This is Nothing Like New York

Third quarter ended today. Students went home at 12:30 and teachers did a dance on the way out the door to a celebratory lunch marking the coming of spring break and the last nine weeks of school. (Alright, our district is a little strange in that we still have two more days of school before break starts, but those days are technically fourth quarter. No, it doesn't make much sense until you remember that education is run by the government.)

Jeff and I decided to splurge by ignoring the sandwiches in our lunch boxes and heading to Native New Yorker for a break before we sat down to enter grades. Alas, we were disappointed in our choice, but the problems actually began the moment we hopped in the car. As the engine idled we debated where we could eat that met the criteria of proximity, price, and palatability. (Say that three times fast!) I nixed the local Chinese buffet because the food is insipid and just makes me long for Pei Wei all the more. Jeff ruled out fast food eateries on the reasoning that we had only eaten at McDonald's and QuikTrip since we started this project. That left Village Inn, Chili's, and Native New Yorker as options. Ultimately the third choice was settled upon because I had never eaten there.

Our first clue that we should get in the car and go back to our sandwiches was when we heard the hostess telling another couple that she didn't know how long the waitress would be because a group of 30 was being served. As we contemplated the ramifications of this information, we were lead to a booth with a "fabulous view of the parking lot." While our order was taken pretty promptly, the food was slow in arriving. (Did I mention there was a group of 30?) This probably would have been fine if the food had been great when it got to the table.

The menu touted homemade potato chips as a specialty. As I've mentioned before, I'm a fiend for chips of any kind, so I couldn't resist the temptation of the Buffalo Potato Chip basket (a stack of crunchy chips covered in crumbled blue cheese, drizzled with blue cheese dressing, and liberally sprinkled with scallions). The picture showed a heap of chips, with a central mound of cheese, swirls of dressing, and bright green scallion bits scattered across the entire dish. Unfortunately the reality didn't quite measure up. The basket was a good deal smaller and not nearly as full of chips as it appeared in the photo. In addition, while the chips were good, they did not really taste homemade. They were thin and crispy, but no better than a bag of Poore Brothers or Kettle Chips. I have to admit there was plenty of crumbled cheese, but it wasn't very blue. (I mean to say the cheese was fairly bland indicating a lower cost alternative to an excellent, tangy blue cheese like Stilton.)The scallions were also abundant, which helped spunk up the mild cheese, however there was very little dressing drizzled around the chips, and it tasted more like ranch than blue cheese. All in all, the basket is a great idea, but I could do much better with my own chips and cheese at home.

Jeff, too, was disappointed in his meal. He ordered a roast beef sandwich on a toasted bun encrusted with caraway seeds and kosher sea salt. (He had eaten this before at a Native New Yorker in another part of town.) When the sandwich arrived the bun was toasted nearly to the color of chocolate and looked like someone might have accidentally sprinkled some toppings on it. As the waitress passed by, Jeff asked her about the bread to which she replied, "I don't think that's even the right thing." A couple of minutes later she reappeared with a new bun top that had not been toasted at all before apparently being dipped in butter and a plate of the seeds and salt. She then "traded" the bun and left. While this piece of bread did have more toppings, it still was not even close to Jeff's expectation.

Perhaps we are just jaded. Perhaps we expect too much from eating establishments in the realms of quality and service. Perhaps we are just happier eating at home. Whatever the reason for our disappointment, we won't be going back to Native New Yorker again.