Franco's Pizza, Pasta, and Subs

Went to Franco's for dinner tonight, located in the Burgess Road Shopping Center right next to Qdoba. It is a small, family owned pizza place that serves other traditional italian foods as well. It has a good amount of inside seating, and also has beer on tap and wine by the bottle. You walk up to the counter to order and pay, and then go and sit down and they will bring you your food. You can also get takeout, which I opted for.

I ordered 2 slices of Mediterranean Pizza, which has black olives, artichokes, onions, feta cheese, red peppers, olive oil, garlic, and spinach leaves. My total came to $6.64 and the woman who took my order was very friendly and talkative. She reminded me of an italian "mother", and had quite a personality. My order was ready within a few minutes and I headed home.

I dug into the pizza once home, and was.. surprised. I had heard wonderful things about this place, but I just wasn't very happy with the pizza I chose. It just had "too many" toppings on it, and didn't taste enough like pizza to me. I have had greek-style pizza before, and this just wasn't the best I have had. If I were to order again, I would definitely get something more traditionally italian and give that a chance. Overall, I don't know if I will come here again, but they were nice enough and the prices were reasonable that it might get a second shot.

Mediterranean Pizza:

Food: B-
Atmosphere: B
Cleanliness: A
Service: A
Price: $-$$

Overall: B+

Smokin' Pig Barbecue

Today for lunch I went to Smokin' Pig Barbecue located on Easte Wolfe Street, which adjoins Kline's Dairy Bar. It's fairly small and only has outside seating, and everything is takeout style.

I walked in and waited a few minutes to order (the service was hardly prompt) and I don't think they were even very busy. The girl at the counter finally took my order and I got a special, Pork Barbecue with your choice of sauce and side plus a drink for $4.99. I got Park Barbecue with Carolina Red Sauce and Macaroni Salad, with a Hi-C. It also comes with a fried pickle. I got my food quite quickly and then was on my way.

Once home, I dug in and was more than satisfied. The pickle was SO GOOD. I don't normally like fried pickles but this one was great! The macaroni salad and sandwich were also more than satisfactory, and honestly the barbecue came somewhat close to Carolina barbecue I had while in the Carolinas. (Not AS good by any stretch, but somewhat close). I was very impressed and the price was very reasonable for the amount of food I got. I will definitely eat here again when the mood strikes.

Hi-C:

Barbecue Sandwich, Macaroni Salad, and Fried Pickle:

Food: A

Atmosphere: C+

Cleanliness: B

Service: C+

Price: $

Overall: B-

McAlister's Deli

Traveled over to McAlister's Deli on Reservoir Street for dinner. Although McAlister's is a chain restaurant, every single one is tailored to where it is located. The one here features "old-timey" photos of Harrisonburg as well as some JMU paraphernalia. It has a lot of seating, and it features a pretty large menu.

When you walk in, you walk up to the front counter and order your food. Once you order they give you a number card and you place it on your table, so when your food is ready they will bring it out to you. It's take-out but also restaurant style. I opted for takeout tonight, since I was all by myself, even though it was pretty slow inside. I ordered a Horseradish Roast Beef and Cheddar Panini, which came with my choice of side. I chose the potato salad, and my total came to around $6.50. It was ready within 10 minutes, and on my way I went.

Once home, I unwrapped my food and dug in. The potato salad was very good as always, but the panini.. let's suggest otherwise. It's featured as a "horseradish roast beef and cheddar panini" yet I tasted zero horseradish on my sandwich. I opened it up, and alas, there was none. It was "alright" for what I paid, but it tasted like something I could have made myself at home with lunchmeat, cheese, and bread for about $4 less. Especially without any sauce on it. Dissatisfied with that, I left about half of it but ate my potato salad in full. I have been here before a few times, but after this experience I don't think I will be frequenting it.

Potato Salad:

Horseradish Roast Beef and Cheddar Panini:

Food: C

Atmosphere: A

Cleanliness: A

Service: B-

Price: $-$$

Overall: B-

Beyond Restaurant and Bar

Today for lunch HburgVegetarian and I went to Beyond. It's located downtown on West Water Street right down the block from Cuchi Guido's and Finnigan's Cove. They are open weekdays for lunch and dinner, and dinner on Saturdays, as well as brunch on Sundays. It features Asian cuisine (especially sushi) and also some international dishes.

