Galahad's Cafe and Spirits

Matthew Durkee : This was a Reuben for those who dislike Reubens. What I mean by that is this was simply a grilled sandwich. The kraut was tasteless, as was the Swiss. The 1000 Island dressing was bland to the point that it merely served as a lubricant to aid in swallowing. The sandwich did come with some tasty chips. I scored the atmosphere low due to inadequate separation between smoking and non-smoking sections. (2003-09-30)

Andrea Heininger : I found the sandwich exceedingly bland. The marbled rye bread was good though the bottom portion of bread was soggy. I could not really taste the sauce either. As a whole, it was all blah. (2003-09-30)

Jim Kidd : Nestled smack dab in Park 100, Galahad's probably attracts a lot of white collar types. Its warm, dim, interior is inviting and the chairs are comfortable. While it has smoking and non-smoking sections, the restaurant is open and occasional smoke drifted to our location. A large screen TV playing a soap opera is quietly ignored by most of the patrons. I watched for a moment to see the Erica (played by Susan Lucia) get married for the umpteen time. The opposite wall had a much smaller screen tuned to CNN. Fortunately for the patrons the sound is turned down as the commentator was excitedly blathering on about the crisis du jour. Several video game machines are seen in the corners of the room. I think they are there for atmosphere as the $1.00 a play probably guarantees that they will see no use at all. The service was fairly quick and the Reubens arrived in an average time ( 15-20 minutes ). I got mine with Galahad's version of onion rings. The onion rings were very finely cut and were very crunchy. Reminiscent of the kind you find in the every present green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. The sandwich can be best described as the Big Mac (tm) of Reubens. It tasted like anyone would like it. The ingredients arranged in proper amounts are all in there. The Reuben is made with Galahad's special sauce. The waitress said 'its not secret, but it is special'. It tastes curiously like thousand island however. I found myself searching to taste something special, but it was not there. Don't get me wrong, it's an edible sandwich, but it lacks a personality (if a foodstuff could have that quality). This sandwich can probably be found conspicuously hanging out with vanilla custard, vanilla pudding, vanilla ice cream, etc..... (2003-09-30)

Carl Klutzke : Galahad's is rather dark, as befits a pub-type environment. I sat facing the blinds, and couldn't see Rothenbacher or Skiles across the table from me with the glare that seeped through them. The air wasn't noticeably smoky at first, but I noticed the smell with increasing frequency as the lunch hour continued: the smoke apparently doesn't know it isn't supposed to cross the half-wall into the non-smoking/family dining area. Still, it wasn't too bad. Service was okay. We were warned that groups of six or more are charged on one check, but when we started to protest they waived the policy. Later, as we were resolving the checks, our very harried waitress reminded us of their one check policy for future visits, stating that it helped avoid confusion. I can see that it would help alleviate _her_ confusion, but it makes things much more confusing for the customers, especially when you have more than one person who wants to pay with a credit card (as we did). Perhaps restaurants could simplify things even more by adopting a policy where parties of six or more have to all order the same thing. But I digress. As I said, she was very harried, and it looked like only she and one other waitress were trying to serve the whole restaurant. That probably explains why it took so long to get her to pick up our payment, and why, though she was very friendly when we arrived, the friendliness became increasingly forced as lunch progressed. The sandwich was served on a real plate with real silverware, always a plus. The onion rings were good, despite what Jim might say, but having sampled the chips I think I would save $1.25 and just get them on any return visit. The lemonade was obviously from a powder, and not very good, but at least it wasn't pink, and it did have a slice of lemon. The sandwich itself looked good, served on a marbled rye with decorative toothpicks. But it was largely flavorless. Andrea ordered hers with the kraut on the side, but she needn't have bothered: I couldn't taste mine as anything other than a general wetness. I couldn't really taste anything at all. I did catch a brief taste of rye, but mostly I just had the texture of a rather wet reuben without any of the flavor. The bread was well toasted, and held up to the moisture for a while, but it was served cheese-side up, which any serious reuben crafter would know better than to do: the bottom slice of the second half was getting somewhat soggy by the time I got to it (though I've had _much_ worse). The sandwich was of decent size, but I found myself still wanting something more when my plate was cleared. The whole experience was rather unobjectionable (how can you dislike something you can't taste?) but lacked any real appeal. Certainly better reuben experiences are available right down the street: go to Max and Erma's or Reggies instead. (2003-09-30)

Carl Rothenbacher : Lose the TVs and add pickles! (2003-09-30)

Chris Rowland : This sandwich really didn't taste like anything at all, but the chips they served it with were wonderful. The atmosphere in the family seating section was still way too smoky to be enjoyable. I would have rather gone to Bellacino's a few doors down. The bottom slice of bread was completely soggy due to putting the dressing directly on the bottom of the sandwich. The only thing that I could make out in the sandwich was a bland meaty taste. I won't be returning to Galahad's. (2003-09-30)

Brian Skiles : Galahad's London Reuben was the epitome of the English food stereotype. It was bland in every way. The only thing that stood out was the chips. They were excellent. If only they had included a pickle, they would have received a "B-" in value. There was no real barrier between the smoking and nonsmoking sections and the smoke didn't seem to be aware of the fact it was definitely entering the nonsmoking area, which hurt the atmosphere rating. All in all, it was better than the other Reuben we had in that strip mall (Bellacino's), but there are much better Reubens in the area. (2003-09-30)