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The City Observer
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Restaurant Review
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OVER THE YEARS, I have been fortunate enough to have reviewed numerous restaurants in this town – ones that are good and ones that are bad, those that serve Italian food and those that serve sushi, expensive as well as dirt cheap establishments, trendy new restaurants and old established restaurants. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, had prepared me for the dining experience at Chez BBQ. To wit: the computer that I am using to write this review crashed several times due to my overuse of my word processor’s thesaurus function searching for synonyms for the word “appalling.”
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Chez BBQ fancies itself as a “French BBQ joint,” a “fusion cuisine” that, quite frankly, baffles me. I can understand the fusion of Japanese and Mediterranean food (“Sushi Gyro House”), and even Italian and Ethiopian (“Red Sea Pizzeria”). But why someone would want to cover a rack of ribs with Hollandaise or Béarnaise sauce – and barely palatable sauces, at that - is quite beyond me.
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. . .Not content to just give no stars to Chez BBQ, I have taken the unique opportunity to award a “negative one star” to this so-called restaurant. Otherwise, I would have to apologize to all of the no star restaurants in the city if I lumped them in with this monstrosity of a dining establishment.
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Chez BBQ
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(NEGATIVE ONE STAR) (Worse than Poor; Dreadful; Appalling)
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ATMOSPHERE Dark and dreary wood paneling, with hundreds of dusty ceramic pigs staring down at you from every nook and cranny. Seating at picnic benches or bistro tables, both covered in red and white checked tablecloths. Zinc bar. Stay out of the bathrooms if you want to keep your food down – even if you have to throw up after eating here.
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SOUND LEVEL Very loud, except when the dining room is empty; then, it is just loud, mostly from yelling and shouting in the kitchen.
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RECOMMENDED DISHES Rice pudding.
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BARELY PALATABLE Everything else.
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STAY AWAY FROM Anything with meat, fish, or vegetables.
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MAY TURN YOUR STOMACH Blood sausage.
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WINE LIST Interesting mix of no-name vineyards from France and Italy, mostly undrinkable, at exorbitant prices.
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PRICE RANGE Dinner appetizers, $8.95 to $15.95; main courses, $16.95 to $36.95 (!); desserts, $5.95 to $10.95. Three-course dinner prix fixe, price varies on mood of maitre ‘d.
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HOURS Lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (the restaurant is mercifully closed Mondays).
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RESERVATIONS For prime dinner times, call at least fifteen minutes in advance, or just show up.
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CREDIT CARDS All major cards. My credit card number was used for purchasing a Spanish guitar in a pawn shop several days after I ate there, so I would suggest using cash.
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WHAT THE STARS MEAN Ratings range from zero to four stars and reflect the reviewer’s reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration. Menu listings and prices are subject to change - this review is not.