CHEF'S TABLE

Where: Chef's Table, 2005 S State Street, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Cheese & Charcuterie Board, Macadamia Crusted Halibut, Rack of Colorado Lamb, Bananas Foster Cheesecake, and "Chocolate Dream Dessert" 

What It Cost: $118.44

What We Thought: 

It's so funny -- probably one of the "nicest" restaurants in Orem is really in not so nice of a location -- across the street from D.I. and next door to PC World...ANYWAY. Since it's won so many awards (lots of Best of State, Zagat, etc), we of course had to check it out. The first time we had a Groupon (scout these out -- so worth it here!), but we actually kind of liked it, so we had to go a second time...

You know those nights when you're just feeling like, I want to go somewhere nice and expensive! Okay, okay, it's rare (we are students, after all), but when you do, Chef's Table totally fits the bill (literally). Though it's in a really weird location, it has a pretty view of the mountains, and a very pretty dining area. We started our meal with the cheese & charcuterie board, and you know that song "These are a Few of My Favorite Things"? Well, this board is that song to me...Tartufo Salami, Soppressata, cornichons, gorgonzola, merlot-soaked sharp cheddar, crostini, prosciutto, and kumquat marmalade? These are a few of my favorite things! In all seriousness, this charcuterie board was a great mix, and a super delicious start to the meal. The only things that could make it better -- 1) More crostini (it was a little awkward to eat the cheese & meats without a good carb base) and 2) The server didn't know who made the meats - I thought it was Creminelli, but it would have been nice to know for sure :)

I mean, is there anything that makes you feel more sophisticated or like this is an Important Meal than a lemon sorbet to cleanse your palate? I think not.

Now...for the entrées...YUM! Owen got the rack of Colorado lamb, which was served over the creamiest polenta, with a roasted tomato sauce and green beans. The lamb was cooked perfectly medium rare, and was sooooo juicy and tender. I would eat this every day if I could afford it haha.

I ordered the macadamia crusted halibut, which was served over a delightful risotto with asparagus and beurre blanc. The risotto and sauce were AMAZING, and the halibut would have been really great except for the fact that I am totally picky and the fish was a little overcooked for me. It was still all really good, but when I mentioned to the server that the fish was a little dry/overcooked, he offered to make up for it with some free dessert. Yeah, you know I couldn't turn that down...

And WOW am I glad we didn't! First off, it is rare that more than one dessert sounds even remotely appealing after, you know, a full meal. But at Chef's Table, literally every dessert sounded super intriguing. I ordered the Bananas Foster Cheesecake, and Owen got what the server described as "It's really chocolate-y - chocolate brownie topped with chocolate mousse and chocolate wafers and chocolate sauce...yeah, it's a lot of chocolate." Of course we had to try that. The cheesecake was divine - I looooove bananas foster AND cheesecake, so I knew this would be a win for me. The flavor was phenomenal, and I loved the brûléed banana - it was perfectly cooked and the bananas weren't mushy at all! I was surprised with the raspberries on top, but it was a perfect bit of tartness on a dessert that could have been overwhelmingly sweet. I WANT THIS RIGHT NOW.

I can't even describe this chocolate dessert except...best thing ever/I love chocolate/so intense but so good/you gotta try it/never take this off the menu

What You Should Do: Like I mentioned before, Chef's Table is a great place for those special occasions where you really feel like splurging! The service was really excellent and they want you to have a wonderful dining experience. My only advice is hey, if you're going to be spending more than $100 on a meal, let's dress a little nicer, okay? Just a personal thing... :) I would probably give this place four stars, but it is pretty expensive in reality, and I'm not recommending going here every day!

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CHILI'S

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Where: Chili's, 122 E 1300 S, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Chips & Queso, Guacamole Burger, Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

What It Cost: ~$30

What We Thought: 

Can you ever say Chili's without wanting to sing "Babyback Ribs"? Me neither.

After doing a survey, I had the choice of getting a $25 gift card to Chili's or Olive Garden. I'd already been to Olive Garden (post to come soon), so that was how we found ourselves at a Chili's on a Wednesday night at 5:30. Not that that's lame or anything..................................

Most people in the United States have been to Chili's at least once, so we had many recommendations for people because believe it or not, I'd never been to one! I know, it's almost un-American. Anyway, first on the list to try was "Chips and Queso." This actually isn't a menu item, you just order the queso since chips come with every meal, along with salsa. Okay, so the chips -- there is only one word I can think of SALTY SALTY SALTY SALTY SALTY. Wowza. I've never had such salty chips in my life. The salsa was even a little salty, which was weird. And obviously, queso is going to be salty, but somehow the different levels of salt kind of negated each other into something that was weirdly good. Like the kind of good you crave after a super long week where you've studied your brains out and are in a strange kind of mood where you just want to dip salty chips in salty cheese (maybe meaty?) sauce. Also, that little skillet is not as deep as it looks. But yeah...

