Eat Me - restaurant reviews for Stevens Point, WI and the rest of Central Wisconsin

Olympus and Park Ridge Cafe

2009-11-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

A commenter pointed out that I left off two good restaurants - The Olympus and the Park Ridge Cafe. A bad oversight on my part. Both are wonderful family restaurants, serving what might be called "greasy spoon with flair." Lots of good traditional food at good prices!

Restaurant of the Month

2008-12-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

Christian's Bistro has been chosen by the Wisconsin's tourism division as their "Restaurant of the Month" for December. Here's an excerpt from their site(it's on the right side bar)...
"Have we got a restaurant pick of the month for you, and I don’t know that I was ever so surprised to find such a gem. We were filming for Discover Wisconsin Television, when they told us we needed to check out a place called Christian’s Bistro, a New Orleans-style Bistro in Plover, Wisconsin..."

Flat Top Grill

2008-09-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Flat Top Grill
538 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53705
Phone: 608-236-0500
Fax: 608-236-4008

On a recent trip to Madison, I unexpectedly found myself at the Flat Top Grill. The Flat Top Grill has an interesting shtick going for it – you go through a buffet style line and fill your bowl with all sorts of stuff that is then stir-fried for you. I was a bit dubious; the idea of making your own stir-fry was just a bit too similar to Seinfeld’s Kramer having the “bake your own pizza” concept.

The restaurant was very busy but we were seated quickly and greeted by a friendly waitress. Before taking our drink order, she explained the how the restaurant worked. To tell you the truth, I was a little concerned by the fact that the restaurant procedures needed to be explained. I generally like to not think when I go out, hence the going out. But in reality, it was a pretty straightforward process - pile up your bowl, put your protein in another bowl, and send it back to the cooks. The various available ingredients (veggies, mushrooms, rice, noodles etc.,) were all fresh and looked good. The proteins too were quite inviting(at lunch shrimp was not available, but surprisingly fresh and tasty squid was). Once you drop the bowl off at the grill and it is cooked, your server brings it to you. Overall a speedy process – the cooking part that is. The line to fill your bowl was at times slow and crowded. The food was very good, especially when you consider that the price of a lunch bowl was $6.99.
A couple of drawbacks:
1. Not all the time would I feel like waiting in a buffet style line then waiting for my food to get cooked (especially since the server should get the standard tip since it isn't a true buffer, or at least I think the server should).
2. You get a wide range of sauces and flavors to choose from, and if you aren't careful (see children) you could end up with something too hot, or too bland, or just too gross.

Overall, I enjoyed my lunch at the Flat Top Grill and would highly recommend it for adults and children. The atmosphere was just fine, the price was good, the food was great, and the service was excellent.

Quick Review--The Wheel House Restaurant

2008-07-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry about that. With the economy the way it is, I spend my time waiting on people who are going out rather than going out myself! So, if any restaurant out there would like to give me a free meal...

So on to the review.

The Wheel House Restaurant
E 1209 Cty Tk Q,
Waupaca, WI

Although I've lived in Point for ten years now, I haven't spent much time eating in Waupaca - known for the beautiful Chain of Lakes. I always figured it would be too touristy. I was pretty wrong.

The Wheel House feels like a rough and tumble kind of place. It is very family friendly and even on a Monday night, was very busy. Of course we went there on Pizza Smorgasbord night. Usually I'm not so into those types of things. But I assure you it was good!

We arrived to a packed house. Even so, we only only had to wait twenty minutes for a table for four. In the meantime, we sat at the outside bar (they also have outside tables but a thunderstorm was coming so we opted to wait) and had some drinks. The bar staff was very friendly and quick to serve. Drinks were reasonable - imported beer was $3.25, mixed drinks about the same. While we drank, a storm did hit. One of those holy-shit-it's-raining type storms. Luckily, the rain was coming straight down so we were safe under the short roof extending off the bar.

Once seated, the pizza was great. They had quite a variety (all typical kinds, no mac and cheese pizza like my youngest kid loves)and it was all excellent and quickly replenished. My only complaint was our server. Yes, it was crazy busy, yes we were eating the buffet, but she was very slow on drink refills and taking away plates. Even so, it was a great inexpensive and fun time.

Although I didn't order from the menu, my companions assured me I should come back for the ribs. I certainly will. In addition to good food and a fun atmosphere, The Wheel House has many live music events to check out, and in September a customer appreciation party.

The Wheel House is definitely not fine dining, but is a lot of fun and good food. Menu prices range from $5.00 to $20.00 for entrees.

Eno Vino - Madison Wisconsin

2008-02-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Although not right in downtown Madison, Eno Vino is very much worth the trip from wherever you are. Eno Vino is a tapas style restaurant that boasts over 400 wines by the bottle and more than 40 wines by the glass. In essence, tapas are the currently fashionable Spanish tradition of eating numerous small plates of food accompanied by drink. Traditionally in Spain, this means visiting many bars/eateries, but in the United States, it has come to mean little bits of food. Either way, the tapas at Eno Vino are exceptional; the food is great. For our first plate, my companion had the tomato bisque with baby-grilled cheese – excellent, while I had the Frisee and Belgium Endive salad – a very tasty salad and a nice dish to start with. Our next dish was mussels served with steamed spinach all of which was flooded in an amazing broth. I could have eaten them all night. Foie gras trio was wonderful; although the foie gras flan wasn’t something I’d be into having again. We then had the Bisque of Cold Water Lobster and King Crab. A good dish, nothing to keep you up at night thinking about though. For desert we had a philo wrapped brownie – very tasty, but as with most desserts, terribly overpriced.

The service was excellent. The server did a nice job of suggesting wines and followed through with very well done wine service. The décor was fine, my only negative comment being the style of seating – on a busy night, the lack of booths or separation of seats would make you get to know your neighbors a bit more than perhaps you want to.

Overall, Eno Vino is an excellent restaurant that I highly recommend.

Location:
601 Junction Rd,
Madison Wi
608.664.9565

Price range $14-$30

Guest Review - Christian's Bistro

2007-11-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

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_

Quick List…Updated 11/13

2007-11-06T11:16:00.001-08:00

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

Insta Review - The Wooden Chair

2007-11-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Insta Review - Bernard’s Country Inn

2007-10-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Postings

2007-10-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

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!

Dine in or Take Out

2007-09-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out my Dine in or Take Outblog for a witty, sarcastic, funny, etc., take a waiting...

Rudy's Red Eye Grill -- Review

2007-09-13T12:04:00.001-07:00

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.

Here we go...

2007-09-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

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!