Toledo Food Review

“Maggies Family Restaurant is a long time Perrysburg tradition where friends and family come together for the ultimate in family style dining.”

http://maggiescreativefoods.com/

Over the weekend my wife and decided we would try this restaurant that always seems to have a crowd in front of it.  Maggies is part steak house, part bar, and part home cooking.  This sound like a great combination but we left with mixed feelings.

Sea Food Platter

I ordered the sea food platter and my wife got the prime rib special.  We each recieved the customary side salad and I got 2 rolls with the meal.  The rolls were fresh wheat rolls with some actual wheat berrys inside.  They were served the small packets of ‘Country Crock’.

My scallops were delicious.  The they had a cracker crust that was crisp, light, and tasty.  The scallop itself was juicy and flavorful, exactly what you would hope for.  Next we tried the crab cakes.

To me they were overdone and the crab meat just didn’t have much flavor.  My guess was that they were using imitation crab meat. The meat inside was julienned, not shredded. My wife loved them so we’re split on this item.  Next on my plate was the white fish.

The batter was good, perhaps a little overdone.  The brown color was very deep brown but not to the point of having a burnt color.  The fish was really oily.  When I cracked the batter coating in some spots I could see the oil flow out on the lettuce garnish. My guess is because the fish was such a thin slice the batter acted like a spong and held o to every drop of oil it was fried in.
Finally in dinner was the shrimp.

The shrimp had the same crust as the scallop and was extremely moist and juicy.  The shrimp and scallops were by far the highlight of the meal.

Prime Rib

My wife ordered that evening prime rib special.  It came with a side salad, two vegetables, and a twice baked potato.  The twice bakes were delicious.  This is one of my wife’s favorite parts of the meal.  They had a light whipped potato filling and weren’t over cooked. Next was the vegetables.

If I was running a restaurant I would be ashamed I would be ashamed of these veggies.  The sugar snap peas had no color to them whatsoever.  They were sickeningly sweet and lacked the most basic crunch.  The vegetable medley was nothing but grey-green mush.  It was broccoli, some cauliflower and carrots.  My guess was they didn’t sell at lunch so they carried them over to dinner.  Finally was the prime rib.

My wife ordered her meat medium rare. That doneness was up to snuff but the meat was mediocre at best. The volume of beef was great but this was the most flavorless piece of meat I’ve ever had.  There was no au ju, just the juice the came out of the meat.  There was no marbling to the meat.  It was either all beef or all fat.  There was no middle ground.

Because my wife’s meal was so bad I gave her a lot of food off my plate.

Decor and Seating

The seating a bit cramped.  It feels like they had a larger catering business and as it shrank they added the restaurant to the front.  The booths’s green upholstery is getting tatter.  I would guess its about 15-20 years old.  The wall a ceiling hangings didn’t have any noticeable dust which is a plus since they are fairly intricate.  The pictures are reproductions of Renaissance era artwork.  The dinner room itself is very dark even when it was still full daylight outside.

The bar was about 10 stools lining a fairly standard the bar.  The brief glance I took of the wine list appeared to be several local favorites.  In the dinning area I saw a fair amount of people with glasses of red wine.  Which brings me back to an earlier point: if they had so much red wine, why couldn’t they make a decent au ju for the beef?

Value

For dinner expect to pay no less then $15 a person, more like $20.  Like the chicken platter for $14.  14 bones for a chicken dinner is excessive to me when Bob Evan and Max and Erma’s is just up the road.

Overall Impression

You get a lot of food but its hit or miss on weither or not its any good.  Quantity does equal quality. I was to eat there again I would stick with the appetizers and the standard fair like burgers.  The dinner special are iffy at best.

2 stars

Tags: home cooking, Restaurant