, I see no reason to try again.
On the bright side, the service was exceptionally good and the food came out fast.
For the price of the dishes ($20 and up) I expected a whole lot more. I would have liked to try Bernard’s in its heyday. As of now, unless my visits were total aberrations, I see no reason to try again.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Postings
I know this blog isn't updated as frequently as it should be, but writing restaurant reviews is really more difficult than I thought. I have decided to add some quick reviews in the coming weeks...stay tuned!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Dine in or Take Out
Be sure to check out my Dine in or Take Outblog for a witty, sarcastic, funny, etc., take a waiting...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Rudy's Red Eye Grill -- Review
Rudy’s Review
Located at the new Holiday Inn on Hwy 10, the first positive thing that can be said about Rudy’s Red Eye grill is that it doesn’t feel like a typical “tacked onto a hotel” type of restaurant. It has its own entrance so that one doesn’t have to enter the hotel in order to get to the restaurant – a minor, but not insignificant, detail. Sadly, after a number of visits over an eight-month period, this is one of the few things positive left to be said.
Which is a shame. So often new restaurants take a while to get things rolling. The kitchen has to get a rhythm; the server staff has to learn the menu – typical stuff. And this was true of Rudy’s. What doesn’t usually happen is that after a restaurant gets rolling it so quickly comes to a screeching halt. My first visit to Rudy’s was a few months after in opened, my last visit in late February of 2007. That period of time was a fast forward version of the life of a restaurant – bumpy as expected launch, maturing into a decent eatery, falling apart as the staff abandons the shop and management makes disastrous choices.
For our first visit, my companion and I decided we would start with drinks in the bar, then move to the dining room. We went on a Friday night, purposely did not make reservations. We had our drink (each a beer) from a friendly but busied bartender, then, although the dining room was busy, we were sat in a respectable amount of time. Now let me just stop here for a minute and to say that I like art, all kinds. Modern, classic, what have you. And while I’m not a huge fan of the artwork created by surrealist artist Ferdinand Botero, I don’t hate it…unless I have to look at it will stuffing my face. Most of the work shows weirdly proportioned, overweight people in various surreal environments. Why one would put pictures of this kind in a restaurant I can only speculate. Paintings of chubby fat-faced businessmen types with floating snakes and apples really doesn’t put me at ease or make me want to eat lots of food. The rest of the atmosphere was acceptable, except perhaps the lighting; while I appreciate mood lighting, I do like enough light to see what it is I’m eating.
But those whacked out cherubs watching me eat….creeeeepy.
On the first visit, the server was energetic, quick to bring us rolls, take drink orders, and rattle off the specials. We started with appetizers; “Bull Bites” and “Monster Buffalo Wings.” The Bull Bites -- Cajun spiced tenderloin chunks (not testicle, as the name seems to suggest) served on deep fried onions and topped with chopped tomatoes -- were very good. The Monster Buffalo wings were nothing special but satisfactory. They didn’t suck. Why you ask, are they called “monster” wings? Couldn’t tell you. My best guess is that they must have tiny monsters in Minnesota (the home base of Rudy’s) because these wings were not any larger than any other wings I have had, perhaps even smaller.
Annoyingly, the drinks we ordered when we were seated did not appear until we were almost done with the appetizers. I had to satisfy myself with water, although I was looking forward to cutting the heat of the wings with a good Bloody Mary. Surprise, a good Bloody Mary wasn’t in the offing – I received a decent Bloody made from a mix. For the price, it was a disappointment. They must make gobs of money charging made-from-scratch prices for made-from-mix drinks.
On the first visit I ordered the 20 oz rib eye steak (mislabeled on the menu as 10 ounce) with a baked potato ($25). My companion decided to try the Bella Roma pizza – a white sauced pizza on a thin crust, with Roma tomatoes, garlic, and chicken ($10).
The steak was cooked as ordered and was very good – tender, grilled nicely so that the juices stayed seared inside. So much of the quality of a steak relies on the meat itself and not on the cooking of it. It would seem that Rudy’s has a provider who supplies quality food. The potato was fine – what can you say, it was a baked potato. I was slightly annoyed to find an errant French fry (or as they are on the menu, “shoestring potato,”) on my plate. It is a sign that the kitchen lacks attention to detail and makes one wonder where else this lack of attention can be found. The vegetable was green beans, which our server told us were steamed and then flash deep-fried and tossed with soy sauce and sesame seeds. Very tasty. Strangely, they have only one vegetable – no choice for the customer, and from what I’ve seen, no variety from day to day. Perhaps the Rudy’s franchise invests in green bean farms?
The pizza was good and reasonably priced, but I do have one issue: Rudy’s makes a big deal in print and television advertising about the pizza being wood-fired. The pizza we received was clearly not wood fired, and upon questioning the server, I found out for sure it wasn’t. He confided that they cook the pizzas on a “treadmill” oven – definitely no wood was harmed in the cooking of the pizza. While the pizzas are good, Rudy’s shouldn’t pretend that they are wood fired.
Only months later I yearned for the food quality of the first. The pizza saw its price go up with the size get smaller. The appetizers of Bull Bites and Deep Fried Calamari were almost inedible; the bull bites were tough and tasted of charcoal, and the calamari was so over cooked there were literally unrecognizable chunks of deep fried something towards the bottom of the dish. The 20oz rib eye became a 20 oz bone-in rib eye of less than stellar quality and cooked badly.
Looks like buying and preparing quality ingredients didn’t last long.
