Where are the stars for Metropolitain?

**** Right here!
Due to a tight editing schedule because of the menu changes there, the stars got lost in the mix. But The Metropolitain is deeply deserving of these stars. Go check it out.

Read this week's Gazette review of The Metropolitain HERE.

Fire Rock Grilled

Nate loved the Fire Rock Grill, especially the smoked meats. But his affections for the restaurant apparently aren't universal.

Diner Mike Ziegler, who's originally from Cincinnati, called to say his family's experience last weekend was horrible.

He had the prime rib and found it so fatty, he could only eat half of it.

Worse, he got the sense that the servers and the staff didn't seem to care about him.

Please let us know what you think.

Food in Falcon

I lived in Falcon in the '90s, when it was just starting to develop as a Colorado Springs bedroom community.

Your dining options back then were limited. Western Omelette had a small, short-lived outlet.

S&S Subs attracted most of the diners.

I drove through Falcon on Sunday and was amazed at what's become of the place. It's littered with fast-food joints: KFC/A&W, Wendy's, Sonic ... I'm sure there must have been others I missed.

My family and I ate at Frankies Too, an eastern brand of the Frankie's Place bar and grill on Powers.

Man, this was a phenomenal family dinner. The burgers were perfect, the steak about the finest you'll find in a bar west of The Keg, the tortilla soup meaty and vivacious, the chicken wings (on sale for 35 cents each at happy hour) may be the best in the region.

It also has a big-city sports bar vibe that reminds me of how far Falcon has come in such a short time.

Next time, I'll have to try the Italian restaurant, near the Safeway. ... Wait, pretty much everything is near the Safeway.

Tomo Sushi follow

I'm not sure if it was responsible of me -- after reading a New York Times story about dangerously high concentrations of mercury in New York's top sushi restaurants -- to head back out to local sushi bars.

But I just can't stop myself.

I checked out Tomo Sushi at Citadel Crossing this weekend. It was my first time visiting since Nate's less-than-complimentary review of the place.

I found it fine, but it didn't blow me away.

The ambiance is clean and stylish, though not quite as pretty as the newest Jun location.

The service was mixed -- the waiter was friendly, but the two sushi chefs were rather grim.

We sampled three rolls and found them almost up to Jun's and Ai.

I'll probably go back.

But my favorite little sushi spot, lately, has been Sakura. It's not as slick as Jun or Ai or even Tomo. But the sushi is soooooo good. And I love their VIP (read frequent eater) card, which helps you earn credits toward your next sushi visit.



ABOUT THE MERCURY THING: It's scary, but in small amounts the mercury levels aren't toxic.

I'm thinking about partnering with CC or UCCS to help us do mercury testing on local sushi joints and see if ours are as bad as New York's. (I have no reason to believe they wouldn't be.)