Let's Go Down to the Sunset Grill

By Rachel Birdsell

TFW Contributing Writer

Preamble Ramble

I was poking around thrift stores not too long ago and needed a place to eat. I did a quick Internet search and Sunset Grill showed up. I’d never even heard of it. I’m not sure if it’s relatively new or if I just live under a rock. Anyway, I thought I needed to go check it out and see what was happening. As an aside, the entire time I was eating there, I was singing Sunset Grill by Don Henley in my head. Now that it’s stuck in your head, you’re properly prepped for reading the review.

Food for Thought

After perusing the very eclectic menu, I decided to have a go at the open-faced roast beef sandwich which came with a trip to the salad bar. The salad bar was rather small, but everything was fresh. I especially liked that there were whole green onions for me to munch on. I may or may not have tortured my dining partner with them the rest of the afternoon, too.
The sandwich was piles of roast beef on Texas toast with a small mound of mashed potatoes in the middle. The entire thing was as big as the plate and was smothered with brown gravy. The roast beef was fork tender and muy delicioso. The gravy definitely came from a mix, but the majority of restaurants serve brown gravy from a mix. The mashed potatoes may have been a mix of instant and real potatoes. They were very grainy like you get from instant, but there were chunks of potatoes in them. They were good enough that I plowed through about half of them.
Overall, my lunch was good. It didn’t have me tap dancing on my chair, but it was a solid plate of comfort food.
The Sporkcast
On A Scale Of 1-5 Sporks

Atmosphere: 3.55 sporks from a circa 1983 trailer house in Golden, Texas. The decor at Sunset Grill is like visiting your Great Aunt Georgina’s house, a little mismatched, but completely laid-back and comfortable.

Food: 3.85 sporks that are wrapped in patchwork quilts. The food wasn’t gourmet and may not have been the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant, but it held its own. I must say, though, that my dining partner had the shrimp alfredo and not only do I not recommend it, but I strongly suggest you don’t even glance at it on the menu. The difference between it and my plate of food was like the difference between John Boehner and Jon Bon Jovi.
Staff: 5 sparkling clean sporks with smiley face stickers. My waitress was the absolute best. In fact, she may have been the best waitress in the entire state. She was fast, efficient and knew what I wanted almost before I did.
Dollars Spent: My lunch set me back about 9 dollars which included a glass of mighty fine iced tea.
Chance of Returning: It’s not a restaurant that I would go out of my way to eat at, but if I was in the area. I’d certainly stop in for lunch.

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.