Johnnie Does: Dickey’s BBQ

Dickey’s BBQ is a franchised BBQ concept headquartered in Dallas, Texas. They spend a ton of money advertising on cable calling themselves “real, Texas, BBQ.” They had a store in my town….it shut down, re-opened as a Side Burn BBQ, which I aided and abetted in their shut down (RIP). Now they have found a new sucker to re-open the store in the same location! So, without further ado here is the review.

Ambiance: When you walk into the restaurant, they yell out “Welcome to Dickey’s.” I found this weird because no one was there, sans one lady who ordered a large takeout order of sliders for her office.

Lunch rush at Dickey’s

Dickey’s, like everyone else, is trying to copy Moe’s Southwest Grill concept with the whole “Welcome to____” when anyone walks in, very unoriginal. Anyway, after walking in I saw one guy who was assembling the women’s order who was in front of me, the other two workers were just staring at me like I was a co-star in the “Invasion of the body snatchers.” I stood their statue like, jaw jutting out in deep thought “maybe it was a union shop and the other two couldn’t cut the meat?” Did I interrupt their break at lunchtime? Who knows?

Inspiring workplace poster for Dickey’s employees

Finally, Micaela asked what I wanted. I guess the union break was over, so I ordered the $3 pulled pork sandwich. 0/5 Literally I have seen a morgue with more ambiance.

Food: They offer BBQ faire like that found pretty much everywhere. The menu was pulled pork, brisket, chicken, ham (wtf??) ribs, spicy cheddar sausage, and polish sausage. They also offer an abundance of BBQ sandwiches like I ordered, as well as side dishes, salads, and baked potatoes. But as far as this being unique to Texas or anything…it stinks. Like literally there is nothing special about this joint. Why would you advertise Texas in California, a state that literally hates everything about Texas, without it somehow being better in flavor, portion, and quality? 1.5/5

Uninspiring sandwich

I ordered the pulled pork using my coupon for $3 BBQ sandwich. Knowing this was likely a loss leader, I figured I would help them out and order a side of waffle fries for …. yeah $2.50. WOOF. My pulled pork was pulled from a warmer vat (not a smoker or a warmer) and the girl squeezed all the juice with her gloves. She reassured me this is how it was supposed to be made. I was born in the South and I know BBQ, this girl is either retarded or dumb, frankly you can choose.

Cold, dead, French fries too

Overall: Here is the kicker. Remember my coupon for the $3 sandwich? The staff didn’t honor it. I even showed them the digital coupon on my trusty smartphone. Maybe I am blind, but it would stand to reason when someone gets a digital coupon from corporate that the price would be honored. It wasn’t. I was charged the full amount of $6.50 for the sandwich and $2.50 for the side. I paid because, well you cannot fix stupid and I would rather these 3 idiots remain employed rather than collect unemployment. The gal told me she would bring my sandwich and fries out together after my fries were cooked because that way, they were fresh…. bad idea.

One bite is all it took for me to book

The sandwich was cold and dry, and the fries were cold…weird because they were “fried fresh.” The sandwich was somehow worse. It was dryer than dry. Like Mojave Desert dry…I had one bite and a couple of fries. I voiced my disappointment and the crew did not care. I left and when I returned to the office, I had a sleeve of Oreo’s for lunch. 0/5

Oreo Cookies beat Dickey’s any day

This place stinks, it stinks, it stinks, it stinks. Legit Texas BBQ? Yeah, I guess not. I am certain my pulled pork was bought at the Safeway down the way, no chance they have a smoker in shop. The BBQ sauces they claim are homemade? I saw a delivery of sauces with a national name brands on them…not original, sorry. The shop was empty and it’s not hard to see why. The service is god awful and the food is a wild mashup of store-bought microwaved trash. Maybe try being legit and buy a BBQ or a smoker? Southerners everywhere must turn their noses up at this. Microwaved BBQ is what Yankees do!

Once, safely back at the office and stuffed with Oreo cookies, I complained to corporate and soon after, the franchisee called me and asked to have a meeting with me…I suggested maybe somewhere with authentic ethnic food like Taco Bell? He has been begging me to give it another try, and I have declined. He told me they pit smoke their meat every day for several hours, I guess Barney Fife and Col. Klink are minding the smoker? I feel bad for him because the food was bad and his employees stink…almost as bad as the food does. Long and short of it, save your money, because you will either get horrible food, or be overcharged for horrible food.

