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.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries Comes to Topeka

Another restaurant opens on Wanamaker. This time it's a burger joint, popular all around the country that's made its way to Topeka, finally. I remember hearing about a Five Guys Burger and Fries in Lawrence for the past couple years, and I've always heard good things. Now that it's in Topeka, I went and checked it out. It seems, so did a lot of other people that day.

Bags of potatoes stacked around the restaurant.

When I got there, it was packed. All the tables were full and the line was all the way to the door. That being said, it really didn't take that long to order and maybe 10 minutes after that to get the food. Also, it's the first week that it's open and it's sure to slow down in the future -- at least a little.

While waiting in line, though, you can eat shell-in peanuts that are free for all. That way your wait isn't too unbearable if you're impatient like me.

The menu, at first glance, doesn't have much to it. Burgers, bacon cheeseburgers, fries, shakes and hot dogs. Simple. There's nothing special about the menu, either. What I mean, is usually when you go to a burger joint, there are burgers with special toppings and sauces, or a burger named after the place. Not at Five Guys. The menu was simple and straightforward.

There were more in the bag, too

Each burger comes with free toppings: lettuce, tomato, pickle, grilled onion, raw onion, grilled mushrooms, etc. The French fries are freshly cut on site, not those frozen, processed fries at typical fast food places -- there are even bags of fresh potatoes laying around like decorations.

When looking at the prices, keep in mind that the burgers are double cheeseburgers, which I didn't realize until I opened mine up. Also, the large French fry is definitely a large portion. I would recommend sharing with at least three people, or two extremely hungry ones. It comes in a large cup with even more on the bottom of the bag.

The fries were my favorite part. They reminded me of a place I worked when I lived in Arizona called Z's Chicago Dogs. There, we would cut our own fries from Russet potatoes, then fry them at a low temperature, like 275 F. Then, we'd cool them down, maybe even refrigerate them overnight. The next day, we'd fry them at a higher heat, like 350 F or 375 F. This ensures the fry is cooked thoroughly and that it's crispy and golden like fries should be. I'm not sure if that's exactly what they do at Five Guys, but they were close enough. I enjoyed the freshness, and they were still crispy, not limp. Yum.

The burger was juicy and tasty. Two patties topped with American cheese, a sesame seed bun and your choice of toppings. The burgers are put together nicely and seem to hold up well while eating. Sometimes when you get a burger it's smashed and messy, but this one seemed to stay together well and wasn't too messy. I guess that could depend what toppings you get on your burger. I ordered mine with tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo and lettuce. There seemed to be too much cheese for me, (but I'm sure not everyone would agree) and I scraped some off of mine, but that's just personal preference.

I enjoyed Five Guys and will most likely return in the future, but I don't think I will drive across town just to eat it. Hopefully, next time it won't be so busy and my visit can be a little shorter, but, it is new to town. So if you're in a hurry, I'd wait until you have more time or it's newness has worn off a bit.

Kim's Vietnamese

Asian food is one of my all-time favorites. Sometimes, though, I can get a little tired of the same thing, and most Asian restaurants in Topeka offer a variety of the same dishes.  In 2010, Kim's Vietnamese opened on 10th Street and at the time I worked for the Washburn Review so, I wrote a review.  I gave it a good review because it was different, fresh and tasty.

Now, the restaurant has moved to 29th and Kansas but the food is still exceptional.

When I first decided to check it out, I thought it was interesting because it boasted Vietnamese food as opposed to Chinese or Japanese, which we see all over the place in T-town. Vietnamese was new for the area. I was intrigued. (It opened in November 2010.)

Scrumptious pork dumplings

The menu features noodle soups, stir-fries and spring rolls. The noodle soups were new to me so the first time I went that's what I tried. The soups come with different noodles and if you ask the waitstaff to help you decipher which noodle is which they are more than willing to help you out. I think they want to educate people so they know what they're ordering, like what they're offering and possibly they will order it again.  The noodles come in a hot broth -- choice of what kind of broth -- with vegetables and herbs. Check out my previous review (linked above) to find out more about the noodle soup.

If you don't want to mess with all that, Kim's also has stir-fries and other dishes you may be more comfortable with. Recently, I tried the chicken lo mein stir fry, crab Rangoon and pork dumplings.

