One bad restaurant

When my mom suggested we eat at Wiederkehr’s on the way back from Altus, something inside of me rebelled. I pushed the feeling aside, however, because I couldn’t remember why I didn’t like the restaurant. I knew I had eaten there before, and that I hadn’t been impressed, but I usually remember a bad meal. Since I couldn’t recall anything from this past experience, I decided my inner rebellion was worth ignoring. I thought that if I couldn’t list reasons why my mom and I shouldn’t eat there, I should acquiesce. I can now list my reasons.

First and foremost, the food is sub par.
Secondly, the food is overpriced.

I ordered the beef stroganoff while my mom ordered the roasted chicken. Both dishes were around $18. Our waitress started our meals with a salad. If I’m ordering an eighteen-dollar meal in Arkansas, I expect the food to, at least, be high quality and unique. I’ve had better salads in my junior high school’s cafeteria! Iceberg Lettuce? Who uses Iceberg Lettuce anymore? Who serves an eighteen-dollar meal with a salad consisting of Iceberg Lettuce, one cherry tomato, and one slice of cucumber?? Give me greens that actually have nutritional value and look pretty! Limp, flavorless, nutritionally-depleted, lettuce is not going to cut it. I want spicy arugula, radicchio, spinach, frisee, butterball—ANYTHING OTHER THAN ICEBERG! And, come on, one tiny tomato and one slice of cucumber? This was not a good start.

The main courses continued down the path of infamy. My beef stroganoff consisted of over-cooked noodles, canned (seriously) green beans, and a shriveled ring of cranberry sauce. Let me tell you about the stroganoff’s gravy. Instead of a rich, creamy, mushroom gravy overflowing with tender chunks of beef, I got a flat, cheap-tasting brown gravy. It tasted canned, like everything else. There were about three mushrooms (that were probably canned) and a few tiny pieces of beef (?) that resembled dog food. It was more than disappointing. My mom’s meal was no better, but, at least, she got half a chicken for her $18. Her chicken was dried out and flavorless. Her potatoes had been cooked into mush. They were probably microwaved, because parts were hot and parts were cold. I have no recollection of anything else on her plate, but she was as unimpressed as me.

We opted out of dessert, paid our bill, and got the heck out of Dodge. I can’t understand how this restaurant has survived for so long. Why do people eat there? How can someone pay that much for a meal (yes, all of their entrees were priced similarly) and get that result and go back?? I could do so much for that restaurant, and I’m not even a properly trained chef. Who do they have cooking back there??

I understand that Wiederkehr’s has a unique atmosphere. It’s dark; it’s medieval; it has a a lot of wood…And I understand that sometimes, a diner ends up paying mostly for the atmosphere of a restaurant. But Wiederkehr’s has been around for over thirty years…they should have the atmosphere paid off by now.

In conclusion, Wiederkehr’s Restaurant is good for nothing but “sitting off” a buzz from too much wine tasting. Spend your $18 at a grocery store, go home, and cook something worth eating.