The Office: Comfort Food We Can Get Behind

This is our third review of this familiar South Street dining destination. You would think they were paying us (or, advertising with us. Are you listening ?).

However, unlike our first review () and our second review (), this is a review simply about your ordinary average dining experience one might expect from . After this, we will close the chapter on this dining destination. Unless, of course, they start offering macrobiotic options, or something.

I arrived around lunch. The dining area has already been covered before, so I will be brief. It's nice, it's comfortable, it's breezy. The ceiling is exceptionally high, with second-floor seating for those who want to take it all in.

I sat on the bottom floor, at a small booth, with a view of the Jerry Springer Show successor, Steve Wilkos. "Who hit my baby?" was playing out, and I was looking through The Office's specials, of which they are extensive. The best one is on Monday, when "Happy Hour" runs all day, with deals like $2 domestic pints, and $5 bar food like wings and bar pizza.

On this day, however, the specials included $8.99 for either beef or chicken burritos, or fajitas. Attempting in some small fashion to reduce my intake of various waist-expanding options, the chicken fajitas seemed the best option. Instead of rice, I opted for a double order of black beans.

The young father was getting his dressing down from Wilkos backstage. Mom was back in front, either crying or losing it, depending on the moment. Small groups of lunchtime businessmen and women were being seated. I munched on The Office's ubiquitous bowl of fresh veggies. Like , but for different reasons.

Eventually, my order came out. It seemed to take a little longer than expected, but I didn't mind. Looking back at the television one more time, I could have had worse problems.

If you have ever had fajitas before, you pretty much know what to expect: some kind of meat (if you're into that sort of thing), grilled veggies, beans and rice (if you don't opt out), some tortillas and a few other acoutrements. Nothing in this was terribly surprising, but all of it was pretty much good. Did I even taste some poblano peppers in this mix? That's a nice touch. The cheese was straight from a bag. The black beans, probably pre-made somewhere, but those in particular were very enjoyable. The chicken was tender and had the right amount of spices you would expect.

Basically, this order was comfort food one can feel a little less bad about. By that, I mean for some people, the idea of going into a chain restaurant is rather displeasing. Either because everything comes from bags and boxes, or because they're snobbish.

But, there is definitely something to be said for certain guilty pleasures, and for familiarity. With less than 10 restaurants in their entire fleet, The Office is a smaller chain than even . And, it has lots and lots of beer. A good experience all around.