Canon Restaurant Review: Pizza Hut, Royston, GA

Earlier this evening (or technically the previous evening) I, along with a few of my friends, dined at the Pizza Hut located in the fabulous town of Royston, GA. In my previous experiences with Pizza Hut, I have found that no matter which one I go to, it seems like they are like a fastball pitcher with inconsistent control, in that when they're good, they're good, and when they're bad, they're so bad that you'll wonder just why you came there in the first place. Heck, I still get grief for suggesting a trip to Pizza Hut in Commerce, and that was two years ago. How was I to know of the events that took place? Anyway, I came into Pizza Hut tonight hoping for the best, or at least something halfway decent.

We get there and even though they are offering a pizza buffet tonight, we decide to eschew that because it was late and most of the pizza up there had been out there for a while. Instead, after a few minutes of heated debate, we decided on three large one topping pizzas, mushroom, pepperoni, and the always popular bacon. All three pizzas we ordered were with the hand-tossed crust. We also ordered a side of garlic covered wings, of which I chose not to partake. Now I wish I had, since I have no opinion about the wings, but those that ate the wings did have mostly good things to say about them.

Looking around at my surrounding, I'd say that even though it was late in the evening, there was a decent-sized crowd there, about 15 people or so including ourselves. There were also quite a few people carrying out pizzas, so this place wasn't exactly hurting for business tonight. The interior of the Pizza Hut is a bright room, with a brick interior, a few booths on three sides of the room and a couple of larger tables for parties of four or more people. The walls had a few pictures hanging on them, and there was a clock on each side of the restaurant. However, neither clock was set for the right time, which makes me wonder just what the purpose of having a clock on the wall is if you're not going to bother setting it to the correct time. Well, to each their own. Our table was rather clean, I must say, and a lot of the booths appeared to be in good shape, although I did notice that one of the seats had a big hole in the middle. Our service was good overall, especially considering that the place had only one waitress there. However, it seemed like our pizzas took a little longer than they should have, as I'd estimate we waited 25-30 minutes at least.

As for the pizzas themselves, well some people seemed to like them more than others, and some pizzas were better than others. The pepperoni pizza was just slathered with grease, almost as if somebody decided to pour some extra grease on it at the last second. Fortunately, the other two weren't quite as greasy. Also, the makers of the pizzas were quite generous with the toppings, which is always a good thing, and there was plenty of cheese on them. Of the three, I thought the mushroom was the superior pizza, and it seemed like most everybody else did too as it had the least pieces left at the end. The bacon pizza was decent, but not spectacular, while the pepperoni, while covered in pepperoni, was the weakest of the three. I thought the crust wasn't too bad, although I did hear some of my compatriots expressing slight displeasure over it.

Overall, continuing my poorly thought analogy at the beginning of this post, I thought this trip to Pizza Hut was like a pitcher allowing four runs in six innings and leaving with a no decision. Yes, it wasn't bad, but you were left wanting more. Overall, I'd give it a 5.45 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this post, or ideas for future reviews, then feel free to share either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.

Canon Restaurant Review: Outback Steakhouse, Commerce, GA

Before I begin, I would like to apologize for my lack of activity this weekend, as quite frankly I just didn't have enough time to devote to the blog the last couple of days. Also, I'll probably be out of town for a couple of days this week, so don't expect too much activity for the next couple of days. But I will try to be back and devote all the attention a site like The Canon Review deserves.

Anyway, today I had the pleasure, or so I hoped, of dining at Outback Steakhouse in the lovely city of Commerce, GA. My brother Ben and his wife Rose, along with loyal Canon Review reader Dickson S., had been to this particular Outback on more than one occasion, and each of them have had rave reviews about this place. Well, I had never been to this particular Outback, or any Outback Steakhouse for that matter, so when they asked me to join them today, I accepted just to see what all of the fuss was about. Also, I had nothing else going on today.

