Wild Mustang

Where: Wild Mustang, 860 West 1250 South, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Six-Stack of Ribs with side of Vegetables and Sweet Potato Fries, Beef Brisket with New Potatoes and Baked Beans, Chocolate Meringue Pie 

What It Cost: Free...((on accident!))

What We Thought: 

We were originally planning to ride the new FrontRunner train to Salt Lake on the free train day, but like all free Utah things, it was super crazy and packed. So with the evening's plans ruined, we drove back towards home on University, when I noticed that the sign was turned on for the Wild Mustang. I'd seen it before and knew it was a new restaurant, so with last-minute decisiveness, we decided to pull into the parking lot! 

When we arrived, there was a little bit of a wait, and the hostess kept mentioning how she was surprised at how full the restaurant was. We were seated, and then proceeded to wait a good fifteen minutes until our server arrived.

When she finally did come around and ask if we wanted drinks, we were each given one of these sad looking rolls. I had thought that this restaurant was going to be similar to Texas Roadhouse (with hopefully shorter lines!), and they did give us some honey butter, but I was just so put out by this poor little roll. So ugly, so haphazard.

After taking our order, she gave back in another 15 minutes and brought this basket of rolls -- much better! A whole basket, beautifully shaped, and much prettier! The honey butter was soft and spreadable on the warm rolls, and my hopes were lifted again.

It took probably another twenty minutes or so for our food to arrive, so when it did, we were absolutely ravenous. My dish was probably the highlight of the meal - these were some of the best ribs I've ever had in a restaurant. The barbecue sauce was tangy and had just the right amount of smokiness and sweetness, and the meat was perfectly prepared. Sometimes restaurants manage to make "slow-cooked" into "super dry and awful," but not here! They were easy to eat, superbly flavorful, and if I'm ever in the mood for ribs, I'm going to come to Wild Mustang! The side of vegetables was alright - not really a variety of vegetables, but it was nice to have something relatively healthy to try (though I'm pretty sure they were cooked in loads of butter....)

My first side option didn't arrive with the meal because they were all out (the soup of the day), so I decided to try the sweet potato fries. Of course it took another ten minutes for them to arrive, but they were pretty good. They were out of ketchup, so I went with ranch - a viable option.

Owen ordered the beef brisket, which was served on a slice of country toast. We thought the toast was a little weird, but it ended up being pretty good if you ate the meat on top! The brisket was a little drier than we had hoped, but was still overall fairly tasty. We had to laugh at the side of "new potatoes," which were literally just two baked red potatoes, completely plain. When our server asked if he wanted butter with the potatoes, we said yes, and were brought another little container of the honey butter. I'm not sure if this was on purpose, but the honey butter on the potatoes was a little weird (but not horrible). The side of baked beans was the smallest portion of baked beans I've ever seen, and they were definitely unique - full of meat chunks and different types of beans. They weren't our favorite baked beans ever, but they weren't bad.

We decided to go for a piece of chocolate meringue pie, and she ended up bring us out two! It wasn't the prettiest pie, but it had pretty good flavor. I especially liked the meringue and thick buttery crust.

When we asked for the check, she told us that everything was on the house because tonight was the Friends & Family soft opening event! We were totally surprised and honestly awkward, but that totally explained our "complaints" about any service or lacking menu items! They didn't even have their registers up and running yet, and they were super busy (if you're going to have a lit-up sign on University on a Saturday night, people are going to come in!) with probably a not-full staff, so I completely forgive them of all service issues we had! Not to mention -- free food! Yeah, we totally lucked out on this one...!

What You Should Do: I would definitely recommend checking out Wild Mustang...now that they are open for real! Wild Mustang is like a less busy Texas Roadhouse, with better ribs! Though they were quite slow, I really can't blame them, and the service was still all very friendly. As far as the food presentation and side dish size complaints go - I'm sure they were also due to the soft opening craziness, so all in all, pretty good! We hope to be able to visit again some time when they have been up and running for a while!

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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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Station 22 Cafe

Where: Station 22 Cafe, 22 W Center Street, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen, Chelsey & Katie

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Trip 1: Sage Fried Chicken & Waffles and Indian Summer Sandwich. Trip 2: The Ratatouille Sandwich and Tuna Tarragon Sandwich

What It Cost: $17.24

What We Thought:

I've got to admit - I have mixed feelings towards Station 22.

First off, I have mixed feelings towards paying around $8 for a sandwich. Sandwiches definitely have to be on the top 10 list of easiest foods to make, and sure you can throw on a bunch of fancy ingredients, but all you have to do is plop them on top of each other, and BAM - you have a sandwich. So it's going to take a lot to impress me enough that I feel like a sandwich is worth much more than the cost of the ingredients.

