The Banned List

It takes a lot for me to put a restaurant on The Banned List. I'm not a picky eater at all so for me to hate a place so much that I will never eat there again, there must be something seriously wrong. I can forgive bad service, long waits, a bad meal. Hell, I can even forgive food poisoning. To get on the banned list there has to be more, so much more.

Until today there were only 2 restaurants in Dallas that were officially on the banned list: some Chinese buffet on Ross (there was a gristle issue) and the Pizza Hut buffet on Lemmon (two words: inedible jello). You might be think, "um, Rachel, why would you go to those places to begin with?" Excellent question. Went with the guys at work and they didn't let me choose. They chose poorly. Victor Tango is on the verge of being on the banned list. I went with 2 girlfriends awhile back and we each sent back our food. 3 people - 3 bad dishes. (Don't even get me started on their Mac n Cheese. Blech. If you don't know how to make a bachemel sauce - get a new occupation. You should not be cooking in a restaurant.) But everyone keeps telling me to try it again because they have had a good experience there. So I will, sigh, give it one more chance before banning it.

The newest edition to the banned list is . . . Nick & Sam's Grille. It makes me sad to do this because I love, love, love, Nick & Sam's. But NSG is just bad. From the food which always tastes like unseasoned microwaved meals, to the decor (it looks like a cave, a poorly air conditioned cave with a horrible, cramped layout), to the service (hello, I'm thirsty over here), this place, in my humble opinion, just sucks.

Last night I went with a few girlfriends. A told me as soon as I got here she knew I wasn't going to be thrilled with the location but that she knew of everyone, I was the one most likely to "suck it up" and find something to eat there. I did but it took awhile. I find their menu boring and uninspired. I settled on the trout with almonds and peas (seriously, folks, that was the description. Makes you want to just gobble it up, doesn't it?). The trout was cooked fine but it had zero taste to it. I think there was a buerre blanc sauce on it but it was so flavorless I couldn't tell. Then I tasted the peas. Barf! How one screws up peas I have no idea (and that's all it was folks, peas. No seasoning, no butter, no garnish, I'd even take a pearl onion or two. Just peas) . But they were so over cooked they tasted like baby food. It took all I could to swallow what I had in my mouth. My first instinct was to do what toddlers do when then don't like something - stick out my tongue and let it fall to the ground. They were THAT gross. I sent them back. I got a new bowl of "just peas" which were still tasteless but at least they weren't overcooked. I had to add some salt (which I never do) to eat them.

The ironic thing is while my food was screaming for salt, the other girls who tried the special (miso glazed cod I believe) found theirs to be so very salty. Huh?

And the service. I guess she was trying but she wasn't trying really hard. It was $3 sangria night and the sangria I ordered at the bar WAS good. I would have had another one but no one ever asked me if I wanted anything else to drink even though my glass was empty for quite awhile (although shout out to the busser who was obsessed with filling our water glasses). When A inquired of us (in front of our server) whether we wanted to stay and have another or move on, our server made absolutely no attempt to get us to stay. The restaurant was empty. She didn't need to turn us. She should have tried to convince us to stay to increase her tip. But she didn't. So we left and went to Common Table instead (note about Common Table. Just had a drink there, no food, but being there just makes me miss Lola so I doubt I'll be fan).

Anyhoo. Nick & Sam's Grill is BANNED! I will not go back there. Sorry folks. If you plan something there, I will not attend. I'll meet you someplace else later.

Cheers!