After a long day of vacation excitement, we were at a standstill about dinner. Bluey, who had a rough patch in the middle of the day and was exhausted, wanted spaghetti marinara and French fries. Plum wanted a sandwich. TR Mom and Dad wanted a peaceful and relaxing end to the day.
We did a quick internet search at a few of our usual road trip chains, but couldn’t find one with the right combination of demanded menu items. We were pondering this dilemma in a parking lot at the mall, when we spotted an unfamiliar restaurant: The 54th Street Grill. TR Dad ran inside to investigate.
He spoke with the manager/host and laid out the situation: Did they have vegetarian marinara? Did they have fries? The manager showed TR Dad the kid’s menu, where a child can pick an entrée and then select separately from the abundant sides list. Each meal includes a drink and dessert in the fixed price. Perfect!
54th Street Grill is a chain with restaurants in southern Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Texas. The style is casual dining and the menu includes far more veggie friendly options than we’ve seen at other similar chains. But as is true always, it is the staff that seals the deal on a good restaurant experience. And the workers at 54th Street Grill were excellent.
When the whole fam came in, we were immediately shown to our table, the host started talking to Bluey about StarWars and challenging him to find all the hidden StarWars items among the posters and souvenirs hanging on the wall. He revealed that he had a custom “Star Warz” license plate. These simple gestures set the tone for our tired Bluey. He was delighted to make a new friend, and immediately set out to find all the hidden memorabilia.
Our service was quick and friendly and our food was delicious. Everyone in the family found something good to eat—TR Mom and Dad scarfed on veggie burgers, an unexpected treat!
Sometimes fate drops you in front of the very best place. We couldn’t have hoped for a better dinner than the one got at 54th Street Grill that night.