I've been to the Barefoot Bernie's in Kittyhawk, NC and I was so hoping to hear and feel the incredible music and ambience of the islands, but no way, mon. This place looks OK from the outside--a little kitschy, but that would be fine if they could pull it off. Island time can be lots of fun. Inside would probably have been better with the Beach Boys heading to Cocomo or Jimmy Buffet wasting away somewhere, but there was no music or it wasn't very loud if it was there.
The waitress was just plain unfriendly and she looked wore out and unhappy too. I was there on a Monday night at about 6 PM and the place was--well--dead. The food was OK. Nothing fabulous, but the food was the star here when I thought the atmosphere would/should be.
At least they had a Margarita special on Mondays. Margaritas were 3.76--$4 with tax. They call them Monday $4 Margaritas. The Margarita packed a pretty good punch for a small one, too.
I had an order of cheese sticks which were pretty normal, nothing incredible. The crab melt sandwich was great and inexpensive too, only $10.99 and since both sides were covered, it had a good quantity of fresh tasting crab. The house crab sandwich is $13.99 and there is a special of two smaller crab sandwiches for $12.99 on Mondays. With the very good fries, I think I made the right choice.
I hope this place livens up in the summer time. If it does, it could be a lot of fun. The waitress really needs to learn to smile though.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Rathskeller Restaurant & Bar: A fabulous find in Southbury, CT
This is a small, but wonderful restaurant in the basement of a beautiful house near Exit 15 of interstate highway 84 in Southbury, VT. The food is incredible. The service was also fabulous possibly because the owner waited on me herself most of the time. Since I was sitting alone, she talked with me quite a bit and both she and her husband were super sweet. I loved the great hat that the owner was wearing with Mayday flowers on it.
The bar put me so much in mind of "Cheers" that I kept waiting for someone to shout, "Norm!" when the various regulars walked in the door to shouts of greeting. It wasn't quite as overly familiar as "Cheers," but the environment was that hometown friendly, but with wonderful food.
I had one of the best appetizers of my life. They call it the Mozzarella Carozza. It is the size of a piece of bread. The menu describes this work of art as sliced mozzarella lightly breaded and fried with house marinara for $6.99. That doesn't begin to describe the wonderful chunky, chewy goodness of this concoction. Wow! That is all I can say.
I also had the Cooper's Chicken Sandwich which was a crisp chicken cutlet, cheddar cheese and bacon with Ranch dressing. This was served with a choice of side and luckily, I chose the homemade potato salad. It was one of the best restaurant potato salads I have had over my lifetime. The sandwich was served cut in half to make it a bit easier to manage. There was also a half a pickle. I so miss New England.
I chose my meal off the sandwich menu which is always available. The dinner menu is adventurous and features things like Pumpkin Ravioli in a white wine cream sauce with crispy sage and Jack Daniels steaks in a peppered cream sauce.
I saw a desert go by which was huge and looked like it would cause a chocolate orgasm. I couldn't finish my meal after the filling appetizer, so I loaded half of everything into my doggie bag and resolved to stop back again on my way back home. I will definitely go back to this little gem.
The bar put me so much in mind of "Cheers" that I kept waiting for someone to shout, "Norm!" when the various regulars walked in the door to shouts of greeting. It wasn't quite as overly familiar as "Cheers," but the environment was that hometown friendly, but with wonderful food.
I had one of the best appetizers of my life. They call it the Mozzarella Carozza. It is the size of a piece of bread. The menu describes this work of art as sliced mozzarella lightly breaded and fried with house marinara for $6.99. That doesn't begin to describe the wonderful chunky, chewy goodness of this concoction. Wow! That is all I can say.
I also had the Cooper's Chicken Sandwich which was a crisp chicken cutlet, cheddar cheese and bacon with Ranch dressing. This was served with a choice of side and luckily, I chose the homemade potato salad. It was one of the best restaurant potato salads I have had over my lifetime. The sandwich was served cut in half to make it a bit easier to manage. There was also a half a pickle. I so miss New England.
I chose my meal off the sandwich menu which is always available. The dinner menu is adventurous and features things like Pumpkin Ravioli in a white wine cream sauce with crispy sage and Jack Daniels steaks in a peppered cream sauce.
