Peter Stromquist

Category: Food Business

  • Van de Kamp Crispy Haddock Filets Review

    Van de Kamp Crispy Haddock Filets Review “TV dinners” (frozen, pre-cooked, heat and eat meals) have been around for more than 70 years.  In all that time, very few manufacturers seems to have mastered having fried food emerge from the oven or microwave with any semblance of “crispiness.”  Why is that? Van de Kamp’s brand […]

  • Johnsonville Italian Meatballs Review

      Johnsonville Italian Meatballs Review My Johnsonville Italian Meatballs Review – they are pre-cooked and run about $6 for 28.  That’s very competitive pricing. They are pretty flavorful for a mass-market product.  Maybe Johnsonville could come up with a “sweet” and “hot” version like Italian sausage?  I heated them in my own sauce and served […]

  • Ginos East Frozen Pizza Review

    Ginos East Frozen Pizza Review Gino’s East is a downtown Chicago restaurant that specializes in one of the versions of “Chicago Deep Dish.”  They opened just off the magnificent mile in 1966.  They subscribe to the version that is “crust, cheese, toppings, sauce.” Other versions  in the same segment are more focused on the amount […]

  • Youngs Frozen Fish and Chips Review

      Youngs Frozen Fish and Chips Review Youngs Frozen Fish and Chips Review. “Fish and chips” was the ‘national dish’ of England for 100 + years, starting in the mid-1800s.  It was really one of the first examples of “fusion cuisine” as both of the components were brought to the country by immigrants.  At the […]

  • Thorntons BaconAddict Colossal Cheeseburger Review

    Thorntons BaconAddict ™ Colossal Cheeseburger Review I’ve written A LOT about gas station sandwiches, burgers, pizza.  Often times, they are made by the same companies, like Big Az, which is part of AdvancePierre, which is now owned by Tyson. Today’s purchase, the “BaconAddict Colossal Cheeseburger” was picked up at Thornton’s, a Midwest-centric gas station/c-store chain.  […]

  • Buona Beef Meatballs Review

    Buona Beef Meatballs Review Buona Beef is a local Chicago restaurant chain, started about thirty years ago. They have been on an expansion tear recently, and it seems like they are popping up on a regular basis. As well, they have a few of their products in the grocery stores now. The chain specializes in […]

  • Devanco Gyro Sandwich Kit Review

    Devanco Gyro Sandwich Kit Review As ubiquitous in Chicago as hot dogs or pizza, the gyro (however you choose to pronounce it, ”yero’, ‘jy-ro’, ‘geer-o’) is a sandwich of Greek origin consisting of vertically spit-roasted meat, cucumber sauce, onion, and tomato on a split or folded pita. The name comes from the Greek word which […]

  • Lloyds Barbecue Company Review

      Lloyds Barbecue Company Review Lloyds Barbecue products are part of the line of Austin, MN based Hormel Foods.  I can’t say whether they started it organically or acquired it, just haven’t found that info.  The product is made and distributed out of a modern facility across the Missississippi River from the Minneapolis St Paul […]

  • American Made General Store Review Pocahontas, AR

    American Made General Store Review Pocahontas, AR Tooling around the underbelly of Arkansas the other week, I was heading north on US 67, which runs from the Mexican border to the Quad Cities, in IA/IL. Pocahontas was indeed named after the Native American of renown, and not after any current political candidate. The town sits […]

  • Champion Frozen Pizza Review

      Champion Frozen Pizza Review Champion Pizza is a frozen pizza line started in 1981 in the microdot town of Hebron (Illinois, not Palestine). Like many frozen pizzas in the Upper Midwest, they got their start supplying to restaurants and bars before landing shelf space in regional grocery stores. They also supply products for charitable […]