Szechwan Chinese Restaurant

Sioux Falls-ians and/or valued tourist,

   It's oriental time.

   Szechwan has been one of those places I have passed on 41st Street and wondered how deserving of my business such a cheesy, cliche looking Chinese restaurant could be.  This is a first timer for me.  Let's begin.

   It was a family effort this week.  My mother, brother, and his girlfriend all had joined me in an attempt at conquering this restaurant with our bold expertise in restaurant reviewing.  We prevailed.

   You cannot miss this place when driving down 41st Street.  The bright red, yellow trimmed exterior pulls you in immediately.  Even though the restaurant is very small, it sticks out like a BIG, BRIGHT, INFLAMED, sore thumb.  I notice that there is carry out and delivery as well as a dine in option.  SO MANY OPTIONS.  I'M IN LOVE!

   We all walk into the establishment and are promptly seated at a large round table.  The hostess was very polite.  Browsing through the menu, it seems a little bit pricey.  There was an option that stuck out for us though.  Dinner for six.  It included soup, appetizers, rice, and six different dishes that highlight what Szechwan is all about.  Seemed like a very reliable option.  We go with that.

   Just a few minutes in, we get our soup.  There were three options of soup; egg drop, hot and sour, and wonton.  Egg drop was my choice and HO BOY! was it a good one.  I have never had egg drop soup with green onion in it.  I believe I have found a favorite!  The hot and sour soup wasn't anything special though, as I tasted from my mother's portion.

   For what seemed like just a couple minutes, the soup had warmed up our bellies, and it was now time for the appetizers which consisted of egg rolls and wontons.  The egg rolls were very, very delicious.  Wontons were also a treat.  I had a taste of their spicy mustard and I immediately regretted my decision.  It was the hottest mustard I've ever tasted in a Chinese restaurant.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE THE SPICY FOOD, but this did not go down well.  Kudos so them for being so bold with the spice though.

   Entree tiiiimmmmmeeeee!  Our six entrees came out on six different plates looking especially appetizing.  Before the waiter put the plates on the table, poured one of the entrees onto a very hot, sizzling plate and did a little "showy presentation" for us.  We "oo'd and ah'd" and received the entrees.  Everything was presented beautifully.  The vegetables were fresh and the meats were even more fresh!

   The entrees that were supposed to be spicy were not really that spicy.  That may have been good though.  I knew how spicy they could make things when I tried that hot mustard.

   At the end, there were only a few bits and pieces left on the serving plates.  The waiter, which by the way, was extremely polite and very witty, made sure to leave us with plenty of to-go boxes to bring our scraps home.

   Overall, I really enjoyed my time in this restaurant.  It was an extremely comfortable atmosphere.  From the completely unique ceiling tiles, to the ornate decorations on the walls, I felt like I was in an oriental heaven.  The food tasted delicious.  I wasn't expecting anything less walking into this place.  I'd also like to mention that the service was downright amazing.  It is always so enjoyable to have a humorous, yet "get down to business" waiter to help you out.

   Taste: 9/10
   Service: 10/10
   Atmosphere: 10/10

Szechwan Chinese Restaurant

2821 W. 41st Street

Sioux Falls, SD, 57105

605-336-9488

   Make sure to check in next time when we continue our journey to find the best restaurants here in Sioux Falls, SD!  Happy lunching!

-Lunch in SooFoo

Fryn' Pan

Sioux Falls-ians and/or valued tourist,

   Have I told you how fun it is to write these reviews?  If I have not, then I think that IT IS REALLY FUN TO WRITE THESE REVIEWS!!  How could this not be fun?  Going out to eat wherever my heart desires, critiquing and commenting on whatever I please, and eating deeellliiccciiouusss food.  I digress.

   Fryn' Pan is on my plate this review.  Come along for the ride, will you?  On a side note, I would like to remind you that I bent the rules a bit and went out during supper time.  There are exceptions, right?  Fryn' Pan is a restaurant that serves the needs of all appetites.  Whether is is breakfast, lunch, or supper, they are always there to exceed your expectations.

   It was around 5:30 p.m. when my mother and I arrived at Fryn' Pan.  Automobiles filled up the parking lot, so I right away assumed this was a popular place.  We enter the restaurant and are immediately greeted and seated BY THE OWNER.  What a great thing.

   Our waiter came right away, greeting us and tell us his name, which was Jordan, and we ordered our drinks.  My mother ordered a diet Coke with lemon and I just ordered water.  I looked through the menu, having an idea of what I wanted to eat, being I have been here around oh, lets see, too many times to count.  Mind you, this will not be a biased review.  I am basing my review off of this ONE trip.