Okay, I don't know about you, but there is something about the stratification of this burger that kind of weirds me out. Its like all of the components were in little packages that were all pre-formed and then slapped together? I don't know. Anyway, the bun was surprisingly good, the guacamole was the only thing in the meal that was oddly unsalted, so it was not all that flavorful, and the burger and vegetables were alright. Not the greatest burger, not especially crave-worthy, but not bad.

The fries were just how I like them, but OH MY GOSH THE SALT! I hope you can see the detail on those fries, but yeah, that's how much salt was on there. They were pretty good once you brushed 99% of the salt off, and doused them in ketchup. We definitely left feeling ultra bloated.

I ordered the sour cream chicken enchiladas, which I would describe as "pretty good white girl enchiladas." The chicken was pretty good, not overcooked, the sauce was tasty and there was plenty of cheese and corn salsa to satisfy. It definitely did not feel authentic in anyway, but it was probably my favorite part of it all. The black beans weren't comment-worthy, and I couldn't really go for the rice because it felt like each piece of rice took its own little oil bath. Meh. No thanks.

Then OBVIOUSLY we had to get there classic molten lava cake, which is probably the most talked-about dish from Chili's (at least that I've heard of). It was chocolatey, it was cakey, and it wasn't the worst molten lava cake I've ever had, but of course it wasn't the best. It was amazing, almost scientific, how there was the perfect ratio of ice cream to cake - they've definitely had people testing that. And the chocolate shell on top was fun in a 90s-dessert kind of way.

What You Should Do: So, somehow there are over 1500 of these across the world. Crazy, right? I don't know what that has to do with anything, except I just don't really know what to say. They really have this down to a science. The food all looked like we ordered it from a catalogue, which was a little odd. The food wasn't BAD, but it wasn't great. I probably wouldn't go again, except maybe for that cake. Though I'm pretty good at making molten lava cake, so who knows...Oh, I should also mention, the service was quite speedy and our server was very nice.

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BUFFALO WILD WINGS

Where: Buffalo Wilds Wings, 92 N 1200 E, American Fork

Who Went: Owen and Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Huckleberry Lemonade, Triple Threat Nachos, 15-piece wings with Hot Sauce and Honey BBQ

What It Cost: $38.32 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Okay, a bit of a disclaimer: I went into Buffalo Wild Wings having the lowest of low expectations for the food and service and everything.

Another disclaimer: I love March Madness. A lot. #favoritetimeoftheyear

So, like crazy people, we decided to go to this restaurant on a Saturday night around 7:30 during March Madness season. Obviously, I was expecting like a 2 hour wait or something, so when the hostess told me it would be 30 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised. We took our little pager with us to Walgreens across the street, bought some nail polish, sat in our car for a bit, and then were buzzed in. 30 minutes on a Saturday night during one of the most popular sports seasons? Not too bad in my opinion.

We started out with nachos that were actually supposed to be a meal I am pretty sure -- don't judge. These were called the triple threat nachos -- on one side, it was regular taco nachos, in the middle, there was buffalo chicken and blue cheese nachos, and the opposite side was nachos with pulled pork. Woof. These were seriously intense! The flavors probably went from our least favorite to most -- the pulled pork was actually pretty good, and the regular tacos were only meh. But altogether, and pretty great thing to snack on while watching the game! The cheese was definitely your typical nacho cheese (as opposed to like, you know, real cheese), but it was a pretty fun, and definitely a good value. We put a regular sized ketchup bottle in the background as a size comparison for you!!

Okay, okay, now onto the real business -- da WINGZ. When we started the meal, we told them that we had never been there before, and they offered to bring out a little sampler of the different wing sauces, that we could sample with french fries. Fun! And a great way to try out some of their more unique flavor choices :) We are boring, so we went with regular hot wings and honey BBQ. And um yeah, they were pretty dang good. Not Nicolitalia's good, but definitely at least Winger's good, and good enough that I would go there again! The 15 piece wings was PLENTY and I felt like it was a pretty decent value for the price - we definitely took some home (dinner tonight?) A lot of people have complained about the service at this location, but we must have had really great luck - we were checked on plenty of times, our food came out quickly, and our server even asked if we wanted another refill of the lemonade to go on our way out!

