27 June 2005Themes like old timesThe Downtown Guy drops into Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill, and lives to tell:
The prices are on the high side, but the portions are huge. (samples from the menu: Cheeseburger and fries, or a chicken sandwich and fries, $8, BBQ chicken, $13, 16 oz chicken fried steak, $14) At least while you’ve waited, you’ve had a chance to survey all the odd décor that's to be expected in a theme restaurant. Country music plays over the speakers (no live music until long after the dinner hour), while redneck programming (NASCAR, sports, country music videos) play on several televisions.
The food is damn good. And it should be for the price. Service improved dramatically once seated. Which, at the moment, is the weak point:
Would I have left if I had been told the wait would have been an hour? Yes. But I would have come back. Despite the good food and service once seated, I left still upset over how I was treated at the start. And it's still very upsetting that the hostess deceived me on my place on the list. As a customer, I should be allowed some control over how long I'm willing to wait. If I want to wait an hour, I will do so and I won't complain.
It's not like anyone has ever had to wait to be seated at an Oklahoma City restaurant (cf. Molly Murphy's), but really, they know how long it will take to get you seated, and they should be able to tell you that up front. Still, I'm just happy to hear that the food isn't terrible, as it too often is with "theme" eateries. Then again, Toby tends to get his way. Is it true that they dropped the idea for Dixie Chick(s)en-fried steak? Posted by: Dwayne "the canoe guy" at 9:35 AM on 27 June 2005 |