It was my turn to select a place to eat, and as usual I was trying to find some place new to eat that would also appeal to the rest of my group. In my previous selection I had tried Momo's in University City, which we thought had a really nice atmosphere, but where the food did not have as much flavor as other Greek places like Olympia Kebob House. During my search I had found another nearby establishment that served good Greek food as well as more typical bar fare, Michael's Bar & Grill in Maplewood. The reviews for it sounded pretty good, so I thought we would have to give it a try.
It is located on the eastern edge of Maplewood across from O'Reilly Auto Parts and MacHQ. We parked in the O'Reilly parking lot (which is marked as for both O'Reilly and Michael's) and we simple walked across Manchester to get to the bar & grill. Inside there was a nice roaring fire in the fireplace on one side, and we were seated on the other side in a booth overlooking a very open staircase and where we could see what appeared to be old old exterior of the building.
The place definitely had a very comfortable, neighborly feel to it, and we could see why it had been in business so long. The menu was listed all on just one piece of paper along with a smaller special menu which listed its specials of the day. My son ordered one of the specials, a philly cheese steak sandwich, my wife ordered a small burger completely plain (cooked well done), and my mother-in-law selected the fried shrimp. I was having a difficult time selecting and ending up picking the Michael's salad which included grilled chicken and homemade pita bread.
We also ordered some fried zucchini sticks as an appetizer and they were very good with a delicate taste that went along very well with the horseradish sauce. Nobody else wanted the horseradish sauce so I was able to keep it all to myself which meant I could double dip! Hurray! The generous portion of zucchini sticks actually arrived after our meals, so they were more of a side which actually went very well with my salad. The salad came with a substantial amount of grilled chicken which was mildly spiced and went well with the Greek dressing in the salad. I liked this salad better than the one at Momo's a few weeks ago, but having the chicken and the fresh warm pita bread (and the zucchini sticks) added a lot to it. My son thought his philly cheese steak was good but dry and he would not get it again there. He would probably get a burger and he would liked a more flavorful cheese. My wife enjoyed the grilled flavor of her burger but thought it not evenly cooked and rushed to make a well done burger. But she still thought it was good and that she could purchase the junior 5 oz burger (instead of the huge ones yu must get elsewhere. My mother-in-law was not a big fan of her fried shrimp but she really liked the cole slaw. The steak fries the others had were okay they said, but nothing special.
The service there was pretty good and there was one lady who went around just refilling drinks. My son had ordered a Dr. Pepper and she kept regularly refilling his soda, but not always with the same thing! Once she refilled it with root beer, and then the next time it was Dr. Pepper. He thought it tasted weird, but he kept on drinking it.
All in all it was a pretty good experience and we all went away pleased with a pretty good meal at a nice establishment. There are plenty other items to try on the menu and I would go again myself, although the others in my party would probably not select it. Frankly with so many other good places around the Maplewood area, I am not sure if I would pick it again either, but it was a nice, different place to go.
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