Galahad's Cafe and Spirits

This sandwich really didn't taste like anything at all, but the chips they served it with were wonderful. The atmosphere in the family seating section was still way too smoky to be enjoyable. I would have rather gone to Bellacino's a few doors down. The bottom slice of bread was completely soggy due to putting the dressing directly on the bottom of the sandwich. The only thing that I could make out in the sandwich was a bland meaty taste. I won't be returning to Galahad's.

The last time I was at Galahad's, I said that I wouldn't be returning. Well, based on the information I had at that time, I thought that was correct. But then Bobbie (new Galahad's management) e-mailed us and politely addressed all of the concerns we brought up in our previous review. Since it was new management, we thought we would give them another opportunity. And I don't think we were disappointed. The Reuben was no longer bland! Now it wasn't necessarily a zesty taste delight, but it at least tasted like a Reuben sandwich. The sandwich was large and filling. The sauerkraut was a little crunchier than I have had recently--the parts of the sandwich with the thousand island dressing were especially flavorful. The two slices of Swiss cheese were also good. The sandwich was built differently than last time. This time, they had Swiss and dressing against both slices of bread. I think this helped the flavor a lot. The chips were still very tasty, and very crunchy. The atmosphere is pleasant but tends to get crowded during the lunch rush. The china plates had a nice pattern--much prettier than the plain white china plate from our last trip (compare the photos for yourself). I can now recommend Galahad's for a highly satisfactory Reuben experience--especially one that is still available for less than $6.

Nestled smack dab in Park 100, Galahad's probably attracts a lot of white collar types. Its warm, dim, interior is inviting and the chairs are comfortable. While it has smoking and non-smoking sections, the restaurant is open and occasional smoke drifted to our location. A large screen TV playing a soap opera is quietly ignored by most of the patrons. I watched for a moment to see the Erica (played by Susan Lucia) get married for the umpteen time. The opposite wall had a much smaller screen tuned to CNN. Fortunately for the patrons the sound is turned down as the commentator was excitedly blathering on about the crisis du jour. Several video game machines are seen in the corners of the room. I think they are there for atmosphere as the $1.00 a play probably guarantees that they will see no use at all. The service was fairly quick and the Reubens arrived in an average time ( 15-20 minutes ). I got mine with Galahad's version of onion rings. The onion rings were very finely cut and were very crunchy. Reminiscent of the kind you find in the every present green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. The sandwich can be best described as the Big Mac (tm) of Reubens. It tasted like anyone would like it. The ingredients arranged in proper amounts are all in there. The Reuben is made with Galahad's special sauce. The waitress said 'its not secret, but it is special'. It tastes curiously like thousand island however. I found myself searching to taste something special, but it was not there. Don't get me wrong, it's an edible sandwich, but it lacks a personality (if a foodstuff could have that quality). This sandwich can probably be found conspicuously hanging out with vanilla custard, vanilla pudding, vanilla ice cream, etc.....

It's another gray, cold, windy winter day. Crocuses begin to peek at the sun. Tulips, having better sense, decide to hold off a few more weeks before testing the above ground world. Robins, entirely bird brained, have shown up too early again and now sit here and there, all puffed up, and looking out of place and uncomfortable. There is a bright spot however, the Reubenators are returning to Galahad's. Boasting of new management and improved menu, they have thrown caution to the wind and asked that we return for a second opinion (see first opinion). We walked into the family dining area. The blinds were tastefully closed, blocking what wimpy sunshine could burn through the clouds. The management had reserved two tables for us. I began to feel our celebrity status, not on the same level as say--the governor, but somebody nonetheless! I recognized our waitress as the same as the last visit. She took our orders as the last time, not surprised at all at the homogeneity of the group's culinary habits. As a bonus, she invited us to partake of the snacks setup in the bar area. Both TVs are now turned to CNN, but thankfully, no sound emanates from either. I noted with surprise, that smoke was not drifting over from the bar area. There were not more than five patrons in the area, so maybe the lack of smoke was proportional to the lack of smokers. The snacks consisted of peanuts in the shell, cucumber slices and dip, and two other items I can't remember. The peanuts were great. I was instantly transported in time to a baseball game at Indianapolis' old Bush Stadium. We drank beer, ate peanuts, laughed, and didn't care a wit if the Indians won the game or not. Back to reality---the Reubens were different this time; they possessed a certain character. The Swiss cheese had holes. The corned beef was quite lean, and the sauerkraut was layered in between slices. The sauce was not special, just regular thousand island. The bread was toasted a bit too much, but not bad. When you bite into the sandwich, you have to fight it somewhat to bite through. You can taste each of the ingredients, as they stand out slightly from each other. It was delicious. I chose the potato chips this time and have to agree with my fellow eaters; the chips are good. Definitely not like the last time, and in fact, better. The only improvement I can suggest at this time is to use homemade bread and back off on the toasting process. The service was top notch, our waitress made sure we had all we needed and checked frequently to top off drinks. Try the "new management" Reuben, it's improved.

