There is a lot at Little Tex! 

Scanning the map of Vernon Restaurants landed me at Little Tex for lunch. I am hoping to get some invites to places around town as I am starting to run out of "the obvious"! Hidden behind the main streets of Vernon I often forget about this little Mexican gem that is waiting for everyone to come in and enjoy some authentic and invented Mexican cuisine.

The atmosphere instantly warms when you enter as you are whisked away to Mexico. The décor is exactly what you would imagine an authentic Mexican restaurant to be and it is very cozy and fun. The staff is ready to greet, seat, and feed you!

As I opened up the menu I was instantly overwhelmed. This is just my opinion, but I found there was just too much to choose from; 16 types of burgers, 18 kinds of quesadillas, 19 salads, and then you still need to look at their appetizers, specialties, quiche, stir-fry, and sandwiches, which is a lot for one to digest before you even get started!

I decided to keep my focus only on the quesadillas and decided on the salmon, spinach, and goat cheese with half chips and half salad. The quick turnaround was refreshing and great for me as I skipped breakfast and was starving! The chips were round taco/nacho chips topped with a ball of mashed potatoes (both regular and sweet potato) and the salad was a regular side salad with a slice of pickled beet sitting on the top. The mashed potato threw me off at first but I found out very quickly that it was a very pleasant surprise.

Another side that I believe you receive with every order is the Little Tex custom version of coleslaw. My verdict is still not out on this as I found it very crunchy and refreshing but there was a taste to it that I just could not nail down, and although I didn't hate it...I'm just not sure if I was sold on it or not! The salsa was fresh, which was almost expected, and the quesadilla was hot, huge, and I couldn't wait to bite into it! I wasn't disappointed in the meal but the salmon was very dry and I used some of my salad dressing to moisten it up.

My lunch partner ordered the burrito and raved about how great it was. I was blown away on how big it was...I was a bit envious! Back to my meal...there were nice big chunks of goat cheese falling out of it plus there was the perfect amount of spinach.

I have to keep Little Tex on my Foodie radar and I would suggest you to do the same! Although I have often forgetten about it, I find it to be one great place to grab lunch and I could imagine it being a fun place for after work drinks or dinner. There is a lot of menu to choose from and I am sure something to fit everyone's taste buds. On my next visit I will stick with the more traditional Mexican items.You may get overwhelmed with all the choices you have but pick a section and you should be fine.

My overall experience was good plus I found the service was fast, friendly and the atmosphere fantastic.

On a side note, I did have a friend bring me a chicken burger from Little Tex not too long ago, (yes you can do take out) and it was absolutely delicious plus so very large that you almost needed a bib to eat it. So if you are craving a good burger don't forget about this little place!

Today’s hunger took me to East Side Mario’s for lunch. If you’ve been to one East Side Mario’s you’ve been to them all…well that just goes for the décor and menu! If you haven’t, it’s fun and friendly with Italian screaming from every angle; lots of pictures on the walls, red checkered table clothes on the tables in the dining area, and a fun, casual feel to the bar side.

Sitting in a quaint booth for two I waited for my server to come and greet us. Waiting was going to be something I did a lot of on this visit! When the server finally came around we had our entire order ready…Spinach and Artichoke Dip for an appy plus for the main course I decided on the Portabella Panini (grilled portabella mushroom with roasted red peppers, spinach, roasted garlic aioli and warm goat cheese served on grilled Ciabatta bread) and my guest picked the pizza and salad lunch (you pick your toppings). There are a lot of options on the menu and all of them sound very intriguing and picking the dinner size items (if you go during dinner!) you can get all you can eat bread and salad with most choices. They have everything Italian to choose from, lots of pasta and pizza choices, some salads and soups as well as steak, chicken, ribs, and salmon.

Back to my meal…the appy took over 20 minutes to get to our table which was quite upsetting considering we were there for lunch and starting to get really hungry! It comes with herb flat bread and was a nice change from the usual nacho chips you usually get when dining out! The dip itself was nice and hot and blended just right…I would say well worth the wait but the wait was just too long! We finished our appy and had another long wait for the main course.

I would guess at least 45 minutes went by before the meals came and both of our salads (which were our choice of sides) didn’t come with the meals…they were a couple minutes behind! I had a Caesar salad with mine and I am happy to report that East Side Mario’s no longer uses bacon bits for a topping but they now use REAL bacon…a much better topping for this salad! There was just the right amount of dressing and the lettuce was incredibly fresh and crispy. As for the Panini…YUMMY!!! It was so good! Two big mushroom caps topped with deliciously grilled red peppers and warm goat cheese. The Panini was a little on the crunchy side but suited the moist insides well. This is something I would get again.

Overall I really enjoyed the food but not sure if I have the patience and time to visit again. My hopes would be that the management and staff will address the slowness and work towards fixing this. I know I will give East Side Mario’s another try but think if the same slow service happens again I don’t think there will be an opportunity to win me back. If you have some time to go out and eat I would recommend them for their food alone. I have never had a bad food experience at any location, but my thumbs are down on the customer service side.  

I was invited back to Monashee's after my first visit as they have just introduced a new menu, and instead of going for lunch again I thought I would take in a dinner.

The atmosphere is a lot different in the evening than compared to the afternoon. The lights are dimmed, the dining area TV's are turned to a scenic channel (don't worry they still have the sports channels on at the bar), and it's just feels relaxed.

The menu (Viewable at Monashees.ca) had a page each of appies, soups and salads, classics, sandwiches, and entrées. To me it was a perfectly sized menu, not so many choices that your keep flipping through pages, but just enough options for personal favourites and new creations.