So let's start with the best of Station 22 --

Have you ever tried fried chicken and waffles? It's been on my food bucket list for the past couple of years now, and I was so excited to finally try it here in Provo at Station 22! Luckily for me, it lived up to all my wildest sweet & salty imaginations. The waffles provides a slightly sweet and sturdy base for heavenly fried, savory and juicy chicken, topped with crispy bacon and a creamy syrup. Are you one of those people who secretly dips their bacon into the leftover syrup from your pancakes? If so, this is a dish made for you! Every piece of this dish is executed with style and flavor, and it was a wonderfully hearty and soulful lunch. The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that it was called "Sage Fried Chicken & Waffles," and there was absolutely no sage detected in my meal. Since sage is a pretty potent herb, I assume they just forgot to include it, which was kind of a bummer to me since I love a little sage here and there.

Owen ordered the Indian Summer sandwich which came with roasted pork tenderloin, a pineapple-tomato marmalade, and brie cheese. Unfortunately, this sandwich didn't come close to my chicken and waffles. Overall, we felt like it was way too sweet, the meat was too dry and not very flavorful, and the bread was disappointing. It just seemed like normal grocery store wheat bread, and didn't really add much or seem to go well with the sandwich. Brie cheese is best enjoyed warm, and sadly the brie on this sandwich cooled very quickly and was less desirable by the end of the meal. The sandwich was definitely unique and unlike any other sandwich I've ever had, but still wasn't that delicious to us.

I decided to go back with my friend Katie to see if I could make up my mind about Station 22. Lots of people rave about their vegetarian options, so I decided to go for the Ratatouille sandwich, which seemed to be missing the key tricky ratatouille ingredient - eggplant! I wanted to see if they would be able to incorporate this much-hated vegetable into a delicious tasting sandwich, but oh well. I did enjoy the sandwich, after I was able to devise a strategy of fitting it's hugeness into my mouth. It probably would have been equally delicious and much easier to eat with half the amount of fresh spinach, but I enjoyed the roasted vegetables, basil spread, and fresh ciabatta. I ordered the steak fries on the side too since many people seem to enjoy them greatly, and they were pretty good - a nice unhealthy addition to my somewhat healthy sandwich...Served with fry sauce in classic Provo tradition, they were hearty, flavorful, and served in a portion where you felt like it was worth the extra $2.50.

However, Katie's sandwich proved to be another disappointment. When it first arrived, it looked promising - a nice mix of fresh greens, tuna meat that didn't look like cat food (I am not a huge tuna fan, but Katie is :) and some interesting-looking herbs mixed in. But after the first bite, the sandwich was decidedly way too salty. To me, this is a carnal sin of tuna sandwiches, since tuna is already pretty salty to begin with, and Katie had to remove two-thirds of the tuna meat to even be able to complete her meal. Part of the saltiness culprit may have been the excess of capers mixed into the tuna meat - since capers have such a strong flavor, they really overpowered this sandwich.

What You Should Do: Go for the chicken and waffles. I'm 2 for 4 here at Station 22, but I keep finding myself wanting to like it so much - I like the interior decor, the creative sandwiches, the CHICKEN & WAFFLES, but have to issue caution when picking a sandwich here. I'd say either get the chicken and waffles (am I being obvious enough?) or go for a sandwich that looks like it's served on a good type of bread with vegetables (not the meat) being the highlight of the sandwich. I think I would go for the caprese sandwich next time, or chicken and waffles. Obviously.

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Joe's Cafe

Where: Joe's Cafe, 1126 S State Street, Orem

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Grandma, Mom, Devynne, & Garrett (my cousin)

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Pancake Combo (3 Pancakes, 2 eggs, and bacon or sausage), French Toast, French Toast with Fruit Topping, Western Omelet, Joe's Omelet with Grits, Biscuits & Gravy, Steak & Eggs with Hash Browns, Orange Juice & Chocolate Milk


What It Cost: $13.22 for two people


What We Thought:


There are just two words that can most accurately describe the amazing food which can be found at Joe's Cafe:

BUTTER and LOVE

I've never really been a huge breakfast fan...until now. What I thought were pancakes don't even hold a candle to what you can get here. See that huge plate of silver dollar pancakes above? Yeah, that was what came with our order of "three pancakes." I have absolutely no idea how that enormous platter qualifies as "three pancakes," and honestly, I couldn't care one bit. And these aren't just pancakes. They are literally little bites of heaven. They are more like little freshly fried doughnuts, soft and pillowy with oh-so-much butter. I've never had anything like it. And I never want to eat any other kind of pancakes ever again. Seriously, this pancakes will change your life.

The other dishes here at Joe's Cafe were also delicious - perfect French toast, with more than enough to keep you full until dinnertime. Not only is the food amazing at Joe's Cafe, but you couldn't ask for a more fun and friendly environment. When we went on a Thursday morning, Joe was the only one there, running the whole show. He makes you feel welcome with the kind of hospitality that only a true Southerner can provide. When I placed our order and got ready to pay, he said, "Nope - you aren't going to pay me until you are fully satisfied with your food!" By the end of our meal, we were begging to pay him!

I was feeling a little adventurous, so I went with the steak and eggs. Incredible. Eggs were perfectly good, and the steak was deliciously seasoned and just the right amount of pink. The hash browns were good but not life-changing...if I were to get this again, I'd definitely go for the grits.

