Five Guys Burgers and Fries

My mom was in town and we were running around Promenade mall, so we decided to try Five Guys.  She'd been to one before, so she explained to me that I probably wanted the Little Cheeseburger, not the regular Cheeseburger, because that has one meat patty instead of two.  We both got cheeseburgers, and they do have some good options.  I got mine with fried onions and fried mushrooms.  We decided to split an order of french fries, because they're big, so we ordered the Cajun Fries. 

Cheeseburger

Cajun Fries

We were there right after the place opened, so it took a few minutes for our order to get going.  The cheeseburger was good, with lots of toppings.  And the fries were fresh and good.  I didn't like the tea though.  They use Gold Peak tea in that separate machine, and you push one button for sweet, the other for unsweet.  I had unsweet and it tasted like your typical fountain tea, which means it sucked.

Overall, it was alright.  The burger was good, but it was nothing special.  Ditto for the fries.  My mom was upset because the music was too loud (it was) and it was tuned to a Spanish station playing pop music.  The place wasn't bad and I would eat there again, but I wasn't impressed.  3.5 stars.

[When I say I wasn't impressed, I should probably explain that to me, most fast food burgers taste like crap.  I generally don't eat them at all.  I'm guessing it's because of the pink slime.  I would eat Five Guys again.]

Ron's Hamburgers & Chili

It had been awhile since we'd eaten out, so we decided to check out Ron's, in Lowell.  We went there about 1:30 pm on New Year's Day.  It was fairly empty, and the server told us to seat ourselves.  The place looks like your typical generic restaurant, with booths around the outside and tables on the inside.  They also have 2 TVs.

The napkins are in a dispenser at the table, along with ketchup, Tobasco, and Louisiana Hot Sauce.  There was also something that looked like seasoned salt.  And of course, the usual salt, pepper, etc.

I ordered the 1/5 lb. Cheeseburger and Fries, with a sweet tea.  The burgers come with the option of regular onions or grilled onions, which I thought was great - I love grilled onions!  The tea was a bit odd.  It wasn't bad, but the sweet taste was a bit funny.  I'm really not sure how to describe it better.  The fries are homemade, with the skins still on.  They were alright.  My basket of fries didn't seem that fresh when it came to the table.  I think it was sitting on the counter for a bit while they finished the rest of our order.  The burger, however, was really good!  It had a nice quantity of lettuce and tomato, and small grilled onions on it.  Yummy!

Frank had the Chili, Jumbo Cheeseburger (1/3 lb.) with grilled onions, and unsweet tea.  He said the chili had a some warmth to it, not a lot, but a good flavor.  He put it as, he wouldn't go there just for the chili, but he would eat it when he did go there.  He also loved the burger!  He wasn't sure about the tea.  It had an odd taste.  It wasn't astringent like most tea is, so he wondered if maybe it was made from a syrup or something.  Or maybe it's a mild-flavored tea instead of the usual ones.

Here's a comparison of our burgers:

An interesting point about Ron's - they have the Who's ur Daddy?  It's a 2 lb. cheeseburger, 1 lb. fries, and a drink.  If you finish it all withing 15 minutes, it's free and you get your photo put on the wall!  Frank lamented not being 10 years younger so that he could go for it.

Overall, we liked the place.  It's got a kind of diner feel, the server was friendly, and it also has free Wi-fi.  Our total bill was about $17 which is pretty good these days.  I'm going to give a range of 3.5 to 4 stars, because the fries were okay, the chili was fine, but the burgers were really good.

Las Fajitas of Bella Vista

After eating at the Verde Limon, we figured we should finally try out the main Mexican restaurant in town.  We were there for supper, during a Hawgs game.  Their decor is very bright!  Below is a photo of one of their booths. 

The salsa was good, with a slow burn.  But I really loved the chips!  They had a different flavor to them, like they were from a sweet corn.  Very yummy!

We had ice tea, and Frank had the Chicken Chimichanga.  I felt a little gun-shy after my last chimichanga, so I had the Camarones a la Mexicana (shrimp).  The tea was a little bitter, but not bad.  The chimichanga was pretty good.  It had shredded chicken, and was seasoned.  And it wasn't dried out.

I loved the shrimp!  They were cooked in tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper.  There were about a dozen shrimp, and they weren't overcooked.  The dish came with 3 flour tortillas, so I made little tacos/burritos out of everything.

The beans and rice were okay.  Frank thought the guacamole was better here than at Verde Limon, but it tasted a little too salty to me.  Overall, I really liked the place.  The food came very quickly once we ordered, and it was cooked properly.  Four stars.

