KJ's Grill in Hot Springs, Arkansas

KJ's Grill, located at 1834 Airport Road in Hot Springs, Arkansas, has not always been a favorite restaurant of mine. They do have good food, don't get me wrong, but the atmosphere is a little stuffy for me. They are a little over priced on a few items, too.

KJ's Grill has been opened for about two years now. The owners, Kelly and Mike Loy, are locals and have been in the food industry for about 20 years. Mike is the chef while Kelly is the hostess. They are friendly, but not to the point of making me comfortable in their restaurant. They tend to make me feel a little too rough around the edges.

The menu does offer a lot of variety. The appetizers have the basics listed as well as a few different items. They offer fried green beans, but at a cost of $6.99 an order. One appetizer they offer is a combo for $11.99, which includes 2 potato boats, fried green beans, 3 fried pickles, 2 chicken wings and 4 onion rings. To me, that's a little much for just an appetizer.

The lunch menu prices are set more appropriately at all being right around $6 to $8. The items vary from a hamburger plate to a chicken salad. Except for the salad, all lunch items come with a choice of either fries, salad or soup. Basically, their lunch items fall a little flat in my opinion for variety. I could easily go to a fast food restaurant and order the same thing for much less.

The dinner menu perks up a bit. They offer several different cuts of steak. The 18 oz prime rib will cost you a whopping $24.99. It does come with one side and your choice of soup or salad. It's also served with Au Jus and Horseradish sauce. More appealing in price is the 10 oz prime rib for only $16.99. The 18 oz prime rib is the most expensive steak on the menu. From there, the price goes down to $11.99 for chopped steak.

I do have to give it to them for the steaks, they are very flavorful and juicy. They cook them to perfection just the way you like it. They do hand cut all of their beef and use only the best cuts.

They offer a few chicken items on the dinner menu as well. One I do not like is the Kelly's Chicken Dinner for $12.99. While I have nothing against the price, I just don't get any flavor out of it. This meal comes with cheese, onions, mushrooms and bacon on top. I expected it to be juicy and full of flavor. Instead, I found the chicken to be dry and bland. Apparently, they just take the chicken and grill it with no added spices. If you like bland food, then you may enjoy it, but it was all I could do to choke it down. Again, it does come with your choice of side and soup or salad. It was just disappointing to say the least.

A seafood menu is offered, though limited. They offer hand-breaded catfish for $11.99, hand-breaded shrimp for $14.99, Creole shrimp from $10.99 up to $25.99, depending on the amount you order and seared Yellow fin tuna for $17.99. I can't say if any of it is good or not, because I have never tried it.

There is also a sandwich menu. On it you will find hamburgers, chicken, steak and even club sandwiches. Prices range from $7.99 to $10.99. My daughter has eaten the club, which consists of ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo on wheat berry toast. She enjoyed it and had more than enough to eat.

Soups and salads are offered as well. Salads range from a simple dinner salad for $3.79 up to a steak salad for $10.49. I've had the dinner salad and the grilled chicken salad. Both were decent sized, but the chicken salad was a little over priced at $9.89.

Soups are $2.99 a cup or $3.99 a bowl. They offer a soup of the day plus the daily cream of potato soup. If you want soup and salad, that can be ordered for $6.99.

They also have a kids menu, for ten and under. Prices range from $4.49 to $9.99, which is fair. Mainly they have hamburgers, chicken strips and other basic kid foods.

Desserts are average with peach cobbler for $4.99, with ice cream $5.99, cheesecake for $4.99 or with topping $5.99 and brownie surprise for $5.99.

Besides having the basic beverages, they do have a full bar and of course, prices will vary depending upon what you order.

I don't want to deter anyone from going, but I do want people prepared to pay more for less. It's just not a restaurant for my taste or my pocketbook, but I do know a lot of people that enjoy it.