Occasionally, I meet some associates in the Ballantyne area for lunch at the Carolina Wing & Rib House.  During lunchtime, they have a wing buffet/salad bar that is fairly good.  Typically, you do not get the highest quality wings on a buffet.  My guess is that they overcook under the heat lamps.  Wing buffets commonly have small, dry, shriveled up wings that are hardly fit to eat for true wing connoisseurs.

I am not sure what is different about the Carolina Wing & Rib House, but they have one of the better wing buffets that I have ever feasted upon.  The wings are always warm and of superior size.  They typically have 3-4 flavors on the buffet - usually the Carolina Rub, a Honey or Honey BBQ, and either a hot or mild.  The flavors change slightly from visit to visit, but these are the most common ones.   On a scale of 1-10, I would rate the wings from the buffet about a 6 (or of 10).  They may be higher if you order them, but the buffet is always a better bargain when available, so that is all I have tried.  They are not the best in Charlotte by any means, but they are a great option for a quick lunch since they are already prepared.

From a service standpoint, I would rate my typical experience at lunch time as very good.    Of course, the main function that the waiter or waitress has is to make sure the drink glasses are full (since it is a buffet) and that the bill comes out in a timely fashion.    It is rare that my glass gets empty there which is saying something considering the vast amounts of Diet Pepsi or Tea that I can consume during a meal. 

I guess this is where I am supposed to tell you about the ribs. Well, I can’t because I have never had their ribs.  I will have to put it on my list so that I can tell you about it.

Another great item on the menu is their All-You-Can-Eat Snow Crab Legs on Thursday nights.  I can not remember the price, but it isn’t cheap.  Around $25 I think, but it is crab legs.  I don’t think that they have ever come out on top when I have done the crab legs special.  The last time I went, two friends and myself had 56 reorders of crab legs.  I will say that at times, the service can be a bit slow on crab legs night.  I think it is more of an issue with the kitchen getting backed up than the wait staff.  They are always friendly and apologetic when your plate gets empty.

The rest of their menu consist of steaks, other seafood, and a large variety of sandwiches.  They have a link to a coupon on their website, but it just pulls up a blank Adobe file. You may want to check to see if they get it fixed.  Also, of note, the restaurant appears very clean and well-maintained.  This is always a plus in my book.

UPDATED 8/25/2008: THIS CAROLINA WING & RIB HOUSE LOCATION IS CLOSED. I do not know of any other locations in Charlotte; however, the Litchfield Beach and the Conway locations were open last week when I was down there. Of course, if you are in Charlotte, that is a long way to travel for wings.

The typical fast food restaurant experience is my going through a drive through, trying to talk into a bad microphone and hear through a static filled speaker and to communicate with an employee on the other end who portrays the fact the he/she really does not care one way or the other if you get your food or not.

Ever since the Bojangles opened in Lake Wylie, I have had a much different experience.  The service has always been extremely fast and accurate and the employees overly friendly.  They actually act as if they care.  I remember one morning, i timed them at the drive through.  I pulled in with 2 cars in front of me and was back on the road with my pork chop biscuit in a mere 39 seconds.  It was a fast, well-oiled machine.  I am not sure what has happened in the last two months, but they are not quite as fast or as well-oiled as they were at that time; however, they are still way above any other fast-food joint around.   Oh yeah, I forgot….the food is outstanding.

When I visited Bojangles a couple of nights ago for dinner, I did the unroutine task of dining in instead of the drive through.  The Lake Wylie Bojangles was clean and the staff very friendly; although, not as friendly as in the past.  I ordered a special deal (not on the menu) where you get four chicken legs and a biscuit - I think it was $3.79.  As usual, the legs came out hot and crispy - and absolutely delicious.

The biggest complaint I hear about Bojangles chicken is that is it too spicy. Well, I like spice, so it doesn’t bother me.  If you do not like Cajun food or spicy food in general,  you may not like it.  I know my wife does not care for it because of the spices.  She goes love the biscuits and Botato Rounds though.   The unique Cajun spices in the chicken, are definately much spicier than KFC.    I do find that I prefer the crispness of the Bojangles chicken over KFC.  To me, the KFC chicken usually seems a bit “soggy” compared to Bojangles.

Also, need to mention that the Pork Chop biscuit mentioned above was only available for a limited time. They bring it back periodically, so look for it.  It is [usually] absolutely amazing.  I have had it at other locations of Bojangles and have occassionally been disappointed.  It is also usually better hot.  Don’t let it sit around for 30 minutes while you drive to work - eat it immediately.  If they prepare it properly, you will be amazed too.

Anyway, I want to give Kudos again to the staff at the Lake Wylie Bojangles location - they are going a great job.   Unfortunately, as is the case with all fast food chains, they are not all the same just because the name on the building is. 

