One great thing about driving around rural Minnesota and Wisconsin has always been finding “undiscovered” local taverns and roadhouses, like the Kounty Quarthouse, Billy’s, or Swamp Sisters. Some are pretty new (like 50 years or so) and some date back to prohibition. While widely known and popular with a very local crowd, patrons from away… Continue reading Duluth, MN – Breeze Inn
Santa Fe, NM – Bobcat Bite Review
(2014 Update: This burger, and it’s chef / creators have moved to a new location in Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Bite, inside of Garrett’s Desert Inn – 311 Old Santa Fe Trail) World famous, some say. Certainly you can’t be a fan of most food television shows and not have seen this place on… Continue reading Santa Fe, NM – Bobcat Bite Review
Connie’s “Naturals” – Another Chicago Frozen Pizza
Connie’s “Natural” is another frozen pie spawned from a Chicago pizzeria. Their hook is the product is “all natural”, which isn’t a selling point for me, personally, but it appears to make some people happy. In 1963, Jim Stolfe traded his 1962 Oldsmobile for a small pizza shop on Chicago’s south side. Over the past… Continue reading Connie’s “Naturals” – Another Chicago Frozen Pizza
Usinger’s Meats – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I wrote a bit about Usinger’s the other day. Here’s the rest of the story, as I prepare to dig into their natural casing “Old World Recipe” wieners. Pretty straightforward ingredients with these pups, beef and pork, water, spices, sugar, salt, paprika, and a couple of the sodiums as a preservative, in a natural lamb… Continue reading Usinger’s Meats – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I Go on a Rant About Yum Brands
Yum! was created on October 7, 1997, as Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. an independent company, as a result of a spin-out from PepsiCo, which owned and franchised the KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell brands worldwide. It’s been a successful venture, by any measure. What fascinates and irritates me at the same time, is the company’s idea of “product innovation”… Continue reading I Go on a Rant About Yum Brands
Algonquin, IL – Nero’s Pizza and Pub Review
(2nd contribution from our Chicagoland reporter, thanks!) In the far Northwestern suburbs of Chicago, Algonquin is a sleepy burg, with its share of housing divisions and strip malls. In one such mall, on Algonquin Road, you’ll find Nero’s Pizza and Pub, a full menu restaurant and bar, open from 11AM daily. On the Monday nite… Continue reading Algonquin, IL – Nero’s Pizza and Pub Review
White Castle
Sliders, gut bombs, no matter what you call them, the small square burgers cooked on a bed of onions, are a distinctly American tradition. The White Castle chain was one of the first fast food establishments, started in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. Americans were reticent to eat ground beef at the time, due to the… Continue reading White Castle
El Paso, TX – IHOP
You gotta love it when a date’s idea of a big nite is going to IHOP. Well, at least I do. Pretty tired of high-maintenance relationships, on any level. Add to the glamour of IHOP that your date brings a “two-fer” coupon, and you’re sitting pretty. She went with the chicken Caesar, wondering if the… Continue reading El Paso, TX – IHOP
Milwaukee – Sausage Town
Milwaukee is a great meat town, and an even better sausage town. Two of my favorite companies are there, Klement’s, and Usingers, with the latter dating back well over one hundred years, and the former, the upstart, being only about 70 years old. Both companies offer a wide variety of smoked and fresh sausages, deli… Continue reading Milwaukee – Sausage Town
Elgin, IL – Alexander’s Restaurant
(First review from our new Chicago contributor, keep ’em coming). Your fairly standard Chicago local diner fare, open early for the local business coffee crowd, and just off the tollway for travelers. Probably does a brisker business since a local Cracker Barrel relocated out of the area. We didn’t vary from the norm, went with… Continue reading Elgin, IL – Alexander’s Restaurant