Bert and Ernie's Music, Food, and Brew Pub

Whew, that's a long name for a restaurant! Amazingly enough that's one of the very few things I have to complain about after having one of my most customer friendly and delicious dining experiences in a great while! A few mere seconds upon walking through the door we were greeted by a cheery hostess who sat us in a window seat with a nice view of a downtown Great Falls parking lot (better than nothing). Upon asking what we would like to drink I pondered for half a moment and before I knew it the beer and wine menu was placed on our table. I must say they have a better than average beer selection although worse than average prices. I do appreciate that they post their beers and prices online which you can view here: http://www.bertandernies.com/beer.htm I can continue to bore you with an entire story start to finish but instead I'll just name some...

HIGHLIGHTS:

• friendliest and speediest wait staff of all restaurants I have encountered in recent memory (when's the last time you heard someone say thank you to YOU as they took your dirty dishes?)
• ice water with lemon was immediately brought to our table upon arrival without asking
• stuffed pepper soup (rice, ground beef, yellow and red peppers, tomatoes) came so piping hot I had to let it cool for a few minutes but it was WELL worth the wait, and the homemade fresh whole wheat roll was a nice addition although it did cost an extra $1
  
• the Stella Artois I ordered came in a branded, chalice-pint glass (yes I'm amused by the smallest things but they add up!)
  
• full rack of baby back pork ribs was served with plenty of napkins and towelettes and comes with just enough food to feed two people...soup or salad, mixed veggies, and baked potato (My dinner companion recommends getting it loaded with bacon, sour cream, and chives for $1 more, I myself took a pass on it altogether but it sure looked tasty)
• within 5 seconds of the sun starting to peek out from behind the clouds and cast some streaming light into our faces the hostess was at our table asking if we wanted the shades lowered
• clean and contemporary bathrooms with copper fixtures, enclosed toilets, and floor to ceiling marbled tiles are some of the nicest I've seen in a restaurant or bar in GF let alone downtown (people that know more about construction materials forgive me if I got any of the descriptions wrong)

LOWLIGHTS:

• a lonely ant crawling along the windowsill tried to join us for dinner, we didn't let him sit at our table, but did amuse ourselves trying to figure out whether he was a vegetarian or carnivore (still undecided, he was gone by the time I remembered our impromptu experiment was ongoing)
• beer prices spendier than usual ($4.50 for a draught pint compared to $3 on average)
• garden salad with lettuce, 2 cucumbers, and a tomato left a little more to be desired but at least it was fresh
• limp, lukewarm mixed veggies with dinner left a LOT more to be desired
• ribs tasted less fresh than when I ate them a few months back

Ultimately, after dinner and drinks for two, a $35 bill, and a half rack of ribs in a doggy box I was so pleasantly satisfied that I felt the need for this post after SUCH a long drought. Thanks Bert and Ernie's for reviving me!

For Sale:

One (1) credit for a pepperoni, pineapple, green pepper, black olive, and canadian bacon pizza pocket.

Seller does not assume any responsibility for food contamination incurred (aka 3 long black hairs embedded deep within the crust)

Dear Patient Readers,

Biting into my steaming hot Stageline pizza pocket nary an hour ago made me realize how much I have missed you.

Goode's Q & Bayou Grill

I finally got my chance to try it out! Not only had my boss eaten there for dinner the night before, but he brought me there for lunch the very next day! (And no, he had no idea that I have a food review blog or that one of you suggested it.) That enthusiasm alone let me know that I better not refuse this offer.

NEGATIVES

1. small, confusing parking lot on a one-way
2. small, confusing dining room layout with a one person wide funnel to enter or exit which is directly next to the cash register, resulting in a huge traffic jam of bodies trying to leave, find a table, or pay
   
3. short ceilings and slanted floor (or maybe slanted ceiling?) made even a person of limited stature (myself) feel like a giant and also slightly dizzy
4. the water that I ordered for my drink was not refilled at any time during or after my meal (although I was in desperate need from the spices and salt content in my dish)
   
5. I ordered the Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee which was slightly spendy at 10.50 for the amount of food given. I had planned on taking half of it home for leftovers as I usually do, but it was only the size of a large bowl of soup so I left with nothing but a full belly (which is OK too I suppose) It was definitely different than anything I had ever eaten, mustard colored soupy rice dish with a slight film on the top, but once I dug in it was rich and delicious!
   
