Eat It: Susan’s

Susan’s offers a solid day’s special

1440 W. Sunset Ave.
Springdale
751-1445

By Rachel Birdsell

TFW Contributing Writer

Preamble Ramble

I have to be honest. Susan’s wasn’t on my list of restaurants to review. Nor was it recommended by one of you. Instead, Susan’s was the choice after trying two different spots only to find one not open and the other only accepted cash, and at that moment, I had about $2.38 on me.

I had eaten breakfast at Susan’s many times, but I’d never tried lunch there. This time I did, and here’s what I found.

 

Food For Thought

 

I ordered one of the day’s specials, which was corned beef and cabbage. For my sides, I chose mashed potatoes and gravy, brown beans and cucumber salad.

The corned beef and cabbage wasn’t anything to make me shout “sure and begorrah,” which is probably a good thing because I’m not even sure what that means. It was OK corned beef and cabbage, but the corned beef didn’t really taste like corned beef. In fact, it tasted like cabbage. I love cooked cabbage, but I don’t want my meat tasting like it. The cabbage was tasty, but it was a little too overcooked for my taste.

The potatoes tasted like instant, so we all know what happened to them. I flung them at my fellow diners. Not really, I just left them untouched on my plate.

 

The brown beans were good, they just needed a little salt to pep them up. They were heavily seasoned with black pepper, which is awesome if you like black pepper. I do, so we were good to go.

The cucumber salad was so much better than anything I expected. It was sliced cucumbers, green pepper, red onions and tomato chunks all mixed in a lovely oil and vinegar dressing. But the best thing is that it was loaded with garlic flavor. It was a bit salty, but other than that it was the best cucumber salad I’ve ever had the pleasure to introduce to my taste buds.

 

The Sporkcast

(1-5 sporks)

 

Atmosphere: 4 low-key sporks that talk in whispers. The decor is rather subdued and sedate at Susan’s. To be honest (again), I can’t think of anything in particular that stood out about the decor. That’s probably a good thing, because it means there’s a good chance there weren’t dead animals staring down at me while I ate.

Food: 4.25 solid steel sporks with cast iron handles. The food wasn’t spectacular, but it was very solid. The portions were all just the right size for me.

Staff: 5.0 sporks who talked like Flo from “Alice.” The staff was wonderful. They were all very friendly and were even nice to each other. I wish the staff at all restaurants were like these women. They definitely improved my lunch.

Dollars spent: I paid around $9 for my meal and a sweet tea.

Chance of returning: I don’t know if I’d make a special trip to Susan’s, but if I happen to be up in Springdale and I’m craving comfort food, I’d certainly stop in for a plate of something good.

If you know of a great eating place, drop me a line at rabirdsell@gmail.com. I’ll check it out and let you know what I think.