The 49er Steakhouse Diner

Overall opinion: LOVED IT. Let me say that again. Go to the 49er cause they rock GREEK FOOD.

They do calamari the right way. Breaded fresh and deep fried to order. Served with chopped onions and tzatziki for the Greek version....I recommend asking for a side of marinara and lemon wedges for an Italian experience. Those of you who've been with me since the beginning know how big a deal a proper calamari is to me. And I told our waitress so and also mentioned that I would come back to their restaurant just because of its greatness. Oh. Yes.

This is a VERY big deal. I'm practically jumping out of my chair to type this. AHHH!

Side note: previous owners were Greek.

Next in the line up was the Baby Back Pork Ribs, fries, gravy and veggies with Caesar salad. Also, a Chicken Souvlaki with rice, pita bread, tzatziki and Greek salad.

At this point I have high hopes. The waitress is nice, pleasant and wearing a (gasp) genuine SMILE, the calamari is heaven and I don't even care that the decor is peace country/former Greek/weird, plastic Italian man greeting me with the chalkboard specials.

Given that the 49er is a Diner/Dive I forgive many of these oddities ONLY WHEN the food makes up for it with legendary Mom 'n Pop flavour.

The short of it is this. Dish Numero Uno was a fail--burned fries (although they were freshly cut) and tough, tough pork ribs. Even a manly mouth with hunger pains couldn't rip the meat off quickly--though the accompany sauce was deelish with hints of apple and vinegar. By the time I had nearly finished my surprisingly good Greek meal, the man hadn't managed more than two bones of the full rack.

Side note: The Caesar side salad was surprisingly done well. A great dressing choice, real bacon diced on top, freshly cut greens, homemade croutons. I would have lightened up on the dressing amount and served it with a wedge of lemon.

After humming and hawing over a great experience so far my restaurant ninja skills kicked in and I finally said, "They have to know. Even if we loved everything else, they have to know these are not serve-able." The waitress was more than okay making sure my counterpart had something to his satisfaction and brought back a Spanikopita meal. Picture lots of phyllo pastry combined with spinach and gooey cheese. Served with all the fixin's of the Chicken Souvlaki meal.

Back to the food return. It sort of pained me to do this. What was this soft spot I had developed for an obscure, plain diner in my first 30 minutes of sitting within? Maybe it was due to the fact that the 49er had only three other occupied tables upon our Saturday night arrival. We had some great, uninterrupted conversation that was made even better by being the only remaining occupants a few minutes beyond that.

This elated me and worried me at the same time. Why? Because this first-time experience at a non-chain establishment is foreboding. This place WILL close if they don't have more business. Heck, they even closed earlier than their posted hours to save on labour and utilities. I'm seriously biting my nails. Right. Now.

Back to the food. Chicken Souvlaki. Grab some next time you're around there. Great flavour, tender, served on skewers. Rice is pretty bland and their homemade tzatziki is leaving something to be desired. It's missing something.....Greek herbs? The yogurty goodness is a little bit better than okay at this point. The pita bread is prepared nicely with a hint of butter. The Greek salad came complete with all the right ingredients and of course, the lovely kalamata olives and Feta cheese. Yum-o.

Our tab, sans gratuity, was around $50 bones. And we gladly forked it over. Not one other place (mainly full service restaurants) in FSJ could I honestly say that about so far.

GRADE: B+

Tips to improve: Waitress know your specials. Unprofessional to travel to the 'special board' not once, but twice to answer your guests questions. Also, it's tacky to repeatedly correct a customer on the pronunciation of a word. Especially if you're wrong. Greek is tricky so make sure you actually know the correct way to say something.

Figure out how to cook ribs. 'Nuff said.

Decent medium-sized menu. I would like to see it smaller....do less and do it well. None of the pre-frozen business (Chicken Cordon Bleu, etc.) Sure it saves time, but really, we can do that at home and save a load of money, too.

Do some advertising! I heard about the 49er through a few grapevines and that was only after making a stink about lousy places. Take away those coupons! Another foreboding notion. You start offering Buy One, Get One Free and you'll attract the clientele you don't want who don't come back without the coupons and you'll find yourself going under anyway. Wow, what a run-on.

The 49er Steakhouse Diner
8111 100 AVE
250.787.9292