El Mezcal - 21st & Fairlawn

Usually, I am truly happy with my experiences at El Mezcal, but this last visit, not so much.

For the most part, I go to the El Mezcal on 5th and Topeka Blvd., but this time was for a friend's celebration so we went to the one on 21st and Fairlawn. It was a busy Friday night, right at 7 o'clock.

Cold, still-shredded cheese inside :(

We were seated pretty quickly and served drinks and chips and salsa. We ordered and didn't have to wait that long for food. This was surprising because it was pretty busy and there weren't many open tables around the restaurant. The only thing we had to wait for awhile for was our checks.

Then, we got our food.

Mine was cold. All of it. And I don't think it was because it sat in the window and cooled off, (at least in the case of the quesadilla) I think it wasn't even cooked in the first place. I ordered ala carte because I wasn't very hungry. I got a cheese quesadilla with a side of sour cream, a small order of guacamole and a beef enchilada, which turned out to be two, not one like I thought.

The quesadilla consisted of cold shredded white cheese inside a cold, un-grilled tortilla. I mean, I opened it up and the cheese wasn't even melted, it was still in little shreds (pictured to your left). I also never got my sour cream. I sent the quesadilla back, though, and asked for them to grill it for a minute because it was cold. I got back an entire new quesadilla that was hot and melty, but the tortilla was still not grilled enough to my taste. At least this time the cheese was melted and the quesadilla was hot.

The enchiladas were not what I was expecting, but they weren't bad. They were beef enchiladas smothered in a white cheese sauce. I was expecting a red sauce but this was alright. But, it was cold, too. This, I think, may have sat in the window for a minute. I didn't ask for this to be warmed up, I just ate it.

I understand the place was busy, but getting cold food always sucks no matter the case. I chose to send one item back instead of both, mostly because I wanted something to eat while the rest of the table chowed down. I usually don't like to send items back, but the quesadilla was unacceptable.

I've been to El Mezcal many times over the years and this was probably my worst experience. That being said, the good have outnumbered the bad so I will be returning, just probably to the one on 5th street.

Burger Stand - Fish Sandwich

I've recently re-visited Burger Stand and I have to say, I wasn't impressed.

With it being Lent, I decided to go for the fish option to see what they had to offer.  I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, mostly because it's a burger joint, not a seafood restaurant. That being said, I was expecting it to be good. And that's all it really was, was good.



I ordered their regular French fries and the hubs ordered some onion rings with his burger so we could share. The fries were tasty as usual -- crispy, salty and not too greasy. The onion rings are probably frozen and fried on site, but they were good.

Now on to the fish sandwich.

The fish sandwich comes with a spicy remoulade sauce -- which I didn't find to be very hot -- tartar sauce, pickle relish, tomatoes and lettuce. It's served on one of their normal buns, which is soft and chewy, but crispy on the bottom where it was obviously grilled.

My problem with the fish sandwich is that the fish was two thin pieces of fish stacked on top of each other. It seems to me that there was more breading than fish. By the time I was halfway finished with my sandwich, the breading was mushy from the sauce and I felt like I was eating mushy-bread-tartar sauce. By the end of it, I could hardly find any fish, it was all breading and bun and sauce. Plus, it just didn't stay together well. It was a sliding mess.

My idea of a good fish sandwich is one that has lots of fish in it, and yeah, it can be breaded but I would hope there's less breading than actual meat. Maybe these fish planks would have been good, just not in a sandwich. The fish itself was good, I just don't think it was good for a sandwich.

Burger Stand is a great place to eat, I just wasn't happy with this particular sandwich. Every Monday is half price for Washburn Students and Wednesdays is half price for teachers. They have all kinds of events going on there throughout the week, especially during the Washburn semesters.

I plan to return, I just don't plan to ever get the fish sandwich again.

McAlister's Deli

McAlister's Deli opened last week on Wanamaker in Topeka. This is the fourth restaurant to open there in about three weeks. The deli opened Friday, (it had a soft opening Thursday), and every day since I've heard the line's been out the door at lunch time. I went at 3 p.m. so it was busy but it wasn't packed and the line definitely wasn't out the door.

Pasta salad

It's a nice, newly-built restaurant with booths and tables. You walk up to the counter and order, then a server brings you your food. The menu was like most delis but with a variety of baked potatoes added. I only had the appetite for a sandwich, so soon I plan to return and try one of their many baked potatoes because they all looked good. Each sandwich comes with a choice of side, pasta salad, potato salad, bagged chips, fresh fruit, coleslaw etc. 

