In between two very entertaining SouthWest airline trips, I found myself with about an hour and a half layover in Nashville, TN at dinner time. Since they do not believe in feeding you on the airplane anymore (other than rolling packages of peanuts for all the passengers down the aisle as we are taking off….I told you the trips were entertaining!), I knew I had to fend for myself rather than wait to eat at 9PM Seattle time (or 12 midnight MY time!). And the oh-so-lovely fish sandwich I threw down my gullet at lunch time needed to move on.
I decided I wanted to do a nice sit-down restaurant with a good sandwich menu after drooling over a recipe in the ‘O’ (as in Oprah) magazine I was reading that someone thoughtfully left for me at the Bradley Airport. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the prices on the posted menu in the door of O’Charley’s for an airport restaurant and at the limited offerings (usually a sign of a restaurant that specializes in a few good meals). So in I went.
I decided even before I sat down that I wanted the roast beef sandwich (piled high) on ciabatta bread with zesty Cajun horseradish sauce, swiss cheese and onion rings. A nice multi flavored sandwich, hopefully with lots of textures and flavors. And I requested a side of onions rings in place of the standard French fries for a small fee.
I heard the waitress mention to the table of 3 women next to me that it was getting busy now and that their food would take a little longer to come out. I started to fret since I didn’t have too much time to waste before my next flight, but I had no worries.
I almost always order an ice water with lemon at every restaurant I go to and you would be surprised how many screw that up. This restaurant gave me a large glass of ice water (nice!) with a skewered slice of lemon on the side (again, nice!). Then I was brought 2 warm rolls with a dollop of butter. They smelled and looked better than they tasted, warm and yeasty, shiny on top. Some of the better rolls I have had at restaurants but not a lot of flavor.
My meal looked nice. I really liked the horseradish sauce but they just drizzled it on top. I requested more (I am a condiment queen!). It was a nice sized sandwich, good amount of beef, 2 measly onion rings on top (I much prefer ‘onion straws’ used at other places) and some au jus on the side. I tried some but I’m just not into soggy bread. The extra Cajun horseradish really helped kick up the sandwich. The bread was good and it might have been served warm (I cannot actually remember) but it could have been slightly toasted or warmer.
The onions rings were nice and crispy but flavorless. I drowned a few of them in salt and ketchup and left the rest behind.
I would have given this restaurant a pretty good rating until I decided that I should try something sweet. Since I had no room for dessert, I decided to order some of their specialty Smoothies. All 3 had the same basic ingredients: ice cream mix, ice and the main ingredient (chocolate syrup, strawberry puree or oreo cookie bits). Ice cream MIX??!?! What is that? I was hoping it was some sort of code but I think it truly was a mix. It tasted bland, like chalk, gritty, barely registered as sweet. And I threw out three-quarters of it. Yes, ME! Who hates to waste food, who usually cleans her plate, threw out the drink because it was that bad. What a disappointment.
I went on line and found out that they supposedly feed kids for free. I didn’t see that advertised anywhere but if it is true, that would make the FOOD a truly good deal: decent food at a decent price, especially for an airport. My main dish was only $8.95, garbage-drink $3.95 and $0.69 for the onion ring transfer. And I had a nice relaxed dinner and was in and out in 40 minutes. I would recommend this place but don’t drink their smoothies!
I decided I wanted to do a nice sit-down restaurant with a good sandwich menu after drooling over a recipe in the ‘O’ (as in Oprah) magazine I was reading that someone thoughtfully left for me at the Bradley Airport. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the prices on the posted menu in the door of O’Charley’s for an airport restaurant and at the limited offerings (usually a sign of a restaurant that specializes in a few good meals). So in I went.
I decided even before I sat down that I wanted the roast beef sandwich (piled high) on ciabatta bread with zesty Cajun horseradish sauce, swiss cheese and onion rings. A nice multi flavored sandwich, hopefully with lots of textures and flavors. And I requested a side of onions rings in place of the standard French fries for a small fee.
I heard the waitress mention to the table of 3 women next to me that it was getting busy now and that their food would take a little longer to come out. I started to fret since I didn’t have too much time to waste before my next flight, but I had no worries.
I almost always order an ice water with lemon at every restaurant I go to and you would be surprised how many screw that up. This restaurant gave me a large glass of ice water (nice!) with a skewered slice of lemon on the side (again, nice!). Then I was brought 2 warm rolls with a dollop of butter. They smelled and looked better than they tasted, warm and yeasty, shiny on top. Some of the better rolls I have had at restaurants but not a lot of flavor.
My meal looked nice. I really liked the horseradish sauce but they just drizzled it on top. I requested more (I am a condiment queen!). It was a nice sized sandwich, good amount of beef, 2 measly onion rings on top (I much prefer ‘onion straws’ used at other places) and some au jus on the side. I tried some but I’m just not into soggy bread. The extra Cajun horseradish really helped kick up the sandwich. The bread was good and it might have been served warm (I cannot actually remember) but it could have been slightly toasted or warmer.
The onions rings were nice and crispy but flavorless. I drowned a few of them in salt and ketchup and left the rest behind.
I would have given this restaurant a pretty good rating until I decided that I should try something sweet. Since I had no room for dessert, I decided to order some of their specialty Smoothies. All 3 had the same basic ingredients: ice cream mix, ice and the main ingredient (chocolate syrup, strawberry puree or oreo cookie bits). Ice cream MIX??!?! What is that? I was hoping it was some sort of code but I think it truly was a mix. It tasted bland, like chalk, gritty, barely registered as sweet. And I threw out three-quarters of it. Yes, ME! Who hates to waste food, who usually cleans her plate, threw out the drink because it was that bad. What a disappointment.
I went on line and found out that they supposedly feed kids for free. I didn’t see that advertised anywhere but if it is true, that would make the FOOD a truly good deal: decent food at a decent price, especially for an airport. My main dish was only $8.95, garbage-drink $3.95 and $0.69 for the onion ring transfer. And I had a nice relaxed dinner and was in and out in 40 minutes. I would recommend this place but don’t drink their smoothies!
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