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I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
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| Applebee's Grill
and Bar 2520 http://www.applebees.com/ 785-832-8338 |
See the West Lawrence section regarding the other location of this
chain restaurant. |
2319 http://www.chilis.com/ 785-331-3700 |
This well known
chain is similar to Applebee's, but has a somewhat nicer
decor. Since this chain restaurant's menu is likely to
be no surprise to anyone, I shall concentrate only on some more unusual
observations. Although they may change the name, they have some healthy low-fat alternatives to their usual preparations. Those variations are called guiltless on their current menu. The guiltless tomato basil pasta is particularly good, if you add black pepper. Also the "guiltless" pita is very good. Their lettuce wraps are not comparable to those in There have been some recent changes in the menu. I especially like the cedar planked tilapia. I also like the sauce that comes with it. The sauce is based on olive oil, but contains very good spices and herbs. It is called chimchuri sauce. But there is a catch. It includes high fructose corn syrup, which is not healthy. If you get the "guiltless" version of the cedar planked tilapia, there is no use of that sauce. Unfortunately there vegetable oil also has its problems. It includes partially hydrogenated oil. I am tempted to bring my own olive oil here. Although this chain has a number of seafood dishes and vegetarian dishes on the menu, it can be a problem for serious vegetarians or pesco vegetarians (pescatarians). The reason is that Chile's has no fry pans at all in the kitchen. Everything is done on the grill, even the shrimp scampi. So if you you don't want your food prepared on a grill that was used to prepare fish and burgers, you have a problem here. You could try asking for preparation on the cedar planks that are used with the tilapia. Although not offered on the menu, it would not be unreasonable to ask for shrimp or salmon cooked on that plank. They have agreed to both, when I've asked. But the tilapia here is better than the salmon anyway, so the healthiest choice on the menu is the guiltless cedar planked tilapia. Among the sides, I especially like the mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. But I rarely order it, since it is prepared with a lot of butter and garlic, and they will not do it with oil and garlic. In addition, those vegetables are not steamed and instead or cooked on their flat-top grill that is also used to prepare meat. In addition to the Tabasco sauce, they also have an excellent salsa. I request both. Regarding wines, this restaurant prices the bottles slightly better than the glasses. So if you plan to order more than three glasses, you are better off ordering a bottle. Unfortunately they do not provide a wine list containing the prices of their wines, either by the glass or by the bottle, and it can be a real nuissance to have to ask the waiters to acquire and provide those prices. But the prices are typical of chain restaurants, so I usually don't bother asking. The prices are not likely to turn out to be a surprise and are comparable to what you would expect at Applebee's. For example, they have toasted head chardonnay, which is a very good one, at a reasonable price by the bottle. The back area of the main dining room is the noisiest part of the restaurant, because of kitchen and server station noise. I prefer the bar area. There also is another dining room to the left of the entrance. It is farthest from the kitchen and server station noise. |
| Longhorn Steak
House 3050 Its web site 785-843-7000 |
Having lived in
For those seeking seafood (sometimes very good at some steakhouses), the Longhorm Steak House has shrimp and scallops in addition to the salmon. But if you are a pesco vegetarian and eat no meat other than seafood, you will have some difficulty here. They cannot prepare their seafood on a separate pan, since they have no skillets or separate fry pans. They only have the two large grills on which they prepare the meat. If this concerns you, the best they can do is to spread aluminum foil over the surface and prepare your seafood on that surface. This restaurant does have sweet potatoes, which I would like to see on more restaurant menus as a more healthy alternative to regular potatoes. The modest upcharge to substitute asparagus for their other vegetable choices is worth it. The dismal salad is mostly iceberg lettuce, but the ranch dressing (including the fat free ranch) helps a lot with this kind of salad. They have cinnamon apple as a vegetable, but it is too sweet for that purpose. If you would like to make the preparations more "Texan," you can request jalapenos and a pepper mill, but they do not have crushed red pepper. Unlike many restaurants, this one prices its bottles of wine more reasonably than its glasses. |
| Molly
McGee's 2412 785-841-9922 |
