Thursday, January 21, 2010
Macado's overwhelms -- until food is served
CHRIS WINSTON The Roanoke Times
Macado's in Christiansburg is fine for a quick meal — you just have to make your way through the extensive menu first.
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I'm a lot of things when I walk into a restaurant: hungry, ornery and rushed, among them.
I'm not often overwhelmed.
But after more than a dozen visits to the New River Valley's three Macado's locations over the past four years, that's exactly what I feel. Every time.
I made my way down the long, skinny hall after coming in the front (back?) door of the Christiansburg Macado's past football jerseys, photos and other memorabilia that give it the feel of a local eatery.
But once inside, there's too much and it loses all continuity.
A wooden Indian, bikes, boats and other knickknacks are everywhere. It looks like my grandmother's closet. It's instant sensory overload, and it takes the emphasis off the food you're there to eat (which is probably a good thing, but more on that later).
The hundreds of out-of-place items do play valuable roles, however, if you're there with children. It makes for a great game of "I Spy," for instance. "I spy an oar." "There." "Not that one." "There." "Not that one." "Really?"
Speaking of children, our servers at Macado's have always been engaging and entertaining, quick with crayons for coloring, napkins for cleanup and refills on milk. I'm sure it helps to have such friendly staffers on "Kids Eat Free" night, which is Tuesday. Our server on this cold January night didn't mind that our 2-year-old had lifted a pen from his apron.
Eventually you start looking at the menu, and the overwhelming feeling returns. The menu just keeps unfolding and unfolding and unfolding. And then there's a back.
There are sandwiches and wraps and appetizers and manicotti and potatoes that just go on and on and on. The trouble (which may, oddly enough, be blamed on serving so many items) is that none of them are very good.
The boys' pizza ($3.29) had almost no taste at all (which was obvious when I was allowed to share with one of them).
My wife's Dietrich's Delight ($7.25), one of the few sandwiches in town that comes on a bagel, had a generous portion of turkey and was deemed "tasty."
And my Crazy Chris Wrap ($6.85), which I discovered years ago and decided to always order so I could escape the torment of the menu, was the same: limp lettuce and bland pieces of chicken wrapped up in entirely too much sauce.
Sadly, it was getting late and the boys needed to go to bed, so we headed to the house without dessert. This is typically the highlight of a Macado's experience and I had to go without.
So ended another mediocre experience.
In many ways, Macado's is unique -- from the way it's pronounced (which I recently learned on a radio ad) and never-ending menu to its overstated decorating and different decor at each location.
But the one way it doesn't stand out is in its food. It's fine for a quick meal when you have somewhere to go and don't expect too much.
Or maybe I just haven't had the right thing yet. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
