Latest TJ Chumps location is convenient for shows at Rose Music Center


How to go

TJ Chumps Huber Heights

7050 Executive Blvd., Huber Heights

www.tjchumps.com or 937-610-3900

11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Friday; 11 a.m-12:30 a.m. Saturday

TJ Chumps Fairborn

1100 East Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn

www.tjchumps.com or 937-318-1250

11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Friday; 11 a.m-12:30 a.m. Saturday

TJ Chumps Miamisburg

12 East Linden Ave., Miamisburg

www.tjchumps.com or 937-859-4000

11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Friday; 11 a.m-12:30 a.m. Saturday

TJ Chumps Englewood

559 S. Main St., Englewood

www.tjchumps.com or 937-836-4300

11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Friday; 11 a.m-12:30 a.m. Saturday

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DAYTON EATS

Turn to us every Sunday in Life & Arts for the latest menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes, and culinary adventures brought to you by contributing writer Alexis Larsen. Bon appetite!

When it comes to an evening out with concert tickets involved, getting to the venue seated and on time is the main focus — getting a great meal is secondary.

On these particular nights, my husband and I choose where to eat based on convenience and speed of service.

When the Rose Music Center at The Heights opened, it was nice to know that the fourth TJ Chumps location was going to be closeby.

The locally owned restaurant chain’s Huber Heights location is the largest yet, boasting a vast 4,500-square-foot patio with a large outdoor bar. It joins already established locations in Englewood, Fairborn and Miamisburg.

The food in general is decent, but the patios are outstanding — some of the best in town — and each location is incredibly convenient to the area for different reasons, especially in Huber Heights so close to the Rose. The Miamisburg location is close to great bike trails and a quaint little downtown area, Englewood is close to the airport and several metroparks and Fairborn is convenient to Wright State, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the highway.

Each location boasts ample seating and guest typically don’t have to wait a long time to find a spot. Now obviously for a busy concert night in Huber Heights, that isn’t likely to be the case, so get there early.

The restaurant features a large menu with plenty of options for the entire family ranging from baked wings that are flash fried, soups and salads, a variety of sandwiches and burgers, six entrees and several seasonal features that rotate.

In several visits to different locations including Huber Heights, it was all competent food — nothing worth going out of your way for.

The Asian Ginger Salmon ($16.99) was a nice piece of fish, but over-sauced and over-flavored like so many other dishes on the menu. Getting it grilled with sauce on the side would be the much better bet.

On different visits we ordered several seasonal features as well.

The apple-bacon kale salad ($8.99) came piled with a generous amount of diced fresh apples, red onions, feta cheese, toasted pecans and hickory smoked bacon and was a great value for the price. Served with a smoked onion dressing, this had all the makings of something to love. In this case the kale arrived old and stale and large stalks and stems had not been removed.

The Santa Fe dog ($8.99) — another seasonal menu item — featured a grilled cheddar-peppercorn sausage topped with a sweet corn and black bean salsa mixed with a sweet habanero sauce. It arrived slathered in melted mozzarella and Baja sauce, served on a toasted pretzel roll with tomato and onion, served with chips and a pickle. This was over sauced. With the current gourmet hot dog and sausage craze, I am used to seeing a larger dog arrive for this price.

The Santa Fe Chicken tacos have many of the toppings featured on the hot dog (salsa, baja sauce) but feature grilled chicken on three flour tortillas and topped off with a chipotle peach glaze ($8.99).

The Baja Chorizo Burger ($10.99) is topped with diced chorizo and melted mozzarella cheese on a toasted Kaiser bun topped with Baja sauce and fresh veggies, served with chips and a pickle.

The only seasonal item I would go back for is the salad, assuming the server could assure me the kale was fresh.

In general the vegetables and salads seemed to be generously portioned, with proteins on sandwiches falling short. Entrees featuring more generously portioned protein include the BBQ Baby Back Ribs ($16.99 for a half slab, $20.99 for a full slab or $9.99 for a Rib Basket), and grilled pork chops ($15.99). The Virgin Reuben ($7.99) is a nice addition for vegetarians featuring a grilled portabella mushroom, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 Island dressing on toasted rye bread. A regular Reuben and turkey Rueben also are available.

A “Fast Break Lunch” served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday has a limited menu priced at around $6.99 for folks dining on a lunch hour.

There are some nice healthy sides available for upgrades including quinoa, sugar snap peas and broccoli. Be sure to ask for these either lightly buttered or steamed with no sauce or they will arrive drenched.

The servers seemed on multiple visits to be efficient, staying on top of the needs of the table in a way that I wish more restaurants did. Different servers jumped in to help out different tables in our vicinity on multiple occasions and any need was quickly met.

Although the large patio in Huber Heights has a clear view of the Rose Music Center don’t expect to hear too much music.

The bottom line is you will get hot food relatively quickly with good service and make it to the show on time. Just ask them to go light on the sauce.

Dayton Eats looks at the regional food stories and restaurant news that make mouths water. Menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes and culinary adventures. Do you know of new exciting format changes, specials, happy hours, restaurant updates or any other tasty news you think is worth a closer look at? E-mail Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com with the information and we will work to include it in future coverage.

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