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Health & Fitness

Jasper's: "In the Spirit of Fun"

Restaurant Review

  Jasper's is an upscale casual restaurant. Their motto, "In the spirit of fun" suits the typical Jasper's experience perfectly. First off, upon entering Jasper's you notice its centerpiece: the octagon shaped bar, the top outlined with red and blue lighting. Tables, booths and flat screens surround it. Look to your right and you notice the colossal, movie theatre style flat screen TV, to your left, a library- like setting for the more demure. Lining the walls are individual booths, seperated by wooden beams Each booth contains its own hanging lamp. Overhead the open ceiling reveals studio lighting, intertwined with a wooden frame. The overall sound and atmosphere consists of chatter, laughter, clinking wine glasses, foot-tapping music, and Monday night's New England vs. Kansas City game. The customers range anywhere from suit wearing forty-somethings to stilleto wearing twenty-somethings. Notably, this restaurant definitely falls under the "14 +" club.

 

  • Food and Drinks

 

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  For drinks, you have the option of ordering any "Coca-Cola" product, Jasper's original DIY lemonades, or a fruit smoothie. The Mango Smoothie, my choice of drink, is like a liquid teleportation device. One sip and all of a sudden you’re tranded in the middle of the Caribbean. After ordering drinks you have a choice of ordering an appetizer. The appetizers range anywhere from the Hot Crab Dip, crab meat served with fried tortillas and french bread, to the French Onion Soup. After sampling how great Jasper's food is with one of their delicious appetizers you then proceed to order your entrée.

 

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The dinner menu accommodates the needs of all seafood lovers, meat lovers, and everyone in between. As far as prices go, let’s just say I had a taste for seafood until I saw its rices, then I had a taste for chicken. The menu consists of many combo choices such as Jasper's Crab Explosion, 10 ounces of crab meat breaded and baked with seasoned mayonnaise, Grilled Salmon and Shrimp, or my order, the Rib and Chicken Fingers combo.

 

The chicken fingers, with their spine-tingling goodness, are breaded in a  buttermilk batter and deep-fried to a golden perfection, served with a honey mustard condiment, the perfect blend of bitter-sweet. The ribs, in comparison to the chicken fingers, somewhat fell short of expectations. Instead of the "straight off the grill" taste we all expect before biting into a barbeque rib, it tastes more "straight out the oven." It almost had somewhat of a "store bought" taste, to say the least. I definitely feel that with an improvement to the ribs, the Barbeque Rib and Chicken Fingers combo can rank on the "best-seller" list featured on the menu.

 

  • Service

 

  Now on to the waitstaff, who were dressed in all black as if not to draw attention away from the burgundy and black decor, and wore glow stick necklaces as if to say "we're just as fun and funky as the interior." After bringing the drinks, my waitress proceeded to come and check on us with a toothy, welcoming smile, as she did the same for dinner. With a discreet round-the-room glance I quickly came to the conclusion that this was the demeanor for most, if not all, of the waitstaff.

 

  • Experience

 

 If I had to rate Jasper's for overall experience, I'd definitely give it an A. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant for families with young children, which was my first thought immediately walking through the door and seeing a huge "Hennessy" poster in the waiting area. But, for couples, birthday celebrations or a group of friends who are looking for a place to "step in to step out", Jasper's should make the top of your to-do the list

 

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