Pickles

Tonight we got the rare chance to go and eat at a new restaurant that opened up by our house, Pickles. Most new places have been chains so we knew what to expect. However, the place we ate at this evening was a restaurant that I consider a local restaurant. I can not find any information on-line and I do not see another restaurant with the same name, therefore I came to the conclusion it is local. As most of you who know me know that I have strong opinions. I love to review places and I often get on-line and tell places when I have a good or not so good experience at their establishment.

So for all my Evans and Augusta neighbors, this review is for you.

For those of you who do not live here, the location of the restaurant was previously Raising Cane's, a chicken fast food restaurant similar to Zaxby's.

When you first walk into the building you can see very few similarities to the old restaurant. Besides the floor, brick walls, and layout, everything else has changed. They took out the fast food style tables and put in tables you would pull a chair up to. They do still have booths but they have been given a face-lift. The restaurant's aim is to be up-scale. They have soft lighting, black linen table cloths with white paper overlays (real up-scale, I know!), and fancy square plates (cause all the restaurants in New York are doing it). They put in a very nice bar by the kitchen. Half the bar faced the kitchen and the other half faced a large built in glass holder. I never saw any alcohol displayed at the BAR, just glasses you would put drinks containing alcohol in. Odd...

We did not have to wait long for our booth in the oddest place. It was a corner booth but it was more in a nook than a corner. I do not recommend this booth. The table is small and it is stuffy. The waiter came directly over to take our drink orders, he came back to give us our drinks, and he stayed to take our order. We were there maybe 10 minutes. So good service but not enough time for my indecisive butt to decide what I wanted.

Now to the food...

Yes. This is where the experience turns south I am afraid. We ordered two appetizers, fried pickles and teriyaki chicken-kabobs. Now I LOVE fried pickles. It all started when Mom first ordered them at Barns (in my hometown). I had high expectations for the ones at a restaurant called Pickles and of course I was hugely disappointed. They were the long, down the pickle, thick slices not the small, across the pickle, thin slices. The pickle and the breading tasted ok but it was not fully cooked. The batter on the inside was still uncooked. The other appetizer had an ok taste but the chicken was fatty. I expected nice cuts of chicken but it was like they took the scraps from the fried chicken, stuck it on a stick, and grilled it. And you only got 4 small kabobs.

Of course they are a "fancy" restaurant with square plates so they had small portions and fancy arrangements on the plates. However, the pickles came out in plastic basket with a piece of wax paper. Think of what you would get a kids chicken finger basket in.

For my main entree I got beef kabobs with a loaded baked potato and broccoli. The server did not ask how I liked my meat cooked so I got pink beef which I do not like. It was good but a little fatty. I got two kabobs with 4 small pieces on each. There was nothing else on the kabobs so they should call it "meat on a stick". My bake potato was the size of a new potato. The loaded part was a teaspoon of butter, a teaspoon of sour cream, and 3 crumbles of bacon. Whoop Whoop! And the broccoli, you guessed it, was undercooked. It tasted more like they put butter on it and put it in the microwave for a minute to warm it to room temperature. There was no way that broccoli was steamed.

Doug got the fried chicken with gravy and his was actually good. Unfortunately, he got the broccoli too. Doug's mom never got her loaded baked potato soup and Doug's dad's sandwich was nothing special. He didn't even get a fancy square plate. He got a basket. And fair warning, the ketchup is not ketchup. We got refills after we got the check. Yeah. Cause that is when we need a full cup of water. Halfway through our meal, to make the restaurant more upscale, they dimmed the lights completely off. I guess because the food was too depressing to look at.

The menu is small but it is affordable. I think the steaks were expensive compared to the rest of the menu. There is nothing new or interesting on it. Just the same ole same ole.

I wore jeans and a t'shirt and I felt under dressed. This is a place you can dress up to go out to but do not go overboard. There was no candlelight or anything. However, you may want to bring some candles for when they set the "mood lighting".

Would I go back... NO. The food was ok but not good. The menu was nothing special and the service was not the best. Please tell me if you went and had a better experience or if you recommend something on the menu. If you are convincing enough I may go again... some day.