The Midland Inn in Carbondale, Il is a hidden treasure that sits on Old Route 13 just south/southwest of Carbondale. It offers a variety of delicious food at a fair price. If you are willing to make that short drive to this beacon of light that is kind of in the middle of no where, you won't be disappointed. As I have said before, I rate the places I visit in three categories: Atmosphere, Service, and Food.
Atmosphere: I would consider the Midland Inn as a tavern. They offer a full service bar, a pool table, and an outdoor patio. There are no fancy bells and whistles. The decor will not knock your socks off. It is exactly what you would expect from a tavern type restaurant. They also offer entertainment on the weekends and/or holidays.
Service: 99 percent of the time I have had excellent service at the Midland Inn. The servers are always fast, friendly, and efficient. Now, with every restaurant you will have the occaisional server that either lacks experince or willingness to do a good job. This unfortunately was the experience that I had there tonite. She greeted and waited on us quickly in the beginning, but as soon as our food was delivered, we no longer existed. But, as I said, this was the first and so far only time this has happened there. I will not elaborate any further, because I don't think that it is fair to the business when 99 percent of my visits have been positive.
Food: The Midland Inn offers a nice variety of food. They have wonderful appetizers, salads, sandwiches, steaks, pizza, and Mexican. I would have to say that my favorite thing on their menu by far is their Fajitas!!! They offer chicken or steak fajitas. No matter which one you order, the meat is always flavorful, tender, and juicy. It is sauteed with a mix of onions and green peppers. The fajitas are served with a side of rice and refried beans. The rice and beans are also among my favorites. They are always fresh and packed full of flavor, not to mention topped with melted cheese! Yummo! You can't forget the fixins for the fajitas either...you get a side plate with lettuce, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and queso that you can pile full on the hot and fresh tortillas they give you.
The Midland Inn also offers nightly dinner specials. You won't be disappointed in their prices or their food.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
My first blog
This is my first time blogging. I will start with a restaurant that I ate at today. Mackie's Pizza in Marion, Il. First off I would like to say that everything I post is just my opinion. I will base that opinion on several things.
The first being the atmosphere of the restaurant. The atmosphere plays a vital role in how the restaurant is perceived. You don't expect to walk into a place with a "diner" or "cafe" atmosphere and find a five-star, super expensive menu with Peking Duck and Kobe Beef.
Second, is the service. You can have the best food in the world, but if the service sucks...people will likely not come back.
Last, but certainly not least, the food. I will rate the food in several ways. Quality, quantity, and presentation. You can also have the best service in the world, but if the food sucks people definitely won't come back.
So, on to Mackie's Pizza.
Atmosphere: Both on the outside and on the inside, Mackie's is a very beautiful restaurant. It definitely gives you the feel of an upscale restaurant. The dining room and the restroom (ladies) were very clean. While I couldn't see inside their kitchen, the entrances to the kitchen/prep/service areas appeared to be clean and well kept. The dining room has a unique circle design to it that I found to be very comfortable and inviting.
Service. When my fiance and I first walked in (this was our first visit) we waited at the front desk which I assumed to be the host/hostess station. It took several minutes for us to get acknowledged and seated. I was almost tempted to leave just as we were greeted. We probably waited a good five minutes. This may not sound like long, but when you are waiting for service it certainly feels like a long time.
Once we were seated, our order was taken very quickly and we didn't have to wait long for our food. The waiter kept our drinks full and made sure we had what we needed. My only suggestion to him would be to be a little more personable. He offered little conversation and didn't appear to be very friendly. While he wasn't rude, he also wasn't very friendly either. However, thats not enough to keep me from coming back.
On to the food!!! I ordered the lunch special that came with a personal sized pizza, salad, and a drink. I can't remember the exact price, but I think it was somewhere around 7 or 8 dollars. Very reasonable for what I got. I received a chilled salad which consisted of shredded iceburg lettuce, diced green peppers, and diced tomatoes with my dressing of choice, ranch. I have to admit that I was expecting something a little different from such a nice looking place. Maybe add some cheese, croutons, and even a meat of some sort to the salad. A couple slices of pepperoni would have been a nice touch. My pizza was a thin crust which I added pepperoni, onions, and mushrooms to. The pizza was pretty tastey. The crust was crispy like I would expect from a thin crust. Most people might prefer fresh mushrooms on their pizza, but I actually like canned mushrooms better on mine, so I didn't mind that they used canned mushrooms.