We get there at about 6:00 or so, and the first thing I notice is that the location is kind of hidden in the back of a shopping center. I wasn't that surprised because there's only so much space in Commerce, and by the time this Outback was built most of the more desirable locations were already taken. I don't think it's had an effect on its business, as the restaurant was gradually filling up throughout our stay there, I just found it somewhat curious is all. When we got there, there were only a couple of tables filled, which isn't surprising considering it's 6 p.m. on a Monday. Heck, I actually prefer eating somewhat early at any restaurant just for that reason, so you miss the crowds and nothing is out of stock by that point. We get seated at a booth and wait a couple of minutes for our server to appear. The interior of the restaurant is rather dark, and there are some typical Australian artifacts like a boomerang on the walls. Also, there were at least three big screen televisions, and each one was tuned into a different channel for some reason. I guess because there was nothing special on at the time. After perusing the menu, which was about seven pages, for a few minutes, I decide to be different from the rest of my compatriots and not get a steak, even though I like steak and the name of the restaurant contains the word "steak" in its title. Instead, I go with one of the featured items on the menu, the BBQ Mixed Grill which came with three coconut shrimp, barbecue chicken, and some baby-back ribs. The dish also came with a side of fries and some coleslaw, which I'm not crazy about but I figured I would try anyway. My dining companions got three different cuts of steak, Rose ordered the Victoria Filet's with blue cheese and an add-on order of grilled shrimp, Dickson got the Teriyaki Marinated Sirloin dish, while I believe Ben order a New York Strip steak but to be honest, I'm not 100% sure about that one. They all ordered their steaks well done. Also, they ordered a Bloomin' Onion and one Alice Springs Chicken Quesadilla.

First we were served some bread, which after 10 seconds of researching on the internet, I have found out that the bread is known as Bushman Bread. It's a honey-wheat type of bread that is colored black, in case you're like I was and have never been to Outback before. The bread was okay, it wasn't exactly something I would order on its own, but it wasn't anything I would refuse to eat either. Our appetizers came soon after, and I only had a little of the Bloomin Onion, mainly because I'm not a huge onion fan. To me it was just ok, but I found no fault with how it was made, as it was nice and warm. The chicken quesadilla, on the other hand, was delicious. The dish was packed with chicken, cheese, sauteed mushrooms, bacon and honey mustard, and the combination of all of those flavors was just excellent. Heck, I could have just ate a whole one of those chicken quesidillas and I would have been happy with my meal. I even got the courage and tried a little bit of the beer that Dickson ordered (a Shock Top), mainly due to his prodding that I take a sip. Well, I don't drink beer (or any alcoholic beverage) and after tasting the beer, I'm not going to be drinking any more anytime soon. To be honest, I've had beer a couple of times, and I can't see how anyone can stand the taste, but to each their own. I think I'll just stick to drinking soda and juice.

After we polished off most of our appetizer, our main courses came. I started off mainly with the chicken, and it was everything I could have possibly hoped for. The sauce they used on the chicken was rather bold, although not spicy or anything like that, and added a real kick of flavor to the chicken, which was cooked perfectly and wasn't too tough to eat. The coconut shrimp was very good by itself, although I must say I didn't care much for the dipping sauce that the shrimp came with. It tasted rather bitter, like it had too much lemon flavoring in it or something, and I did not think it went all that well with the shrimp at all. I'm sure other people probably like that sauce, but it just wasn't for me. As for the ribs, there was a good bit of meat on them, and the meat and the sauce combined to make for a rather tasty dish. The fries were also pretty good, not too salty and flavored nicely, while the coleslaw seemed decent, although I'm not the most qualified judge on that subject. Everyone else at my table seemed to enjoy their meals immensely, and at the end we were all stuffed. Well, I thought about getting a desert, but since everyone else seemed ready to go, I decided to pass. In hindsight, I don't need the extra calories, anyway. The service at Outback was very good, as our waiter was very attentive and was always on top of things.

Overall, I don't really have any qualms with my experience at the Commerce Outback Steakhouse today. I suppose I have a couple of minor issues, but I would definitely dine there again. I'll give it a 7.838 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts or issues with this or other posts, or future ideas for reviews, than feel free to share them by leaving a comment, or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.