Fine Dining - American Girl Cafe Review feat. Katie Molinaro (Eat It Katie, Comedian, & Foodie) [Part Two]

Episode Date: July 3, 2024

Edible straws? Actress, foodie, and comedian Katie Molinaro joined me for maybe the weirdest meal yet, as we were total fish out of water at the American Girl Cafe I made an impulse buy and got a doll chihuahua named Barker Posey The stalls in the bathrooms have hooks so you can take your doll with you, and that's Way Too Much... The service team had a noteworthy amount of men on it, and one of them's name tag didn't match his employee badge which makes us wonder What's Going On Over There? What we ate this week: Cinnamon Buns Glitter Bomb for my Sprite + an Edible Straw Ch**se-Topped Cucumber Fruit Skewer Meatballs, Marinara, & Ravioli French Fries Turkey Club The AG Burger with Tomato Bacon Jam & Fried Egg on a Pretzel Bun Chocolate Mousse in a Flower Pot Katie details the best and worst restaurants she's ever been to in the Calibration Station "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to my YouTube to watch this episode! Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Kyle Schieffer (@JazzyJellyfish) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (The June exclusive is out now as I head to Septemburger 2024's no. 3 seed ahead of the tournament this year: Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers with my good friend Herbert Amaya), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Sean Spademan, Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your American Girl stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast Follow Katie on TikTok and Instagram @eatitkatie   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next week on "Fine" Dining: Shoney's History [Part One]! My own Dad joins me on the road in North Carolina to go to a chain that I'd only heard of from Rick & Morty: Shoney's. Hear the history of this former member of the Big Boy family and some Yelp reviews. Ever work at a Shoney's? Send your stories to [e-mail].

On this unprecedented episode of the Fine Dining Podcast, I bought, just for a pun, Barker Posey. I'm okay with portion control. Not me. So the thing that you would do differently was having me there. From this point forward, the word cheese will be bleeped because Michael finds it offensive. Ladies, gentlemen, fine dynomaniacs, before we jump into this week's episode, I need to address what happened in last week's episode.

And I know what you're thinking. Michael, there was no major incident. Last week's episode went off without a hitch. I burned through 40 something bald Eagles. Now, whenever the word America is spoken on this podcast, I let loose one bald Eagle and it lets out its majestic cry as it flies across the screen. Now I've received a cease and desist letter from the American Bald Eagle Society of America

trying to limit me to only 10 eagles this week. And I don't want to play ball, but also it's expensive. So with how much I will be saying American Girl Cafe in this episode, I sadly will have to limit my patriotism to just 10 eagles. So please enjoy the episode and try not to mourn for what was lost and just try to think about what a majestic time we had last week. Thank you. Enjoy the episode.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America. I'm your host, Michael Ornelas, and I'm looking for that middle point, the threshold where good becomes bad, bad becomes good. Because otherwise, without a point of reference, I don't trust it when someone makes a recommendation. I'm joined this week once again by Katie Molinaro. Eat it, Katie. Hi. That's not a command, that is her handle. Eat it Michael.

Should I get the IHOP chips that we tried a couple months ago? He doesn't know what to do. Yeah. What is that? You liked it. Just kidding, I loved it. This week, we went to the American Girl Cafe.

And what a time it was. What a unique dining experience. I don't know, you've been to a lot of restaurants. I have, yeah. Was this comparable to anything? I mean, it felt like I was going to high tea. Like, it felt like a high tea experience, but when the tray came out, and it was just, you know,

kids food. And then like a three tiered meatball. A three tiered meatball. I've never seen meatballs on a tiered, I don't even know what to call that. Like a bird cage? A sandwich tier? Is that what it's called? It looked like a bird cage to me.

Like the, yeah. No, like, but the thing that you usually put tea sandwiches on when you go to tea. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I would say it was comparable to a high tea experience. You know, at the Royal Castle. At the Ritz-Carlton. So yeah, we'll get all into that.

For those of you watching this show for the first time, I go to restaurants and I evaluate them based on their atmosphere. Based on its service. and based on its food. Mmm, yum. Food. I love it. That's why we're here. Yes.

Fine dining party of two. So we're gonna go ahead and dive in. We've been talking a little too long. Our table is ready. We'll see you after the theme song. Your table is ready, follow me. Have you tried our chicken breast? Serving pancakes and ribs, I recommend the spaghetti. after the theme song. Good luck at autographed guitar Some grab from your city Behold the tchotchke of mediocrity

Fine dining It's just fine dining Fine dining Two letters on the sign are shining Neon flickering, irregular timing Identify the perfect fine Pal I'm a hygiene paladin Fine dining Fine dining Atmosphere

You walk in and, I mean, even just the windows outside littered with dolls that you can see It's like The Gap, but instead of mannequins, it's things you can buy. Yeah. Like you can buy The Mannequin. I mean, you're just walking into an American Girl store. There's a whole glass case devoted to you can buy an American Girl Ariel, you can buy Tiana, which comes with little beignets.

Yeah. And I loved, I would've- I know, that was really cute. I would've bought just the little mini plate of beignets and then just like double-sided taped them up to the tchotchke of mediocrity. I mean, that's where I really thought American Girl went too far.

It's like, these are Disney princesses and you're turning them into American girls. Like, they're not. Yeah. Ariel lives in the sea. Yeah. She doesn't even live. Why are you capturing her,

putting her on land and selling her? And even when she was on land, she wasn't in America. They were in the Caribbean. Oh, is that true? I guess I never thought about the geography as the Little Mermaid. She's not even an American girl. And Tiana is because she lived in New Orleans. Yeah.

But also Tiana is a grown woman, and then they had her as a baby doll. Did they have a Jasmine? Because Jasmine is not American. I feel like they have her as a baby doll. Did they have a Jasmine? Because Jasmine is not American. I feel like they have to. Yeah. I bet there's a Jasmine.

It was never ending. The amount of commerce within sight. They took a theme and boy did they just exploit it to the max. They don't put price tags on these things. No. There's no cash register. The people walk up to you and you pay on the spot with them. Oh. You know how I know that? Because you bought something.