I also ordered their breadsticks which come covered in melted mozzerella cheese. This was my least favorite part of the meal. The breadsticks were more like a thin layer of dough covered in cheese. The sauce that I was given to dip them in was a cold marinara that I found a little too sweet. I would have also expected the sauce to come in a little dish instead of just being scooped onto the plate with the bread sticks.
All in all, I was served a fair portion for the price. Both my fiance and I ate for about $20. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worse and 10 being the best, I would rate Mackies a 6. While the atmosphere was fitting for the type of restaurant we were at, the food and service lacked a little. However, I will definitely give Mackies a second chance. A restaurant has to rate way lower than a 6 to keep me from coming back.
Please feel free to leave me any feedback about my blogs or if there are any restaurants in the area that you would like to see a blog on. Thanks again!!! Hope this was helpful!
The first being the atmosphere of the restaurant. The atmosphere plays a vital role in how the restaurant is perceived. You don't expect to walk into a place with a "diner" or "cafe" atmosphere and find a five-star, super expensive menu with Peking Duck and Kobe Beef.
Second, is the service. You can have the best food in the world, but if the service sucks...people will likely not come back.
Last, but certainly not least, the food. I will rate the food in several ways. Quality, quantity, and presentation. You can also have the best service in the world, but if the food sucks people definitely won't come back.
So, on to Mackie's Pizza.
Atmosphere: Both on the outside and on the inside, Mackie's is a very beautiful restaurant. It definitely gives you the feel of an upscale restaurant. The dining room and the restroom (ladies) were very clean. While I couldn't see inside their kitchen, the entrances to the kitchen/prep/service areas appeared to be clean and well kept. The dining room has a unique circle design to it that I found to be very comfortable and inviting.
Service. When my fiance and I first walked in (this was our first visit) we waited at the front desk which I assumed to be the host/hostess station. It took several minutes for us to get acknowledged and seated. I was almost tempted to leave just as we were greeted. We probably waited a good five minutes. This may not sound like long, but when you are waiting for service it certainly feels like a long time.
Once we were seated, our order was taken very quickly and we didn't have to wait long for our food. The waiter kept our drinks full and made sure we had what we needed. My only suggestion to him would be to be a little more personable. He offered little conversation and didn't appear to be very friendly. While he wasn't rude, he also wasn't very friendly either. However, thats not enough to keep me from coming back.
On to the food!!! I ordered the lunch special that came with a personal sized pizza, salad, and a drink. I can't remember the exact price, but I think it was somewhere around 7 or 8 dollars. Very reasonable for what I got. I received a chilled salad which consisted of shredded iceburg lettuce, diced green peppers, and diced tomatoes with my dressing of choice, ranch. I have to admit that I was expecting something a little different from such a nice looking place. Maybe add some cheese, croutons, and even a meat of some sort to the salad. A couple slices of pepperoni would have been a nice touch. My pizza was a thin crust which I added pepperoni, onions, and mushrooms to. The pizza was pretty tastey. The crust was crispy like I would expect from a thin crust. Most people might prefer fresh mushrooms on their pizza, but I actually like canned mushrooms better on mine, so I didn't mind that they used canned mushrooms.
I also ordered their breadsticks which come covered in melted mozzerella cheese. This was my least favorite part of the meal. The breadsticks were more like a thin layer of dough covered in cheese. The sauce that I was given to dip them in was a cold marinara that I found a little too sweet. I would have also expected the sauce to come in a little dish instead of just being scooped onto the plate with the bread sticks.
All in all, I was served a fair portion for the price. Both my fiance and I ate for about $20. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worse and 10 being the best, I would rate Mackies a 6. While the atmosphere was fitting for the type of restaurant we were at, the food and service lacked a little. However, I will definitely give Mackies a second chance. A restaurant has to rate way lower than a 6 to keep me from coming back.
Please feel free to leave me any feedback about my blogs or if there are any restaurants in the area that you would like to see a blog on. Thanks again!!! Hope this was helpful!
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