Mustard's Italian Food

Kirk, Cathy, other yosoers, and many FOYs are eating, thinking, and searching for ultimate tastes. ed (from Yuma), however, is just blogging about a new place in Yuma.

Sad to say, Mustard's is no longer in business as of August 2009. According to the local paper, the location will be taken by Das Bratwurst House.

The opening of a new restaurant in Yuma is a big deal -- particularly if the restaurant is neither a chain nor a Mexican eatery. So when the Munch Lunch Bunch (a group of us who eat Friday lunch together most weeks) descended upon Mustard's Italian restaurant at the corner of Madison and Second, we were excited and hopeful:

The meal started off well, as we were all given a small bowl of marinara and slices of Italian bread (most likely from La Brea):

The warm marinara was tasty and tomatoey, but very mildly flavored, somewhat lacking in herbs and spice.

I ordered one of the lunch specials that day, crab raviolis (8.95?). In a fairly short period of time, the plate of raviolis arrived looking very pretty:

I liked that the raviolis were not overcooked, and the pasta still had some chew. Although not especially rich, the light cream sauce was smooth and complemented the raviolis and the diced vegetables. At first taste, I thought that the light green bits on top of the pasta were pieces of pickled artichoke hearts for they contributed a slight sour note to the dish. Further tastes and a closer look made me aware that these were slices of pepperoncini. They added complexity and contrast to the textures and flavors of the dish. The only shortcoming of the raviolis was the lack of much crab flavor in their fillings. Well, okay, maybe the lack of any crab flavor.

The raviolis came with a nice little side salad, mixed baby greens and romaine tossed with a light Italian dressing containing little dots of grated cheese. The tomato slice and red onion slices added a bit of color and variety:

Friends had a couple of different sandwiches (meatball and grilled beef and mushroom), neither of which looked exceptional. Both came with an underdressed tricolored rotini salad with chunks of mozzarella. Others selected the spaghetti with shrimp, mushroom, and spinach cream sauce:

I didn't get a bite of this, but it disappeared quickly and those who ordered it were very pleased. Service throughout lunch was a bit harried - with one server working several tables - but was friendly and competent.

This seemed like a restaurant worth returning to, so Tina and I soon arrived to try a dinner at Mustard's. This meal was a bit more problematical, although it started off well with the bread and marinara. In addition, we had brought a bottle of wine, which was opened by our helpful server, who also provided excellent full sized stemware. We felt the $10 corkage was perfectly appropriate for the service and the glasses.

Wanting to try a variety of items, we ordered a minestrone soup (3.95) and the zucchini and chickpea salad (6.95). We were not sure what to expect with the salad, as neither of us had heard of such a thing before, but we certainly weren't expecting what showed up on the table:

The same mixture of greens as in the lunch salad were topped with pepperoncini slices, sizable chunks of raw zucchini, and (no, I am not making this up) kernels of canned hominy. Say what? Someone can't tell the difference between hominy and chickpeas? The salad also had no dressing; I guess we should've said something, but maybe zucchini and hominy salads never have dressings. ;-)

The soup was also rather unusual, as it had little in common with any minestrone (or for that matter most any other soup) I have ever eaten before:

First, while the broth (if that's the right term for the liquid here) was appropriately reddish, it was largely flavored by the same marinara sauce that came with the bread. No deep savory stock whatsoever. The ingredients also seemed a little out of the ordinary. Not only were there no chickpeas (no surprise considering), but there were no beans of any sort. Instead, slices of nearly raw mushroom, chunks of undercooked zucchini, bits of diced tomato, and fresh frozen peas swam in the diluted marinara. To be truthful, the soup wasn't horrible - it just wasn't minestrone.

At the bottom of the bowl, lay another surprise, multicolored tortellini:

As I fished one of these out of the soup, I realized that the minestrone soup listed on the menu was the same as the tortellini soup. Well, I suppose that's one way to keep inventory modest.

