I had seen Stool Pigeons before I both this location as well as the Matthews location, and had always wanted to try one.  Due to its atmosphere, price point, and location, today was the day.

When we went it. I was pleasantly surprised. While it has a long bar that runs the length of the restaurant, there were about 15 tables an about 8 booths. The booths were huge compared to most place. Everything had a dark wood stain which made it look.a lot nicer than just your average bar.  There were also tons of TV’s scattered throughout the place to watch you favorite game on.

We were greeted and seated immediately. The waitress was very attentive - although, it was very slow since they had just opened for the day.

Now on the important part, the food. I expected the menu to be made up of a lot of “bar” food, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a mix of a few other things throughout.

They had the standard bar stuff on the “Starters” menu (nachos, wings, onion rings, mozzarella sticks to name a few). They also had a fairly long list of salads (six in all) as well as chilli and soup. They had a lot of Wraps and a few sandwiches and burgers.   In addition to those, they had larger entrees that included mahi mahi and a black angus ribeye. They also had a variety of pizzas. As far as price goes, the appetizers, salads, and sandwiches ranged between $6 and $9. The entrees ranged between $12 and $16.

I got the “Giant Mahi Mahi Pita” which was grilled mahi mahi topped with pepper jack cheese, shredded lettuce and mango salsa stuffed in a giant pita. It also came with fries. The sandwich was delicious. The pepper jack cheese and the mango salsa mixed with the mahi to make a great mixture of complimentary flavors in my mouth. I would recommend it to anyone (well, anyone that eats fish).

My wife got the chicken fingers entree.  It came with three oversized chicken tenders served with tator tots.  She thought they were “ok” but to me they had too much breading on them.

My sons “cheesy pizza” was good (for a bar, but not great for a pizza place). It had both mozzarella and parmesan cheese with a garlic butter crust.  One thing of note is that they do not have a kids menu, but have several non-menu specia for kids. For instance, the pizza that my son got was on the regular menu for $8.99, but was only $4.99 (same size and everything).

Another plus for me was that they had Pepsi products!

All in all, I won’t hesitate to go back there!

There are also locations in the University area and in Matthews; although, I have not visited those.

It was strange to be that slow in the dining area because they do run an all you can eat crab legs special on Thursday nights ($24.95). The Carolina Wing & Rib House was always packed during its Thursday night all you can eat crab legs special, so I suspected Monty’s would be the same. Perhaps people just do not know about it as of yet. They better find out in a hurry because I don’t know how long a place can stay in business as slow as they were.

I started with the bacon wrapped scallops. I got three scallops on a skewer that was served over a bed of diced pineapple, red onions and red peppers. The scallops were not what I would call large, but were perhaps slightly larger than average. The bed of pineapple, red onions and red peppers was amazing. It was simply fantastic. It made the entire dish worth getting. On the downside, it was a bit overpriced at $10 - especially in comparison to the other items on the menu. For example, my entree was only $17.95. The scallops would have been more appropriately priced at $7.

For my entree, I got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with lemon butter. They have several varieties of fish to choose from as well as several seasonings to choose from. The fish has a really really (really!) strong grilled taste to it. I agree with Hank Hill that you are supposed to “taste the meat, not the heat.” I don’t mind a little grilled or smoke flavoring every now and then but it should complemint the meat - not the other way around. The fish was moist and appear to have been prepared good other than the overly grilled flavor.

I also got shrimp scami on the side with were great. My other sides included mushrooms and asparagus, both of which were good (not great, just good). My wife ordered a filet which she also thought was good, but not exceptional.

For desert, we had strawberry cheesecake. It was pretty good, but would have been better with strawberries. It wasn’t spectacular by any means. In my opinion, it is difficult to find bad cheesecake.

I will probably try to visit Monty’s again in the future, but will likely do it for the all you can eat crab legs special, primarily because there are not a lot of places that have the special anymore.

The atmosphere at The Capital Grille is as nice as any restaurant in Charlotte. It gives me the feeling of a very upscale lodge but is quite beautiful in its architecture. Everything has a dark would finish that enables you to be comfortable and relaxed.

The service was exceptional - easily a 10. The waitress was extremely knowledgable about every ingredient of every dish and how it was prepared. She kept our drinks refilled well in advance of our actually needing them and was always around if we needed to ask a question or anything.

