May 25, 2008

Diner in Napa....Pricey

We took a little side trip over to Napa. Not really in the budget, but how can you not? We visited two wineries that we did not get to see on our honeymoon, Sterling and Franciscan and had a great time at both. But by now we were a little hungry and decided to grab a bite before heading back to Sacramento.

I suggested a little road side stand, Wayne didn’t want to go that cheap, but we weren’t looking for fine dining either. Stay outta
Yountville. So we spied a little grill that looked like a converted gas station, it had an unassuming name and we thought we might do ok with them.

We walked in and were greeted by servers in crisp white aprons that capped the tops of their shiny black shoes. I knew we weren’t getting out of there for under a C-note. But as we were led to our table I saw that the servers were wearing jeans under their aprons. Hope for getting out of there for under two hundred.

We had just been tasting really great wine and didn’t want to spend the money to get something up to that par, so we opted for beers. Fancy Napa beers, but beers. Wayne went for the steak and I choose a pulled pork sandwich; should be pretty good with beer.

So here’s my deal-e-o; if you’re going to pay $114 for dinner, the steak should be rare as ordered, not brown all the way through and the French Fries ought to be as crisp as the aprons. If you’re going to put a steak on the menu, and charge $35 for it, you should be able to cook it at least as well as Ponderosa. The pork sammy was yummy but that’s the least they could do.

PS They must have been designer jeans as the appetizer was so snotty and fancy I declined to eat it because it looked like a $15 fried bug. Is my trailer park showing?

2 comments:

Barry Martin said...

I can empathize with the budget-busting impact of eating in Napa, but I'm not sure I can put a lot of credence in your food critique when you compare a restaurant to Ponderosa. In other words, yes, your trailer park is showing...

Anonymous said...

If they can't cook the steak to your satisfaction send it back. Mater of fact if you're paying more than the cost of a "Happy Meal" and it's not to your satisfaction send it back, regardless of what it is