The Usual Suspects

Erin's rating:  ★★★★


The Place
We pass by the Usual Suspects a lot, but had never been in.  We got a recommendation for it the other night, so I thought what the heck, let's check it out.  I didn't even go online at all to look at reviews or anything, we just winged (wung, no? wang?, no, that's not right either) it!!  Anywhoo, we went in, and it was kind of swanky feeling, dim lights, nice tables, people our age (let's just say not 18-24, and leave it at that :)).  Not very many people, so we sat quickly.  They sat us a a really tiny table first and Hubs didn't think he could fit in the tight squeeze of a spot, so they moved us to a better table, no problem.  Happy us.

The Food and Drink
Time to start feasting.  I got things started with a martini.  A Pear-y Mason concocted of Absolut Pears, Pama and cranberry juice.  They have a nice drink selection, $8 for a martini, pretty standard.

I actually liked it a lot.  It was really good, kinda strong, without being overly sweet, which can be hard to do with these fruity liquor beverages.  Hubs went with a Sam Adams, safe bet, not too exciting, just always dependably good.

The menu looked pretty good and the prices were really reasonable for the nice atmosphere and the menu selections.  I decided to go with garlic-herb encrusted walleye ($12.75...doesn't get much better than that).  I was craving a nice piece of fish, I feel like we have been eating tons of beef and burgers lately!  We didn't get any appetizers and no bread to snack on while waiting for our food, only drinks, I wasn't complaining :)  When the food came, it looked really good, and we were pretty hungry.

My dinner was a nice portion size, no leftovers would remain, but enough to fill me up.  The fish was accompanied by seasonal garlic with some green beans and carrots...seriously, there was a crap ton-o garlic, but they were super good!  I really liked them and devoured every bite.  Also on the side were potato wedges, cooked well and seasoned nicely, nothing too fancy.  The fish was pretty good, a little bit bland, but cooked perfectly, flaked apart really nicely and with little crunchy edges, which I personally love...yummmmm.

Overall, I liked this place.  It was a nice place to go out for a date, without being too pricey or stuffy to be able to enjoy yourself.  You're not going to run into too many college kids here, which is nice to know if you need a break from that scene.  We'll definitely go back and try some of the other menu items.  Beware though, the menu online doesn't really match up with the in-restaurant menu and our waiter had a hard time telling us the actual specials they were offering...kind of odd, but we rolled with it and just ordered from the regular menu.  Online, some of the menu items sounded really tasty and I would've liked to see some more specials like they advertised.