This is an undistinguished neighborhood restaurant, which can be a pleasant place for lunch. They have a good Portobello sandwich and a decent veggie burger. Their only wine is Gallo Copperidge (need I say more?). |
| Old http://www.oldchicago.com/ 785-841-4124 |
If you are looking
for food late at night, this chain restaurant is one of your few
choices. Old |
| On the
Border 3080 http://www.ontheborder.com/ 785-830-8291 |
This chain of
Tex-Mex restaurants includes none of the interior-Mex preparations that I
prefer. Keep in mind that Tex-Mex and other versions of
Border-Mex are based on the food of one of the poorest parts of
The best of this restaurant is the "guacamole live" appetizer, which is really excellent. But to make it more authentic, tell them to skip the salt and add extra cilantro. In fact, interior-Mex preparations often are very heavy on cilantro. If you would like to Europeanize any of the preparations, you can tell them to substitute olive oil for butter in anything on their menu, as they do in Spain. The sauce on their shrimp is good. In the Spanish style of multi-restaurant tapas dining, I would go for the "guacamole live" with a glass of Kendall Jackson chardonnay, and then head for another restaurant for an entree. If you would prefer a red wine, they have Beaulieu vineyards cabernet. Although not viewed as especially upscale these days, Beaulieu and Mondavi were the first two Californian vineyards to produce serious, good quality wine, with Beaulieu being the one that in those days was served in the American embassy in Paris. Beaulieu cabernet is a good buy. This restaurant has the best atmosphere of the many Mexican restaurants in Lawrence. Although the menu is not as vegetarian-friendly as some in Lawrence, the servers in this restaurant are very helpful and will accommodate whatever preferences you may have. |
| [format (4D)] Paisano's Restaurante 2112 W 25th St. lawrence.com link 785-838-3500 |
This traditional
American style Italian restaurant can be very pleasant.
They have two dining rooms, one on the first floor and one in the
basement. The basement dining room resembles those that
were typical years ago in the Italian neighborhoods of Their salmon is particularly good with their aglio e olio sauce, which they'll provide upon request. Even better, ask for the grilled salmon with their excellent salsa fresca. If you'd like to do this northern Italian style, you could ask for them to substitute vegetables aglio e olio instead of the pasta. Alternatively, you could get the salsa fresca. But be aware that the tomatoes they use in that sauce are canned and contain sugar, so isn't as good as the salsa fresca at a first rate Italian restaurant. They can do an excellent Sicilian salad (sliced tomatoes, basil, onions, anchovies, and herbs), but unfortunately it is not on the menu. Perhaps that is too Italian and not enough Italian-American for this restaurant's menu. Their house salad comes with a choice of salad dressings. Their house dressing is creamy and contains cheese. If you prefer, you can use the vinegar and oil that is supplied on every table. Unlike some restaurants in Lawrence, Paisaano's supplies real olive oil, not a blend with canola oil or some lesser oil. All entrees include the large salad. Further befitting the theme, they do not (unfortunately) have San Pellegrino. They have some interesting Italian wines on the menu, including Genofranco Grillo from Sicily. Personally I prefer that wine to the more expensive Due Uve Bertani, which also is on the wine list. I have not yet tried the Tre Donne Roero Arneis, which has an excellent reputation. Of particular interest is the fact that they have wine by the quartini (flasks containing 1/4 liter). Two quartinis provide a reasonable quantity for two persons, and costs less than a bottle (which contains 3/4 liter). The new menu lists various "toppers" to add to pasta, but you can order a few toppers as your complete meal, if you wish to "do it your way." For example, you can order the shrimp or salmon topper along with steamed vegetables and sauteed mushroom in a bowl. Also order one or more of the sauces on the side, and you'll have a very enjoyable dinner. You won't then get the salad that is included with regular entrees, unless you order the salad separately. But you might not want the salad anyway, if you order two vegetables from the list of toppers. |
| Plum
Tree 2620 Iowa St. menu from Lawrence.com 785-841-6222 |
This
restaurant is now closed. But the same owners run the Panda
