Hans and Franz Biergarten: Greenville, SC

Oh dear Hans and Franz...This is "The Wife" writing your review. And I am sorry to inform you that you have FAILED!! First of all, your website says that you are a "family-friendly" restaurant. What part of "family-friendly" does not include high-chairs? My 14 month-old had to sit on my lap during the duration of dinner! How is that "family-friendly?" Second of all, your food stinks! Your pork schnitzel is anything but. It is a crispy, over-fried mess of dried up pork that cannot even be chewed or swallowed without any type of dipping sauce. Which, by the way, is mustard that was specifically requested by yours truly. We ordered the Vienna Sausage for our two girls (they have no kids menu...which again, by the way, is not "family-friendly") but they just so happened to be "all out" of that so we subbed a Bratwurst. I will say they ate it up like they had never eaten in their lives. But...this was after a lengthy wait. So I would assume that they were just really hungry. Now, let's move on to what you call Spaetzle. Ummmm...REAL Spaetzle is a boiled noodle of sorts. LEFTOVER Spaetzle is fried with onions. So...based on the fact that what we had was regurgitated, fried, chewy crap with onions mixed in...I would say we got the leftovers. NOT GOOD.

So we've established that the food is not authentically German (which they do advertise). BUT...also your decor is anything but German, having Scottish and English accents (such as Golfers in knickers) all over the place. So what do you want to be? Do you want to be European in general or do you want to be a German Restaurant? Your German Beer Menu stinks...when I order an Oktoberfest and I am served a bottle of Beck's, something is WAYYYY off from the German roots.

Bottom Line: You are no Gasthof's. I was really hoping to eat some fabulous and authentic German food. But you have disappointed. I am nearly 80% German, my dear Husband...who typically writes this Blog, is nearly 100% German (but somehow HATES sauerkraut???), were in total shock at how terrible this supposedly "German" joint ended up to be.

On the plus side, we did have excellent service, the restaurant was clean and organized and we did enjoy our stay (less the 14 month old not confined in a high chair). BUT...I can see if you were on "date-night" or if you were single how this could be a good place to go for a couple of brewski's and unwind after work. It is not the "family-friendly" place we hoped it would be and it is certainly not Authentically German. But for European Beer joints...it is a damn good "American" version.

Graffiti's Burger and More: Simpsonville SC

I have waited to write this review until I could have the opportunity to give Graffiti's a second (third, fourth & fifth) chance. You know, that one restaurant that is just oh so close to home and the menu looks absolutely amazing, you really really want that place to be good and deliver whatever it is that you enjoy about a local burger joint. Well, I am sad to report that Graffiti's has let me down for the last time. I did, I truly gave them the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to like this place so bad, it just isn't going to work out between us any longer.

Graffiti's is a burger & more (as the name states) place located in a strip mall in between the Food Lion and the ABC Packaging store (Can someone please explain the whole Packaging Store thing to me as I am not from the South) that I am scared to go into. When you first walk in, you don't know if you are in a 50's wannabe dinner or what. The one really cool thing and maybe the only positive about this place is the cool chalk board they have for the kids to play with (Did you know that 6 + 7 = 14) while the parents do, well parent stuff.

On this particular visit it was just the kids (all three) and myself. They each got some mini corn dogs with what I consider to be the "Worlds" most disgusting french fries on the face of the earth. As you can see, I went with the O'Rings for some ridiculous amount extra for the portion that I received for this very reason. The fries are apparently fresh cut (soggy) potatoes then they die them red and green? Not very appetizing as they taste like ground-up dog food. The rings were purchased just hours ago next door at Food Lion and slapped in the fryer for about 5 minutes to short and the burger, well, I think they left half of it on the grill and picked what portion they served me out from the bottom of the grease catch can under the grill that hasn't been cleaned since the day the place opened. Enough about the food, it just plain, old-fashioned, SUCKS big time. And it wasn't just this visit, it has been each and everyone of them. I can hear it now, "But they have the best Philly in town!" If that Philly is the best Philly you have ever eaten, then I am sorry for you and your deprived taste buds.

Bottom line, the food is sub par and is priced about twice as much as it really is worth. The service is really spotty, some days they have more people walking out the door than they do eating cause no one in line can place an order as they only have one person doing everything; taking orders, robbing the peoples wallets and cooking. Then on another occasion, the service is wonderful, but the food still sucks. If I am going to pay $10 for a 1/4 Lb burnt burger chip smothered in bad chili with some old nacho cheese sauce that has been heated up and chilled about twenty times, I'm better off eating that $10 dollar bill instead.