Because I made an impulse buy. I bought, and I did this just for a pun, Barker Posey. They had a little Chihuahua dog, and on the back it says you can collect all the pets. And the pets have outfits. And the pets have outfits. Wait, is that pet holding a weight? It's a little bone, like a pink rawhide bone.

Oh, okay, it looks like a three pound weight. Just a little dumbbell. Yeah. For Barker Posey. This Chihuahua may be small, but she's got a big personality and an even bigger heart. Probably a medical condition. Barker Posey is always ready with a goofy trick to make you laugh. I got the comedian of the dogs.

Wow. So we're going to we're going to unbox. Oh, God, I feel like I might make a lot of people mad how un-precise I'm about to be with this box. What are you gonna do, resell it? People love watching unboxing videos. Yeah. This is my first one. I'm probably not gonna do a great job at it.

Wait, it's telling you that you can cut open the box to make a house for the dog. Craft this package into a cute dog house by asking an adult to cut out the door on the front of the box. I'd be so mad at my kid if they asked me to do that. Do it yourself, Hand Them Scissors. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, we have to go to the hospital? All right. Oh, all right, I ripped it, so now I'm just gonna... Yeah. I can feel the anger. Ah. Okay, so it just comes with the dog and the bone. Is the bone magnetic?

Yes. Oh, wow. I could be into that. I need to know how much this was. It was like $32 after tax. Oh my God. I think that's reasonable for what I expected it to be. For that? I thought this would be like 70.

I thought that would be 15 tops. I don't know, feel it. It's a very hefty. Oh, okay, it is heavy. this isn't like a stuffed animal. And the legs do move. It's got articulation. But please. The dog, the bone isn't even on the mouth.

It's carrying. It magnetizes under like on the neck. It doesn't even magnetize on the nose. It magnetizes here. Yeah. the neck. It doesn't even magnetize on the nose. It magnetizes here. Yeah. That dog is not carrying that. This is foul play on behalf of American Girl.

And you just expect me to believe that the dog's eyes are gonna be open the whole time? Wow. Perfect. Barker Posey, you go on the chach. I just love, like, they sold me on Barker Posey. Yeah, good name. And then we go upstairs.

And that's where the cafe is. That's where there's like a waiting area with a bunch of the dolls and like literature, I guess, to check out. And a bunch of TVs advertising different dolls literature, I guess to check out, and a bunch of TVs advertising different dolls, different eras, different names, all that. And there's like a big bar, like soda fountain area.

Yeah, it had real old timey soda fountain vibes. Cause remember the, the, The pole, the lever, the lever. Yeah, there was like a pole tab of Coca Cola, but it also had Diet Coke and Sprite and Dr. Pepper and everything. It was like when you go to the AMC movie theater and they have that touch screen for all your sodas,

if that could be condensed onto a lever. Yeah, that was crazy. That was the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's a crazy invention. And there is an area where you can select a doll to dine with for those who showed up without dolls. Yeah, if you don't have a doll, you can sit with one. We did that.

Yeah, we each, we picked two dolls. And they were like, oh, what are their names? And we made them up on the spot. Mine was named Trixie. And mine was Jocelyn. And I later saw an ad for Jocelyn on the TV, and her name is Courtney. No.

And we're just, like, imagining that the staff there is like, Jocelyn, that's not a Jocelyn. Yeah, that's Courtney, idiot. Yeah, that's, and then they punched us. They gave me a black eye. No, I mean, it was a very welcoming experience. They didn't treat us like we were weirdos. They were very excited for us to be there.

Yeah, I just wanted to get a little silly and go do something with dolls. Yeah. And they fully embraced it and let us do it and enhance the experience. What else about this atmosphere? I wanna talk, so y'all went to the bathroom. Yes. And pointed out the bathroom. Yes.

And pointed out the presence of something. I'll let you say what it was. Yes, so went into the women's restroom and when you're on the toilet. Number one or number two? I went number two, yo. That meal got me. Goes right through you.

That meal hit me like a brick. I'm also very regular, not gonna brag, but anyway. Kimmie Lee Curtis would be so proud. Yeah, I don't even have Activia. What is it, Activia? Yeah, yeah. I don't even need that shit. Anyway.

Genetics. Sorry, it's genetics, baby. I just- Got that shit. Be regular. Anyway, so's genetics, baby. I just play regular. Anyway, so when you're shitting, you can see, there is a spot to put your doll in the stall. And it's like two little metal hooks

that are kind of like this, I guess, it catches under the armpits, kind of. Yeah, so you can have them sit with you while you. It's way too much. This is Way Too Much. It's way too much. This is Way Too Much. And I think just taking your doll into the restroom in any case is gross.

Because then you get a poopy doll you bring out. And you're picking up that doll before you've washed your hands. It's just on the stall. And you're not washing that doll before you've washed your hands. It's just on the stall. And you're not washing the doll. No. You're not running that thing underwater. So that doll has seen some shit, literally.

And I would just say that that decision was in fact way too much. Too much. Or like maybe they could put like, I don't know, lockers outside the bathroom to put your doll. I don't know. Actually, I like that pitch. Yeah. Just bringing it in to the bathroom is weird.

Yeah. Think there was a lot of doll theft. Why can't you leave the doll at the table? Well, it'd be like leaving your child behind. Because some people, and we'll talk about the other tables, some people were there and it was kind of like the doll was their kid. There was like three octogenarians sitting near us. There were three people, two of them had been their 80s.

They must have been their 80s, they must have been their 80s. They looked like they were all in their 80s to me. Yeah. They were very wrinkly. They all ate with dolls and it was like their doll was their child. We were waiting for the grandkid to arrive and they didn't.

That didn't happen. And I'm not here to pass judgment. We went. We went. That's the thing. We went. We were among, these were our peers. Yeah, we were there, but they were not doing it for a bit. We're doing this for a bit.