I decided to get the McAlister's Club -- 13 layers high, with honey mustard, Black Forest ham, smoked turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato all on wheat toast. It comes with a pickle and a side, I got fresh fruit. I was able to try the pasta salad, too but I wasn't too impressed. The noodles were curly and not done enough for me, tossed in a pesto with small pieces of bell peppers and black olives. It was alright, but not as good as it could have been.

The sandwich was pretty good, and it was big enough to fill me up. I wasn't able to eat the entire thing, it's a good thing my

The McAlister's Club

husband was with me, he ate the rest. The honey mustard was tangy and sweet and was a nice change on a club sandwich. My only problem is that the cooks could have spread the meat out on the bread more so the middle wasn't thick with meat and the edges with none. I had to take mine apart and spread out the meat evenly. As you can see in the picture, there seems to be a lot of meat, but it's really just bunched up in the middle.

The fresh fruit was fresh fruit: Pineapple, grapes, honeydew, and cantaloupe. It was good but it was also just fruit. I didn't think the portion looked like much, but with the pickle I was happy.

I want to return and try a potato and see what all the rave is about. I've heard from a couple people that the spuds are tasty. I must say though, I wouldn't wait in a line that went out the door, but I do plan to return. Stay tuned for pictures and my review.

Chow Time Buffet #8

The third time's the charm. Or so I'm sure the owners of Chow Time Buffet #8 hope. After two failed attempts at opening Asian buffets at 17th and Wanamaker, a third one is now open, under a new owner. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the owners are from Georgia where another Chow Time Buffet is located.

Many people I've talked to are skeptical about this third restaurant so I decided to check it out.

When I first walked in I noticed the new owners redecorated, but I did recognize some of same decor from the previous restaurant (just like the signs on the buffet, really). A couple walls were knocked
 out but the buffets were all in the same spots. Now, there is a chocolate fountain along with a variety of ice cream on the west side of the buffet. The hibachi grill is still on the north side of the room with the sushi across from it on the south side of the room. I noticed there was an entire buffet full of American-style food such as pizza, mac and cheese and meatloaf, if that's what you want. I didn't try any of that because I came for the Chinese food.

The sushi was about what you'd expect -- smaller portion sizes than if you ordered a roll at a sushi bar but fresh and tasty. They had a wide variety and a sushi chef actively building more sushi and making sure everything was fresh.

The cold bar had in-shell cold shrimp on ice and cocktail sauce, a variety of composed salads and a basic salad bar. The hot food had all your basics, kung-pao chicken, chicken and broccoli, white and fried rice, sauteed green beans, egg rolls and much more. One item that I found weird was this shiny roll-looking thing. When bit into it was kind of weird because it wasn't like the dinner rolls I'm used to, it was chewy and you could hear it. Inside was some kind of orange stuff, which I think was soy or something. Yeah, not gonna try that again.

My only complaint is that the crab Rangoon didn't seem to be fried long enough. The bottom part was kind of soggy and soft, and didn't seem to be cooked long enough for me. The egg roll was the generic kind you find at most Chinese restaurants, same with the sauteed green beans. The white rice was soft and fluffy, the chicken and broccoli was good. I appreciated that it was pretty fresh so the broccoli still had a bit of crunch left to it. Overall, I was satisfied with my meal.

My favorite part was the dessert. Most of the time, desserts at Chinese buffets aren't the best. I was impressed with their selection and with the quality of the products. In the photo to the right, you will see I tried a little bit of a few things. Starting with the donut on the left: It was caky and frosted and tasty. I was surprised that it was soft and sweet and not crumbly. The banana cream dessert right above that was good, too, with vanilla wafers in it and everything. I wasn't a fan of the apple salad next to it. The dressing wasn't sweet enough and didn't really add much to the flavor of the apples. To the right of that, I tried a large marshmallow dipped in the chocolate fountain. It was good, but I think I'd rather have a s'more. The fried Chinese donut below was typical of most buffets. Basically, it was fried biscuit dough tossed in sugar. Always one of my favorites. Last, on the bottom of the plate, is a mini cinnamon roll. It was cold, but it was still soft and good. I was surprised that I liked it. But, I was surprised that I liked as many desserts as I did. I usually end up wasting most of my desserts and this time I practically cleaned my plate.

The food was good, everything looked clean and the waitstaff was friendly. I hope this time the place lasts because I didn't find anything wrong about it, except for that weird roll. But hey, I saw another girl get one and she ate the whole thing, so who knows.

Pie Five Pizza Co.

A new pizza place on Wanamaker opened in December called Pie Five Pizza Company. I was finally able to check it out for an early dinner this afternoon.