Jon Taffer

This place stinks….as Jon Taffer would say SHUT IT DOWN!

Johnnie Does

Johnnie Does Pizza Hut “Stuffed Cheez It Pizza”

So, I saw a wild window advertisement at a Pizza Hut around the corner from my office…new Cheez It pizza.

Yeah, my neck almost broke it snapped so quick. I entered the store and inquired, because well…like who wouldn’t? The counter guy said it’s actually a stuffed Cheez It pizza…like that makes it better???? He told me you get 4 squares of stuffed Cheez It in either cheese or pepperoni and cheese. The squares are about 4 inches by 4 inches, comes with a side of marinara sauce, because…well why not. Sells for about $6, which I guess is not terrible if it comes with a side of ER visit/ambulatory transport.

Cheez It pizza squares

So as far as the review…yeah, we aren’t trying this. We value the gift of life too much to be aborted by this abomination. Like literally, we should protest both Planned Parenthood and Pizza Hut! This atrocity is going to kill a lot of children! Nothing says obesity in the USA than a F***ing stuffed Cheez It. Like the rest of the world is innovating…hell, even friend of the blog Elon Musk is trying to innovate…and Pizza Hut is stuffing Cheez It into pizza???? We put a man on the moon (allegedly) we fought and won world wars, we built the infrastructure in this country….and now we are stuffing Cheez Its???? I’m sure the greatest generation is proud.

What are we even doing anymore? This is literally crazy; I know we are about to storm Area 51 this weekend, but this could be even more outrageous.

Green Pride at Storm Area 51 rally

This dish has to have like 90 billion million quadrillion calories, in just 1 square, let alone 4! Oh, and the emergency side of marinara, you know…just in case. Take that back, its likely the healthiest part of this dish.

Worry not though if you consumed this beast, you can likely cancel your colonoscopy as I’m sure your colon will be found to be in fine condition.

Twinkies have a shelf life so long they allegedly will survive the Zombie Apocalypse

Lastly, word has it that the military potential of another food with the shelf life of a Twinkie is being investigated by survivalists in suburban areas cross America’s heartland. If this pans out as expected, look for Pizza Hut ads on the Glen Beck show really soon.

Johnnie Does

BTW Someone get Troll a date with Hope Hicks, he hasn’t been heard from lately and we think he is giving up Hope.

Johnnie Does: Ariana’s Revisited

Ok, so I have gotten a reputation as being both very complementary and also very ruthless. You cannot and will not pull a fast one on Johnnie Does. In my short time as a food critic, I have shut down a restaurant (Side Burn BBQ) as well as provided people with key lunch advice like the Burger King tacos; ask the Blog Father, he tried them after the advice of Johnnie Does!

However this article is an updated review of Ariana’s, the Mediterranean joint where I ordered my chicken gyro bowl, seasoned with Frank’s Red Hot. As you may remember, I gave them a 0.0, and it was well deserved. I don’t think they use Franks in the Middle East and authenticity counts. Anyways, I found myself back at the scene of the review Friday at lunch. I figured since it’s a small business, I will give them another shot, most businesses are not this lucky.

I ordered at the counter again and asked for my food spicy, just like last time. I also asked the young man what sauce they use to spice the chicken….he dipped his head and said the following. “We were using Franks Red Hot sauce. It was not authentic. We were made aware of a food blogger calling us out and he ripped us, so we now have our own in house hot sauce, scratch made, and seasoned with authentic spices from Afghanistan.” I would do a humble brag but I’m pretty sure that was me who they read, it certainly wasn’t that moron from the Sacramento Bee who is a total loser. Seriously the Bee changes their food critics like I change my drawers, daily!

Anyway, I took my seat and patently waited. It took 20 minutes, but my bowl was loaded, tons of chicken, some basmati rice, cucumber, tomatoes and a lime. The sauce was yellow orange almost mustardy look, and it was amazing! WOW. The heat was great, and the spices were fire! Johnnie Does even broke a sweat, he could barely finish.

