Canz a Citi Roadhouse

Canz a Citi Roadhouse is your typical neighborhood sports bar, serving bar food, an extensive beer list, over twenty TVs showcasing the different games, and employing “Canz-a-Citi Girls.” What is a Canz-a-Citi Girl you may ask? Well, the website defines them as girls (emphasis on the word girl, as you are out of luck to find a woman over 25 here) “who wear their signature denim shorts, black tank tops, and timbaland boots.” I wouldn’t go so far as to call their “signature denim shorts” anything resembling a complete article of clothing, but to each their own. You can take a look for yourself soon enough, as VH1 is planning a show called Canz, a reality show on what it takes to be a Canz girl. One can also purchase a Canz-a-Citi calendar, filled with artistic bikini shots of some of the favorite Canz girls.

I had walked past Canz many a time, mostly to visit Queens Comfort right next door. On game days, the place gets pretty full, and the majority of customers lean towards the male, athletic types. Or the types that like to get a side of eye candy with their burger. Although I was hesitant to give this place a shot, my curiosity was peaked after seeing what looked like an outdoor area in the back stacked with wine barrels.

The outdoor area turned out to be a faux outdoor area, with a transparent skyroof that can be reeled down for a more open air style. The décor does not stray far from the mandatory sports bar scene, with lots of TVs everywhere you look, wooden tables, a large bar with stools, and the faux outdoor area decorated with empty wine barrels, hubcaps, and license plates from different states strewn on the wall. Unfortunately Canz gets their cable through satellite, which caused bouts of blackout due to the rain on my visit. The music was loud, and features Top 40 pop hits.

wine barrels

interior

hubcap + license plate wall

The food at Canz features Burgerz, Sandwichez, Wrapz, Appetizerz, and more of your average bar food. And yes, every single word ending in an S (and then some) is replaced with a Z in the menu, which got under my skin more than anything in the restaurant. I can’t really take your food seriously when I’m presented with “Canz-a-Citi Quezadillaz”, “Grilled Chicken Ceazar Wrap” and “Choice of Mozzarella, Cheddar, Jack, Swiss, or American Cheezez.” Reading the menu is agitating for anyone who uses basic grammar and spelling, and leaves me to wonder who was tasked in writing the menu.

Our waitress was nice, albeit a bit awkward. She was trying to be playful, but did not get much attention or interaction from us. Canz starts each table off with a bowl of popcorn. The popcorn wasn’t fresh, and tasted like the premade bags you buy at the grocer. My friends and I ordered the Chicken Club sandwich with tater tots, the Buffalo Chicken sandwich with fries, and the Buffalo Chicken sandwich (turned into a wrap) with a side salad. Ordering the Buffalo Chicken wrap took about six minutes too long. I told the waitress I wanted the Buffalo Chicken sandwich in a wrap, and seeing as they had a whole wrap section, I did not see what would be so difficult about this. Substitute the brioche roll for a wrap, you’re golden. Our waitress, however, did not understand that this could be done, because the buffalo chicken was one whole piece of chicken. She then asked if I wanted ranch on it like the Chicken Ceazar wrap, which led to more confusion. After another explanation of what I wanted registered, we were good to go. And I was very curious as to what I was actually going to get.

Difficulties aside, I did end up getting (mostly) what I ordered (no celery), with the Buffalo Chicken cleverly cut up into small pieces to fit into the wrap. The wrap was a good, standard Buffalo Chicken wrap. My side salad consisted of mesclun greens with chopped onions, carrots, and tomatoes overflowing on top, making it a bit hard to eat and add dressing to.

Buffalo Chicken wrap + side salad

The Buffalo Chicken sandwich was a solid sandwich, and the fries were crispy and light, perfect by my standardz.

Buffalo Chicken sandwich + fries

The Chicken Club sandwich consisted of a fried chicken cutlet topped with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and bacon ranch dressing on a toasted brioche bun. Again, this was good, nothing amazing, but also a fulfilling choice. The tater tots were also crispy and light, and fried perfectly.

Chicken Club sandwich + tater tots

All in the all, the food was okay, typical of what one would expect at a sports bar. A lot of the allure to these types of places is not so much the food, but the atmosphere -- being able to catch all your sports games, while enjoying your favorite beer and some food, in a loud, boisterous environment with your friends. And for some, the icing on the cake (and to others, the actual cake) is having that special Canz-a-Citi girl serving you.