yesterday, john & i took a little day trip to leavenworth, kansas. you can read about our day (other than the food) at my other blog and see pictures at my photoblog. we took the advice of a local who suggested the high noon saloon & brewery for a good, inexpensive lunch. the high noon is located in the historic "great western manufacturing building" at 206 choctaw. we got there about 1:30 so the lunch crowd was nearly gone. the dining room was a good size, it would probably hold around 150 people full. we sat at the bar which is in a separate room with a large game area with a pool table & video games, about 15 tables & a view of the brewery.
john just had water & i had a lost trail rootbeer, which is made in louisburg, ks. john wasn't feeling too hungry so we split a turkey bacon melt with seasoned fries. i realized later that we went to a brewery & neglected to try any beer. we should have, at least for the review, but i guess i wasn't in a beer mood (other than the root variety).
selection: they had your basic bar food: burgers, salads, sandwiches, steaks and bbq with a few "homestyle" additions like pot roast & meat loaf. some selections looked interesting like the greek salad, wild dill salmon or island stir fry. to see the full menu, click here.
taste: the lost trail rootbeer was excellent. it was smooth, the root-y taste wasn't overpowering and it had a nice aftertaste. when i ordered the sandwich, i guess i didn't read the entire description because i was (pleasantly) surprised by the pico de gallo. it was unexpected but now i'm thinking it would be a good addition to a lot of sandwiches! it added a refreshing, light coolness, with a little kick, that i thoroughly enjoyed & was a nice switch from traditional tomato & onion slices. the bread was perfectly toasted & the bacon was crispy. the seasoning on the fries was good & the fries were crunchy on the outside & cooked through on the inside (few things worse than undercooked fries). all the food got to us nice & hot. i really liked the sandwich a lot. john wasn't really impressed but he is more of a burger man. for pics of the food & the restaurant, click here.
ranch: john loves ranch. if there's something to dip in ranch at a restaurant, he'll ask for a dish of it. so we decided to have ranch as one of our review categories. the ranch at high noon, according to john, was cool, creamy & very smooth but didn't have enough dill. he gave it a 4 out of 5. i, the ranch novice, thought it was great.
service: our bartender/waitress was ellen, who looked like she'd been doing the bartender thing (or at least hanging out in bars) for quite a while. you'd think having a seasoned professional, we'd get great service but you'd be thinking wrong. after she brought us our food (which we got a short 10 minutes after we ordered, which was great) she didn't check back with us once. i mean, not even a "how's everything?" or "can i get you another rootbeer?" (which i would have taken her up on) or anything. i did like that she brought john a pitcher of water with his glass and she got us a second plate when she brought our food since we were sharing, but over half an hour after she brought our food we finally had to get her attention & ask her for the check.
value: most of the menu was around $8. the sandwich was on your average sized sandwich bread with a fair amount of meat & a ton of fries. i would have traded about half the fries for a few more pieces of turkey on the sandwich but it was a good amount of food for the price. our bill was $9.50 with tax before the tip.
bathroom: i have some weird bathroom quirks (like wanting a secure lock, among others) so i think the bathroom in a restaurant is an important thing to talk about. here it was pretty standard for a bar but with just 2 stalls, i'd hate to have to go on a friday night when a place that size is full. it wasn't especially tidy but not disgusting either.
reheatability: i have odd eating habits. i will get full very quickly & then be hungry again an hour or two later. my dad hated taking me to buffets because i never ate enough to make it worth the money & then i'd want a snack when we got home. i always need a to-go box so the ability to reheat a meal is important to me. i'll be including this category in the future but this time we finished the sandwich & i didn't end up reheating the fries later.
the high noon had a laid-back atmosphere, the building had a historic feel and the food was tasty but i don't know if i'd try it again if i ever happen to be in leavenworth. if i lived there, i might but i wouldn't recommend it for someone who's only going to be in town for a day or driving through, mainly because it's a bar that serves bar food that you can get at pretty much any bar that serves food. this isn't meant as an insult to the high noon, the food was great, it's just not anything too unique. but if you really want good bar food, i would recommend the high noon. i may have never thought to put pico de gallo on a sandwich if i'd passed the place by.
grade: i decided to give an overall grade to each place. think high school report type grade. i give the high noon a B.
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