American Cafe (Greenbrier Mall, Chesapeake VA)

Residing in what used to be a Chinese eatery for many years, the American Cafe has filled a hole made when Ruby Tuesday’s became basically a burger joint. They’re currently running a $12.99 special that allows you to choose between a number of “starters”, an “entree”, and a “dessert”.

I ordered the Spinach con queso, the Southwest BBQ Chicken (with fries), and the Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie.

Randy odered the Pototo Cheese soup, the chicken pot pie, and the Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie.

A couple of notes here: while there are a number of great “starters”, the entree selections are all chicken based, and the desert options are the afforementioned pie or a S’mores Sundae.

The potato soup was thick with cheese and chunks of potatoes, with crumbled bacon and chopped scallions on top. The Spinach con Queso was large enough to have served two people easily.

The chicken pot pie tasted strangely of nutmeg, but was served in a large bowl covered in pastry.

The Southwestern BBQ Chicken was pounded thin. I was afraid it would be dry, but the sauce and grilling method made it tasty and juicy. The seasoned fries overflowed the plate.

Dessert came out as two big honkin’ slices of Reese cup Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie — so large, in fact, that we couldn’t finish it all.

Service was a bit on the slow side, but since we weren’t in a rush, it was nice that the restaurant wasn’t trying to treat us like cattle.

Food: (4)
Service: (3.25)
Price: (3.5)
Overall: (3.5)

Lillian’s Seafood Restaurant (1312 George Washington Highway, Chesapeake, VA 23323. 757.485.7060)

A couple friends accompanied Randy and me to Lillian’s last night. The restaurant, online, is listed as being a “Seafood Restaurant”, but the sign from the road also promotes steaks, seafood and buffet.

Randy ordered the Carolina-style pulled pork barbeque ($8.99) which came on a platter with french fries, three hush puppies, and a container of cole slaw. While the pork was plentiful, in a vinegar based sauce, the fries were limp, the hush puppies had been deep-fried a bit long (to take on a slightly burnt taste), and the cole slaw could have used more dressing.

The other couple and I chose the seafood buffet ($15.99). In addition to the regular salad bar, they were fried oysters, friend chicken, barbeque ribs, crab cakes, sauteed scallops, fried fish, steamed shrimp, fried shimp, fried scallops, corn on the cob, cooked potato wedges, green beans, clam chowder, and assorted desserts. Here, the restaurant ran into the same problem as most steam-table buffets. The green beans were mushy, the potatoes were greasy, and the sauteed scallops were rubbery. The fried chicken was peppery and perfectly cooked; the fried shimp were awesome, and the ribs were sauced, but not overdone. The desserts were lacking, however. Perhaps if they had been kept cool, they would have maintained their taste. Sliver thin slices of chocolate merrangue pie do not taste good when warmer than room temperature.

Service was adequate, but nothing to write home about. The restaurant wasn’t even half full, but we ended up having to track down the server to get the plates cleared from the table, and for the check.

Food: (2)
Service: (1.5)
Price: (2)
Overall: (2)