While I normally order a Filet when visiting these types of steakhouses, the waitress steered me toward the Porcini Rubbed Delmonico steak. I was so glad she did. This steak was just phenominal. It was dry aged (as all steaks at The Capital Grille are) and had was topped off with a light drizzling of premium 8-year aged balsamic. I was not sure what they topping on top was as I ate it, but upon reviewing the menu determined it to be the balsamic. This steak was perfect in about every way. It was also very large at 22oz. The broiling process created a thin crust of porcini mushroom that blended perfectly with the other flavors. As stated before, this steak was amazing.

I had two sides with my meal - Fresh Asparagus with Hollandaise and Roasted Seasonal Mushrooms. The asparagus was exceptional, but the mushrooms were simply outstanding. They consisted of a large portion of portabella, oyster, shiitake, crimini and button mushrooms that were slowly roasted with extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic butter. Like the steak, they were amazing. I am so glad that the waitress recommended them.

After eating all of this, I was quite full. Of course, I am a huge sucker for Creme Brulee and guess what? They had it. It too, was fantastic. Of course, does anyone make bad Creme Brulee? I have never found it.

All in all, The Capital Grille hit a grand slam on this visit. Everything about it was exceptionally great.

Before making your reservations to The Capital Grille, beware that the prices are not cheap. They are an upscale restaurant and charge accordingly ($$$$).

The atmosphere was extremely nice and it seemed much nicer from a design perspective than most barbecue restaurants. After looking the menu over, I noticed that they are actually a chain. Most of their 23 locations are in the Southeast - this is their first in North Carolina. It is located near the corner of South Tryon and Highway 160 - on an outparcel next to Harris Teeter.

The waitress did a very good job. Our drinks did not get empty and she seemed to be around when we needed her. It appeared they had ample waitstaff. Hopefully, this is not just due to the fact that they are new.

First, let me mention their tea. It was very light in color and very weak. Their menu made a big deal of the fact that it was their “Signature Slow Brewed Tea.” I sure hope this was a bad batch because it could be improved upon. It was drinkable though - unlike some places.

They bring you a basket of what the waitress called “Cheddar Biscuits.” These did not resemble anything I have ever known to be a biscuit. They were more like corn muffins with cheese. Regardless of what they called them, they were hot and fantastic. I could have eaten an entire meal just on the “Cheddar Biscuits.”

I was a bit disappointed when I saw the Barbecue being delivered to tables smothered in sauce. The thing that comes to mind is what are they hiding with the sauce. Good barbecue does not require sauce - altough it is sometimes a nice compliment. To use a quote I hear a lot on the Food Channel - “Sauce hides things.” I immediately told the waitress that I wanted my sauce on the side so that I could truly judge the quality of the barbecue.

The barbecue was good but still not the great barbecue that I have grown to enjoy over the years. I tried the sauce. The regular sauce was nothing to write home about. They had a Habenero Hot and Spicy Sauce on the table which was great. I may have to get me some of this to use at home. It was hot - and it was Spicy - although not as hot as habenero usually is. This was a good thing since they have the sauce sitting on the tables.

The baked beans were good, but kind of different than what I expected. They had some sort of pepper in them that made them spicier than normal.

The slaw was pathetic. It was basically cabbage salad. It was not grated at all. There were large chunks of cabbage sitting in a pool of white liquid in the bowl. I suggest they spend 30 second longer on each batch of slaw to grate it and blend it well.

On another note, there was no border between smoking and non-smoking. Given the numerous studies related to higher revenues in non-smoking restaurants, I am not sure why a new restaurant would even have a smoking section. When selecting your table, be sure to request to sit far away from smoking if you do not wish to be bothered by the stinch.

They have lots of items besides BBQ pork - including an assortment of sandwiches, burgers, salads, brisket, chicken, turkey, pork hot links, ribs, steaks and much more. The one thing I did notice on most all items is that their prices were about $2 to $5 higher on each item than your typical barbecue restaurant. For instance, a pulled pork Bar-B-Q plate was $13.50, and hand pulled pork Bar-B-Q sandwich was $8.50…..and so on.

