ZUBS

This place is hands down my favorite sandwich joint.  Zubs in Springville.  They have been around for 20 years.  It is just a little take out joint on Main Street.  They have pizza and salads and baked good as well.  I could eat there every day!  I took a friend there the other day and he is a sandwich buff, after eating his first bight he was hooked.

The bread is fresh, homemade, soft and perfect.  You can choose white or wheat.  The sandwiches are quite large.  A six inch is about $5.  A 12 inch is about $9.  I would say the width of the sandwich is close to 4 inches.  The toppings vary greatly and are also fresh delicious and plentiful.  There are combinations all ready made up for you or you can create your own.  You can choose to have it warmed up, for sure do that!  Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmm!

Now, for the cinnamon roll, it has to be one of the best, if not THE best one I've ever had.  It was the perfect balance of frosting to bread.  It was a mild cream cheese frosting.  I am not  a huge cream cheese frosting fan, but I thought this was right on. It had such a soft, sweet, fabulous texture and flavor.  I would say it tops cinnamon rolls from  Kneaders,  Shirleys,  Provo Bakery and Great Harvest!

CRACKER BARREL

My sisters and I dined at Cracker Barrel recently and I have to say, it wasn't all bad.  For the most part, you get what you pay for at Cracker Barrel and you really can't ask for much more than that.  Before you ever get to the dining room, it's fun to browse their country store.  I really like this store.  It may be kitschy or what not, but it's well-organized and themed and has some fun products.  I really like their candy selection: novel, nostalgic stuff.  Our kids enjoyed the toys and they always have seasonal goods and I think it's really fun to look around and maybe pickup a birthday gift for the kids' friends or maybe something for grandma.

Now, of course, Cracker Barrel is not fine dining. There were lots of dishes (there were seven of us), kids menus, crayons, peg board games, straw papers, dessert menus and more cluttering up the table. It comes with the territory I know, but I do wish it could be different. I ordered meatloaf.  It came with three sides and biscuits and/or cornbread muffin. I got the greens and mashed potatoes for me and applesauce which I gave to my daughter. I also got one biscuit and one corn muffin.  It was all good.  Nothing great, but really it wasn't bad either.  The meatloaf is good and the greens may be watery and overcooked, but with the pepper vinegar sprinkled on top they were enjoyable.  All the food was hot.  It came on four different dishes though.  (I wasn't kidding when I said the table was cluttered!)  I think it was about $8. 

 I wanted my daughter to have the kids' cherry pancakes.  I asked if I could get them after the meal.  They said they would try.  They came out first! So it goes at Cracker Barrel, right? We still ate them for dessert.  They were just cold, but the cherry-topped stack really is good.  They are $4 on the kids menu.

By the way, on the actual dessert menu, they have desserts for $4 and under.  You don't see desserts for this price too many places. We tried the apple cobblerish dish.  It was big and homemade and warm and came with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.  Not bad.  The dessert was on the house because we were celebrating a birthday, so in this case, it was without question, worth the price!

At any rate, we had a good time.  Nice server.  Nice price and, at least if you're getting the meatloaf, nice enough food.   So for now, remember to Live to Eat!    -Shannon

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MAIZE GRILL

 I forgot what they call these cheese stick things!

 Ham and Cheese 

 Chicken

 Empanada

 Hot & Mild Sauce

 Chicken Arepas

 Beef Arepas

 The Menu

I hit up this new place for the second time today!  Over all I really like what I get!  The Maize Grill is a new Venezuelan place.  It is in the University Mall in Orem. It is in a very obscure spot.  I just happened to run upon it a while back.  I don't think they have been open for more than a month or so.  It is down a relatively empty hall way close to See's Chocolates on the old Mervyns side.  It is a family run business.

We got two Arepas.  They are a little sandwich made on a round dense corn meal bread.  You can choose beef, chicken or pork. Both of the meats we got were delicious.  My favorite is the beef.  And, I am not much of a beef person.  The meat is shredded and moist, a little juicy, and seasoned just right.  You also choose between cheddar cheese and Frisco cheese.  I have to say the frisco was really tasty and when I go back, I will get that kind from now on.  It is a smooth, mild, soft white cheese.  I would say it is similar to mozzarella, but it has more flavor.  Then you can add chopped onion, tomato and avocado.  I get all three!  That combination was yummy! The first time I went, the toppings were included.  This time they charge you for each of those three things you add.  I thought that was pretty silly.  The sandwich without the toppings is $4.  If you add the extra's it is like 60 cents more.  Lastly, you have a choice of mild or hot sauce.  The mild is my favorite, it is green and a little sweet, but full of flavor.  The hot is not too hot, which I actually like, it is orange and it has a medium kick with a little less flavor in my opinion.  I think these arepas sandwich's are great.  I'm not sure if the $4.60 is a great price.
We also got two empanadas.  Honestly, I did not like them at all.  They were kind of tough and crispy on the outside and there wasn't a ton of filling in the middle.  They were $3 each and I thought that was far too much.  They threw in one of the cheese stick things just for us to try.  I am sorry I can't remember what they are called!  It was alright.  It was super greasy, not enough cheese, too much dough and just a little plain and boring. I definitely would not order them.  On top of that they cost $6 for 6 of them.
The first time I went we got a juice that was totally not worth it or very tasty at all either.
They had a number of other things on the menu that I would like to go back and try.  They had tamale's, sweet corn cakes, rice and beans, etc.
The actual restaraunt is very small.  You feel crammed and you have no privacy what so ever.  It is new and warm and clean though.
They served the food in baskets.  I thought it was kind of cool.
All in all, I recommend you giving it a try!  Then, let me know what you think!
-Summer

