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Border needs to bulk up staff, but rusty setting is stellar
By CRYSTAL PETROCELLI
Get Out
Wait: We stroll into the Old Town Border at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday with a good hour and a half of happy hour to burn.
Service: Woefully understaffed, but our server does everything short of jogging to stay on top of her tables. Unfortunately, it's too much for any one person to handle, and we suffer some for it.
Our wings and fried green beans show up without dressings. Three of our four main plates zip in five minutes after the appetizers arrive; the last one spends a few extra minutes in the kitchen. My husband never sees the house salad that comes with his $16.75 Bistro Broiler, and the waitress forgets to ask what sauce he wants on the steak. Drinks are not refilled. The check comes before we can order dessert.
Nearly everything that can go wrong does, and service is definitely below average, but I give the woman credit for making the most of her situation while keeping a smile on her face.
Meal: Other than the poor pacing and missing items, we enjoy most of the food.
The fried green beans are fun — they're rolled in a coconut and red-chili-
pepper batter, which gives them an interesting flavor. I'm not a fan, but my husband is.
The Cobb salad is huge, with more hard-boiled egg halves and slices of avocado than we can eat. They use fancy lettuce, which is a nice surprise; plenty of bacon, too.
If you put a blackboard sign out front saying you have the best burgers in Scottsdale, they better be fabulous. Our Southwestern bacon cheeseburger, served on a cheddar jalapeño bun, was good but not great. Same goes for the pile of hot, thin fries.
The Border Broiler has no flavor — it screams for one of the sauces the menu promised but never delivered on. The creamy side of mashed spuds is bland as well, but we're happily surprised by the side of bell peppers and onions.
The grilled T.A.C. is my favorite. Toasted sourdough bread spread with a sweet and tangy cranberry mayo and layered with a few thick slices of turkey, cheddar cheese and a quarter-slice of avocado on each half.
We were looking forward to tackling the Post Mortem — a crisped waffle with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, sautéed bananas and maple syrup — but, alas, we were denied.
Scene: The look is rugged with rusted and weathered everything — barbed wire, shovels, wagon parts, doors and mining-cart wheels. Even what's new looks old. The cozy bar and grill, which is housed in a historic building on the border of Old Town Scottsdale, embraced its roots and neighbor, the frontier-era Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop.
The place has style to spare, and its tucked-away location makes it an ideal escape from Scottsdale's standard scene.
Bathroom break: A basic bathroom was transformed when the owner yanked the old stalls and sink counter and replaced them with rusted versions. Fix the leaky sink plumbing and you're golden.
Tab for four: $73 with tip and tax for wings ($3.37), fried green beans ($3.62), Cobb salad ($9.25), Border Broiler ($16.75), grilled T.A.C. ($7.95), Southwestern bacon cheeseburger ($8.75) and four sodas ($1.75).
If work weren't buying: Great place to grab a beer, but I wouldn't order anything over nine bucks.
The Old Town Border
3815 N. Brown Ave., Scottsdale
Major cross streets: Brown Avenue and First Street
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Reservations accepted: No
Health report: One major violation on June 21
Kid friendly: Yes
Web site: www.theoldtownborder.com, but it's currently down
SCORECARD
Food B
Service C-
Scene A-
Bathrooms B
OverallB
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