   Jordan comes to take our orders and I tell him I would like the mushroom and swiss burger with a salad bar.  My mother orders a patty melt and asks if she can have it "made to order", and Jordan tells her that the burger patties come frozen, so it is either made well, or well done.  Immediately my hope diminishes when I hear that, but I decide to take my chances with a frozen burger patty.

   I get up, walk to the salad bar, and see that it looks absolutely delicious.  Every single thing in that cold case looked homemade, like an old lady just sits back in the kitchen all day and makes everything from scratch.  I get a sample of a few different salads and a cup of clam chowder and go back to the table.  My mother happened to order a side salad with her meal, and when I came back, it was already in front of her, looking VERY tremendous.

   All of the items on the soup/salad bar ended up being delicious, just as I thought.  Our burgers arrive, and they genuinely look fabulous.  Mushrooms were swimming in the melted swiss cheese that was on top of my burger patty.  The patty actually didn't look all too bad.  By the looks of it, it seemed as though they were shaping them all by themselves in the kitchen, given the fact that the edges were all lopsided and such.  It is how a burger should look.  My mother's food also looks very good.

   The burger had proved me wrong.  That frozen patty was very deceiving if you ask me.  DELICIOUS.

   We finished up our meals, received the check, and looked it over.  The total between the two of us was around 25 dollars.  It was a pretty reasonable price for the amount of food that we got, along with the ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SALAD BAR.  That was only $2.99!  Up and over to the cash register we went.  We were in and out of this place in 45 minutes during prime supper hour.

   Here are some pros and cons for everybody.  I'd really like to know what everybody thinks of the idea of putting a pros and cons list.  Feedback is highly appreciated.

Pros:

• Quick service
• Free WIFI (not password protected - good job!)
• Inexpensive for amount of food
• Staff looked like they actually enjoyed their job and got along very well with each other
• Homey atmosphere
• V.I.P. club on their website (listed below)

 Cons:

• Very specific clientele
• Frozen burger patties

   There were many, many good things to say about this place.  I was very comfortable here and had a very pleasant, quaint eating experience.  I suggest everybody goes here and tries different things on the menu.  It looks like they try really hard to make everything from scratch, and it seems like they are doing a great job of it.

Taste: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Atmosphere: 9/10

 Fryn' Pan Family Restaurant

4204 W 41st Street

Sioux Falls, SD 57106

605-361-6230

www.frynpan.net

   I hope everybody enjoyed the review this time around.  This is something I really enjoy and try really hard at to please people.  Until next time, happy lunching everybody! :)

-Lunch in SooFoo

Mixed - Go Green!

Sioux Falls-ians and/or valued visitor,

   Another restaurant review coming at you RIGHT NOW!  There is a new place in town, and it's called Mixed - Go Green!  Get comfortable, and listen in.

   My mother and I decided to take a look at this place today.  Being new in town, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go get some "green" food.

   As we walked into the establishment, I see that all of the walls are painted green, there are wood floors, and it is very, VERY bright!  Perfect atmosphere if you ask me.  Unfortunately when we walked in, we were not greeted with the friendly saying "Welcome to Mixed!" but every other customer after us was.  Minor fault.  The set-up of Mixed is a bit like Subway.  You browse the menu, pick your base item, and then go from there.  One big advantage we saw on the menu was there were A LOT of "build your own" options.  That is a pretty big positive if you are not too keen on committing to a "set meal."

   I am asked what I would like, and I go with a special I see on a big, obvious sign right in the middle of the store.  It was a mix it up meal.  I had a choice of 2 items out of the 4 that were offered.  They had 1/2 a wrap, 1/2 a panini, 1/2 a salad, and a cup of soup.  I chose the panini and the soup.  I grinned, thinking I had made a very good decision.  My mother ordered a "green" salad.  The green that I just quoted represents the size of the salad.  There is "green" and "SUPER GREEN!"

   My mother right away points out to me while they are making our meals that the ingredients that are in the cold case in front of us don't look as appealing as they should.  There were tiny shrimps with veins still in them.  The tops of the PROCESSED meats were all dried up.  Mind you, we did go at 2:30 in the afternoon, but that should not be an exception to freshness.  The 4 different types of lettuces did look very appealing though, fortunately!  We proceeded through the line and on the the checkout portion.

