Taste Test

Judges invite frozen restaurant food home

By Kathy Saunders, Times Correspondent
Published October 3, 2007

Comfort food rankings:
1. Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie
2. Tony Roma's Baby Back Ribs
3. Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie 

- - -

For a comfort food fix, Taster's Choice panelists would turn to Marie Callender or Boston Market for a hot pot pie. And they might even heat up some Tony Roma's ribs. But they probably would wait until they could get to Checkers, Chili's or Romano's Macaroni Grill before trying to satisfy cravings from those restaurants.

Our tasting panelists sampled meals from all of those restaurants that are also sold in local grocery stores.

Boston Market's Chicken Pot Pie $2.38 for a 16-ounce pie from Wal-Mart was their favorite, scoring 73 out of 100 possible points. All four panelists said they would buy the chain's frozen pie to keep in their own freezers.

One panelist confessed that he had never before tried any of the restaurant brand foods.

"I look at the people who are buying prepared foods, and they are happy, smiling, using their cell phones," he said.

Now he knows why.

"This sort of meal (pot pie) was a big part of my growing up," he said of the Boston Market meal. "It tastes like I'm 7 years old at my parents' table - eating something warm and necessary." He especially liked the flaky crust and the creamy sauce in the pie.

"It's got great, flavorful and chunky bits in it - an entire meal in one mouthful," he said. "The only thing missing is the pink-colored Kool-Aid alongside."

Other judges liked the Boston Market meal for its tender chicken and big vegetables.

They also had praise for the Baby Back Ribs from Tony Roma's restaurant ($12.99 for a 24-ounce rack at Publix). Judges awarded 72 points to the ribs.

"This would be a perfect and quick meal to serve my children before we leave for an evening hockey game," said one panelist. She and another panelist said they would buy the ribs, suggesting they might add more sauce on the side. The ribs came intact and ready for the oven or grill. We heated them in the oven.

"These are tender and sweet with a nice char," said one judge who liked the manageable size of the ribs and the not-too-spicy sauce.

"The sauce is assertive but with a nice sort of Toby Keith kick to the back of the mouth," he said.

The dissenting judges described the ribs as peppery. One said they were too expensive for her taste.

The Chicken Pot Pie from Marie Callender's ($2.54 for a 16.5-ounce serving from Wal-Mart) scored 60 out of 100 points in our survey. Two of the four judges said they would buy the brand. They liked the buttery crust and the large chunks.

The other two judges were disappointed in the vegetables, and they craved more seasonings.

Judges also tried some fries from Checkers ($2.08 for a 28-ounce bag from Wal-Mart) and two prepared meals: Monterey Chicken from Chili's ($6.99 from Publix) and Chicken Parmesan from Romano's Macaroni Grill ($6.99 from Publix). None was a hit.

The fries were spicy, but limp and soggy. One judge said they tasted like dirt.

Panelists said they would eat the Macaroni Grill meal if it was put in front of them, but none would buy it. Same goes for the Chili's dinner. The judges said the sauce tasted like it came from a jar, and one said the meal reminded her of the lunches served in her high school cafeteria.

Panelists were: Nan Jensen, registered dietitian with Pinellas County Cooperative Extension; Bob Devin Jones, artistic director of Studio@620; John Hehn, foodie and owner of All Brite Lighting & Power Design Inc.; and personal chef and mother of four, Julie Overton. All foods were tasted blind.

Send suggestions for product tastings to Taste, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail them to jkeeler@sptimes.com. Please put TEST SUGGESTION in the subject line. To read past columns, go to www.sptimes.com/food.

[Last modified October 1, 2007, 16:14:55]