We arrived around 12:30 and were sat promptly. The inside of the restaurant is very urban chic, and I thought it was very well-decorated. They even have a second floor that is kind of a "loft" above the first which I thought was really cool. They also featured a lot of local art on the walls that you can purchase. Their outside seating is also very nice (it's kind of like a deck), and overlooks a small stream behind the restaurant. If it was nicer outside I definitely would've liked to be sat there.

Our server recommended the sushi so I ordered a "Real California Roll" and HburgVegetarian ordered the "White Pizza". The "Real California Roll" is a typical california sushi roll but made with real crab meat. Also, all entrees and sushi come with miso soup, so that was brought out to us right away.

The soup was fairly good for miso -not the best I've ever had though. HburgVegetarian's pizza came out rather quickly and was presented very nicely. She said she enjoyed it and it tasted fairly good, but was a little greasy for her taste. Finally, about 10 minutes later my sushi came out. It was 8 regular-sized pieces presented on a plate nicely. It tasted like pretty much any sushi you could get anywhere, but honestly I thought the price was a little more expensive than other places I have had sushi of comparable quality. It definitely wasn't the best sushi I have ever had, but was still better than grocery store quality.

My total came to around $9, and HburgVegetarian's was around $8. Overall, I don't know if I will eat here again. For what I got I thought the price was a bit much (compared to other places), but HburgVegetarian said for what she paid she thought the pizza was good and also a good portion. For me, even with the soup included, I felt the food could have been slightly better. I was also expecting great sushi because it is such a big part of their menu and the server recommended it to me. It seemed popular enough though with the local "lunch hour" crowd. If you are going here for something other than sushi, you may end up more satisfied.

Miso Soup:

Real California Roll:

White Pizza:

Food: B-

Atmosphere: A+

Cleanliness: A

Service: B+

Price: $$

Overall: B+

Hello Readers!

(If anyone even reads this) I am taking a hiatus for the weekend, as I am taking a small trip out of Harrisonburg. So no food reviews/posts until Monday, but rest assured they will return and I have some exciting places to visit for next week! Have a good weekend!

Mr. J's Bagels

This morning I went to Mr. J's Bagels for breakfast, which is located off of East Market Street right by the 81 interchange. It's right by Petsmart and Boston Beanery. This is a very popular local breakfast joint, especially with the college kids, and so going for breakfast seemed like the only way to do it.

It's a small little restaurant with seating mostly on the left side (the seats aren't what I'd call the most comfortable.. it's slightly reminiscent of a cafeteria), and you wait in line and order on the main side. Then when they call your number you pick up your food. They have a huge selection of bagels, cream cheeses, and also sandwiches and toppings. They have a big cold case on the right side full of drinks, and also fountain drinks on the left side. I opted for something out of the cold case, a small bottle of grapefruit juice.

I ordered an Egg Bagel with Lox and Cream Cheese, and between that and the drink my total came to around $6. Thankfully we came at a slow time (9:30ish) so we got our food practically right away. I've been there other times for breakfast (especially on weekends) and it's mobbed and you can wait a while for your food, and just to order. I sat down and dug in, and of course it was delicious. If you aren't a fan of Lox and I wouldn't recommend this particular order, but if you are it's very, very good. Their egg bagels are my favorite too! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and just enough flavor!

Mr. J's is a Harrisonburg staple for obvious reasons. Reasonably priced, good-tasting bagels and breakfast food.

Grapefruit Juice:

Egg Bagel with Lox and Cream Cheese:

Food: A
Atmosphere: B-
Cleanliness: A
Service: A
Price: $

Overall: A-

Tacos El Primo: The Taco Truck

It was a sunny Thursday afternoon, so I went down Reservoir Street to "Tacos El Primo", or better known by locals as "The Taco Truck". It's just that, a truck that serves tacos, but also other traditional mexican favorites like burritos, quesadillas, and tortas. It's conveniently parked in a parking lot across from the Hardee's, and very hard to miss considering it's a big teal truck. They are open 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm, and have a bunch of tables for customers to sit down and eat at.

