Café Biarritz

If you want to take the family out for a wholesome meal in a high-rise hotel, this place fills the bill. The youngsters will take a shine to those high-rise glass elevators with all the lights. For adults, the atmosphere of this restaurant plunked down in the middle of a Crown Plaza Suites Hotel may be wanting, but the open kitchen goes a long way toward warming it up. And when a young but informed and effective waitstaff delivers the food, it satisfies everyone. It's fresh and served in a pleasing, colorful manner. The emphasis is on solid home cooking. Think roasted chicken and hamburgers. But the chef doesn't do badly with Tex-Mex. Check out the chicken Monterrey, for example. The chicken fingers--a must for the under 12 crowd--are made out of real breast meat and cooked fresh. Each entrée comes with a delicious side of mixed vegetables in a tart sauce flavored with red onions and vinegar. The mashed potatoes may taste better than your mom's. No insult intended. The desserts are a little gooey, but that's not a problem for the kids.