Tina had opted for the penne with tomato, fresh basil, and garlic sauce (10.95):

This dish was okay, I guess, but certainly far from spectacular. Part of the problem was with the fresh tomatoes; typical supermarket slicers simply didn't bring enough flavor to the dish. Similarly, the few fresh basil leaves added little, and I can't recall much garlic either. While the dish was not terrible, it was not terribly good either.

I opted for the dinner special, which was some pork dish called carnaval (sp?)(18.95, if memory serves). It arrived looking like this:

Two thin boneless slices of pork loin were topped with undercooked spinach leaves, ricotta cheese, melted mozzarella cheese, shrimp, and some kind of grated cheese. The rest of the large platter was filled with penne pasta topped with what seemed to be a blend of the marinara sauce with the cream sauce that had been on the lunchtime raviolis.

Though the pasta was not overcooked, it was generally flavorless. The pork with all of its toppings, on the other hand, was bizarre -- the sort of melange one might expect of a faux Italian restaurant like Olive Garden:

The combination of ingredients never came together, and I left nearly half of the pork uneaten. To be fair, the waitperson's description of the dish should have warned me about what was coming - but sometimes imagination just falls short of reality.

As I was finishing the meal (or more accurately, as the meal was finishing me), I overheard the chef/owner explaining to another table that lunches at the restaurant had been going well, but that there were still some glitches with the dinners. I couldn't have said it better. Maybe next time.

Postscript:

Since I wrote the first draft of this post, there has been a next time. I had been wine tasting with some friends at Old Town Wine Cellar (which is just 2 blocks away from Mustard's) and we decided to bring a few bottles with us and have a meal. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera, but here's a brief summary anyway:

We shared the sausage and spinach appetizer, and it was excellent. Full flavored and well thought out with a lot of garlic and some olive oil, each slice of the spicy sausage sitting on a few leaves of the lightly sauteed greens.

This night the carnaval was made with veal (23.95), but it was better prepared (the spinach wasn't raw, for example), and the veal went much better with the shrimp and cheeses. I finally got a taste of the shrimp and spaghetti dish, and the shrimp were perfectly cooked, and the whole dish was good. I had the chicken marsala (15.95), which I liked. The unbreaded chicken was completely covered with a very generous serving of mushrooms, and the wine sauce (while not tasting strongly of marsala) complemented both the chicken and the 'shrooms and was not sweet (I hate cloyingly sweet marsala sauces).

Only negative notes: the side of penne pasta that comes with the chicken dishes was topped with an underflavored, but homemade tomato sauce. It cried out for some good grated cheese, but none was there. I was also unhappy with the side salad, which had been good on my first visit. This night it lacked any baby lettuces and was severely underdressed. When I say severely underdressed, think burlesque dancer. It also tasted like it had been sitting in a refrigerator for hours (days?) .

I know that this post is somewhat snarky, and I hate dwelling on a restaurant's shortcomings. Also I would like this place to succeed. We need more independent and interesting dining choices here. Still, if this modest eatery is going to become a success, it needs to get better and more consistent.

Mustard's Italian Food. Madison & Second, Yuma AZ. (928) 345-9013:

Comments

[foodhoe]

Ed from Yuma, it sounds like you really are giving these guys the opportunity to do it right!

[RONW]

so what you're saying is that Michael Phelps wouldn't eat his breakfast there.

[h]

say what you will about olive garden... after all, they are like the Italian Denny's. HOWEVER, they make a rocking minestrone. There is even a delicious copycat recipe out there on the 'net. Maybe Mustard's should have a look and soup-up their minestrone.

[nhbilly]

You are way to nice Ed I don't think I would go back that often....

[ed (from Yuma)]

fh, nhbilly, I keep going back and giving them a chance because they do offer reasonable prices and a place to bring wine. And Yuma does not have a great restaurant scene and probably no residents actually born in Italy.

Some things at Olive Garden can be good - I admit - but Yuma is in danger of being overwhelmed by chains. We have 3 Applebee's, fur hevin's sake.

[Bonnie]

You must be a home grown yuman, to think that yuma has any decent food to offer other than this new restaurant. Thank god we finally have some food I don't have to send back and am not disappointed that I actually have to pay for my "meal."
For someone who states... "I hate dwelling on a restaurant's shortcomings."
You cant' tell by this blog!
I love this place!

