For what it’s worth, Junior’s grill isn’t a bad place to eat. Just don’t take your girlfriend there if it is her birthday. At most meals between 5 and 10 bucks, it’s not hard to understand why students like to come here, especially in large groups, since the tables are large and expansive and set up like Wolf Blitzer’s situation room. However the rest of Junior’s grill looks almost exactly the opposite of the situation room. In fact my first impression was, ‘Was this place built in the 50’s?’
Then I realized that is exactly the look that Junior’s Grill is trying to pull off. On the walls is a myriad of pictures relating to Georgia Tech and the history of Georgia Tech, such as the famous Ramblin Wreck and Tech Tower. Junior’s was opened back in 1948, under the name ‘Pilgrim’s’. Ten years later, it changed its name to the current ‘Juniors’. It is a family owned restaurant. Interesting little tidbit of history there. So naturally the pictures on the wall described the history of the restaurant and the history of Georgia Tech in general. What is peculiar, however, is the massive satellite imagery pictures of the perimeter of Junior’s. I am not sure why they have those up, but the eclectic layout of the pictures may make you scratch your head.
The first time I went to Juniors, I was confused with the whole set up of the restaurant. After my guest and I ordered, we were not sure whether we were supposed to wait up there for them to bring us our food, or if we were supposed to sit down in those aforementioned Wolf Blitzer tables. Many would think that we are complete idiots if we are confused at Junior’s, but for first timers, there is clearly no indication what to do.
What made me even more befuddled was that I had ordered first before my guest. Usually, the chain of command in restaurants is to prepare the orders in sequential order and then dish out those orders to the customer. I had ordered a hamburger basket, the simplest item on the menu, and my guest had ordered a chicken tender basket, the second simplest thing on the menu. So we were still at the front not sure whether we should sit down or not because someone else might purposefully or accidently take our order. And that’s exactly what happened.
Within one minute of us just standing around, my guest got his chicken tenders plate. My initial reaction was “Damn that was fast. Good service. But where is my food.” He reassured me that it would be out pretty soon. I waited for about two and a half minutes and then got bored and then took a seat next to my guest while he was graciously preparing the table by getting us napkins and ketchup. Then finally about 3 minutes after that, I see a man come out with what looks like a hamburger plate. I quickly rush up to him to try to collect my food, but it turns out the plate was a cheeseburger plate. I thought that they had made an honest mistake and that it was really no big deal. I was hungry and computer science homework was waiting for me back in the dorm. All I wanted to do was eat some food and scram. But then the guy who brings orders form the back gives it to some woman who was originally behind my guest. Remember, I was in front of my guest when I had ordered. Not only had he gotten his food first, but the woman behind him got hers too. Where was my food?
So I waited for about another 4 minutes just waiting for my food, thinking that they probably just mixed things up for whatever reason. This was the response of my brain. It was trying to work out what exactly what was going on and why I had wasted my money because I had yet to acquire my simple hamburger plate. I had ordered the hamburger plate, the simplest of all the items on the menu I might add again, just so a scenario exactly like this would not happen.
Once all the customers in line had been served, the woman who had originally taken my order asked me if she could help me. I told her I was still waiting for my hamburger plate. She took a puzzled look to her face and then screamed to the workers in the back, “Hamburger Plate”. She then told me she was sorry for the confusion and that it would be out in a minute. So then I sat down again but I did not dare take my eye off the woman. I was going to get my hamburger plate.
About 2 minutes later, I see a worker from the back bring out not one, but two hamburger plates. I sprinted to the front desk to claim one of those. He was not sure why he had two hamburger plates in his hand, and only one customer up there. So I gladly remove one hamburger plate from his hand. Right as I do so, some student who had walked in after I had placed my original order said to me “ I believe both of those are mine.” “I don’t think so”, I say. I pulled out my receipt from my pocket like it was F.B.I. badge, showing him my proof of purchase of my hamburger plate, much before his. He was so taken aback by dominance of this hamburger plate, that he did not even try to argue his case. After a grand total of about 10 minutes, give or take, I walked back to the table with my hamburger plate.
His holiness has arrived.
The food
The food at Juniors comes in “plates”, which usually consists of a main entrée, such as a hamburger or cheeseburger, or the famous chicken tenders plate. The plates usually come with french fries and a small soft drink. Not a bad deal for five bucks, especially when other places on campus can sometimes charge outrages amounts that still leave you hungry. This is not the case with Junior’s. I found that after eating the hamburger, I could barely move on to the fries. And I am 6’2 and 200 pounds and I can eat a lot.
However the argument now shifts to the quality vs quantity debate. The famous chicken tenders were excellent on the outside, but on the inside of them they were dry and tasteless. I guess it must have something to do with the special batter with which they make the chicken tenders with. The hamburger was pretty thick and the meal in general was pretty good for 5 bucks. Defiantly better than Woodroof or Britian.
All and all this is a down to earth I know that my service was probably a service glitch, as my guest got his food almost as soon as he ordered it. This is a family restaurant so I know that they do not have all the modern equipment that McDonalds or Burger King would invest in for each restaurant. However the restaurant does have a much more homely feel to it and it’s a great place to go chill with your friends and get some not too expensive, filling, food while you are at it.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment