Continental Divide

Date
2/12/09

Location
On your way to Downtown, across from the Amtrak station
811 W. Main Street

What I ate
Texas hummus, Bison and beef meatloaf with bourbon BBQ sauce

Who went
Kelly and Matt

Thoughts
First things first, finding this place is not a sure thing. We looked for a while and found one thing that says "Continental Divide" apart from the menus - it's a small lit sign behind the bar. Look for the "Get In Here" green fluorescent sign to find this place. Now that you've found it, the review can actually start.

The hummus was pretty good. It had a better consistency than most store-bought varieties and the "Texas" part came through as a nice little spicy kick. It wasn't strong, but it persisted. The chips were a bit on the salty side, but this place is known for their margaritas, so that's probably by design. The meatloaf was tasty, but I didn't taste much difference between it (bison and really good beef) and the stuff I've made before (regular ground beef). That said, I'm sure those meats are healthier and putting anything through the grinder is probably going to dampen the quality, so I won't complain about that. I will, however, complain about the sauce. I'm sure some people like the meatloaf to stand on its own, but I could've used a fair bit more sauce and more flavor in the sauce. The cheesy potato whatnot on the side was a nice complement and the vegetables helped, too. Now that I think about it, the meatloaf alone was a little disappointing, but the plate was really good with the parts eaten together.

The place has a nice, warm feeling to it with interesting paintings and pictures on the wall. Part of that, though, might be because it gets crowded quickly. They don't care, they actually embrace that as part of the atmosphere by posting "Too loud, too crowded, too bad" near the bar. The no-nonsense attitude theme continues on the menu which warns that "[u]nruly children will be fed to the cooks". This atmosphere might scare away someone in search of a quiet, calm dinner, but you're in the wrong place if that's what you seek.

The service was pretty good. The food came out quickly and no one reached the bottom of their glass during the meal. We were handed the wrong credit card recipt initially and didn't see our server again for a while, but I know how tempermental those machines can be and the place was packed, so that's at least partially forgiven. The prices on food are very reasonable and they could add another tap or two, but they have a decent selection of bottled beers. I'm not a big tequila fan, so I'm probably not doing this place full justice. If any of you have gone here for drinks, please post your comments!

Recap
Pros - Pretty good food, good service, and fair prices
Cons - Somewhat limited menu (especially entrees for vegetarians), tough to find if you've never gone before
Overall - Nothing spectacular, but it's a solid choice. If you're in the mood for a nice, loud night out and some good tex-mex food, go here.