Yeah. There are people there not doing it for the bit. No cameras on. And you just, regardless of how you feel about it, you notice. Yeah, definitely you notice. Yeah, and the dolls were very much classic dolls. Now I also wanna mention that if you're in your 80s now,

American Girl didn't start until you were in your 40s. Oh, no. So these people who had this nostalgic attachment were still older than we are now when they got into American Girl. All of this seems very sus to me. Just. Oh, but maybe they're holding on to their their life in the 1940s and 50s? I was so worried where you were going to go with this.

That is not what I was worried about. So you're fine. You're fine. I thought there was going to be like a dead kid theory where it was like, it was like their child's doll and they were, they lost their kid. Well, maybe their children are dead. They lost their children young and they want to be with a doll. This is the saddest episode of this show.

And I mean, it kind of was going to be all along. Yeah. There's no way to avoid it. It was really hard not to see, not to really notice the other people there with their children. And then there was another group that walked in that were probably a little closer to our age,

but were all cosplayed out as these dolls. Yeah, they were like dressed up like the dolls. Again, no children. Yeah. There were two tables that had kids out of the five tables that were seated. Yeah. Which 40% isn't the ratio you want.

No. Of tables with kids in the American Girl Cafe. No, and they treated us the same way they would treat anyone who came into the American Girl Cafe. I appreciated that. Yeah. Also, can we talk about the AI generated photos? Yes, let's talk about the AI generated photos.

There's no way they were, but they. They looked it. I feel like they were the photos used to train AI for generating AI generated photos. Yeah. Yeah, like we sat at a booth and above the booth, there's just portraits of little girls in a bunch of different settings and situations and different nationalities

and all sorts of things. And they could not have looked any faker. Yeah, they didn't look very fake. Because AI generated images isn't old enough, I think, to be the thing that they decorate their walls with. The store was there before Dolly bust on the scene. Busted onto the scene. Burst onto the scene, there we go.

Yeah, she busted. She busted onto the scene. Dolly Parton. No, no, you know the AI generating? Oh, Dolly. D-A-L-L-dash-E, like Wally. Oh. That was one of the early AI art generators. Woof. Yeah, Dolly. D-A-L-L dash E, like Wally. Oh. That was one of the early AI art generators.

Woof. Yeah, Dolly too. Yeah, it was very disconcerting, all these images. They couldn't do the hands right, you know? Yeah, it was really wild. They all had seven fingers. Maybe they were AI generated. They needed art.

They were just like American girl art go. Little girls. Ugh. In America. Those are the two things that we claim to be. Yes. And then they had a light fixture. They had one on the wall that kind of looked like

very flowery and I think it was supposed to look floral but it had like, it was like a ball with a bunch of spikes sticking out of it with like little flowers on the ends of it and it just looked like a COVID-19 virus-like particle. Woof. Yeah. So is my eye bleeding? No.

Okay. It feels like it could. That's not a thing that happens to me. It's not like, oh, not this again. Oh, aren't my eyes just bleeding? Having to look at all these AI generators. I'm like, what? Oh, it's just a thing. It just bleeding. Having to look at all these AI generators. Oh, it's just a thing, just happens.

Jesus. So when I'm scoring this atmosphere, I'm giving it a thumb rating, I'm gonna say that all of my ratings for this episode are from the perspective of a 35 year old man with no nostalgic attachment to American Girl. This isn't for me. My ratings don't matter.

Like, you guys can disregard this, but for cohesive theming, I respect it. I'm gonna go one thumb up on the atmosphere at American Girl. How about you? And I'm judging it from someone who has the nostalgia of American Girl and it was exactly what I expected the cafe to look like. Yeah, there were no surprises.

Like a doll tea party. There were no surprises. This was like- Yeah, you have a tea party with your doll, that was how it was set up. It's like your- Good job. When you have a friend that gets way into a specific hobby and they design a room in their house to look like it,

this whole place was that but if they had gotten into dolls. Yeah, two thumbs up. Service. Yeah, let's talk about the service situation because we interacted with a lot of people who worked there. We did. Over the course of this, I don't know, what, hour and a half-ish in the store.

And the ratio of men working there, especially in the cafe, was just noteworthy. Yes, there were a lot of men working in the cafe, was just noteworthy. Yes, there were a lot of men working in the cafe and not a lot of women. Yeah, and it's just... Just fine. I'm all about it. But it's noteworthy. But it's noteworthy. And so we're noting it. We're talking about it.

What I didn't love is that they were all named Michael. Yeah, that's a very, but one of them had a name tag that said Mike, but that wasn't his name. Well, I don't know. Yeah. Cause he introduced himself as someone else, right? He introduced himself as Michael. Oh, he did?

Yeah. Oh. But he had like a employee ID badge on his belt and it said, I think it was Maurice. Yeah, it said Maurice, but he had a name tag that said Mike. And that's a peculiar thing to do. And it makes me wonder a question, Katie.

Yes, what's the question? It makes me wonder, what's going on over there? What's going on over there? What's going on over there? What's going on over there? Should I worry? Should I care? What is going on over there?

Katie, what is going on over there? Why does he have two names? I think reasonably, he didn't have a name tag that day and just put one on. I think he was a manager or something. Grabbed one out of the box. And just like one on. I think he was a manager or something. Grabbed one out of the box. And just like, to make it easy, was just like,

yeah, I'm Mike. This is who I am today. Yeah. You'll never see me again. So. Throws a smoke bomb. He threw a smoke bomb and disappeared like a magician several times during the meal.

He's like, I'm Mike. I was like, you're going to give me asthma. Yeah. I don't think that's how asthma works. I don't think you get it from smoke bombs. Yeah, I don't think so either. But yeah, I think that's what was going on. I feel like there was something a little bit more sinister. Oh. Sinister might be the wrong word, but a little bit more sus, I guess.

I don't know. I think he's trying to throw people off the trail because he doesn't want us to look too deep into his past. Oh. You think he had a really, like, sorted past? Yeah. I think this guy had, like, a witness protection relocation sort of thing. And the mob aren't known to frequent the American Girl Cafe.

