Location: 156 W 1230 N
Provo, UT 84604 801-418-1100
Price of Meal:
8 Wings $5.99
2 Topping Medium Pizza $5.99
$11.98 + tax
Critique:
As I was sitting on my couch watching TV a commercial for Domino's Pizza came on. The commercial is called The Man Behind the Chicken.
Being hungry and a sucker for chicken wings I decided I was going to get some. The only problem, I didn't know where the Domino's in my town was. Good thing I have the Internet. When I went to Domino's site, I clicked on the deal I had seen on TV. A 2 topping medium pizza and 8 chicken wings for $5.99 each. The first thing that came up was an online ordering system. I was able to complete my whole order online with very little effort. After placing the order they provided a tracking page that allows me to see how far along my order was. Talk about speeding up the ordering and pickup process. For a guy who spends a lot of time online, this is a genius idea and it makes me wonder why everyone else isn't doing it.
I ordered my favorite pizza, Pineapple and Pepperoni and I got it on their garlic-seasoned crust, and 8 of their Sweet Mango Habanero wings. They actually offer 4 different flavors: Hot, Sweet Mango Habanero, BBQ and Plain. They also came with one free dipping sauce (Kicker Hot Sauce, Sweet Mango Habanero, BBQ, and Ranch), which I applaud because it seems like more and more establishments are starting to charge for the little things like dipping sauce. See: Wing Coop, Little Caesars.
I will be honest, my expectations for the wings were pretty low. I haven't had wings from a franchise pizza joint that I have really liked. To my surprise the wings were actually pretty good. The sauce was thick and in abundance. The wings were nether too sweet, or too hot, but were balanced very well. There was just enough heat to get my nose running after a few wings, but not enough to cause my mouth to be on fire. The ranch dressing dipping sauce had a nice zip to it that complimented the wings very nicely.The pizza was by far the best Domino's pizza I have had to date, which tells me they really are trying to make their pizza better. The sauce was good, the pepperonis were yummy, and the pineapple was slightly roasted (from baking) and sweet. My only real complaint was that I think there was too much sauce which gave it a slight soggy texture. My biggest surprise though was the crust. I LOVED the crust. I literally was looking forward to eating the crust. Usually the crust is an afterthought and most of the times it is never eaten. The crust was light and airy, with a nice hint of garlic and creamy butter. I would buy a pizza with no toppings just to have the crust. It think they call those bread sticks. The next time I order I will have to get some bread sticks to see if they are the same.
I guess it just goes to show that the power of advertising really does work. If it wasn't for me not eating dinner until really late and a Domino's commercial showing great tasting food, I may never had tried Domino's Pizza, and I would have been missing out on one of the easiest ordering experiences of my life, not to mention probably the best pizza crust I have had.
Rating:
Today's Wings: 7
Overall Wings: 7
Today's Pizza: 7 (9 for the crust)
Customer Service: 10 (I ordered from a computer)
Overall Satisfaction: 8
URL:
Domino's Pizza
It wasn't a Philly but it was still a pretty tasty steak sandwich.
Once I was inside I was seated under a fragrant canopy of leaves and lemons, giving the illusion of being in a grove of lemon trees. At first I found this to be a bit corny, but by the end of the meal I was starting to like the natural feel the place had to it.
My cheese steak turned out to be just a steak sandwich but I was already here so I ordered it anyway. The steak sandwich had a good portion of thick chunks of grilled steak tenderloin, which were very tender, and lightly marinated. I would have preferred to have had a stronger marinated flavor. The steak was covered in cheese, and topped with garden vegetables and grilled onions. Overall I really enjoyed the flavors of the sandwich, oh and did I mention that my steak was very tender? You can go a long way with just a properly cooked steak. Even though it wasn't a Philly Cheese Steak, it was a very good steak sandwich, which was complimented by a nice sized salad topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons and a vinaigrette dressing.
