Restaurant Reviews

Since Fresno has recently opened three new big name national restaurant chains in town I thought I would take a few minutes to review each.

First was Claim Jumper which opened a couple of months ago. Claim Jumper has a decent sized menu and fair prices. We visited their establishment on New Years Eve at about Noon and were able to be seated immediately upon entering the restaurant. (Probably, thanks to the Fresno State Liberty Bowl game which they played terribly in.) The menu provided several choices and we had a hard time deciding what to order. We started things off with the Nachos with the Steak Beans. These were excellent and had really big pieces of steak on them, they also had good amounts of sour cream and guacomole and at under $8 were one of the more reasonably priced appetizers on the menu. Finally after some time mulling over all of the selections we decided on sandwhiches, Jamie choosing the Cobb Sandwhich and myself the Tri Tip Dip with Au Jus. We were both very pleased with our selections and they were large sandwhiches, maybe just a little pricey though coming in at $10 and $12 repectaviely. Our waiter was very friendly and very patient with us as we took a while to make our selections. Overall, I would recommend Claim Jumper and plan on dining there again.

Claim Jumper - Overall Rating

Menu - 8/10

Price/Value - 7/10

Service - 9/10

Total - 24/30

During Christmas shopping one day we decided to stop by the Cheesecake Factory, Jamie and I had viseted their restaurant in Honolulu, where we both had dessert only and I had been to their Sacramento location for dinner but this was our first time dining there together and our first time at the Fresno location. We arrived around 11:30 and were told that there was a wait of 35 to 50 minutes. We took our pager and went over to the mall for a short time. Upon returning to the restaurant we checked back in and were told it would be 5 to 15 minutes. As soon as I turned around our pager went off which really makes me wonder where they get their time frames at because it was neither 5 nor 15 minutes. We were seated and Jamie ordered Ice Tea and I just got a glass of water. She was not impressed by their Ice Tea and stated she would not order it again. We were also given some really good bread which we ate while we reviewed the large menu. Finally, decisions were made and I ordered the Cajun Jambalaya while Jamie chose a Club Sandwhich both ow which were very tasty. Finally, after finishing our lunch we ordered a slice of Choclate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheesecake to share which was excellent but at the same time also very rich. I would have to recommend trying the Cheesecake Factory to anyone who has never been.

Cheesecake Factory - Overall Rating
Menu - 9/10
Price/Value - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Total - 26/30

Finally, is P.F. Changs, located right next to the new Gottschalks at River Park. We arriver there at 11:45 AM on New Years day. The parking lot did not look very busy but right as we walked in they informed us that they had just sat their last table and that we would be looking at a wait of 35 minutes or we could sit in the bar and order from there. Not wanting to wait we chose the later. Their overall menu was very small not leaving us with as many options as either the Cheesecake Factory or Claim Jumpers. We quickly decided to go with the Chinese Chicken Salad and Chow Mein our traditional faire at our local Chinese Favorites Shanghai and East West Cuisine and for Austin we chose the Crunchy Honey Chicken. The Chinese Chicken Salad was adequate in size however it wasn't nearly as tasty as it is at either of the two restauants I mentioned earlier, and there was only a small amount of canned shredded chicken on the salad. Next to the Chow Mein, I was not a big fan of the noodles they used and for a restauant that claims the serve family style the portion was sure small for the price. The same Chow Mein would have been two to three times larger at Shanghai and East West for $3 cheaper. Austin thankfully was pleased with his chicken which was good but nothing that I would force myself to go back and have again, leaving P.F. Changs easily as the worst of the three new restauants.

P.F. Changs - Overall Rating

Menu - 5/10

Price/Value - 5/10

Service - 5/10

Total - 15/30

Well I hope everyone enjoys my insight into the new restauants as much as I enjoyed the dining (of course with the exception of P.F. Changs.)