I saw a desert go by which was huge and looked like it would cause a chocolate orgasm. I couldn't finish my meal after the filling appetizer, so I loaded half of everything into my doggie bag and resolved to stop back again on my way back home. I will definitely go back to this little gem.
Nice, but not perfect
Hotel review of:
Crowne Plaza Southbury
1284 Strongtown Road
Southbury, Connecticut
203-598-7600
The outside of the hotel does not look as upscale as you would expect a Crowne Plaza to look. Inside was very nice, but the elevators were hesitant to open their doors when you reached your floor and this made for a few nerve-wracking moments. Nothing was free or discounted and the fact that I was a Priority Club member didn’t seem to register with them even though I gave them my Priority Club card at registration and they took a copy of it. I had made my reservations on Priceline.com for half as much as the going rate at this hotel, but other times I had still been given my Priority Club benefits.
The room was small. The plug in the bathroom sink did not work and so when I tried to wash out some delicate items, I could not. The shower made a horrible shrieking noise and the water as not ever really hot, hot. It was ok for a shower, but not really hot.
Room service was quick. I ordered room service the first two nights but got rather nauseous to my stomach after both meals. I am not sure why. It could just have been me. I did not go out on Thursday as I had planned because I was still not feeling well. The food was very good-expensive as room service always is. ($10 for a burger and fries plus $3 for the room service—$2 for the server and 60 cents tax.) I had a lot of stuff with me since I am working at a festival while I am here. The second young woman who brought my meal on Thursday night stared around her and exclaimed, "You sure have a lot of stuff!" She seemed quite young and naive.
A maintenance man came to fix my telephone which wasn't working and discovered that the plastic thing that plugs into the phone was broken. He was quite nice and quick, very efficient.
I stayed 5 nights while I was working at the festival. For some reason after my first night there, I had to go down to the lobby to get my door entry card re-activated. I was sick on Wednesday night and Thursday and did not leave the room. For some reason, they had checked me out of the room and listed me as a no-show for Thursday. When I went to get my key reactivated, there was a lot of stuff that had to be done and managers to be called to fix the situation. They were nice, but I still don’t understand how they could have not known there was someone still in the room. I had room service and a repairman both on the day they said that I was a no-show. I was already there. Weird. They fixed it and everything was fine. I am waiting to see what happens when I check out on Monday morning.
Crowne Plaza Southbury
1284 Strongtown Road
Southbury, Connecticut
203-598-7600
The outside of the hotel does not look as upscale as you would expect a Crowne Plaza to look. Inside was very nice, but the elevators were hesitant to open their doors when you reached your floor and this made for a few nerve-wracking moments. Nothing was free or discounted and the fact that I was a Priority Club member didn’t seem to register with them even though I gave them my Priority Club card at registration and they took a copy of it. I had made my reservations on Priceline.com for half as much as the going rate at this hotel, but other times I had still been given my Priority Club benefits.
The room was small. The plug in the bathroom sink did not work and so when I tried to wash out some delicate items, I could not. The shower made a horrible shrieking noise and the water as not ever really hot, hot. It was ok for a shower, but not really hot.
Room service was quick. I ordered room service the first two nights but got rather nauseous to my stomach after both meals. I am not sure why. It could just have been me. I did not go out on Thursday as I had planned because I was still not feeling well. The food was very good-expensive as room service always is. ($10 for a burger and fries plus $3 for the room service—$2 for the server and 60 cents tax.) I had a lot of stuff with me since I am working at a festival while I am here. The second young woman who brought my meal on Thursday night stared around her and exclaimed, "You sure have a lot of stuff!" She seemed quite young and naive.
A maintenance man came to fix my telephone which wasn't working and discovered that the plastic thing that plugs into the phone was broken. He was quite nice and quick, very efficient.
I stayed 5 nights while I was working at the festival. For some reason after my first night there, I had to go down to the lobby to get my door entry card re-activated. I was sick on Wednesday night and Thursday and did not leave the room. For some reason, they had checked me out of the room and listed me as a no-show for Thursday. When I went to get my key reactivated, there was a lot of stuff that had to be done and managers to be called to fix the situation. They were nice, but I still don’t understand how they could have not known there was someone still in the room. I had room service and a repairman both on the day they said that I was a no-show. I was already there. Weird. They fixed it and everything was fine. I am waiting to see what happens when I check out on Monday morning.