I was in the Pineville area on Sunday and we decided to go to the Olive Garden - one of my mother-in-laws favorite restaurants. I assume most of you are familiar with Olive Garden - a large chain of 611 restaurants throughout the United States and Canada. I rarely think to go eat at an Olive Garden as my first choice, but I am unsure why. The service is usually above grade - especially for a restaurant in its price range. The food has always been very good when I have been as well. And the decor and atmosphere are always pleasing.

This Sunday offered very little out of the ordinary for an Olive Garden experience - very good service, great food at a reasonable price, in a great atmosphere. I always have a hard time ordering at many Italian restaurants because the menu is usually so large and there are so many items that seem similar to me. This time, I ordered the Five Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni with Sausage which is a limited time item. It was outstanding. Each bite of the Rigatoni bursted with the flavor of the cheeses inside. It was covered in tomato alfredo sauce and topped with grilled Italian sausage. The Italian sausage was extremely tender and rich in Italian spices. I am a big fan of this dish and am a bit dissappointed that it is only available for a limited time - especially with a price of only $9.95 including salad.

As always, the salad was packed full of fresh veggies and covered in Italian dressing. I am usually a Ranch Dressing type person, but the Italian dressing seems to go with the salad there for some reason. Anyway, it was a great salad. Another nice touch that Olive Garden adds that most restaurants do not is that they serve the salad on a chilled plate. I am not sure why, but this seems to make the salad better?

My wife ordered the Five Cheese Ziti al Forno. This is ziti pasta in a five cheese marinara sauce and covered in Italian cheeses - and then baked. This dish was also excellent. At $12.75, it was pricier in comparison to my dish and I am not sure it was worth that much more than mine.

My mother-in-law had the Chicken Parmigiana. The dish consisted of a parmesan breaded chicken breast, fried and topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. The overall taste of this dish was satisfying. The chicken was very moist and tender. They could have provided a little more spaghetti as it seems that there was not a lot there. They should up the portion considerably. Spaghetti is cheap. I suggest to double or possibly triple the portion of spaghetti for a $10.75 dish.

Other items of note on this visit:

- Sweet tea needs vast improvement. It was almost unsweet. Add more sugar.
- The breadsticks were great.
- The service was very good. I would even classify it as a tad short of exceptional considering the price range of the restaurant.
- I am always pleasantly surprised by the wonder Andes Chocolate mint provided at the end. (I always remember Christmas time at my grandmothers. I would get a box of these and would secretly eat almost the whole thing that day.)

All in all, Olive Garden was an excellent value for the money. I guess that is why they always seem so busy whenever we go there.

After a long week of “roughing it” on my fishing trip to the Outer Banks, I was looking for a great meal. Unfortunately, I was still tired from driving back the night before and did not feel like waiting for a table at a busy restaurant or driving more than about 10-15 minutes. After heading out we finally decided to go to the Six Pence Pub in Baxter. I had eaten here three times before and all of the meals resulted in good service with a smile and an excellent meal.

When I went in, I was surprised that they were not busier than they were as it was around 6:30pm on a Saturday night. We were able to be seated immediately. I later learned that the roof terrace was open and apparantly most people were opting to sit up there due to the beautiful weather.

The Six Pence is a beautiful restaurant on the inside and has an air of an upscale atmosphere to it. The good news is that while it looks extremely nice and upscale, the prices are far from what you would pay at an upscale restaurant. There were numerous sandwiches on the menu for around $8 including side items. Most entrees were typically between $10 and $12 with kids menu items around $5 to $6.

Tonight, I had Beef Guiness. According to their menu, it is “a bread bowl full of tender beef tips marinated in Guiness Stout, simmered in a brown sauce with mushrooms, peas, carrots, and onions and served with a salad of crisp greens, onion, tomato, and cucumbers. The salad was exceptionally fresh with crisp veggies. I was a bit disappointed in the main course though. It was good, but just not what I was expecting. Whenever I see beef tips I think back to the marinated beef tips I used to get at another restaurant long ago that were served over egg noodles and were quite remarkable. The beef tips I got tonight were more of a beef stew. They were also very very heavy on the peas. It was packed tight with peas. I was hoping for it to be packed tight with beef tips with a few peas, carrots, mushrooms and onions mixed around it. Like I said it was good, but knowing some of the other items on the menu, I will not order it again. I suggest the Reuben or the Chicken Salad as I have had them in the past and they are both excellent.

If you are in the area, Six Pence is one of the better places to try. It is clean and the service is great - especially for a restaurant in its price range. It is located at 933 Market St in the Village at Baxter in Fort Mill- just off I-77. There are also locations in Blowing Rock, NC and Savannah, GA, although I have not eaten at either of those in order to compare.