6. florescent lights down the center of the room...I know I talk about lighting a lot which is important to me for a dining experience but there was plenty of light let in from the large windows and some soft sconce lighting on the log paneled logs, so a new light fixture instead of the cafeteria style lights would improve the aesthetics greatly.
   

POSITIVES

1. small, homey diner type feel with a 40 person max capacity, red tablecloths, chairs, and drink glasses, syrupy sweet waitress dressed in shortalls who looked fitting of a Southern accent but didn't have one at all!
   
2. the flavor of the food, right amount of spice, right amount of seafood (about 15 small shrimp which allowed for one in every other bite), different than your normal Montana diner options of burgers and fries ALTHOUGH they do offer that on their menu as well, which one pusillanimous person from my party opted for (the bacon cheeseburger to be exact) who labeled it 'pretty good'
3. The owner himself was working the till and asking folks on the way out the door how their dish was and thanking them for coming with a big, toothy, genuine grin
   
4. I was told by a coworker that he and his family had a long wait for their food once and were comped their entire meal!

CONCLUSION
I enjoyed the fact that it was different from my average meal or average establishment. The only major downfall I encountered was the disposition of the building inside and out. Food was on par, the owner's personable aura is refreshing....but I do hope one day he adds a catering option! If you haven't tried it yet, I would highly suggest it!

Sting and Ryan's Station Revisited

Hi all, thanks everybody for your comments on my young and first blog...whether you're a lover or a hater, it's nice to see that at least someone is out there reading my POV. I've had a busy week with Rockin the Rivers and the Weird Al concerts (which were equally thoroughly amusing), so I haven't had much time to formulate an official review as of yet.

Last week I did revisit Ryan's Station which provided more of their same speedy, friendly service and delivered some tasty Fish Tacos (although slightly greasy) and Shredded Beef Tacos. Each dish came with two tacos each with a plate full of multicolored tortilla chips and some too chunky tomatoey salsa that I barely touched. What looked most appetizing however was the Hawaiian Delight Pizza which looked plump and cheesy and delicious, but was only 12" and came with a $14.95 price tag. The pineapple and ham tasted fresh but the yeast overpowered the taste of the crust. It was a so-so experience, prices still too high for the amount of food that you get, but it is a pleasant atmosphere with kind workers.

I also returned to The Sting (to much merriment) for their outdoor concert Thursday (disappointing turnout for a Food Bank fundraiser) and was perplexed, yet delighted at the Bud booth which had 16 oz aluminum bottles of Bud or Bud Light for $2!! Any of you beer drinkers who partake in their consumption at any type of outdoor event knows that's about half off the usual price, so it definitely made my day! We purchased so many (we had a big group of around 10-12, thanks to my word of mouth) that they gave us the Bud Light bottle opener to take back with us. Two of us in the group (including me) were also 2 out of 20 finalists in the running for a Bud Party cruise to the Caribbean! There were Bud reps handing out tickets and they just so happened to pull mine, but not for the cruise or any of the door prizes :( I had no knowledge of this giveaway previously and the only reason I knew about this shindig was that I found it on the Sting's homepage when I was looking up their email address to send my first ever Eat/Drink GF review to (which I never did BTW). Big Mouth BBQ was catering and I was eagerly looking forward to trying it, but they were shut down by the time I arrived one hour into the show (my guess is from lack of customers since there were so few people there.)

Anyways, the plug got pulled (literally) on the stage around 9pm and I convinced my beer munchie ravished party to head inside to try the Chicken Breast Sandwiches (we got 4 total) and of course the other half of the table couldn't go without ordering a Sting pizza. I was pleasantly surprised and amazed at the quick, friendly service and the improvements in the food. The pizza looked 180 degrees different than it normally does, with half the grease, and perfectly placed chunks of meat. The chicken breast and salads came out quickly and were hits with my crowd also. When ordering our beers, we inquired about pitchers and the waitress advised us that ordering the big mugs were a better deal. How absolutely refreshing to not be upsold! (Although, I like to figure out better deals by doing the math anyways, so it would've been found out eventually!)

And the owner even thanked us for coming to the show as we were walking out. :) It's the little things that count and that make customers return...

One request, dim the lights just a touch. I am glad I was wearing a visor, but the rest of our weary eyed group had to squint from the bright overhead lights. All in all, I just felt the urge to write about my positive experience (although this same place has now been reviewed 3 times!) to prove to everyone that I do give credit where credit is due and that my M.O. is not what some people think it is...