Introduction & La Jolla Groves

Okay, for a first review, I need to make a few things clear: I am very picky. I consider all aspects of a dining experience: the utensil, the plate, the chair, the noise level, the lighting, the menu options, the menu layout, the temperature of the food, the service, the price and I could go on. I have never dined at the "perfect" restaurant. Just like there is no perfect presidential candidate (No, Mitt is not perfect. But he is so completely and totally and 100% better than Newt!) there is also no perfect restaurant. However, I'm completely devoted to trying to disprove my theory. Mama's Fish House in Maui gave it a good go, but alas, it's not perfect either. Perfectly wonderful, delicious and delightful, so often means perfectly expensive it seems. So, having said that, I'll give my two cents on the La Jolla Grove in Provo at the Riverwoods Mall.

I actually can't give you a full and complete review, because it has been nearly nine months since I dined there. I've been three times: May 24, 2011; Nov. 1, 2010 and the end of July 2010. I don't always remember the very day I eat somewhere, but in this case, I happen to recall the date. However, I can't recall what I ate! That's a bad sign, isn't it? First off, when we went last time, we had a fine time, but there were not very many people there and I felt very much like I had to whisper or the other parties dining would hear my every word. Not enough energy, noise and infrastructure to make me feel super relaxed and comfortable.

Secondly, when I dined there in July of 2010 we were served a warm assortment of rolls. Not last time. No assortment. Not warm. Not impressed. They have a bakery on site, but I felt like the rolls had come from some other source other than La Jolla. Go figure. By the way, if you serve me warm, fresh baked rolls or bread, it's such a great way to make me happy, very happy. Speaking of the bakery, the first time we went, we tasted the lemon sweet roll on the dessert menu. It was excellent -- lemony, chewy and delicious. However, it wasn't cheap and I remember thinking I'd stick with my Rhodes Orange Rolls to satisfy my sweet roll craving.

As far as the food, I think my husband got a salad with watermelon in it. He liked it. I thought it was small and personally I feel like watermelon doesn't quite fit in a green salad; however, I realize it works for some. I like the fact that there are sandwiches on the dinner menu (at least that was the case last year). Who says a sandwich can only be for lunch?

The service has been pleasant and orderly and the lemon trees are nice. La Jolla means 'the jewel' in Spanish. Calling it 'the jewel' and then having lemon trees all over doesn't quite gel for me, but that probably doesn't really matter too much to too many. Remember, I did say I was very picky! I just kind of want it to be called The Lemon Grove, that's all. Oh and by the way, what's in a name anyway? To me it really does matter. The Pie Dump and the Pita Pit may have decent food, but it's hard for me to get past the name. I didn't dine at the Cheesecake Factory for years -- just don't like the name.

For being a food review, I've said very little about the food; but once again, I remember very little about the food. I do have a daughter that really loves the shrimp pasta dish. I've heard Malawi's Pizza is under the same management. I think you can get similar dishes there for a little less moola. Don't quote me on that though. Of course, to quote me, you'd have to read me and I'm not sure anyone has or will or if they have if they ever will again. I hope so. This could be fun, but it will be way more fun, if you tell us what you think too! -Shannon

(La Jolla Groves 4801 North University Avenue #610 Provo, UT 84604 (801) 224-5111)

They have a variety of luscious lemon desserts.

Filet Minon & Homemade Steak Fries

Apple and Apricot Salad

Turkey Sandwich

I went to La Jolla Groves just this past weekend and it was probably my fourth time going there. I went with a group of friends. One of these friends is super health conscious. She loves this place! It is one of her favorite restaurants. Her favorite is the mushroom soup. One friend has never been there before and was absolutely dragging his feet because he had no desire to go. He was pleasantly surprised! He really liked the food and said he would go back! A common thing I hear from people is that is is expensive and you get small portions. I personally feel like it is hit and miss. I love the lemon trees. I love the healthy perspective. I can tell the food is really fresh. I got the bruschetta once and was so disappointed, I didn't even eat it. It was sun dried tomatoes which is untraditional for bruschetta. The description didn't mention it on the menu that it was sun dried tomatoes, it would have been a good thing to have on there. I did get a warm basket of rolls, both white and wheat homemade delicious rolls. Definitely a good start to a meal! The service was nice, patient, friendly, informative and pleasant. They had a water boy that constantly came around and it was great. The food took a way long time to come out. Too long. It was a busy Saturday night, I will give them that. I sampled all the dishes at my table. My favorite by far is the Turkey sandwich. It was fresh, it had soft yummy bread, great pesto sauce and was just the right combination of flavor, color and texture. It hit the spot! I have bought the whole wheat bread from the bakery and it was delicious. All in all I would recommend it, but not to anyone on a tight budget and a big appetite! -Summer