The Pines offers up tasty options

TROY – The Pines is one of those places that works well for any occasion. From a quick lunch to a celebratory dinner to an office party — and from soup and salad to a blue-plate special to a steak-and-seafood feast — this eclectic restaurant on Troy’s downtown square feels like the right choice for a night out.

The menu includes beef offerings like prime rib, filet mignon and ribeye ranging from $16.99 to $23.99. Those choices include salad and your choice of potato, rice or vegetable. Seafood items, available fried, grilled or blackened, include shrimp, scallops, amberjack, grouper, salmon and catfish. Prices vary from $10.99 to $17.99.

Past experience helps me recommend the New York strip, which is a flavorful cut without as much fat as the ribeye. My wife says I’m nuts, that the ribeye is the clear winner. Both are always cooked perfectly here. The grilled grouper is a seafood favorite.

Chicken, pasta and burgers are also featured on the expansive menu.

An addition to this wide-ranging menu is a dinner-for-two special, which my wife and I enjoyed at our most recent visit. For $20, diners split an appetizer and choose from nine entrees. Well, who doesn’t like a bargain?

We split a spinach dip appetizer, I ordered eight large shrimp, fried, and my wife chose the open-face prime rib sandwich. We did good.

The Pines’ spinach dip is a cold dip, although we’ve had it served warm at other places. The dip was a cream cheese-sour cream mixture binding a good amount of spinach. It was served with nacho chips. The dish was OK, but I second-guessed the choice. Other appetizer offerings were fried green beans, jalapeno poppers or cheese sticks.

There was no regret about our selection of entrees. My shrimp were excellent. Lightly battered, the crust was crisp and stuck to the shrimp, but didn’t overpower them. From my own limited culinary skills, I know it is easy to overcook shrimp. Things can go from tender to rubbery in seconds. These were perfectly prepared. They were well seasoned. They were, indeed, large. Two-biters. Eight was enough. I even shared with my wife — in exchange, of course, for a sample of her prime rib sandwich.

It was very good. A nicely seasoned portion of beef served on toasted bread, the sandwich was hot and tender. The meat was a touch fatty on the ends, but was also juicy and flavorful. So, yes, it was prime rib.

Her sandwich came with fries, although they gladly substituted a baked potato at her request. She said The Pines has one of the best baked potatoes she’s ever had. She called it “fluffy” with no uneven spots. Served with butter and sour cream, it is a side dish worth savoring.

My shrimp came with a choice of potato — and I also got the stellar baked — and a side salad. Here’s another recommendation: Try their homemade celery-seed dressing.

That was a delicious meal, but to know that it cost just $20 — plus beverage, tax and gratuity — made it a tremendous value. We had no room for an array of desserts that are also available.

Other entrée choices included a grilled chicken and vegetable pasta/alfredo; The Pines’ prime time salad, which is strips of the prime rib on salad greens, a chicken tender dinner and a couple of burger or chicken sandwich options.

Owner Sandie Garrett said she’s considering bringing other options to the two-for-$20 special. It’s just another consideration on a menu loaded with options.

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The Pines Restaurant
Location: 65 W. Court Square, downtown Troy
Phone: 566-5382
Hours: Lunch, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Rating: 3 ½ out of 4 stars