Cuisine Review

It is exciting to see continuing growth in the number of local restaurants starting up. Every week I hear of at least two new ideas or ventures.

And while not all of these may appeal to me, or I may not like their food, it seems most of them find their audience and perform well. I encourage people to take places for what they are and what they can provide.

We do have a nice amount of casual dining places and a lack of fine dining, but there seems to be plenty of room for more in the former category. And while I hated to see the Midtown Café, located at the Loop between Airport and Government, close its doors, its replacement is really performing even better than I expected.

Trolley’s has been open for several months at lunch and dinner and is slowly building up a nice clientele. I waited a bit, as is becoming my custom, before trying it out. I have had many good meals since the doors opened.

The restaurant itself has never been a wonder to behold, but it is comfortable, clean and relaxing. An oversized bar takes up a lot of space, but it needs to in order to hold the incredible selection of liquors and I counted over 15 brands of imported and domestic bottled beers. Monday through Friday Trolley’s has a happy hour from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. with buy-one-get-next-one-half-price.

Trolley’s is open for service Monday through Saturday for lunch beginning at 11 a.m. and for dinner Wednesday through Thursday until 10, Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m. with an expanded dinner menu that moves to limited service after 9. There is also a margarita night, thirsty Thursday and wild wing Wednesday where the wings are 50 cents all night.

I would describe the majority of the menu as bar food—salads, wraps, burgers and the like. At dinner there are additions of pasta and specials. At lunch there are specials for $8 that range from red beans and rice on Monday, spaghetti with meat sauce on Wednesday or fish and chips on Fridays.

Trolley’s calls itself the “home of the pomme frites” and for a good reason. There is no better way in my opinion to eat potatoes other than hand-cut and extra crispy. This is Trolley’s specialty and while the food is really good here, their fries with garlic aioli dipping sauce are what keep me coming back.

You can order small (appetizer size for a couple of people) or large frites on their own, but they also come as a side option with the sandwiches. You can have them smothered in white cheddar ($3 small; $7 large); loaded with queso, crumbled bacon, sour cream and shredded cheddar ($4 small; $8 large—with lots of meaty crunchy bacon); chili and cheese ($4 small; $8 large) or pizza ($4 small; $8 large and can add mushrooms, this one is great with crispy slices of pepperoni).

All of these are good, but plain with one of their many homemade dipping sauces is what I prefer. They have three kinds of homemade ketchup-I like the chipotle; five aiolis-the roasted garlic is the only one I get now, but the wasabi is excellent as well; and about five others that include whole grain honey mustard and balsamic honey.

Other appetizers such as a shrimp quesadilla, bruschetta or Tammy’s (Morgan, the owner) homemade beef jerky ($6 for a 1/4 pound) are offered along with some excellent sounding wings, lightly fried pepperoni chips or trolley stix which are fried tortilla strips coated with chipotle or ranch “dust” and served with your choice of sauce.

There are three soups—chili, a gumbo that includes crab, shrimp and chicken along with a spinach tortellini. I tried the spinach tortellini ($4 cup, $6 bowl) that was loaded with black pepper, tarragon, nice cuts of chicken, fresh spinach and tortellini and is quite restorative. The salads look good but I have to say that every time I have eaten here everyone has wanted to eat the bad (non-healthy) stuff!

You can add chicken, shrimp or from what I understand their very good crab cakes to any salad. In addition to a house and side, they have a chef ($8) that beyond the usual ingredients has artichoke hearts, olives, roasted and fresh bell peppers. Another favorite of vegetarians and others is the grilled veggie salad ($9), served with buckwheat noodles and balsamic honey dressing.

My friends and I have for the most part invaded the sandwich area. All of their wraps and “buns” are served with a choice of the frites, potato salad (chunky pieces of potatoes in a sour cream mixture), side salad or cole slaw. You can get a half wrap combo with a side salad or soup or go whole hog. On my first try I had the griddle burger ($9, with 50 cents for cheese, $1 for bacon) a half pound Angus beef burger on a hefty roll.

The burger can compete next year in that best burger contest the other paper puts on and come close to winning, in my opinion. It was a bit greasy, but a burger needs to be. It had a nice grilled taste, cooked medium and really was too much food. You can get the petite burgers ($7), which are smaller versions of the griddle that are served on “sider” buns, which are larger than Krystal’s.

Trolley’s does the same thing with their bbq pork petites ($8) serving them on sider buns as well. The pork is shredded, tender and imparts a smoky flavor with a sauce that is not too sweet. I like this better than the pork wrap ($8) with lettuce and tomato with adobe mayo on chipotle tortilla that was not bad, but the bbq petites were much better.

They also have a club wrap, a turkey bacon wrap and a blue crab burger ($9) that I have heard raves about. You might think I am crazy, but I ordered the 1/4 pound hot dog ($7) the other night and it was fantastic! It is prepared with queso, chili, and grilled onions and topped with shredded cheddar. You need to be very hungry as it is a heavy choice. At dinner there are several pasta additions that have vegetables, or heavy cheese sauces. I cannot remember which one of my friends had it, but they added chicken to one with I think the white cheddar sauce that was good.

I have to get in a closing word about desserts—they are beyond incredible. A friend of Tammy’s makes them during the week and to just give you an idea, last time I was in they had the largest white meringues I have ever seen, prepared and impeccably topped with a chocolate mouse.

I think that a lot of weight will be packed onto my frame if I continue to eat here as I much as I have.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

Archives