A while ago, we were searching out a late night dinner and found out that Jalisco was open. I had heard of it being an offshoot of Los Bravos, and decided to try it.

Since it was late, around 9:30, it was not very busy, though there was a good crowd in the bar. We were seated right away, and we immediately noticed that the interior of the restaurant is very similar to Los Bravos. The chairs and tables are bright colors, decorated with paintings and carvings of birds and flowers.

We were immediately served chips and salsa. The chips were good, but the salsa was not my favorite. My friend liked it a lot, but I thought it was far too sweet and needed to be spicier. I felt like I was dipping my chip into a sweet marinara sauce.

We ordered a chicken chimichanga and quesadilla relleno. These both came out quickly and looked great. The chicken chimichanga was served with rice and was “alright,” which I take to mean that it was average, nothing special, but could be ordered again. My quesadilla relleno was a quesadilla with cheese, steak, and beans and a side of rice. I had high hopes when I saw it, but they were quickly dashed. The rice was more the “Mexican rice” that you make out of a bag, and it was way too moist and sticky.

I had ordered the quesadilla with chicken as opposed to steak, which I don’t prefer, but the quesadilla came out with strips of steak in a very strong sauce it had been cooked in. When things like that happen, I usually overlook it since it isn’t a big deal, and I did the same that night. I instantly did not like the taste of the meat, so much so, that I opened the quesadilla and took all the meat out. It was palatable after that, but it had been so juicy, the strong taste still lingered.

The service was really good as was the decoration and cleanliness. The menu looked very close to the Los Bravos menu, and prices were similar as well. But the key is the food, and unlike La Cabana, it was not very good or authentic. While my friend said his was decent, mine was so bad that I won’t be going back. I definitely should have had them redo the quesadilla to make it be chicken, that may of helped, but I doubt it because over all it just wasn’t good food.

Jalisco is located at 4044 Professional Lane, Newburgh (between Lloyd and Showplace). (812) 490-2814. Sun 11am-9pm, Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11am-10:30pm.

The other week we went downtown to try a place that we’ve heard a lot about, but never have visited: Ri Ra Irish Pub. Ri Ra’s is a small chain, but as there are only 8 in the US’s east coast (and Indiana), I can consider it plenty local enough.

The inside is instantly traditional “pub.” The whole feel of it. In fact, the interior was found and restored in Ireland and shipped to Evansville. If you eat upstairs, you’ll have the advantage of a great river view, possibility of eating outside, and some nights there is live music. While casual, there is an underlying feeling that you could get a little dressed up on the weekends.

The lunch and dinner menus are separate but similar; the dinner menu is slightly larger with some different dishes. The first dish ordered was the Pub Burger which is a half pound burger with your choice of cheese and the standard vegetables on a Kaiser bun; fries were chosen as the side. The burger came out looking great, but was slightly overcooked. I decided to go a little out of my comfort zone and ordered the Dublin Decker with the crispy onion rings. This sandwich is made up of turkey, corned beef, cheese, and cole slaw. While it was okay for the time being, it is not something I’d order again, and I can’t quite pinpoint what it was-possibly the cole slaw? However, I brought the other half home and my sister devoured it exclaiming it was Heaven. The onion rings were sliced very thing and clearly batter dipped and fried, but there seemed to be no seasoning on them which was disappointing. Other items that caught my attention were the Fish and Chips (which looked amazing at another table), Beef & Guinness Stew, and the Traditional Irish Breakfast. Those last two peaked my interest a bit.

Over all, I’d rate the experience as average. My only real complaints are the lack of seasoning in the onion ring batter and the long wait between ordering and receiving our food. I probably will return; however, just to try some more of the food that’s offered on the menu and maybe for the live music. Also, keep in mind they do have a happy hour.

Ri Ra’s is located at 701-B NW Riverside Drive. (812) 426-0000. Lunch 11am-4pm daily. Happy Hour 4pm-7pm Mon-Fri. Dinner 4-10pm Sun-Thurs, 4pm-11pm Mon, Fri, Sat.

The Evansville Courier & Press now has a searchable food violation database that allows you to search for violations by a variety of criteria. Just to get you started, here’s a list of the restaurants with more than 11 violations in a single visit in the past year. Yummy.

• Vanderburgh County Jail - 9 critical violations, 11 non-critical.
• Old Mill - 9 critical violations, 14 non-critical
• Fox & Hound - 6 critical violations, 8 non-critical
• China Express - 6 critical violations, 7 non-critical
• China Express (The Sequel) - 6 critical violations, 5 non-critical
• Flavor of India - 3 critical violations, 8 non-critical
• Two Brothers - 3 critical violations, 8 non-critical

photo courtesy of dbz885

You may have noticed the new pizza place on South Green River, just past the Lloyd. We certainly did, especially since it is an extension of the one at Indiana University, which I must say I failed to ever visit. I may have missed it in Bloomington, but I decided not to here, and we took a group over to Greek’s Pizzeria.

