My wife, daughter and I had a late lunch at Buggy Works this afternoon. My wife had eaten here before - which is lucky because if you're looking for a restaurant on the square in Monroe, you won't find Buggy Works (it's a block east of the square on 18th avenue, inside the Fitzgibbons Building).
We sat down at 2:35p - the place was empty. and i mean empty. What was cool was we had a chance to speak the owners who are both incredibly nice people who care about the food they serve.
As for the food, I'm hanging in with my new year's resolution to lose 30lbs - so i'm no carbing. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and asked Chris (the owner) if my wife could have my bread). Well, he grilled the bread for her and gave me extra meat. The pulled pork was just OK but I ordered it plain (no carbs). Had I had it as a sandwich (with slaw bread and the toppings), I'm guessing just OK would move to outstanding (my wife said the bread was obviously freshly made and very good).
My wife had the soup of the day - a minestrone. The soup is made fresh daily and is wonderful . Great flavor. Everything home made and just really tasty. (a big bowl of soup btw.) The other soup of the day was a beer/cheese soup. Flavors in beer/cheese soup really run the gamut so I asked to taste it. Chris brought out the sample. It was made with potatoes so I could not order a bowl. But i did have four spoonfuls (and gave the remainder to my wife). We both agreed that it just might be the best beer soup we've ever tasted. Not over-beery - and not thick like most beer/cheese soups are made. Great buttery flavor with just enough beer tang and just enough cheese.
My daughter had the small fitzgibbons mixed green salad. The small salad was pretty darn big and featured generous amounts of dried cranberries, candied walnuts and feta. It got a thumbs up from the vegetarian among us.
While we ate, several other people arrived. One table ordered cheese curds. My wife commented something or another about how it's tough to get good fried cheese curds. The owner must've overheard us as he brought out a curd for each of us at the table to try. they were outstanding! light beer batter with just enough beer flavor as to not be overwhelming. Plus, the coating was light, allowing you to taste both the cheese and the coating. Chris (the owner) said they use the same batter for their fish fry on friday night's (which is apparently very busy but you can make reservations). When I lose my weight, I'll be there!
On a previous trip my wife ordered their bean burger and said it was very good.
The owners are both Monroe natives. Chris, the one with whom we chatted has been a chef for 20 years. He told us his dream was to have his own restaurant.
You can tell he's well trained in both the cooking side (everything made fresh and prepared well) and the PR side. He's very gregarious (as is the co-owner whose name I think is Jeff).
Soup, salad, pulled pork (with a pickle and chips) and a diet coke came to $19.72. A steal!
With so many ordinary or less-than-ordinary restaurants out there, it's a very pleasant surprise to find a place where the owners give a damn and make everything fresh. We've already told friends and will definitely be back.
Great place. read more