October 25, 2008 by chad.

Rancho Grande

1004 Hwy 55 West

Buffalo, MN 55313

Robin and I were in Annadale staying Thayer’s Historic Bed and Breakfast in Annadale a few months ago and upon the recommendation of Sharon Gammel the proprietor we hoofed it down to Buffalo to experience the authenticity of Rancho Grande for ourselves. Story has it that they were originally located in a very small restaurant space and they relocated because they were literally bursting at the seams. That is what tripped my interest in reviewing Rancho Grande.

Food: 8

If you are looking for signature dishes of a restaurant you can ask the server, but often times they have been couched on only a few of the dishes (Most of them are at the top end of the menu price). I cannot emphasis enough how refreshing it is when a restaurant marks their signature dishes in the menu itself. If I have a limited time and no knowledge of a restaurant, theere is no time to try it all.

For the review I was looking for something meaty and well balanced. That was most definitely found with their Enchiladas Rancheras. A lot of Mexican restaurants will have the staples included in this meal: three cheese enchiladas and rice and bean. What really made this meal phenomenal was what came on top of the enchiladas. It was topped a healthy pile of fried shredded pork, sweet grilled tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Then add to it a seasoning that is not outstandingly hot, but robust, and you have an outstanding meal. It provided a great expanse of flavors that hit different taste buds at different moments with every bite. It was thoroughly enjoyable and almost never duplicated. It was one of those meals you wanted to eat past the third bite because you knew it was going to be different than the last. That is what food should taste like!

Enchiladas on their own are a quite simple item, it is when creativity and a flair for taste is applied that it can be made into a very enjoyable experience.

Service: 2

Where they excelled in the food category, they failed in service. Outside of the host who graciously glided around the dining floor and back to the waiting area, our serving staff was very sub-par. Serving is an art. It is an art of timing. We were largely ignored for about 20 minutes before being approached for an order.(We did get the cursory chips and salsa though) We had to place out beverage order twice because it was forgotten. To top it off we needed to prompt someone to give us our bill. Isolated experience? I do not know. All I can say is what I saw. This definitely needs to be addressed in training and/or employee reviews because service is a piece of the equation that equals a superior dining experience.

Atmophere: 6

The dining area of the restaurant is split into two sections by a rather creative and fun way. The ceilings and walls are painted in a night and day scene. The bar section was painted in the night scene with stars moon and other interesting artifacts. The main dining area was obviously the day. This definitely distracted from that fact that it was basically a big open room. It’s loud when the tables are full and a booth is really the only source or relative intimate dining. Plastic chili peppers and other decorative schlock adorns the walls, but it is more there to add three dimensions to the wall murals. It is still designed with a fun theme that children and adults would enjoy.

Overall: 5

The food was outstanding. If that was all I was reviewing then this would likely be one of the top Mexican restaurants I ever ate at. Unfortunately, the significant lack of quality service was a big hindrance to the overall enjoyment of the experience. What can I say? Hopefully my experience with the service was an isolated occasion, but I walked away from it thinking that if given the chance to go there again…I just might pass on it.

There was no picture for this location on MinnesotaRestaurantSearch.com, but there are a couple of them for their other two locations in Alberville and Monticello.

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October 15, 2008 by chad.

Everyone has one or maybe I am an exception to the rule. I place a lot of importance on a good coffee cup. It usually has meaning to me otherwise it would be just another cup. I’ve passed on a lot of promotional coffee cups because despite the businesses desire to put their name in front of me every morning, I have no connection.\

This morning in the rush for the door to get Keiran out to the bus stop, I lost an important piece of fanboy memorabilia. While holding up two coats for my daughter to pick from she excitedly flailed her arms wide. In the path of the melee was my official Highlander coffee mug full to the brim with Hills Brothers Original Blend and Cub brand French Vanilla creamer (In the interest of future sponsorship of this blog I am shamelessly making a product placement.).  She tipped it over and it splashed all over the entryway table, 2 pairs of her shoes and anything else in its path. Then, if that was not enough, before I could dive heroically to it’s rescue, that official Highlander mug rolled off the table and met with the immovable and uncaring wood flooring shattering it into bits and pieces. Now, I am thankful that Genevieve was neither burned nor hit by the shattered remains, but…with the destruction of that one piece of memorabilia I have lost my daily reminder than I was once a fanboy of the Highlander movies and series.

Before I started dating my wife I was a fan of the movies but did not start to get really into it until just around the time Robin and I started dating. Well, it was around that time anyway. For x-mas one year my parents bought me a bunch of Highlander stuff from the catalog. The tee-shirts shrunk or met their demise through overuse. The VHS tapes are probably close to dead buried back in the darkest corner of the entertainment center and are dead really only because they are VHS and not DVD. The movie jacket I had got into a fight with battery acid and never was the same. No, the only real constant reminder of my fandom was that mug.

Well, luckily I still have a bunch of other memories to drink from. Not the least of which was a mug I got from a college friend for another x-mas gift back in 1992. (Still got it Jenny!) It is amazing to think that we have things like this coffee cup all around us holding memories. Raise your coffee today and toast the demise of a good cup and the fanboy I once was.

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September 26, 2008 by chad.

I am going to describe a situation today, but I will refrain from naming names and being specific about the details. Why you ask? Well, this is the internet and I would be a political imbecile to rant about anything that could kneecap my visions of the future. With as little as a few used words or names anyone can and will use your words against you. I constantly chuckle at what I find people saying on the internet because if I can find it, their enemies can too.