He's probably safe there. But he's just cycling through names because he wants to throw them off the scent Girl Cafe. He's probably safe there, but he's just cycling through names because he wants to throw them off the scent. Right. This is my theory. Didn't you have a theory, oh no, Jasper I think had a theory that he had a son or daughter die in an accident

when they were young and so now he works at the American Girl Store. But that had nothing to do with the name. Yeah, I mean, that was kind of the theory of a lot of the people I looked at. I was like, oh, that's why you're here. Yeah, it didn't. It seemed like a shared experience, just grief. Well, I think we figured it out. Hey, I think that is, in fact, what's we figured it out. Yay. I think that is in fact...

What's going on over there? What is going on over there? There was the other Michael, who was very on top of our service, I thought. I would say, though, that the service did feel slow. Like, we signed up for what was supposed to be a one hour experience and it took like an hour 20 and I think in their mind it was like, oh we're giving it time to breathe, we're not too busy, we don't wanna rush them.

Which I do appreciate. But I also do stress with like getting back here and traffic and like I don't wanna creep closer to rush hour and stuff like that. So there was an element of like, I could tell that they had their foot off the gas. We also didn't have cups, like they give you a pitcher of water.

Yeah, no cups for a while. And nothing to pour it into other than the little tiny teacups that our dolls Jocelyn and Trixie, Trixie were enjoying. Yeah, Jocelyn and Trixie got the cups right away. They were given little tiny cups. And I would have happily drank out of them

if it felt like it was more than like the cap of a Sprite. Yeah, but we did not get those cups for a while. To be fair, I didn't drink any water, just that diet coke. I probably should have had water. Just sugar running through your veins. I think I've had zero water today. Well, regardless, your skin looks excellent. Thank you so much.

People keep asking me about my skin. I, regardless, your skin looks excellent. Thank you so much. People keep asking me about my skin, and I'll tell you, it's genetics. Yeah. Just like how regular you are? Yeah. Good skin and- It's all that Diet Coke I drink.

Two Z's on the rig. Maybe the worst sentence I've said here. I'm so sorry. Yep, two Z's on the rig. Yeah, any other thoughts on the service team? There was the lady downstairs who I bought Barker Posey from. Oh, I didn't even see a woman downstairs. Who came up to me, I was like, where do I pay?

She was like, cash or card, and I was like, card I guess, and she just pulled out a phone with a Stripe payment thing on it. It's like the Apple store of dolls. Basically, of kids dolls. And she rang me up there, and another employee saw me being rung up and started bringing a bag over.

And I put Barker Posey in the bag, and they were like, your daughter's gonna love that. And I was like, oh, I don't have kids. And just like, there was like a quick look of like panic in her eyes. And I was like, I do restaurant reviews't have kids. And just like, there was like a quick look of like panic in her eyes. And I was like, I do restaurant reviews, I'm here to review the cafe. And I have like a little prop that I, you know,

am like looking for stuff to put. And like she relaxed about it a little. But I definitely put her on alert when I told her that like, I don't have a kid. Oh. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, so her face changed. Like bad poker face, just like, oh. Oh. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, so her face changed.

Like bad poker face, just like, oh. Oh. Like backed away from me. Weird. Like a murderer. I mean, if I were in your situation, I'd just be like, yep, thank you. I don't know.

I'm bad at that kind of thing. You know, human interaction. No, no, I'm just doing restaurant reviews. Also, I'm buying this $40 dog. $30? It's too much for that dog. It's adorable. Too much.

Barker Posey. That's a good name. It's a great name. I had to reward them. Now I want a dog named Barker Posey. My girlfriend has a dog named Parker who barks a lot and I call him Barker and she gets mad at me over it. Oh.

Yeah. And then once the lady, I told her about the tchotchke of mediocrity, she went and was like, do you want stickers? And gave me a bunch of stickers. Oh, that's nice, so she turned. To put on it. She changed.

She changed. That's great. I can change people. You can. So yeah, this service experience, honestly, I do feel a certain way about it being a lot of men in the cafe, but I'm not gonna lie, they were on it. Everyone was on it. So I'm gonna go two thumbs up on the service.

Yeah, I'd say the service, yeah, was two thumbs up. You think so as well? Yeah, I mean, they service, yeah, with two thumbs up. You think so as well? Yeah, I mean, they didn't give us cups for water at the beginning, but they also kept asking if we wanted refills, and they were really on it with the condiments. I like to dip my fries in mayonnaise, and they brought me a side of mayonnaise. Oh, actually, now would be a good time,

because Maurice slash Michael, whatever his name actually was, was kind of curating the meal for us. Like he was giving like a piece about everything that was coming to the table. Like he pointed out, oh, we have cinnamon rolls. And if you look on the back of the menu, there's the story. Yeah, the story of why we have cinnamon rolls. Do you want me to read it? I would love for you to read the story

because I did not read it. This will transition us into the food talk after. A day to remember. More than 50 years ago, a young girl and her mother went into the city to see a symphony performance. It was just the two of them, one of those grownup experiences where traditions begin and memories are made.

They ate lunch in a fancy restaurant that served warm, delicious cinnamon buns. grown-up experiences where traditions begin and memories are made. They ate lunch in a fancy restaurant that served warm, delicious cinnamon buns. Then they walked to the concert hall and admired its pale blue ceiling, gilded in gold, gleaming just like the instruments of the tuxedoed musicians. As the lights dimmed, they were swept away by the beautiful music of the orchestra. When the concert was over, they stepped out onto the busy sidewalk lined with exquisite windows, revealing treasures inside the shops and specialty boutiques.

They strolled hand in hand, squeezing their secret code. Three squeezes from Mom meant, I love you, and four squeezes from her little girl meant, I love you too. Aw. They've really gotten away from the cinnamon buns. They haven't even gotten to the cinnamon buns yet. That was like a glancing mention. I don't think the rest of it mentions cinnamon buns.

That little girl was Pleasant T. Rowland and the founder of American Girl. Her treasured memory of that magical day was the inspiration for the first American Girl store. To this day, every experience exists because we believe our stores should be a place where imagination soar and memories are made. So pull up a treat seat and dine with your doll.

