Fast Foodie: Stone Werks Big Rock Grille

If you're looking for a light lunch or a quick meal, take a pass on Stone Werks Big Rock Grille's newest location in Lincoln Heights at the northwest corner of Broadway and Basse. The meals are bountiful, and the choices are varied and tasty, but a 15-minute wait for lunch at midday during the week seems the norm. Service personnel are attentive albeit not always in evidence. I like that, but if you only have one hour for lunch, I can see the problem.

The interior of the building has been completely, and attractively, remodeled to align the decor with the two other Werks (the Rim on I-10 and The Vineyard on Loop 1604). There's an industrial tech look, with exposed overhead ducts and pipes painted black and there are more flat screen TVs than you can count, half set to Fox News, half to ESPN. Seafood is on the menu, but it's not played up. My waiter told me the huge salads were popular, and I noticed several folks were digging into the Big Rock Chopped Club Salad, a mélange with romaine, cheese, hearts of palm, bacon, avocado, eggs, and chicken, or the Giant Caesar Salad. My favorites are the Giant Portabella Salad and the Blackened Ahi Tuna Salad. The roasted chicken and artichoke hearts pizza was memorable from a previous visit. For lunch, the smaller pizza and a side salad can be had for a bargain $10.95.

Several of the starters easily constitute a meal. The pulled pork sliders left my friend with no room to take on a main course. The salmon rolls also looked like enough to sate a stevedore's appetite. No small burgers here; all (except the vegetarian, obviously) include a half pound of meat. The ahi tuna burger was good, but even when served rare as requested it needed a bit more time on the grill, and the wasabi mayo had no bite at all. In short, the new Werks location makes for a convenient get-together spot for those of us living inside 410 (though proximity to both U.S. 281 and 410 means the rest of y'all are invited, too). Come real hungry, plan on sharing portions, and you'll still likely take a doggie-box home.