This is, I think, my fifth meal at Galahad's. The dining environment is comfortable and dark, as I recall from past visits. The sunlight wasn't as blinding today. I caught a faint whiff of smoke late in my meal but that was the sole intrusion from the smoking section: not bad at all. The waitress (I believe she was the same waitress from the previous trip) was very attentive, which was hardly any surprise considering that we'd been asked to come back. We even had tables reserved for us. She invited us to partake of some snacks while we waited for our sandwiches: there were chips and salsa, peanuts, and a cheese ball in the smoking section, and a few of us brought some back to our table. It was a welcome distraction while we waited. I had the Reuben with chips this time instead of onion rings, and the chips were excellent, crunchy and tasty. I avoided the lemonade, having learned my lesson, and just drank water. The sandwich itself was an improvement over the last trip. The kraut had a bit more flavor; it even had little seeds in it, which I've not seen on a sandwich before. The corned beef was very lean, and so not quite as tender as I would have liked, but it had decent flavor. The Swiss and dressing were noticeable, and seemed to be in good quantity. The marbled rye was as attractive as ever, but sliced a bit thin for my tastes, and I think that's why my bottom slice was somewhat overly moist. At least they've learned about the line-the-bread-with-cheese trick. And the pickle was decent. Overall, this was an improvement over the previous Galahad's Reuben, but still not a remarkable sandwich. If I go back I'll have the tenderloin instead (the last time I saw one it was HUGE), with the chips. Or maybe the beef stew, which I had for my first meal here. But no lemonade.

Galahad's is rather dark, as befits a pub-type environment. I sat facing the blinds, and couldn't see Rothenbacher or Skiles across the table from me with the glare that seeped through them. The air wasn't noticeably smoky at first, but I noticed the smell with increasing frequency as the lunch hour continued: the smoke apparently doesn't know it isn't supposed to cross the half-wall into the non-smoking/family dining area. Still, it wasn't too bad. Service was okay. We were warned that groups of six or more are charged on one check, but when we started to protest they waived the policy. Later, as we were resolving the checks, our very harried waitress reminded us of their one check policy for future visits, stating that it helped avoid confusion. I can see that it would help alleviate _her_ confusion, but it makes things much more confusing for the customers, especially when you have more than one person who wants to pay with a credit card (as we did). Perhaps restaurants could simplify things even more by adopting a policy where parties of six or more have to all order the same thing. But I digress. As I said, she was very harried, and it looked like only she and one other waitress were trying to serve the whole restaurant. That probably explains why it took so long to get her to pick up our payment, and why, though she was very friendly when we arrived, the friendliness became increasingly forced as lunch progressed. The sandwich was served on a real plate with real silverware, always a plus. The onion rings were good, despite what Jim might say, but having sampled the chips I think I would save $1.25 and just get them on any return visit. The lemonade was obviously from a powder, and not very good, but at least it wasn't pink, and it did have a slice of lemon. The sandwich itself looked good, served on a marbled rye with decorative toothpicks. But it was largely flavorless. Andrea ordered hers with the kraut on the side, but she needn't have bothered: I couldn't taste mine as anything other than a general wetness. I couldn't really taste anything at all. I did catch a brief taste of rye, but mostly I just had the texture of a rather wet reuben without any of the flavor. The bread was well toasted, and held up to the moisture for a while, but it was served cheese-side up, which any serious reuben crafter would know better than to do: the bottom slice of the second half was getting somewhat soggy by the time I got to it (though I've had _much_ worse). The sandwich was of decent size, but I found myself still wanting something more when my plate was cleared. The whole experience was rather unobjectionable (how can you dislike something you can't taste?) but lacked any real appeal. Certainly better reuben experiences are available right down the street: go to Max and Erma's or Reggies instead.