The outside is plain with very little decoration, and the inside is actually the same. The tables and booths are all covered with the “traditional” red and white checkered table cloth that you think of pizzerias having. But that’s pretty much the extent of the decoration. There is a side room with a couple video games in it and a jukebox near the cash register. The restaurant is in some definite need of some type of character, even if it is some pictures on the wall.

Greek’s Pizzeria focuses on pizza, but also has a large choice in pasta or sandwiches. We choose to order cheese bread, a medium Greek’s Special, extra large half cheese and half pepperoni and sausage, and an Italian Sausage sandwich. The cheese bread was served with marinara sauce. It was okay, but nothing special and probably not anything I couldn’t make at home, though I must say the marinara sauce was great. The pizza came out with a thick crust, lots of sauce, a little cheese, and a fair amount of toppings. I usually don’t like much sauce on my pizza, but Greek’s sauce made it worth it. The pizza’s dough is sweet and soft as opposed to tough, which most in our party appreciated.

My favorite was the pepperoni and sausage. The Greek’s Special was okay, but some of the toppings (ie. peppers and mushrooms) seemed of poor quality and not what you’d normally find on a pizza. The sandwich (basically a stromboli) was only average and has got nothing on the strombolis from Pizza King. Other options include the Gourmet Wings pizza or Cordon Bleu ala Rafael pizza, Chicken Marinara sandwich, or Spaghetti with Meatballs.

There are daily lunch and dinner specials to choose from: the medium Greek’s Special was that day’s dinner special. To be honest, there is very little price difference, but all the same, the prices for Greek’s as a whole are fairly reasonable. Also, the service was not great, the waitresses all disappeared for at least 20 minutes as we were needing a knife and refills. Overall, I enjoyed the pizza. While I wouldn’t go back to eat in the restaurant, I would definitely get delivery, and their free delivery is a plus.

Greek’s Pizzeria is located at 240 S. Green River Road in the old Batteries Plus building. (814) 402-4733. Sun-Fri 10am-10pm, Sat 10am-12am.

Lic’s Deli & Ice Cream has long been a favorite of Evansville and its surrounding areas. I found out that it stands for Lloyd’s Ice Cream Shoppes, and they actually make their ice cream and sorbet in downtown Evansville. It’s nice for some simple and quick food that is a healthy option as opposed to so many greasy fast food options.

The colors of Lic’s are blue and white and can be seen both in and out of the building. Booths and tables line the walls in the front area of each shop, and you order from a wall menu behind the counter. The ice cream flavors are displayed by photo on the wall next to the menu. It’s comfortable and family friendly, as well as welcoming to any one else.

The menu is very simple and consists mostly of sandwiches and ice cream, but also delves a little into salads and soups. Despite being hounded about not being able to eat this for a food review, I still got the grilled double cheese and spicy hot chili for lunch. Why? Because it’s the best. The grilled cheese is gooey with layers of cheese on buttery grilled bread with poppy seeds on it and is served with potato chips. The chili, I believe is a family recipe filled with meat and beans and has a good spicy kick to it. The combo works great, and you can’t get any better then their thick grilled cheese. Another favorite of mine is the Gourmet Sub: smoked turkey, honey ham, corned beef, swiss, cheddar, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a secret house dressing on a toasted frenchette. The chicken salad is also pretty good, I always get that on a croissant. Other less common things available are the pizza wrap and spicy ranch chicken quesadilla.

The ice cream, of course the ice cream. As I mentioned before, you can find the flavors on the wall in picture form. Anything from chocolate and vanilla to cookie dough, black cherry, lemonade sorbet, and butter pecan is available with many more flavors offered. Scoops come in cones or cups, but you can also get anything made into a sundae, banana split, or milk shake. There is also a variety of smoothies to choose from. But two of my favorite things are their ice cream cookie sandwiches and choco-cremes, which are ice cream balls covered in chocolate.

Overall, I enjoy Lic’s. It may not be anything over the top and special, but that’s what appeals about it-the down to earth and consistently good food. Everyone feels welcomed and you can always find something that sounds good. I only wish there was a little more variety, much of the food is similar to each other. The prices are also reasonable for what you get.