Overall, months ago Rudy’s was an enjoyable if not memorable dining experience. The service was good, not exceptional, and the food was adequate to good. Unfortunately Rudy’s went form decent to death spiral in a matter of months. If you are in the mood for decent chain restaurant food – go to Applebee’s.
Located at the new Holiday Inn on Hwy 10, the first positive thing that can be said about Rudy’s Red Eye grill is that it doesn’t feel like a typical “tacked onto a hotel” type of restaurant. It has its own entrance so that one doesn’t have to enter the hotel in order to get to the restaurant – a minor, but not insignificant, detail. Sadly, after a number of visits over an eight-month period, this is one of the few things positive left to be said.
Which is a shame. So often new restaurants take a while to get things rolling. The kitchen has to get a rhythm; the server staff has to learn the menu – typical stuff. And this was true of Rudy’s. What doesn’t usually happen is that after a restaurant gets rolling it so quickly comes to a screeching halt. My first visit to Rudy’s was a few months after in opened, my last visit in late February of 2007. That period of time was a fast forward version of the life of a restaurant – bumpy as expected launch, maturing into a decent eatery, falling apart as the staff abandons the shop and management makes disastrous choices.
For our first visit, my companion and I decided we would start with drinks in the bar, then move to the dining room. We went on a Friday night, purposely did not make reservations. We had our drink (each a beer) from a friendly but busied bartender, then, although the dining room was busy, we were sat in a respectable amount of time. Now let me just stop here for a minute and to say that I like art, all kinds. Modern, classic, what have you. And while I’m not a huge fan of the artwork created by surrealist artist Ferdinand Botero, I don’t hate it…unless I have to look at it will stuffing my face. Most of the work shows weirdly proportioned, overweight people in various surreal environments. Why one would put pictures of this kind in a restaurant I can only speculate. Paintings of chubby fat-faced businessmen types with floating snakes and apples really doesn’t put me at ease or make me want to eat lots of food. The rest of the atmosphere was acceptable, except perhaps the lighting; while I appreciate mood lighting, I do like enough light to see what it is I’m eating.
But those whacked out cherubs watching me eat….creeeeepy.
On the first visit, the server was energetic, quick to bring us rolls, take drink orders, and rattle off the specials. We started with appetizers; “Bull Bites” and “Monster Buffalo Wings.” The Bull Bites -- Cajun spiced tenderloin chunks (not testicle, as the name seems to suggest) served on deep fried onions and topped with chopped tomatoes -- were very good. The Monster Buffalo wings were nothing special but satisfactory. They didn’t suck. Why you ask, are they called “monster” wings? Couldn’t tell you. My best guess is that they must have tiny monsters in Minnesota (the home base of Rudy’s) because these wings were not any larger than any other wings I have had, perhaps even smaller.
Annoyingly, the drinks we ordered when we were seated did not appear until we were almost done with the appetizers. I had to satisfy myself with water, although I was looking forward to cutting the heat of the wings with a good Bloody Mary. Surprise, a good Bloody Mary wasn’t in the offing – I received a decent Bloody made from a mix. For the price, it was a disappointment. They must make gobs of money charging made-from-scratch prices for made-from-mix drinks.
On the first visit I ordered the 20 oz rib eye steak (mislabeled on the menu as 10 ounce) with a baked potato ($25). My companion decided to try the Bella Roma pizza – a white sauced pizza on a thin crust, with Roma tomatoes, garlic, and chicken ($10).
The steak was cooked as ordered and was very good – tender, grilled nicely so that the juices stayed seared inside. So much of the quality of a steak relies on the meat itself and not on the cooking of it. It would seem that Rudy’s has a provider who supplies quality food. The potato was fine – what can you say, it was a baked potato. I was slightly annoyed to find an errant French fry (or as they are on the menu, “shoestring potato,”) on my plate. It is a sign that the kitchen lacks attention to detail and makes one wonder where else this lack of attention can be found. The vegetable was green beans, which our server told us were steamed and then flash deep-fried and tossed with soy sauce and sesame seeds. Very tasty. Strangely, they have only one vegetable – no choice for the customer, and from what I’ve seen, no variety from day to day. Perhaps the Rudy’s franchise invests in green bean farms?
The pizza was good and reasonably priced, but I do have one issue: Rudy’s makes a big deal in print and television advertising about the pizza being wood-fired. The pizza we received was clearly not wood fired, and upon questioning the server, I found out for sure it wasn’t. He confided that they cook the pizzas on a “treadmill” oven – definitely no wood was harmed in the cooking of the pizza. While the pizzas are good, Rudy’s shouldn’t pretend that they are wood fired.
Only months later I yearned for the food quality of the first. The pizza saw its price go up with the size get smaller. The appetizers of Bull Bites and Deep Fried Calamari were almost inedible; the bull bites were tough and tasted of charcoal, and the calamari was so over cooked there were literally unrecognizable chunks of deep fried something towards the bottom of the dish. The 20oz rib eye became a 20 oz bone-in rib eye of less than stellar quality and cooked badly.
Looks like buying and preparing quality ingredients didn’t last long.
Overall, months ago Rudy’s was an enjoyable if not memorable dining experience. The service was good, not exceptional, and the food was adequate to good. Unfortunately Rudy’s went form decent to death spiral in a matter of months. If you are in the mood for decent chain restaurant food – go to Applebee’s.
Here we go...
This blog will be dedicated to reviews and commentary of restaurants in Stevens Point, Wi and the Central Wisconsin area. Tell me what you think of the local dining establishments!
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