Which we got with the omelets! Now these are no sissy omelets - they are stuffed to the brim with rich and flavorful ingredients, and could easily fill two people. And if they weren't delicious enough, they come with a side of either hash browns or grits, and I would definitely recommend the grits! Now, normally we've only ever had savory grits, usually with some salt and a little cheese or something. But apparently the demand for sweetness in Utah reigned supreme, and Joe now serves his grits sweet. They are like a creamier, smoother version of oatmeal with just the right amount of brown sugar and slow-cooked to perfection. There was a lady in there who told me she comes in at least once a week, just to order Joe's grits. I don't blame her! Definitely the best grits I've ever had. Ever.

In addition to not being the biggest grits fan (before this meal, obviously), I also used to hate biscuits and gravy. They just seemed so fatty and gross that I was never really interested.

Times have changed my friends.

All thanks to this little dish above. Wow. I never knew biscuits and gravy could be so gratifying. There is so much spicy and savory sausage in the gravy, plenty of pepper, at least a whole stick of butter, and some of the most tasty biscuits I've ever had in this little ceramic boat of goodness. Of all the dishes we had here, I would say that the biscuits and gravy surpassed my expectations the most. And I wish certainly be having them again!

Here's the side of meat and eggs - Joe was feeling extra friendly so he gave us both the sausage and bacon. This my friends is real bacon - thickly sliced, seasoned with pepper...it just tasted more...bacon-y. Like bacon on steroids. So so so good.

And if you'd believe it, there is some French Toast under there too. There is nothing skimpy or light about these meals - just delicious Southern cooking with all the butter you ever could want. Rich, scrumptious, filling, flavorful, and unique. I really don't know if I could ever eat breakfast somewhere else again.

What You Should Do: Skip the pathetic plates served at Denny's and IHOP, and get yourself down to Joe's Cafe right now! This is without a doubt the best breakfast served in Utah, and it's served with a smile and soul music. Joe also does lunch, which I am sure is equally amazing - you can order either breakfast or lunch items at any time when he's open. I've never met anyone who hasn't had an incredible experience here, and you'll wonder how it's remained such a secret for so long! Go Go GO!

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Molly's

Where: Molly's, 753 W Columbia Lane, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Carolina-Style Pulled Pork with Cheddar Biscuit, Baked Beans and Mashed Potatoes with Country Gravy, Daily Special -- Half-Rack of Ribs with Shrimp Chowder and Mac & Cheese

What It Cost: $20.36

What We Thought:

Molly's, with their short window of lunch hours (11-2 M-F), is known for their classic comfort, homestyle cooking. Have you ever wondered why it's called homestyle cooking? I know I do. That kind of food is definitely not commonplace in my home..."homestyle" cooking for today would be more like quesadillas, PB&J, and maybe some pasta with red sauce. Anyway...back to Molly's...

So we got there on a Friday a little after noon, and the place was PACKED! I was surprised at how many people were there, and even by the time that we made it through the cafeteria-style line, there weren't any seats open! The service is fast, as everything is prepared earlier that day and is out & ready. I felt like the portion sizes were MORE than generous -- it is pretty heavy food, and we were both quite full afterwards.

I got the pulled pork -- it was very flavorful, and cooked to perfection. I was in love with the texture, but wasn't so keen on the sauce flavor. It was a little too tangy for my taste, and the two options for BBQ sauce on the table also had more vinegar than my taste buds prefer. The baked beans looked incredibly promising -- there were many types of beans, and a few other vegetables mixed in. Once again, the texture was enlivened with the different bean varieties, but it basically (to my non-Southern taste buds) tasted like your typical baked beans to me. The mashed potatoes were also nothing special -- white gravy on white potatoes isn't super visually appealing, and there weren't any chunks or peels in the potatoes that might make it seem like these babies were once a starchy tuber. Some people have complained about the biscuit, but I actually thought it was pretty delicious. Light, crispy on the outside, and buttery. Perfect.

Owen got the daily special -- RIBS. We have a special place in our heart for well-prepared ribs. The best ribs need to be smoky, juicy, flavorful, and not too coated in masking BBQ sauce. These ribs were top notch in all of those categories. I have never tasted smokier ribs in my life. It was amazing! The shrimp chowder was alright - not too shrimpy, which was good for the shrimp-hater within myself, though it did look a little greasy on top. Owen thought that the mac & cheese was too cheesy, but it was JUST right to me! Too much cheese? Impossible.

What You Should Do: Go! But make sure to go early so that you can get a seat! They also supposedly run out of things sometimes, so guarantee yourself a good meal by getting there as early as you can. I think I would have gone for a different selection of sides next time -- the Dutch oven potatoes have received rave reviews, and I would choose a salad to lighten things up a bit. Molly's, though only "established" in 2010, has that old-time, cozy friendly feel, and will fill you up with some well-prepared comfort food that will keep you going for the rest of the day!

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