Myrtle Beach Resturant Review - Johnny Rocket's at Broadway at the Beach

Ever go south on I95 and see signs for South of the Border starting in Philadelphia? (I can't believe they don't have their own website, by the way.) I think everyone would agree it's a tourist trap filled with expensive junk, yet something loads of people feel compelled to experience for themselves, at least once in their lives. I now put Johnny Rockets in the same category.

My mom and I took my little gals to Johnny Rockets for lunch the other day. It's located at Broadway at the Beach, which is always a risk in July. Thankfully it was an overcast day and crowds were at a minimum. Plus, it was early, so we got right in.

The very cool thing about Johnny Rockets is the environment. We love 50's tunes. We love the dances that go along with them! The music and waitstaff alone is greatly entertaining. But then I looked at the menu...

I'm going to cut to the chase here. My hamburger was $7.50. It was a Smokehouse Single. On it were two slices of bacon, some cheese, an onion ring and BBQ sauce. It was overcooked, but still fairly good. No fries were included. We bought a basket of the to share. Cheese fries were $5.50, I believe. Drinks were $2.50

The cheese fries were dreadful. They were dry, unseasoned (including salt) and had a waxy slab of melted cheddar cheese on them. I had envisioned something in a melty Cheese Whiz.

While the entertainment was good and I enjoyed the fun atmosphere, I felt gouged. All over the menu there were indicators that they were offering 10% off menu price. When I asked about a local's discount, I was told they did have one - 10%. Ummmm...isn't that what I get even if I don't live locally?

It will be a long long long time before I return to Johnny Rockets. It will be equally long before I return to South of the Border. Sorry tourists, just bein' honest.

Myrtle Beach Restaurant Review - Giovanni's

If anyone has read my blog in the past, you'll know I loved Stefano's on Oak Heart Rd. near Piggly Wiggly in Carolina Forest. Loved it. I've learned that they still have their Florence, SC location open and one of these days I may just make the drive. In the meantime, though, Giovanni's has opened in Stefano's old location and, well, I'm pleased!

We ordered a simple cheese pizza from there the past week for pick-up. The service was quick and I barely made it back to the house with the pizza in tact. It smelled ridiculously good!

The crust was crunchy on the bottom and ends, but the dough was pillowy and soft on top of it. It was airy, much like foccacia bread. The best part was the sauce. I don't know what the deal is, but many pizza places, the biggest offenders being franchises, have super sweet marinara sauce. Papa John's, in my opinion, is the worst example. Giovanni's sauce is perfect! I taste rich tomatoes and their acid, salt and a sweet spice, perhaps basil, but no big amount of sugar. Thank you! We got a large cheese pizza and Caesar salad. The total was just over $19. I'd say that's a tad expensive, but when pizza has me wanting to tear into it on the way home, it's worth it.

After hearing me rave about our meal, my mom wanted to go into the restaurant for dinner tonight. Better for you because now I can comment on ambiance too!

When we arrived at 6:00 PM on this Saturday night, we were seated immediately. There were only a few tables full of patrons. Behind us was a lovely gentleman playing the accordion. The music was loud enough to be enjoyed, but not overbearing. He was only feet away from us and we didn't have to speak to each other loudly over the music.

When we arrived, I'll guess the average age of the customer at about 67. To my surprise, the interior and place settings were a bit more upscale than I expected. I felt the need to keep my girls on the quiet side. When one of the grumped out on me, I immediately felt obligated to pull out the big gun "We will leave RIGHT NOW if you can't act like a lady." threat. Thankfully everyone complied and we were able to enjoy our meal.

Our waiter was very nice and eager to please. After placing our orders, he brought out delicious, crusty, hot bread and oil with spices for dunking. I could have eaten the loaf! It had that same crunchy crust with soft dough on the inside as the pizza. Yum!

Our first course was salads. They were basic with lettuce, tomato, onion and cucumbers. My ranch dressing was good. Mom's bleu cheese dressing was bland and needed salt, but that led me to believe they were both homemade.

For dinner I ordered a simple classic, just to test out the fundamentals - lasagna. When it was delivered, I was immediately telling my husband and mom that I'm thinking the sheets of pasta were homemade and fresh. My portion was very large and I came home with half of it. It was smothered in that same, heavenly marinara sauce, only this time it had meat in it. The quantity of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses was perfect. Not too much, not too little. I won't lie, I'm craving tomorrow's lunch already!

I was interrupted mid-lasagna by my girls to use the bathroom. I can pleasantly report they were clean and warm. The restaurant is kept a bit chilly, so it was a nice change.

