Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 27, 1991 TAG: 9102270328
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Lelia Albrecht
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The decor certainly bears a family resemblance: the jungle of hanging vines and plants; the barn-door tin signs touting long-disappeared remedies; the cozy one-step-up, one-step-down dining levels.
But there's a stream of sun shining in through the big store-front windows and through several overhead skylights that gives this Macado's a feeling of openness I haven't experienced among its kindred.
And the food seems to taste better, too. Unfortunately, one family trait the newest Macado's hasn't escaped is erratic service.
When I made my first visit, the place had opened only a few days before, and our harried waiter was darting frantically from diner to diner. We tried not to drive him more berserk, but it did take a pressured second, third and fourth request to get - agonizingly, one by one - (1) beer, (2) good split pea soup, surprisingly hot, considering, (3) a soup spoon, (4) a "Bronx Bombers" sandwich on an otherwise empty plate, (5) chips, (6) a Brownie Pie dessert and (7) the check.
My friend and I were ready for our first beers of the season - it was warm that day, and I suddenly, fondly remembered Macado's frosty beer mugs. Mine arrived fairly promptly, icily filled with the least expensive quaff, a generic "lite" draft that was very good, whatever it was.
Macado's offers more than 75 sandwiches, so it's a forever job to peruse the small-print menu. I puzzled as to why my "Bronx Bombers" sandwich had a plural "s" when I only got one, but it turned out to be an inspired combination of mesquite turkey, corned beef, melted Swiss, Long Island dressing, coleslaw and tomato slices. Quite a handful; afterward, my plate looked as though it had been bombed.
The addition of cucumber slices would have cost 25 cents on a "Molly Brown" I tried. But why ruin melted Finlandia Swiss, Muenster and provolone with even a single cucumber slice? I didn't. As it was, olives, mushrooms, lettuce and tomato were all piled on with the cheeses, for $3.50. I thought it was perfect, if a bit overdressed. Hold the cukes.
On another trip, I started again with the soup of the day, tomato Florentine, which seems suddenly to have become the "in" soup at several Roanoke Valley restaurants. This one was served very hot, refreshingly, in comparison to others. A cup ($1.50) was amply filling and lightly spicy, seasoned with a really fresh hand.
Salads are generally a great buy at Macado's, with a choice of seven meal-size concoctions. But the one I elected to try, "Sunshine's Spinach Salad" ($4.50), was disappointing. Nothing was seriously wrong with it, but it had none of Macado's clever little surprises thrown in.
The menu suggested the diner ask for the hot vinaigrette dressing. Since no dressing at all had arrived in the first five minutes after the mix of spinach, tomatoes, boiled egg quarters, onion and "bacon bits" had been delivered, we did ask - and ask again. And waited. When it arrived, it was a welcome touch of spicy freshness, unusual and much needed.
Among the entrees, the vegetarian lasagna ($5.95) is surprisingly tasty and filling. Since spinach, which seems to be the only vegetable ingredient, becomes soggy when cooked, it blends in just fine. A good buy, as was a zesty yet delicate broccoli and mushroom deep-dish quiche, which with a tossed salad and a completely unnecessary "garnish of fruit salad," was $4.95.
At some point, if you've visited too many Macado's too often, they begin to seem like an endless cafeteria line of banal concoctions, rather like the output of children in kindergarten happily splashing on lots and lots of catchy colors.
But if you've not tasted Macado's Chocolate Toffee Volcano ($2.75), you haven't lived. With its byplay of crunch and deep chocolate delicacy, this is an out-and-out fantastically delicious blast.
Dining Out's evaluations of restaurant accessibility to the handicapped are conducted by the Center for Independence for the Disabled, a non-profit organization.
by CNB