Atlanta Bread Company

This is a restaurant chain that is known especially for its bread (big surprise there) and for its pastries and its bagels. I love their french breads, their multigrain white breads, and the soft white bread wiuth the crunchy crust that comes with the soups.

On Thursday, May 25th, my wife and I stopped in at the Atlanta Bread in Darboy. I ordered a turkey sandwich on multigrain bread, with a tomato, deli mustard, a pickle spear on the side, and a bag of chips. The chips were ok, not the thick crunchy kind that I prefer, but the sandwich was divine.

My wife ordered a half of a turkey sandwich, plus a red peppercorn soup that was hot and delicious. It came with

The bagels are better than average, and there are quite a few flavors to choose from. But they fall short of the high standard set by Big Apple Bagels right across the street (E. Calumet Street). The cookies are excellent, I really like the big chocolate chips.

I am also a fan of the tangy roast beef sandwich at Atlanta Bread, as well as their scrumptious salads.

If you are looking f0r a good sandwich, a quiet atmosphere (and free wireless internet), I recommend Atlanta Bread Company.

Min Du Buffet - Appleton, WI

Jeff Lindsay refers to this little buffet as one of the best values in the area, because the supper buffet is less than $7 a pop and there is a sushi bar. There is also a banner outside the little restaurant that proudly claims to have 88 buffet items (I didn't count nearly that many - maybe 20 entrees at best).

My wife and I entered the establishment around 6pm on Friday, May 19th, and we were seated right away. After a brief word of prayer, we went to work. There is a fruit bar with canned pineapple, canned apricots, canned peaches, etc. Then to the hot buffet. The Shanghai Beef was mostly good, some pieces were a bit on the rubbery side. The small fried cocunut shrimp were delicious, one of the best items on the buffet. The fried rice was an improvement over what we had at Asian Garden Buffet, but still lacking the robust flavor I have come to expect from good fried rice.

The small eggrolls were great: Crunchy skin with pork on the inside, just the way I like it. They also had barbecue chicken on a stick - very tasty! There was also a sauteed shrimp dish that was very good. Other dishes look liked they had been on the buffet for some time, and I was not quite as enticed by those items. There was also some chinese fried chicken wings and drummies that looked good. My wife liked the chicken with garlic sauce. It looked good.

This is a much smaller buffet than the China Buffet on OO on the north side of Appleton, and way smaller than the Asian Garden Buffet by the Fox River Mall. If you're looking for a large buffet with crab legs, a salad bar, salmon, lots of different dishes, an ice cream bar, and a Mongolian Barbecue, then keep driving: This is a budget buffet, right down to the canned fruit. If you choose this over the China Buffet or the Asian Garden Buffet, you are making a mistake, it's not that good.

But this was still a nice, cozy little eating experience, and I can't remember the last time my wife and I ate in a nice restaurant with all you can eat for $14.45. So I recommend this restaurant if you are in the area, and you are on a budget (I understand the lunch buffet is $5.85), but it is not a first choice, and is not likely to win over patrons used to the mighty aforementioned buffets.

I give this restaurant a B. You'll find it at 100 West Wisconsin Avenue, about 2 blocks west of Richmond Street, in a strip mall on the north side of Wisconsin.

Asian Garden Buffet - near the Fox River Mall- Appleton

My wife and I have eaten here often in the past, and we have always enjoyed it. We went there again on Friday night, May 12th, and we had a great time. We were amazed at how the place had been remodeled since we were there last year. We were seated in a small private area in the back. Then we went to the Mongolian barbecue section of the buffet. I got myself a bowl of fresh veggies (broccoli, zucchini, onions, greens, tomatoes, pineapples, and fresh pealed shrimp, and I put in some oyster sauce, Mongolian barbecue sauce, lemon juice, and cooking wine. The chef cooked it on the grill, and it was delicious.

Then I hit the buffet, and I was impressed that they had a big bin of crab legs, as well as salmon, stuffed shrimp, coconut shrimp, peal and eat cold shrimp, fried rice, and many traditional chines dishes that you normally see at these kind of buffets. They even had crawfish - eeeeeeewwwww!!!

I took a couple of the crab legs, and some of the stuffed shrimp, which was excellent. I tried some of my wife's salmon, which was pretty good but nothing special. The fried rice was probably the worst fried rice I've ever had, it had no flavor hardly at all.

