The Standard

The Standard is a new restaurant and cocktail bar located across from Ruby Tuesday's in Crossgates Mall. It is absolutely beautiful on the inside. The decor gives a modern-day spin on the 1920's.

I ordered the Polynesian salad, because it is healthy and has a cool name. The salad was absolutely enormous. It is built like a sandwich, with several layers of won ton in the middle. It took me a good half an hour to finish the whole thing. I would say the portion is equivalent to or larger than the salads at the Cheesecake Factory.

Though I love the Asian chicken salad at the Cheesecake Factory, I did not like this salad. The only real flaw I could find in it was that the grilled chicken strips were overcooked. Otherwise, all of the ingredients were of high-quality. I appreciated that the restaurant used all romaine lettuce, which is healthier than iceberg. The salad could have used more papaya chunks as a natural sweetener. Also, there were no tomatoes in the salad.

Perhaps I should have ordered something else. The Parmesan-encrusted chicken that my girlfriend ordered looked delicious. Even though I am no fan of Parmesan cheese, the dish looked delicious dish. The chicken breasts were tender, and the angel hair pasta was fresh.

The prices at the Standard are reasonable. My salad was $12.95, which is excellent considering the large portion I got. I will definitely give the Standard another try.