Ambition. It's ruined many a good restaurant as proprietors mistakenly believe that bigger and more elaborate is better. The people from Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta didn't fall victim to this misnomer when they opened The Fiddler's Elbow in a simple, spacious warehouse-type structure behind their original venue in Sugarhouse. While the menu is big, the concept and the prices are cozy, just the thing for the college crowd, which has already taken it over.
You should be aware that this "American Roadhouse" is extremely attractive to the Gen-Xers to 30-year-old crowd. In the evenings, live music often twangs through the air.This attraction for certain demographics could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. There is one dish at Fiddler's Elbow worth bearing the grunge and angst, and that would be the chicken and dumplings. They come to your table steaming, almost half a chicken still on the bone, floating in a delicious broth filled with large, clearly identifiable pieces of carrots, celery and onions. Nestled in there are perfectly plump, herbed dumplings - just the right stuff for a dark and stormy night. And at $6.95, who can resist?
Many people also find it hard to resist "Fiddler's Smashed Potatoes," a bargain at $2.25. Fiddler's Elbow has already gained quite a reputation for its daily mashed potato specials, but I found them rather, well, uninteresting. In this enlightened age when chefs are adding Merlot and Mizithra to their mashed spuds, humble cheddar, which was the specialty the night I was there, seemed somewhat anticlimactic.
I couldn't say the same thing for the chili, however. I tasted it atop the nachos, and it was definitely the highlight of an otherwise bland dish. Spicy and savory, the chili had a texture all its own, and the taste, enhanced by sausage added to the lean beef, was tangy and satisfying. It, too, is a bargain, at $3.65 for a bread bowl full, and also available as a side option with a sandwich, or on top of the chili cheese fries, for $2.65, which I would also recommend if you're up for a major dose of cholesterol.
The chicken fried steak, which comes with country gravy, the "smashed" potatoes of the day and more vegetables, for $6.75, would fit into this same category. Home food, comfort food, just like mama used to make, and most people's mamas were not great chefs.
When it comes to lighter fare, there is a variety of salads to choose from, ranging from the fresh seafood salad for $8.35 that contains tomato (the plastic, supermarket variety) and onions and is topped with a grilled-to-order fish fillet, to the overly dressed Caesar (we asked for shrimp and were served chicken), for $6.45 plus as much as $3.45 for the shrimp. These were truly uninspiring.
Even if you order drinks, appetizers and dessert with your meal, it will be hard to spend more than $20 for two. Throw in a few rounds of pool and a tip, and you've got a full evening's worth of entertainment at a very reasonable price, substantially less than say, dinner and a movie in some other trendy locations. Rating: * * *
Fiddler's Elbow, 10631/2 E. 2100 South, Sugarhouse, 463-9393. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Checks and credit cards are accepted, but reservations are not, and it's so popular there is often a bit of a wait.