Blue Plate Diner

Since we were going up to General Conference for the Saturday morning session, we decided to stop somewhere for lunch in Salt Lake. My sister Alisa recommended the Blue Plate Diner, and I love trying out new places, so we gave it a go.

Luckily Alisa had warned me that the place looks dumpy, so we were prepared (and we'd looked up pictures online). But the place was packed, and we even had to wait a few minutes for a seat. You know you're at a good place when it's that busy! The place has a lot of character, so although it looks like a dive it's still kinda cool. And the food was great. I ordered the chicken fried steak dinner (came with seasonal vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, a roll, and a salad). Talk about a lot of food! Jack got the chicken fried steak with eggs (also came with toast and fried potato cubes). My little side salad was great with fresh cucumbers, sprouts, mushrooms, and tomatoes, so we knew we were in for some good food. We really liked everything else, except I wasn't a huge fan of my veggies. It was squash, carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. I just didn't think they had a whole lot of flavor, but not a big deal. The chicken fried steak and potatoes were really good, and the gravy even had bits of chicken fried steak in it. The roll was great, too. Plus, it's a great deal because you get tons of food! So I got two meals for the price of one (I ate my leftovers for lunch today). :) I'd definitely recommend this place.

Food: 4 stars

Atmosphere: 3 stars

Would I go back? Yes, if I have the chance

The Pizza Factory

My dentist gave me a gift certificate to the Pizza Factory (for making me wait 30 min to be seen, then telling me it would be another 30 min if I wanted to wait, but I guess I'm not reviewing dentists here which is a good thing...) Anyways, on Friday night we went and got dinner there, and surprisingly enough, this was our first time eating at the Pizza Factory even though we've lived in Provo for years.

I saw everyone getting their twisty breadsticks, so we ordered a garlic parmesan one to share. I'm glad I learned from everyone else, because this was definitely the best part of our meal. It was really good. We also got some garlic cheese bread. I love this stuff, but their version wasn't a standout. My favorite is at the Brick Oven. Yum! Anyways, for our pizza we got a triple topping: pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and sausage. Jack put it best as we were eating it: "This tastes like Red Baron pizza." Yeah, the frozen stuff. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. We had three pieces left over when we were done, and we didn't even get a box. And that's saying a lot for us! I think we should have ordered one of their specialty pizzas - I have to assume that would have been better than what we got, but I'm still skeptical because our pizza was just not very good. I don't think we'll ever go back, unless I'm really wanting their breadsticks or want to try out their cinnamon breadstick. But a return visit would definitely not be for the pizza! Maybe I can just order a few breadsticks to go. :)

Food: 2 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Would I go back? Maybe, but only for the breadsticks

Wallaby's

We recently tried out the new Wallaby's in Provo. This is a chain, and I think they have a location in Lindon. It's a barbecue restaurant, but more of a "fast food" version of barbecue. We ordered the pulled pork and brisket platter, and our sides were mashed potatoes with cheese and black beans with rice. I really liked the potatoes, and the black beans and rice were pretty good. My problem was the meat. When I get barbecue, I want the restaurant to serve it with sauce on it already. I think that's part of what you're paying for - their expertise in putting the sauce/flavoring on the meat. This was the "dip your meat in the barbecue sauce" style, so I wasn't a huge fan. But that being said, their barbecue sauce was really good, and the pulled pork was good, too. The brisket was also good, but had lots of fat on it.

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 1 star
Would I go back? Maybe

Terra Mia

Terra Mia is a new Italian restaurant in Orem in the new development behind the University Mall. I'd seen it and wanted to try it out, so we went last weekend. I really like certain Italian foods, so I had high hopes. We ordered the Margarita pizza and the lasagna. The lasagna was a little different than I'm used to - more sausagy. But it was still pretty good. The pizza was pretty disappointing, though. It was thin crust, and there just wasn't much to it in the way of toppings. Maybe that's the real Italian way of doing pizza, and although it was good, I just wasn't impressed. Not my cup of tea. They also have a little gelato shop inside this restaurant, but we didn't get any. Maybe the gelato's good, but I don't think I'll ever be going back to this restaurant.

I'm going to start a rating system to make my reviews more usable. I'll rate the food and the atmosphere, each on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars.

Food: 2 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Would I go back? No