Arvada Grill

We went to the Arvada Grill last night. It was my husband's birthday. He did a little research and came across this place, which is a sister restaurant to Limon. We ate at Limon once for lunch (without kids) and liked it, so we decided to give this place a whirl. It is in Olde Town Arvada at the corner of the two main drags (Grandview and Old Wadsworth, I believe).

The decor of the place is kind of hip and funky for the 'burbs. It is decorated in chocolate brown and light blue with abstract art all around. The tables are wood with dark chocolate brown stain and the chairs were the same wood with nice padded seats. There is a big, kind of funky, curvy banquette in front for sitting on while waiting. The lighting is kind of dark, giving the place a cozy feeling. It wasn't a super loud place, but noisy enough to feel ok going there with children. The place had a nice vibe.

The menu is heavily focused on home-cooking, comfort food type meals. I ordered the chicken and dumplings pot pie, which was sort of like an upside down pot pie. There was a yummy cornbread like substance at the bottom with chicken and gravy poured on top. It included big chunks of rotisserie chicken along with peas and carrots. Not good for the diet, for sure, but tasty. I managed to polish off the entire (rather large) serving.

My husband ordered fried chicken, but alas, they were out of that item. Instead he ordered the Bison meatloaf, which was served atop a pile of mashed potatoes with a large serving of corn on the side. He gave it the thumbs up.

The kids meals are $5.99 and include an entree, side dish (choice of french fries, mashed potatoes or fruit, if I recall correctly), and a sundae. My daughter got the mac-n-cheese with fruit. I was so happy to see that the mac-n-cheese was not the strangly orange costco type variety that is so often served for kids' meals. Instead it was a plate of homemade, creamy, cheesy deliciousness. The fruit was indeed fresh (as in, not from a can or a jar) but it looked a little sickly. I can't fault them for this though. After all, it is January and my daughter did eat it. My son (17 months) shared the mac-n-cheese. He loved it. Whenever I tried to sneak in a bite of something else, he said, "no no no no." We had cupcakes at home for dessert, so you'll have to wait until our next visit to get a review of the sundae.

I have just two complaints (interestingly, both are kid related):
1. Without even asking us, they brought the kids meal first. I know some people think this is the way to go. I don't get it. When the kids meal comes first, the child is often done eating (or nearly so) when the parents' food arrives. Then you have to entertain your child (who is ready to go) while you are trying to eat. I personally think it is much easier to entertain your child when you are not trying to eat yourself. We've put a lot of effort into trying to teach our children that we all eat as a family. This practice of bringing food to kids early undermines this. I know the server was trying to be nice, but in my opinion he should have asked.
2. This is going to make me sound cheap again, but oh well. The child's glass of milk cost $3! I don't get it. Why does there need to be such a huge mark up on milk? In the end, the child's meal ends up costing about $9. It was good food, so probably worth it, but a bit more than we are used to spending.

Overall, we liked the place. We noticed that they had sandwiches and burgers on the menu as well. We will definitely visit again!