Pheasant Grill

2 vegetarian options: veggie sandwich (cold, basically made with burger fixin's), or grilled cheese.  Yuk.

For a place that came highly recommended for burgers, I was seriously disappointed at the lack of vegetarian options.  I opted for the grilled cheese because frankly a cold sandwich of lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and olives) sounded really yucky on a cold rainy day.

Grilled cheese was lightly toasted, cheese wasn't melted, and yes it was a "single" of processed cheese product.  Tater tots (which normally I will kill for) came out lukewarm and sadly disappointing.

I'm sad, I was really looking forward to this place, but the menu wasn't appealing to a vegetarian - and although I "took one for the team", I would have preferred to eat ice cream and call it good.

Oh and for the record, my fiancee had the burger - and as his second time there, he was seriously disappointed in it.  He said it was dry, and tasteless.  Sad.

Any place with a giant sign proclaiming "EAT!" to the entire world (ok, maybe just those intrepid travelers getting off at the Arlington exit) gets style points. Throw in more sports paraphernalia on the wall than I could stuff into a dump truck in a month and this is the only place to stop for greasy spoon indulgence during an I-84 traverse.

Don't expect to leave without severe heartburn and 3,600 calories added to your waistline. But hey, what are road trips for!? Enjoy.

Doc Severinsen ate here. Okay, so I have no proof of this, but he's from Arlington, and there appear to be about three restaurants in the whole town. So odds are good.

Should your travels take you east on I-84 and should you find yourself peckish in a part of the gorge that opens up to wide expanses of rolling hills and basalt cliffs and big horn sheep, keep an eye out for the giant "A" painted into the side of a hill and take heed, for it portends of corndoggy goodness.

The Pheasant Grill is a near perfect road trip joint. Right off the I-84, easy in, easy out. Tidy restrooms and adjacent to a gas station. Usually busy, but never too much of a wait. And it serves up near perfect diner staples using quality ingredients like Niman Ranch meats.

I have about four corndogs a year, and they all come from the Pheasant Grill. The are deep fried to the point of crispness with the enrobed dog so hot and juicy, I get second degree steam burns on the roof of my mouth. The burgers are hand made, grilled to perfection and amply dressed with the basics. I recommend the tots for your potato course, as the fries are of the personally confusing curly/battered variety.

Rumor has it that Doc was shit on the trumpet until he ate a Pheasant Grill corndog. The rest is Tonight Show history.