What You Should Do: Since I love March Madness, and they had all three games going at the same time (plus a Nadal tennis match -- bonus!!), I had a great time at Buffalo Wild Wings. It is a lot of fun to go for a big game, since people realllly get into the game, and they have more screens than I've ever seen, so you definitely won't miss a thing haha. The food is not amazing, but it is pretty good, decently priced, and wings are just delicious, okay? If you don't have somewhere to watch the games this week, you should definitely give BWW a try!

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LUCKY 13

Where: Lucky 13, 135 W 1300 S, Salt Lake City

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen and Aaron

Number of Visits: Sadly, only one

What We Ordered: Regular hamburger, Ol' Man hamburger, Celestial hamburger, and three ginger sodas

What It Cost: $24.84**

What We Thought: 

Welp, all I have to say about this is that it is simply the best burger I have ever eaten. 

I feel like there are not sufficient words in the dictionary to describe how incredible the burgers at this place were. Any words I use don't do it justice.

Fresh. Flavorful. Perfect. Fresh. Delicious. No other burger in the world should even exist.

I may sound ridiculous to you, but go there. You will understand. Also, get the fried pickles. They are so fun. Cajun fries and onion rings were also so good though. You really cannot go wrong here.

What You Should Do: I feel like crying when I think about how long I have been in the state of Utah without knowing about this place. Just make sure you're over 21 and bring your ID, because it is a bar, but you don't have to drink if you don't want. JUST EAT THESE BURGERS. now.

BYU CREAMERY

Where: BYU Creamery, 1209 N 900 E Provo

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Monica, Devynne, and many more

Number of Visits: Many, many, many

What We Ordered: Guacamole Bacon Cheeseburger and Garlic Fries

What It Cost: ~$8

What We Thought: 

Well everyone, it's been a crazy summer. Hopefully most of you have not noticed my utter lack of posting, but you know, we all need a summer break every now and then. Between trips to Armenia, France, San Francisco and Portland (twice), I didn't have much computer time or Provo eating time, so you'll have to forgive me. But, now we are back to the grind -- some people already have midterms, BYU's already killed it at the LaVell, and surely some people are already engaged. So let's get to it, starting with a good ol' back to school classic -- BYU Creamery! 

I seriously can't believe I haven't posted about the Creamery yet. I love this place! It's actually my favorite burger in Utah County, and it just has so many good memories and flavors and everything! The burgers are great. They are more of the thin-style burger, and their meat is always super fresh and delicious. Add some guac and bacon -- you've won my heart. I love the texture and taste and everything about them!

Another great part about the Creamery is their flavored fries -- I can never decide what my favorite flavor is! The garlic fries go great with burgers, the spicy ones are so flavorful and fun, and Owen is so pepper-obsessed that we also love ordering the black pepper ones. I would say try them all, but they are pretty filling so you may have to make more than one trip :)

It's sad, but we were so full after this meal that we didn't even get the main event -- the ICE CREAM! But don't worry, I've had it a million times before, and can't say enough good things about it. Their ice cream may be my all-time favorite, competing greatly with Tillamook and all its goodness. BYU Creamery has some amazing flavors -- my top two are Graham Canyon (graham cracker flavored ice cream with chocolate bits, don't think its weird until you try it!!) and Earnestly Chocolate (chocolate ice cream with caramel and marshmallow, another surprisingly amazing combo!), but really you can't go wrong here. Share your fries so you have enough room to get some ice cream -- and my little trick is to always get the "child size." It seems like the same size as 1 scoop, its just the right amount to satisfy your craving, and it's totally cheaper!

What You Should Do: Get in the back-to-school spirit and give the BYU Creamery a visit! They are a BYU classic, and definitely for a good reason. Everything is delicious, and the old-school decor will make you feel like BYU's been around for forever (which it has). Not to mention, you can do a little grocery shopping, and take some creamery ice cream home with you afterwards! Win win!

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APOLLO BURGER

Where: Apollo Burger, 452 N State Street, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Devynne & Tyler

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Us - Gyro, Bacon Cheeseburger, Onion Rings, "Cookie" Milkshake. Them - Chicken Souvlaki, Western Bacon Cheeseburger, Strawberry Milkshake

What It Cost: $16.99 for two people

What We Thought:

My next door neighbor Jordan told Owen that Apollo Burger was his all-time favorite burger place, but for some reason I thought that the closest location was in Draper. When we realized there was one in Orem, we made plans to go immediately! 

