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The sign above Cheddar's restaurant says "quality food and great service."

I can testify to the quality of the service after three trips to the new and very popular eatery near 120th and L Streets. On each trip, the wait staff quickly refilled our drinks, resupplied the homemade chips for our salsa and took good care of us.

I can't speak quite as emphatically about the quality of the food. Each trip was filled with hit-or-miss dishes that ranged from very good to fairly inedible. For the most part, my dining companions and I agreed that the food was average.

After my visits, I spoke by phone with Tom Koenigsberg, the chief brand officer for the Cheddar's chain. He said some of what I found could be due to the newness of the staff. Koenigsberg said Cheddar's makes almost everything from scratch and has a very good training program.

Crowds at the restaurant, based in Irving, Texas, were amazing. We found at least 45-minute waits on each of our first three attempts. With kids ages 6 and 2, that kind of wait just isn't possible.

The large aquarium near the entrance did interest the boys for a while along with a set of huge vertical fans in the middle of the main dining room. Three rows of the fans hang from the ceiling and kind of resemble the paddle wheel on a Mississippi River boat.

Cheddar's interior is a combination of wood, stone and exposed brick. I'm not sure the main dining room setup is the best use of space. There are several large booths surrounding about a dozen tables for four. Another section on the east wall of building reminded me of a sunroom: long and narrow with very large windows. Koenigsberg said one goal of the restaurant is to have a polished, expensive look and affordable prices.

The family finally got in for lunch after about a 15-minute wait the day after Christmas. That trip featured by far our worst meal.

I ordered the chicken fried steak ($7.99) with two sides: buttered corn and red beans and rice. The batter was the biggest disappointment on the meat: It was much too thick, making it soggy in the middle. The cubed steak tasted as though it was not seasoned or marinaded before breading. The corn was so salty you couldn't eat it.

The red beans were undercooked. They were made with sliced smoked sausage for good flavor, but none of the beans had broken while cooking, resulting in a chewy mouthful. Another hour to 90 minutes would have made the beans creamier, like the traditional Louisiana dish.

The rice on the bottom of the bowl had pieces of peas and carrots mixed in. I have had scores of bowls of red beans and rice, and that was a first for me. Koenigsberg said others have commented about the peas and carrots, and the dish is being evaluated. The peas and carrots may be removed and the sausage may be grilled before putting it in the beans, but they don't plan to cook the beans any longer.

Kris, my wife, ordered the Baked Spasagna ($7.99), baked spaghetti layered with cheese and spices and covered with homemade meat or marinara sauce. It would have been better — less chewy — if there had been sauce between the layers as well. The dish, like most everything we tried, needed more seasoning.

Our boys really enjoyed the kids menu, one of the bright spots of our visits. The highlight is the Monte Dogs ($4.49), all-beef hot dogs dipped in Monte Cristo batter and fried to a golden hue. It was similar to a hot dog covered in funnel cake batter. And the whole family gobbled up a not-small portion of hand-breaded and perfectly prepared chicken strips ($4.99).

The hand-battered onion rings, a Cheddar's specialty, were another winner. Almost every table during our three visits was enjoying a tower of rings, served with homemade creamy ranch dressing and Cajun dipping sauce. My wife couldn't stop praising the ranch dressing, made daily at the restaurant with fresh buttermilk and seasonings. A light batter covers the thinly sliced rings. They're one of the best things on the menu by far.

On my second visit, I sat in the bar area — featuring four big-screen TVs — with my radio partner Kevin Kugler. By 11:30 a.m. on a Friday, the bar was hopping. The majority of the tables were full, with many people enjoying the large variety of mixed drinks — the Texas Margarita ($3.99) is traditionally the most popular.

Another item Cheddar's touts is its Santa Fe Spinach Dip ($4.99), spinach mixed with sour cream and four types of cheese, including mozzarella and Romano. The dip grabs on to the homemade chips and doesn't let go. If you are a cheese lover, you will love this.

Along with the chips and dip, you get a small bowl of salsa. The salsa was perfect, a little bitter because of the cilantro, with a great kick from the jalapenos and just enough tomatoes and onions. We ended up having three bowls of it.

The Hickory Smoked Baby-Back Ribs (half rack $9.99) also are highlighted in the menu. They are very tender, but I tasted little smoke and the meat overall lacked flavor. No dry rub was evident, and the sauce was too sweet for me. Koenigsberg said the ribs are dry rubbed by hand and smoked for four hours before being finished in the oven.

Many of the dishes come with two sides; I chose the Southern green beans and mashed potatoes with country gravy.

The potatoes were enjoyably creamy and the gravy had lots of fresh cracked pepper. The green beans were sweet, cooked in what tasted like molasses or brown sugar. I expected traditional Southern beans cooked in a flour roux with bacon. I could only eat a few of the Cheddar's version. Koenigsberg said he hasn't had any other complaints about the beans.

The Double Decker Club ($6.99) is served on potato bread with lots of smoked ham and turkey, but it's the bacon that stands out. Cheddar's hickory-smoked bacon is thick, tasty and plentiful. We also had it in the baked potato soup and on the loaded potato skins, and each time we commented on its high quality. Koenigsberg said the bacon is made especially for Cheddar's.

Cheddar's edamame appetizer ($3.99) is unlike any I have had. The soybean pods are steamed and served with a side of ginger soy sauce and a mixture of toasted spices, including salt, sugar, curry and crushed red pepper. The waiter told us some people dip their pod in the sauce and then in the seasoning. Others sprinkle the seasoning over the bean pods, then dip in the ginger sauce. Either way, it was a nice way to eat edamame.

On our final trip to Cheddar's, we didn't go until after 8 on a Sunday night and there was only about a 10-minute wait.

That night, I tried the fish tacos ($6.69), served grilled or fried on flour tortillas with roasted corn slaw and Cajun tartar sauce. The roasted corn stands out and blends well with the tartar sauce. The fried whitefish again was fairly bland, but I added the remaining ginger sauce from the edamame to the tacos and it topped them perfectly.

The loaded baked potato wasn't quite loaded, with only small amounts of butter, sour cream and shredded cheese. I was hoping for more of the great tasting bacon we found on the skins.

My wife had the Grilled Portobello Ciabatta sandwich, mainly because of the promise of pesto mayo. The portobello mushroom is sliced and served on toasted bread, topped with greens, roasted tomatoes and fontina cheese. There was very little of the pesto mayo on either side of the bread and it got buried under the other flavors.

Cheddar's has several desserts. We tried the Legendary Monster Cookie ($3.99), a chocolate chip cookie baked in a skillet and topped with hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, chopped nuts and a cherry. It's the perfect taste and size for a couple, or even three people.

The best thing about Cheddar's may be the price. You can feed a family of four for under $40. You just need the patience to wait for a table, a desire for some tasty appetizers, sandwiches and other items, some kids to try the solid children's offerings and an adventurous spirit to navigate the rest of the hit-and-miss menu.

Mike'l Severe is the co-host of "Unsportsmanlike Conduct," a sports talk show on 1620 The Zone Radio, weekdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. He grew up in New Orleans, spending most of his childhood in his grandmother's kitchen. He first learned to cook from his father, Henry, who was a chef for more than 50 years. Mike'l and his wife, Kris, love to try new restaurants every Friday on date night.