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The Mix One6 offers a lunch buffet that varies from day to day and a salad bar.

Wade Anderson | Special to The Roanoke Times

The details

• Menu: American
• Where: 16 Campbell Ave., downtown Roanoke
• Prices (both lunch and dinner): Entrees: $7.95 to $22.95; Sandwiches, salads and wraps: $3.95 to $8.95
• Hours: 11 to 2 a.m. Monday through Sunday; lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Soda products: Coca-Cola
• Alcohol? Full bar
• Plastic: All major credit cards accepted
• Smoking? Yes
• Wireless Internet? Yes
• Takeout? Yes
• Delivery? No
• Patio seating? No
• Reservations? Not required but encouraged.
• Live music? Fridays or Saturdays. Karaoke Tuesdays; DJ Wednesdays or Thursdays.
• Handicapped accessibility: The Blue Ridge Independent Living Center has determined that this restaurant is accessible.
• Kid-friendly? Yes, highchairs and kids’ menu available.
• Call: (540) 344-4494
• Fax: (540) 344-4497
• Net: www.themixone6.com

A new club/restaurant has taken over the space formerly occupied by Dolce in downtown Roanoke, across from the bus station. Named after the address (16 Campbell Avenue), Mix One6 offers a lunch buffet that varies from day to day (except for Fridays when they offer chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and other fare) and a salad bar. Dinner is served exclusively from the menu (there is no buffet), and a late-night menu is available from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.

THE VIBE

The Mix One6 appears, in both sight and smell, to be a nightclub first and a restaurant a distant second. The interior is simultaneously spacious yet somewhat cold and dark; on one visit when the sun went behind the clouds, it was almost too dark to read my newspaper, so I listened to "Raspberry Beret" and "Young Hearts Run Free" radiate from the loud speakers. There are three pool tables available near the main part of the dining room which, when in use, instantly reiterates that you are eating in a bar. At night, Mix One6 clears the tables from the main floor to make room for dancing.

THE FOOD

On the first of my two visits, my friends and I opted for the full menu over the buffet. The menu offers a full complement of appetizers, entrees, sandwiches, burgers, salads and wraps. Our first attempts at ordering, however, were thwarted as the waiter informed us they were out of the steak phatti wrap ($6.95) and the vegetarian chili ($7.95). The Roma tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella on the bruschetta were flavorful and the dish was nicely presented though drenched with too much balsamic vinegar. The large chicken phatti wrap was a tad too spicy, though it was large enough to eat half for lunch and take the other half home. The french fries at Mix One6 were delicious. The black bean burger was merely OK, particularly because it did not come with the cheese that was indicated on the menu.

Dining alone on the second visit, I chose that day's buffet, which offered pizza and stromboli (as well as the salad bar). At 12:10, I was the only patron in the restaurant. I ordered a diet soda that had to be returned because it was watery, and its replacement was only slightly less so. The paltry pizza slices with wafer-thin crust looked (and tasted) as though they had been cooked at twice the recommended temperature for twice the recommended time. The onions were dehydrated, the spinach was so dry as to be practically unrecognizable and the pepperoni was brittle. I would have preferred DiGiorno. The stromboli was not overcooked and certainly tasted better than the pizza, though I should have simply made a meal of the delicious M&M chocolate chip cookies.

THE SERVICE

Our server on the first visit was personable and pleasant, though he was not entirely knowledgeable about the menu. He was unaware, for example, that bruschetta was even on the menu (or, indeed, what bruschetta was). And although we had asked for ketchup, we watched as he stepped outside obviously forgetting our request until we asked a second time. Perhaps because it was a buffet, the server during my second visit checked on me only once, and that was to swap out my watery diet soda.

THE BOTTOM LINE

While Mix One6 may offer another option for downtown night life, the restaurant portion of the business desperately needs attention. Training the servers will matter only if the food improves significantly.