[Kirk]

Hi Bonnie - Being a long time friend of Ed, I can assure you that he is not a "home grown Yuman", and has lived, traveled, and eaten in some of the finest cities in the US. Though unlike you, I know he embraces Yuma, and harbors no discriminatory feelings against the city. And if he were from Yuma, he would be darn proud of it! My goodness, what is going on; are you being held against your will in Yuma...please call 911 immediately! Instead of being arrogant(since you enjoy quoting so much; "am not disappointed that I actually have to pay for my "meal."), self-righteous, and hateful, why don't you tell us what makes Mustard's so good, why do you love this place? There is no "shilling" on this blog, only honest opinions, and some people are not capable of, nor able to deal with that. I'm sorry to say I have to put you into that category.

[Edman100]

ed, As the food server who hosted you on the night you based your review upon, I don’t recall you voicing a single one of those complaints, either to me or to your companions. As a fine-dining foodservice veteran of 12 years, I KNOW when my guests are displeased. To the contrary, I recall you and your two companions, one of whom we are greatly indebted with gratitude, to be quite pleased with the product. 'Outclassed only by the service,' if memory serves me correctly, was your comment to ME. Further, as ’salesman’ for the restaurant, I pride myself in providing a most appealing , albeit accurate, description of any product I serve.
Yes we opened up in the off season for a reason. Not being a franchise of corporate dining, and not having a rigidly structured procedure for every task allows us the freedom to make most every decision (and every entree) to the benefit of our guest, as well as the opportunity to work out the kinks and provisional inconsistencies which any fledgling endeavor is bound to encounter.
I think your were far too endowed with compliments, and your entree, that night to subsequently rave mediocrity in your submission

[Cindy]

Wow, Edman 100 and Bonnie. Saying the place needs to be more consistent and maybe get a little better is warranting such an outlash? I didn't think edfromYuma was saying anything but his observations, which were more positive than negative.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Bonnie - Edman100, sorry if the post was not to your liking. I just call 'em like I see 'em. I understand that if one likes a place (even more, works at a place), it is easy to be sensitive to criticism. I wish both of you had noticed the positives in the post. The service has been fine, some dishes are really good, the wine policy is outstanding, the prices are fair and reasonable, and I plan to return and eat at the restaurant again.

It's even possible that I was uniquely unlucky in my dining choices. I may be the only person ever to order the zucchini and chickpea (?) salad. I know that I am more critical of the restuarant than many others with whom I have discussed Mustard's. I have heard good things about the other chicken dishes and about the spaghetti and meatballs.

I am also aware that Yuma has few good dining choices (outside of Mexican food). I want Mustard's to succeed.

Hopefully, Edman100, I will still be welcomed on my next visit. While I do not want or expect special treatment, I hope to return. But you do seem confused about my evening visits there. The most disappointing evening (when I took the pictures), I was there with my friend Tina only. The next dinner, the one with 3 friends, was overall much better (except for the stone cold underdressed salad). Improvement is a good sign.

As you said, the restaurant opened off-season to work out the kinks. That's smart. Consider my post just an attempt to help you folks find those kinks so that you can work through them and become the great restaurant that you want to be and that I very sincerely hope you will be.

[edman100]

Fair enough. But if something is amiss in your experience, by all means, allow the server and the house the opportunity to rectify whatever displeases you and you'll enjoy a much more rewarding experience. I live to get my guests extra dressing. Thats what I do. I welcome all criticism, but I think you couldve practiced a little candor on our shortcomings.

[Bonnie]

Kirk and Ed
I too have been fortunate to have traveled around the world and enjoy trying new places, I was thrilled to have learned of Mustards. Yuma wins hands down for being the least favorite food I have consumed. The positive, I am keeping my size 6 figure, although the Tiramisu could change all that if I'm not careful.

There were a couple positive words said when I finally scrolled to the very bottom of ed's blog, I do think the constructive criticism could have been said with tact.

