The Food and Drink Guy

Tag: Chicken

  • The Chicken (West Des Moines, IA) Review

    The Chicken (West Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.2* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 4*

    Would I go back / Recommend?: 4* (Probably)

    Total check/person: $24

    06/12/2024 The Chicken (515) 410-2520

    We have had discounts from kid’s athletics fundraising cards to try this place for several years and finally got over to try it this summer. While the exterior on the East side didn’t look like much, the front (North) side looked much more inviting and lively – with tables and a modern look. Unfortunately, we arrived from the South and didn’t see the front side until leaving (see pictures of each side below). I did like the corrugated metal and rustic wood decor – giving it a bit of a old farm building feel inside.

    We started with a Salty Chick and an Orilla Sunset (see picture) drink – and really enjoyed both of them. For our meal we ordered a Nashville Hot Dinner (see picture) and a Chicken Strip Meal (see picture). The chicken was good and we really liked the fries – hearty, crispy on the outside & soft and hot on the inside. Best of all was the Carolina Mustard and Bang Bang sauces on the side – we loved both of them!

    While this is a bit out of the way for us since we live up in Urbandale and don’t get this far south very often, we did enjoy our stop for dinner and would recommend it if you are in the area.

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    Nashville Hot Dinner
    Chicken Strip Meal
    Orilla Sunset

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  • Either-Or (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Either-Or (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.0* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 3*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 4*

    04/05/2024 Either-Or (515) 214-1831

    I’ve been wanting to get to Either-Or for some time since reading about their opening in the Des Moines Register. The exterior and interior of the building are impressive and deserving of a 5* rating (see pictures) – enhanced by the expansive open patio area. There is definitely excitement in the air and the whole place seems quite energetic and lively – welcoming to all age groups.

    There is an extensive collection of craft tap beers, especially from Lua (see menu and picture of bar). I also found the Value and Service to be above average. On the food side, both my wife and I were disappointed given our expectations. I ordered the Chicken Katsu with beet soup (see picture) and my wife ordered the Korean Philly with salad (see picture). Our daughter-in-law ordered the Ham & Cheese w/ fries (see picture).

    Our daughter-in-law liked the Ham & Cheese and both my wife and I tried and liked the fries. Being a beet fan, I also liked the beet soup. What really brough my rating down to average for the food though was the Chicken Katsu and Korean Philly sandwiches – and for opposite reasons. We found the Chicken Katsu to be near flavorless, with very little seasoning. On the other hand, both my wife and myself had the same reaction after our first bite of the Korean Philly sandwich – the strength of the salty flavor created an initial thought of “there is no way we can finish this sandwich”.

    We finished most of our meals, but I would not recommend either the Chicken Katsu or the Korean Philly sandwich and would not order it again if we return to the restaurant. That is disappointing to report and is a rarity in all of my hundreds of reviews, but I want to provide transparent reviews to help you make good dining decisions.

    Spacious, modern and lively atmosphere with a great selection of craft beers on tap, but the food still needs some work.

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    Ham & Cheese w/ fries
    Chicken Katsu w/ beet soup
    Korean Philly w/ salad

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  • Basic Bird (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Basic Bird (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.5* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 4*

    02/10/2024 Basic Bird

    I read about the Basic Bird opening in the Des Moines Register and immediately added it to my Want to Go list. We first stopped by on a Saturday night around dinner time and decided we didn’t want to wait in line because it was very busy. We got our chance a few weeks later by making plans to stop by before the rush…getting there before 4pm.

    I liked the fun paintings on the building as we walked up (see pictures) and the interior was quite bright, lively and inviting (see pictures). If you didn’t know, the pictures will make it obvious that this is a fast-food restaurant…albeit one with high quality food and a selection of tap beer as well as other canned alcoholic beverages. Because of the fast-food format where you order at the counter and very basic (yet highly lacquered) interior, tables and chairs, I did deduct a point each for Atmosphere and Service.