First off, you guys all know about my obsession with onion rings. So when our tray arrived with this HUGE pile-up of onion rings (it was quite monumental), let's just say I was a teensy bit excited. I mean, that is a hefty looking tray of food for under $20, I gotta admit.

I don't know what they do to their bacon, but seriously, it was the best bacon I've ever had on a burger!! It was super hot and crispy and thick and flavorful and amazing!!! The burger itself was pretty delicious too, but THE BACON! Obviously, the bacon was what really sold me on this burger -- the patty was decent, the shredded lettuce and American cheese didn't really win me over, and the rest of the toppings were just fine. It was a nice and thick bun, which was great and definitely necessary for a burger as big as this one.

The gyro was pretty good - not as good as Burgers Supreme, but definitely juicy and tender and flavorful. It didn't come with any lettuce, but I didn't really mind. The tzatziki sauce was still really good, and it was served in a decent pita as well.

Though the mount of onion rings was enormous, I can't say that they were my favorite onion rings of all time. The batter was less crispy than I usually like, and they cooled off super quickly. Cold onion rings...not so amazing. They were definitely better than the Cannon Center/Marley's onion rings, but they didn't blow my mind or anything.

This milkshake was labeled as "cookie," which we thought was funny - it was definitely an Oreo milkshake, but maybe there are some copyright issues with that or something? The milkshake was on the thinner/more drinkable side, had a really tasty flavor (duh - Oreos and ice cream...), but didn't really have any big chunks of Oreos like I was hoping for. Still a yummy compliment to the meal overall though.

The Western burger was essentially the same burger as mine, but with barbecue sauce and an onion ring on it as well. Definitely for those salt-cravers!

We really didn't go for creative choices as you can see - the chicken souvlaki was basically a gyro, but with marinated chicken instead of lamb. Oh, and it did come with shredded lettuce. I personally liked the additional texture that the lettuce contributed, though it was probably some of the palest Iceberg lettuce I've ever seen! Apollo Burger had many more much more interesting choices than what we went with (especially with pastrami?), and I would be interested to try something more exciting next time!

What You Should Do: Rumor has it that Apollo Burger is run by the same people as Burgers Supreme (can anyone confirm this?), but I have to admit, I liked the burgers here better! The gyro was still better at Burgers Supreme in my opinion (that's the only thing we ever order there!), but if you're in the mood for a decently-priced, juicy, BACON-y hamburger, Apollo Burger will definitely fit the bill!

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Screen Door

Where: Screen Door, 2337 East Burnside Street, Portland, Oregon

Who Went: Chelsey, Devynne, Lyvia, Charles, Quinn, Mom

Number of Visits: 1

What It Cost: A lot....$100+ (gratuity included)

What We Ordered: Blackberry Lemonade, Fried Chicken, BBQ'd Beef Brisket, Pecan-Encrusted Trout, Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich, Two Screen Door Plates - one with Mac & Cheese, Thin-Sliced Fried Pork Chops, and Red Beans & Rice, the other with Smoked Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Fried Catfish, and French Fries, Creole Pecan Pie, Ban-offee Pie, Mississippi Mud Pie, Hummingbird Cake, Upside Down Rhubarb Cake, and Strawberry Shortcake

What We Thought:

Of course I typically write reviews for restaurants around Utah County, but I thought I'd throw in an extra review this week for a fun out-of-town visit I've taken recently. For my birthday at home in the Pacific Northwest, I requested one of the most talked-about Portland restaurant, the Screen Door. This was before my experience with chicken and waffles at Station 22, and the Screen Door receives a lot of press for their famed chicken and waffles, as well as their famed line out the door! They are only open for Saturday and Sunday brunch and dinner everyday at 5:30, so we got there around 5 to start waiting in line! There were already people there of course, but at least we were let in with the first round of diners, even with our large party. I was impressed with how quickly they got our food to us, even though the restaurant was absolutely packed and incredibly busy. Unfortunately, when we looked at the menu, I discovered that the chicken and waffles are only served during the weekend brunch! NOOOOOOOO! I decided I would settle for the regular fried chicken and just overly compensate with tons of desserts. (I also thought it was hilarious that in addition to their traditional Southern-style plenty-of-fried food menu they had a separate menu with organic and vegan options...so Portland).

I started with the blackberry lemonade, which was heavenly sweet and flavorful. We were lucky enough to get to sit outside with the perfect Portland weather and missed out on the hustle and bustle of the indoor restaurant, which I was kind of grateful for. It was nuts in there!

