Ram's Horn, Southfield

The Ram's Horn Menu

I went to the Ram's Horn in Southfield a little while ago.  I was seated in a booth away from the other patrons, for reasons I didn't fully understand.  Ram's Horn was not particularly busy that night, though the table closest to me (which was about a third of the restaurant away) was loud enough to be a bit disruptive.  Very quickly, and without any unnecessary fussing, my order was taken, and I had some time to look around.

The first thing I noticed about the interior decor was that there were a lot of Red, White and Blue decorations hanging from the ceiling.  The second think I noticed about the decor was that there were a number of pictures of diners on the walls.  The third thing I noticed was that there was a bizarrely festive pattern on all of the seats, a pattern whose dominant color was dark green (like the menus, and the many plants hanging from the ceiling).

This is already too much excitement for what was supposed to be a relaxing meal

The fourth interior design choice I noticed was the many pastel colored paper flowers and butterflies hanging.  I think I would advise Ram's Horn to stick to just one design scheme.  I sort of got the sense that they had to put a lot of effort into looking festive, so that you wouldn't notice how unfestive an establishment it was.

The burger was too big for its bun (which, I must say, was expertly toasted).  As you might be able to tell from the photo, it was very charred.  The burger had clearly been heavily grilled.  The patty was thin, but satisfying, with lots of little black charred bits falling off of it.

The fries were pretty standard issue.  They tasted kind of like a potato, though they were frankly a bit oily.  Unremarkable.

All in all, it was a somewhat filling meal at a reasonable price.  If tacky decor offends you, I'd stay away.  Otherwise, Ram's Horn is nothing special, with all the positive and negative that suggests.

I took this picture from my car, and when I took it, the song "From That Day On..." by Nobuo Uematsu came on.  It felt very apt. 

Leo's Coney Island, Birmingham

I ate dinner at Leo's Coney Island in Birmingham not too long ago.  I've reviewed Coney Island restaurants before, and the rule remains: above all, remember that this is a Coney Island.

The Leo's Coney Island Menu.

Leo's was pretty empty and very quiet when I arrived (early evening).  There were a number of TV screens, all seemingly tuned to CNN for some reason.  You could even hear the CNN, faintly, over the waitresses gossiping.  

The walls were painted with a number of murals depicting Greek locations on the walls, labeled 'Akropolis,' 'Olympia,' and 'Salonika.'  There was also an "Athens 2004" emblem to commemorate the 2004 Olympics.  There was also a mural of a location I'd never heard of, 'Nafpaktos.'

I've never heard of Nafpaktos, but I'm guessing it's a port city.

 The seats and tables were very much plastic (sort of a Coney Island standard style).  I can't say that it was clean, but it had a very clean feeling.  There was a sign out front that proclaimed, very prominently, that it's open 24/7.

The burger patty was very wide, but very thin.  It sort of tasted like meat (not beef, generic meat) infused with cardboard.  The bun is pretty generic, with maybe, maybe, a bit of an eggy taste.  There was a lot of bun, too much bun for the amount of burger.  That said, the bun and the burger, with a bit of ketchup, worked well together.

The fries were square cut (as you can see in the photo), with no appreciable potato skin, and little potato flavor.  There wasn't much taste to them at all, except for a small oil flavor.

Despite (or perhaps because of) the lack of flavor in both the fries and the burger, there really wasn't enough of either.  That said, the price was right, with dinner not running much over $5.

Leo's isn't a place I'd go to for flavor, as it really has very little to offer.  However, it's a fine place for a bite between other meals, and a fine place to sit for an evening.  I highly recommend it.

Leo's Coney Island.