Lic’s is located on Diamond Ave (812-424-4862), Lincoln Ave (812-477-3131), W. Virginia St. (812-423-4173), NW 5th St. (812-422-2618), Washington Ave (812-473-0569), Green River Rd. (812-473-3428) in Evansville, and the Lloyd (812-858-0022) in Newburgh.

As I had my wisdom teeth removed this past week with a bout of dry socket, I haven’t been able to eat, thus there is no food review. I will venture to guess that a good deal of you have had your wisdom teeth removed or a tonsillectomy—some type of surgery or injury that prevents you from eating. You may have noticed my great love of food, so not being able to eat much more than applesauce, pudding, and ice cream is something very aggravating to me. For me, this makes me think about what food I want to eat as soon as my mouth is functioning again. I am sure this happens to some of you as well: The first thing I will eat when I can again will be…

Since I cannot bring you a food review, I’ll bring you my top ten cravings during my wisdom teeth recovery.

• Pizza: I normally don’t care for pizza much, but the moment I walked in the door after the removal I instantly craved it, either from The Slice or from Pizza King.
• Cheeseburger: I can’t lie, I love cheeseburgers. Cheeseburger in Paradise and Outback have really good ones, but nothing beats a thick grilled homemade one with tomato. Yet, for some odd reason, I found myself craving a McDonald’s cheeseburger! (don’t ask)
• Sandwiches: Most people eat sandwiches on a daily basis, not me! I refuse to eat them. Yet again, I craved them bad. Either a Spicy Italian from Subway or a JJBLT from Jimmy Johns.
• Cereal: I’ve started eating cereal again in the last month or so, and I’ve been craving my Honey Nut Cheerios I love so badly.
• Just Rennie’s: As you know I stopped by there the other week, and I can’t get my mind off that chicken salad sandwich.
• Hot Dog: I rarely eat hot dogs, maybe once a year. But I have wanted to go get a hot dog from Ritzy’s.
• Nachos: Mmm who doesn’t love a good thing of nachos. Some places don’t stack them up with all the best stuff, and so I’ve been craving Moe’s Ruprict Nachos (vegetarian one’s) where I can get black olives and jalapenos too on top of the regular stuff.
• Soup: Again, as seems to be a theme here, not a soup fan! Though there is one soup I love is the Tortilla Soup from La Cabana.
• Salad: Salad is impossible to eat right now—I need my back teeth to chew lettuce, and they are out of commission. I’d love to have the salad from Rocca Bar or the Chopped Chicken Salad from Biaggi’s, both are delicious in entirely different ways.
• Donut: Someone on Twitter was talking about donuts, and it has made me want donuts ever since. I’m not sure exactly what kind, but definitely know I’ll find it at the Donut Bank.

So, when your mouth is out of commission and you can barely chew or swallow, what do you crave that you can’t eat? What is the first think you will go find to eat when you can eat?

After my air appointment today, it was nearly 1:30 and I was starved. Next door is Just Rennie’s, a much welcomed new eatery that is owned by Doug Rennie and his wife. They offer catering, cookies, and lunches.

Today, there was a private party in the banquet room, so I only saw the “Cookies” part of their building. It is very small, but inviting all the same. There is a display case that offers up the lunch fare in bowls and platters, next to it is a table simply covered in various types of cookies and brownies. This all is very near to the door, but I wish that they would push it back just a bit, because when I was there with just 5 people in line, being in the back, I felt very smashed. There aren’t tables in this area, I think the idea is that most people are coming from downtown offices and are either going to eat it back in their office or on the river. Behind the counter, you see all their baking supplies as well as a few people baking. It is very much an “open operation” in a sense.

It’s not a place that offers a wide variety, but what it offers it specializes in. I had chicken salad on a steak house roll with a side of fruit salad and pasta salad. The chicken salad was simple-mayonnaise based with celery and dill. I’m not a fan of dill, but I was really surprised at how great it tasted and the quality and preparation of the chicken was outstanding (I am very picky about eating chicken). I was worried the roll would be hard, but it was nice and soft. The pasta salad was penne with a light pesto dressing with a few cherry tomatoes. The fruit salad consisted of large pieces of grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple-all of it was perfectly ripe and juicy.

Other offerings include ham, turkey, roast beef, or club wraps or steak house rolls. There is also a curry chicken salad (which I hear is delicious for even people who are not curry fans) and tuna salad. Other sides are red potato salad and tomato-cucumber salad. They also offer 4 salads such as the Mixed Greens with chicken or Southern Belle salad.