 Don't get confused with the other restaurant down the way called Five Guys Burger and Fries, (I reviewed that one the other day). They both have the number "Five" in the name but they are nothing alike. They are completely different places, and I would say to try them both.

Pie Five is called such because they claim you'll get your pizza within five minutes of finishing your order.

How is that possible?

I was watching the crew build pizzas during my wait, which wasn't too bad on a Sunday at 5 p.m., and it seems as if there are cooks who pre-bake the personal sized crusts before others put the toppings on when you're ordering. There were three or four employees who seemed to only be there to make and bake crusts in advance. I did get my pizza within five minutes, along with the rest of my order.

The way it works is you pick your pizza crust -- Classic Pan, Artisan Thin, Whole Grain Thin, and Gluten Free ($2 up-charge for gluten free) -- then you pick your toppings, anything you want. It's set up Chipotle-style where you walk down the line and tell a cook what you want for your toppings. It's $6.99 for a pizza with whatever toppings you want. Ten dollars gets you the pizza, a salad and a drink.

Side garden salad

If you want a side salad I would say to go for the meal deal because it's $2.99 for a salad alone and I just don't think it's worth that much money. With the meal deal it's half that and maybe more worth it. Still, I wasn't impressed. The side salads come in a bread bowl, mine was stale and hard. Just trying to break off a piece of it, I could tell it was stale. The salad was small and unimpressive. The pieces of romaine lettuce were huge and hard to eat because they were so big. I did appreciate that the dressing was already tossed and everything was already coated because if it hadn't been I would have had an even more difficult time eating the salad.

I ordered the High Five with Classic Pan crust. It's basically a meat lovers with Canadian bacon, ham, beef, Italian sausage and pepperoni. I added tomatoes to mine because you can add whatever other toppings you want, no extra charge. I thought the pizza was good, the crust was fluffy and crunchy at the same time. I enjoyed the crust the most, the toppings were good but I didn't like the beef, it seemed a little crunchy and overcooked to me because they were small little pieces, compared to the other meats.

You can pick one of their signature creations and add to it like I did, or you can build your own pizza from the crust and sauce up. They offer a variety of sauces, olive oil, Tuscan marinara, Sriracha marinara, bbq, buffalo ranch and alfredo.  For a list of the toppings, visit their menu page.

I plan to return and try a pizza on thin crust. My husband Ryan ordered a pizza on the Artisan Thin crust and I tried some, so I know I'll like it. I enjoyed that the crust was thin, but it wasn't like eating a saltine cracker, either. It was soft and thin while still holding up to the toppings. The only thing I won't be ordering again is the side salad, it just wasn't worth the hassle or the extra money. The bigger salads looked more substantial, but to me they didn't look like they were worth $6.99. Maybe I'll try one sometime but so far I say stick to the pies at Pie Five.

Paisano's Revisited

Paisano's Ristorante is one of my favorites in Topeka. I go there frequently and am rarely disappointed. That being said, my previous visit left me slightly so.

The service was a little slow, but I realize it's a sit-down, nice restaurant where people go to take their time and relax. But, this server was just slow, even when we were obviously ready to go. Normally I am not bothered by slow service but this just seemed ridiculous.

Roman Twins

The first thing I noticed when the food was brought out was that the servers weren't grating cheese on our food as they usually did. Instead, they were bringing out bowls of pre-shredded cheese to use for the entire meal. I asked our waitress when they started doing this and she said it's been a few months. I guess it has been a few months since my last visit... Ok. I wasn't impressed with the change. Although the server assured me it was the same cheese, only now it was grated in the kitchen in bulk, I was skeptical.  It didn't seem to melt like the other freshly grated cheese, and maybe it was because it wasn't as fine of a grate as it had been before. Either way, I didn't like it. (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture.)

The food was good, as usual. I've never had bad food at Paisano's. This time I ordered the Roman Twins, my favorite dish. A combination of sausage canneloni and cheese manicotti in a cheesy tomato sauce, it's my comfort food. Creamy, string-cheesy and seasoned just right, I love dipping my breadsticks in the sauce. The mozzarella cheese inside the manicotti is stringy and elastic, like good pizza cheese. Love it.

I decided to take some tiramisu home with me. The marscarpone cream was light and creamy with coffee soaked ladyfingers underneath. Everything was as it should be and the coffee flavor was there but not overpowering.

Even though the cheese isn't grated fresh any more, I will be returning. It's disappointing when restaurants for convenience over quality, but as long as it stops with the cheese.

Here's a link to my previous review: http://tastingtopeka.blogspot.com/2015/01/paisanos-revisited.html