Back to the Future: Dinner at Dalt's
Until this weekend, I had not darkened the door of Dalt's Grill since the early Reagan era. Opened in 1980, Dalt's was the brainchild of two Friday's Restaurant Group executives named Dave and Walt, and, for my mini-generation of moonwalking Madonnaphiles, the Lion's Head location was the still point of the turning world. On the last day of school before the holidays, we always went to Dalt's for lunch. I drank my first smoothie at the bar as we waited for a table--a virgin concotion called a Gold Medalist--and I ate my first fajitas there.
Before my posse could drive, our parents would drop us off at Dalt's with $10, which was enough for a milkshake, a basket of fried zucchini and a movie at the twin cinemas at the far end of the sidewalk. (I saw Out of Africa there.) When the movies ended and the groups of pimply boys and girls had exhausted all awkwardly flirtatious conversation, we'd wander back down the sidewalk to Wendy's. Someone would lob a call from a pay phone, we'd pool leftover change to buy a Frosty, and a designated dad would pick us up and drive us home to watch Friday Night Videos.
Back then, I didn't think about food quality so much as I worried about whether my jelly shoes matched my Bermuda bag, so I can't compare the Dalt's of my hormone-addled youth to the Dalt's of my maternally frazzled present. These days, Shannon Powell and family own the restaurant, which looks and feels a lot like it did back when I wore jeans with zippers at the ankles.
But while Dalt's is no longer my culinary destination of choice, now that I'm on the other side of the parent-child equation, I appreciate how kid-friendly the place still is. This weekend, we ordered a ribeye sandwich ($11.99)—thin sheets of steak on grilled bread with lettuce and tomato—and a salmon Caesar ($8.49)—a plain bed of Romaine topped with a moist log of wood-fired fish. Neither meal was memorable or noteworthy. But the children's plates were $2.99. I repeat: $2.99 for chicken fingers, mac-and-cheese, corn dog bites or a cheeseburger, with a side of fries or fresh fruit and a drink.
Short of a kids-eat-free situation, Dalt's might be the best kids' meal in town. With our Citipass coupon, the five of us ate for $40 including tax and tip. It almost felt like the 1980s all over again.
Comments
La Famiglia Fluffernutter had this same culinary-economic Dalt's experience earlier this year: reasonably okay food for adults, really inexpensive and perfectly acceptable kids meal. Also, thank you for reminding me of my ankle-zipper jeans. Don't forget the super-oversize white shirt to go with them. I think Mr Pink may have a photo of me in my 80s finery.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 08:18:13 AMFluffernutter--don't forget your giant belt to cinch the waist of your giant shirt (with giant shoulderpads!). I'm amazed by how much we all resembled carrots/inverted triangles in the mid-80s.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 08:50:24 AMI live very near Dalt's and have never stepped a foot in there. Or Calhoun's. Or O'Chaley's. I pass them by to go to Anatolia or whatever that Japanese restaurant is called. When I have kids, will that change? That is troubling to contemplate. Though not as troubling as thinking I'll ever find that buffet place enticing.
Possibly apocryphal story: In the 90's O'Charley's spent millions of dollars with a marketing agency to increase their business with families. It had traditionally been considered (and still should be) "Shoney's with a bar."
After months of market research and focus group work, the marketing executives made their earth-shattering pitch to the O'Chuck's overlords.
"KIDS EAT FREE!"
You get what you pay for.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 09:09:04 AMDining with kids might be when my eyes are most open to the whole experience, i.e. friendly servers, fast service, extra napkins, replacement forks, cleaning up after me without bitching. Dalt's scored well on all those aspects. Still, no one beats J. Alexander's or Bricktops for foodie-friendly family dining. Bricktops has that $5 kids' meal that is delicious, and it is so dark and bustling in there you could be staging your own family production of "Annie" in your booth and no one else would be bothered. JAX is just awesome on every level, except it is more fully priced.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 09:32:10 AMLes, I think I may still have the big belt, and when I cleared a closet recently, I found a stash of shoulder pads. So when they come back in style, you can borrow my extras. That buffet place: lived within 2 miles for 20 years and never been inside. Carrington (and everyone else): does anyone else find that Bricktops is so dark that even with reading glasses I have to put the menu so close to the candle that I'm scared it'll ignite.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 10:03:53 AMDalt's is okay. They have good onion rings.
Also, if you live nearby, Dalt's delivers, which is nice.
My favorite memory of Lion's Head will always be Q-Zar!
Posted 10/08/2008 at 10:16:15 AMQ-Zar -- OMG, is the VR place where you fought a pterodactyl? I went there once and loved/hated it.
Re: Bricktop's -- Yes, v. dark.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 10:34:08 AMI totally had, like, my 10th birthday party at Dalt's in 1991! I think I got a mood ring that year.
Posted 10/08/2008 at 12:00:04 PMdo they still have the seven-layer dip on the menu?
Posted 10/09/2008 at 04:08:47 PMaccording to http://www.daltsgrill.net/DaltsGrill/Dalts%20Menu.htm
It's now the 9-layer dip and they want to charge you a whopping buck a layer.
Posted 10/10/2008 at 01:33:23 PM