Progress Report: Matt the Miller’s Tavern

Welcome

We kind of have a special place in our hearts for Matt the Miller’s Tavern. Matt’s was one of the first places we reviewed, and they scored pretty high. That was a lunch service. So we decided to head back, only this time we picked a new location (on Gemini Place) and decided to have a go at dinner service.

For some reason, the Friday we decided to swing by Matt the Miller’s Tavern was crazy. Traffic around the Polaris area was absolutely insane, and Matt the Miler’s Tavern was running a wait well over an hour long. Rather than brave the traffic, we decided to wait it out. We’ve never owned a restaurant nor are we experts on how to run one, but we were a little annoyed that there was a lengthy wait for a table and yet there were numerous tables around the restaurant not being used. That didn’t really make sense.

After the wait was over, we were seated near the bar, which was a horrible location. The table next to us consisted of a two couples apparently on a double date. They must have been there a while because the ladies WERE REALLY TALKING LOUD. Our guess is they were probably drunk. So, unfortunately our dinner conversation was a little difficult. If we were doing a full blown report card on this Matt the Miller’s location, their atmosphere score would be really low.

However, the most important thing is the food, and on this front, Matt the Miller’s Gemini location did not disappoint. We repeated the same appetizer that we had during our lunch visit (pretzel bites). Once again, the pretzel bites were really good, and the dipping sauces were phenomenal. For drinks, I had a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and Katina had a drink called a Berry Tea, which had a couple of different flavored vodkas in it. It was smooth and went down easy. Katina snagged a BBQ Bacon Burger which was cooked exactly like she ordered. On this particular night, the chef’s special was a fish taco, and I decided I’d give it a try. The tacos were crazy good, and they had some tiny, bright red peppers on them that were real scorchers. I can’t remember the name of them, but damn, they were hot. These were my first fish tacos, and it’s a shame I’ve been missing out. If we were doing a full report card, then Matt the Miller’s at Gemini would score really high.

Obviously, the ginormous crowd and lengthy wait were an anomaly. Matt’s impressed us a couple of years ago, and they impressed us again. We highly recommend you eat at Matt the Miller’s Tavern.

Autism Friendly Score: 2: We didn’t have this category when we first reviewed Matt the Miller’s Tavern, so we thought it would be prudent to add it here. First, Matt the Miller’s is not really the type of place to take any young kid. They do have a kids menu online, but it’s not really robust. No free WiFi that we could see, so no tablet use for your kids on the spectrum. And if we were wrong about the wait being an anomaly, your wait with a bored autistic child would be quite unpleasant. Matt the Miller’s will be enjoyed much better if you leave your kiddos at home.

Report Card: Quaker Steak & Lube

 

Quaker Steak & Lube

 

Columbus

Overall GrubGrade B-

 

The Breakdown:

 

Atmosphere: Grade C: If not for the dingy appearance, Quaker Steak & Lube would have probably received a much higher overall grade. Even though the theme of the décor is service garage, we still found the place to be pretty dirty. Menus were pretty sticky, which is a little gross. The interior, besides giving off a stout grungy vibe, is decked out in automobile themed décor. Quaker Steak & Lube is probably what restaurants look like in heaven for NASCAR fans. This wasn’t our first pit stop into Quaker Steak & Lube, but we don’t recall our previous visits feeling so dirty. Tables were adequately spaced, and the noise level wasn’t too bad, but there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on when we visited. We imagine it’s a different story if you stop by during one of their weekly biker rallys.

High marks: Table spacing was okay, not too noisy

Low marks: Dirty and sticky…debated on whether or not to get a tetanus shot after dinner

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Service: Grade B-: Here was another missed opportunity for a server to “wow” us. With little action going on other than us, I would have expected our server, Hubbert, to go that extra mile to impress us. But that didn’t happen. Don’t get us wrong; Hubbert did an alright job. Our service was timely and accurate. The service was just not memorable at all. We had minimal interaction with the server, but that’s really what we would have expected, especially if the place was hopping. Since Quaker Steak & Lube was almost empty, a little small talk would have been nice.

