Friday, February 23, 2007

California Pizza Kitchen - SouthPark

American/Pizza
$28 - large Waldorf Salad, 1 mushroom pizza, 2 waters

I always forget about CPK but it's so good to remember. First of all, this salad (I hope I'm remembering the name correctly) is so good. It's field green and romaine with grilled chx, granny smith apples, candied walnuts, and gargonzola cheese. It was like eating dessert that's good for you. The flavors go so well together but be warned, the large salad is big. They also have it in a half portion which is still a good size. A friend and I split the salad and the pizza and we definitely had leftovers. The pizza here is also really good and with some crazy combinations, it differentiates itself some from the other 50 pizza places in charlotte. The crust is thicker than Brixx but not has thick at Mellow. However, it's a little bit sweet which I really like. The portion size is slightly smaller than brixx too so it's good for one or splitting with a salad. A couple of things to note about CPK. 1. The bread really isn't that good that they serve beforehand. For a pizza place, this is surprising. 2. If you pay with AmEx, beware that you could shut down the computer system. Something about the magnetic strip...I don't get it but it happened to me once. Just warn the waiter when you pay. 3. I'm not a huge fan of their two tops near the front. If you can get a bigger table, I would. 4. They have an outdoor patio that looks pretty nice so I would definitely think about it for the summer.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Coco Osteria - Uptown

Light Italian
$12 entree for lunch, don't know about the total cost

My coworkers brought me here for lunch and I love this place. Two walls are floor to ceiling windows which makes the place bright and airy. It's rather small in size but is always crowded when I've been here. The entrees ranges from $10 - $14 I think and everything around the table looked great. I had the Macceroni alla Buttera which was large tubed pasta with snap peas and sausage in a light tomato cream sauce. It was excellent. I love this place because they serve the diet coke with a lime and you don't even have to ask. Coke comes with a lemon. I don't know if they have a different menu for dinner but I would highly recommend this place for lunch. They don't take reservations so you have to get their early but it's so good, it's worth it. It's owned by the same guy who owned Luce & Toscana but it's less formal and not as pricey. A highly recommended uptown place to go!

Nolen Kitchen - Myers Park

American
Entree was around $15 I think, no idea about the drinks or apps

Nolen Kitchen is where the old Kaffe Frappe used to be and I think it's a much better place. The food is good and ranges from mid-priced sandwiches and salads to higher end entrees. The portions aren't so big that you feel stuffed but everything I tried was really good. Our table got fried zucchini which was awesome and I picked veal gnocchi as my entree. It was the perfect sized portion and really good. Their fries are seasoned with lots of salt so they are really good too. We ended up with a few desserts and the banana creme brulee was my favorite. We tried the girlscout coffee drinks with godiva and creme de menthe, but it wasn't very good. Too watery tasting I would say and nothing really special about the presentation. The bar tender was really nice and made me a special drink for my birthday (the Love Potion). It was tasty and fun with a splash of cinnamon on top. A few of us ran into people we knew which makes it fun I think when you're in a restaurant. Nolen K is a good date place or place to go with a group to celebrate something. I'll definitely go back. www.nolenkitchen.com

My Birthday Week

It's my birthday this week, so I've been eating out a lot. I've gone to some great restaurants, but I don't really know the bill. So I'll tell you what I thought, but not how much it cost. Hope that's okay.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Brio - Southpark

Italian
Working lunch that someone else paid for so I don't know the full bill. I had a mini pizza and side salad that listed around $10 I think.

My friends have been raving about how good Brio is. We went for a late lunch and it was packed. It's much bigger inside than it appears and the scene was nice. A good place for a date night or when your parents are in town. The food was really good and everyone seemed to enjoy what they ordered. It's a little hard to gauge with a business lunch but I'll say there wasn't a lot left over. The pizza really was a mini but I don't know if they serve that size at dinner. The menu contained typical Italian fare but I've heard it's one of the better Italian places in town. I'd agree that it's pretty good but it's still a chain (I've never been to Maggiano's so I can't compare it to that. One major negative...Pepsi. Enough said.

Roosters - Southpark

Mid-scale American
$46. - dinner for two (1/4 white chicken, mashed potatos, sugar snap peas, salad, french onion soup, 1 dessert and 2 waters)

Roosters is a new spot opened by the guy who runs Noble's. It's lower scale than Nobles, but the food is still really good. We arrived on a Monday night and it was packed. We ended up sitting at the bar which was a bar facing the cooking stations rather than a traditional bar. It's a cool setup at the "bar" where you can watch sous chefs prepare their specialties. We sat in the soup and salad section and watched the guy prepare a few. The menu is a la carte and ranges in price from $6 - $12 per item (less for sides but not much less). The salad was great ($6 for small portion) and the soup ($8) was a little rich both in flavor and price for me. Becky had the chicken and raved about the sauce it was prepared in. We split the sides which were really good and fresh tasting. The mashed potatos had a perfect amount of garlic but were a little small if the intention is to share. We split a dessert called chocolate peanut butter crunch with vanilla gelato. The flavor was nice but the texture was a little too crunchy and kind of hard to eat. It sounded better than it tasted. However, the gelato was awesome!! The interior of the restaurant is typical with the exception of one entire wall covered with stuffed Roosters. It was little strange, especially since we faced that direction the whole meal. All in all, I'd definitely go back. www.roosterskitchen.com