Upon returning, we decided to have cake and coffee. I decided on a Kahlua cake. Our waiter only described the dessert choices to us, rather than reading about them on a menu. I wish I had asked questions because I anticipated a chocolate cake, soaked in Kahlua or with Kahlua cream inside. Instead, I believe it was a ricotta cheese cake with Kahlua sauce. Don't get me wrong. It was very good, not overly sweet and light. I just had something else in my mind.

The end bill for three salads, three adult entrees, a small cheese pizza (10 inches), child's pasta. two cups of coffee, one lemonade and two pieces of cake was $84.00. I'd say that was a bit pricier than we'd normally spend, but the quality of the food was excellent. I'll gladly pay it again and again!

If you go to Giovanni's, bring a sweater and a big appetite. Our only issue was the temperature and a glass of wine that was ordered, never delivered and appeared on the bill. That was very easily corrected, though. And to be fair, I never reminded our waiter that the wine had never came. I only half-heartedly ordered it.

It's been awhile, but I'm back, baby!

It's been awhile, but I'm back, baby! The past several months have been filled to the brim with family issues. I lost my dad in March, wrapped up the school year, bought a camping trailer and subsequently camped, watched my baby in her first dance recital and nursed my mom through a pretty major surgery. It's all behind me and I'm back in business! And trust me when I tell you, it feels good to be writing again. And wouldn't you know it...I've got a few restaurants to chat to you fine people about!

Adventures in the school drop-off line

Let me start by saying, I truly dislike the school drop-off and pick-up lines. In fact, dare I admit that in my daughter's six month career in elementary school, I have yet to brave the pick-up line. I've been around the school grounds close to an hour prior to dismissal and there are folks already parked and waiting. Seriously? What do you do in your car for an hour to just wait? There's a small part of me that longs for an hour of silence to read a good book. But every day? Besides, my hour would consist of a cranky 4 year old, who is normally sleeping at that time, buckled into car seat, whining about being too hot/cold/tired/thirsty/BORED! Since my daughter spends a grand total of 7 minutes on the school bus, that's our chosen method of transportation home. For getting her there, I'm stuck. The bus would pick her up an hour before school starts and there's just no point in that. So I'm forced to either walk or drop her off. When temps are in the 30's, there's no way I'm walking. In fact, we have a 55 degree rule.

So today at drop-off, I *thought* we were going to have the coveted first spot. How it works is that there are roughly 7 positions in which you can pull up into to drop your child off. The first one is closest to the door my sweet, cherubic daughter likes to go in. When we're in the 7th spot, it's a haul for her. Nothing cheers her up more about her day is getting that first spot. Today, I thought it was ours. Wrong...

Cars 1-5 and 7 all deployed their children as usual. As we waited, I smiled and joined in the giddy chatter about being "#1" and how cool it was to start off our week this way.

The cars ahead of us started to move around the circle. My daughter grabbed her backpack. I proceeded forward and very unexpectedly had to stop. Car #6 first failed to pull up all the way to the front then let her child out, thereby holding up the whole line. My little sweetness was forced to get out in the #5 spot.

For future reference Car #6, you pull all the way up to the crosswalk/sign if you're in the first spot. Also, regardless of where you are in the 1-7 line, you must let your child out even if he has to walk a distant to his preferred door. Everyone has a different spot they love. You can not just stop at like #3 because that suits you because then you mess up minimally two cycles of cars.

Perhaps it was your first drop off. Perhaps you've only done it a few times. Perhaps you had a hard morning. Perhaps perhaps perhaps... I will choose to believe you were not under the impression you are above the rules. So given this courtesy benefit of the doubt, please get it right next time. It's February. We all should know better by now. I thank you for your understanding and cooperation in the future. And should you mess it up again I will punch you in the junk. Have a wonderful day. ;-)

[photo courtesy of www.parenttalktoday.com. It's adorable, isn't it? I just recently found this blog recently and it seems to be filled with some great topics. Check it out!]

Myrtle Beach Restaurant Review - City Bar

Hubby and I had the pleasure of going out to dinner sans our beautiful, yet sometimes annoying, cherubs. We've both been pretty high-strung over the past few weeks and were really craving a nice, quiet and divine eating experience. Hubs had been to City Bar in Myrtle Beach once before with a few co-workers for drinks and suggested it. I took a look at their menu and was game.