Enjoy fancy food and friendly conversation. We're delighted you've joined us to continue the tradition of making today one you'll both remember forever. Fancy food. They just mentioned cinnamon bun once. Dry meatballs with sauce on the side. Is there fancy food? Yeah.

Let's hop into food. Hold on. Let me do my graphic for food. Food. Yum, yummy. OK, done. Yeah. So we're started off with these little cinnamon buns.

Yeah. And. I'd say it was more a cinnamon dough. Yeah. That was topped with frosting. Because it was very undercooked. It was just more like cinnamon bread with frosting on it. It wasn't like, ugh, like a cinnamon bun makes me go,

oh yeah. Yeah. Didn't make me go, oh yeah. No, you did not. I was just like, hmm. You didn't oh yeah at anything during the meal? Yeah, not really. Yeah.

It was... I'm gonna make, I guess, a blanket statement across all the food tasted like it had been stored in a freezer. Every single thing had that weird aftertaste of water. Yeah. Where it's like, oh, this has been thought out at some point.

Right. I did feel that way. I mean, definitely with the meatballs for sure. Those were definitely from frozen. Yeah. My burger felt the same way. The fried ravioli. Yeah. So yeah felt the same way. The fried ravioli. Yeah.

So yeah, let's go through it. So the cinnamon bun, you get like, I don't know, it's not that big. Three of them on a plate. You know, we have a good time. We pretend to feed it to our dolls. We did, yeah. That was cute.

Do the cutesy little thing. We cheers the cinnamon bun, and then we eat them for real while the dolls look at us betrayed that they didn't actually get to eat any. Yeah, they can't, they don't have stomachs. Not after the accident. No. And it was just, it was just a okay thing. I guess I really expected to enjoy it.

I always go into these with high expectations. Yeah. And I. They were also very teeny cinnamon rolls. I was. I'm okay with portion control. Yeah. And I... They were also very teeny cinnamon rolls. I was... I'm okay with portion control. Not me. Yeah, they were just like little cinnamon mounds.

A cinnamon roll should be rolled like it's a roll. Yeah, it was like cupped, it felt like. Yeah. Yeah. I'll go five and a half out of 10 on the cinnamon bun. Five and a half out of 10? Yeah, and like for a deserty food, I know it's what we started with, but a deserty food should be in the seven or eight category.

Yeah, because what's the point of eating it? Yeah. I'd say I'd give it a solid five out of 10. Yeah, five out of 10. Mm-hmm. Yeah, just left more to be desired. It was kind of the first thing I ate, and I was like, oh, if this is setting the tone, it's gonna be a little disappointing.

Yeah, I ate it because it was there. Honestly? Yeah. Yeah. I got a specialty drink. Oh yeah, you did. I got the glitter bomb. With an edible straw.

With an, oh, that's right! I forgot about the edible straw, thank you. Yeah. For bringing that up. An insane invention. Really? It feels like when you watch like a comedy movie and someone bites their wine glass, Yeah. Bringing that up. An insane invention. Really? It feels like when you watch like a comedy movie

and someone bites their wine glass, it just like has that snap to it. Yeah. I feel like it's going to make my mouth bleed, even though it's not. But it felt like it left very jagged edges on the remainder of the straw. Like I could have fashioned a shiv out of out of that straw.

Right. Very hard candy. And then the drink was just sprite, and it comes with this little package that I thought had a powder in it, and so I went to pour it, and nothing was happening, and then there were very clear instructions on it. Take it all out as one piece.

It's like a piece of cotton candy. You drop it in, you stir it, and it makes your drink pink. Didn't make it glittery. It just made it pink. Yeah, I didn't your drink pink. Didn't make it glittery, it just made it pink. Yeah, I didn't see any glitter. I didn't see any glitter. And they said it tasted like cotton candy, and it was just like I had sprite

that was mixed with like a pixie stick. It was like an extra sugary sprite. I would have rather just had a sprite, and then the straw tasted like a strawberry, straw-berry? Yes. Do you get it? I get it. It really tastes like strawberry? The straw tasted like a strawberry, straw berry. Yes. Do you get it?

I get it. It really tastes like strawberry? Mm-hmm. I think it was interesting that the glitter bomb was $5, because that was not a $5 experience. It should have been like $2. Just dumping some stuff into my cup. Yeah.

Yeah. And apparently with the straw, it's supposed to be 8.25, but when I saw the check, it was only five bucks. So because I saw someone on Yelp had complained, like they say it's only $5. But when I checked, it's 8.25. I think it's like three bucks for the straw. Oh, they must have not charged you for the charge me for the straw. Good job.

So overall, that drink experience is probably a four and a it was like a four and a half out of 10. Like and most of that is being carried by presentation. But it's like, I would have rather just had a sprite. It's kind of like they served you a ruined sprite. Yeah, they did. I'm sorry about your ruined sprite. Thank you. Okay, so now the birdcage.

Yeah. The birdcage that gets dropped off. What the heck do you even call that? Just like a three tiered, you know, for tea. But it's like round and it's round at the top. like a three tiered, you know, for tea. But it's like round and, you know, it's round at the top. But I know it's, you know, when you go to tea and you get the three tiered. The three layered thing.

And the top layer, it was like cucumber with some sort of. With herbs on top, like, beurre saum. Yeah. But it said it was celery, then they lied. It was cucumber. It was cucumber. It was cucumber. You ate that? I did eat that.

I liked it, it was fine. Yeah, do you have a score for it? I mean, mid. Like it was there, four. Okay. Yeah, four. And then the next layer down was a fruit skewer. Yeah.

And it was like honeydew, cantaloupe, and grapes. And it tasted like Ralph's. It did. It tasted like a grocery store. Fruit in America tastes really bad, and I avoid it a lot. I really should eat more fruit. I love fruit, typically.

I think fruit's okay. I like grapes, but the grapes on that fruit skewer, they did not have the consistency that I enjoy in a grape. I like a crisp, crisp grape. It was very room temp, like a little bit chilled on a grape is so much better. Yeah. Yeah. Or like a frozen grape. Yeah. Can I give my score? Yeah. Give your score. That was a zero out of 10.