Garden, with the same menu, at 1500 W. 6th St., Lawrence, KS 66044. For Chinese food that is on the menu (as opposed to off the menu special banquet food), Plum Tree is the best in In addition Plum Tree has hot pot and Chinese bread, not commonly found in American Chinese restaurants. I especially like the availability of Chinese bread at the Plum Tree. While most Americans view starch in Chinese restaurants to be synonymous with rice, as is the case in the south of My favorite style at Plum Tree is the restaurant's Thai basil preparation, which they will prepare as basil chicken or basil tofu. If you are a vegetarian, they will remove the chicken stock from that, or any other dish, if you ask for "water base." They have another excellent tofu preparation which so far is not on the menu. It is called "bear claw tofu." I request that it be prepared with basil and green onion, and water base. Other good preparations at this restaurant include kung pao and cashew style. Spring rolls are among their best appetizers, along with the cold noodles appetizer. They also have a good version of Thai lemon grass soup. I always ask that coconut milk be removed from lemon grass soup, regardless of whether or not coconut milk is mentioned on the menu. This restaurant will do that, if you request. Some Thai restaurants will not. Coconut milk contains highly saturated tropical oil. I also ask for extra lemon grass in the soup. Also on the Thai page of the menu is gang know whan. Oddly it is not listed among the soups, but is a soup. It is very good, but the spice level is much lower than in typical Thai restaurants. You can ask for it to be made more spicy or add spice after it is served. I am not fond of their seafood combo, which does not resemble that amazing dish in As is common in Chinese restaurants in this country, the chef can do much more than is reflected on the Americanized menu. In this case, the chef (Jennifer), can provide an excellent flame broiled flounder fish, with broccoli or snow peas. As mentioned above, the XO sauce is another off the menu item that you'll have to request. The combination of her flame broiled fish and the XO sauce is hard to beat anywhere in Lawrence --- at twice the price. They have wine at very low prices, but of modest quality. Mostly they have Sutter Home (chardonnay, merlot, and cabernet). But their chablis is Inglenook. While California chardonnay usually is better than California chablis, Inglenook chablis is better then Sutter Home chardonnay. Their burgundy is Carlo Rossi, which is not a good choice. Among their reds, the Sutter home cabernet is the best choice. Oddly their menu says that the merlot is Sebastiani, but it isn't. It's Sutter Home. |
| Casa Agave 3333 Iowa St. 785-331-4243 |
This
restaurant is in the location of the former Uno Chicago Grill near the
multiplex theater. It appears to be a spinoff of a restaurant of
the same name in Manhattan, KS. It is not among the best Mexican
restaurants in Lawrence. But it can be an enjoyable place for a
meal, if you recognize it for what it is: an inexpensive Tex-Mex
restaurant having a nice dining room in a convenient location. I
hope they do better than the Uno's, which disappointingly closed a few
years ago leaving this building empty for a long time. The pluses are the dining room, the location, the low prices, and the helpful servers. I have so far tried the Camarones a la Diabla and the Camarones al Moja de Ajo, and liked both of them, at least after asking them to bring out their hot sauce. Also they have good corn tortillas, if you request them, and they have probably the least expensive wine in Lawrence and a reasonable selection of beers. Now for the negatives. While they have a large bar area, they do not have a single wine that you can get by the bottle, and the wines by the glass do not include Merlot or Cabernet. The only red wine that they have is red zinfandel. We ordered a glass of red zinfandel and a glass of chardonnay. They brought out a glass of white zinfandel and apologized for not having any red chardonnay (there is no such thing, since all chardonnays are white). When we explained, the waiter came back with a glass of chardonnay (white, of course) and a glass of red zinfandel. Both were of very low quality, but suitable for their rock bottom price. It is not easy to understand why with such a large bar area, taking up an entire room, they cannot have available a bottle or two of medium quality wine for people who know better and are willing to pay for good wine. Regarding the tortillas, we asked for corn tortillas and low-carb tortillas. They brought out two orders of corn tortillas. Perhaps they think low-carb tortillas are the same as corn tortillas? Many restaurants in Lawrence know better. Almost everything on the menu comes with refried beans, whether the menu says that or not, and I'd bet that those beans are made with lard. Refried beans are very unhealthy. They do not have black beans or whole vegetarian beans, although these days most Mexican restaurants in Lawrence have them available for people who have the sense to protect their health. When I told them to scrape the refried beans off the plate and give me something else, they substituted guacamole, which was an excellent substitution. In short, if you are willing to deal with this Tex-Mex restaurant on its own terms and keep in mind that you are getting your money's worth for the low prices, you can have a very pleasant meal here. I hope they succeed. But I wish they'd at least stock a couple of bottles of decent wine. |
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I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