I thought to get an appy and opted for the Tacos Con Pescado ($11), grilled halibut, salsa fresca and chili lime slaw. The fish, salsa, and slaw were great! They all tasted fresh and left you wanting more, but on the downside, they served it with four regular sized taco shells. Everything seemed so fancy except for these shells and you only get enough to properly fill two of them. (Yes I know a small flaw but I'm here to give my impressions, opinions, and thoughts! They should give mini-mini taco shells!).

For the main dish I ordered the Pear and Blue Cheese Salad ($11) with artisan lettuce, Okanagan pears, red onions, blue cheese ice cream, toasted walnuts, apple cider Dijon vinaigrette. For this review I am going to break it down to the good, the bad, and the ugly!

The good;

• The apple cider vinaigrette, this was so delicious. It had that bite that apple cider has but tasted so fresh and summer like...not one thing I could say bad about this dressing, it was great!
• Also to add to the good was the half a pear you get; crunchy, yet soft and sweet like a perfectly ripe pear.

The bad;

• Well it said "toasted walnuts"… and the very small amount that I did get was great but that was the problem. It felt like my salad got the bottom of the walnut jar crumbs...not many, very small, and almost non-existent. (again in keeping positive, the odd morsels that I got were all delicious!)

Now the ugly;

• Well it's all that's left to the salad, the blue cheese ice cream. Regular blue cheese crumbs on this salad would have put it over the top delicious but I just wasn't sold on the ice cream thing. There it was, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on my salad and it just didn't seem to belong. The taste of blue cheese just wasn't strong enough to over-power the ice cream taste and I would have preferred regular blue cheese in the salad instead.

A suggestion for someone wanting to try this salad, you may want to opt into adding your choice of chicken, crab, prawns, or steak for an additional $4 as the salad isn't very filling. It is essentially just the artisan lettuce, but worth tasting for the dressing! 

The person I was dining with ordered the Bison Meatloaf ($19), double smoked bacon, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, and sour cherry gravy. I had a taste and thought the meatloaf was really great, moist and it had a great flavor. I'm not one to order meatloaf from a menu (in fact I have never ordered meatloaf while dining out) but I would order this meatloaf! The mashed potatoes were more like a potato soup, really runny and no substance, but tasted good.

Overall I was happy with my dining experience at Monashee's Bar and Grill. The atmosphere was very inviting and it's nice to have the option of a cozy booth or table and chairs to serve as many as you can bring in.

It was a quiet night to be in there and I found the service to be good; the food came out in great time and was presented very nicely. I would definitely go back and try out their other menu selections. I was glad I got invited back, but on a side note; bummed that I missed the Wine & Dine promotion...my bad!

The plan was to go for dinner at Monashee's but not knowing their schedule, I found out that they are closed on Sundays! So I crossed the street to grab a bite at Kal Sports Bar and Grill. It was a great place to check out on a Sunday night and catch an NFL Conference Final game (Jets vs Steelers).

It took about 5 to 10 minutes to finally get a server to say hello which wasn't a great first impression but after she brought our drink orders she apologized and said she was trying her best with how busy it was. (A note to all servers out there...this kind of thing goes a long way in my books. I hate when a server passes blame on anyone or pretends there isn't a problem and she more than redeemed herself for the remainder of the evening) We will start off with the good!

The atmosphere is great, big screen TV's, very large bar (60 beers from around the world to pick from), they have pool tables, Keno, Horseracing and 2 (soon to be 3) simulated golf games. People book tee times and come in with all of their golf clubs and play either 9 or 18 holes of golf. I am not a golfer and most likely won't be playing a round here but it is obvious people love playing, so much so that while I was there both "courses" were in use.

Now for the food...we started off with some chicken wings as they were only 10 cents each (fantastic deal) and ordered the first ten "Hot" and a the second ten "Suicide". The wings were good, cooked just right and dry on the outside but the level of hotness was not hot at all! So for anyone who likes hot wings actually hot, then jump to the hottest level they have (I forget what they call it but it is one more past Suicide), but for $2.00 spent on 20 wings I won’t complain. (OK, well I'll stop complaining!)

I wasn't sure what I felt like and was torn between the Quesadilla and the Chicken Caesar salad...I asked the server if the salad was good and she answered with a very convincing "yes" so I ordered it. (While my dinner guest ordered a burger and fries...smart choice for a sports bar!)

The salad got two thumbs down...there was enough dressing for three salads, the croutons were a mixed bag of stale, crunchy, soft and soggy, and the chicken was dry and chewy. Maybe it was my fault for trying to order something "healthy" at a sports bar, but this would not be ordered by me again! As for the burger, even though I didn't have a bite, my guest appeared to enjoy and it seemed very big with onion rings and mushrooms piled inside a fresh looking bun. I did scoop a few fries and they were just like pub fries should be. I probably took more than my guest wanted me to take but they were good (and I was hungry!).

Their menu was a good size and mostly had your typical pub food options plus one burger that costs $30, it’s 2lbs of beef and if you eat it all you get it for free (I hope they supply a ride to the hospital as well). I have never been to Kal Sports Bar before and I would definitely go again for the atmosphere alone.

I'm sure this place is packed for big games like the Grey Cup, Super Bowl, Canucks games etc. and it would be a fun place to go with a lot of friends, get into the games, and enjoy some cold ones. My suggestion would be to stick to the burger side of the menu. Also make sure you get in there early enough if you are heading over in a group to guarantee a table to fit everyone. There is lots of space, lots to do, and you can even get a "Beer Passport" to check off the beers from around the world that you have tried.

The service started off poorly but finished off fine and even though the salad isn't something I will order again I do plan on trying one of their burgers.