Keliah's House of Pancakes and Restaurant has been open about a year and a half now. It's where the West State Café used to be, and before that, it was Rich's Café, and even before that, Charky's.
I've put off reviewing it until recently when a co-worker said his wife and daughter had eaten there and recommended it.
So off another co-worker and I went to Keliah's for lunch the other day. As we pulled up, I puzzled over the sign advertising A.Y.C.E. fish — until it dawned on me that it stood for all-you-can-eat. On the other side, the sign advertised beef goulach. I'm pretty sure they meant beef goulash. I didn't get too upset over the misspelling, but I hoped they could cook better than they could spell.
Keliah's interior was a mishmash of new and old — modern lights indicated some remodeling had been done, but the brown vinyl-clad booths likely were recycled from one of the restaurant's previous incarnations. Large windows brightened the interior; but the windowsills were dusty. A steady stream of traffic passed by on bustling West State Boulevard.
The diner was doing a decent business the day we went. Keliah's has a huge menu, including all sorts of breakfast items, sandwiches, soups, dinners, etc. The server came by three times before we finally decided what to order.
I was hungry for breakfast, so I ordered a ham and cheese omelet, which came with hash browns. I also ordered an orange juice to come with my meal, which our friendly, older server said she'd probably forget to bring, so I was to remind her when she brought the food. She did forget, and I did have to remind her.
My friend ordered Keliah's chicken ($7.95), a breaded chicken patty sautéed in a cream spinach and tomato Alfredo sauce and served with fettuccini and garlic toast. She chose stuffed pepper soup to go with it.
The soup was a hit. With rice, ground beef and little bits of green pepper, she said it tasted just like a stuffed green pepper.
The Keliah's chicken dish was another story. It looked promising, but lacked flavor. My friend said the chicken patty breading didn't have much taste, and the spinach looked like the kind you buy frozen.
The noodles lacked flavor; she said it was as if they'd been left in water too long. The only thing she liked was the chicken patty itself.
“That's enough,” she said, leaving a substantial portion of her meal on the plate.
I fared much better with my omelet. Keliah's omelets are huge — made with five eggs. Mine was stuffed with diced ham and cheese and cooked to a lovely golden brown. Shredded cheese was melted on top. The hash browns were fried golden-crisp, with most of the grease cooked out. Keliah's served my omelet with sourdough toast, my favorite.
My only complaint was that there was too much food. I don't know who could eat, or needs to eat, five eggs at one time. Fortunately, our server supplied me with a take-home container.
Speaking of our server, she was a little sassy in an endearing sort of way. When I asked her for a “splash” of coffee — meaning fill it up part way — she literally gave me a splash of coffee in my cup, then looked at me with a mischievous grin. Wisenheimer.
My friend decided to erase the memory of her chicken dish with dessert. That was a mistake. Apparently, dessert isn't Keliah's forte — the server didn't even suggest it. But when asked, she offered three pie options. My friend chose apple pie.
I asked the server if Keliah's makes its own pies. She said no, they were frozen.
That should have been a clue. She promptly delivered a wedge of apple pie. No ice cream was offered with it, so it looked a little forlorn sitting on the plate all by itself. My friend said the filling was cold, and the bottom of the crust was burned black.
When our server asked about the pie and saw the scorched crust, she took the charge off the bill without us even asking.
Based on our experience, I'd recommend ordering breakfast if you go to Keliah's. It's probably the safest bet.
One other note: I got halfway back to work when I realized I hadn't picked up a menu. I always bring one back so I can include a menu sampler with Main Course. When I returned to Keliah's, they didn't have any paper menus for me to take home, and they wouldn't let me borrow a regular menu.
So if you're wondering why there's no menu sampler — that's why.