I staked the first claim on the fried chicken, and being the annoying restaurant blogger that I am, I i̶n̶s̶i̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ encouraged everyone else to try something different. I absolutely loved my fried chicken - divine crispy buttermilk exterior with moist, juicy chicken inside. It is definitely at least 10 degrees better than that at Station 22....sorry. It was served with mashed potatoes which were decent and some collard greens - turns out I'm not a huge collard greens fan. But nothing on the side mattered, the real star of this plate was the huge pieces of fried chicken, and they really shone. There was so much chicken on this plate that I even gave in and shared some with everyone at the table, despite the fact that I'd really rather have eaten it all myself!

The Screen Door Plates are a fun choice for those of us who can't ever make up their mind about what to order - you get to choose three separate "sides," most of which could really be a complete dish on their own! On this plate, I was actually a little disappointed with the red beans and rice - it's one of my favorite Southern dishes, and this one was just under the expectations I had for flavor. The macaroni and cheese was good of course - cheesy, oozy, intense, and with a tasty crunchy top crust. And the fried pork was a little dry but had a nice salty crispy profile and it was all an overall enjoyable plate.

The pecan-encrusted trout was probably our least favorite plate - the fish had a little bit of a dirty taste and the pecans did not add much of a flavor-punch. The potatoes and asparagus were fine but a little boring, and there wasn't enough sauce to add enough pizzazz to the trout.

The beef brisket on the other hand, was absolutely delicious. Huge slabs of tender meat, doused in a sweet and spicy sauce was complimented with twirls of crunchy fried onions. Yum! Devynne ordered this plate and it was hard to pry a single bite from her, but I greatly enjoyed the little taste she spared :) The potato salad was a nice refreshing touch to the savory meat, and there were some forgettable greens that upped the healthiness factor at least.

Our second Screen Door Plate was ordered by someone who's not actually part of my immediate family, so I tried not to be too awkward about wanting to try everything, but he was surprisingly compliant. He greatly enjoyed the fried catfish and I was impressed with the jambalaya - since I'm not a huge shrimp fan, I thought the slightly different combination of meats was a delightful change.

This pulled pork sandwich was probably my second favorite dish that we ordered - I've never had my coleslaw actually piled on top of the sandwich, and it has changed my life! Now I always slap some slaw on top of my pulled meat sandwiches. It is so good!!! The pork was tangy and delicious, and some of the best peppery coleslaw I've ever had on a toasted tasty bun. If I ever could convince myself not to order some of that amazing fried chicken, this would be an excellent second choice.

Now on to desserts! We went a little crazy and ordered every.single.dessert on the menu! They just all sounded so good that we couldn't exclude any of them...well, we were going to say no to the strawberry shortcake, but we just couldn't leave it out. They brought out this Ban-offee Pie to me with a little birthday candle, oh-so-festive. I've never had Ban-offee Pie before - apparently it is a traditional British dessert, and it is a dessert that I am definitely going to add into my rotation! A crispy shortbread crust, tender bananas mixed with delicious toffee, all topped with a caramel-infused whipped cream. AMAZING! I may need to move back to Portland just so I can eat this EVERY SINGLE DAY!

This was the Mississippi Mud Pie, and honestly, it was gone between Charles and my brother before I could even get a bite! I was lucky to even get a picture...I'll take that as a good thing :)

The pecan pie was cute, but a little too much crust and not enough filling for me...though still delicious.

We probably should have just said no to the strawberry shortcake. You know, I've never really had a strawberry shortcake that I've been super impressed by. With this one, the biscuit was too dry and crumbly, and there were not enough strawberries or sweetness. Definitely our least favorite of the desserts.

This cake definitely made up for it though! A mix between a carrot cake and pineapple cake, this Southern classic with cream cheese frosting was absolutely delectable. I hate raisins and love pineapple, so this baby was right up my alley. In fact, I don't think I'll ever be able to have carrot cake without pineapple again! It was just too darn good this way.

Finally (I know, you thought it would never end) was the upside down rhubarb cake. Not too much to say here - the toasted almonds were a nice touch and the cake had a good flavor and texture, but I really could have gone for more fruit in the cake itself. The rhubarb flavor was more of an accent than the leading role in this cake for us.

What You Should Do: Well, if you ever find yourself in the Portland Oregon area, I'd definitely recommend going there! But if you don't mind doing me a small favor, try to go for brunch and then report back to me if the chicken and waffles are worth all the hype (and the line out the door and around the block)! There were a couple of misses in our meal, but probably just because I forced everyone to try something different - if I was a little nicer and less selfish (hey, it was my birthday at least), then probably everyone would have ordered the fried chicken and we all would have gone home as happy as me!

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