Monte's Grille and Pub

In a word: Fine, but nothing special.

The specs: #0436
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at 77 Square, Ruppert Food Blog, , official web site.

JM ate the half rack of ribs, cheesy hashbrowns, and salad.
Nichole ate the buffalo bleu chicken sandwich with a decaf.
The bill was $23, or $11.50/person, plus tip.
JM gave Monte's Grille and Pub a B; Nichole gave Monte's Grille and Pub a B- (see our grading rubric).

Monte's is a pretty standard Sconnie bar and grill. It still smells like smoke though no one's been allowed to smoke there for months; there's not much swivel factor from the many regulars, they've got a lunchtime salad bar and a Friday fish fry, and the service is friendly. Now that ChinMi has apparently switched to a lunch buffet/gas station, Monte's is your best bet for this particular stretch of Verona Ave.

The menu is regular bar fare with an Italian twist, including some pastas and "chicken cachatore." We stuck to Applebeesesque fare and found it better than [cr]Applebees'.

The chicken sandwich was a smallish cutlet on a nice, toasted focaccia-style roll with garlic butter. More ranch than bleu, it benefited from a dab of borrowed BBQ from JM's ribs, which weren't ribs to go out of your way for, but were decent. The cheesy hashbrowns were not overly chessy but tasted pretty good because they were served hot.

Western Verona's slightly better for having the place. On the way out, we checked next door to confirm that that Moose Creek Deli (the next one our make-up list) had already closed.

On to the Os!

Comments

[Ken]

Is Moose Creek Deli the first place to open & close before you got to it??

[JmSR]

I think Con Safos (in its pre-Crandall' incarnation) was the first.

[Bruce]

Moose Creek was around for a while but it switched owners at least once. I recall going there back in 2005 a few times for lunch - decent place, and I was sorry to see it closed last month.

I did enjoy that buffalo bleu chicken sandwich at Monte's. I also like the TV commercials with the woman giving a drunken, squinty thumbs up to the camera.