Sunshine Saloon: "The Shine"…not to dine!

Lunch date #47: Friday November 15, 2013

After a long break in our lunch project, we thought we'd get back to it by hitting a real American sports bar for some good 'ol grub. Not sure what made me think of the Sunshine Saloon Grill and Sports Bar, aka "The Shine"…maybe with Thanksgiving around the corner, I was thinking about how the college kids would converge there for their traditional annual Wednesday-night-before-Thanksgiving reunion. Sometimes these bars actually have some pretty decent food by day, so we thought it worthy of a try.

Location 3 points: In the Mission Plaza shopping center: no frills here; but lots of parking. No great curb side appeal.

 Ambiance 1 point: At first glance a typical sports bar; however, this one needs an update. The carpet is dirty/worn and looks like it has gum-spots in it. The tables are peeling formica and the chairs rickety. The fans are caked with dust. Mom pointed out all of the flat-screens, and was wondering why I was being so critical. "What did you expect?" she wondered out loud.

Inside "The Shine"

Menu selection 3.5 points: I was quite surprised at the vast selection. I thought they'd have burgers and some fried food, but they also offer a long list of salads and sandwiches. At first I thought to play it safe with a burger, but I really wanted something a bit less fatty. The server was really pushing their "fresh" crab sandwich. Is it really fresh? I asked. He told us you really can't buy fresh crab here (?), but that it was fresh when canned. He even went so far as to bring us a sample! Hmmm I thought, knowing last Friday was the first day of crab season and knowing that there is such a thing as fresh crab, and went with a turkey/avocado grilled sandwich to play it safe. Once Mom spied the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, she was sold. She was kind of disappointed though that they don't offer coffee.

Service 2.5 points: He definitely tried with the free crab sample, but that was about it as far as service goes. He was the only server/bar tender on site, and we were the only women in there. He was busy tending to the "guys" there for their Friday afternoon beers. Food was brought promptly, no drink refills. Had to flag him down to get to-go boxes, but he was very friendly.

Food 2 points: Here's where it fell apart for me. Remember my idea to play it safe? Wrong! This was the worse sandwich I've ever had. The sour-dough was over buttered and greasy, the dressing on the bread, I later found out, was a blend of mayonnaise and the deli-mustard they have on the tables that contains shredded horseradish. There was no mention of this unusual sandwich accompaniment on the menu, and I didn't think to ask in advance. I don't care for horseradish and it pretty much destroyed the sandwich for me. On the other hand, Mom really liked her cheese steak sandwich-packed high with tender beef, lots of cheese and very large portion. We both agreed the fries were dismal.

Mom liked her cheese steak sandwich

Value 2.5 points: This is tough one. The prices were great at about $8 each including the fries. Problem is that when the price is great, but the food is poor…the value score is low, in my opinion. Mom liked hers so we compromised.

Overall score for The Sunshine Saloon 2.4 points: I wasn't put off by the ambiance as I really didn't expect better, but I thought that sometimes these "dive" bars can have some pretty decent food. Perhaps I just ordered the wrong thing, or should have asked what they put on the sandwich, but I was disappointed. Since Mom was happy (which is all that really matters anyway), I'm trying to buffer my rebuke…but the more I think about it, I'm sure I'll never go back to the "Shine"…at least not for the food!

Mangia Mi: The new place to be!

Lunch date #46 September 14, 2013

Not sure what has kept us so busy this summer, but we had not had a chance to have lunch together for several weeks. Even Friday this last week didn't work for us, so in an attempt to not miss another week, we elected to go out on Saturday. I had heard a new restaurant opened downtown: Mangia Mi (234 Main St; www.mangia-mi.com), on the south edge of town, across from Vic's. I have been to their Danville location for dinner a few times, and always found it excellent, so I was looking forward to trying it for lunch.

Location 4.5 points: We might start calling this location SODA (South Downtown Area) if many more restaurants open there! Not the heart of the quaint area, by far, but more parking is available in that area-even on a Saturday during the Farmer's Market.

Ambiance 4 points: Outdoor seating and an open-kitchen floor plan create a welcome dining space. The tables are well spaced, in contrast to the Danville location, but I get the feeling that as the place grows in popularity, more tables will be fit in to create that squished, but exciting, bistro feel. The bar seating along the open-kitchen is inviting. The dining room with the large windows and tall ceilings is light and airy, so when it fills with patrons, I think it will still feel comfortable. The restaurant was only about 1/3 full that afternoon, but considering that the Danville location is typically packed, when this location catches on, it will create a more festive-vibe.

Menu 5 points: Very good selection of salads, panini, entrees, and pizza. We couldn't think of anything else you could add! We both chose a panino: I went for the veggie and Mom decided to give the grilled-chicken on a try. The panini are served with a choice of green mista (mixed) or pasta salad.

Food 5 points: They started the table with a service of bread and delicious herbed-dipping oil.  The panini were huge-we each only ate half and took the rest home for another meal. Mom appreciated the plating: large rectangular white bistro plates that held both the sandwiches and salad. We both loved our panini: very soft, tasty ciabatta bread-almost more of a focaccia in lightness. My veggie had a good selection of grilled eggplant, zucchini accompanied by goat cheese to give it a zing. Mom's grilled chicken panino had a tomato pesto and grilled red peppers to give it interest. We both liked our side salads as well.

Service 3 points: Our server was OK, but not terribly friendly. The backup wait-staff were very efficient, offering refills often, but Mom did have to send back her cold cup of coffee twice until she could get a hot one. We waited a fairly long time for our panini—I will presume because everything was freshly made? Perhaps they had to prep the veggies, and grill the chicken to order. Might have been because they were slow, so didn’t have a tightly efficient kitchen running at lunch time? I think for dinner, it would be fine because you might have an anti-pasta or salad first. Good thing we had the bread!

Value 4.5 points: The prices are on the higher side for lunch ($11 for the veggie panino and $12 for the chicken panino), but since the portion sizes are so large it seems like a better deal. You could split one easily. The dinner menu is very reasonably priced. Our only disappointment was $3 for a cup of regular coffee, cold at that. Overall though, it was a very nice dining experience and we felt that we would return to try some of the other menu items. I will definitely try it for dinner with Gary or some girl-friends soon!

Overall score for the new Mangia Mi: 4.3 points! This one rates as one of our favorites to date. We had a very enjoyable lunch in the newest Pleasanton restaurant and suggest you give it a try!