Saturday, December 22, 2012

Jacn-n-Grill

Jack-n-Grill
9310 Sheridan Blvd
Westminster, CO

Since seeing Man vs. Food on T.V., I have been interested in visiting this restaurant. Their main interest on the T.V. show was their 7 pound burrito, which is about the same size as a newborn child. My main interest was to find out if the quality of the food supported all the hype I have heard about it. Our party of 5 arrived about 6:30 in the evening. We had a wait time of about 20 minutes.
When we were seated, we were greeted reasonably promptly and our drink order was taken. We were served chips and a nice salsa which had good flavor, but which I wish was a bit hotter. Our waiter claimed that the chilies were from Hatch, but if they were, they tasted like no Hatch Chile I have ever eaten. The table next to ours was rather loud and boisterous and busy taking flash pictures, which was, unfortunately an annoying experience.
Companions 1, 3, and 4 ordered a Shredded Beef Burrito smothered in Green Chile, with Sour Cream and one plate with Guacamole on the side. Companion #2 ordered a Shredded Beef Enchilada Plate with Red Chile on the side. I ordered a Shredded Chicken Green Enchilada Plate Sonoran Style, which means it had 2 fried eggs on top.
On the positive side, all portions were of a good size, and would easily satisfy most appetites. Comments were as follows – Companion 1 said the food was just o.k., and didn’t know if he would come back again. Companion 2 said that here plate was fair, but the beans were underdone and made her mildly sick. Companion 3 said that the plate was o.k. Companion 4 said the beef was flavorless, and the plate was lukewarm instead of hot. My plate was lacking in flavor in spite of the supposed Hatch chilies, and the beans were totally undercooked and crunchy.
I spend the next day counting the tiles on the bathroom floor. While I had taken a doggy box of leftovers home, I threw it out the next day because I was not willing to take a chance on eating any more of it.
Sanitation was adequate as far as I could tell, but the restaurant is a bit cluttered, which makes it hard to truly tell. The bathrooms were adequately clean and reasonably stocked.
If you want to come to a Mexican style restaurant that gives you lots of food, and is a bit on the loud side, this may be the place for you, but if your passion is not to count the tiles on your bathroom floor, you might not wish to eat here. 2 stars for portion size and sanitation.

Gordon Biersch

Gordon Biersch
1 W. Flatiron Circle
Broomfield, Colorado

Four of us went to lunch at this restaurant. We were promptly seated and offered drinks. Since it was noon time, none of us wanted beer, but the menu shows a nice selection of brews. We started off sharing Southwest Eggrolls, which contained pulled chicken, blackbeans, corn, red peppers and pepper jack cheese. It came with a roasted jalapeno ranch dressing. Comments ranged from good to not bad but would not order it again. While it did have some spice, I felt it could have used a whole lot more,.
For the main course, 3 of us opted to order burgers, and 1 ordered a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. The person that ordered the sandwich left 1/2 of it on the plate. Of the remaining 3 people, one ordered the Marzen Barbeque Burger, a 1/2 pound burger with bacon, cheese, and barbeque sauce on it. This person felt that the sauce was thin and watery, and could use more flavor. Both the remaining companion and myself ordered the Mushroom Swiss Burger. As the menu says that they cook all burgers to 155 degrees, I asked for mine to be cooked as rare as possible and companion asked for it well done. My burger came out medium well done, and as a result was fairly dry. In evaluating any place that serves burgers, one of my criteria is if the restaurant will cook a burger rare or medium rare. If the restaurant won't, that tells me that they don't trust their meat. If they don't trust it, why should I? The burger was topped with a big slice of tomato and some lettuce, as well as about a tablespoonful of mushrooms. Not at all what I expected for the prices they charge here. Most burgers are $10.95.
Companion ordered hers with home cooked chips, which were pronounced very ordinary. Two of us had the garlic fries, which were flaccid and oily though not lacking in flavor, and the other companion ordered the coleslaw, which he pronounced to be with little flavor and extremely crunchy. Service was adequate, but for what this place charges for items on the menu, it should have been exceptional. Most items on the menu vary from $10.95 to the mid $20.00 range. Sanitation was as it should have been.
Something that we all found disturbing was the location of the restrooms. One has to walk around the actual kitchen prep area to reach them, where they are located right next to it. This was a bit distasteful to say the least. The restrooms were properly stocked and reasonably clean.
Overall, lunch was a bit of a disappointment. Prices were high, and food preparation was poor to moderate. I give them 3 stars for service and sanitation.