Restaurant Redemption: Terra Cafe

For the past year, I have posted a ton of restaurant reviews. Some good, some bad, many indifferent. When my blog began to pick up some momentum, some restaurants that I've graded low, or maybe not so low, have contacted me in various ways. Some are angry, and some want to know how they can improve my experience.

Restaurant Redemption is a small series I've created that will allow me to give those restaurants who are keeping up with their social media (notably, my blog) and have made an attempt to rectify a poor or mediocre dining experience. For the restaurants that have contacted me, I'm giving it another dining go. For the most part, I will try a different dish and make note of the previous observations about the experience as a whole.

I blogged about Terra Cafe close to their opening and got a lot of feedback about how in the following months, they began to correct some of the issues, like portion size and other hiccups. I went recently with a couple friends to give it another go.

The interior is the same modern, sleekness that exudes young professionalism. It is a cool atmosphere with free wifi and some comfy sitting areas. (Side note: We actually Facebooked Terra late Sunday night to ask if they did have wifi, and they responded right away - nice!)

The wait service was vastly improved, which I expected now that they're seasoned. This time, I went for the Thai Peanut Wrap - "grilled chicken, fresh mango and mixed greens wrapped with Thai peanut sauce. Served with ginger-orange dipping sauce." For my side, I went with hummus and pita. My total this time was more around $11, and the portions were much larger. Unfortunately, I know this is because they're cutting back on the "local" and "organic" food.

The food was great. The wrap had a smart balance of sweet and slightly tangy. The dipping sauce was coarsely ground, and had a little bit of a bite to it. It added some more tang to the dish. And the hummus was great - creamy and had some depth. And, best of all, my tummy was full and happy when I left. They kept the great food (minus that salad...), lowered some of the prices and worked out some of the kinks. It's still on the pricier side for sandwiches and salads, but if they're all this great tasting, it's probably worth it. I know they change the menu seasonally, too, so you might want to check it out to see what your options are. Their Sunday Cajun buffet is also supposed to be good, but I have yet to try it.

Restaurant Redemption: Tudor's Biscuit World

For the past year, I have posted a ton of restaurant reviews. Some good, some bad, many indifferent. When my blog began to pick up some momentum, some restaurants that I've graded low, or maybe not so low, have contacted me in various ways. Some are angry, and some want to know how they can improve my experience.

Restaurant Redemption is a small series I've created that will allow me to give those restaurants who are keeping up with their social media (notably, my blog) and have made an attempt to rectify a poor or mediocre dining experience. For the restaurants that have contacted me, I'm giving it another dining go. For the most part, I will try a different dish and make note of the previous observations about the experience as a whole.

My grading of Morgantown's Tudor's received quite the feedback. I got emails, direct mentions, comments online and in person about the blog. People love this place. I think that's proof enough that my opinion on it isn't that important. The step that made me realize I had to try it again was a personal direct mention from Tudor's Biscuit World's Morgantown twitter handle (@TudorsMotown). It was quite a while ago, but it was something to the tune of - "sorry you had a bad experience, please let us try to serve you again in the future" or something of the sort. I marked it down as a note to try it again at some point in the future.

That some point came recently when the original Tudor's Twitter handle (@TudorsBiscuits) opened a competition for a coupon for a free bigger better combo meal. All you had to do was retweet their tweet, and they picked a winner. Simple. I won.

I don't know if it was strategic or luck, but regardless, I received my coupon for my free bigger, better combo meal and headed to Tudor's. Their promotion is essentially promoting their lunch options. I don't think their breakfast ones need the help. This restaurant (as well as Gino's, which is under their PR roof) is amazing with their PR. Best I've seen a West Virginia restaurant have. So that deserves a second-chance, right?

I've had the breakfast a few times, and I must say - it's not bad. Is it better than comparable breakfast places? I'll plead the fifth. I enjoy the bagel sandwich as opposed to the biscuit. And lots of cheese.

But I was here for their bigger, better $5 combo. That is their menu of a sandwich, fries and a drink for $5. The options are pulled-pork, stacked ham, a hamburger, two hotdogs or hot bologna. I had already reviewed the pork sandwich, and I could get a burger anywhere. I went outside my comfort zone and opted for the stacked ham.