What really pisses me off, and a lot of people should agree, is when others choose to see you in a lesser light than you see yourself. You scoff, “What the heck does that mean, Chad?”

The capacity for greatness is a measure best known by those who have it and nurtured by those who can see through its outer trappings. Case in point, you know you are capable of excelling at a task, but others only see where you have been and what you have done. This is by no means a great revelation, but one thing that motivates me more than anything is the perceptions people form of me that are below what I see in myself. It’s that fire. The fire that needs that outside element to stoke it up. Today, someone stoked that fire. It pissed me off, but, rather than take it out on them or direct that energy towards malace, I will turn it into something good. I will excel beyond imagination.

Energy is energy. It is up to you to use it in a way that is either beneficial or hurtful. I have dedicated a great deal of my life to the betterment of those around me. It is what enlivens me and makes me whole. Why would I allow it to harm? No, the one who has stoked my fire may never know they were the cause, but know this…they will know they have underestimated me and in that I will attain prize…begrudged respect.Thanks for the kick in the toosh. I needed that.

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September 20, 2008 by chad.

I took the opportunity to look into the the blogs web statistic page because it since to see where people are coming from when they come to read the stuff I shovel out. Two of the referring sites of note:

Chow.com which is another excellent place to go and discuss food. Afterall, they bill themselves as the place to go for people who like to eat. They have made references and links to my reviews. More often then not, the review most viewed by them is my review of Pete’s Place.

RJ’s American Grill has blessed this blog with the honor of a place on their press release page. They misspelled Sherburne but that’s ok because they put me higher on the page than the St Cloud Times review so I have the ability to gloat a bit. (Even though I am certain they just sandwiched me in there.)

Nothing else to report. Need to make some breakfast for the kids and the St Cloud Jaycees are running Punt, Pass and Kick today at 11am so I might get back here again yet today.

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September 19, 2008 by chad.

This morning while all of us slept in our beds Marie Groetsch passed away without any family members around her. Today is not real. Her death is not real. Not to me yet. I’d expect that Monday will be another story though. Monday we will travel down to the cities and see her funeral. That will be the day of closure, not Friday.

Not much else to say, webizens. It’s time for quiet recollections and for being with my family. We’ll pick up on something else later on.

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September 18, 2008 by chad.

Just an update to the faithful readers, as of 7:20am, my grandmother is still alive. She has a tenuous grasp on life. Dad called and let me know that her breathing has turned shallow and that the nurses believe she had her last BM. They believe that she is also at her end now and that at some point today she will be joining grandpa.

Spending the last moments of life with someone is an incredibly emotional experience. I told my father to be ready for it and that it is gut wrenching and beautiful at the same time. I have had two opportunities to see someone die. One was the the young gentleman who skidded off the road near our house. He owns the destinction of being the cause of my first mass email by the name of Sherburne County Backroads from which this blog is named.

The other one was my dear friend Marci Olson who came to the end of her days in the company of the friends she held most dear. I was blessed to be counted as one of those friends and was blessed to know her.  I can remember the time just before she passed. We kept watch on her throughout, but when the time neared we all were there. The nurse’s voice still hangs in my mind as she spoke with urgency and passion. “Everyone, come here! She is passing now. Put your hands on her to show her that she is loved as she goes.” Even now a couple years later I am tearing up as I recall the experience. It was emotional beyond belief. After she died, my flee impulse kicked into overdrive. I needed to go right then and there! I drove home through tear soaked vision, walked in the door, and proclaimed to my wife that Marci was gone. Then I went into our bedroom, closed the door, and let all the bottled sorrow flow out of me.

It’s that experience that defines for me the point when the spirit leaves the body. I know that my dad, my uncles, and my aunt will likely be experiencing that today or very soon. I just hope that someone is there to be with her at her end time.

On Thursday of last week I went to go see her. If she was going to go, she was not going to go without seeing me and I was not going to let her go until I saw her. She was gaunt, mumbling, and agitated, all the while with her eyes closed. Uncles Bill and Bob were there the whole time I was and God only knows how much they were there before and after I left. Most of what she spoke was beyond understanding. She shouted “Billy” a couple times and cursed at least once. She told someone “that they should just shut-up”. We can only assume she meant us.

Before I got up to leave, I went up to grandma and touched her hand. For a second her mumbling was clear… for just two words. Candy bar. I then got the opportunity to do something with my grandma that I had not for a couple years. We had a conversation about nothing. Here is what we said.”

Chad- Grandma, do you want a candy bar?

Grandma - No…no…i don’t want a candy bar…Can I get you something?

Chad - No thanks, grandma. I don’t want a candy bar right now, but I really think you should have a candy bar.

Grandma - No…I don’t want one.

Actually, even though she was nearing the end, she was still ever the superior hostess. In the end she did give me something. The something that I longed for. She spoke to me one last time.

I missed Marci Olson’s last words by a few hours. I missed grandpa’s last words by minutes. Grandma, in her own way, gave me something finite that I can always remember. She spoke to me. Thanks, Grandma.

Aunt Donna said the last she spoke was on Friday. My cousin Heather was there when the clergy came in to pray with her. Even in her limited capacity she dropped into prayer and signed the cross. She always struck me as a devout catholic so it does not surprise me. I think that maybe she was truly there then and this was one of her last preparations for the end. Soon there after she went to sleep and has not really spoken since.

That is where we stand right now on a Thursday afternoon. As far as I know she yet breaths, so I will not refer to her in the past tense yet.

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