THE DETAILS
THE RESTAURANT: Quaker Steak & Lube, 3535 Walters Road, Geddes. 451-9464.
CREDIT CARDS: Yes.
ACCESS TO DISABLED: Yes.
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; until midnight Friday and Saturday; until 10 p.m. Sunday.
COST: Dinner for four, with one appetizer, four main courses, one dessert, beer, soft drinks, coffee, tea, tax and tip, was $98.98.
Steak & Lube revs up the dining fun
With flags, our pit crew signaled us to head into pit lane, bypassing neat rows of hundreds -- yes -- hundreds -- of motorcycles. OK, it was just a parking space, but it's easy to get carried away when NASCAR meets the Land of Oz, and Quaker Steak & Lube brings new meaning to the phrase "destination dining."
On a Wednesday "Bike Night," four of us enjoyed remarkably good food, easy prices and a waiter named Cody who was very much into the spirit of things.
Seven days a week, the flamboyant family restaurant points its gigantic neon "EAT" sign toward four main dining rooms filled with different motorsports themes. A centerpiece wood bar is carved with motorcycle brand names and flanked by two smaller dining rooms, and an indoor-outdoor bar with double overhead garage-style doors.Open since April, 2008, the Syracuse Lube's franchise is one of 33 in 12 states that began in Sharon, Pa., 35 years ago, when two men bought a vacant car-service station and turned it into a restaurant.
With a simple menu and a setting with classy cars, hot rods and motorcycles hanging from the ceiling and old racing paraphernalia on the floor and walls, the concept has become a "destination location" for diners of all ages.
The Lube's white tile building with yellow, green and checkerboard-black accents uses antique-looking gas pumps for door handles, and a prize-winning kitchen boasts the "best wings in the USA," with 29 sauces with 20 degrees of heat, from mild to medium to hot to "insane." Every Tuesday is "all-U-can-eat wings."
A large, slick menu includes appetizers, salads, soups, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, steaks, ribs, sides, desserts and "leaded" and "unleaded" fuel" to drink. Sharing and sampling was our plan for the evening, and we rode in with the restaurant's motto: "Time flies when you're having fun."
One of us started with a premium ice-cold beer ($4.50), and the rest sampled Old Tyme root beer ($2.50) and iced tea ($2.19).
Our "starting line-up" went for the "4-wheeler" ($13.99), "not your ordinary onion rings." The quadruple treat delivered thick, crunchy rings to be stacked high on an antenna. But when they weren't available, a large platter held rings, soft pretzels, mozzarella sticks and crispy breaded Italian dill pickles that were delicious newcomers. Marinara sauce, ranch and beer-cheese dips were good, too.
A single order of grilled boneless wings ($8.29) delivered chicken tenders marinated in one of Lube's medium sauces and served with toasted pita wedges for a nice diversion.
Two hearty "beefed-up steakburgers" were popular choices all around. A grilled patty melt ($8.29) was a juicy beef burger with American cheese, cooked onions and thousand-island dressing on thick-cut marble rye.
A turkey Swissburger ($7.59) starred seasoned turkey white meat with melted Swiss cheese on a ciabatta roll with red-pepper mayo. A side of steamed broccoli, however, had lost its steam and was under-cooked.
After a secret rub, slow roasting to fork-tender and flame-grilled until it sizzled, a full rack of baby back ribs ($17.99) was basted with a diner's choice of prize-winning sauces. Our ribs were perfectly cooked, and BBQ sauce added extra flavor, but not too much to make them messy. Easy to cut and share, they were served with crispy fries.
Beefy temptations include an 8-ounce flame-broiled flat-iron steak ($11.59), a center-cut sirloin ($14.59) and boneless rib-eye ($17.99). Children 10 and younger have six choices ($3.99) plus souvenir Lube Cruisers and sides.
"Finish-Line Desserts" wooed us to caramel-apple nachos ($4.99).Warm cinnamon apples were circled with flaky cinnamon-sugar crisps, and a large scoop of vanilla ice cream was drizzled with caramel sauce. It came with four spoons, and coffee was $1.69 each.
Professional, friendly service from start to finish added to our enjoyment of the food and the waiter's eagerness to please.
Our last surprises were warm, moist paper towels to clean our hands. With that kind of customer service, this place should be in business to stay.
Yolanda Wright's weekly Dining Out review is based on an unannounced, anonymous visit. Recent reviews are available at www. Syracuse.com/dining.