Wallaby's Smokehouse

Address:



131 S State St.
Lindon, UT 84042



Price Range:


$10-20 per entree


Website


We got a coupon in the mail for Wallaby's and I decided I should give it a try. Craig had been there already on a couple of occasions and enjoyed it so I decided it was my turn to give it a try.


Menu:


Hand-pulled Pork: Although I am not a fan of pork, this was rather tender and in combination with the BBQ sauces they provided, it was delicious. It came with a huge roll that Craig couldn't finish and a side of smashers that took up about 1/3 of the plate. They were delicious!

Tri-tip Meal: I chose the tri-tip because that is what they were supposedly famous for. I will say it is not the best tri tip i've ever had. I definitely utilized the BBQ sauces with them. I would suggest getting one of the other entrees instead of paying a dollar more for mediocre tri-tip. I also got the smashers and they were amazing. I definitely had some with my tri-tip. I also got a humongous roll with my meal that I don't remember finishing.

Kid's Hot Dog Meal: We had to get Lucas something, I guess. He chose the hot dog and gobbled it up fairly quickly. With his meal he got a choice of a side, we chose the fresh vegetables. He loves his vegetables so he ate most of them, he got full pretty quick.

Oreo Brownie: Craig insisted we get this for dessert. He said he got it once and it was fantastic. This go around I wasn't that impressed, he said it tasted different than the last time he had it. I don't know what was missing. It was delicious and decadent, I'm really glad we shared because there is no way one of us could have eaten one by ourselves. It was very chocolaty so if you like chocolate I would highly suggest getting it.

Wallaby's is one of those order-when-you-walk-in-the-door-and-we'll-bring-you-your-food kind of places so there's really not much to expect from the service. I would say one thing I didn't like was having to tell the workers that I was ready for my dessert. There were certain cues we had made that if they were paying attention they would have remembered to do it. Maybe it will be better next time.

I would suggest try it if you like BBQ, but don't expect the best BBQ you've ever had.

Papa Murphey's Online Ordering

Address:


Really any of your local Papa Murphey's should have this. If not, too bad.

Price Range:


$10-$20 for one pizza (depends on the size)

Website

I know...an online post? But it was just so easy I couldn't help myself! Anywho, enjoy and give it a try, it's so much easier and you get great pizza out of it!

How To:


So on the home page, go to store location. Type in your location and choose the store closest to you. Click order now and off you go!

You will come to this page. Go to the side bar and choose what kind of pizza you want. Craig and I were in a "create your own" kind of mood so we clicked on the "Signatures & Gourmet Pizzas".

This is what we saw next. A large list of ALL the pizzas they offer. At the very bottom they have a "Create your own" or a "half and half". We went with the half and half.

It seriously is as easy as pie. Both halves have a list of all the different types of pizzas (if that's what you want to do) or you can choose which toppings you want on each side by choosing individual toppings down at the bottom. Add to order, finish and checkout.

And presto change-o, you've ordered a pizza. You can choose what day and time to pick it up and they will have it ready for you to pick up. You can even pay for it online!

We will never call Papa Murphey's again because this website is so intuitive. I love it, you should try it. It is WAY better than most pizza places' online ordering. I found that other places are just too loud and busy when I try and order from them. Enjoy!

Spencer's for Steaks and Chops

Address:


255 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Price Range:


$45-$65 an Entree

Website

As you can tell you're going to have to save up considerably to go to this place. It holds a special place in my heart because one of the Chefs I worked with while in culinary school helped develop this restaurant. He even shared the recipe for the balsamic vinaigrette that is used on their signature Spencer's Salad. I was a dummy and forgot to take pictures of everything. Luckily, everything wasn't plated up in a particularly fancy way so you're not really missing much.

Menu:


Spencer's Salad: This was a delicious salad. It contained spring greens, carrots, bleu cheese, dried cherries, topped with fried leeks and served with their balsamic vinaigrette. On paper, it sounds like a weird combo. Can I tell you how wrong you are? It was such a fantastic combo of flavors with the sweetness of the cherries, the sharpness of the bleu cheese and the tangy vinaigrette. The warm crunch on the top was what really pulled it all together. I would highly suggest getting the salad with your entree.

Spencer's Steak: I got their Spencer's Steak which is an aged and seasoned rib eye. I ordered it medium-rare (is there any other way?) which made it so soft and juicy it fell apart in my mouth. My only gripe would be that there was an enormous vein of fat at the edge of it that ran into a portion of the meat and made some of the meat inedible, other than that, though, it was fantastic.

Green Beans Almondine: These were the best green beans I've ever had. Topped with sauteed onions, rendered bacon, and toasted almonds, these green beans were the crispest I've ever had them. I'm super glad I got them. If you're going to spend the extra $9 to get a side, I would highly suggest these.

Surf and Turf: Craig got the surf and turf, if a restaurant is offering it as a special, he usually goes for it. This included half of a grilled lobster tail and an 8oz. center cut rib eye. This was all served along with a side of fingerling potatoes. Craig swears the part of the lobster he ate was tender, buttery, and rich. The part I got was fatty, rubbery, and tough. I would take Craig's opinion on this one since he had more of it than I did. I guess I'm just sad that any part of a grilled lobster would be fatty, rubbery, and tough. Such is life, I'm sure it was divine. The center cut rib eye was tender and savory. The salt was not too much but just enough to enhance the flavor of the meat (which is why you should ALWAYS SALT/SEASON YOUR MEAT). The fingerling potatoes were tender and buttery. Fingerling potatoes (for those that don't know) are smaller versions of a waxy potato such as a red potato or golden potato. They're delicious little rich things that should be cooked and served with care.

Strawberry Shortcake: We weren't planning on getting a dessert but our server highly suggested it and we weren't sorry. We split it between the two of us and were glad we did. It was delicious. The shortcake was a little harder than I would have enjoyed, but the ice cream really balanced it out. I found a picture of it online because it was just so pretty I had to share!

The service wasn't $150 worth (yeah...that's what I said...), which is unfortunate because when you're spending money like that you really hope for the service to be above and beyond. I asked the server what he would suggest and he gave me some sort of "Oh the menu is too vast for me to really suggest one thing, nobody asks that sort of thing anyways". When working at a restaurant like that, you should know the menu like the back of your hand and giving me some song and dance about how you can't even make up a "favorite entree" and then telling me i'm unusual for asking. Not impressive. I gave  him the benefit of the doubt and figured, maybe he's new. But I was super sad that we were paying so much for the service to be no different than if we were to go to The Olive Garden. I've been there on a separate occasion and received remarkable service.

The ambiance was nice and they even gave us a booth. It was a very nice restaurant, we had some really rowdy construction workers that were there for drinks sitting close to us, but they left about halfway through our meal so we could enjoy the rest in relative peace.

In the end, go if you're willing to pay a lot of money for some delicious steaks.