You know, I'm not big on chain restaurants, but I have this thing about Ted's Montana Grill steakhouses. The food is consistently good, the service - while it may be over the top at times - is good, as well. If I'm hungry, but not in the mood to go out and try and find some place to eat that I'm not familiar with - and there's a Ted's in the area - I'll go there.
However, I had gotten kind of stagnant in my ordering at Ted's Montana Grill. It seemed all I ever ordered in the past was the bison filet with the garlic mashed potatoes. The night I went to the Ted's in Wichita, I was in the mood to try something different.
Ted's Montana Grill actually calls themselves a classic American grill that specializes in comfort food. Although I can't say that steak is what I would call comfort food, they do have comfort favorites such as pot roast, slow roasted pork, country fried chicken and some other "stick to your ribs" meals.
However, they also have a variety of both bison and beef hamburgers on the menu. I'd heard they cooked a pretty good burger and I was kind of in the mood for a good burger that evening. So I sat at the bar and ordered just a good ol' fashioned cheddar cheese bison burger with a side of their "salt 'n' pepper" onion rings.
Actually, I ordered the burger medium rare - worried that it would be overcooked and not too flavorful. However, I forgot that this was Ted's, the place that makes thick bison filets nice and juicy. It was a little undercooked, but edible enough.
And it was good. It would have been better had it been cooked about another two minutes on each side, but it was as good as advertised. But it wasn't cheap - with cheese the bison burger was $10.59.
Once again, the service was good, but a little too fake. The two bartenders were attentive, but a little too scripted to be sincere enough in their service.
Next time I go to Ted's, I'll have to try the pot roast or some comfort food and then report about that in the "Comfort Food" category. But for now, the bison burger was very good and I'd highly recommend it. Just be sure to order it medium...
(Update - In the fall of 2010, Ted's Montana Grill closed a number of restaurants in the Midwest including the one in Wichita. I'm sure the economic stress over the past couple of years had something to do with it, considering how the aerospace and aircraft industry had taken a hit during that time. And since that's Wichita's largest economic sector, I'm sure places like Ted's suffered.)
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