There have been changes to the menu at all the Chevys restaurants, and they are not sitting well with me.
I had heard that the dishes that had kept us interested had been changed from the tasty influences that David Wilhelm had brought to them when he was consulting, and that the food was more “mainstream” now. Since we live not far from one of the restaurants, it was easy enough for me to check it out. What we came away feeling was that someone is tinkering with a lot of things at Chevys.
When we sat on the outside patio just the other evening, it took two swipes from the busboy and finally one from the hostess to get the sticky goo off the plastic tablecloth. There seemed to be far to few waitstaff to do a good job of anything. A waiter, who had been rushing around, obviously taking care of too many tables, came to take our order. We became thankful during the next half-hour for the basket of the best chips (paper thin, exquisitely crisp and greaseless) and very good grilled tomato salsa we were served, because it took longer than that for our meals to arrive. My food was barely warm and Patrick’s was verging on cold. He mentioned this to the waiter, who took it back to the kitchen. Unfortunately, they did not make a new plate of food but tried to rewarm in some manner the partially tasted food that had been taken away. Alas, the crispy taco was now a soft useless shell sagging into the damp filling and the chile relleno was a limp, soft covering over an unimpressive stuffed chile.
I had been asked whether I preferred original black or refried beans. I said black beans. I got refried. My plate of food was supposed to come with sweet corn tomalito, but it was missing. The Mexican-style rice was completely devoid of flavor and the condiments for my carnitas, guacamole, sour cream and bits of chopped tomato,were minuscule. Alas, the meat did not resemble carnitas in any manner. There were strips of grilled onion on the bottom of the platter topped with overdone, thick slices of pork (it seemed to be a roast that was sliced up) with a smidgen of sauce more akin to barbecue than anything that should be in a simmering pot of braised pork. Grilled onions are alien to carnitas in my book.
There’s more that did not impress me along the way, but I’ve spent enough time on downers. I seldom lay out a list of negatives, but rather walk away from the lesser restaurant experiences. However, I have written happily of Chevys in the past, and I have to reflect on the difference now. I owe that to my readers. According to a staffer, the complaints from customers have been plentiful since the recent menu changes. Having additional glitches like sticky tables, slow service and cold food isn’t helping matters. I am hoping that the top honchos of this chain rethink their probable cost-cutting ideas and all the revamping of this menu and give us back the Chevys we’d come to appreciate.
I’ll let you know when and if it happens.
A Happier Meal
We have had totally different experiences at Islands, a place we keep dropping into lately. In fact, our neighbors Roxy and Tim Cooley, reminded us just the other day that it was a good evening to have a bowl of the great tortilla soup. They are great conversationalists and since I am a board member for our mutual homeowners’ association, Tim does his best to keep me on the straight and narrow. Ha! Imagine our surprise when we walked in to find them already ensconced in a big booth with none other than OCBJ EE Rick Reiff. This actually gave me an opportunity to grill RR on the rigors of being a new professor. You did all know that he now teaches journalism at Chapman College? It makes me believe Chapman’s president, Jim Doti, a good Italian cook himself, did his homework in hiring RR. Rick, naturally, has total command of his subject matter and he has a rich sense of humor, which ensures that students will enjoy their learning experience in his classroom.
So, here we are again in this jungle-like atmosphere of raffia paneled walls, thatched beach-shack overhangs, huge rattan-shaded lights, African-esque masks and tropical foliage, with booths surrounding colorful tiled tables. Servers smile a lot here and pay attention to details.
The soup, to which I’ve alluded, was added about a year ago and it’s an enormously flavorful and rather thick concoction of broth, chunks of avocado and shatteringly crisp tortilla chips. A salad that makes a tasty meal for me is the Jungle Caesar consisting of romaine, grilled chicken breast, Parmesan cheese, croutons and a good Caesar dressing. It can also be ordered sans chicken. The burgers are always big and impressive in their composition. Occasionally, I’ll have soft tacos instead of a burger. These come three to an order, stuffed with fish, teriyaki chicken, fajita-style chicken, spicy chicken and cheddar cheese and a vegetarian mix.
If your appetite can handle appetizers or side orders, the fries, freshly cut to order with skins on, are de rigueur and the onion rings are big and crispy.
Islands restaurants are in half a dozen locations throughout Orange County. I like the energy, the attitude and the consistency I’ve always found. Go in hungry and go home satisfied.
Chao publishes Chao’s Dinesty, a food, wine and travel newsletter, in Irvine.
