Fitz's Root Beer, Delmar Loop - Visited September 2015

This past Saturday, we were having a family friend in for a visit, and since she requires a restaurant with a gluten-free menu, we decided to visit Fitz's on the Delmar Loop. I had just been there a few months ago for lunch myself, and it was just alright, but we decided to see how it was on a Saturday evening. The first thing we had to deal with was the Loop Trolley construction which was now blocking the entrance to Leland Avenue to get to the parking lots behind Fitz's. Instead we parked on a street south of Delmar and walked, showing up at the restaurant a little before 6:00 pm. The place was crowded as usual, and we were told we would have a 30 to 35 minute wait. Luckily it was a nice day so we could wait on the sidewalk outside since the waiting area inside was already packed. Somebody was playing sitar music over by the Chuck Berry statue, but then he switched to just drums. So at least we had some free outside entertainment, even if it was a little odd.

We were seated at 6:25 pm or so at a roomy booth that overlooked the trolley construction on Delmar. Most of us opted for the bottomless root beer on tap with my mother-in-law selecting regular root beer, and my son, daughter any myself all selecting diet. Our guest decided to try the Kaldi's Coffee Cola which she liked very much. She said it really did not taste that much like coffee. As for our entree's, my mother-in-law selected the fish and chips, my wife ordered the turkey club, my son and my daughter each selected some type of burger and out gluten-free guest ordered the gluten-free Bottler's Burger. For myself, I decided to get the Buffalo Chicken Wrap.

As we waited for our food we drank our root beer and tried to talk over the loud background noise. There is always a lot of traffic with lots of kids and large groups going up the stairs and outside to the patio as well. Even with the Loop Trolley construction, Fitz's is always extremely busy. When our food arrived, I realized I had again selected one of the entree's with the smallest portions, and the smallest portion of fries! (Why does that always happen to me?) The Fish & Chips portion was huge like when Bob ordered them at lunch in July, but what was really huge was the turkey slices in the Turkey Club (pictured above.) My wife did not want the chili mayo, and instead they gave her regular mayo on the side, along with gigantic slabs of turkey on the sandwich. They were so large she took them all out of the sandwich and stacked them, creating a turkey mountain that must have been two inches tall. The remainder of the turkey club was not very impressive either. She did not find the sandwich appetizing in the least. How difficult can it be to make a good turkey club sandwich?

Our gluten-free guest, however, did enjoy her burger which Fitz's obviously tailors well for those with gluten-free needs. Both my son and daughter seemed to enjoy their burgers, but the fries were just okay. My buffalo chicken wraps were okay, especially when dipped in the ranch dressing, but really not anything special (and small too!) I was content just downing my three mugs full of diet root beer. At least I did not have to deal with the monster turkey slabs.

So for two straight just "so-so" visits to Fitz's in the last few months, I am again amazed how crowded and popular the place always seems to be. Even the trolley construction cannot keep the hordes of visitors away from their mediocre to bad food, even if their root beer and sodas are pretty good. I'll have to admit they are a festive, hopping place to be, but it sure would be nice if they had some better food to eat!