   I had a buy one get one free entree card today, so I did use that, but I was still surprised at the prices of all of the menu items.  I look down at my half-of-a-panini, tiny cup of soup, and regular sized drink and wonder why I am paying the low end of 9 dollars.  My mothers salad, which looked rather appetizing, and her drink were a total of around 8 dollars as well.  I accepted the fact that I had just paid way too much for my meal, and we sit down to devour our food.

   I got a buffalo chicken and ranch panini along with a cup of cream of broccoli soup.  The panini was alright, but like I said before, IT WAS SO SMALL.  My whole meal literally looked like it could have been fed to a 4 year old, and that child still would have been hungry.  I am not saying that I would like to be stuffed at the end of my meal, I would just like to be well nourished and satisfied.  This did not happen.  Being made and served in a chilled bowl, my mother's salad looked and tasted quite appetizing, as she did offer me a bite of it.    The processed meat was the downfall there though.  The toppings were also extremely stingy.  Again, I know that is is a SALAD, but I would love to taste the toppings too!

   We both finish our meals in a matter of a few minutes, along with our diet cokes with lemon, and started to notice that it was COOOOOLLLDDDD in this place.  I'm not sure if the heat was off, or if the cold case was giving off too much cold vibe, but it was freezing.  I did not feel comfortable, but luckily I finished my meal so quickly that we could head out right away.

   I am not sure if this place is like this all of the time, but there were A LOT of women, young and old, eating here.  As we sat there, I saw 2 guys walk in and out of this place.  Also, a majority of these people were, how do you say, not my type of people.  I didn't feel comfortable being here.

   I'd like to give you all a few pros and cons of this restaurant.

Pros:

• Free WIFI
• Does delivery and catering
• Clean
• Friendly employees
• Very bright/green setting

Cons:

• Service is slow in the afternoon
• Very cold
• Password protected WIFI (just very pointless to me, make it an open network!  Easier on the customers so they don't have to ask for a password)
• A bit pricey.  8 bucks for what seemed like a child's portion? NOOOO WAY, JOSE.
• Stingy on toppings for salads.

   My suggestion is that if you would like to try this place, please get a salad.  They do advertise that they "SPECIALIZE IN SALADS and also offer paninis, wraps, and soup."  Overall I thought it was an alright experience.  My mother will probably try this place again, but I will not be going back, unfortunately, because it just wasn't my "cup of soup."

   Taste: 6/10
   Service: 7/10
   Atmosphere: 8/10

Mixed - Go Green!

2604 S Louise Ave

Sioux Falls, SD 57106

605-271-2161

www.mixedgogreen.com

   I did not take pictures this time around, but I will be in future blog posts like I have said in past ones.  I will see you all next time!  Happy lunching!

-Lunch in SooFoo

Shahi Palace

Sioux Falls-ians and/or valued tourist,

    Hello again.  Welcome back to another edition of "Lunch in SooFoo!"  Indian food was on the menu this time and oh boy, would I love to tell you about this one.  This place is called Shahi Palace.

    Being wholesome human beings of the midwestern United States, we don't find many delicious Indian restaurants that we can really even rave about.  This place was definitely something to talk about.  Shahi Palace is new to the area, and really deserves to be successful.  We need more places like this in Sioux Falls.

   I arrived around noon, noticing that the parking lot was virtually empty.  That is alright though.  Service should be better, right?  I am greeted in the parking lot by an old Indian man that puts his hands together in front of his face and bows toward me.  I nod and enter the restaurant.

   I see that it is EXTREMELY clean, and dark-ish.  Seems like this place should be very gourmet, and VERY expensive.  I thought very wrong.  I get seated at a table and notice that all of the tables have a large, white piece of paper on the table, acting as a table cloth.  I found this a bit tacky.

   Being that is was noon on a weekday, I tell the waiter that I would like to have the lunch buffet.  On a side note, the waiters are very hard to understand.  It was very authentic though.  I also ordered a mango lasse, which is a a very smooth drink consisting of yogurt and mango.  It really cools and soothes a person stomach.  There were about 8 items on the buffet, ranging from chicken tika masala, to vegetable korma, all the way to the classic naan.  Everything looked verrrryyyy delicious.

   I get my first place consisting of samples of all of the items on the buffet.  I enjoyed every last one of the choices.  One nit picky thing I would like to point out though was that there was only ONE spicy items on the buffet, and it was the homemade cheese chili.  When I go into an Indian restaurant, I would like to burn my mouth a bit.  Am I wrong?

