Restaurant Review - Stevie Rays of Colorado Springs

I enjoy restaurants that make effort in providing healthy and natural dishes. Stevie Ray's Eastside Grill is one of the few mainstream restaurants that put forth this effort.

It's "mainstream" because it's not another Adams Mountain Cafe, Dale Street Cafe, Gertrudes or Olive Branch. In other words, it doesn't appear to cater specifically to health nuts. You can order fish and chips or burgers like most other American food restaurants, but it's not some disgusting MSG laden chain like Applebees, Red Robin, TGIF or others similar. Even my son who has an arsenal of food allergies can eat the burgers from the kids menu.

The restaurant is very family oriented with old classic cartoons beaming from television sets around the dining hall to the model trains that circle above your head. It also has a classy feel, which is unusual for family restaurants and gives this eating locale a character and charm of its own.

Instead of bringing out the typical complimentary oily GMO chips and salsa or fatty flavored fries, it's a plate full of crunchy carrot sticks with dressing to dip them in. When you order regular fries, it's potato strings, oil and salt. You can ask for healthy options when ordering and the waitresses and waiters are quick with their answers which I take as a queue that they are asked these questions often and the restaurant is becoming more known in the circles of natural food eaters as an enjoyable outing.

They offer an interesting burger that most people might first wince at. Imagine a bacon burger with peanut butter instead of ketchup. Don't laugh. Think about oriental food - Chiang Mai steaks, or Szechuan Beef - and you'll recall the combination of nutty and meaty timbre throughout the meal. The burger seems to be one of the local favorites because of its unique yet pleasing flavor.

I had the fish tacos, which was probably one of the lesser items on the menu. Even the side condiments were sad in appearance and texture. The owner of the restaurant seems attentive and desirous of his customer's comments but was busy waiting on tables so I left a comment on their cards for him to get to later. I was thinking today of what could have made the fish tacos great and thought up some points on how to improve them. That's what the next blog will be about.

For now, do better than me and if you order something that you don't like, tell the waitress or waiter and have it fixed. These are not the type of chefs that would spit in your food like those who work in other places (especially chain or snobbish restaurants - and there are plenty of horror stories out there that are too disgusting to mention). These are chefs and employees who work closely with the cheerful owner who takes humble honor in running his business.

I give it four and a half out of six forks.