Let's talk restaurants.. (Springfield: to move, to eat, car)

[mrschilicook]

We've recently tried three Springfield restaurants:

China 5 Spice on Glenstone. Excellent. Sort of fusion style Chinese with a few Japanese twists. Our lunch was superb.

On another day we visited the Springfield Brewing Co. It reminded me a lot of Gordon Biersch which is located in a variety of places in the west. Good food, good service. A variety of selections on the menu from burgers to steaks and soups to salads and things in-between. My lunch partner had one of the monthly special dark beers and said it was very good.

Bruno's in downtown Springfield. VERY disappointing. One (new) waiter was trying to work a small lunch crowd while his cronies sat around watching him. One of the cronies came around and after a small question began to lecture us in a very condenscending manner (I guess he didn't know I knew how to cook). Food was okay, but not great. I probably wouldn't go back again.

And while not something I would normally recommend, the White Bean Chili at Ruby Tuesdays' kicks butt! During chemo NOTHING tastes good. But on day 9 after chemo, the chili's tasted like the best thing on earth! Flavorful, rich, and chock full of beans and chicken. Could be just the timing, but I bought two bags of base soup from the manager!

[8 SNAKE]

Mrs. C -

Did you happen to try the wings at Brew Co? They get my vote for the best wings in town, so I was curious what you (and anyone else) might have to say.

I also agree with your review of Bruno's. I've been once and wasn't blown away in the least. Average food and poor service are not a winning combination in my book. Gilardi's is WAY better.

Have you been to Kai? I know that I constantly rave about the place on this thread, but it is amazing. I went again last week and loved everything that I tried.

[NOLA2SGF]

I recommend Mr. Yen's Chinese restaurant. It is located at 4117 S. National in Springfield, sort of off S. National a little bit behind the Pasta House restaurant. We are visiting Springfield again and ate there for the first time tonight.

The decor is striking and the atmosphere and service are great. The food was good, too. We both started with soup, and were pleased that our soups came in big bowls, not just a cup. My hot and sour soup was only medium hot (in the spicy sense, not the temperature sense), but the flavor was very good and overall I was happy with it. He seemed happy with his egg drop soup too. Then we shared the pepper steak and shrimp fried rice, both of which were excellent and medium to large portions. The shrimp fried rice had a lot of plump shrimp in it. She also brought a small bowl of other rice.

All of this, plus one iced tea, and the total bill was only $26.75. We will eat there again next time!

We are leaving to go back to New Orleans tomorrow but this was a great find. Next time we will have to try some of the other Chinese restaurants in Springfield since this was the first one we tried.

[firebll31]

Mr. Yen has been a favorite of ours for years. A word of caution-anything that advertises a "super buffet" is likely to be disappointing. I MUCH prefer a sit-down, serve you fresh cooked food place like Mr. Yen.

[SouthernerInSeattle]

I can never get enough Mexican Villa, don't know what it is about that Queso Dip..

Hong Kong Inn also is some of the best Chinese food I've ever had

[NOLA2SGF]

Firebll31, we try to avoid Chinese buffets as well, and prefer the type of sit-down restaurant you are describing.

SouthernerinSeattle, thanks for the recommendations. I noticed Mexican Villa and thought of eating there, but did not get around to it before we had to drive back to New Orleans. But I am sure we will be back before too long.

[Silvermouse]

Originally Posted by SouthernerInSeattle

I can never get enough Mexican Villa, don't know what it is about that Queso Dip..

Hong Kong Inn also is some of the best Chinese food I've ever had

We love Mexican Villa! I remember back in the day when you could get a burrito-enchilada style and a coke for three bucks.

One sour note, my SIL was having lunch at the villa on Campbell and just as she got to the end of her burrito, she found a cockroach, belly up and smothered in cheese. We, um, pretty much eat at the one on Sunshine now.....

[Lake Junkie]

Originally Posted by Silvermouse

We love Mexican Villa! I remember back in the day when you could get a burrito-enchilada style and a coke for three bucks.

One sour note, my SIL was having lunch at the villa on Campbell and just as she got to the end of her burrito, she found a cockroach, belly up and smothered in cheese. We, um, pretty much eat at the one on Sunshine now.....

The only one I still like is on National...and folks need to understand it's not in any way authentic Mexican food. It's very Americanized...which is not a bad thing unless you're not expecting it!

[Silvermouse]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

The only one I still like is on National...and folks need to understand it's not in any way authentic Mexican food. It's very Americanized...which is not a bad thing unless you're not expecting it!

Everyone but me, always likes the one on National better. I guess because the one on Sunshine is the first one where I ate.

I don't think anyone expects authentic Mexican food in Missouri. The villa is still a heckava lot better than what we have in our town - and it's all cooked by Mexicans so go figure.

[NOLA2SGF]

Originally Posted by Lake Junkie

The only one I still like is on National...and folks need to understand it's not in any way authentic Mexican food. It's very Americanized...which is not a bad thing unless you're not expecting it!

The only Mexican restaurant we have gone to down here in New Orleans is Chevy's, a chain restaurant which is probably pretty Americanized, too. Of course, it could be worse and nobody wants their Mexican food to taste like a cheeseburger. At least, I don't! LOL

I guess it depends on how Americanized the Mexican Villa restaurant really is. Now I am REALLY curious! We'll just have to try out the Mexican Villa on National the next time we are up there.

Now that it's less than a year before I can retire, I'm getting pretty excited about moving up there. Springfield already feels like home to us, and we can't wait to explore it further including the restaurants! We were absolutely blown away by Mr. Yen's, because we just chose it at random and weren't expecting much. It was great and I am sure we will go there a lot in the future.