Il Corso Ristorante

I figure it is about time I wrote about a local restaurant - okay so it is a 40 minute drive and that local. A restaurant that my brother and his wife introduced us to - Il Corso is located in Orangeville, On. I have been there twice now and have enjoyed dinner both times.

The first time we went my brother noticed his favorite waiter working there that used to work at an Italian restaurant  in Brampton. We unfortunately were not sitting in his section that time but upon our return we were placed in his section. If you get Al (I believe that is his name), I will warn you he is a little brash but he is a no bull-sh$t kind of guy and I like that. He gave us top notch service and looked after our every need. But he also took the time to joke with us and made us enjoy our experience.

down to the food...

For an app we enjoy their Antipasti dish of grilled vegetables, cold meats, fruit, & Bocconcino cheease - called Stuzzinchino della Casa. The main I have enjoyed the veal scallopini in a marsala sauce. Yes I have had the veal dish both times - but I enjoy it.

My brother and his wife go there often and I have not heard anything bad. Both times we have gone, we also have enjoyed our dishes. Also, dinners there are also very reasonable. 

Currently my only qualm is it appears no one has updated the menu on their website in a while. But it gives you an idea.

Food 4 stars
Server 4 stars

http://www.ilcorsoristorante.ca/

Grover's Bar & Grill

On our recent road trip, we decided to have lunch just across the boarder on our way to Waterloo. Little did my wife know I had already decided to hit a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. The place is located a short drive away from the I-90 and about a 35 minute drive from the Queenston/Lewiston Bridge.

Grover's is a small restaurant and chances are when you arrive the place will be full. Have no fear the tables turn pretty quick. If by chance when you arrive it is full there is a chalk board that you put your name on. We lucked when we arrived, our name was first on the chalk board and we were called within 10 minutes.

This place is well known for its burgers - so guess what I had? Now these burgers are 12 ounces - for the Canadian that is 3/4 of a pound. Yes, that is one hell of a big burger.  I also teamed it up with their onion rings. Now I am not a big guy - nor am I a small one at that, but I did put one heck of a good dent into that burger. My wife was able to eat just over half. Personal suggestion is to share the side with someone.

Now this place is just as great as Guy Fieri suggests, so this write up is pretty unnecessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHmwDMKpeq0

Food 4.5
Service 4

Penny's Place

Yes, I am still working with Waterloo, NY but this will be my last post from that town as this was the only other restaurant we visited in that town. It is located back in from the road in a plaza – you have to make sure you look for it or you may drive by. It is in the same plaza as a TSC (Tractor Supply Company) but all the cars that morning I believe were for Penny’s.

This place is your typical small town, greasy spoon, personable diner. Big portions of yumminess. The staff there pretty well treat you like you are their old friends and are nice and at tentative.

My wife and I hit this place for breakfast I did a quick look see on the internet before we went there after the mistake I had made the night before. Someone said the place was great for breakfast – well that sold me. I LOVE my breakfast’s – if you want to get on my bad side quick serve me a crappy breakfast.

All I can say was the portions were big and filling which was something we were looking for that day. I had a typical eggs, toast, hash brown, and corn beef hash (holy big serving on the corn beef hash). The corn beef hash was great – was it home made? I don’t know – it appeared that way. My wife – she inhaled her breakfast but if memory serves me correctly – French toast- she shared my hash browns.

Our server was also great – on the move all the time looking after her tables without missing a beat. Sorry I did not get her name but she was about 4 foot nothing (okay maybe 5’) short hair and kind of talked with a lisp.

Food – 4 stars

Server – 4.5 stars

Abigail's Restaurant

On my recent visit to Waterloo, NY with my wife, brother & his family, my wife and I were tasked to find a restaurant for dinner on the night of our arrival. We drove around and noticed this restaurant around the corner from our hotel. The parking lot was packed, and with the old idea of ‘if the parking lot is packed it must be good’ – how wrong we were!

First off, by the time we got there it appeared the dinner rush had moved on, the parking lot was still pretty full but I assume every one in there drove their own car there – staff included. We still had to wait quite a while before anyone acknowledged us being there – warning #1. It appeared we were all on the verge of leaving until the bartender asked if anyone had looked after us. He wandered off and spoke to the hostess who pointed at table “they can have that one” – yet still full of dishes from someone else’s dinner – this should have been warning #2.

Now walking into the restaurant I saw a poster advertising that what I thought was them being famous for their chicken wings that peaked my attention but to my dismay when I opened the menu there was no mention of them. So the best I could assume was they don’t serve wings. I love wings! Too bad.

Not a lot of items peaked my attention in the menu and pretty much anyone sitting nearby was finished their dinner so I could not get ideas that way. I decided to go with a veal dish made with a white wine sauce and lemon with mushrooms. It sounded remotely interesting, and my brother ordered the same dish. You find that when my brother and I go out together we have similar tastes – as our wives laugh at.

When the plate was dropped in front of us all I could see was a sea of white liquid and a pile of mushrooms. Somewhere underneath was the veal drowning in the sauce. Both my brother and I agreed that the lemon was overpowering the sauce. Both of our wives had a pasta dish, my wife ate half, my sister-in-law was put off by the amount of oil at the bottom.

The only saving grace about this restaurant was our waitress was really nice and tried to pay attention to detail.

Only after we got back to our hotel did I start to look up other places to eat in the area did I notice a write-up on tripadvisor.com about this restaurant – oops! I would have avoided it.

This is not some place I will return to in the near or possible distant future

http://www.abigailsrestaurant.com/ 

Food 1.5

Waitress – 3.5

Hostess - 1

Magee Country Diner Inc

So, recently I went down to Waterloo, NY which is approximately 30-40 minutes east of Rochester just off the I-90. I was there with my wife and my brother and his family to catch a Lacrosse game that my Nephew was playing in against a local college – Hobart.

My wife and I had scouted the night before a different diner which we visited – a write up to come about that place. But you know the old saying of restaurants – you generally look for the one with the most vehicles around it and you will be safe going there.

The Magee Country Diner is exactly that, it is a country diner, having lovely mature ladies (notice I did not say old) for waitresses. The décor is countryish  - with pine benches, and booths, with your typical country fare surrounding the walls.

Now, my wife’s favorite question she asks servers if she has never been to a restaurant before is “what is your favorite dish?”  Except this time she got the reply “well I am a vegetarian”. This would not be a problem except we are not vegetarians. But she was able to rime off a number of dishes that are popular with the locals.

Myself, I ordered their roast turkey dinner. A large mound appeared before me of white breast turkey, mashed potatoes stuffing, all topped with gravy, and carrots. Everything home made. My wife and sister-in-law had the hot turkey sandwich – turkey on bread & gravy, potatoe or fries on the side. My brother had the meatloaf. My Nephew had an interesting dish called pork wings – these are essentially breaded pork ribs that cut into the size of chicken wings, they are then deep fried and served with a wing sauce of choice. I entrust they were good as he inhaled them pretty fast.

First bite into the turkey and gravy I was hooked – this place is definitely on my list to return to. It is also conveniently 10 minutes away from the Waterloo outlet mall and just off the I-90 highway.

mageediner.com

Star Rating out of 5

Food – 4

Service – 4

Cleanliness – 4