Galahad's London Reuben was the epitome of the English food stereotype. It was bland in every way. The only thing that stood out was the chips. They were excellent. If only they had included a pickle, they would have received a "B-" in value. There was no real barrier between the smoking and nonsmoking sections and the smoke didn't seem to be aware of the fact it was definitely entering the nonsmoking area, which hurt the atmosphere rating. All in all, it was better than the other Reuben we had in that strip mall (Bellacino's), but there are much better Reubens in the area.

Galahad's promised us an improvement over our last trip, and they certainly delivered. The Reuben was no longer bland. The sauerkraut had a good flavor, and you could easily taste the Swiss cheese. The only thing that detracted from the sandwich was that the corned beef was a little tough in a couple of spots. I was glad to see that they did not change the chips, which were still excellent. Overall, it was a pretty good Reuben experience.

This was a Reuben for those who dislike Reubens. What I mean by that is this was simply a grilled sandwich. The kraut was tasteless, as was the Swiss. The 1000 Island dressing was bland to the point that it merely served as a lubricant to aid in swallowing. The sandwich did come with some tasty chips. I scored the atmosphere low due to inadequate separation between smoking and non-smoking sections.

Galahad's now has new management. With the new management comes new ideas and that is reflected in the food and atmosphere. First, I love a place that provides pre-food food! At a Mexican place you can count on corn chips, rolls at a traditional American resturant, but Galahad's has them both beat. They had a snack bar set up on one table with chips/salsa, crackers/cheeseball and my favorite, in-the-shell peanuts. I don't know if this is an everyday thing or just on Tuesdays or what, but it is a very nice touch. The atmosphere is quite improved. It was not as smoky as before and the lighting was dark but warm. Now this was not the best Reuben we have had, but it is better than before. The kraut was grilled and had a nice bite to it. The Swiss cheese was much more potent than before. It was well suited for use in a Reuben. The sauce was average, neither added or detracted to taste. The corned beef is a bit of a different story. It was rather tough. However it came by this toughness honestly--I inspected the meat closely and realized that this was some of the leanest corned beef that we have ever been served. Truly a high quality cut, but perhaps a bit too high end for this use. A bit of fat is needed to keep a meat you intend to grill tender. Meat this lean is perfect for the crock-pot. If you are one of those Atkins people who need protien with limited fat you should consider the Reuben here and just throw away the bread (carbs). I must applaud the new management for keeping the best attribute from the old establishment, which was the chips. Forget the fries, the onion rings or whatever. The default potato chips are the way to go. The service could not be beat. It was spot on, nothing could be improved. Is service always this good or was it just for us? They knew who we were and that they were being rated. I for one am going to take a Christian attitude and believe that you can expect the sevice to be very good. Quite improved over the last time.

It was very tasty. The service staff was friendly and fast. The only bad things were the fries were just warm not hot, and smoke from the bar. But, a very tasty sandwich!

I found the sandwich very tasty. The corned beef was very flavorful and distinct. I like the marbled bread. I'm glad to see they have kept the potato chips. The chips add a nice alternative to fries.

I found the sandwich exceedingly bland. The marbled rye bread was good though the bottom portion of bread was soggy. I could not really taste the sauce either. As a whole, it was all blah.

Since I had never been to Galahad's before, I did not have any pre-conceived notion of how this experience was going to be. I'll therefore assume that the excellent service was a result of a good staff and not because of any previous visits or reviews. I will also assume that the helpful portions, the great bread, the good taste, and the excellent Reuben were all a result of a fine establishment trying to perfect the Reuben experience. Good job.

Having not been able to attend the previous Reuben Tuesday at Galahad's, I can only comment on the current review. This Reuben was excellent. The bread was a toasted rye, the meat was fresh, tasty, and a thicker cut then the average Reuben. The cheese was perfectly melted and the kraut and dressing were above average (they need to drain the kraut a bit more). Overall, the sandwich rates as one of my favorites and I would recommend it to people who don't want to spend a fortune for the Reuben at Shapiro's. The server was friendly and was omni-present in a good way. The atmosphere was my only complaint (and I believe the management has done all they can with the architecture they inherited). The smoke was overpowering. I think when they built this restaurant, the dining area was considered an afterthought. At any rate, I would definitely battle the smoke to have another one of these Reubens.

I think now that Galahad's is the kind of place that's enjoyable to visit. Nice atmosphere and a good solid Reuben.

Lose the TVs and add pickles!

The London Reuben was very tasty! The marbled bread, the lean corned beef, and the caraway seeds made for a great sandwich. The service was exceptionally pleasant, although there may have been some preferential treatment due to the fact that the establishment knew we were there to rate their Reubens.