★★★★ (4 Stars)

IHOP Cafe - Downtown

IHOP Cafe just opened at the Vistana today.  I visited expecting them to not be fully prepared as the Grand Opening isn’t until next week, but I am pleased to say they seemed to have everything down perfectly.

IHOP Cafe is more a coffee shop than an IHOP restaurant.  It has a coffee shop feel and they provide free Wi-Fi.  IHOP Cafe has a truncated food menu perfect for this coffee shop concept.  The menu includes mini pancakes with or without toppings, omelets, wraps, mini melts (slider type burgers), and salads.

The coffees and drinks include brewed coffee, espressos, iced coffee, blended coffee and tea.  They also compliment their drink menu with milkshakes and 4 smoothies.

The pancakes were really good; just as you would expect from an IHOP.  I ordered a mocha espresso and I’d say that could use a little work as their competitor’s have a lighter, sweeter, more full flavor.

Overall I’ll probably make this a regular stop especially when I need a coffee kick before heading into work.

IHOP Cafe Pancakes

★★★ (3 Stars)

Across from Hotel Valencia sits an almost unnoticeable cafe popular to the business crowd who visit for a quick coffee and breakfast sandwich or taco.

If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat and to be frugal at the same time, Matinee Cafe offers a moderate selection at decent prices.  The breakfast offerings, sandwiches, tacos and a small omelette,  are excellent and where else in San Antonio can you get a sausage and egg croissant or English muffin for under $3?  The staff was really friendly and seemed to know the regulars.  There’s definitely a good feeling in this restaurant.

I haven’t tried their sandwiches, at lunch, but these also seem promising.  They have Reubens, BLTs, Clubs, among other sandwiches, all of which come on your choice of bread and with chips for about $5 to $6.  Like I said, I don’t know what the sandwiches are like, but I’ll definitely update once I go by for lunch.

★★★ (3 Stars)

Steaks 'n Cakes - Blythe, CA

We stopped in the small town of Blythe, on the way to Phoenix,  wondering what the heck we were going to eat for lunch. . .  There was a McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Denny’s, Taco Bell. . .  We could get these anywhere, so we ventured on into Blythe on some side road finding that most restaurants were closed and boarded up.  Finally, we came upon Steaks ‘n Cakes.

Steaks and Cakes is a diner-type restaurant offering the regular burgers, sandwiches, and salads.  Listening to the locals speak with a drawl reminded me of the country.  So, as soon as my eyes peered down the menu and found Chicken Fried Steak, I hoped it would be reminiscent of the good stuff I remembered in Texas.

Served with corn and mashed potatoes, the chicken fried steak indeed was good.  It was not the manufactured, machine pounded and pressed crap you find in the frozen aisle of your local grocery store.  Oh, no.  It looked and tasted the real deal.  It came paired with a gigantic, chef’s salad and for the price, was perfect.

I’m sure glad we didn’t stop at the regular, monotonous,  commercial, burger and pizza places.  And, the boarded up restaurants were apparently out of business for good reason.  I don’t know what the rest of the items on the menu are like, but I’d sooner stop in at Steaks ‘n Cakes for Chicken Fried Steak, than in any of the corporate places, if I ever find myself in Blythe again; for whatever reason that may be.