The Dinner Where I Decided to do This (April 7, 2011)

Buckeye's Smokehouse (224 Ottawa Street N.)

I have this problem when I'm faced with a menu. Everytime. I can never decide what I want. I can usually narrow it down to two, or maybe three, choices and then I get stuck. I'm that girl sitting at your table who says, "get their orders first, and I'll decide while they're talking". The people I go out with find this hilarious. But at Buckeye's I didn't have that problem. Not because nothing looked good, the exact opposite! I knew I was coming back over and over again just so I could try EVERYTHING on this menu! So I just picked the first thing that grabbed my fancy. It was my erstwhile dining partner that had trouble deciding.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I should start with the decor and atmosphere. That's where we all make our first impressions of an eating establishment, right?

My first impression when I walked in was of an updated 50s style diner. Clean, with decent lighting and interesting visual clutter. Except, instead of formica and black and white tiles and kitchy stuff on the walls, everything was done in charcoal grays and red and there were about fifteen big screen tvs hanging on the walls tuned to various sporting events and the food network.

We were told to make ourselves at home and take whatever table felt good, so we went to one of the half booths along the left wall. I took the booth half so I could see the whole place (and because I like to have my back to the wall), which left me facing the sports bar half of the place (and most of the tvs, including the one where the Jays were beating the hell out of Oakland).

Okay, enough about the decor, back to the menu! This menu just blew me away when I opened it. It was simple, red/black lettering on white paper. But all the choices! They had a strong selection of appetizers. Standard fare, but with their own take on it. We ordered the Antijitos to share. They were everything an antijito should be, a smidge spicy and cheeeesy, but the kick was that the salsa they were served with had roasted tomatoes and green peppers instead of standard fresh ones. It wasn't exactly a dipping salsa, but the delightful taste and texture made me very okay with that.

As for their main dishes, there was salads, sandwiches, gourmet-pressed sandwiches, and burgers with half a dozen types of each. I ordered the Seafood Sensation burger, which was a burger topped with their Lobster and Seafood dip from the app menu. It was, hands down, the messiest burger I have ever eaten, but it also may have been the most delicious. The burger was a firmly packed sirloin patty, lightly spiced, on a toasted bun with a slice of roasted tomato and lettuce. The seafood dip was served hot, on top, and was rich and cheesy and would go extremely well with the pita points it's served with when it's an app.

This restaurant gives you the option of changing out the standard fries that come with your burger for fancier side options for a $3 charge. I, of course, did this and ordered their Mac 'n' Cheese. Which is made with stilton cheese and Rickard's White ale. With a bread crumb topping. And might be the tastiest mac 'n' cheese I have ever eaten. Ever will eat. This is available as a dish on it's own and also comes ON a burger (the aptly named Mac 'n' Cheese Burger). (It was also incredible the next day heated up at 350 for 15 min!)

I can tell you that I will definitely be back to Buckeye's, I need to try the Pulled Pork, the Uncle Buck, the Glasgow Kiss, the ribs, the wings, the Dynamite Shrimp...