Tripp into a great chain restaurant
Written: Oct 21 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The food is consistently delicious.
Cons: I forget about it.
The Bottom Line: So awesome, especially for a local place.
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| Mom2TyZick's Full Review: Tripps |
Tripps is an oft-forgotten restaurant in Hickory, NC for us. I don't know why this is, because we love going there. The location isn't bad, either, it just seems to be overlooked in my head. I'm going to do something about that, and soon. This restaurant is headquartered in my home state!
Tripps restaurants are designed around the concept of homogeneity. The theory is that you will receive the same service, quality and experience in every Tripps you enter. However, therein lies the problem. This homogeneity may very well be what keeps Tripps from standing out like it should.
Interior:
With its brick lined walls, dark colors and dim lighting on the inside, Tripps has the feel of your favorite neighborhood eatery. It's got the feel of a special occasion place, but is also reasonably enough priced that you could come out for a night out with your loved one on the weekend. It is romantic, but not stuffy; dressy, but casual.
Food
When you arrive and order drinks, your waitress brings you a basket of steaming hot bread with a little Italian butter. It is the best thing since...well, you know. I nearly always skip the appetizers in lieu of this yummy bread! Atkins who?
Appetizers here are nothing really to crow about. They are good, but the list is neither long nor imaginative. I've had the crab cakes and they are probably the best I've had at a restaurant. The cakes have very little filler, and explode with lump crab meat. I have been hard pressed to find the kind of quality I found at Tripps at any restaurant, even much more expensive ones. Tripps also offers the standard chicken fingers, wings, shrimp cocktail, calamari and quesadillas.
Salads are beautifully presented and the dressings are homemade. This is my litmus test when we are in a restaurant. If they use bottled dressings, they just do not make my cut. I have eaten the dinner salad here, chock full of veggies that have been chopped up nicely and not added whole for you to wrestle with through the course. My favorite salad is by far their Caesar. Simple but tangy, the tender crisp romaine is topped by the signature sardine graced dressing, sheets of shaved parmesan cheese and a wedge of lemon. Squeeze the lemon over the entire salad for a fresh tang that makes your lips pucker!
You've come for the main course, though, right? I've never had anything bad.
Crab Cakes are always my favorite. These are the best you will ever eat outside of New England. The reason is simple: they don't use much filler. Seriously, these cakes are chock full of lump crabmeat!
The steaks are fantastic here as well. All beef used is aged Angus beef and I've never had a piece that was overcooked. They even offer prime rib in the evenings, but get there early, because they do run out of this delicacy on busy nights. My favorite beef dish is probably the bleu cheese encrusted filet (with a side of crab cakes).
We've also sampled the pasta dishes. One was a Mexican Chicken fusion dish, and it was fine. My husband just wanted something different, but the meats are cooked so beautifully here, you are just missing out if you don't order them.
Desserts are here, but I found them just okay. They tell me they have cheesecake from New York shipped to them, but it wasn't all that special to me. Don't get me wrong, it was good. It just wasn't special. I'd expect something a little less standard if they are taking the trouble to "fly it in" from New York. Load up on the bread.
Locations:
Tripps has locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. I recommend you visit this one:
Hickory
1187 Lenoir Rhyne Boulevard
Hickory, NC 28602
(828) 324-4400
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Mom2TyZick
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 in Personal Finance |
 - Top 500 |
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Member: Suzanne
Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 202
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