Verde Limon

We went here a few weeks ago, right after they opened, and in the middle of the lunch rush on a Saturday.  Everything is green!  They have booths and tables with green plastic chairs.  There's a small bar, but it looks like it's mainly for mixing drinks, not for sitting at.

The salsa was fresh tasting and the chips were good too.  The salsa didn't taste hot at first, but then it built up to a nice burn.

We both ordered the Chicken Chimichanga, which is one of my favorites.  And of course I had ice tea.  The ice tea was pretty good, not bitter or anything.  But the chimichanga was a bit disappointing.  The chicken inside was white meat, and cut into pieces, and it was rather dry.  There was no sauce or anything inside the chimichanga.  I thought the guacamole side was good, but Frank only thought it was okay.  The rice and beans were kind of generic.

Overall, it was alright.  As I said, this was a Saturday lunch, soon after they opened for business.  So I can make allowances for not getting a tea refill, or not getting the bill until we were standing in line at the cash register.  It was also very noisy.  They had some kind of Mexican music playing in the background, and I could barely hear it over the noise of people talking.  So my final review is 3-1/2 stars.  Frank seemed think their food was more California-Mexican than straight Mexican, so that my have something to do with it too.

Johnny Brusco's Pizza

I wasn't sure what to expect at Johnny Brusco's, but just walking in the door I was favorably impressed by the smell - it smelled like a pizza place!  There are tables, booths, and a bar.  If you sit at the bar you can watch the pizza being made.  And they really make it here - they throw it up in the air and everything.  There are about 3 TVs around the outside wall of the restaurant, and 2 by the bar, but it doesn't have a sports bar feel, which I liked.

We went at an off time, before the supper rush (and during a Hawg game), so the TVs were on and a bit loud.  I said something about the noise when we arrived, and a few minutes later I noticed a guy going around turning the volume down on the TV sets.  Then they turned on the music, which was Country.

Frank had coffee and of course I had ice tea.  The tea was a little bitter, but at least then you know it's real tea.  And the coffee was actually good!  They didn't have to make a pot especially for Frank, there was already a pot going.  Usually Frank rates restaurant coffee on a scale of "crap" to "I can drink it."  He said this one was "pretty good." 

The food was really good!  They have pizza, calzones, stromboli, salads, subs, and dishes like spaghetti and lasagna. We ordered a 1/2 order of garlic knots, which was $2.50.

That's a lot of food for that price!  The knots are just dough knots, but they were cooked with garlic and butter.  And the garlic was very mellow, not scorched.  The marinara was really good too!  Very light and fresh tasting.

I had a pepperoni calzone, and Frank had the 12" (medium) pepperoni pizza.

They both tasted great!  The calzone is an actual calzone, not those pizza pockets you get at most places.  And as I mentioned earlier, they actually throw the pizza.  The pepperoni itself wasn't anything special, but it was good.  They also don't drown everything in sauce.

Overall, we both really liked the place.  The food was very good.  The service was also really good.  We went at an off time, which usually means the server either hovers or ignores you.  Our server was there when we wanted her.  She even refilled Frank's coffee.  You'd think that would be normal, but in our experience, servers usually ignore the coffee refill.  Our experience was good enough that I'm giving them 4 to 4-1/2 stars.  And Frank can't wait to try the meatball sub!

Daylight Donuts

Frank wanted some doughnuts while he was out, so he went by the most convenient place - Daylight Donuts.  This is the one in Bella Vista.  It's on the west side of the road, behind the Dairy Queen.

I've had bad luck with Daylight Donuts in other towns, so I was prepared for the worst.  It was a mixed bag.  The glazed donuts tasted okay, and I was surprised that the plain cake donuts weren't bad either.  They weren't as moist and tasty as Casey's, but they were fine.  But the chocolate covered donuts were horrible.  I had a regular chocolate covered donut, and Frank had one of those Bavarian filled things with the chocolate on top.  The chocolate tasted terrible!  I only ate about two bites and that was it for me.  That's how bad the chocolate was!  Overall, 3 stars, because the other donuts were okay.

Popeye's

I recently tried the one on Walnut St. in Rogers.  I went at an off time, but the service was a bit slow.  I've been seeing these commercials on TV for shrimp, but this Popeye's only had their normal Popcorn Shrimp (the only shrimp on the menu).  And I had to wait while they cooked it up.

Overall, I didn't get a great impression.  The service was slow, and the biscuit was so greasy that my napkins were soaked.  The Popeye's on 6th St./MLK in Fayetteville is a lot better.  Three stars.