My service was exceptional. One of my number one criteria for feeling like I had good service is if I ever had to reach for an empty glass of water. When I am eating it seems I go through at least 3 or 4 glasses of water a meal, and when my glass is empty I stop eating and get very agitated. For some reason I have to have water with my meal, or else I find it very difficult to eat. This is probably just me, but it is the main reason why I put it number one on my list. At La Jolla Groves, I never once reached for an empty glass of water. It has been a very long time since this last occurred. Besides the water, our waiter was helpful, our food came out in a timely manner (it was pretty busy the day we ate there so that is impressive), my only ding towards the service was that when it was time to pay our bill our waiter seemed to have disappeared, and our bill had to be brought by another server.
Overall my experience with La Jolla Groves was a positive one. The atmosphere was pleasant, the service was exceptional, and my food was good. My only negative on the day would have been the price. When I go to lunch I expect to pay around $7 bucks for a meal, so being over $10 dollars it exceeds what I consider an average priced lunch meal. They could do with lunch specials that would bring that price into the $7 dollar range. Now if I were to go there for dinner, the price would be on the low side for what I would expect to pay for dinner at a sit down restaurant. So take it as you will.
The Reuben was what I would consider a true Reuben sandwich. Corned hash piled high with sauerkaout and a Russian dressing all between two pieces of grilled spiral rye bread. One word for you Yummy! OK so the sandwich hit the spot and it didn't disappoint my craving, which sometimes puts more pressure on the food because now I have talked it up so much in my head that even the smallest imperfections can ruin it. As a word to the wise, when eating this sandwich make sure you eat it first (I usually eat my fries first before they go cold) but in this case I waited too long to finish the 2nd half of my sandwich and the bread became soggy from the sauerkraut.
I didn't go with the beer battered fries this time like I did last time, and just went with the standard order of fries, which were pretty good. By this time I was getting pretty full and I hadn't even gotten to my wings. I ordered their spicy wings, which were your traditional Louisiana style wings (my favorite, gold star to them) and they were described as being hot. Usually most places definition of hot is not my definition, but in this case I felt they really were actually hot. They had some kick to them, sure they didn't make my eyes water or my make my mouth run for a drink, but they were just hot enough as to not distract from the flavor. Over all I was pretty impressed with the chicken wings. The sauce was think, the dipping sauces were free, the chicken was well cooked, but not overdone. They are not the best wings I have had, but they are certainly worth ordering again.
Charley's Grilled Subs has a Steak & Fry deal for $5 bucks. Not a bad deal at all. I upgraded my sandwich from the standard sandwich of steak, grilled onions, and provolone to the deluxe which came with steak, grilled onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and provolone. So basically upgrading added mushrooms and green peppers, for only $0.20 cents (That's a good deal in my opinion). Once again I had to pay for fry sauce ($0.25.) I could rant about having to pay for fry sauce but I honestly think this is becoming the standard now, so instead I will praise those who still offer it for free.
My food came out in a timely manner. The first thing I noticed was that the meat was not overflowing the bun, but rather nicely fitting within its bread home. I thought the sandwich was dry and needed more moisture, usually in the form of grease (I have a hard time with dry sandwiches.) I think there is something to be said about a sloppy sandwich, they just seem to be more appealing to me. If I have to pull out my fork to finish off the sandwich that is a great sign. Overall I wasn't that impressed with the sandwich, the dryness killed me. I guess I could say it was right on par with what I would expect from a mall food court or fast food Just remember you don't go to the mall to get food, you go to buy overpriced merchandise and when I was younger to pick up on girls. Would I ever go back to Charley's Grilled Subs to eat, maybe if I was in the mall already and needed to eat, but I doubt I will head there just for the food.
I am going to have to say I don't agree with him at all. Although it had a lot of taste I just don't think thin sliced roast beef works that well for me in a philly cheese steak. When I eat a cheesesteak I need chunks of meat dripping with greese and smothered in hot melted cheese. What I got at Arbys was thin sliced meat with swiss cheese. Don't get me wrong, the sandwich was actually pretty good. The meat was flavored well with seasons and pepper (I love me the pepper) mixed with grilled onion and peppers. Perhaps they went a little over board with the name. I wouldn't call this a true Philly, but I would call it more of a cheesesteak. Overall for five bucks I won't complain (much). If I wanted a good sandwhich while on the go, this is the one I will pick. 