I had actually came around 1 p.m. on a day they closed at noon. So I had to fit time in my schedule to get here before 2 p.m. a different day, which meant a weekend for me. The hours here are difficult. But I drove around back to the drive-thru and once prompted, I said I had a coupon for a free bigger, better combo and I'd like to get the stacked ham sandwich. She asked me to repeat it. So I did. Then she said "One more time?" So I repeated it. Again. She quoted me a price and told me to drive around.

This tells me a few things: 1 - she didn't listen to me tell her that I had a coupon for a FREE meal. 2 - their speak system must not be the greatest. I don't mumble; I've never had this problem anywhere else. I only had to repeat myself three times this time, as opposed to the six times on my first visit, so I suppose reduction by 50% is good.

I pulled around to the front and handed my coupon. They seemed confused. I waited for a good while before the girl at the counter handed me my drink then asked me to pull around to wait for my "fries and stuff" - meaning my one sandwich and fries. No "hi" or "sorry for your wait" or "thank you." So I pulled around front. I saw on their front glass a poster for the bigger, better combo promotion, so apparently they are familiar with it.

After waiting for five minutes or so, the girl came out to my car. She held out the brown paper bag for me to grab while she was still taking an order via her headset. No words were exchanged.

Itook my bag and drove home. Still not ideal customer service here, folks. I waited quite a while. When I say "thank you" when you hand me something, the least you could do is say "you're welcome."

When I got home, I took a bite of my sandwich. It was surprisingly better than I thought it'd be. I liked the salty, thinly sliced ham. The crisp, fresh lettuce, but I think it was missing their "special sauce." Some sauce, some cohesive element was missing to pull all these together. I assume their sweet, "special" sauce does that, but it appeared mine was at a loss for it.

The fries weren't bad - not crisp - more potatoey and less grease than, say, McDonalds. The food isn't bad. Had it had the sauce, it probably would've actually been pretty good. The workers at this location seem to need some more practice. Or maybe the tow times I've gone have just been coincidental. Regardless, the food isn't bad. The PR here is phenomenal, and if this is something that is near and dear to your heart, you don't need me to tell you what to like anyway. Everyone who has grown up with this restaurant has their opinions.

Restaurant Redemption: Richwood Grill

For the past (almost) year, I have posted a ton of restaurant reviews. Some good, some bad, many indifferent. When my blog began to pick up some momentum, some restaurants that I've graded low, or maybe not so low, have contacted me in various ways. Some are angry, and some want to know how they can improve my experience.

Restaurant Redemption is a small series I've created that will allow me to give those restaurants who are keeping up with their social media (notably, my blog) and have made an attempt to rectify a poor or mediocre dining experience. For the restaurants that have contacted me, I'm giving it another dining go. For the most part, I will try a different dish and make note of the previous observations about the experience as a whole.

This restaurant redemption is slightly different, as the chef or owner did not reach out to me. Instead, I reached out to them. I've mentioned briefly that I'm writing for Savor WV magazine. For their premiere issue, I was asked to choose a restaurant to write about. The first place that stuck out to me was Richwood Grill because I feel like they encompass everything that is West Virginia. They source their food locally, they help farmers make a living wage, and they do it all the while creating different, amazing dishes.

I had the opportunity to interview him. What a down-to-earth, upstanding man Marion Ohlinger is. He said quite a few things that really resonated with me. One of which is that the steaks they serve are not always incredibly tender - because they're from cows who are free-range and grass-fed. If the steak is very tender, the cow was probably living in a box its whole life. And that's straight from Ohlinger's mouth.

They aim to create things that people haven't seen. So, yeah, sometimes the food is weird. They want to give people something different, something delicious and something real.

I'll wait to divulge too much more information until after the issue is printed, then I'll link that here. But in the midst of all this, he made a dish for me so I could take photos and write about it. (And subsequently, eat it!)

It was a bulgogi porkchop with kimchi and rice. It was awesome to see him prepare it right there in the kitchen and plate it. And, boy, was it gorgeous. The bulgogi, a Korean bbq, was tangy and sweet and delicious. The pork chop had a yummy grilled, smokey flavor. The kimchi added a little more of a sour/bitter taste with a smooth texture. The rice was a perfect complement.


Seeing the dedication the chef has to the dish, as well as the hardwork and thought that goes into each detail makes me fall in love with the restaurant. It also doesn't hurt to have awesome, local, fresh, delicious food in every meal. I love this place.

Restaurant Redemption: Gino's Pizza & Spaghetti (Princeton)

For the past (almost) year, I have posted a ton of restaurant reviews. Some good, some bad, many indifferent. When my blog began to pick up some momentum, some restaurants that I've graded low, or maybe not so low in this case, have contacted me in various ways. Some are angry, and some want to know how they can improve my experience.