Amazing, wonderful change of pace. The counter guy came to take my dish and he asked if it was good? I asked how they knew about the bad food review and where they read it. He said a close friend of the family Googled Ariana food reviews, and this blog called reallyright.com came up and a Johnnie Does food review was brutal. He said it was a real kick in the face, a small family business and we missed the mark. We felt terrible. He called us out on our carelessness. Then I doxed (revealed) myself. I told him I am Johnnie Does. He looked defeated and I told him this is great. The sauce is wonderful, the portions plentiful. New updated score 4.3/5.

Very solid, please patronize this place and support a local small business.

Johnnie Does

Johnnie Does likes it

Editor’s Note: I was shocked and surprised to read this post from Johnnie Does in my email last night. I found it inspiring and read it to my wife. I guess a visit to Ariana’s is in our future and hopefully your.

Johnnie Does Old Spaghetti Factory

By Johnnie Does

Spaghetti is a very heavy food and not usually a lunch option, but since the Old Spaghetti Factory is right by my office I decided to take the plunge, as usual we tried it twice. (OSF) is a small family owned business that has grown to 45 stores from its humble beginnings in 1945 by Guss Dussin. Here is the review.

Ambiance: The one near my office is a standalone building that looks like any other strip mall type venue, large, concrete and somewhat uninviting. If you want a really cool scene check out the downtown Sacramento location. The interior is very cozy with a décor reminiscent of being on a train car. The booths have Tiffany lamps and also quite a bit of gleaming brass which sets a nice tone. In one part of the restaurant, there is even a refurbished trolley car you can sit in and enjoy your meal. However, at 12:50 in the afternoon, during what should have been peak lunch time, the place was empty. When you walked into the restaurant, instead of the aroma of food, you could smell the Windex used to clean the place. 1.3/5 Disclosure: I have gone by this place during dinner hours and it seems very busy, so your experience likely will differ.

Menu/food: This is your standard Italian-American faire. Once you are seated by the hostess, you are greeting by a loaf of bread and some butter, and the menu is basically spaghetti, pasta, sandwiches, and salads. They put tons of different spins on their pasta with sauces that include: clam, garlic, Alfredo, meat, meatless, mizithra (brown butter), and pesto. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce, it also came with a salad, I choose creamy pesto dressing (balsamic was the only other option).

The spaghetti was standard noodles with red sauce tasting very much like Prego scooped over it. The plate also featured 2 very large baseball sized meatballs. The salad was bagged salad from a local grocer and the dressing was ladled over it as well. I was not impressed with this at all. True Italian food, the pasta and sauce are mixed together in a bowl, not just tossed on top, the meatballs were ok, but very large and you almost feel cheated just getting 2. Generally, the plating was unimpressive.

Pre-fab salad mix

As mentioned earlier, I come back a second time and will share the reason in the conclusion when I ordered the mizithra pasta. It was very interesting to say the least, much improved and I’ll average the scores call it 2.2/5. I would definitely order this again if I come back, it was a very good cheese/butter taste.

mizithra pasta

Overall: The Old Spaghetti Factory is not much to write home about; just standard Italian faire from a decent non-chain place. I would recommend avoiding the spaghetti and meatballs; however, I did thoroughly enjoy my other meal. The price point for lunch is around $10. OSF claims great food and fast food prices. The bizarre flex here was I asked my server what the best thing on the menu was and she pointed me toward the spaghetti with meatballs, after finishing and paying my check, she shared with me her favorite is the mizithra?????????? HUH? That’s a weird flex, sweetie, you probably would have gotten a decent score if I had that meal first. 1.75/5 I don’t think I will return.

Burger King VS Jack in the Box TACO SMACKDOWN!

By Johnnie Does

A passerby on the street approached me saying, “You review food for that website…. I need to know who has better tacos, Burger King or Jack in the Box.” I have never been to either establishment, nor could I believe tacos would possibly be on the menu, so I declined. This person insisted, saying “the champ needs to weigh in!” I reluctantly agreed, I figured this person was the “chief blogger” since he looked homeless and who knows, maybe these tacos were like filet mignon, so off we went.

