It's "Saul" Good

Thankfully the corny joke is not on me. That's actually the name of a realtively new local restaurant, Saul Good. For those of you Fayette Mall haters, you might not know about it since it's tucked in behind the mall in the new Fayette Place shopping center - where Old Navy, Gordman's, and a few other chain stores are located. I was hesitant to try this restaurant for a while because I heard one bad review and quite honestly, I thought the name was too ridiculous for the food to actually taste good. I believe this is an independent, locally owned restaurant. I have heard rumors the owner is considering another location out in Hamburg but I've seen no indication that it's anything but a rumor.

Another friend organized a work-related dinner there about 2 months ago. After hearing her rave on multiple entrees, I decided to give it a try. Wes and I took Colin on a Saturday and were relatively surprised at the decent crowd at 5:30. I have a habit of judging a restaurant on it's popularity and I base that on how crowded it is. It helps validate my decision if there's a good crowd. Now don't get me wrong, I don't love a crowd so much that I like to wait - but that's why we go at 5:30!

The dining area is small, yet cozy. There's an open-air kitchen with a plexi-glass shield separating the kitchen from the patrons. The staff seem to congregate along this wall, presumably waiting for their orders to be processed. Among other things, they have what looks like a brick oven for pizzas, a dessert station, and a general prep area. There's a small bar with a few high top tables, all separated by a 6 foot mahogany wall. Since the space is small, the kitchen open, and the bar only being separated by a partial wall, the dining room isn't exactly quiet. With a somewhat loud child who enjoys distractions, I'm starting to seek out restaurants like this! A little tangent, I remember when Colin was a wee baby we went to the now non-existant Don Pablos for dinner with Wes' dad. It was quite loud and the music was all but blaring. Apparently this was soothing to Colin because he proceeded to fall asleep and stay asleep during our entire dinner - no complaining here, don't get me wrong! Back to the review. The wait staff was nice enough and seem to be in abundance, as one person took our order, another brought my salad, yet another brought our food, and multiple people cleared our plates at various times. We were also personally thanked by the owner and his usual phrase, "Thanks for thinking of us." Interesting, but appreciated nonetheless.

On to the good stuff, the food. The menu is quite diverse - another feature that typically scares me since this doesn't allow the chef to focus on any one type or style of cooking. I was proven wrong because Wes ordered a restaurant favorite, Chicken and Waffles (a LA concoction), I ordered the Vegetable Sandwich, and we ordered Colin a Cheese Pizza. My sandwich came with fries but I opted for a side salad instead. The salad was pretty good and a decent size for just being a side. My sandwich, pita rather, was stuffed with seasonal fire-roasted and cubed veggies, drizzled with tzatziki (whatever that is) sauce, spring mix lettuce, cucumber, and feta cheese. My only suggestion would be to cube the cucumber to make it uniform with the other veggies. The half-moon slices were a bit cumbersome and came out totally with the first bite. Even though I had asked to substitute the fries, my sandwich still came out with the fries and I was glad they messed up. The fries were shoestring cut and tasted as if they had been drizzled with a flavored olive oil perhaps. Whatever it was, it was tasty!

Wes enjoyed his Chicken and Waffles, however I'm not sure he'd order it again. The chicken was a little greasy and not what we consider typical fried chicken. The waffle was served with syrup for topping. This entree is not for the health, calorie, or weight sensitive person!

Colin's pizza was a hit. Their pizzas are very thin crust and the toppings are unobtrusive. His was cut into small triangles and I had to ask for a to-go box halfway through our meal to hide the remaining pizza. Yes, he would have eaten the whole thing! He's a glutton!

We recently ordered takeout since our first visit was a success. Our order was pretty much the same, except Wes opted for the grown-up cheese pizza. I was sad that this time they got my substitution correct and I just got the salad. I guess I can only be lucky so many times! I did miss the fries but I just reminded myself that I didn't need them. I also sampled their Turkey Chili, as a friend had tried and recommened it to me. It was small but the perfect size so as to not overwhelm the rest of the meal. Their dessert menu is extensive but looks a bit over powering to me (that's saying something coming from this sweet tooth!). Since this meal was just as tasty as our first, I feel confident in recommending this restaurant.