I ordered a chicken burrito (only $4.50!!) but sadly they were out of chicken for the day, so I went with steak instead. It was ready within a few minutes, and it came with freshly sliced radishes and a hot pepper. The burrito contains the meat of your choice and pinto beans, cheese, spanish rice, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. I decided to take it to-go because for once it was actually pretty hot outside. The burrito was pretty large (the same size as you'd get at Chipotle or Qdoba) and very tasty. I especially liked the spanish rice they used in it a lot. I almost couldn't finish it, it was so filling! It was also extremely well-priced compared to most "mexican" place in the area, and you could tell it was very authentic. I would consider this a must-see local "dive". I will definitely eat here again!

Radish and Pepper:

Steak Burrito:

Food: A
Atmosphere: B
Cleanliness: B
Service: A
Price: $

Overall: B+

Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint

Went downtown again today for lunch, this time at Jack Brown's. It's located right across from Cuchi Guido's and adjacent to Court Square. They are known for their beer and burgers, in case that wasn't apparent. I went around 12:30pm, and unfortunately when I got there the inside was completely full and also the bar so I had to sit outside on the patio.

The inside of the restaurant is VERY small, and although well-decorated, holds almost no customers. This was very disappointing. There is seating for around 20 outside, but overall there just isn't very much space to eat here. I sat down and ordered a Purple Haze off of the beer menu (which is huge!) and all the bottled beers are $4 unless other wise indicated. They also show the percentage of alcohol in each beer next to it on the beer menu, so I guess you know what you are getting yourself into.

The server was friendly and prompt, and I ordered a cheeseburger, which was only $5, and she asked me if I wanted fries as well (an additional $2) but I figured the burger would be enough for lunch. Everything on the menu is pretty much a 'la carte, so the burgers don't come with fries as you would expect. I was also tempted to order the grilled cheese, being a huge grilled cheese fan, but since they are known for their burgers I stuck with that.

Each day of the week Jack Brown's has a daily special burger, which is separate from the regular menu and has a lot more toppings than the plain hamburger or cheeseburger. The daily special featured today was the "Elvis", it has peanut butter, mayo, bacon, and cheese on top of a burger. I opted to get the cheeseburger, not being a huge peanut butter fan, but I have heard very good things about their specials.

The cheeseburger came out pretty quickly, and came with a pickle and some dressing I assumed was ranch sauce. I put the sauce on the burger and dug in. It was very good, but kind of small in my opinion. After finishing I had kind of wished I had ordered fries with it, because I was not very full. It was tasty and only $5 though. My total came to $9.98, which is a pretty good price for lunch, although I wouldn't say I was totally satisfied afterwards.

I was expecting a slightly larger burger but looking back at how low the prices are I should've figured it wasn't going to be huge. The burger specials are probably much larger, and they are also $2 more. I was very impressed with their selections of beer as well, and the waitress seemed to be knowledgeable about the beers herself, which is always good.

I would really like to come back here on a Friday and try their special that day which is called the "Greg Brady". It's a burger topped with home made Mac and Cheese and barbecue chips. Sounds totally indulgent, but delicious.

Purple Haze:

Cheeseburger:

Food: A-
Atmosphere: C
Cleanliness: A
Service: A
Price: $-$$

Overall: A-

Oriental Café

Tuesday afternoon. HburgVegetarian and I decided to hit up Oriental Café for lunch, a new oriental restaurant located behind Sheetz on University Boulevard. They serve sushi as well as traditional oriental food. I have heard very, very good things from other people about this restaurant, and I have ordered carry out from here once before that I was very satisfied with. I decided to go in and sit down and experience the restaurant from the inside.

We arrived around 12:15, and waited to be seated, which was very quick. The inside of the restaurant is small and had adequate seating, but isn't as large as some other restaurants in the area. There is a full-service bar as well as a television located by the bar playing some headlining sports games. Although I wouldn't call it "well" decorated, it had a certain ambience reminiscent of many other oriental restaurants I had eaten at before. The wait staff was very friendly and eager to serve us, and both of us ordered a water to drink because we were slightly (*ahem*) under the weather from the previous night.

