Don'tcha hate it when the restaurant you actually want to go to is crowded over capacity, to the point of being a fire hazard, and you're too hungry to go very far so you end up at the place next door? This is what happened to me one evening. I had been craving a steak from Texas Roadhouse, but they were waaaaay too crowded because of, I guess, World Cup. I remembered this Cheddar's having very good food a few years ago, but the quality went downhill ever since. But I decided I'd give them another chance.
I didn't let going to Cheddar's stop me from ordering a steak. And fried shrimp. With a loaded baked potato. And steamed broccoli. And a beeeeeeer.
The steak was actually really good, and I was surprised at how big it was for the low price (damn near 8-oz). What I was even more surprised about was the fact that they got the cooking temp correct. The steak was tender; I saw no fat; and the spices they put atop the steak gave it great flavor. The baked potato was great, too. The breading on the shrimp was too thick for my taste, but the shrimp itself was good.
Service was top-notch. Bartender Dorothy gave me whatever I wanted (well, things that she, personally, had control over) whenever I wanted them. The people sitting next to me were loud, drunk, clumsy and annoying, so I quietly slid over a few seats to escape their insufferable alcoholic madness. Dorothy said she was getting ready to cut them off, so extra kudos to her. Personally, I'd rather cut them *up*, but that's just me.
The meal was very filling, to the point where I couldn't even finish my beer. I didn't want to get a to-go box because I wasn't going home for several hours, so I stuffed as much food as I could in my pie-hole, and lamented the amount of food still left on my plate. But, hey, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.
The very first time I went to a Cheddar's, I expected more, um, cheese on the menu, but Cheddar's has made it back into my rotation anyway. Congrats on getting your mojo working again, Cheddar's!
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