As far as what I had, I rate them as follows (scake if 1-10):
(1) BBQ 6 of 10 (better than average - not great)
(2) “Cheddar Biscuits” - 9
(3) Baked Beans - 7
(4) Slaw - 0 (they didn’t even hit the scale on this one)
(5) Onion Rings 8 - my wife had these, they were exceptional
(6) Tea - 4
(7) Atmosphere - 8
(8) Service - 8

The atmosphere was exceptionally nice. There are few restaurants in the Pineville area that offer a sense of upscale ambiance like the Bonefish Grill. The service was also exceptional as the waiter was very attentive and was always on top of making sure that our dining needs were met.

The meal started with a basket of bread that was quite good. The one black mark from the service standpoint would be the removal of the bread when the meals are served. Many people eat bread throughout their meal - not just as an appetizer. They did bring the bread back upon request though.

I started with the Bang Bang Shrimp. As promised, they were tender and crispy and were covered in a delicious spicy sauce. The amount of shrimp that I received was way more than I expected and could have easily served as a lite lunch by themselves.

For my entree, I had the clilean sea bass. I was amazed at how well this fish was cooked. It was exceptionally tender and moist. The rich taste of the sea bass was complimented perfectly with the warm mango salsa that covered it. The exceptional salsa consisted of red onions, diced mango, red pepper, scallions and cilantro. This fish was complimented nicely with a mashed potatoes that mixed exceptionally well with the warm mango salsa.

For desert, I had my favorite again - Creme Brulee. Once again, I loved it. I am not sure if it is possible to get bad Creme Brulee. I will keep looking until I find some. The Creme Brulee at the Bonefish Grill was larger than several other restaurants - perhaps twice as large as some. While it still rates high in my book, I still believe that it is not quite as fantastic as a few other places - particularly, McCormick & Schmicks and the Palisades Country Club (the best I have ever had).

All in all, I really enjoyed my meal at the Bonefish Grill. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the Pineville area of the restaurant that is looking for a nicer restaurant to go to. Also of note, they do have Steaks, Pork Chops, chicken, and a variety of other dishes if you have a non-seafood eater along.

As a group, we had an order of the garlic knots which were fantastic.  Soft, fresh and hot!  They were some of the best garlic knots I have ever had.

For my meal, I ordered a couple of slices with pepperoni and mushrooms.  It took longer than it should have to get them - quite a while actually.  Once they came out - they were outstanding.  It truly was some of the best pizza I have had in town.    It was similar to many of the other top NY Pizza places in town, but it wasn’t nearly as greasy as some of the others (not that I mind grease.)  

Their menu also boast a wide assortment of other items, from chicken wings and stromboli or calzones to pasta and sandwiches.  I can not wait to try some of the other menu items.  Also, their prices are fairly reasonable with a fairly large slice of NY Pizza starting at $1.75.  A 16-inch pie will run  you about $12-$15 depending upon toppings.

Baoding is upscale and has a great modern, peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. The wait staff is very friendly and does a great job of actually making a little bit of conversation. It seems to me that in many chinese restaurants, the wait staff just barely tries to break through the language barrier and just gets the order the best they can. Of course, this comment only applies to those chinese restaurants with chinese employees - some have American wait staff. I imagine this helps the employees at Baoding become better at communicating with English speaking people in general - thus, increasing the accuracy of the orders.

To start with, I had the hot and sour soup. It was wonderful, although I am sure it was the best I have had. It was more spicey than most, and I wasn’t sure 100% why the word sour was even in the name.

I can’t remember what my main course was called, and it is not on their online menu. The closest thing I can remember was Pineapple Shrimp. While I may not recall the exact name, it was outstanding. If you love pineapple, and you love shrimp, you HAVE to get this. It was served on a split pineapple which was stuffed full of jumbo shrimp, pineapple, snow peas, pepper and onions. This dish is definately going on my favorite dishes list.

My wife had Beef & Broccolli. She always gets Beef & Broccolli at Chinese restaurants. It is the only Chinese food she will eat. In other words, she is quite the expert on Beef & Broccolli. She liked the dish, but did not think it was drastically better than some of the cheaper places she has had it at.

Another note, is that it isn’t that kid-friendly. They have no kid’s menu or chicken nuggest. You can get the sweet & sour chicken (the closest thing to a chicken nugget) as a substitute. My son seems to enjoy that, but I don’t know if he bought the whole idea of the “red ranch” that we tried to sell him as the dipping sauce.

