SEDONA, AZ (November 26, 2009) - My wife and I first visited Sedona around 14
years ago. We stayed at Los Abrigados, and
had dinner at the Radisson Poco Diablo. It was one of the best
dining experiences we ever had and we've been around the dining block a few
times. We enjoyed the food so much, I "borrowed" one of the dishes for
my own restaurant and created the "Sedona Salad." The salad consists of mixed
greens with raspberry vinaigrette, goat's cheese, walnuts, dried
cranberries and cherries. Put a few slices of smoked duck breast on that
and you're in seventh heaven.
Subsequent visits, unfortunately, did not yield similar
results.
One year we were looking for some place to watch a Chicago Bears game at
10 a.m. and Poco Diablo was the only place open and had the Bears' game on
the big projection TV. Fabulous! They even had a pool table in the bar
and my wife and I played a game of pool at half time. We followed this
routine for a couple years, but then the pool table was gone and a few
years later they weren't even open early for NFL games, so we stopped
going there entirely.
Well, the Radisson management experiment is apparently over.
The resort
is investing in refurbishing itself from top to bottom, so my wife and I
decided to ease ourselves back into Poco Diablo by checking it out for
lunch.
T. Carl's at the Radisson Poco Diablo
Food:
Menu featuring such
dishes as Huevos Rancheros, Mandarin Chicken Salad and
Sautéed Shrimp Tacos.
Lunch is apparently over at 2pm in the nice restaurant, T. Carl's.
After that, restaurant goers can eat in the Poco's 10th Hole Lounge, a sports bar and lounge
that features six televisions, a large projector screen and a full food and beverage menu.
Hours: 2pm-11pm.
We
arrived at 1:45pm and were told by a waiter that we'd be better off eating in the bar, that we
wouldn't be rushed or bothered by cleaning up, or whatever. We said we'd
like to eat in the nice open restaurant with the many windows
overlooking the golf course instead of eating in the windowless, dark
bar. It's good to watch some sports in, but I didn't want to eat lunch in
there. I owned a restaurant for 16 years. What this waiter speak
translates into is "God, it's 15 minutes before we close, please don't
eat here, because I've got something to do at 2:05pm." Sorry, T.
Carl's it is!
So, we get seated, look at the menus, and order our food and drinks at
the same time right off the bat. We don't want the waitstaff to stay
late on account of us!
The order is two ice teas, a hamburger without a
bun (my wife) and a French Dip Sandwich which is made with Prime Rib. I
love Prime Rib. Both come with fries. First comes the ice tea. It's
poured into the red wine glasses that were on our table stuffed with
napkins. A small red wine glass makes for a small glass of iced tea.
Plus, we were given 8 inch long drink straws. That would have looked
kind of ridiculous! An 8 inch long McDonald's type straw in a small red
wineglass. We looked at the other tables and they had slightly larger
water type glasses. They must have run out of those when they got to our
table, or somebody made a mistake.
Patio dining at T.
Carl's at the Radisson Poco Diablo located at 1752 S Hwy 179.
Inset: view of the 9 hole executive golf course.
Next came our food. My wife's burger was prepared the way she ordered
it. It tasted great and my wife enjoyed it. The only problem was that
the fries were cold and not crispy enough (same with me). It's funny how
you get those fries that are cooked until there's no moisture left in
them at all and are hard little nubs and at the same time you also get
the ones that aren't cooked enough.
On to my French Dip sandwich. The Au Jus was way
too salty. Was the beef Prime Rib? It was cut thin like roast beef, but
I did not get any prime rib flavor or texture from it. A little thicker
cut would be nice and a little more beef would be nice too. I don't
think there was a quarter pound on there and at $10 I would expect at
least a quarter pound of meat on the sandwich. Let's be honest, T.
Carl's isn't cooking prime rib fresh to make this
sandwich. It's leftover from maybe the night before or whenever. This
isn't a problem. Its done everywhere. I did it when I had my restaurant!
Leftover Prime Rib? You bet I'm going to use it some way. If it's a
sandwich, just put some meat on it! If I get less than a quarter pound
of meat for a $10 sandwich, then your telling me you sell a 16 ounce cut
of prime rib for $40? Yikes!
My French Dip.
My wife's burger.
So, here I go again! The meal turns into a question of value. We ate all
of our lunch except for some fries, so it must have been pretty good.
But it cost us $36. Which is apparently normal for Sedona. Wouldn't it
be wild (and nice) to have a good lunch in Sedona for under $10 per
person? After we asked the waitstaff for some higher up people to talk
to about their upcoming December small party event, they became very
pleasant and accommodating. Hmm. And the higher up person was very nice,
spent a lot of time with us, showed us around the resort, showed us a
room and the ballroom where their 2nd annual "little BIG Party" is going
to be held on December 18th. So the people there can definitely be nice.
So what's the final verdict? Lunch was ok. But there are a lot of places
to eat lunch in Sedona that are ok. You've got to wow people to get them
to come back. I'm looking for value and I think a lot of other people
are too. It's a good thing we had such a nice experience with Amy and
Marian talking about the resort. So we're going to back Poco Diablo for
dinner. That will be the real test. And we'll try and get there at least
an hour before closing!
About the author
Harry Olson and his wife, Adele, owned a bistro for 16 years in the south suburbs of Chicago.
For all of Harry's Red Rock restaurant
reviews, and to post your own reviews, please visit
RedRockRestaurants.com.
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