It was a zero out of 10. That was a zero out of 10 fruit skewer for you? I couldn't even eat it. You did, you took one grape and you put the rest back and I was like, I mean, I'll eat the rest of the fruit. I like fruit. Yeah, I mean, I had the honeydew as well, which I like honeydew.

But that fruit tasted like nothing. It's just like, I want more room in my stomach for things that matter, like mayo. Just straight, just shooting mayo. Fruit is worse than mayo. You heard it here first. That's the hot take. Nature's sweet treats to us, inferior to mayonnaise.

Yeah, screw you, fruit. Too much sugar. Nature's sweet treats to us, inferior to mayonnaise. Yeah, screw you, fruit. Too much sugar. I went four out of 10 on the fruit skewer. Still, it's not good. It's not impressing anyone. It's like the low side of mid to me. If they were gonna make it better, they should have put a yogurt dipping sauce

next to the fruit skewer. Just fruits here, come on. You can do better than that, American girl. Fruit kebab. And then the third layer down, what a choice they made. Mind boggling, really. A little ramekin of marinara sauce and just three out in the open meatballs

and just three out in the open meatballs and little ravioli stuffed-esque breaded. Yeah, fried ravioli. What was it, turkey? Oh, fried ravioli. Yeah, it was just fried ravioli. Jasper said she thought it was turkey inside. No, there was just s*** to ravioli. Or maybe they had multiple options. Maybe.

I think it was sh** on the inside, like an herb sh**. Yeah. And then the whole thing was dusted with Parmesan, which I didn't like, because I was like, oh, I would have had a meatball. So I ended up doing surgery to exercise the part. Yeah, you not liking sh** is really wild to me. You not liking fruit is really wild to me.

Yeah, that's true. I don't like fruit. I think it's fine. Fruit's okay. I hate fruit desserts. Ugh. Disgusting. I like like a pie. I'm not like a fruit tart person. Right. I think you're misleading people calling that a dessert.

But I don't know. If the fruit's not banging, I ain't eating it. But yeah. So I did surgery on this meatball and then like dunked a little in marinara and it tasted like, I don't know, it tasted like meatloaf, which is kind of what a meatball is in some ways. But yeah, interesting choice to have on the bottom tier. Yeah.

Because it's like you're going for it last. Like put the hot thing on top, don't give it like, because people work top down. Right. So it's like you're getting to it when it's like cooler. I don't know. I mean, maybe some unsophisticated animals will just reach for what looks good, but like.

Who does that? It was a very weird. Presentation. Yeah. Yeah, so the meatball, I just went five out of 10. I thought it was better than what my expectation had me expecting. Like I thought it'd be worse.

I thought it'd be way worse. That meatball just tasted like the ones that I've gotten at Trader Joe's and heated up. So, as far as meatballs go, I gotta give it a two. And then what'd you think of the rave, the fried ravioli? Four. Four out of 10? I've been to Missouri, I've had the toasted ravioli

that they're known for over there, and it's much better. Both of our entrees came with fries, right? Mm-hmm. Again, another case of I felt it tasted kind of frozen. Yeah. Like, I took a bite of the fry and I was like, I can taste where they stored this. To be fair, the best fries are frozen and then fried,

I think. But they don't taste it. Right. This tasted it. No, this definitely tasted like, I could've, all the food was stuff I could've made better at home. Yeah. And I'm not a good cook,

but I could've made better fries than this. I hate cooking. Yeah. But I could've made better fries than that, yeah. I woulda go for the fries. There's no love in my cooking. Yeah, again, I went five out of 10, just like very mid.

Actually, you know what? I don't trust the Michael that wrote that score an hour and a half ago. I'm gonna bump it down to a three. I think they were three out of 10 fries. Yeah, as far as fries go. They had a good texture, and I think that was all that they had going for them.

Yeah, three out of 10 not dipped in mayo, five out of 10 dipped in mayo. Okay. And I just dipped mine in ketchup and it didn't do much to improve it. It was whatever. Okay, entrees. Yeah, I got the turkey club.

I clocked right away that the turkey was the lowest grade deli turkey that you can buy. Like, if you're gonna give me a turkey sandwich, give me boar's head, I don't want Hormel, you know? Got brand loyalty. I, yeah, and I can tell right away, if that turkey, there's a certain consistency of deli turkey that I don't fuck with.

Yeah. And that was the kind I don't fuck with. Yeah. And that was the kind I don't really fuck with, but I had avocado on it, it had Swiss sh**, it had mayo mustard, lettuce tomato. Overall. Toasted bread, right? Toasted bread with like butter on it. Yeah. The bread looks good. It tasted good.

It was multigrain bread. Okay. But I looks good. It tasted good. It was multi-grain bread. Okay. But I still couldn't get past the consistency of the turkey. Oh, and there was bacon on there too. Bacon was nice and crispy. Yeah. Flavor-wise, it was all there. It's just quality-wise dragged it down a little?

Yeah, quality. All right, put a number on it. Oof. And also club sandwiches should have another piece of bread in the middle. You get like. Like a Big Mac? Yeah.

Club sandwiches always have three slices of bread. I don't eat many club sandwiches. So many tears. I guess you're not part of the club. My membership was revoked. I was like no, they're like you know what, we'll take that back. Yeah sorry, you can't be part of the club.

I would still give it like a seven, because flavor-wise it was there. Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, flavor is the thing that matters the most. I don't feel terrible after I ate it. I'm definitely fighting back some things. Oh, from, hmm. Yeah, because you had a burger.

Yeah. Pretzel bun looked really good. So I had the AG burger, and it had bun looked really good. So I had the A.G. Burger, and it had. So I think they called it the A.G. The A.G. The A.G. Burger. A.G. Burger. And pretzel bun had a tomato bacon jam.

Oh. And I opted to add fried egg. And the meat itself had a watery aftertaste, and everything else was doing the work that it should have been doing. The tomato bacon jam was very good. Okay. The pretzel bun, very good.