The new location reminds me a lot of the their original location with tons of windows and lots of plants and foliage. I don't remember seeing any booths, but the tables were comfortable enough. Each table is loaded with silverware, napkins, sauces and anything you may need to eat your meal.

The pork dumplings were inspiring. Inspiring in a way that I wish I could make them myself they were so good. Fried dumplings filled with meat and spices I couldn't even begin to describe. Hot, fresh , crispy and juicy I would order them again and again. They were served with a sweet and sour sauce but they didn't really even need any sauce.

The stir fry was good, with a flavor that was a little different than what I'm used to. I love that. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was different but I could definitely tell they used soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and some kind of sweetener, maybe honey. The noodles weren't greasy and they were just saucy enough. The vegetables were cooked thoroughly and so was the chicken. There were carrots, broccoli, onions and cabbage.

My only complaint is I think it would be better if the dish had dark meat chicken. It had white meat and I feel in dishes like stir frys, the white meat chicken gets really dry. Just a personal opinion, I know a lot of people who prefer white meat. But to me, fat is flavor and dark meat always has more fat. I understand if you're watching your waistline, so get this dish, it's got white meat. (haha). But seriously, it was still a good entree I would order again sometime.

I also tried the crab Rangoon, mostly because I just love crab Rangoon. I was glad I gave it a chance. Crispy, fresh and creamy on the inside. Plus, there were chunks of crab that you could actually see inside, unlike how most of the time you're not even sure it's there. Yum.

Crab Rangoon

Our waitress brought us a plate of cold grapes to conclude our meal. She said they don't always give grapes but she was able to get some on sale. It was a nice ending to a fine meal.

I plan to return to Kim's Vietnamese and soon.  Their menu isn't typical of what can be found in Topeka so if you're looking for something different but not overwhelmingly so, check this place out. Like I said before, the staff is willing to help you choose something you will like, just ask questions.

Royal Buffet - A lot like Mr. Stirfry

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I went to Royal Buffet and must say, it's a lot like Mr. Stirfry.

Even though there are many similarities, like the sauteed green beans, dessert and fruit bar there are many differences I noticed, as well.

I went to Mr. Stirfry on an almost regular basis because my husband, Ryan, loved it so I remember a lot about it and was able to compare the new Royal Buffet with the old, Mr. Stirfry.

One difference I noticed what that instead of serving the white rice in a steamer, separate from the actual steam tables where most of the food is heated, they put it on the buffet with the rest of the items. This is a bad decision, I think. When the rice sits in the steam table it becomes chewy and inedible -- unlike when it's in its own personal rice steamer. I wasn't happy with this change, although very minor, it affected my dining experience in a negative way.

The crab Rangoons are much better because they have more flavor. They definitely look different and the way they taste are much better than many other Asian buffets around town. They reminded me of the money bags at Tuptim Thai, little fried pockets of seasoned cream cheese. I couldn't tell if there was anything added but the filling seemed to me to be sweet, unlike others that are crabby. Maybe they aren't technically "crab Rangoons" but that's what I call them.

Another positive change was the vegetable lo mein. Back when it was Mr. Stirfry, it was like they used spaghetti noodles and not many vegetables. At Royal Buffet, they use the flatter noodles that are usually associated with lo mein, and used plenty of vegetables. The noodles were cooked al dente, whereas in the past they seemed to be mushy and old. They were saucier and I could put them on my white rice and let the rice soak up the extra sauce.

The beef and broccoli was much better than before. Before, at Mr. Stirfry, it was chicken and broccoli and very peppery. My only complaint was that the broccoli wasn't cooked enough for me but I realize they cook them that way on purpose, assuming they will be sitting in a steamer for some time, which ends up cooking the food more. I must have gotten a fresh batch because my broccoli was still pretty crunchy.

I didn't try the hibachi but it seemed to be just like it was before.

Their ice cream machine was out of order and instead they served little containers of ice cream. It was good, nothing special.

Overall, I felt like the food was more appealing, fresher and tastier at Royal Buffet than it was when it was Mr. Stirfry. The owners are different than the owners of Mr. Stirfry and Royal Buffets can be found in Wichita and other states in the Midwest.