We tried out the new Macedonian restaurant in our little
town last night. I don't see the place lasting. That
building has seen a succession of failed restaurants. It did
best as a Dutch restaurant. We were able to get in there
once and had a great meal, but every other time we went the
place was packed, so we gave up. Someone else took it over,
changed the menu, mismanaged the place and ran it into the
ground.

It reopened as "Country Gourmet", a very misleading name.
Country Finger Food would have been a more appropriate
description for a place that sold only hamburgers,
cheeseburgers, chicken burgers, chicken fingers, hot dogs
and fish and chips. I was never inspired to try their $8.95
New York strip streak and french fries. The first time we
went there we walked out after 45 minutes and not even a
menu or a glass of water. We eventually tried it and
decided that it really wasn't worth going to. Then it
reopened again with a different name but similar menu. The
fish burger I had was quite good. But that business went
under too.

Last month it resurrected as a Macedonian Restaurant. I was
curious about Macedonian food, so we gave it a try. It is
run by two brothers who have no social skills. I got the
impression they were afraid if us. They had three page
menu, two pages of which described the dozen entrees that
the offer. The waiter handed us our menus and mumbled
something about specials while pointing at the blackboard.

We were confused the 4 items on the board were the same as
in the menu, and the same price, but no extras indicated. It
turned out that what they meant by special was more
accurately what was being offered from their menu that day.
So the menu isn't really 12 entrees, it is only 4, and the
change frequently. Last night's offering was Stuffed
Peppers, Cabbage Rolls, Chicken Zabooka and (Pork)
Paparkash on rice or penne (not noodles?) We opted for the
Chicken Zabooka and vegetable soup.

The soup was quite tasty. I don't think Chicken Zabooka is
something I would order again. It was interesting. It could
probably be best described as a chicken pot pie with a layer
of rice on the bottom and instead of a pastry crust it was a
crusting topping made from a mixture of sour cream and eggs.
It sounded much better than it was. We had a coffee after
dinner. It was instant. My wife thought that it might have
been brewed but with one of those really cheap brands of
coffee that are so bad they taste like instant.

So now we are wondering what type of restaurant it will be
next month. I don't see this one lasting as long as the
others. At least there is no problem getting a table.