And the point is...

David at GreaterFalls.com has hit the nail on the head with his comment about my Pita Pit post.

From the blogs: Our newest blogger, Epicuria, has posted a “no-holds barred” review of the Pita Pit. Yes, it’s harsh, but if I was the manager of the Pita Pit - and read local blogs so that I knew about stuff like this - I would take this as an “opportunity to excel.” Call the staff together, read the review, re-commit to high standards, implement new procedures, etc, and then invite Epicuria back for a free meal to show off the improvements. My two cents.

The whole point of Eat/Drink GF is not to delight in being a huge, insane bitch, but to spread the word of the state of our bars and restaurants (according to me) and get the people running these places to take some notice!

Pita Pit

If you have high standards for quality food, customer service, and hygiene...keep driving. Before we even walked in the door we had to walk through cigarette butts and trash, and it didn't get much better once inside. The cashier was on the phone, acting like she was taking an order (but it seemed more like a personal call) and expected us to give her our orders while she was taking another one. We had to repeat ourselves more than once, and after it was said and done...$12.58 later, we had a Chicken Breast and Buffalo Chicken Pita on order.

Although it was 8:30pm there were 4 people in front of us, and upon moving closer to the glass window of toppings the outlook was pretty bleak. Brown, gummy sprouts....beige, translucent, wilted lettuce....5 lone pineapple slices floating in a murky bed of liquid with multicolored, misshapen flecks (I had to examine closely to ensure they weren't dead gnats but I never was able to confirm or deny)...and that was all I noticed upon first glance.

I was asked what bread I wanted 'wheat' and the jaded pita-maker removed it from its package 'last one' and continued finishing the teen's pitas who were in line in front of me. During this process I noticed a fly buzzing around and landing on all of the fruits and vegetables displayed, but its food of choice was my lonely, empty pita bread. After I watched the fly do the cha-cha, waltz, and tango all over my pita the woman standing behind me LOUDLY stated "ECH, I WOULDN'T EAT THAT...EVERY TIME A FLY LANDS IT TAKES A S#@%!"

After her bold statement (I normally am non-confrontational and will eat anything that doesn't move off my plate), the pita boy shoo'ed the fly off my pita, peered over his brow at me, and remarked, "What do you want on it?" I responded meekily, "Umm, that fly just danced all over it." After a long sigh, pita boy remarked sarcastically with furrowed brow, "Do you want a new one?"

HMMMMM, no Pita Boy, I just like to make random statements about insects crawling on food I am about to put into my mouth in about 60 seconds because it's fun and FEELS GOOD!

So after said thought left my head I replied, "Yes." He then had to throw away the empty bag where he grabbed aforementioned fly bread, walk three steps ALL the way across the floor, and grab a new bag of wheat pitas. After lettuce (I opted for the fresher looking iceberg rather than the wilted Romaine), tomato, feta cheese, onions, green peppers, avocado, pineapple, olives (I had noticed by then that he was grabbing the pineapple and olives from the other, fuller, fresher station so I took my chances) and mustard (don't ask me why I thought mustard would be good with feta but by then I was just ready to get the heck out of there) my pita lay behind the wall of glass unfolded, while Pita Boy had for some reason been beckoned to run into the back to grab more dijon mustard for the people in line behind me.

The cook, upon noticing this, decided to take it upon his blessed, little heart to take his aqua-colored, meat bit covered, latex, medical gloves and attempt to fold our pitas. During the process he managed to tear no less than 12 gaping holes in my innocent pita bread. Have you ever seen the game in the arcade where you try to roll a silver marble up a ramp without letting it fall through any holes or off the edge? Replace the ramp with my pita bread and the silver ball with any of the vegetables contained within. That's what I saw in my pita consuming future.

After the cook put the finishing touches on wrapping our pitas, former Pita Boy returned with the mustard but took no notice to the fact that he left our pitas stranded for Bob the Butcher to ...butcher.

After Bob handed us our soggy pitas complete with wet chicken and turkey bits stuck to the outside wrapper, I asked politely for a bag to put them in (I had my keys in hand the whole time, yet was never asked if it was to stay or go...) and once that sack was in my hand I was out of there like...hmm there aren't really any politically correct analogies I can say here.

CONCLUSION: If I were the owner of this place I would be royally embarrassed and quite upset at the state my shop was kept and at the way my employees treated the customers. It was a complete disappointment and a sandwich joint that I will be wholly reluctant to ever return to.