High marks: Quick and accurate

Low marks:   Nothing spectacular

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Food/Spirits: Grade B: Quaker Steak & Lube actually impressed us when it came to the food. We ordered some pretzel bites for an appetizer. The cheese sauce that came with the bites was quite tasty, but the bites themselves were super salty. We know…salty pretzels, how dare they? But this level of saltiness was beyond what you’d expect from soft pretzel bites. We’ve completely abstained from salt since our visit, since we’re fairly certain we received a year’s worth of salt with that appetizer. For drinks, Katina started with the Skinny Dragonberry Lime-N-Ade, which she described as fruity and smooth. For her second drink, she opted for something called the X-celebrate. This was the better of the two drinks and was a bit on the stronger side. It had lots of fruity flavors thanks to the midori and X-rated Fusion liquor. I opted for the Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat. It was smooth and more straightforward than most wheat beers. I found it delicious, and that’s a good thing since it came out in a pitcher-sized beer glass. For entrees, Katina ordered the QSL Burrito and I opted for the Arizona El Camino burger. We can already hear you griping…”Why didn’t you get the wings?” It’s fairly obvious that since Quaker Steak & Lube’s bread and butter are its chicken wings and the place is still open for business, then the wings must be pretty good. But what if you had to go there and you’re not a chicken wing fan? First, you’d be a weirdo for not liking wings, and second, you’d be in luck because Quaker Steak & Lube did an excellent job with our entrees. The QSL Burrito was surprisingly good considering Quaker Steak & Lube is not a Mexican restaurant (we could be overestimating the complexity of the burrito, as well). The burrito was a tad dry, but Katina fixed that with…wait for it…an extra side of queso. One of these days that woman is going to get a bucket of sauce with her dinner and still have the stones to ask for an extra side of it. Just hope I’m there to see the server’s face when it happens. The Arizona El Camino burger was downright delicious. Topped with Pepper-Jack and Cheddar-Jack cheeses, the “steak burger” was an ideal canvass for some bacon, sour cream, fire-roasted corn, black beans, and jalapenos. As a side note, is there any dish that black beans can’t make better? It was really an awesome burger, and I was very pleasantly surprised. We went ahead and got a piece of salted caramel cake for dessert, since we still didn’t feel the need to undo the button on our pants yet. The dessert, while not the highlight of the meal, was still really good.

High marks: Great burrito, great burger              

Low marks: Super salty pretzel bites

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Value: Grade A-: With food quality above expectations and really good portion sizes, we were pretty pleased with our bill. While the food quality seemed to exceed expectations based on how much we spent, appearance and service were below expectations. Clean those little issues up and Quaker Steak & Lube might become a regular spot for us. The rest of you all should definitely give them a try, and don’t feel like you have to order wings.

High marks: Exceeded expectations on food quality

Progress Report: Six Penn Kitchen

Six Penn Kitchen — Downtown Pittsburgh

It’s been 10 months since we last visited Six Penn Kitchen, so we figured it was time to pop back in for a visit.  Actually, we didn’t plan on visiting Six Penn Kitchen on this trip to Pittsburgh, but the St. Patrick’s Day festivities really jacked our plans up.  Some of the establishments we wanted to visit on this trip were located right in the crotch of the celebration, so we had to adapt on the fly.

But that’s okay.  Because, sometimes when we write one of these report cards, we wonder if what we experienced on that visit is the norm or did we catch the restaurant on a particularly bad (or good) day.  We can attest that some of the restaurants in Columbus can provide almost opposite eating experiences on different visits.  So, on Saturday, when we found ourselves downtown after the show was finished and needing to kill some time, Six Penn Kitchen was one of our options.

After our first visit (which we enjoyed), we knew what to expect.  We were interested to see if Six Penn Kitchen could pull off another good performance.  When we arrived, there were no tables available, but the upstairs bar had a table free so we snagged it.  Again, let me state that we usually do not do the whole “table in the bar area” thing because we do grade on service, and most of the time service at those tables is subpar (because usually the bartender is doing double duty by having to wait on those tables).   However, we were pleasantly surprised by a nice service.  We had reservations for another establishment for later in the evening, so we were just at Six Penn to snack and get our booze on.  We weren’t real demanding, but we did make our server do a little bit of running, which they did expertly.

