I love hot dogs. In natural casings, please. The “purer” the better, IMHO. And I love to make them as “coney island style” hot dogs, which have nothing to do with the place Coney Island. A Coney Island hot dog is strictly an upper midwestern thing, popular in Michigan, Ohio, pockets of Texas, Minnesota and… Continue reading StoneRidge Natural Casing Wieners Review
StoneRidge Meats Chorizo Review
Chorizo is a type of sausage that originated in the Iberian peninsula (Spain/Portugal), made up of pork, spices, and smoked pimento peppers, which gives it a bright red color. It’s available in a smoked/cured version for eating or including in dishes, and raw, to be used as a cooking ingredient. There are variations of chorizo… Continue reading StoneRidge Meats Chorizo Review
StoneRidge Meat Snack Sticks Review
An affinity for all things butchered and old world sausage making brought together the principals that started StoneRidge Meat and Country Market, now known as StoneRidge Piggly Wiggly. Located in mid-Wisconsin, thirty minutes west of the Fox River Valley, the market serves grocery shoppers and sausage aficionados from a wide radius. Why sausage lovers? StoneRidge… Continue reading StoneRidge Meat Snack Sticks Review
Parkers Restaurant and Bar Review, LaGrange, IL
Your dilemma, searching for this restaurant online, is that it is known, for some peculiar reason, by different names. The name on the building is Parkers’ Restaurant and Bar. The domain name for their website is “ParkersAmerican.” On different sites around the web, you’ll see a reference to “Parker’s Ocean Grill.” I’m confused and I… Continue reading Parkers Restaurant and Bar Review, LaGrange, IL
The One in Which I Bitch About “Resort Fees”
It was bound to happen, hotels had to find ways to nickle and dime you like when the airlines added baggage charges (which brings in millions and millions). Today’s gripe is about Harrah’s, which is owned by private equity groups, and naturally they are going to squeeze every single dollar out of the company that… Continue reading The One in Which I Bitch About “Resort Fees”
Mio Amore Pizza Review – Metairie, LA
Mio Amore is a mall pizza joint that also delivers to the local area. As it happens, they are on GrubHub, so I had them bring a pie to my New Orleans hotel last week. It’s a pretty fair pizza, and “value priced,” meaning more than the heavily discounted big chain offers, but less than… Continue reading Mio Amore Pizza Review – Metairie, LA
Sasquatch Pizza Review
Somebody lit a fire under the management of Milwaukee pizza manufacturer Parlermo; in addition to their classic Palermo label, over the past year, they’ve rolled out another four brands. P’Mos, Screamin’ Sicilian, Mission, and now, Sasquatch, a WalMart exclusive monster, weighing in a 3 pounds for under ten bucks. That’s a lot of pizza. That’s… Continue reading Sasquatch Pizza Review
Econo Lodge Review – Marion, IL
Econo Lodge is one of the brands owned by Choice Hotels International of Maryland. Starting with a few motels 75 years ago, through creation and acquisition of brands, Choice now has Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Hotel & Suites, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Rodeway Inn, and the Ascend Hotel Collection.… Continue reading Econo Lodge Review – Marion, IL
Waffle House Review
I wrote a piece years back, after hitting a Waffle House shortly after 9/11. I recently dropped in on one on the Gulf Coast. BTW, I counted on a map, and there are about 30 in a 40 mile stretch along the coasts of MS and LA. Wow. I sat at the counter, sipping… Continue reading Waffle House Review
Namese Review, New Orleans
I lived in New Orleans for a long time, and while it has always had some of the greatest restaurants in the country, there was not a great deal of diversity in menus; translation – very few ethnic places. Except for the Vietnamese blocks in New Orleans, it was tough to enjoy these Southeast Asian delicacies,… Continue reading Namese Review, New Orleans