Their style of serving was very interesting. They had kind of a "team" of servers all waiting on every table and helping each other. It seemed like a very popular spot for the "lunch hour" working crowd, and was decently busy while we were there. We both decided we wanted to try the sushi as well as a dish off the menu, so I ordered the Philadelphia Roll and Pork Fried Rice (I went with Fried Rice because I feel like in order for an asian restaurant to be passable it has to have decent fried rice at least, right?) . HburgVegetarian had Bean Curd Soup with Vegetables and the Asparagus Roll. Our food came out VERY quickly, and it was all very satisfying! The rice was well seasoned and cooked, with just the right balance of meat and vegetables. Her soup was hot but not HOT, and the sushi was very fresh and a good-sized portion. Overall, we were very pleased with our selections.

The only thing that was kind of "off" about the experience was language seemed to be a barrier at times. They came to check by very often, but a lot of the time we had to repeat ourselves or point to the menu to get what we were saying across. This was a little bit uncomfortable at times. Also, they had a Sushi Lunch Special I spotted off in the distance after I had ordered on a sign. It wasn't very well advertised and was kind of hard to read, but it seemed like it was composed of a variety of pieces of sushi paired with a seaweed salad for under $10. Seemed like a good deal, but I wish it would have been better advertised.

My total came to around $15 and was a pretty decent price for what I got. I will say the one time I ordered carry-out from here I ordered the "Crab Cheese Wontons" and I wish I had "room" this time to order them again. They were totally delicious.

Pork Fried Rice:

Bean Curd Soup with Vegetables:

Philadelphia Roll (left) and Asparagus Roll (right):

Food: A
Atmosphere: B+
Cleanliness: A
Service: B
Price: $$

Overall: B+

Cuchi Guido's

It was a very rainy Monday (Ew!), so my room mate (HburgVegetarian) and I decided to hit up Cuchi Guido's for lunch. I had heard very mixed things about this place, from "it was the worst experience ever", to "it was incredible", so I was very curious to try it for myself. I had also heard it was a little pricey for what you get, but they have a very good selection of beer, so we determined to get a few drinks while we were there.

Cuchi Guido's is located downtown on the main strip down South Main Street. It's right by Oasis and just a few seconds from Court Square. It has a downstairs floor as well as an upstairs with a beer and wine bar. They are known for their cheesesteaks as well as their Jersey-style food selections.

We arrived around 12pm and wanted to grab a seat upstairs, but they said the upstairs portion wasn't open yet because it was slow. The server seemed a little unsure of himself but he took our drink orders (we each ordered a Blue Moon on tap) and brought them out. I ordered a water which was never brought over. They gave us free "Garlic Knots" while we waited for our food. I ordered a "Moni's Favorite Pizza" and HburgVegetarian ordered a side of fries. The Moni's Favorite Pizza is a Brooklyn-style pizza with mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil, and asiago cheese. The Garlic Knots were very tasty and HburgVegetarian's fries were brought out promptly. My pizza was still in the oven, but our table had no ketchup left in the bottle and no replacement was brought over. Finally the pizza arrived 20 minutes later, and it was absolutely delicious. And also HUGE! I wouldn't normally brag on pizza, but this was superb and worth the wait. HburgVegetarian decided to order to Yuengling as her second drink, but their Yuengling tap was out, as well as about 3 other beers on tap. Instead we both ordered a second Blue Moon. Although the service seemed less than adequate, the food was incredible and worth the wait.

The people next to us complained about how long their food was taking, as well as the fact that the man ordered an iced tea and the server didn't tell him they were out until 10 minutes after he ordered it. Overall, they seemed very understaffed for the lunch rush. I noticed when we were paying that the guy who took our orders was also a cook, and the ONLY cook working for lunch. Also while we were eating one of the servers was on the phone with someone discussing workplace drama and talking about how the person was not fired but should have been. It seemed very unprofessional.

I would describe the ambience of this place as "eclectic". Everything ranging from banners and posters, to baseball and football memorabilia. Also they had smooth jazz constantly playing, which didn't really seem to fit the feel of the restaurant. I think I would order this food again, but probably only get takeout or delivery.

My total for the 2 Blue Moons and the pizza came to $23.31 plus tax, not a terrible price but not cheap either.

The Blue Moon:

Garlic Knots:

Fries:

Moni's Favorite Pizza:

Food: A
Atmosphere: B
Cleanliness: A
Service: C
Price: $$

Overall: B