Restaurant Redemption is a small series I've created that will allow me to give those restaurants who are keeping up with their social media (notably, my blog) and have made an attempt to rectify a poor or mediocre dining experience. For the restaurants that have contacted me, I'm giving it another dining go. For the most part, I will try a different dish and make note of the previous observations about the experience as a whole.

On my recent blog about Gino's in Princeton (technically, Athens), the marketing director commented:

"Hi, Candace. My name is Carey and I work in the Marketing Department at Gino's Pizza & Spaghetti House. We're glad you enjoyed your pizza and cheese breadsticks during your recent visit. And we appreciate your candor regarding our spaghetti. Will you please email me (carey@ginospizza.com) so we can discuss further? Thank you"

So I emailed Carey saying I'd be happy to discuss my experience, and she responded with questions concerning the menu board I saw. I had noted that I saw a photo of a plate of spaghetti with two meatballs on it on the menu, and what I was served was a pile of spaghetti with meat sauce. Carey said that this was an issue they recognized and were going to rectify the problem.

"I have spoken with our upper management and we are devising a plan to fix this problem - in each of our 38 locations. It may take a little time, but we want to remedy this so that every guest is clear about what they are ordering ... Thank you for your insight. Feedback like yours helps us to improve the dining experience for every Gino's guest."

Apparently there is a bit of sign confusion. There are two different spaghetti dishes, but the restaurant only offered one - and the photo was of the one they didn't offer. But, I was very happy she took the time to figure out a problem and quickly implement a solution. A few emails and a couple of days later, I received three coupons in the mail from Gino's. One for a sandwich, a large one-topping pizza and a pasta dish.

I ventured back to today to use up my coupons. As soon as we walked in, I instantly noticed that the menu boards were different. No longer was the spaghetti with two plump meatballs featured in the overhead menu - or anywhere else. In fact, the menu seems to have been redone - much cleaner and more concise.

I handed my coupons to the woman behind the counter. She looked befuddled. I started listing off what I wanted: a pepperoni pizza, a baked lasagna and a philly cheesesteak sandwich. Why? Because I wanted to try something different. I stood back while she didn't say anything for an awkward minute. Finally, she said, "Where'd you get these?"

I wasn't really sure how to respond to that. That's kind of imposing? I pointed to the back of one card where Carey so kindly wrote that I was able to use all three coupons on one visit and signed her name. The woman behind the counter seemed to perk up. "Oh. Okay. It'll be about 25 to 30 minutes," she said.

We left for awhile & Chris picked up the order. He arrived with three treats - a large box, a smaller box and a bag. The first thing I did was open the pizza. While most of it looked delicious, it was pretty burnt around one edge. And the pepperonis got pretty crisp, too. After eating around the bad spots, though, it was the same delicious pizza I had once before. It's thin-crusted, with loads of stringy cheese. I'd be happy to do without the pepperoni.

Then, I opened the box containing an aluminum container full of baked lasagna. Not as pretty as it would have been, I assume, had I not ordered it to-go. It's a decent portion, and not too shabby tasting, either. The meat sauce tasted strikingly like a batch of chili. In fact, it was nearly identical. The cheese could have been more prominent, but fairly average overall. A bag of garlic bread was included in the box, which was delicious when warm with buttery deliciousness and garlic.

Finally, it was time to try their philly steak sub. It was split in two good-sized halves, which was perfect for Chris and I. It has shaved steak, cheese, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. This was tasty, though I do wish it had more cheese, I wasn't disappointed.

Overall, my meal was pretty good. It was tasty, free and convenient. Does it get much better than that? I really like Gino's, and their pizza is really starting to move up my pizza rankings.

I do not aim to act as though my second time around that all is perfect. That's not what a review is about. However, it is a good opportunity to see what problems have been fixed and try out a different mean to see where it ranks. I think it's obvious that this restaurant is aiming to please. The menu changed quickly, and that's not always easy to do.

I think there is something to be said for a dining establishment that is so concerned with each and every customer that not only do they keep up-to-date on their social media standing, but they also reach out to customers in a very proactive way. It's one thing to follow-up to address concerns; it's a whole other thing to go out of their way to send coupons to ensure I dine there again.

With good food, excellent customer service and it being a local dining chain, there's really no reason to not go here.