Fire! Fire! Fire!

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

There is not a woman in the world who will tolerate her husband sitting around the house with nothing to do. Whenever I turn on the TV to see how Arnold (the pig) Ziffel is fairing on Green Acres, Nancy starts cleaning something. Because I am tall, I am immediately drafted to help her Spring clean the unreachable places. After two days of this activity, I pulled out the husband trump card and said, “let’s go to a casino.” She immediately put down her Swiffer, grabbed her Diamond Jo’s reward card, and counted her money as she ran for the car.

The Gambling God’s were not good to us, but we did enjoy a good cigar along with a respite from house work. This worked up quite an appetite and we remembered a recommendation that we received for double dough pizza at Fire Bar and Grill in Crystal Lake.

Walking into the venue, we saw a large open area with mainly high-top tables and a huge bar. It was clearly designed for a younger party atmosphere. Nancy has a habit of sliding off of high top table stools even when she’s sober, so I asked the hostess if they had any regular tables. She directed us to a four-step raised area with five regular tables. This establishment can be considered not handicap accessible for that reason.

Jim noticed it was 5:50 p.m. and “Happy Hour” ended at 6 p.m., so as usual, we had to take advantage of this savings (Senior’s rule). They offer some $6 appetizers, and we immediately ordered the Loaded Potato Skins normally $8.49. We haven’t had these in years, and we remember how they were in the past, actual potato skins. What arrived were four potato halves with a half-inch of the potato left in them. They were topped with cheddar cheese and bacon. The cheese was melted but the potato inside was cold. It seemed to us that these pre-made skins went straight from a freezer to the broiler. Jim is not a potato lover and was disappointed that they were basically potatoes and not skins.

We came for their Double Dough 14” New York Style Pizza. The basic pizza is $18.99 with a $2.40 charge for each additional ingredient. We ordered half pepperoni and half sausage. To be honest, we have never ordered a double dough pizza before. We were excited to try something new, especially when we received a recommendation for it. What arrived was a mouth-watering pizza with lots of cheese and toppings. Our excitement quickly dwindled when we tasted the crust. It seemed more like the bread type crust that gets delivered by a little Roman “Gladiator.”

We should have ordered the thin crust since we are true Chicago pizza lovers. The pizza itself was delicious, the flavor spot on, but the dough missed the mark.

This restaurant is clearly geared for the younger generation to meet and party hearty. We felt out of place since we were the only Senior’s there.

The price for dinner was $38.03, the amount of money we lost at the casino, don’t ask. Getting away from spring cleaning, priceless…

Jim’s take: Potato skins should be skins, pizza should be thin crust and cut in squares.

Nancy’s take: I like the New York Style cut of pizza, that’s how I slice it when I make a homemade pizza.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com

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