    As for the food, both myself and my wife really enjoyed our choices. My wife opted for the Sandwich Meal with Brussel Sprouts, Korean Potato Salad & Shishitos peppers (see picture). I opted for the 5 Piece Boneless Meal with Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage Kimchi & Korean Potato Salad (see picture). As we always do, we shared bites of each others plates and both of us really liked most all of the offerings. We both preferred the Double Dunk sauce (on her sandwich) over the Spicy Gochujang sauce (on my wings), as we didn’t think the Spicy Gochujang had much spice or flavor. The same could be said for the Shishitos, as they didn’t have a lot of flavor.

    If you love juicy, crispy chicken and don’t mind a fast-food format, you will want to try Basic Bird.

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    Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com

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  • Smoking GOAT Pub (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Smoking GOAT Pub (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.25* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 5*

    06/23/2023 Smoking GOAT Pub

    We stopped at the previous business (WISCO) and found that they were remodeling with new owners…so waited for the new restaurant to open and tried it out for Happy Hour (from HappyHourDesMoines.com). The bar area is beautifully lighted (see pictures) and there is a professional painting of numerous GOAT sports figures on one wall. It was just a few days after they officially opened and unfortunately, their tap beer wasn’t working that night – so we made due with mixed drinks instead.

    My wife started with a Margarita 1800 (see picture) on our server, Steph’s recommendation – and it was very good. I stuck with the well drinks to take advantage of the Happy Hour specials…and we soon found ourselves ordering food and making a night of it.

    We started with Cheese Curds (see picture) which were very good…and the dipping sauce was delicious! I then ordered chicken wings (see pictures) and my wife ordered Cod (see picture) – again on Steph’s suggestion. Both entree orders were delicious – crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and oh, so tasty. I would definitely recommend all of the above items when you stop.

    This is definitely a great stop for a drink and/or food – and when you stop by, make sure to say ‘Hi’ to Steph – she is fantastic!

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    Margarita 1800
    Cheese Curds

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  • Charlotte’s Kitchen (Johnston, IA) Review

    Charlotte’s Kitchen (Johnston, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.5* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 4*

    06/15/2023 Charlotte’s Kitchen

    This place has been on my Want to Go list for a while and then a local highly recommended it, so met visitors from out of town here for lunch. This is a fast food restaurant where you order at the counter, find a table with your order number flag and then they deliver your order to your table. With that said, I found Charlotte’s to be at the high-end of fast food restaurants and based on the comments from others in line is clearly a local favorite.

    The menu only includes chicken sandwiches, wraps and salads (see video board pictures), which keeps things easier and lets them focus on doing chicken well. I went with the Chicken Tenders Combo (see picture) and one of my guests ordered the Original Sandwich Combo (see picture). The chicken was crispy, juicy and delicious and the fries were also very good – crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. I also ordered Char’s Sauce & Sweet Thai Chili sauce – which were great on the chicken as well as dipping the fries.

    I definitely see why this place generates so much local chatter and look forward to bringing my wife back to try some additional menu items such as the Brussels Sprouts & Crab Rangoon. If you are in the area and looking for a solid chicken meal in a clean, modern restaurant – you will definitely want to give this place a try.

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    Original Sandwich combo
    Chicken Tenders combo

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  • Wahlburger’s @ HyVee (Grimes, IA) Review

    Wahlburger’s @ HyVee (Grimes, IA) Review

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

    4.25* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 4*

    03/27/2023 Wahlburger’s @ HyVee (Grimes, IA)

    I’ve stopped here a few times for Happy Hour on the way home from work and finally took the time for pictures to document the trip tonight. My wife joined me and we each enjoyed a half priced tap while waiting for our food.

    We ordered the Boneless Chicken Wings in sweet chili sauce (see picture), Bone-In Wings in Buffalo sauce (see picture) and Cheese & Bacon Tots (see picture). While the chicken wings had a little more breading than I would prefer, I liked both the boneless and bone-in – with the flavor of both being great. As to the Cheese & Bacon Tots, while there weren’t that many of them – they tasted fantastic (creamy, cheesy and delicious) and were cooked perfectly.