But everything else was wonderful, well worth the $8.98 price.

For the all the food you can eat, and the added presence of a Mongolian bbq, this has to be considered one of the better values in the area. It is a great place to take hungry kids. Did I mention that they also have a sushi and a tofu bar, as well as a fruit bar with beautiful yellow pineapple? Did I forget to tell you that they have a very satisfying salad bar? This place is a very good choice for the whole family. The white plum wine is worth purchasing as well.

Golden Corral - Appleton, Wisconsin

This is the most insanely good buffet I have ever seen. There is a huge salad bar with fresh heads of lettuce and bunches of carrots and celery stalks behind the counter. There is a large selection of hot food items, such as pot roast, bourbon chicken, fried chicken, shrimp, pork roast, (even pizza) and hot vegetables. There is also a counter where you can get a freshly cooked steak to order from one of the chefs. On the same grill, you can also get tasty burgers and sometimes salmon.

Did I mention the scrumptious dessert bar? It has lots of cakes and cookies and jelly beans and m and m's and delicious soft serve ice cream.

There are also hot soups and cooked to order stir fry vegetables with the option of adding in chicken.

This restaurant gets my award for the most awesome buffet in the Fox Valley. For this reason, I can't go there anymore, because I invariably make a fool of myself at the buffet line and ruin my diet, which finally has me back down to the 190s.

But if buffets are your thing, you don't want to miss this place. Not only that, but the price is tremendously cheap. Less than $9, and you can feast like a king (or a glutton, as the case may be).

Even if you are not typically into buffets, you have to try this place at least once. It is located on N. Westhill Blvd across the street from Famous Dave's BBQ and Sam's Club.

Famous Dave's BBQ - Appleton, WI

Although I wouldn't exactly call the competition stiff, this is the best bbq restaurant in the state of Wisconsin, and the St. Louis style ribs are the best I have ever had anywhere bar none. I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur when it comes to good bbq. I have been to Sonny's BBQ restaurants all throughout the South. I have been to the awesome Fat Boys BBQ in Ocala, Florida, as well as the terrific Fred Flemings BBQ. I have even been to Hog Heaven in Daytona Beach and to Jo Jo's BBQ and grill in Fond Du Lac.

But nothing beats Famous Dave's in Appleton. Unlike the aforementioned southern bbq joints, this restaurant actually slow cooks the ribs with sweet and sassy sauce, and it is SO GOOD.

This gets my award as my personal favorite restaurant in the Fox Valley, and one of my favorite restaurants of all time.

They also have very good pulled barbecue pork and tasty catfish. Their country chicken is ok, their roasted chicken is much better. They also have very good sliced beef and decent burgers. You can even order salmon.

But the ribs and the rib tips are so good, I rarely waste my time with anything else. I also like the zesty Wilbur beans and the hot drunken apples that you get as side items with the rib platters.

You haven't lived until you try the ribs!

Cy's Asian Bistro, Neenah Wisconsin

This cozy bistro is located in the heart of downtown Neenah on West Wisconsin Avenue, across from the Hong Kong Buffet. They specialize in mildly spicy Thai cuisine. The restaurant has about 15-20 tables, so it is fairly small. My wife and I ate there shortly after 7pm on Friday, May 5th. As soon as we sat down, the hostess brought us menus and a small bowl of crunchy white rice cakes, which I promptly devoured because I had hardly eaten anything the whole day.

The menu features a number of delicious sauces (red curry, green curry, and some others), with bamboo shoots, zucchini, pineapple, carrots and water chestnuts, and you get to choose what kind of meat you want cooked with it (beef, pork, chicken, seafood). (A word of caution: Seafood costs $4 more than the listed price on the menu).

I ordered the green curry with shrimp and the aforementioned vegetables, and my wife had the red curry. In about 10-15 minutes, our meals were served, with a white rice tower on the side, and they were both delicious. The shrimp were large and juicy and cooked to perfection. There's nothing worse than overcooked shrimp that tastes like rubber, but these shrimp were delightful.

My wife had the chicken. and it was very tasty. Both Thai dishes were a bit on the spicy side, and your mouth and lips get progressively more hot with each bite, but it never became unbearable.

Those of you who are big eaters might be wishing that the portions were bigger, but they were just right for Jeanne and I. Moreover, if you do not like hot food, you may want to give this place a miss, because your lips will feel like they have Ambesol on them when you are done.