Fried egg, I like me some fried egg. So it had enough ingredients working for it. And the meat tasted good. It was just like what it hit on the back end. You know, later I just felt like a little lift of like, ah, this was thawed out. Yeah. And just the fact that I could taste that thaw

brought it down a little. But even with that being brought down a little, I went seven out of 10. Not a bad burger. No. Yeah. Yeah, that's not bad. Maybe six and a half.

But yeah, somewhere in that range. It's... I don't think people are gonna be storming out on their meal if they order this burger. I think you'll be largely satisfied. Yeah, my expectations were real low. I thought the food would be inedible. I thought it would actually be plastic.

Yeah. Like, this is for the dolls. I would have been upset if I ordered the pasta probably. Yeah. That tomato sauce had, definitely jarred tomato sauce, it was not fresh. Yeah. Oh yeah, like what we had with the meatballs.

It was some prego shit. Yeah. And then lastly, the chocolate mousse. The little treat at the end of the day. That was a delight. They ended so strong. So strong. They brought out, so y'all can see on the tchotchke, I have this little flower here.

Yes. This is from my dessert. They bring you a flower pot. Yes. And the flower pot is filled with a chocolate mousse with like Oreo crumbles on it. Yeah, like a little dirt cake. Yeah, it was worms and dirt, sans worms. It was very cute.

It was a cute little few bites. Great presentation. The only thing is I wanted a pint of it. I wanted so much more. It was a really like perfectly rich chocolate. Yeah, it was cute. And the presentation, they knocked it out of the park fed it to Jocelyn. She spit it out. Oh, she'll like it.

She's so fussy. Yeah. No problems on this dessert. Like, I would stop by and say, I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn.

I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. I'm gonna go with the Jocelyn. Yeah, I, no problems on this dessert. Like I would stop by, like I know they don't sell stuff a la carte, you can't get like a to go order from the American Girl Cafe. But if I was near an American Girl store and the cafe was open, this is the thing I would like just pop in and be like, could I just get one of the little pots? Yeah. A little chocolate pot? I would like just pop in and be like, could I just get one of the little pots?

Yeah. Little chocolate pot? I would, I would go back for it. I honestly would go back for the whole experience with a group of girlfriends and get lit on margaritas. Yeah. I would do that. So the thing that you would do differently was having me there. I hear you.

I hear you. I hear you. No, I'm actually saying like, it was so mid, so mid, but the price point, not bad. Twenty seven dollars a head. Twenty seven dollars a person. Like for the experience and to like laugh about it. Yeah. I think it's a good deal. Are you going to bring your Samantha from home or are you gonna rent another doll? I don't know where that bitch is. She's off finding herself.

Yeah, she's probably doing colonial Williamsburg stuff. Doing her own journey. So overall on this food, the burger got a bump from being better than I expected but all the appetizers, the disappointing cinnamon roll, the fact that everything felt like it had a watery aftertaste, and the only thing I loved was this chocolate dessert. I'm going to go one thumb down overall for the food.

Like, you don't do this for the food. No. Yeah, one thumb down. Like, there's no one who I'm recommending. for the food. No. Yeah, one thumb down. There's no one who I'm like recommending, you've gotta go to American Girl to taste this delicious thing. Yeah, no. There's nothing on that menu where I would say you have to go to eat this.

Yeah, all right, well. Also, even my Diet Coke was kinda mid for a Diet Coke. But you really liked the glass it was in. I really liked the glass it was in, but as far as Diet Cokes though it's like fountain Diet Coke's. Higher, higher expectations. Yeah. All right. Well, we're going to put all that together into a final rating.

But before we do that, we got to calibrate. So play the little jingle for the calibration station. Calibration Station, comparing this meal to the best or the worst. Calibration Station, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo. All right, the Calibration Station. Katie, look, this is your first time on the podcast. You haven't gone on the same journey I've gone on. I have not. You're not 70 or so restaurants into a podcast. So to calibrate your scale,

to prevent you from being too generous or too harsh, I just want you real quick, what's your 10, what's your zero? The best dining experience you've ever had in like 30 seconds, the worst dining experience you've ever had in like 30 seconds. The best dining experience I've had, like I've had so many good dining experiences where it was really hard to pick one, but because I'm such a Disney nerd,

I would have to say Victoria and Albert's was one of the best dining experiences ever. I think it's like $350 a person, and you get like 12 courses. And it's really hard to get a reservation. It's at Disney World, and it's like Mary Poppins themed in a way, but like very subtly. But I just remember the service was so impeccable.

Like if I dropped a napkin, they would immediately be there with another napkin, putting it over me. Like they were always getting crumbs off the table. It is wild how good service can just blow your mind at how not good service you're getting elsewhere. Oh yeah. Like they were on it every second. I've got Mastro's at a 9.45 on my thing and so much of, I mean the steak was really great and the butter cake and we went for a birthday.

Oh that butter cake. They treated us so well but it was the service. Yeah. Like you had your own personal pit crew. Yeah. Yeah. And especially if you're your own personal pit crew. Yeah. Yeah. It's, and especially if you're spending that much money. Of course.

You want that, and the food was incredible. And they, yeah, they really went all out. And my dining companion had really, she had a lot of dietary restrictions and they were, they accommodated. Just nailed it. They nailed it, yeah. And then worst dining experience, that's another tough one because. Have you had a lot?

Really bad ones? I feel like I've had way less horrible dining experiences, which is, because I have really good radar for bad restaurants now. But I think as a blanket statement, any restaurant that you eat and you can see the Eiffel Tower is gonna be a horrible dining experience. Don't believe what they tell you.

We went to one, I remember going to one when I was a kid, or I think I was in high school when I went to Paris, but we were so excited to eat at this restaurant. It was called Obelisk and it overlooked the Eiffel Tower. I think we waited like an hour and 30 minutes for our entrees. Like no one ever checked on us. It was just like we were basically being held hostage by this. Any time a restaurant makes you feel like you're being held hostage.

I have felt that before. And it is a panic that I like truly get. I get like deep rooted anxiety. We just want to pay. Like the worst is when they drop the check and then walk away that I like truly get, I get like deep rooted anxiety. Where you just wanna pay, you just wanna eat. The worst is when they drop the check and then walk away and you don't see them for like, oh, I think I've had 45 minutes between the check drop and coming back.