I mentioned there was a table covered in cookies and brownies, and I’m happy to report that Just Rennie’s also specializes in this. The cookies are big and thick, as are the brownies. I got 8 cookies and a brownie bowl-a brownie bowl! The cookies they offer are the peanut butter chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chunk, double chocolate chunk, chocolate chunk walnut, white chocolate pecan, peanut butter, double chocolate chunk, and “Chef Doug’s gourmet” (chocolate, walnuts, cinnamon). They also offer brownies, blondies, and brownie bowls.

Just Rennie’s is a very welcome addition to downtown Evansville. Everything I had was delicious, I couldn’t get enough, and yet, there was enough that I wasn’t able to finish. My meal (including steak house roll sandwich and two sides cost $6. 95, which I think is very reasonable for the quality of the food. Although there is no seating, that’s fine, the food is worth it, and I can enjoy it at home or the park. I hope you all go visit soon and support a local chef and his new business.

Just Rennie’s is located at 102 SE 4th St., Downtown. 812-490-8098. Tues-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat 10am-2pm.

After all the Kanpai talk in the Zuki comments this week, we decided to visit and bring a review to you ourselves.

The overall feel of Kanpai is “hole-in-the-wall.” You drive up to a little square building next to a “novelty store.” You walk in and see an Asian-style screen separating the door from the tables, but when you round the corner, the d’ecor goes to nothing. Not a bad thing, most delicious hole-in-the-walls are lacking in that aspect. Here, all you see is one room with a handful of plane tables and a sushi bar.

The menu is fairly large for the establishment and is mostly comprised of Japanese and Korean food. We all started out with an appetizer: miso soup, Kanpai salad, and seaweed salad. The Kanpai salad is quite reminiscent of the salad at Nagasaki. My friend and I opted to order sushi, while my father ordered an entr’ee. He and I ordered the Spicy Tuna Crunch, Salmon Skin Roll, Volcano Roll, and Philadelphia roll. There has been some debate over the size of the Kanpai rolls, and this time I found it mixed. The Volcano and Spicy Tuna were on the rather large size, while the Philadelphia and Salmon Skin were smaller. My favorites were the Volcano Roll, which is warmed and topped with crab, and the Philadelphia. Both were nicely made and tasted exactly how they should. However, I wasn’t big on the Spicy Tuna or the Salmon Skin, normally two of my favorites, these had a very strong scallion taste that overpowered the sushi. My father ordered chicken chop chae. It came out as a extremely large serving of vegetables and chicken over rice, but I found it more like a stir fry than what I think of as chop chae. He did enjoy it, and could not finish such a large portion.

That night, there were three people working: the owner and two sushi chefs. Despite the lack of people in the restaurant, the service wasn’t very good. Part of this I think was the constant focus they had on the tv and choosing a channel-the tv is very distracting for them, but also towards trying to have a nice meal. Even though there were two other tables in there, it took nearly 10 minutes to be greeted-thank you tv.

Overall, if you aren’t interested in service and d’ecor, but just food, then this is a good find. The sushi is above average, though they go a little heavy on the scallion and tobiko. The entrees also are good and rather large portions. The food can get out to you pretty quickly, but everything in between is extremely slow-get a bottle of sake to help ease that pain. The prices can get a little high for dinner ($10-20), but the food proves worthy.

Kanpai is located at 4593 Washington Ave, across from E. Schnucks. (812) 471-7076. 11 am-2 pm; 5-9 pm, Mon-Thurs; 11 am-10 pm Fri; 3 pm-10 pm Sat, closed Sun.

Last week we reviewed the sushi portion of Zuki, and this week we bring you a small update about the restaurant. Last night we went back and visited the hibachi side of the restaurant. Most of the information about the restaurant can be found in last week’s review, so please see that if you haven’t already.

As stated before, the hibachi area is clearly defined and consists of 8 tables between two rooms. Just like Nagasaki, each grill seats eight customers, but these seem to have smaller grill spaces that give a more intimate feeling due to that factor. Also, these tables are of imitation black granite, giving a more stylish feel that suits the rest of the restaurant. The plates for the hibachi area are specially designed for Zuki, white with the Zuki logo on them: Zuki in quick black letters, with a red rising sun, and some characters. I again found the tacky, wooden, break apart chopsticks next to my plate.

The menu was split between ordering the entire entree, combos, or a la carte. Each menu offers meats such as steak, filet, chicken, teriyaki chicken, shrimp, salmon, and lobster. There was also one option that I forget the name of: apologies. It was a Japanese name and I saw a woman at the next table get: very very thin steak that was chopped and cooked with onions. Of course, there are combos to order that combine two of the various meat options. With these meals are served soup and salad, vegetables, and fried rice. The soup tastes exactly like Nagasaki’s soup, like a salty chicken broth, but the salad differs in the dressing, which seemed to be something of a mustard-ginger. The vegetables are zucchini, mushroom, onion, and broccoli.

