The Thurman Cafe in German Village, Columbus, Ohio

          Three friends and I ate at The Thurman Café, 183 Thurman Ave., in German Village of Columbus, Ohio this past Saturday afternoon.  The Thurman Café is one of the more popular restaurants in German Village, as evidenced by the 45 minute wait we had to experience to get into the place at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Part of the wait though, can be attributed to the small and cramped size of the restaurant.  Only so many people will fit into the place. 

          The Thurman Café is really just a small bar that is being used as a restaurant.  For an interesting touch, the walls are covered in photos and signed dollar bills.  The ceiling is covered with Budweiser beer ads.  We noted that out booth was so cramped that we had to suck in our breath the whole time we were there just to fit into our seats.  The edge of the table uncomfortably dug far into our abdomens.  True, a couple of us were slightly overweight, but, given the fact that most of America is, and that overweight customers are a fat (pun intended) source of income for a restaurant, a couple of more inches between the seat backs and the table would have been gratefully accepted.

          Once we got seated, my friends and I were greeted by friendly and personable waiters who quickly took our orders from a very ample menu and brought them to us in a reasonable time frame.  The restaurant specialty is a 12 ounce hamburger, with more than 20 different burgers to choose from.  There are also coney dogs, pizzas, wings, and many other sandwiches.  The biggest burger is the Thermanator, made from two 12 ounce burgers, bun, and all the trimmings, for $21.99.  Once we saw the softball size burgers, my friends and I decided to order something more suited to our smaller appetites. 

          My friend Susie ordered Sweet Thai Chili chicken wings.  She liked them, especially the sauce.  It was "perfect, with just the right amount of spicyness."  I tasted them.  I liked them too.

          Greg ordered the "Chicken Club".  He liked it, but was not unusually impressed.  When he saw the oversized, traditional corned beef "Reuben" that I had ordered, he suddenly developed a craving for a Reuben of his own.  My sandwich was packed with corned beef.  The cheese and sauerkraut blended perfectly with the meat and the bun, and the thousand island sauce served on the side allowed me to temper the juiciness of the sandwich to my individual taste.  I like sauerkraut so I wouldn't have minded a touch more kraut, but the overall taste of the sandwich was so good, as prepared, that the difference was not enough to pick at.

          Donna ordered the "Breaded Gourmet Onion Rings" and the "Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings".  She loved the rings.  They were "crisp" and tasted good.  She hated the boneless wings.  They tasted more mild than "Hot".  Donna thought that maybe the restaurant had somehow gotten the hot sauce mixed up with a touch of barbeque sauce, ruining the intended taste.  She gave the wings an overall thumbs down. 

          Would we try the Thurman Café again?  Probably.  There were so many items on the menu, and the wait staff were so friendly, that it might be worth giving the restaurant another shot.  However, due to the long wait to be seated, and the unpredictability of the taste of the food, we probably will be giving other restaurants a shot at making us happy first before we rush back to the Thurman Café.

Roosters in Washington C.H., Ohio

          My friend Susie and I ate supper at the new Rooster's restaurant at 120 Crossing Dr., Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio this past Wednesday.  They had been open only two days and were doing a booming business.  Our wait time to get a table was about fifteen minutes.  The new restaurant is located in the old Dakota Steakhouse, and except for a few wall decorations, looks pretty much the same as the old restaurant. 

          We ordered the Nachos Deluxe to share, she ordered a Char-grilled sandwich, and I ordered the Roosters Traditional Wings with "Hot" sauce.  The Nachos tasted good, but were not as good as those I've had in other restaurants.  Susie found her sandwich to taste good and to be adequate in all measures, but she still didn't think it was anything to brag about. 

          My wings tasted good, but were nothing to brag about either.  They were supposed to have been tossed in "Hot" sauce, but their clean and dry appearance showed that they were not.  The "Hot" sauce that was in a pool at the bottom of my dish was more of a mild sauce.  It was so mild tasting that I personally considered Rooster's "Hot" sauce category to be false advertising.  In an attempt to make the wings spicier, I liberally sprinkled some of Rooster's hot cayenne pepper sauce directly from the bottle onto my wings, but even that sauce was relatively mild.  It wasn't even half as hot as the normal cayenne hot pepper sauce you can buy in any grocery store!  I decided right then and there that if I ever go back to Rooster's, I will order the hottest sauce possible the next time and see if that sauce is as spicy as it is supposed to be.  I do have to say though, that, considering the price of chicken wings in today's market, the serving size was adequate for the price. 

          I found the service at Rooster's to be problematic.  The waitress was very welcoming and friendly, and very efficient, for her part.  However, there seemed to be problems in the kitchen that translated to problems with my order of wings.  I was served the wrong thing, and it took far too long to get the order straightened out.  When I finally did get my wings, the waitress told me that, because of the mistake and long delay, I would not be charged for them.  Restaurant management charged me anyway.  I didn't care about having to pay for the bad service, because I expect to pay for my meal when I eat at a restaurant anyway, but misleading promises and this kind of inconsistency are totally unacceptable. 

          One small service that would make the restaurant better too, would be that they provide wet wipes for their patrons' sticky hands after they eat all those messy chicken wings.  A dry old paper napkin just won't do the job! 

          Even though I found this visit to Rooster's to be disappointing, I have to note that this particular restaurant had been open for only two days.  One has to expect somewhat of a learning curve, within reason, until employees get more efficient and used to their jobs.  It also seemed like everybody in town was trying the new restaurant this night, and all that traffic had to have had a draining effect on service.  Maybe things will get better in the future as restaurant management and workers get more experienced.  I hope so.      

          In the meantime, Susie and I agreed that we would go back to Rooster's again in the hope that our next experience will be much better.  After all, everybody deserves a second chance … most of the time.