    This place is definitely worth a stop for good food and value pricing – especially during Happy Hour!

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    Cheese & Bacon Tots
    Bone-In Buffalo Wings
    Boneless Sweet Chili Wings

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  • Captain Hook Fish & Chicken (Crystal, MN) Review

    Captain Hook Fish & Chicken (Crystal, MN) Review

    Rating: 3 out of 5.

    2.75* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 2*

    Value: 3*

    Service: 2*

    03/03/2023 Captain Hook Fish & Chicken

    It was a Friday during Lent so we were looking for seafood takeout options to take to our son’s place for a late lunch. This place was right along the way, so we ordered ahead to pick it up on the way by. While I love trying new places and like to support small businesses, I feel that this place is going to need some management assistance to stay alive. For starters, my wife wasn’t able to order online through their website and was tricked into signing up with a contract with another company when she thought she was placing her order for the food. Therefore, she gave up and called in instead…and while taking our order, the order-taker suddenly stopped taking our order and proceeded to yell at one of the other employees.

    Since we ordered ahead over the phone, I dropped my wife off at the door and waited outside with the vehicle running as I thought it would be a quick stop to pick up our food. After 15 minutes of waiting, I parked the vehicle and went inside to see what was going on with our order. My wife then informed me that the menu in the store was different than what she ordered based on what showed online. Beware that the in-store menu does not include beverages as is shown in their online menu and the prices are higher.

    Once the food was finally finished and we got it to our son’s house, we found the food to be relatively good. The best part in my opinion was the Hush Puppies (see picture) with the Shrimp & Fries basket (see picture) also being tasty. We weren’t as impressed with the Fish & Fries basket (see picture), as the breading was very dry and cornmeal like, with little to no flavor or seasoning.

    Bottom line is that the food was reasonable for a fast food restaurant, but the service is definitely not fast. Don’t expect that they will be organized enough to have your food ready if you call ahead – I’d order at the restaurant and make sure you have about 15 minutes available to wait for the food.

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    Hush Puppies
    Shrimp & Fries
    Fish & Fries

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  • Galena Brewing Company (Galena, IL) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.25* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 4*

    Really enjoyed our stop here during our stay.  The beer selection was good (see Flight picture), the buffalo chicken wings tasted very good and the value was good.

    You’ll enjoy your stop here… great food, service and value.

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  • Motley School Tavern (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Motley School Tavern (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    4.0* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 3*

    Service: 4*

    07/22/2022 Motley School Tavern

    We were intrigued by the name when we saw it in a restaurant search, so had to give it a try. We went last Summer and while we found it a little pricey, we really enjoyed each of the plates we ordered.

    As a starter, we ordered the Chorizo & Potato Empanadas (see picture) and would highly recommend them. Next, my wife ordered the Grilled Hanger Steak (see picture) and I ordered the Fried Bologna Sandwich (see picture). As an ‘After School Snack’, the Fried Bologna Sandwich was relatively small – but was very tasty. My wife really enjoyed the Grilled Hanger Steak – it was juicy, cooked as ordered and the sauce and toppings tasted great.

    If you are in the area, this is definitely a place that you’ll want to give a try. There are so many unique menu items that you are bound to find one that you will enjoy.

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    Chorizo & Potato Empanadas
    Grilled Hanger Steak
    Fried Bologna Sandwich

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  • Lava Burgers and Wings (Owatonna, MN) Review

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    3.75* (out of 5)

    Yelp Review

    Google Review

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 3*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 4*

    8/6/2021

    Stopped here while driving through to Minneapolis and we’re impressed with the Volcano Burger.  The burger was large as was the helping of french fries.  I didn’t plan to eat but ended up eating half of it to help my wife.  Both the burger and the fries (crispy, seasoned crust and soft inside) were delicious.

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