    I went up and got one more place with everything on it, finished, and was as full as can be.  The mango lasse really helped my stomach though.  The waiter comes by, drops off my ticket, and tells me that I can go pay up by the front register.  I get up and go to the register and am told that their credit card machine is not working.  I've been there one other time before that, and the same thing happened.  That is not good at all if you ask me.  They should really get that fixed.  Luckily, I had cash on me, and there were no problems at all.  Oh, and by the way, the total for the buffet and the mango lasse was around 11 dollars.  I won't complain about that at all!

   Wrapping this up, I would like to say that I would like to come here again, but I think I would order things off of the menu instead of the buffet.  The buffet was very good the first couple of times, but not up to par with number of choices.  I would like to try a lot of different things.

   Taste: 9/10
   Service: 7/10
   Atmosphere: 9/10

Shahi Palace

2527 S Shirley Ave.

Sioux Falls, SD 57106

605-361-5050

www.shahipalaceinc.com 

   I will see you all next time when we continue our journey through Sioux Falls to find some great lunch options that will make you say, "WOW! I'm going back to that place!"

-Lunch in SooFoo

Guadalajara

Sioux Falls-ians and highly valued tourists,

    Here we go everybody.  It's time for my first restaurant review.  I was feeling like some Mexican cuisine this week so I decided to hit up a new restaurant I passed by while on my way to work.  It's called Guadalajara.  I only noticed this place because it used to be one of my favorite Chinese restaurant in town, Peking.  All of a sudden, it turned into a Mexican restaurant!
Anyway, lets review this eatery, shall we?

    I pull up into the parking lot and see that this place is not busy at 11:45 in the morning.  That is typically around the time that I like to eat lunch.  I don't see that as a good sign when only a few cars are parked outside of a restaurant at prime lunch hour.  I stay optimistic regardless.  When I walk into the establishment, I am instantly overwhelmed by the amount of color and doo-dads that are on the walls.  I was in for a treat.

    I am greeted by 3-4 people of a Spanish decent, and am led to my table by a very innocent looking, extremely polite middle aged woman.  She goes through a typical seating procedure, asking me what I want to drink and telling me what the specials are for lunch.  She also placed complimentary tortilla chips and salsa on the table.  HUGE PLUS!

    Right away, I noticed that the lunch menu had SOOOOO many items on it.  Once again, I was very overwhelmed.  Nonetheless, when the very happy-go-lucky waiter came to take my order, I decided on an item I thought was very simple, and very standard of a Mexican restaurant; shredded chicken enchiladas with rice and beans.

    On a side note, both the hostess and the waiter called me "amigo."  It kind of made me feel at home, while still making me feel like an American in a Mexican restaurant.  It didn't bother me very much though.

    When my food arrived (very quickly by the way), I immediately dug in.  Even though it looked a bit plain, I stayed optimistic.  I noticed right away that even though I did in fact order shredded chicken for my enchilada, I got shredded beef.  Which I suppose was fine by me because I do enjoy both.  They do lose points for misunderstanding my order.  The enchiladas tasted very standard, but I did notice that the sauce tasted like something out of a can.

    I took a bite of the rice and realized that it was very plain.  There were not any delightful Mexican seasonings that you typically find in "Mexican rice."  The re fried beans looked and tasted like they came right out of the can and got warmed up with a little cheese on the top.  I felt like I could make all these things at home, and maybe even make them a bit better with a lot more flavor.

    I finish my meal, slightly satisfied, and I receive my check from the waiter.  One pro to this place is that is very affordable.  I paid just nine dollars for my whole meal.  My stomach felt like it was going to burst because it was such a generous portion though.  Fine by me!  I gave my waiter a generous tip because regardless of the plain tasting food, the service was EXCELLENT!  My water glass was never empty, the chips and salsa kept piling up in front of me, and my food came seven to eight minutes after I ordered it.

    Overall, I thought this was a great experience at this new restaurant, mainly because of the service.  It was also one of the cleanest looking places I've ever eaten at.  If the food wasn't so generic tasting, I would have enjoyed my time here a lot more.

    In every one of my reviews, I will be setting a rating system that goes off of the three things that I think are most important when reviewing a restaurant; taste, service, and atmosphere.  Here are my ratings of Guadalajara.

    Taste: 6/10
    Service: 9/10
    Atmosphere: 8/10

Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant

5309 W 41st ST

Sioux Falls, SD 57106

605-361-3701

    For upcoming blogs, I will be taking pictures of the restaurant and the food for a more visually accurate depiction of my experience.  I will see you all next week with another restaurant review that I know you will enjoy!  :)

-Lunch in SooFoo