Don’t ask how it happened, but the other night we found ourselves at Weber Grill for dinner with the kids. We had been once before (I reviewed it then too) and thought it was okay, and so we decided to give it another go and order dinner this time.
First of all, the place was quite busy for the middle of the week. We were promptly seated in a nice booth and the kids given those very cool triangular crayons that don’t roll (but which my son still managed to drop on the floor several times anyway). The kids were hungry for their dinner, so we skipped any real appetizers and just ordered dinner.
Hubby did have a Ceasar salad to start. It was not very good. It suffered from the problem that plagues so many Caesars in restaurants—the dressing was totally flat. My own recipe calls for (among other things) vinegar, Dijon mustard, anchovy as well as fresh lemon on the leaves before dressing. No way is that combo flat tasting. This dressing tasted creamy, but without any of the balanced character from the zippy ingredients. I rarely order Caesars out because honestly, I think our homemade dressing is one of the best I have ever had. (Who do you think has a good Caesar around town?)
I was going to get the prime rib until I saw they designated the filet as the house specialty (8 oz for $27) and I switched my order at the last minute. My filet was good. The meat quality was decent and it was cooked medium rare. I ordered it with the herb/blue cheese topping option, which tasted ok—the blue cheese probably wasn’t the best quality in the world, but gave you that zip that I wanted. The herbs gave the concoction a strange green hue which was just a teeny bit off-putting. The mashed potatoes were bad. I don’t know if it was the potatoes they used, whether they were over-whipped or had just been heated too long, but they were really kind of glutenous and sticky. They weren’t worth eating.
Hubby had a ribeye and was very disappointed with it. It was pretty pricy (around $38) and just lacked anything to make it stand out. Considering the meats are all supposed to be grilled on the Weber grills, it didn’t have much flavor. It was also a touch overcooked. Hubby also concurred with me about the potatoes (all the dishes came with the same side).
The kids both had the pizza kid’s meals. I thought the little plates were cute—sort of like old school cafeteria plates with little compartments. You get your main entrée in the big compartment (the pizza) and then you also get a side of fruit, broccoli and tater tots. The kids did not like the pizza at all. I don’t know if this is the same crust that they use on their grilled pizzas, but it was not a very good crust. There wasn’t a lot of cheese on it and honestly, it didn’t look very appetizing. They did enjoy the ice cream that came with the meal, and ate bits and pieces of the side dishes, but overall, I think we agreed as a family that we probably wouldn’t be back.
Our server was quite good and was right on top of anything we needed or wanted and made sure our drinks were always full. The experience at this restaurant was exactly the kind of thing that depresses me about Indy sometimes. You go into these chains, many of them look so similar to others, they are packed full of people, and the food is so inferior to so many other places that struggle. I can understand the idea that sometimes people want familiarity and comfort, but it so often seems to come at the price of culinary quality. I mean if it is a consistently good product (and there are a few chains that we frequent in our family), that is one thing. But settling for something familiar but not very good is another. I honestly don’t understand it.
Weber Grill
Indy 46204
317-636-7600