The bill was $40 for the two of us, which puts it a bit on the pricey side. The average supper entree will cost you about $14, but there is a more affordable lunch menu. You can check it out at http://www.geocities.com/cys_bistro/

I have also eaten at Taste of Thai in downtown Appleton, but I would have to say that this place is better. The Asian ambience of the bistro, the piping hot (in more sense than one) food, and the excellent service set this bistro apart as one of the best Asian restaurants in the area.

Erbert and Gerbert's Sub Shop

This sub shop is located on 218 East College Avenue in downtown Appleton located across from the Wooden Nickel Bar and Grill. It is part of a sandwich chain in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. When you walk in the door, there is a large print menu on the left wall. You have a choice of 15 sandwich and club combos with names like The Comet Morehouse, which is a sub on white or wheat bread with Maple River smoked ham, Wisconsin provolone cheese, lettuce, mayo, and tomato.

The Boney Billy is a turkey breast sandwich accompanied by fresh alfalfa sprouts, ripe red tomato, crisp lettuce, and Hellmanns mayonnaise.

But I was feeling like a carnivore today, so I ordered the Halley's Comet on 6 inch wheat bread, with prime roast beef, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

The sandwich artist (if I may borrow a term from a lesser sub sandwich chain) got to work on my sub right away. Restaurants in downtown Appleton don't play around at lunch time, they know that they have a lot of busy customers who need to get back to work, and so they kick it into overdrive.

I liked how they took a strip from the inside of the wheat bun and put it on top of the sandwich as a sort of a side item I guess. Oftentimes, when you eat a sub, the bread overwhelms the taste of what is on the inside, and Erbert and Gerbert's alleviates this by putting the inner part on top of the sub.

I then sat down with my sandwich at one of the ordinary table booths (much like one you would see at a Subway). I must tell you that this was one of the best subs I have ever had! The wheat bread was soft and fresh. The lettuce was crisp and clean. The cold prime rib roast beef was tender and juicy. I was telling myself, "Now since I am counting calories, I am only going to eat half of the sandwich." But in 5 minutes, that thing was gone. It was so good! I found myself wishing that all Subways would turn into Erbert and Gerberts.

You can either buy the 6 inch subs for $3.99, or you can get a bag of chips and a 21 ounce Coke product for and additional $1.79, which I did.

I give Erbert and Gerberts a big thumbs up, better than Subway or Quizmos. The only problem someone might have with this place is that it only has two kinds of bread: white or wheat. Those who are used to having more choices might be tempted to walk the extra two blocks down College Avenue to the Subway.

But I still give Erbert and Gerbert's a hearty recommendation. And you know what else I like? The delicious 6 inch Halley's Comet is only 394 calories! A similar sandwich at Jimmy John's Sandwich shop will run you 800 calories.

I am looking forward to going back and trying out another sub.

Senor Tequila's in Downtown Appleton

This is a little Mexican restaurant next door to Fusion on College Avenue and a block west of Victoria's Italian restaurant. I walked in for lunch on a weekday. I liked the grassy hut bar and the Mexican decor in the seating area, and the old fashioned pictures on the tables. Two seconds after I sat down, a server came over and put a piping hot basket of tortilla chips on my table with two delicious dips, one was a bean dip, and one was a mild salsa.

A minute later, a friendly waitress came over and recommended the ground beef Burrito Mexicana, which was only $5.95 on the lunch menu (You can also get the Burrito Mexicana with chicken or steak or shrimp as well). Ten minutes later, it was served to me, along with a generous portion of rice and beans. The burrito must have been a foot long, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to eat the whole thing.

But it was delicious. If you like your food spicy, you will probably find the burrito mexicana to be too mild, but it was perfect for me.

My one quibble was that the Mexican music blaring over the speakers was a bit on the loud side. Yet it added to the ambiance of the restaurant, and the music gave me happy feet.

I took the rest of my burrito home, and my wife finished it for me. Two meals for $5.95, and it was great.

I would give the service an A+ and the food was an A. The tortilla chips tasted more like the store bought variety than the delicious thin ones you can get at the Los Compadres in Darboy, but they were hot and they were good.

I had a very positive experience at Senor Tequilas and I recommend it as one of the better Mexican restaurants in the Appleton area.