Dave & CRANKY CHUCKIE'S American Bistro

Dave & Cranky Chuckie's American Bistro, the first stop on my new adventure. 

When it comes to food, Ashley is an adventurer... and I get dragged along for the ride.  She's been talking about this place for a while now and we figured we might as well give it a try.

It's in this old building in Provo, upstairs.  I actually remember coming to this place when I was in 6th grade and it was a Mexican restaurant.  My sixth grade class came after a successful outing at Españolandia, ah memories.  Anyway, back to Cranky Chuckie's.

So you walk upstairs and it's got great ambiance.  There's a fire place, good music, and it just has a modern vibe to it.  In my opinion, it fits right in with Spark or Communal.  When we walked in there was no one else in the whole place.  We asked them to clear the table by the fireplace, because Ashley was a bit chilly, and it just seemed like the thing to do.

Cranky Chuckie himself came out to our table and greeted us.  I asked him about the name, and he said that it was a nickname his brother Dave had given to him because of his disposition.  Apparently he always looks cranky, or did as a kid, and so it was a nickname that stuck.  He said his brother didn't want his name as part of the restaurant, but Chuckie insisted, so it stuck.  He's also referred to as King Dave on the menu, King Dave's favorites.

I like the fact that we got to meet the chef, and it was nice to be able to ask him about the menu, and get his recommendations.  He ended up recommending the pork loin, and told us that it was a myth that pork needed to be completely cooked through.  He said that he would leave it a little pink and that would make it more flavorful and tender.  He said that it was marinated in beer and garlic for 3 days, and then cooked to perfection with a home style apple sauce on the side, because "Pork and apple make a killer combination if you've never had it".

We ended up ordering for the appetizer Sweet chili chicken wings.  For the soup we ordered Tomato Basil Bisque.  We didn't order a salad this time, but opted for 2 Entrees, the chef's recommendation of Pork loin with house apple sauce and mashed potatoes and pork joux, and the entree that peaked Ashley's interest in this place, the Stuffed dijonainsse burger: peppered and filled with American cheese with cream Dijon sauce; and served with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickle on roll with fries.  I also ordered a Henry Weinhard's Root beer.  We were also informed that if we would "like" Cranky Chuckie's on face book and "check in", we could enjoy a free dessert.  Ashley did just that and we finished our meal with a Chocolate custard with blackberry compote and fresh raspberries.

Let's start with the bisque.  It was delicious.  It was my favorite part of the whole meal.  I asked Cranky Chuckie what's the difference between soup and bisque and he said that a bisque is pureed and said that you get a better flavor because of that.  He went on to explain that a good seafood bisque has the shells of the shellfish ground to a fine powder and added to the bisque to enhance the flavor.  Anyway, The bisque was delicious, and the croutons in the bisque were made from the house bread from the night before... I give it a 9.5/10.

Next he brought the wings.  They were ok.  I love wings, but these didn't bring anything special to the meal.  They were just normal wings, fried for ten minutes, with some sweet chili sauce sprinkled over the top.  It seemed a little amateur.  I do like sweet chili sauce though, so they were good, but I could make them myself... I give them a 7/10.

Next the 2 entrees.  The pork loin was served over a bed of mashed potatoes, and lacked some presentation.  It didn't have any color, very uninteresting to look at.  The flavor of the beer overpowered the whole dish for me, and the pork loin wasn't pink as promised.  Which could turn out to be a good thing.  The portion was huge.  We weren't able to finish it.  I was disappointed because it was the chef's recommendation.  I think it would have been better to let the pork loin marinate a little less time, and maybe put a green been on the side or some asparagus.  Overall it was ok....I give it a 6/10.

The burger was good.  I wish we would have asked him not to cook the burger well done, but none the less it was a good burger.  The flavors mixed well, but we wanted the cheese to be completely melted.  The Dijon sauce was very good.  It had the consistency of humus.  All the flavors worked together and the homemade fries were a bright spot in the meal...I give it a 9/10.

We ended with the chocolate custard.  You can't beat a free dessert.  I thought that the blackberry compote would have a stronger flavor, but the fresh raspberries were the accent of the dessert.  It was a nice way to end the meal, and the fresh raspberries hit the spot.  I give it a 8.5/10.

Overall I'm going to give Dave &CRANKY CHUCKIE'S American Bistro an 8/10.  I will definitely go back.  I would give the service and ambiance a 10/10.  I liked the feel of the place and the meal was decent. 

If you end up trying this place out, let me know what you think.

Happy eating!