Before we start talking about the atmosphere and food, I have to give a quick shout-out to an online reservation system that I've used before in other cities but didn't realize it had any Myrtle Beach clients. OpenTable.com allows you to search out restaurants in your area by zip code, cuisine, etc and make a reservation without having to pick up the phone and talk to anyone. I'm lazy and I admit that. I hate calling restaurants to make a ressie. I don't think about it until, what I believe to be, their busiest time of the evening. I know, I know...they'll pick up the phone all the same and help me with my arrangements. I just don't enjoy doing it. So how lovely is OpenTable and their system of allowing me to browse which eateries in my area have openings at my desired time and making a reservation without much effort? They even have some system of accruing points for free dining certificates, though I haven't thoroughly figured that out yet.

When we arrived at 7:00 PM, we had our reservation, but didn't need it. As the name implies, there is an actual bar at the front of the establishment and a dining room behind it. What immediately struck me was how cozy and intimate the atmosphere was. Hubs and I were seated in a small booth, just for two. The lighting was warm, but minimal. Our seating felt very private and during our entire meal, I saw, but didn't hear other patrons. The music was louder and more upbeat than what I had in mind, but it added to the feeling of being in a slightly funky, yet not intimidating, place. It had a casual but upscale place. We really enjoyed the ambiance, and trust me when I say I'm critical.

We were seated immediately and placed drink orders. While I had a cocktail, their wine list was lengthy and nice. I only glanced so I couldn't tell you if they had anything truly special, but I did see a few choices that would have pleased me quite nicely. Hubby ordered a beer that was on the list, but ended up not being in stock. Our waiter said it was back ordered (who knew there was back ordering for beer!?) and he chose another selection.

We spent some time browsing the menu, trying to decide if we wanted a few small plates or single entrees. Truth be told, there were only a handful of options I would not choose and many that I would. I left it up to the man, but secretly hoped he would choose small plates. I'm a sucker for variety for I'm always the gal that makes everyone else at the table order first because I can't decide.

We ended up going with three small options - Chicken Roulade, Blackened Beef Tenderloin and a Santa Monica Crab Cake. The chicken was delicious. I had to italicize that because I wanted to lick the plate clean of the sauce once we ate the dish. The cheese blend within it was perfection. The gouda had just a bit of smokiness. The sauce had just a hint of spice. It was so good!

The blackened beef was so delish. Again, I could have eaten an entire plateful of it. We ordered it rare and it was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It sat atop some lovely pickled veggies...carrots, cabbage and onions, I believe. In fact, the vegetables almost had a gingery pickled taste. I may be picking up on the wrong flavor because it was subtle, but so good.

The crab cake wasn't my favorite but that may have been because there was little sauce with it. I'm a fan of a hollandaise or other creamy accompaniment. Though to it's favor, the cake was very meaty and of generous size. The flavor was nice. I was just missing a sauce.

Believe it or not, I've never eaten from a small plate menu so I wasn't sure how the portion size would be. We went with three choices because we couldn't narrow the list of things we wanted to try down more. And I'll definitely say that this was the perfect amount of food - especially for someone who wants dessert! The chicken roulade plate, for example, appeared to be one breast's worth of meat. The crab cake was just a smidge smaller than the size of a CD, but quite thick. I liken the portions something along the lines of a tasting menu size.

For dessert we had both the Creme Brulee and White Chocolate Bread Pudding. I had just a bite of the creme brulee and it was quite good and served with a chocolate topped biscuit. My white chocolate pudding was also very good, though I wish it had been served just a bit warmer and with more white chocolate flavor. It was mild. Though even with these slight criticisms, it was very good.

Now for one of the best parts...the service. Our waiter, I wish I could remember his name, was very attentive without being intrusive. I could see where he generally stood, keeping an eye on us. As soon as I put my glass down after having the last sip of my Cosmo, he immediately walked over to ask if I'd like another. I was impressed and pleased. The restaurant wasn't busy at the time, so he wasn't forced to table hop, but his attention to detail was really appreciated.

With three small plates, two beers, two cocktails and two desserts, our bill came to $80. A generous tip took us up a bit more, but it was worth it. There is no kids' menu and I would definitely not bring our girls here. I don't know if there is an official "adults only" policy, but nothing about City Bar says "family atmosphere" to me...which is exactly what we were looking for last night. I can remember once going to the Melting Pot listening to a toddler scream the entire meal. But I digress...

To wrap up, our night out was really nice. City Bar and OpenTable.com both receive a huge momorable mention. I'd recommend them to my friends and family without hesitation. I can't wait to return to City Bar. For a quiet and intimate evening with refined, yet casual, food this is the place to go.