[John Vargas]

I ate at Mustard's the other night. even after reading all the blogs, as i love italian food and have to admit the pictures that were on the blog looked yummy. It was so good, finally a place to have a wonderful dinner and a great time out with the husband. the staff was awesome and friendly and the tirumasu??? need you say more? mmmmmm. we shall return again and again. our food was incredible. my husband and I both agree, this is gonna be our new little "hotspot" thank god, finally something decent in Yuma. Sandy

[SK Stephens]

Even after reading all of the negative comments my husband and I decided to give Mustards a try. We were both very pleased with the quality of food we received - right down to the last bite of tirumasu. I think everyone in Yuma should give Mustards a try and make up their own mind as to the quality of food. Hopefully you will get the little Blonde lady to wait on you - both my husband and I found her very efficient and highly entertaining despite the fact that she was very busy. She made us feel special and the food was certainly a special treat as well.

[Jean]

Our group had a small dinner party at Mustards to celebrate a 94th birthday. We all LOVED Mustards and had excellent food and good service. THe shrimp on spaghetini (sp?) was delicious and the tiramisu is to die for - and I don't usually care for tiramisu.

We're looking forward to our next dinner there.

[Anonomyus]

To the lady that wrote this article:

You have way to much time on your hands to be picking apart new yuma restaurants.

[Anonomyus]

....and further more, to put down a restaurant that your husband was so eager to earn business from is unprofessional. There is a difference between being a constructive critic and chronic complainer that has nothing better to do than harrass new restaurants trying to get the their sea legs for the market. Its hard enough competing with the chains and uninformed critics who write uneducated articles such as this...did you read this before you posted it? I would also like to say i have had the disprivilage of waiting on you in more than one of yuma's restaurants; chains and localy owned indepents like mustards. Next, to make a comparison of a local restaurant and a chain is doing yuma a disservice and only encourages locals to go to those chains. How do you think those chains started out? Every single one began with a story like mustards: a person with an idea and the drive and courage to stand behind that idea and do what ever it takes to make it work. Making the comparison of locally owned eateries to chains is like apples to go-karts-there is no corrilation at all. Anyone who doesnt give a restaurant a time to work out the kinks is doing the community unjustly by giving a poor review and discouraging people from trying it themselves.Articles like this oppress innovative entrepenuers from growing yuma to its full potential.
The pictures do look appetizing. Everything looks freshly made and well prepared- not your standard chain presentaion. Keep in mind that this food is authentic and made fresh to order. A true palet for authentic food will appreciate the freshness and creativness of the unique ingredients. your comparison of standarized, prepackaged food flavors that we all can i dentify with at chain restaurants is something that wont be found at mustards. How reFRESHing! Mustards is NOT Olive Garden-something that the owner has worked hard to do. No wonder you didnt find olive gardens ministrone....
Mustards is the diamond-in-the-rough kind of business that yuma was built on. In the next few years mustards and yuma will go together just like ketchups and Mustards.

[Anonomyus]

This comment was posted by a student working his way through college on his way to becoming an entrepenuer.

[ed (from Yuma)]

I am amazed that this post still draws such emotion, but "Anonomyus" seems to be as good at spelling as at determining gender.

But I will say that I hate chains as much as anyone. I want local independents to survive, but to survive, they have to serve good food consistently.

More than once, I have overheard locals say something like "Yeh, I tried Mustard's once and I will never go back." For most people, one bad meal will keep them from ever returning. So by pointing out shortcomings, I am trying to help the place survive.

Anyone reading this post, please go give Mustard's a try!!

[Carrie]

My family (parents, grandparents,sibs, kids ) ate at Mustards, sometime in the winter. Loved it. The service was great, there was tons of bread and marinara sauce.

Now mind you, we're all extensively traveled via the military and civil service, so we're a bit picky on "good food". We all loved Mustards. The kids are all young and finicky and the menu was more complicated and suited to adult palates than for young children. However, the staff was kind enough to make modifications so that they would be able to "eat with the adults".

We also recommend giving Mustards a try as well ^_^