Panama Bill’s Taste Trial
Nov 11th, 2005 by Don Ray
Since I had brought home the menu from Panama Bill’s it seemed like the logical place to eat tonight would be there. I had been thinking of St. Louis ribs all afternoon. Three of us went in a pouring rain. My first impression was good as the doorman came out with an umbrella and kept the group from getting soaked.
When the menu came out it was different from the one I had been given this morning. I don’t know if there are different menus for the noon meal and the evening, but there seemed to be more choices and there were higher priced items.
One in the party ordered a hamburger, another ordered a cream soup, and I ordered the ribs that had been bragged about so much this morning. When the food arrived, the soup looked good and I was told it was good. The hamburger looked good and I was told it was good, not the best in David, but ok.
Now I had ordered a ½ rack of ribs. I was expecting 6 ribs, which would have been the number I would have gotten everywhere I have ever eaten in the US. On my plate were three ribs with not a whole lot of meat. I wondered if I was wrong and my expectations of six were in error. I mean it has been 2 1/2 years since I have ordered ribs.
When in doubt look it up on the Internet. According to the RIBMAN site, which is everything you want to know about ribs, a rack of ribs normally has 12 to 13 ribs. Certainly these were not the best ribs I have had and from a quantity of meat I got on my order, I think it only qualifies as ¼ rack. I was disappointed. The flavor was ok, but it was mostly the sauce as opposed to slow cooking. I guess I need to figure how to have some Red Bryan’s barbeque sent down here from Dallas.
Nonetheless we had a good time. A band was warming up as we left. I am sure it would have seemed better to me if I had preceded it with three beers. Too bad I don’t drink.
Have been to Panama Bill’s twice since it opened, first time about a week after opening nite. Service was plentiful almost to the point of intrusive - the music of choice (very 40’s) too loud. We wanted the Prime Rib as shown in print ad & on menu. It was 6:20 pm on a Saturday nite and they’d just run out! So, I ordered the BBQ combo plate, 1/2 rack of ribs & 1/4 BBQ chicken; my husband ordered the 1/2 rack of ribs. The plate I received had the full 6 ribs (as did my husband’s) and a full 1/2 of a chicken plus coleslaw & fries; lots of stuff for the doggy-bag. Fellow diner horrified by the plate of food he received by ordering the full rack of ribs. However, by the time we went back 2 weeks later, things had changed. Well, not everything as Prime Rib was still not available - oops, they’d just run out, again! Anyway, we ordered the BBQ ribs again and received the smaller 3 rib rack and had to ask twice for the coleslaw. Music still too loud - would hate to hear what live band would be like.
Anyone heard anything about Restaurante Al Khaled Internacional? Directly across the street from McDonalds in San Mateo. Saw the sign going up yesterday (11/17).
Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I have thought about Panama Bill’s several times since I was there and wondered if it might have been a bad night. But on further thought, I decided that it was probably the norm and I remembered another thing that I had forgotten.
When I went there the first time to get the menu, I talked to someone that acted like he was in charge. I asked if he was Panama Bill. He said no, I am Panama “some other name”. I told him that I had been in Chiriqui for some time and was interested in trying the place and asked if the food was good. He said it was the best. I named another restaurant that I like and he proceeded to run it down. I didn’t like that, but still went to Panama Bill’s that night to try it anyway. At this point I think I have no reason to return.
[...] The second layer was pork ribs with a large slice of fresh pineapple on top. They were extremely good and the Jack Daniel’s sauce was good also. They renewed my hope of having good ribs in David, because I had them today. My experience in Panama Bill’s was such a disappointment. [...]
[...] in David Yahoo group met at Panama Bill’s. I normally don’t care to get out in the evening, but my past experience was so bad at Panama Bills, that I had to go to see if the new management had any effect on the [...]
[...] also. They renewed my hope of having good ribs in David, because I had them today. My experience in Panama Bill’s was such a [...]
“The hamburger looked good and I was told it was good, not the best in David, but ok.”
Okay - so where IS the best hamburger in David? Curious minds want to know.
Well for my money, it is TGIF.
Hotel Iberia is not bad. I am willing to try others if any recommendations come in.
Thanks, I’ll try it.
The hamburgers at that outdoor restaurant across the street from Ofelia’s - I’ve forgotten the name, but it used to be Sombrero - has good-looking hamburgers but I haven’t been back there since the day I saw one while I was eating something else and wished I’d ordered the hamburger.
I haven’t tried that one and am not familiar with Ofelia’s.