It's hard to pan a wildly popular institution. It's like saying you don't like "The Lost World," after it just broke box office records. But, as with movies, there are some restaurants that are better left as they are, since a sequel, or branch, will never equal the original. Such is the case with the new Grandpa Maddox Restaurant.
Yes, it's that Maddox, the same quirky place we've all known and loved, up near Brigham City, since 1949. Originally, the stockyards were located right there on the premises, and the restaurant evolved into a home-style dining attraction. I was excited to find out they'd opened another location in the Salt Lake area, on the Jordan River Parkway, just a stone's throw from the Jordan River Temple.I'd heard it was crowded, so I decided to check it out on a weeknight, during a Jazz playoff game. The huge, new, spotless building was packed anyway, but at least we didn't have to wait for a table. That's because the massive venue with soaring ceilings is divided into a number of small dining rooms, with inexpensive wooden tables and chairs crammed only inches apart. Napkins are paper, no table cloths.
I thought the prices might reflect the simplicity, but they didn't. Fried chicken and chicken fried steak are $10.95. Steaks range from $12.95 to $16.95. Granted, dinners include house-baked rolls and corn pone, soup, salad or seafood cocktail, side vegetables and a baked potato or fries, but I still find those prices steep.
Especially considering what and how you're served. Not that there's anything wrong with the servers themselves, mostly pretty young girls who are prompt, efficient and extremely eager to please. It's the fact that all your sauces - from gravy to ketchup to salad dressing to seafood cocktail sauce - come in cheap little disposable plastic cups nestled next to your food. "I thought it was kind of weird when I first saw it, too," our waitress explained. "But then I found out that it's much more sanitary."
Still, it is possible to get a good meal at Grandpa Maddox, if you're very careful what you order. Their homemade soup, minestrone the night we were there, was fresh and tasty. We all found ourselves wishing we'd tried that, rather than the salad, which is merely chopped iceberg lettuce with grated carrots, croutons and a cherry tomato (house dressing is a dated Thousand Island, served in a plastic cup on the side) or the spooky seafood cocktail, which consists of a pink and red scoop of shredded "krab" atop grated lettuce, house cocktail sauce served you-know-how.
Their beef is excellent, as it always has been. I tried the marinated sirloin, a 10-ounce cut for $12.95, which was grilled perfectly medium rare. They're using certified Angus beef, not from their own stockyards anymore, but it's evident they know how to cook a cow.
They don't have as much luck with their chicken. We tried the "Famous Fried Chicken" and couldn't quite figure out why it was famous. It was bland and flavorless, the batter completely unseasoned. What? No plastic cup of dipping sauce on the side?
On the positive side, the home-baked rolls are excellent. The corn pones, however, are suspiciously Twinkie-like, and I found myself dissecting them, looking for cream.
So, if you're careful to order the soup, a steak, the baked potato (French fries are flaked and formed, not fresh-cut), and any of the home-baked pies for dessert, you're in for a treat at Grandpa Maddox. Anything else is accurately described by a quote on the front of the menu: "The Best is none too good."
Rating: * * *
Grandpa Maddox Restaurant, 1133 W. South Jordan River Parkway, South Jordan, 253-5100. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Reservations are only accepted for large parties. Checks, cash and major credit cards are always accepted.