So, to be honest, I am a little confused while I am writing this post.  I am fairly certain that our server was a dude, but the name on our receipt say our server’s name was Courtney.  So, either I was completely hammered (nah) or I have completely lost my ability to identify gender by appearance OR (and I hope this is the correct one) the name is either wrong or we did have a female server at least once during our stay and maybe I just didn’t notice.  We had the same pretzel bites that we had as an appetizer on our last visit, and they were just as tasty (and ugly) as they were the last time.   Katina snagged a Six Penn sangria, which she very much enjoyed, and I had a few beers that were old hat and quite tasty.  As you’ll read in a few days, we probably should have just stayed at Six Penn, because our next stop was quite the let down.  But the take home message is that it appears that Six Penn Kitchen consistently delivers good service, tasty food, and yummy drinks.  We still highly recommend it.

Report Card: Matt the Miller’s Tavern

http://mtmtavern.com

Overall Grade B+

 

The Breakdown:

Atmosphere:  Grade B+:  We should start out with a disclaimer:  we visited Matt the Miller’s Tavern for lunch, so the atmosphere and service may be totally different for dinner.  Matt the Miller’s Tavern was more spacious than I expected based on its name (tavern = tiny, usually).  The tavern was very clean and fairly quiet (remember: lunch), but there were still quite a few diners present.  We were fairly surprised at the amount of business this tavern was generating for lunch.  Once we got our food, we understood why.  Décor was standard tavern fare with nothing that takes your breath away.  That being said, Matt the Miller’s Tavern came across as a really nice place to eat.

High marks:  Clean, quiet, and bigger than expected

Low marks:  Décor is pretty standard for a tavern

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Service:  Grade B:  We usually scoff when our server is the bartender (especially if we are not seated at the bar), but the duo behind the bar at Matt’s did a nice job with our service.  Drinks and food flowed appropriately, and no mistakes were made with the meal.  The only negative was that our servers were a little too busy to really engage us (which is why there is scoffing at bartender/servers), but overall they did a very good job.

High marks:  Good service, minimal wait for drinks and food, no mistakes

Low marks:   Bartender/servers too busy to engage us

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Food/Spirits:  Grade A-:  As we were having lunch and Katina and I are trying to keep our secret lives as lushes on the DL, there were no alcoholic beverages consumed at Matt the Miller’s Tavern.  Mark this on your calendar – it may be the only time I say we visited a “tavern” and did not drink any grown-up drinks.  For an appetizer, we decided to try the Bavarian Pretzel Bites.  Just between you and me, Katina has an unhealthy attraction to pretzel bites, something she passed on to our daughter.  The bites came with a roasted garlic sauce and a sweet and tangy mustard sauce.  Both sauces were absolutely amazing.  The actual pretzel bites looked odd, but they tasted delicious.  Once we were done with the pretzel bites, our server almost lost a hand trying to remove the leftover sauces from our table (not a good idea if you are providing us with knives).  We were definitely thinking about our fries (we left the ketchup untouched) when we demanded our sauces remain on the table.  Katina had something called Matt’s Burger and I had the Bacon Burger.  Both burgers were delicious.  Burgers are not that hard, but it is astounding how hard it is to get a really good one.  What we are looking for primarily is whether or not the burger is cooked to our specifications.  Medium-well is our default temperature, so we want some pink without the pool of blood.  That doesn’t happen very often, but Matt’s nailed it.  Katina had sweet potato fries (fancy) and I had regular fries (plain).  The fries were great (especially with our sauces).  Everything was well prepared and delicious.  We can’t wait to go for dinner.

High marks:  Excellent fries, pretzel bites, sauces, and burgers

Low marks:  Near casualties because of premature sauce removal

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Value:  Grade B+:  This is a tough one because we usually are grading dinner services.  We dropped a decent amount of coin considering we got burgers.  However, the food was excellent and we highly recommend you stop by when you’re in the neighborhood.

High marks:  Didn’t break the bank

Low marks:  A little pricey considering our dishes