Dinner and a Movie: The Hat, 'The up side of anger'

April 21, 2005
By Katie Kerr & Lisa M. Larranaga
Staff Writers

Restaurant:  The Hat Pub and Eatery

Atmosphere:

LISA:   With its dim lights and neon signs, the Chef’s Hat had more of a bar feel than a restaurant.  There were middle aged people filling the booths, tables and stools that surrounded the inside of the restaurant – making it seem like a place where everybody knows your name.  There was a projection screen – except it was a bit hard to see since our booth was in the corner.  Not a five-star restaurant, but its cozy atmosphere made me feel at home.

KATIE:  The Chef’s Hat is the perfect spot for a college hangout.  It has all the funny posters, arcade games and drink specials you could ask for.  Although the lighting is low, it fits the laid back atmosphere of the pub.  It’s a small little place that you can get good food and hang out with good people.  It does have more of a bar feel, but I didn’t mind. I was able to watch my White Sox win while I was eating my meal!

Food:

LISA:  In one word: YUM!  I chose the Italian Delight – an Italian beef sandwich served on garlic bread and topped with mozzarella cheese and their special sauce, which seemed to be some sort of marinara concoction.  It was served with fries and cottage cheese, but I was so full after my sandwich I could barely eat any fries.  I was so excited to tell all of you about my wonderful sandwich that I forgot to mention we got an appetizer -- the herky chicken wings.  By the title alone I should’ve guessed these weren’t the average chicken wings, but after trying them, they don’t get my stamp of approval.  They weren’t like any wings I’ve had before – they were more like fried chicken than wings – and I’m not a big fan of fried chicken.  They were served with wet wipes, which was a plus, but the only plus of these wings.

KATIE:  I agree with Lisa, the wings -- not my favorite.  They didn’t have any kick to them, or sauce, which made them just fried chicken.  For my meal I chose the chicken caeser salad.  Garlic bread came on the side, and it was awesome!  The salad was good, it didn’t have too much dressing, which I enjoy, however the chicken tasted a little funny.  It tasted like there was a marinade already on it, which I didn’t like, but it wasn’t strong enough for me to not eat my meal.  Overall I’d say it was a pretty good meal!

Pricing and People:

LISA:  We seem to go back and forth with service.  This time, the waitress was in between, but leaning more towards forgetting about us.  She took our appetizer order, but didn’t take our food order till we were a quarter of the way done with our wings.  She was very attentive to our drinks, which was good, and she also told us the wings take a bit of time to cook.  The pricing wasn’t bad.  It was $12.00 for an appetizer, pop, sandwich and fries.  The quality of the sandwich was definitely worth $12.00 alone.

KATIE:  I thought the people were not among the nicest we’ve experienced.  At The Hat, it seems like if you’re new, you’re not as welcome as the rest.  No one was rude to us, but they seemed to throw us a couple of curious stares.  The waitress didn’t seem to care about us at all; Lisa had to nicely remind her that we hadn’t ordered yet.  Other than the people, the pricing was very reasonable.  For how close the Hat is to St. Ambrose, I say it’s a definite place to visit.

Complaints:

LISA: It was a bit smoky – there was a non-smoking section, but it was very secluded and in a private room away from the big TV and all the fun!  Other than that and the chicken wings, it was great!

KATIE:  The smoking wasn’t on my list of favorites either.  But other than that and the rude couple of stare we received, I’d say the Hat is a great pace for college students and everyone should give it a try!

Lisa’s Rating:  4 forks of 5

Katie’s rating: 3 forks of 5

Movie:  Up Side of Anger

LISA: “Up Side of Anger” was -- interesting.  From the second I saw the preview, I wanted to see it.  It looked perfect – conflict, comedy and love.  But, after watching the movie, I’m torn.  It was an okay flick – it had an excellent message and good actors.  But I felt that the movie moved WAY to slow.  I could have run out of the theater for 15 minutes, come back and not missed much.  I was constantly searching for more to be going on during the movie, but to no avail.  There was a surprise ending, which threw me for a loop, but other than that, the entertainment value was low.  A good movie to go see with family or close friends, because it hits close to home – but if you’re in the mood for a packed movie, full of quirky lines and a great dialogue, this isn’t the one.

KATIE:  I was really excited to go and see this movie.  It seemed like a romantic comedy, but boy were we wrong!  I actually loved the movie. I’m a big fan of character driven films, and this followed that to the “T”.  The story is about how a family deals with the father leaving them for another woman.  Joan Allen who plays the wife that was left, does a phenomenal job.  I was in awe of her talent the whole movie.  Kevin Costner plays a neighbor that Allen’s character starts a relationship with after her husband leaves.  The four daughters add drama, comic relief and a different point in the plot.  I thought the movie was great, it might not be a typical college student’s favorite movie, but in my mind, it was the best movie we’ve reviewed so far!

LISA:  Rating: 2 bags of popcorn of 5

Back to the FEATURES-PAGE or "The Buzz" HOMEPAGE