The worst. Which is why now when I ask for a check, I will usually have my card out to hand them. Yes, you have to. Cause I wanna skip that like second trip that they have to do. Yeah, I don't even look at, I'm like, oh, you overcharge me, I'll, you have to. Because I want to skip that like second trip that they have to do. Yeah, I don't even look. I'm like, oh, you overcharge me.

I'll give. No, I'll look at the receipt when they bring it back. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. OK, well, you are now properly calibrated. Your zero is anywhere that overlooks the Eiffel Tower. And your 10 is remind me the name. It's Victoria and Albert. This Tori and Albert's at Disney World. Great.

Within that spectrum, we got to get our final rating. Final rating. ["Final Ratings Theme"] We've talked about the atmosphere, the service, the food. We're putting it all together. We've calibrated the scales. Where does the American Girl Cafe fall for you? I would have to say 6.5 because it knows exactly what it is. It was super self-aware.

Yes. But if it's not for you, it is very much not for you, which is where I fell. Yeah. Yeah. So this is a store, a restaurant experience that if you are a little kid who's into dolls, you're gonna love it. Yeah. This is going to be a special experience for you. I am not that. a little kid who's into dolls, you're gonna love it.

This is gonna be a special experience for you. I am not that. I have action figures, not dolls. He's cool. They have so many points of articulation. I mean, just my experience was not the same. I have no nostalgia for this brand. And at the end of the day, a lot of the food bummed me out. I wanted to like it more.

It looked good on paper. Even elements of it tasted good, but ultimately every dish other than the little flower pot found its own little way. Well, even that found its own way to disappoint me a little bit. I just I wanted more of it. Yeah. So for me, I'm gonna go 4.72. Oh, okay.

So, because to me, five is perfectly average. To me, currently on the scale, Cracker Barrel is at a 5.01. And when I'm looking at this, I'm like, would I rather have a meal at Cracker Barrel or eat here, not factoring in how far I have to drive to get to the nearest Cracker Barrel or eat here, not factoring in how far I have to drive to get to the nearest Cracker Barrel, I'm probably gonna go give Cracker Barrel another chance

overall before I do this again. This is a novelty. Yeah, it's definitely a novelty. But if we're just talking about what experience would I rather have again, this is under five for me. So yeah, 4.72, which means when we put our scores together, this goes up on the Chachki of Mediocrity at a 5.61. Wow.

Battle then mediocre. It's better than a cracker barrel. Wow, a little above Chuck E. It's above Chuck E. And red lobster. I believe that though. But it got beat by Costco's food court, which I mean, I don't have a lot of love for red lobster.

So to me, that feels appropriate. So everything at the Costco food court has ch-s except the hot dog. How could you properly rate that? I eat pizza. It got like grandfathered in. I already ate pizza before like the incidents that made me dislike ch-s occurred. I'm sorry, you eat pizza with ch-s.

I have to like mask it with so much meat. No, I told you you could like mean mug that camera if you wanted. Don't you dare use it in this moment. Don't Jim and Pam from the office right now. Except on pizza. Look, I made a conscious choice when I was like five or six years old. That disgusted me.

But I was like, but I don't want to give up pizza. I already love pizza. I recognize that it's crazy. OK, I get. All right. That's fine. I don that it's crazy, okay? All right, that's fine. I don't like baby corn, it's too small. Your name is Eat It Katie, not Bully It Katie. I mean, I am a bully, I'm pretty mean. I take anger management classes.

Do you? Yes. That's a lie, I should. I had genuine follow-up questions, because that's fascinating. No, I want to. So what this ultimately means is it went up on the board at not a 5.00. This was not the most mediocre restaurant experience imaginable. No.

Which means, Katie, which means I have to keep looking you do I gotta go somewhere next time you need a solid five I need the definitive five and to do that we turn to the you must bowl The bowl full of restaurants that will tell me where I must go Next time. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. Are you excited to find out? Yeah, I am excited. All right. Are you ready? I'm ready Next week I am going to Shonies oh Wow, I've heard of that Katie. Thank you so much. It was such a pleasure having you,

both at the restaurant and on the podcast. It was a lot of fun. I know there wasn't anything you had to plug a week ago, but is there anything you want to plug now? Absolutely not. Sag strikes over, so I'm an actor. Get on it, y'all. But Katie, you can find her on Instagram and TikTok

at eatitkatie. That's me. Well, awesome. And you can follow me. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok at eatitkati. That's me. Well, awesome. And you can follow me, Instagram, TikTok, at fine dining podcast. Send me an email, fine dining podcast at gmail.com. Visit my website, fine dining podcast.com. You get it. Plugs.

Plugs. Plug it up. I've got a Patreon. You can find an exclusive episode every single month, and you can get the full length Yelp from Strangers segments there. Oh, I'm on a cameo. I think I'm on a Patreon. You can find an exclusive episode every single month and you can get the full length Yelp from Strangers segments there. Oh, I'm on Cameo. I cost, I think, between $30 and $40.

Yeah. I keep it low. What's your favorite? Have you done, I assume you've done them or? Yeah, I do one a week. Do you have a favorite? I do more. Do people ask you to roast them?

Yeah, actually someone wanted me to roast them for their birthday. Nice. And I was like, hey, Michelle, what a stupid name. You do need anger management. Yeah. Awesome. Well, we didn't find the most mediocre restaurant in America. The search does in fact continue.

I'll see you next time. Have a fine day. The search continues. We still need the perfect file. The search continues. Like and subscribe. The search continues. Our journey did not conclude.

The mother-of-pearl search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues.

The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues. The search continues, the search continues Our journey did not conclude The mother-eating search continues Riders and iTunes review And hey, while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and make it five stars, huh? Come on! Follow us on TikTok, the same on Instagram, all the socials, at Find Dining Podcast, we

have a website, finddiningpodcast.com, buy our t-shirts, then put them on. And don't forget, you can always suggest where we go next. Okay! We're going to find it. Mediocrity, the search continues See you next week! Cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough cough