For comparisons sake, we went on separate days, on an empty stomach drinking nothing but water. Here is the review!

We will only be scoring the tacos here, as the ambiance frankly was god-awful. In all honesty, if you find yourself in the drive thru at either establishment; hopefully, you’re in the passenger seat under the influence of something, or if you find yourself inside, hopefully it’s just to find a bathroom. If neither of these apply; well, seek professional help ASAP.

The Burger King was up first. According to the nice young lady behind the counter, they just recently introduced these tacos. I had seen an ad for them on TV where they said they were similar to Los Angeles type tacos. Such a claim is bananas for a company headquartered in Miami to say but oh well. The taco was $1 so I ordered two figuring I wanted to get a decent taste. They actually were decent sized, and for a buck I could not complain. I waited about 8 minutes so they were definitely made fresh.

Burger King $1 Taco

It had real beef, likely from a burger patty, shredded melted cheese, hot sauce and some lettuce. The lettuce was very translucent and some was brown, so I picked it off. This was actually good, the hot sauce was a great touch, likely covering up lower quality beef, and the shell was deep fried–I’m sure with the meat inside.

Jack was up next.

The tacos at Jack are kind of a cult like offering, they have been around forever and are something Jack is known for. Unlike the King, Jack is headquartered in San Diego, CA. Jack offers up 2 tacos for $1.19 so it made the ordering easy. I didn’t wait long so it did come off that they were pre-cooked, frozen, or something.

Jack in the Box two for $1.19 tacos

They were very similar to the King, slightly smaller which is to be expected at a fraction of the cost. They contained an odd looking meat paste, lettuce, hot sauce, and a Kraft single slice of cheese. It was deep fried like the BK taco. It was comparable in taste to the BK taco, and the lettuce was fresh for sure.

The verdict: based on taste alone, without a doubt, the King takes this round. The lettuce was definitely not good, but it wins out fairly easy. Do yourself a favor next time you are stoned and have the munchies, find a few extra nickels in your pocket or under the seat cushion, hit up the King, you won’t be upset. Jack’s meat paste thing was just a major wtf.

BK wins taco smackdown

PS for those of you asking why I didn’t hit up a legit Mexican joint…we don’t do that here at Really Right, we march to our own drummer. But since you may want to know, Blog Father and I prefer Del Taco because it has Spanish actually in the name and the fare is very, very, tasty for a fast food joint. Taco Bell on the other hand, I don’t trust a Mexican Phone Company to make a good taco, so I wouldn’t know. Also, any Mexican place with “run” or “runs” in their slogan should probably be avoided.

Next up, Johnnie Does Urgent Care for high blood pressure.

Review: MacQue’s BBQ

I know they are still working the kinks out of opening their new restaurant in Elk Grove, but I’m offering this early review. Please note that until Johnnie Does submits his official review that this one is preliminary.

Anyway, last Thursday, I took the wife and son to try out MacQue’s BBQ place. The owners are neighbors and we wanted to support them and their local business. The restaurant is tucked-in between the Arby’s and the Golden1 ATM in the strip mall on Elk Grove Blvd next to Highway 99.

The first thing that I noticed was a number of people waiting in the front area for their takeout orders. Next you will notice the very small type font used for the menu board. I was not the only customer having difficulty reading the menu board. If you look around, you can locate a printed menu near the counter.

MacQue’s with micro-font menu

When we got to the front counter to order, we each decided to get a different menu item. This just worked out that way and helped with my decision to write a review. (Johnnie Does is a thin lad and it would be most unfair to make him consume too many calories to write a proper review.) Since we were there for dinner, we each ordered a meal from the menu. The boy got ribs, mom got chicken, and I ordered tri-tip. Food can be ordered with BBQ sauce of various types either on the food or on the side. Each of our orders came with two sides and each of us ordered a drink. It was just over $46.00 plus tip.

Seating area

We ordered the following six sides: cole slaw (2), baked beans, corn, macaroni & cheese, and macaroni salad. There was nothing memorable about the sides except the corn was drowning in butter—not good, and the mac & cheese was not buried in cheese—good.

