Krickett's Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Spanaway

Happy Mother’s Day. After a long day at the ranch with our unicorn Ghost, being the star of Mother’s Day pictures, I was too tired to heat up leftovers so Ray offered to take me out for a meal. The first two places were closed. Krickett’s was open so we stopped.

It is a bar. I did expect some level of noise but when the bartender had to yell at tell us to pick a table I thought the music might have been a bit loud.

The bartender brought menus and water right away and was friendly and attentive. I decided I wanted steak. There were two choices; a NY and a tenderloin. The size and price of the tenderloin were blocked out so I chose not to ask and picked the NY. Ray chose the chicken fried steak.

I like my steaks medium rare and after another restaurant overcooked mine, I reiterated medium rare. My meal included a choice of baked or mashed potatoes, salad and a vegetable. Ray’s chicken fried steak came with vegetables. He was asked if he wanted baked or mashed potatoes. He also chose baked. We were asked if we wanted them butter only or loaded. We chose loaded.

When the bartender turned in our order she forgot which steak I had ordered. That is when I learned the price of the tenderloin, which she quoted at $32. I am glad I stayed with NY. I will explain why shortly.

Our salads arrived first. They were large and much more than a bowl full of lettuce with some carrot strips and croutons. They had a decent amount of tomatoes, carrots strips, cheese and croutons. Everything was crisp and fresh.

The toppings for our potatoes arrived right before our meals. There were generous portions of butter, sour cream, cheese, fresh chives and bacon bits.

Then our meals arrived. Ray’s chicken fried steak was large, thick and smothered in a very tasty gravy. It had great flavor and texture and was what I should have ordered.

Ray’s baked potato looked very old from sitting wrapped in foil for hours. The inside was that off putting yellow color which doesn’t take away from the taste. It is the appearance which makes it look unappealing.

My steak looked good until I cut into it and took a bite. The next 3 bites were gristle. No meat whatsoever. When I actually got to the meat, it was overcooked, pushing medium well.

I called the bartender over just as she was heading our way to check on us. I told her the steak was all gristle, showed her the inedible parts I had found so far, and the overcooked inside. She asked if I would like it replaced. I said yes.

She went to the kitchen and that is when I learned they had no more NY’s. I was offered a tenderloin for the same price as the NY. I said yes.

My potato looked exactly like Ray’s. The toppings helped improve the appearance, except for the bacon bits, which I tasted before putting on my potato. They were not real so they were left in their container. Ray did not use his either.

I was rather disappointed in the look of my tenderloin when it arrived but I accepted it. The first two bites were also gristle. When I finally got to the meat part, it was RARE. The cook wanted to make sure she didn’t over cook it but it turned out to be barely seared. I would have been extremely disappointed and upset had I ordered this the first time. $32 is a lot to pay for a tough piece of meat. I ate another bite and saved it to take home.

Broccoli was the vegetable. For as bad as my steak was, the broccoli was just the opposite. It was bright green, just past al dente, tender and tasty. Both of us received generous helpings which I think will be turned into stir fry along with the usable part of my steak.

I was charged for my potato even though it was included in the price. I chose not to inquire about it.

I understand this is a bar. I do believe people like to talk without having to scream to be heard. There were 3 significant increases in the volume. The place was not packed.

Go there if you want good chicken fried steak. We won’t know about the other offerings. We will not...

Please take down your Thursday night karaoke sign! Bartender Danny was superb with his service and very apologetic about the karaoke that had been cancelled, while we and others, were there waiting for it to start. The treatment of the karaoke host, that came in to host the karaoke, was unbelievable! He came in to do a job and was told to leave. Apparently someone's professional opinion, was that there weren't enough customers there to partake in karaoke(hence, not bringing in enough revenue); although there were a bunch of us, that were! I used to come to that bar when it was the Blitz because it had karaoke, when karaoke got cancelled, I stopped coming; so did others. Last night, the first time I came back in, the host was training someone, I asked him around 8:30, when karaoke was going to start, he suggested I ask the bartender, when I did, the tender told me, whenever everybody's ready. I let the host know what I'd been told, and he asked if I wanted to start, but I preferred that he begin first. As soon as he was finished, and I was ready to get up to sing, a staff member asked him to leave. I am truly confused and appalled! This was extremely innapropriate timing! There were others there waiting to sing as well, and just as baffled as I. If you want to draw a crowd to your establishment, you have to start from somewhere, even if it's a slow, small start; it will come. Being a karaoke host myself, for several years at Billy McHale's in Federal Way, and having been voted number four, for one of the best karaoke spots in the Pacific Northwest; I understand it's not easy to grow a crowd, it's not a process that happens over night. It takes work and patience to build that crowd, and those regulars you want coming back. This was a bad business move, especially when there were people waiting to sing and have a great time at your bar. Please don't advertise karaoke if you're not going to have it, and communicate properly with your host and the rest of your staff! Take the sign down! Again, excellent bar treatment. Thank you Danny! Thank you for taking down the Thursday...

First of all, it's a sports bar...I was there with members of a women's softball team, and college basketball and women's fast pitch were on the screens. The crowd was friendly and I read most of them as regulars.

Everyone in our group of seven ordered something different. I noticed a cheese steak with a side salad (and a cup of a jus); nachos with ground beef and extra black olives; grilled chicken salad; some kind of pizza-like flatbread with toppings, deep fried potstickers; and a turkey melt with a mountain of tater tots. I got the chef salad with bleu cheese on the side.

The grilled chicken looked kinda dry and I didn't hear any raves from the person eating. My chef salad was what you'd expect from a neighborhood bar - iceberg base with a handful of chopped tomatoes, some strips of ham and beef deli meat, couple pieces of actual cheese (more strips), and a sliced hard boiled egg. The star was actually the dressing - the cup was HUGE and the dressing mild but loaded with big chunks of bleu cheese. A bit hard to eat cuz there were big hunks of lettuce and small bits of tomato - but I enjoyed it and finished it off.

It wasn't too busy when we were there, but I'd expect to wait a bit for food when there are more people.

Altogether, Krickett's seems like a nice place to chill out and not a bad place for some bar food.

And the music (mostly vintage R&B)...