All in all, I will definately be going back to Baoding in the future. The atmosphere is great, the service is great, and the food is great.

I arrived around 1:30pm on a Tuesday (June 17th) and the restaurant was very slow - only a couple of other people dining. I ordered a BBQ plate and had to wait a little longer than I should have to get it. When it came it look delicious. Unfortunately, that is there the deliciousness ended. The BBQ tasted extremely watery. Almost as if they had added water to it to keep it moist. It was not very appetizing at all. It was actually some of the worst BBQ I have ever had.

I recalled hearing a BBQ guy on the food network state one time that “sauce hides things.” Well, they need to use more sauce. After forcing about a 1/4 of the BBQ down without sauce, I tried their varying sauces which were all sufficient. None of them were “knock your socks off and give me a bottle to take home good,” but they did an ok job of covering up the watered down pork.

On a positive note, the slaw was excellent and the hush puppies were awesome. The baked beans were just average. My three year old stated that his grilled cheese was “good.”

To sum it up, I probably will not be going back just for the amazing hush puppies and slaw. I will continue my search for quality Charlotte BBQ. At least there are a few good places just outside of Charlotte with good BBQ (Courtney’s in Clover and Alfred & Charlie’s in Gastonia). I think I need to plan a trip to Lexington BBQ (in Lexington) so I can once again see what I am missing.

There were more televisions lining the walls than I could count without physically walking around the restaurant and counting them. I don’t think there is a bad seat in the place to watch a game. Please correct me if I am wrong, as I have not actually gone there to watch a game.

I tried something that I had never had before - a Folly Beach Reuben. This was basically a Reuben with the corned beef/pastrami substituted with whitefish. It was really good; although, not as good as if I had gotten the corned beef/pastrami version. Of course, I am sure the whitefish was much more healthy than corned beef. Would I get it again? Probably - if I were in a more healthy mood. If not, I would elect for the corned beef.

Next time, I will probably get something entirely different though. Their menu is fairly large - containing your typical bar fare like chicken wings, burgers and other sandwiches to pizza, calzones, chicken and steaks. Years ago, the Carmel Road location had a oyster night with 35 cent oysters. I am not sure if this is still going on, but I am sure the price is probably higher now any way.

All in all, I enjoyed my visit to The Hickory Tavern. The service was exceptional and the food was good. Feel free to comment about your own experiences with The Hickory Tavern.

The menu is fairly short compared to many restaurants who try to kill you with choices.  Mert’s has a handful of entrees and prepares them just right.    The menu has also not changed much over the years - nor should it have changed.  Any of the entrees from the “Daily Fixin’s” is a winner - blackened pork chops, southern fried chicken, fried catfish or whiting, or barbecue beef ribs.  Today, I had the famous salmon cakes.  These are simply some of the best you will ever get.  Instead of canned salmon like many places uses for their salmon cakes, Mert’s poaches fresh salmon, blends it with Cajun Trinity, adds spices, and serves them to you with their own remoulade sauce.  The end result is quite amazing. 

With any of the main entrees, Mert’s allows you to select from two side items.  Don’t count on getting any canned veggies here.  Mert’s has fresh veggies delivered to them daily and prepares them just right.  Today I had the green beans along with okra and tomatoes.  The green beens were excellent.  They were juicy and tender and had been cooked with bacon - just like grandma used to do.  You could definately tell the difference between these and the kind you get from a can.  The okra and tomatoes included a dash of spice.  They were great too; although, I could have used a bit more okra and a little less tomatoes - but perhaps that is just me. 

My wife had the fried chicken which came out as perfect as always.  Mert’s blends their own seasoning and fries the chicken to perfection.   Obviously, I am not the only person who is a fan of the chicken at Mert’s.  According to their website, they served 73,920 pieces of fried chicken in 2006.  For her side, she had the “award winning” macaroni & cheese.    It too is some of the best I have had. 

Also, many of my readers know that one of my peeves for restaurants in Charlotte (anywhere in the South actually) is bad sweet tea.  Therefore, I must mention that  Mert’s tea is blended perfectly.  Not too sweet (if there is such a thing) but sweet enough. 

Another great thing about Mert’s is that the employees are all so friendly.  They all seem like they love working there and love pleasing the customers. 

Whether you are visiting uptown for business or pleasure, Mert’s is the one place you need to stop if you truly want a taste of Charlotte.