Sticky Fingers BBQ Restaurant: Greenville, SC

About a week ago I received a coupon via email for a free entree at Sticky Fingers BBQ with the purchase of one entree, a $13.99 value. This deal was too good to pass up so Friday night we loaded up the van and headed out to get us some "corporate" BBQ. Not having very high expectations of what we might find at Sticky Fingers, I left an open mind as I am not a big fan (none whatsoever) of Corp. run restaurants and living in the South now, I now have more BBQ shacks to choose from than I do McDonalds restaurants.

My two girls absolutely love going out to BBQ eateries with multiple sauce options sitting on the table. They get a little squirt on the fingertip and let me know what one is the sauce of choice. We actually make this a very fun game that is cheap entertainment for the wife and myself while we wait for our food to arrive.

As you can see, I went with the two meat combo, 1/2 rack of ribs and Smoked chicken wings. As if that wasn't enough, I had to add two sausages for $3 more. The ribs were average, nothing that stood out and made me want to rush back and get them again, but they were OK. It just makes me really wonder how a Corporate Chain like this place can really provide fresh, smoked meats? I always wonder if these things are coming from some Corporate centralized distribution center and they just heat and serve as necessary. I have no factual data backing this up, but I always wonder.

Now onto the wings. Still searching for a better wing than what they serve at Wild Wings Cafe Downtown (come on, you know as well as I do, this will never happen) I had to try the hickory smoked (for hours) jumbo wings. These things were nasty. Very fatty and being slow cooked, the fat never stood a chance to get crispy or cook out. Now here is an idea, smoke them (or receive them already precooked from that jumbo corporate distribution center)just like you do, then drop them in the fryer to render down the fat and make them eatable. Also, I prefer a buffalo wing and not plain wings that I can add my own BBQ sauce to, but that is just personal preference.

The wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and added onion straws to it for some unknown amount of $$. She enjoyed it enough to finish the whole thing, but did say that it did absolutely nothing for her as the slaw sucked! You see, the slaw is what makes a pulled pork sandwich. As long as the meat is tender and fat free, you put a good quality slaw on top of that thing, now we are talking.

Overall I will not be rushing back to Sticky Fingers anytime soon. In fact, I don't see myself ever returning unless I were to get another 1/2 off meal coupon as the upstate is flooded with better quality BBQ joints that are locally owned. The highlight of the entire meal was the $3 I splurged on for two sausage links. These things had a really nice smoke ring on them and tasted like they didn't just come out of the cooler and slapped in the microwave for a minute on high heat.

Miyako Sushi Group: Spartanburg, SC

Do you ever get that craving for sushi, and the cheap stuff at your local lunch buffet just isn't going to do it for you? This is exactly what happened to me, I was fed-up with the cheap, imitation sushi we all have become accustomed too during the lunch rush (I guess I cannot speak for everyone) of our busy lives. This is why I sought out Miyako sushi Group in Downtown Spartanburg for my mid-afternoon snack. After driving around and around, sometimes going the wrong way on a one-way, I finally found a parking space just outside the front door. I was greeted by a very friendly hostess who brought me to my table in the back/side of the restaurant, just in-front of the sushi bar. It was a very small and dark environment with maybe 5 or 6 other guests.

I was then greeted by a very rude, and somewhat not interested waitress who threw some water on the table and proceeded to take my order (I get this feeling at every restaurant in downtown Spartanburg that if you are not a local/regular, you get the "special" treatment). I ordered the lunch sushi special - chefs choice $8.95 (pictured above) and added miso soup for $1.00 extra and the GREEN CAJUN (pictured below) - Tuna, shiromi, wasabi mayo, avocado, and scallions $4.75.

The soup was just your average, packaged miso soup, but had an over abundance amount of small pieces of tofu in it which was nice to see for a change. The sushi lunch was incredible along with my choice of the green cajun roll. The quality of the fish and the not so present smell of "FISH" was a nice change. The fish was so fresh, I can honestly say that this is in the top ten for best sushi I have ever tasted. And for the price, honestly, I have paid three to four times this amount for this quality of raw fish in the past. Although, not knowing what the fish was on the Lunch Combo (that would have taken the waitress an extra 10 seconds as she would have had to talk to a foreign person), it literally just melted in my mouth.

Overall, Miyako Sushi is by far the best sushi I have had in Spartanburg in the short 5 months I have been working in this city. With the exception of the "who the hell are you" service and maybe a little too much sushi rice on the Nigiri, it was a nice change from the $6.99, all-you-can-eat, imitation sushi buffet.