We visited Lil Bill's on Friday afternoon, just as the "big snow" was starting to fall. My immediate impression was that the "grill" was out of commission. The bar side was full and noisy, but the dining room had not a single guest. The pool tables located at the far back of the dining room were in active use. We stood for a few moments and with no hostess in sight, considered leaving, but we decided to seat ourselves and hope for the best. Just as we were settling on a table by the four-sided fireplace, the server emerged, gave us menus and took our tea and soda orders. I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall, but alas, here is another place with a bar that could offer fruit-flavored iced tea. She did offer pre-sweetened green tea and the run-of-the-mill wretched raspberry stuff from the soda fountain. I opted for unsweetened fresh iced tea.
The menu was surprisingly overpriced. Most sandwiches were around $12-$15 and dinner entrees of pasta, seafood, and the like were mostly over $20 -- more than one would expect in an establishment that clearly gives more attention to the bar than the grill. So, when our server, Linda, suggested the $9.99 Lasagna Special, with salad and bread sticks included, we were an easy sell.
The salad was pure basic: Iceberg lettuce with a few slices of cucumber, a couple tomato pieces, a few strips of onion, and some croutons tossed on top. The veggies were fresh and crisp. But I only ate one crouton, for fear of breaking a tooth. Hardest crouton I have ever had!
The Lasagna arrived and it was evident that the kitchen had made a decent attempt at a nice presentation. However, the energy would have been better spent on the preparation. As nice as it looked, at the first touch of the fork, the lasagna collapsed into a mushy pile. The pasta was limp and flavorless and the meat was scarce compared to the abundance of sauce that obviously came from a jar or can. Although there was a nice layer of fluffy ricotta, I was surprised that it contained no mozzarella or parmesan -- vital ingredients for traditional lasagna in every recipe I've ever tried. And the bread sticks weren't actually sticks at all, but slices.
With lasagna being prepared without mozzarella and parmesan, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Hunny's silverware setting contained a seafood fork instead of a dinner fork. Yet, we found it surprising and pathetically amusing. We're just glad that our meal was on special because if this meal had been ordered from the overpriced menu, we would have left after the first bite. Lil Bill's "grill" needs to realize that you can't charge Carrabba's-level prices and serve tv-dinner quality food. Maybe that explains why the dining room was empty, save for us.
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