Review: Jack Astor's Bar and Grill, Cary, North Carolina

The first thing that greets you as you enter this restaurant is the sign displaying their Wake County sanitation grade, which is a low 94.5. This does not make a good first impression (nor do the restrooms, but I'll get to that later) but if you can forget their sanitation grade, you're sure to be impressed with the rest of your dining experience.

Wake County offers a way to not only view sanitation grades online (located at http://wake.digitalhealthdepartment.com/), but you can also read all the inspector's comments for their past three inspections and even find out how much of their grade is "extra credit" from management attending training courses. It appears that Jack Astor's has had some difficultly lately with cooling their chili properly. Luckily I didn't order the chili.

Jack Astor's is one of those places where they put a big piece of paper on top of the table and the waiters and waitresses are expected to write their names upside down in crayon so you know your waiter's name. Ours was "Ross" (or "Rose", but since he was a "he" I'm assuming it was "Ross") and even for a non-busy time of day (2:30 on a Saturday afternoon), Ross was pretty busy hopping from table to table.

Their menu is pretty diverse, offering items from burgers and pasta to pad thai, pizza, and pot roast. They even have jambalaya, sesame chicken, and fajitas. They also offer a full "junior" menu. (I guess it's no longer politically correct to call it a "kids" menu?) The point is, if you're not sure what you're hungry for -- or if you have a lot of people in your party to please -- Jack Astor's would be a good option.

We got two unsweet iced teas (down here in North Carolina you have to specify, otherwise if you just ask for tea they'll bring you sweet tea that's sweet enough to melt your teeth) and then Ross brought us some delicious garlic rolls. Hubby got a Caesar salad that he said tasted a little fishy (but isn't that the point of a Caesar salad?) and he ordered "The Cheezy" cheeseburger, which he said was the best cheeseburger he's had in his entire life. This says something, because he's pretty old. (I know I'm the same age but we're talking about him now, not me.)

I got the Chicken Caesar Wrap, which tasted nothing whatsoever like Caesar anything, but it was still very, very good. I've never had a chicken Caesar wrap before that had roasted red bell peppers in it, or that used both Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses, but it all worked well together. The wrap came with Jack's crispy "famous fries" and I can see why they must be famous. Like any other American, I have always had the notion that McDonald's fries were the epitome of fry-dom, but I have now evolved to a new standard. We also got a side of their honey mustard sauce for dipping, just to make sure the fries would be as fattening as possible.

Under normal circumstances we would not order dessert when we go out for lunch, but since I had in my mind that I wanted to do a review I figured it would be good to order some so we could decide if it's worth recommending. (I'm totally lying, we always order dessert, but that did sound convincing, didn't it?)

Hubby ordered Jack's Apple Pie, which is cooked fresh when you order it (it took 15 minutes), and I ordered the Chocolate Avalanche Cake. The chocolate "cake" was more like chocolate mousse and wasn't that impressive, but the apple pie was simply amazing. I think I let him eat a couple bites of it before I made it disappear. The cinnamon apples were soft and sweet, and the flaky crust was melt-in-your-mouth good. Yum.

The service was great, the food was delicious, the prices were acceptable (total cost was $33), but the restroom was about as pleasant as a rest-stop restroom. First of all, is it really necessary to play music in the restrooms so loud that someone could scream at the top of their lungs and no one would hear them? Secondly, would it really be so difficult for someone to clean the toilets at least once a decade? Or what about changing out empty toilet paper rolls? If we go back to Jack Astor's some day, which I hope we do, I will make sure to avoid their restrooms.

All-in-all it was a delicious lunch, and despite their "facilities" and their low sanitation grade, I'd happily go back and I would highly recommend it to anyone planning on a visit to Cary and looking for a good meal. From their website it appears they have a few locations in Canada, but only New York and North Carolina in the States.

As a final comment on this fine establishment, I have to say that their website is a prime example of "more is too much." I've seen many an annoying website in my time (I've probably designed more than a few that would qualify), but this one just about takes the cake. When you're going to a website, you're just looking for information. These businesses that decide their websites should be "destinations" and have to be over-the-top with effects and animation and slow-loading pages just drive me crazy. Just the facts, please. Just the facts.

Location:
Jack Astor's Cary
2300 Walnut St.
Cary, North Carolina 27518
http://www.jackastors.com/EN/