Rate-A-Restaurant, #151 in a series

(IGoUGo photo by trixie000.)

Restaurant: Quality Food and Beverage

Location: 8030 W 3rd St. (3rd/Fairfax/Beverly)

Type of restaurant: American

We stipulated: For a recent business lunch. the original plan was lunch at Doughboy's on 3rd... but it's temporarily closed. Looking for a casual lunch place, we then passed by Quality -- and there was no wait. What's better, there was already an hour and a half on the parking meter. Sold.

They stipulated: Parking is always difficult on 3rd, unless the Parking Gods smile on you (as they did here).

What I ordered: Quality chicken sandwich: Chicken breast with eggplant, roasted peppers, aioli sauce on ciabatta bread ($9.95)

High point: The prices are decent, the sandwiches creative (once they gave me extra aioli sauce) and Quality isn't packed, unlike the wait down the street for Toast.

Low point: Nonetheless, there wasn't much in the way of eggplant or peppers on the sandwich, which sort of underwhelmed until I added more of the sauce.

Overall impression: Not a bad place... but somehow, underwhelming. The menu needs some jazzing up... and here needs to be more of a reason to visit -- you can't just put "Quality" in your name. The lack of a crowd at Quality, when people are waiting for a table down the street at spots like Toast and Joan's on Third, should tell you something.

Chance we will go back: It's a spot to keep in mind if we need to grab a table fast. But otherwise, not likely.

(For a complete list of our over 150 restaurant reviews, visit our companion site Rate-A-Restaurant.)