Tri-tip

After a wait of 15 minutes or more, the food arrived. It was very much like KFC. Each item was separately packaged in a disposable container with lid. If you’re from Davis or Berkeley, avoid this place; the amount of plastic going into the trash will shock you. Napkins, towelets, and plastic forks are available next to the soda machine. If you want a knife—which we did—you must ask at the counter. Even though we each had a fork served with our meal, the only way to get a knife was to get a sealed to-go packet with knife, fork, spoon, napkin, salt, and pepper. Again, this seemed like a waste of plastic and profit.

Bone dry chicken looks better than it tastes

The ribs were the best menu item, the tri-tip was ok, and the chicken was…well, like sawdust. After trying it, I had the mental image of Gordon Ramsey yelling profanities and flinging it across the kitchen and toward the nearest trash can. Oh, my son was the only one of the three of us to ask for BBQ sauce served on his food. Although he got two layers of ribs on his plate only the top layer had any BBQ sauce. Get it on the side, you will be happier that it arrived at your table in yet another plastic container.

Rib plate

This article contains some of the photos that I took during our visit. I will leave it up to Johnnie Does to give the place a numerical rating.

MacQue’s BBQ website

Johnnie Does: L&L Hawaiian

Johnnie is not a big Hawaiian food guy, but he stumbled upon this little joint, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, right near my office and I figured why not. I’ve actually been there several times over the past 2 months, so this is an all-encompassing review.

Ambiance: This place is cozy and very small, call it 8-10 booths inside. There is some outdoor seating however since there are several food shops it’s kind of a “food court feel” at a local mall outside. You order at the counter and they surprisingly have an extensive menu for a small place. You pay and they give you a numbered receipt and call your number to return to said counter and pick up your order. Being greeted by the counter staff with “aloha” as you walk in is a great touch. 4.25/5

Food: They offer chicken, pork, beef, all cooked Hawaiian style, as well as burgers, Spam, and shrimp/fish. I settled on a “mini” chicken plate. The plate consisted of 3 chicken thighs pounded flat, teriyaki BBQed and served alongside 2 scoops of rice a scoop of their famous macaroni salad, and some green salad. All this for the cost of $6.50 plus tax.

If I were to order a “regular” plate you get bigger scoops of said accompaniments, and 2 additional slabs of chicken costing $8.50. However, for an active 33-year-old, I find the mini plate very much filling. The food was great, wonderful Hawaiian teriyaki chicken, the macaroni was delicious, however, it was like eating an entire pizza calorie-wise I am sure. It was great, everything tasted good and I have even tried other menu items. 4.5/5

Overall: It is a very small place, they are a franchise nationwide; that being said, the food was amazing. I liked that you could see the kitchen from your seat, and the wait for the food gave an impression of being cooked when you order, not before. Everything was top notch; the photo does not do the food justice as they mistakenly subbed out the mac salad for extra rice…. but still a solid place. So solid Johnnie Does has become a regular and can say the BBQ beef and the burger are solid choices as well. 4.3/5

Johnnie Does

Johnnie Does Jersey Mikes

So I took a break from the chain restaurants and decided for a more regional sandwich chain that is fairly new to the area Jersey Mike’s. You guessed it, they are from Jersey and are embarking on a huge nationwide expansion. Here is my review.

Jersey Mike’s traces its history back to 1956 when a young Mike Cancro (17), on advice from his mother, decided to buy Mike’s Submarines. He rebranded it as Jersey Mike’s in 1987. And today there are more than 1,000 locations, with a bunch more to come.

Locally, Jersey Mike’s is located at the Elk Grove Mall, oh, I mean Delta Shores by I-5. Like many regional chains that go nationwide, you are always worried about expanding too fast or the concept not catching on, let’s see how they do.

Ambiance: Typical sub sandwich place, limited seating, you order at the counter. That being said, I really enjoyed the maps and pictures on the wall of New Jersey; they even had a surf board on the wall, pretty nice touch. It has a very relaxed vibe, think like Starbucks, but with quick serve sandwiches as opposed to coffee. You place your order with a server, he writes it on his pad, and hands you the ticket to take to the other end of the counter to pay. It’s similar to Subway as far as the order process goes, I will get into this later. 4.1/5 on the ambiance, had some nice touches.

