BY STACEY WALLACE
OPINION —
Do you remember the cartoon The Jetsons? According to Google AI, The Jetsons was “a classic Hanna-Barbera animated sitcom that originally aired from 1962-63, imagining a space-age nuclear family in the year 2062.”
To my surprise, “only 24 episodes of The Jetsons were produced but became massively popular in syndication.” That’s when I watched the show since it premiered three months before I was born.
Also, according to Google AI (isn’t it ironic that AI told me the history of The Jetsons, which was a futuristic show?), “The Jetsons was ABC’s first program to be broadcast in color, premiering on Sept. 23, 1962. George, the “Dad” in the series, was born in 2022.” Most television shows were still broadcast in black and white in 1962. Maybe color made the show seem more futuristic back then.
As a child, I loved Rosie the robot, the family’s talking maid. Recently, Mike and I encountered our own “Rosie” at Tiger VR Café at 200 W. Glenn Ave., Suite 350 in Auburn. The restaurant serves Chinese cuisine, Asian and Cajun food, alogn with Boba tea.
The interior of Tiger VR Café was bright and upbeat. The local owner of Tiger VR Café, Ling Xie (Kevin), told me that his restaurant opened in 2019. Ling was very kind to Mike and me, answering all of my questions so patiently.
For our starter, we ordered the crab Rangoon, which came with a generous helping of six. They were really delicious and huge; we certainly received our money’s worth.
For our entrees, Mike and I both selected the hibachi combo, which included fried rice and sesame chicken.
Everything was really wonderful, including “Rosie,” whom we named in honor of the Rosie the robot of our childhood. When our food was ready, our Rosie glided over to our table; that was so cool. She thanked us twice for our order and asked us to remove our dinners from her tray.
Unfortunately, we weren’t fast enough. Mike was photographing Rosie from various
angles when Rosie left with our food. It was too funny, and I was laughing out loud.
Fortunately, Ling, brought our food back to us. Ling, thanks for being so warm and welcoming to us. Mike and I look forward to seeing you and Rosie again soon.
Besides our delectable dishes, Tiger VR Café also offers diners the Build Your Own, which includes four steps. In step one, you choose your base: hibachi fried rice, lo-mein, stir-fried rice noodle, Yunnan noodle or chow fun noodle; step two: Choose what you mix in: corn, soybean, green onion, white onion, broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, carrots, green pepper, pineapple, roasted peanuts, celery, cabbage or bean sprouts; step three: add protein: shrimp, crawfish, crab stick, chicken slice, chicken dice, beef slice, tofu, Chinese sausage, ham, pork, egg or veggies; step four: spice level: non spicy, mild, curry, medium or turbo. I immediately asked for non spicy, because I am a wimp. If the food burns my lips or throat, I am not enjoying myself, so I really appreciated the rating of the spice levels.
Tiger VR Café also offers many entrees, some of which include: dry pot beef slice, Mongolian beef, Szechuan double cooked pork, hot pepper pork, orange chicken, pepper steak, half roast duck, among others.
Visit Tiger VR Café soon. You’ll really enjoy the food, atmosphere and Rosie, your space-age server. Tiger VR Café is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Tiger VR Café makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember, “Pooh-sized” people NEVER lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” will appear every other week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com.
