Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992 TAG: 9203030220
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In the early 1800s, common eating houses became popular. These offered remarkable quantities of inexpensive, uncomplicated, stomach-filling fare, served quickly to hoards of hungry travelers and guests, who shoveled it in at an alarmingly fast rate. One writer of the period described this as the "gobble, gulp and go" technique.
The brightly lit, comfortable, sparkling clean, family restaurants and steak houses we know and frequent today were born in California with a coffee shop called Denny's. Its unique architecture of uncluttered, horizontal lines (officially called Googie-style), brightly lit signs and often 24-hour service was designed specifically for attracting roadside attention.
Family restaurants, including the popular steak-and-salad houses, continuously work the formula of presenting enormous varieties of foods to tremendous numbers of people at the best prices possible. The following is a look at some family-style restaurants in the region. Their profiles reveal striking similarities and dramatic differences.
All, blessedly, lack pretense. Salads and pasta are today's pop food, but spuds and steaks continue to reign supreme. Not all places include a salad bar and dessert in the entree price.
Research for this report required that I eat at least once in each of eight family restaurants and steak-and-salad houses in the region. In some cases, I visited more than one location, and they are listed.
In most cases, it was the first time I had been to any of them, and I constantly marveled at the overwhelming quantities of food I had to choose from in the unending hot-and-cold buffets.
All have large, well-marked parking lots, and they accept the major credit cards. Each restaurant requests reservations for large groups, though Steak & Ale recommends its "phone-first seating" system for everyone.
\ THE GROUND ROUND: Virginia 419, Roanoke County (across from Tanglewood Mall). 989-0998.
This is my favorite sit-down family restaurant because groups with children are welcomed with open arms.
Orange juice is available at all times; there's a wide-screen television (and waitresses don't mind changing channels), as well as thoughtful, well-varied menus and special events for youngsters. These include "a penny a pound" meals for kids under 12; arts, crafts and game nights; plus birthday parties including favors at a cost of $4.68 per child.
All adult portions are large, and a basket of fresh popcorn is the house giveaway nibble. The Pot of Gold appetizer ($6.59) was abundant for four people, and a Chicken Caesar Salad ($5.65) was very good.
The menu offers popular Mexican and Italian dishes, a variety of hamburger platters, main-dish salads, broiled, baked and fried fish and sandwiches. Sometimes lettuce lacks crisp freshness, and baked potatoes have a gritty skin, but everything is usually a great dollar value.
\ SHONEY'S: 3865 Electric Road, Roanoke. 989-3533; U.S. 60, Lexington. 463-7398.
When I'm on a car trip, I seek out this old-reliable family restaurant. Breakfasts are dependable. Regional variations occur in buffet dishes.
In Lexington, for example, dinner features all-you-can-eat down-home favorites like the country-fried steak with mashed potatoes and liver and onions with boiled potatoes and green beans. Desserts are the only consistent disappointment.
The restaurants are spotless; the buffets always maintained at peak cleanliness and replenished frequently. Service personnel are neat, clean and friendly.
\ COUNTRY COOKIN': 503 E. Nelson St., Lexington. 463-3044.
A locally owned chain, I visited the Lexington Country Cookin'. There are three outlets in the Roanoke area. With a basic, bare-bones environment, the lowest-priced meals in town are found here. For $2.89 (plus tax), my stomach was stuffed with chopped sirloin (happily grilled to medium, but less than desirable in flavor and texture); the best corn muffin I've had in a long time; and a wide array of tasty salads, vegetables and dessert from the buffet, which was clean and well-maintained.
Service was friendly and helpful, though short-handed. One evening there was some confusion with incoming patrons and those wishing to pay and leave converging at the check-out. A harried waitress showed the guests to tables before two sullen-looking men showed up to take checks.
\ STEAK AND ALE: 6617 Thirlane Road, Roanoke. 362-2876.
This is the place for that special night out. An eight-page menu lists 15 beef selections as well as various seafood, pasta and chicken dishes. I thoroughly enjoyed a hot appetizer of burgundy mushrooms ($2.45) and an entree named chateau for one ($12.95): a nicely seasoned, perfectly grilled juicy tenderloin drizzled with hollandaise sauce.
An unbelievable 8-inch hot apple pie with cinnamon apples enfolded in a flaky, brown-sugar crust ($3.25) and a melting igloo of vanilla ice cream captivated my tastebuds and waistline.
The restaurant is sparkling clean; the salad bar replenished on a timely basis. The service personnel were friendly, neat and helpful.
\ PONDEROSA STEAK HOUSE: 6499 Williamson Road (Brookside Mall), Roanoke. 265-2941; 3518 Orange Ave., Roanoke. 344-4530.
Of the steak-and-salad houses, this is my favorite because the grand buffet - all 100-plus salads, hot-and-cold vegetables, side dishes, Mexican fixings, spaghetti and meatballs, desserts, and on and on - is included in the basic price of an entree.
At the above locations, my favorite is the baked white fish with a crisp bread-crumb topping ($6.99) accompanied by a baked potato instead of the chewy french fries. Also recommended are greaseless, tasty sirloin tips ($6.99) and the fantastic lobster feast. This includes baked potato, fried onion rings and the grand buffet for $16.99.
It's obvious: What you get here is always an incredible value and an overwhelming quantity of food. The buffet is maintained on a timely basis - except for soup wells, which are not replenished as frequently as the salads. The Orange Avenue restaurant has dubbed a "Rush Room," where patrons can tune into the Rush Limbaugh radio show.
\ GOLDEN CORRAL FAMILY STEAK HOUSE: U.S. 60, Lexington. 463-1546; Electric Road S.W., Roanoke. 774-8677.
Simply prepared entrees are pleasing and in adequately sized portions. The salad bar is always separately priced.
The Roanoke restaurant features a greater number of fresh fruits at all times than Lexington's does. I consider steak with the golden chicken breast ($6.69), baked potato and salad bar ($2.19) one of the better meals - although I have enjoyed a dinner of just the tasty fried vegetables and brown beans. The buffet is maintained on a timely basis and kept clean and fresh-looking.
\ QUINCY'S: 201 Electric Road, Salem. 986-1219.
Homemade fresh breads are an outstanding feature, although they are not always fully baked. Food wells are frequently refilled, but the salad bar had uninspired, dry-looking greens and huge chunks of brown-tinged lettuce. There also was food on the floor as well as food debris around the buffet bar and around tables.
My steak-and-shrimp entree ($11.04) was only two-thirds good because the fried shrimp had a chemical taste, and I could not eat it. Sirloin tips pieces ($4.49) were irregularly cut - some large, some small, a few tiny - and cooked to toughness.
\ WESTERN SIZZLIN STEAK HOUSE: Virginia 419 and Braeburn Drive, Salem. 389-4200.
At 2 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, absolutely no baked potatoes were available. The salad bar ($1.89 with meal, $3.99 as meal) was messy: Debris remained and the bar did not appear to be well-monitored. Most of the components were lackluster, though I found wonderful corn bread and nicely seasoned Brussels sprouts. A nicely broiled, thin cod filet entree ($4.99) and fresh, crunchy coleslaw provided bright spots, too.
The personnel was friendly and well-intended, but forgetful; I had to keep reminding my waiter that hush puppies came with my cod.
Dolores Kostelni has extensive experience in the food industry, having worked as a restaurant consultant, manager and chef.
by CNB