The Carving Station Lake Worth, FL.

The Carving Station is a buffet style restaurant located in Lake Worth, Fl on the South East corner of Jog Rd and Lake Worth Rd.

I'll start this review by saying that we fully expected to be disappointed by this restaurant. It's located in a shopping center that just lost its anchor store Winn-Dixie, and the whole plaza has been in what seemed like a downward spiral for a few years.

We arrived around 11:30, and were some of the first customers of the day. I will admit my surprise at just how clean the place was. Everything in the restaurant seemed to gleam and the decor reminded us of a vintage type of diner.





As we walked in the manager/owner (I forgot to get his name) welcomed us very warmly. He told us to take a look around, and that if we liked what we saw to have a seat and dig in. He let us know the prices which were amazingly reasonable, the full lunch price was $7.99 per person or you could get just a soup & salad buffet for $6.29.

We took him up on his suggestion and checked out what they had to offer. Just on a quick walk through we noticed they had several stations set up. These included a cold food section that served salad, bread, and cold pasta. A hot food section that had 4 different kinds of soups, tacos/chips & salsa station and a hot food and carving section. They also have a cakes/desert section for a small additional fee.

After looking around we liked what we saw and decided to stay. The wife and the little guy started out with some salad. She said that the tomatoes tasted fresh off the vine, and they had what looked and tasted like "in-house made croutons". She only had one minor complaint, and it wasn't on the food itself but on the layout of the salad bar. Which was, with her pregnant belly, a little hard to reach the iceberg lettuce. The iceberg was placed near the back and they had a romain lettuce and bean sprouts in the front.

All of the food served appeared and tasted "home made". I've got to add that buffet's are a guilty pleasure of ours and usually at most buffets the emphasis is on quantity not quality. The food at the Carving Station was great, I was especially happy with the mac & cheese. It wasn't just an average dish, it had a lightly baked crust on top and several additional seasonings. Everything else was also very good -- from the mashed potatoes and 2 types of gravy, to the 3 or 4 types of chicken and everything in between.

Our server wasn't the most smiley person in the world at first, but she kept our drinks filled and our tables clear in a quick and efficient manner and she warmed up as the meal went on.

Overall we were highly impressed with this place. If you're a fan of buffets or a fan of good "old fashioned" American style cooking, then you should definitely give this place a shot.


Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: N/A (its a buffet)

Outback Steakhouse Lake Worth, Fl

Another evening out to eat.

Last night, we decided on going to Outback for dinner. We got a little apprehensive as we were pulling into the parking lot as it seemed very full and thought we might be in for a wait. We managed to snag a spot close to the door which is not an inconsequential consideration when you've got a pregnant wifey and a two year old. It was actually a very nice surprise as we walked in and were seated right away. Our hostess also was able to give us both a booster seat and a high chair for the little guy which was appreciated. Sometimes he likes to sit with the "grown ups" and sometimes he needs to be in the highchair.

The food overall was good, the wifey ordered the new Teriyaki Fillet Medallions cooked medium which also comes with a flavored rice and green beans. I tried some of hers and the filet's were melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a very nice Teriyaki "twang" flavor that didn't over power the flavor of the meat. She said that both the rice and green beans were also really flavorful and that this is a meal she would order again.

I had the old school "Outback Special" the 12oz Sirloin cooked medium rare with a double order of the mashed potatoes. The steak was seasoned well and had that signature Outback flavor, In the future I'll need to remember to order the steak cooked medium as I'd forgot how thick of a cut of meat it is and ordering it medium rare leaves the center a little underdone, but still edible. The potatoes were average, I think they would have been really great if Outback had some sort of "gravy option" to add to it, unfortunately you can only get the regular garlic mashed potatoes.

Our little guy got a cheese burger from the kids meal, which was much larger than I thought I'd be, he only manged to eat about 1/3'rd of it before he was full.

The service we received was surprisingly good, our waitress was friendly and took our orders and any requests and took care of them quickly. The only thing I would have to say is that it seemed like it took a little while for the kitchen to get the food out. However, having a hungry toddler and wife probably added to that perception.

All in all, we were happy with our choice to go to the Outback. It was a pleasant night with no problems or complaints. Which sometimes seems like a rare occurrence. Another nice thing is that there were several families with little ones having dinner at the same time. Which, if you don't want to go out and occasionally hear a little one being loud, may not be a good thing. But for families with youngsters who just need a night out, its reassuring to know that you're not "disturbing" most of the other diners, or at least you're not the only one doing it.


Grades
Service: A
Portion Size: B
Food: A