Food: Here is the biggest difference from Subway and Firehouse Subs, Jersey Mikes, takes the hunks of meat out deli-style and cuts them in front of you. They do this with the cheese as well, yup, right on the sub, directly in front of you. That is the definition of fresh. If you ordered a hot sub they place the meat on a hot grill and prepare separately and bring it out later. That being said the condiment choices are pretty standard, and you can order “Mike’s way” which is lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and “the juice” which is oil and red wine vinegar. You can add jalapeño, but I have grown to appreciate limited choices. I don’t know why but Jersey Mike’s gives off a fresher vibe. The bread choices were limited too; white, wheat, and rosemary parmesan, you also could have it gluten free. I ordered a chicken bacon ranch hot sub Mike’s way and it was fantastic. 4.7/5, very fresh and not skimpy at all on the meats, and toppings.

Chicken Bacon Ranch made Mike’s way.

Overall: This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The fresh cut meat and cheese was a great touch. Limiting the bread and toppings was a smart move also. They had a signature way of having your toppings, and a streamlined approach conducive to both freshness and speed. The key is that I never felt rushed, and found out later the very nice man at the front taking orders….that was the franchisee. It wasn’t an absentee owner collecting his money while leaving the shop to be minded by kids. The price point was perfect for a 9 inch hot sub about $9. Quality was great and again, I never felt rushed or hurried. As an added bonus, they had a nice selection of chips, your typical ones, but also some specialty one’s and had some special root beer options as well. This was a nice break from your typical limited selection. They also had Tastykake (pronounced “tasty cake”) as a dessert option which traces its roots to Jersey as well. 4.6 overall

Comparing to Firehouse Subs: Firehouse is more of a grab a bite and a seat with your co-workers, where Mikes is more of a grab n’ go about your day place. Firehouse has more sub options and more exotic ones, whereas Mike’s is more of an old school deli shop. Firehouse is made behind a counter out of site, Mikes is made right in front of you. I think both are great. You cannot go wrong ordering from or owning either, so much so if I had the $$$ I would become a franchisee because I love the product.

Johnnie Does

Chevy’s is Broken

Johnnie Does had a coupon for a free appetizer if he bought an adult entrée so he decided to visit a Chevy’s location near his office for some good ole American Tex-Mex cuisine. Chevy’s is a chain that has been in and out of bankruptcy for what seems like the last decade. They have a mix of great locations such as the one on the Sacramento River, average places like the now closed one in Gold River, and the one by my office. Here is the review.

Ambiance: It’s a chain, but in reality it has a lot going for it. The bar or “cantina” had festive decorations, a countdown clock for Cinco de Mayo next year, and lots of drink selections. The actual restaurant area also looked fast paced, and they had an area with lots of vegetables on display….I’m not sure why? Perhaps to buttress their claim of “Fresh Mex.” The servers were flying around, and it seemed like more of a fast casual place than a sit down place. I took a seat at the “Cantina” since it was just me….big mistake. 4.4/5 on the ambiance (I’ll explain more later on).

Chevy’s full stocked bar (at another location)

Food: I was greeted with a pile of chips, and a small bowl of salsa, which had to have been the mildest salsa since Pace Picante….no other options here. The chips were for certain Tostitos and not homemade, but oh well. The bar tender seemed friendly…however he set down a bunch of fruit in front of me and started cutting it up….then he disappeared with said fruit still in front of me. This would be a recurring theme, him disappearing, which was bizarre since the bar area was vacant sans myself. Finally at 1pm he took my order; keep in mind I have an hour for lunch and must be back at 1:30. I ordered the pick 2 chicken quesadillas and the wings as my free appetizer. Again the disappearing act ensued for 15 minutes, finally at 1:20 he emerged with my quesadillas, no wings. At 1:30 the wings were still MIA, I guess they were still trying to catch a fresh chicken near Florin Road. The bill came and well, the chicken wings showed up there! The manager said he would only remove the charge if I presented the coupon, so I did, couldn’t fight it, but he should have taken a hint since no plate other than the one holding my quesadillas was in front of me. The quesadillas…also missing chicken, but oh well. 1.1/5

Chevy’s quesadillas as found at another location

Overall: This place is busted and busted badly. They appear to be trying to take a page from Dos Coyotes, but they are not fast casual, they are a chain, and a sit down one at that. Embrace what you are and stay in your lane. Your menu is way overpriced for the food to be missing ingredients, or entire items. All I want is to get what I ordered in a reasonable time and have it look like the picture when it arrives on my plate. Chevy’s need to find a happy medium between what’s on their menu and what comes out of the kitchen. Also, make the chips in house, or at least not from a crappy bag from a grocery store.

