restaurant review #8

The Island Pub is close to our house but we had only been there to have a drink or listen to music… until today.

Lois, B.G. and Tim went to the Pub for lunch. Being the first ones in the door at 11:30 ensured a choice of seating. They took the corner table by the windows and looked over the menu of pizzas, salad and sandwiches as well as the feeding eagles and the creek running nearby.

The Island Pub is famous for it’s pizza menu. But, the luncheonaires decided to go the “Sammie” route instead of pizza.

Lois ordered the Island Blue salad. It was a green salad that included apples and candied walnuts in mixed greens with a vinaigrette with blue cheese crumbles. She thought the presentation was very professional and it was good. She also thought it was reasonably priced.

B.G. had the steak sandwich served on a home-made foccaccia roll with a blue cheese dressing. His steak was cooked to order and came in large pieces, sometimes hard to cut and eat on the sandwich. He thought it tasted very good and was done just the way he liked it.

Tim ordered the Italian BLT which also was served on the home-made foccaccia and included bacon, tomato, lettuce, fresh mozzarella, with a pesto/mayo sauce. Both of the men had a orso Italian salad on the side. It is their standard side dish with their sandwiches and included orso, slivered romaine and basil with a light vinegar dressing. It was fairly heavy with raw red onion which tasted good but could be a problem for the discerning business diner.

Lois and Tim helped B.G. finish the steak sandwich and no leftovers were packed to take home to Heidi because nothing was left over. But, everyone was full and felt the food was very well prepared and enjoyable. The owner waited on us and confirmed that it, in fact, HAD been “Mike’s Place” fifty years ago when Lois and B.G. were last there. The only disappointment was when Lois found out that they weren’t still serving the famous “Mikes” blue cheese salad dressing but the owner remembered the dressing from when he was a kid and knew what she was talking about. He claims to “own” the recipe from when he bought the restaurant site from the original owner, Rudy. We’ll go back and see if he brings back the salad dressing. It just may put the Island Pub on the map.