#sabraton

Sabraton Elementary is now gone. Time marches ever onward. The building could not be saved or rehabilitated after years and years and years (and years) of neglect. Such is the way these things go.

Richwood Avenue’s Richwood Mini Mart - formerly Dairy Mart - is simultaneously a neighborhood institution and perhaps not the first place you would stop get a tank of gas, a cup of coffee, or a bottle of soda. This is about the former. And more specifically, about the fact that what we now think of as a weirdo quick stop was once a functioning Sinclair Garage.  

If you look carefully - and unfortunately I couldn’t align the photos quite right - you can see that the three-windowed house over the top of the Sinclair Station is still there, although trees have grown between it and the gas station and the neighborhood is significantly more developed. The construction of the awning over the pumps, unfortunately, means that the photo cannot be perfectly recreated, but the pumps themselves are still roughly where they have always been. 

A little while ago, I tried to eat at Archie's. When my group of friends and I walked in the door, a man requested $5 from us. What? Apparently there was a band playing, and you had to pay $5 to enter. But I just wanted to eat dinner. No go, according to that doorman. So we left.

Recently, I decided to give this place another try. When my friend and I walked into the Sabraton restaurant this time, we were greeted much more warmly. A man from behind the bar straight ahead told us to sit wherever we liked. There was a dining area to the left and another to the right. We headed right, amongst tons of high-top tables, to sit next to their Christmas tree.

                                We had a very, very friendly waitress. She took our drink orders, brought our menus and then asked our names. That was confusing, but I guess she just wanted to be friendly. We put in an order for honey BBQ wings as an appetizer. When they came out, I must say, I wasn't very impressed. The flavor was okay - not very zesty - but the texture kind of threw me. The skin was like a slimy, fatty coating. I much prefer them to be a little crispier. And these had bone-in. I really like the boneless ones, but these were okay. I probably wouldn't order them again, though.

For the entree, I ordered the whale of a fish sandwich. It was 10 oz. of haddock on a sub bun with tartar sauce, tomato and lettuce. This sandwich was huge! It was cut in half, so it really did look like two full sandwiches. The first bite I took was a ton of breading and a little fish. That made for a pretty dry sandwich. Once I got further into the sandwich, I could taste the tartar, just not very well in proportion to the rest of the sandwich. I asked the waitress for extra tartar sauce to help this sandwich out a bit - it was too dry without it. The extra tartar cup definitely added some flavor and made the sandwich more cohesive. It did, however, contain a ton of relish. That's not my preference. So, it was okay. The sandwich came with a side of chips, which was a nice crunchy, salty addition.

As we were getting ready to leave, other people started to trickle in. Unfortunately, you're still able to smoke in there, so I'm glad we got out before it got too smokey inside. All in all, a pretty average experience and food.

The Food

I ordered a beef burrito, beans and rice. I can't recall what number it was. The burrito was very plain. Just beef and the beef didn't have any taste. The beans had the consistency of paste which was unusual for me, but they had a decent taste. The rice was OK, but how do you screw that up? The food was incredibly bland and of average quality.

The chips and salsa that they give out are very good. The chips are warm and the salsa is nice and spicy. Some of the best in town for sure.

The Service

The service here is very good. They get you seated and your food ordered before you have time to take a breath. The servers seem to be friendly and competent. The food comes in a few short minutes and they've very good about filling up drinks and refills of the chips and salsa.

The one failing is the checkout process. You have to take your ticket back to the front by the entrance to pay. Lines form in multiple directions due to the layout and the checkout process can be painfully slow at times.

The Restaurant

The place is pretty much what you'd expect from a Mexican restaurant. It's clean, but cheap looking. Nothing special.

The Bottom Line

2 out of 5.