In addition, the birthday song being sung what seems like every 5 minutes is very annoying. Chevy’s is not a great place to visit on your own or with co-workers… (see Farrell’s demise and their similar birthday song charades.) Given the advanced age of many of their customers, maybe frequent birthdays, slow service, and bland food are passable but for us working stiffs, this place is not the highlight of your 9 to 5 workday existence.

Chevy’s, you are not fast casual. Lower your prices, improve quality where you can, offer add-on’s for additional $$$ and see where it takes you. Also, if you don’t want to give out the perks of a coupon, just exempt yourself from it. Nothing should be more embarrassing for a manager than the service that I received. The fact that I was never served my wings, but the manager only agreed to remove it from the bill once a coupon was produced encapsulated much of what is wrong with this dining experience. 1.3/5 overall

I would avoid this place. Seems like this location is franchisee run and the management has checkout too. I can hear the company circling the drain now. Maybe the 90-day calendar will euthanize this location soon.

Johnnie Does

Johnnie Does: Jimboy’s Tacos

By Johnnie Does

While perusing an old Sacramento Magazine from 2017 (Johnnie Does is a big history guy) I came across an article about 30 things every Sacramentan must eat before they die. Being a simple man, I was overcome with emotion about my own mortality, I knew I had to try something from this list before I went to my eternal reward. I saw Jimboy’s ground beef tacos on the list and figured there is one near my office so let’s do it!

Some Background
Jim and Margaret Knudson started Jimboy’s back in 1954 as an American spin on tacos. They started with just a taco cart and grew into a large empire. They started in Tahoe and migrating down to Sacramento in 1961. Glad we claim it as our own…..here is my review!

Ambiance: Jimboy’s gives off a relaxed fast casual vibe. The location near my office features two entrances, a main one and a take-out only entrance… both of which lead to the same counter! You place your order at a counter and you get a number on your receipt and when your order is ready you return to the counter and claim your meal. The menu is standard Mexican cuisine with an American twist; tacos, burritos, salads, fajitas…etc. However in the eyes of this professional food critic, some items are very overpriced…namely said tacos! I placed my order and found a small salsa bar offering about six salsa’s ranging from mild-to-hot, as well as ketchup (?) and Taco sauce. I grabbed the sauce, some hot salsa, and jalapenos and took my seat. The relaxed vibe and having to wait for fresh made food was a nice touch 4.1/5.

Food: As stated above, they have an American variation on Mexican food and I’m grading based on such. I ordered three ground beef tacos, they were $2.80 a piece! The tacos are corn shell, beef, lettuce, cheese, grease and a parmesan cheese dusting the outside of the shell. Did I mention grease…lots and lots of grease. 3.3/5 the taco sauce was a good addition.

Grease is the word

Overall: It was hard to get too excited about this place. The tacos were vary overpriced, by comparison there is a Taco Bell and a Del Taco nearby; both offering their spin on tacos for far cheaper. I did enjoy the relaxed laid back vibe, I loved the food was not premade, it was cooked after I ordered, and came out hot to boot. However even on taco Tuesday, $2 for these tacos are viciously overpriced. 3.3/5

I perused the list of the other “things I had to eat before I die” and was not impressed. Merlino’s Freeze I never liked and the Squeeze Inn cheeseburger only squeezed my blood vessels (plus I can’t see myself in a cheese skirt). As such, I think I can die in peace knowing I didn’t miss much other than harder arteries. I started not feeling well while writing this review…Johnnie Does diarrhea may be forthcoming. Recently, another salsa bar in Elk Grove overloaded my plate with grease as well, maybe the natives are sending a message to me?

Johnnie Does