Overall, the food was pretty good and I really liked how the flavors were more subdued than those at Nagasaki. Also, there was a touch less food. The chef did the regular tricks like tossing the knives, volcano onion, or fire. However, he also tried some new things and was much more engaged with the customers during everything he cooked. I think next time I am craving some good hibachi food I’ll come back to Zuki.

Zuki is located at 1448 N. Green River Rd., behind Rafferty’s. (812) 477-ZUKI. Mon-Sat 11am-2pm, 4pm-10pm; Sun 11am-9pm.

A new Japanese restaurant has recently opened in Evansville: Zuki Japanese Hibachi Grill & Sushi Lounge. Located behind Rafferty’s, where Wasabi used to be housed, sits a vibrant Zuki.

The interior of this new restaurants certainly fits an upscale, lounge-type atmosphere. You first notice the color: a vibrant red with black trim. Two rooms are situated with the hibachi style cooking, I believe it was 4 grill-tables per room. Separating the two rooms was a wall with two large glass windows that served to supply a calming zen effect to the customers—they were light blue glass with water pouring over them. The sushi portion of the restaurant was separated to the right with it’s own two seating areas. One was primarily the sushi bar where one can watch over the chef’s artistry while he prepares your sushi, or there was a half wall separating most the tables from the bar area. I saw several rooms down a hall that I presume are private party rooms.

The menu is not very large but covers the array from appetizers to hibachi entrees, to sushi dinners and sushi “a la carte.” Besides the most obvious cuisine here, they also offer noodles (udon, soba, and ramen) and a vast amount of appetizers—tempura, edamame, grilled squid, and much much more. Their appetizer portion of the menu is almost as large as the whole menu combined. We choose the special Zuki Fried Shrimp appetizer that came with five jumbo shrimp breaded in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) with a sweet yet slightly tart brown sauce drizzled over it—perhaps the house version of ponzu sauce? Ponzu or not, the sauce combined with those shrimp was delicious. We opted for sushi over hibachi that night and was seated against the half wall near the window—it was a nice spot with one exception, my chair partly stuck into the entry way of that section, giving me the feeling I was in the way.

With our ability to eat a lot of sushi, we ordered 3 rolls (Spicy Tuna, Yumy Yummy, and Volcano) and 4 nigiri (tuna, salmon, and snapper). The Spicy Tuna Roll was the “other” take on the style of making it. Instead of a slice of tuna in the roll with spicy sauce drizzled over it, it was tuna finely ground and mixed with an extremely spicy sauce, rolled, and topped with sesame seeds. This isn’t my favorite way of eating this roll since the texture comes across as so mushy, also, for me, it was way too spicy, and that’s not something I often say. The Yumy Yummy Roll was along the lines of mango, cucumber, avocado, and salmon (apologies, I can’t be for sure since I’m lacking a menu). This was really a soothing roll, nothing was over-powering. Finally, the Volcano Roll was tuna, avocado, and cream cheese rolled in rice with salmon on top and drizzled in a spicy orange sauce and the brown “ponzu” sauce. This was my favorite of the night, and while it was still extremely spicy, the sweetness of the “ponzu” sauce and creaminess of the cream cheese helped to tone it down more than it had been in the spicy tuna.

All in all there were things I did like and things I didn’t like. What I did like was their relatively upscale, zen decor and to-the-point menu that gives me the impression that they are concentrating on their cuisine to give the customers their best. Also, I loved my appetizer and most of the sushi was pretty good. What I didn’t like was the lopsided service—I think we had two waiters who weren’t in sync with each other in watching our table, but in the end we got what we wanted and needed. Also, I think the fish could have been a little colder and a little fresher, though it was much more fresh than other places in town—and that ground tuna, that’s a no-no in my book. Finally, one small thing that really irked me were the chopsticks. The restaurant was coming across as upscale and zen, yet the chopsticks were the wooden kind that you have to break apart. This really turned me off since it seemed they should have been metal or lacquered; the wooden ones were very down scale and proved hard to use with sushi—plus I can’t stand when I can taste the wood against the flavor of the food in my mouth.

Overall, I’d come back to get sushi, and I am definitely going back soon to try the hibachi, which I’ll update the site about. I think the pro’s outweighed the cons at Zuki. I’ll be back and hope to see you there.

**Update:* See our followup review on the hibachi dinner.

Zuki is located at 1448 N. Green River Rd., behind Rafferty’s. (812) 477-ZUKI. Mon-Sat 11am-2pm, 4pm-10pm; Sun 11am-9pm.