An Explosion Of...Blah

The Keg - American Steakhouse Fare - 3 Stars
http://www.kegsteakhouse.com

With eight coworkers looking to grab a quick but tasty lunch somewhere near the office, we really only had two options: The Keg and Applebee's (which we lovingly refer to as Crapplebee's). As most of us hadn't braved The Keg in quite some time, but decided their lunch menu was worth hosting out-of-town teammates. The food served was "just okay" up to "good", depending on how discerning you were and how nice you try to be in real life.

The meal started well enough with a prompt and perky waitress who seemed confident she could handle a large party with ease. Apparently she only misheard me as I was the last one to order. (More on that later.)

Because I was sitting on the far left of the table, there were only two dishes I was able to snap pictures of and get feedback for. Elaine's was one of them and she ordered the Halibut and Chips which sounded delightful. (I think almost half of our party ended up ordering the same entree!) The two pieces of halibut were actually nicely portioned, thick fillets and she chose a side-salad instead of the thick-cut "Keg fries". Elaine said there was too much breading on the fish, though it was crispy and not too oily, and the fish itself was firm and flaky. Condiments included tartar, ketchup, and lemon. I did overhear two coworkers saying the fish was "good", but no one seemed thrilled with the offering.

For my entree, I chose the Santa Fe Salad which included black beans, corn, tomatoes, ranch dressing, a hell of a lot of the "crispy tortilla strips" (*scrape, scrape*) that seem to plague any "southwestern" fare nowadays. It was also supposed to come with "spicy grilled chicken", but instead came with the spicy coated, breaded, and deep-fried chicken. Back to the kitchen it went and 10-15 minutes later, I had my salad. In defense of the second salad, the chicken was very tender and juicy and slathered with a sweet and spicy sauce which had enough heat to be interesting.

Looking down the table, I saw a lot of half-eaten meals. Whether that was because the ladies were trying to maintain their girlish figures or because the fare was so-so was difficult to say. However, at least with the two dishes, the fare was good enough for a work lunch but definitely not a place I'd take to impress a client.