Quinton’s food better than the service

Quintons food better than the service

Quinton’s Bar and Deli has become a weekend hotspot for college students in Topeka. Not only can you order food, but the bar is open and serving drinks until 2 a.m. It has different specials every day of the week, and features $3 Jager bombs at all times, which is a must for a bar trying to attract college students.

The other night I decided to check out Quinton’s—and much was left to be desired. I waited at the over-crowded bar, while being squashed and stepped on for 20 minutes. When the bartender decided to serve me—after the group of girls who appeared after me—he was rude when I asked about their wine selection.

I know Topeka is not a very wine-y town, but come on.

I had been to Quinton’s before and drank wine all evening. This bartender acted as if they only had warm, dusty bottles on the top shelf and nonchalantly waved his hand and said “that was all they had.”

I ordered a Coors light draft, which cost me $4.50, and one of those $3 bombs. The bomb was warm, which is a huge no-no in my book, but I didn’t complain because I didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes for another one that would probably be warm as well.

The waitress did a much better job, and for some reason the Jager bombs she served me were ice cold, and served within a couple minutes of ordering them. I was impressed and felt a lot better about my night.

I wanted to give Quinton’s another chance, so I went back alone during the afternoon to order lunch. It is a seat-yourself establishment, so I did just that and within moments the waitress took my drink order. I ordered water this time, and looked over the menu. Mostly it contains sandwiches, soups, wraps and loaded baked potatoes they call “spuds.” I decided since the KU game was on I would order the Jayhawker, grilled chicken with melted provolone, lettuce, tomato and their special house honey mustard sauce on your choice of white, wheat or rye—I chose wheat. To start me off I ordered a broccoli and cheese soup that comes in their bread bowl and a handful of gourmet potato chips.

The soup came out first, thick and steaming with melted shredded cheddar on the top. The broccoli was soft but not mushy and the soup was the perfect thickness. The bowl made of bread is the perfect touch, I like tearing a piece of bread with every other bite of soup. The only problem is the soup bowl seems to be too much bread, and you are left with a lot of the bowl, wanting more soup.

Next came the Jayhawker, a pretty large grilled chicken sandwich, dripping with their sweet honey mustard sauce, and accompanied by gourmet potato chips. I found the sandwich to be pretty good for the most part, but the chicken was dry, which the honey mustard helped only a little bit. Not a sandwich I will return to order, but I might try something else they have to offer. They claim to have the best pastrami on rye in town, and perhaps I will try that next time.

If you want to check out the menu, their website is quintonstopeka.com. It has a list of specials, menus and upcoming events.