Sometimes perfect and sometimes, not so good
Hotel review of:
Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center
542 Route 9
Fishkill, New York
845-896-6281
This hotel was a mixed bag of perfect and not so good. The people at the front desk were excellent both at registration and check out. They treated me like a Priority Club member even though my reservation had been made on Priceline.com. I still showed them my Priority Club card when I registered and they treated me like I hadn't paid half as much as everybody else there.
The bed was very comfy--I could have slept for days... The front entrance was beautiful. The coffee pod things in the rooms, however, were terrible. They only made one cup and then they didn't have enough fixings to put enough sugar or creamer into the awful coffee. The dining room only had 1/2 and 1/2 and I am allergic to milk, so this was not a good thing for me.
The guest soaps are incredible--citrus mint-Yum!!! There was one bulb out in the bathroom. The shower did not adjust in intensity. It turned but then froze in one position which was the needle spray position which made the shower a bit painful. The bathroom sink drain drained very slowly--almost not at all.
Breakfast was free to Priority Club members. All I can say is that you get what you pay for. I ate late at 9:30 AM and breakfast was over at 10 AM. It definitely showed. The scrambled eggs were dry and hard. The bacon was ok and the fried potatoes looked awful, but tasted great. They were lukewarm and had gotten clumps of red in them where the salsa put into them had congealed. They looked really nasty, but they still tasted pretty good. The fruit was hard, unripe pieces of melon and one or two grapes. There were no flavored--or unflavored for that matter--non-dairy creamers for the coffee, only 1/2 and 1/2. I stated earlier that I am allergic to milk, so this was a problem for me. The waitress said that this was all they had.
Dinner the night before had been exactly opposite with great food, good service. The Priority Club membership gives you a free drink-a choice of beer or wine-and 10 % off dinner. This was very, very nice.
If you are a Priority Club member, then show your card. You will get treated like royalty and get all the discounts and things you would normally get paying full price. Also, the points you earn in the restaurant, room service, bar and the rest will be credited to you Priority Club account, just not your room fee if you make the reservation on Priceline.
Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center
542 Route 9
Fishkill, New York
845-896-6281
This hotel was a mixed bag of perfect and not so good. The people at the front desk were excellent both at registration and check out. They treated me like a Priority Club member even though my reservation had been made on Priceline.com. I still showed them my Priority Club card when I registered and they treated me like I hadn't paid half as much as everybody else there.
The bed was very comfy--I could have slept for days... The front entrance was beautiful. The coffee pod things in the rooms, however, were terrible. They only made one cup and then they didn't have enough fixings to put enough sugar or creamer into the awful coffee. The dining room only had 1/2 and 1/2 and I am allergic to milk, so this was not a good thing for me.
The guest soaps are incredible--citrus mint-Yum!!! There was one bulb out in the bathroom. The shower did not adjust in intensity. It turned but then froze in one position which was the needle spray position which made the shower a bit painful. The bathroom sink drain drained very slowly--almost not at all.
Breakfast was free to Priority Club members. All I can say is that you get what you pay for. I ate late at 9:30 AM and breakfast was over at 10 AM. It definitely showed. The scrambled eggs were dry and hard. The bacon was ok and the fried potatoes looked awful, but tasted great. They were lukewarm and had gotten clumps of red in them where the salsa put into them had congealed. They looked really nasty, but they still tasted pretty good. The fruit was hard, unripe pieces of melon and one or two grapes. There were no flavored--or unflavored for that matter--non-dairy creamers for the coffee, only 1/2 and 1/2. I stated earlier that I am allergic to milk, so this was a problem for me. The waitress said that this was all they had.
Dinner the night before had been exactly opposite with great food, good service. The Priority Club membership gives you a free drink-a choice of beer or wine-and 10 % off dinner. This was very, very nice.
If you are a Priority Club member, then show your card. You will get treated like royalty and get all the discounts and things you would normally get paying full price. Also, the points you earn in the restaurant, room service, bar and the rest will be credited to you Priority Club account, just not your room fee if you make the reservation on Priceline.
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