Review: This Is What I Mean When I Say "Careful Casual."

The Walnut is a great place for that easygoing Tuesday-night meal.

Review of The Walnut
1417 Walnut St.; (515) 282-1000
Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.

When I started reviewing restaurants in 1997, I soon discovered there was an inverse relationship between the number of TVs in a dining room and the quality of the food; that is, the more screens, the lousier the food.

That changed, of course, when the craft beer revolution took hold this century. As casual diners started demanding something better in their beer glasses, it soon followed that they looked for better food to go with it. Hence, the “lotta TVs = lousy food” equation no longer holds true.

Nevertheless, I still don’t enjoy an overabundance of wide-screens in a restaurant. Which might be why it has taken me so long (like seven years), to go to The Walnut. This place has TVs in most every sight-line.

And yet, I’ll go there again. Here’s why.

The Casual Menu Travels Well Beyond Burgers and Fried Chicken Sandwiches.

This might ruffle some feathers, but I…