Erin C.
Yelp
We were coming home from a road trip and did a Yelp search for a lunch place near the highway with an interesting menu and Three Blonds seemed to fit the bill. We each ordered something different: the Mac and cheese; the birra panini; the cauliflower wrap and the chicken tacos. There were only a few other patrons in the restaurant/brew pub at the time. We were greeted warmly and offered a table. As we looked at the tv screen that posted food and drink "specials," the waitress stood in the middle of dining room and told us that those were from last week and they didn't have any specials posted for this week yet (we were there on a Tuesday). She never introduced herself to us, which is a customary courtesy, but whatever. The first two items arrived quickly to the table: the "Birria Boss Panini," and the Beer Cheese Mac. The Panini was thrown together sloppily; the top and bottom were askew from one another, with no apparent care given to its assembly. The "consomme" which accompanied it looked and tasted like a canned mole (not the rodent; the Mexican sauce). For the record, a consomme is supposed to be a clear broth, and is traditional with birria tacos. The mole was mediocre at best and did nothing to enhance the flavor of the dry birria. The kettle chips that accompanied it were mostly bottom-of-the-bag-broken. The Beer Cheese Mac was solidly okay but not remarkable. The portion was generous. Then came the looong wait. The Cauliflower wrap arrived about three minutes later, and was dry and unremarkable, and I left a good portion on my plate. It wasn't until my last bite that I even tasted the avocado...I had forgotten it was supposed to be in the wrap. I upgraded from chips to tots, and those were good and crisp. (The choice of upgrades are tots or fries, but the fries were of the frozen coated variety and not hand cut, so that was a no go. The tots are frozen as well, but they delivered.) When the waitress dropped off the wrap she remarked that the tacos were delayed because they "wanted to be sure the chicken was cooked through." Ha! Well I hope so! Then it finally arrived, maybe three minutes later, the chicken were about a quarter inch dice. How long does it take to cook minuscule chicken pieces? The chicken tacos were dressed with pickled jalapeños and onions, which were yummy, but the chicken was dry. To recap: four dishes arrived-from first to last-- approximately six minutes apart. We are a family who wait for each other's food to arrive because, well, it is rude to just dig in before everyone is served, so everyone was inconvenienced by the wait. Why things were not timed better in the kitchen so they would arrive together is inexcusable. If the place was hopping I would cut them some slack, but it was like crickets in there (I believe there was only one other table, a four-top, and MAYBE a two-top, or maybe they had already left...it was nearly empty) . Finally, two of us used the ladies room separately, and we complained to each other that there are no paper towels, only one hand dryer, therefore no way to open the bathroom exit door hygienically. There is a foot petal near the floor that looks like it will open the door hands free, but nope. They post a sign on the mirror that says employees must wash their hands, but it means nothing if they touch the door handle on their way out. Big yuck. Finally we had to flag the waitress for our bill. Once we have her our payment, she chatted with the bartender for a while before processing our payment at the register and returning to our table. There was nothing in this visit that would prompt me to return. To be fair, we were road tripping and did not sample their beer, which could be amazing, but there are places nearby that we can have good food and drink with hygienic bathrooms, and that is where we will choose to spend our time and money.
