Hindquarter Bar & Grille

Well, hello everybody and welcome again to the SC Food Blog (tip of the hat to Evan). Today we are talking ribs and one of the best places in town is the Hindquarter, downtown. Just over the bridge from CVS, across from Riverside Lighting.

Hindquarter website

We went on a Wednesday night about 6pm and it was crowded. Not "can't find a table" crowded, but we got the last parking spot in their lot (score!). There's plenty of street parking around back. We heard they extended the Santa Cruz Restaurant Week prix fixe menu, so we had to try it. You get an appetizer, entree and dessert for $25. My folks went and raved about the French Onion soup and Creme Brûlée.

The hostess seated us right away and also brought us some bread and water. After our drinks were ordered, we ordered our meals. Our sever was busy with lots of tables and was a bit slow to get back to us. Maybe more people were there for the $25 deal.

Man, Dad was right! This delectable French Onion Soup was so tasty. It was hot and all the cheese was melty. The onions were translucent and the broth was very good (not too salty). The bread on top soaked in all the soup and made for a nice texture. A++! We were both very happy we both ordered this.

Next up was my entree, St. Louis Ribs plus mashed potatoes and cole slaw. This is what the HQ is all about. Ribs and steaks. The pork melted off the bone and made my fingers all saucy. In a good way. The slaw had a peppery taste, which balanced off the cool crunch. And who doesn't like mashed taters? Everything on this plate was top notch.

She got the Margartita Steak with sautéed Brussel Sprouts and a baked potato. The beef had a tart, green sauce over it and it didn't taste right to her. Luckily, it was easy to brush off. I tried it and it was okay, but not a good match for the steak. She liked the potato, but was disappointed with the sprouts. They were cooked through, limp and soggy. Better to have them crispy.

Dessert was the Creme Brûlée and it had a nice crunch to the top. Any food you have to crack to get to is okay by me. I'm looking at you, Mr. Egg. Anyway, the caramelized sugar on top matched perfectly with the silky custard underneath. She was very happy and even let me try a bite.

This was because I ordered the Hot Fudge Brownie with vanilla ice cream and she wanted a bite back. The presentation on this dish left a lot to be desired, but tested great. The fudge was warm and dripping down the chocolate walnut-filled brownie. Too bad it looked like an afterthought. But the flavors were all there.

This is the main dining room and they have several other rooms off of this. Also, the sports bar is around the corner with TVs and a full bar. Check out their happy hour (4:30-6:30pm) for good deals. And their website lists daily specials and sometimes a coupon too.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7 (but 10 for the ribs)
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 7
Overall: 6.75

Chili's Capitola Mall

If you have read some of my other reviews on this blog, you know there's high-end places like West End and Laili's and there's not so high end. This is one of the latter.

Chili's

Chili's is at the Capitola Mall and it's near the main entrance. There's a nice sports bar on one side and a sit-down restaurant on the other. My daughter loves to go there - maybe because it will usually include mall shopping too. She's a sneaky one!

One thing I love is value. And the Chili's endless chips and salsa is all about value. For $3.29, you get a never-ending supply of this appetizer. The chips are warm, thin and crispy. The salsa is smooth and not too spicy in a ranchera style. You finish one tray and they bring you another. You want some to take home and they give you a bagful. It's pretty fantastic!

Kelly's favorite dish bar none is the Chicken Crispers ($10.19) which includes fries, corn on the cob and dipping sauce. She said the corn wasn't soggy (like other places - KFC) and tasted fresh. The chicken was crunchy and meaty - what more could you want? She devoured it in record time. You'd think the chips would have slowed her down.

I got a bowl of chili ($5.29 - hey, it's named after that!), but was saddened by the shallow bowl. The flavor was okay, but not very spicy. I had trouble identifying the chunks of meat vs. peppers vs. beans since they were all just brown and mushy. The cheese did not add much taste either. This is school cafeteria food. Sad panda.

I had a coupon for a free dessert with any entree and Kelly's chicken qualified. Get on their email list to get these sweet deals, people! The Chocolate Molten Cake (normally $6.79) had vanilla ice cream on top and fudge and caramel sauce all over it. Inside was a fudgy sauce that oozed out when broken into - OMG. I'm at the age when I try to justify eating this, calculating the amount of sit-ups and how long to hit the treadmill. My daughter laughed and dug right in. Oh, to be a teenager again!

Have you seen these? There was a small touchscreen computer at each table and you could order more drinks and food from them. Also, games like Bejeweled and Zuma's Revenge to while you wait for your order. At the end of our meal, the waiter said we could slide a credit card on it and pay. It also will calculate the tip and print a receipt or email it to you. Modern tech! Is this the future of dining??

I view Chili's as a place to grab a quick bite before a mall trip, not a dining destination. Their menu is geared more towards kids and sports bar fare, instead of Mexican food. The chili was very underwhelming, but the chips and salsa were great. Without kids, I'd only come back here to watch a Niner game.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 5
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Value for price: 6 (just chips = 10)
Overall: 6