CITY SIDE CAFE,

The night we visited City Side, the place was packed with a Friday-night, after-work crowd, especially in the bar area. So my boyfriend, Andre, and I decided to join in the fun from our table, with a round of drinks. For an appetizer, I let Andre talk me into potato skins ($5.75). Heaped with a blend of melted Swiss and Cheddar cheese and topped with crumbled bacon, the deep-fried skins were amazingly crispy. For my main course, I selected the grilled chicken salad ($6.75), while Andre went for the chicken parmesan ($10.50). The strips of boneless chicken in my salad had been marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing for a mildly tangy flavor, and they were served over an incredible assortment of garden vegetables. On the other side of the table, Andre's dinner was so enormous, it looked as though an entire box of penne, cooked perfectly to an al dente firmness, had been dumped on his plate. What else could Andre have possibly wanted after this? Dessert, of course. We chose the two specials for $3.95 each -- a slice of carrot cake topped with a light, whipped-cream frosting and the strawberry cheesecake, a crust-lover's dream with a graham-cracker layer on both top and bottom. A perfect end to this perfect culinary picture.

Full review.