Sunday, August 14, 2011

Buddies Burgers - San Diego, California

Buddies Burgers opened near San Diego State University earlier this year. My friends were pretty excited about Buddies when it opened but my first visit was this month. After having eaten there I'm not disappointed that I waited so long. I probably won't be going back anytime soon.


Buddies is very similar to In-N-Out but they don't have a drive through, the service is slower and the food is more expensive. The restaurant is very well kept on the inside with lots of family photographs from the guys who started the restaurant. However, the atmosphere doesn't make up for the overpriced food and slow service. After ordering we waited for probably 10 minutes before getting our food. Unfortunately my roommate's order was taken down incorrectly so we had to wait another 15 minutes for them to get her what she wanted.


This is the first review that I've written where I wouldn't recommend the restaurant to friends/family. I want to be as objective as possible so that you can decide for yourself but that is how I feel. I ordered a Double-Buddie with Pepper Jack cheese.The beef patties were well cooked and the vegetables were fresh. By the way the burger tasted I could tell they used quality ingredients. The burger was good but it wasn't great.


Along with the burger I also ordered fries and a chocolate milkshake. The fries were beer-battered and were pretty good. My milkshake review may be biased because I'm used to having Burgerville shakes from the Northwest. That being said I thought that the milkshake at Buddies was mediocre. It was small, too sweet and was not very chocolaty. 

My biggest beef with Buddies, pun intended, was the price. My meal came out to be $10.40 before tax for a Double Buddie, Fries and a Chocolate Milkshake. The food was good but was undeserving of the high price tag. The discrepancy between price and quality is what puts Buddies at the bottom of my list of places to eat near campus.


Monday, August 8, 2011

Phil's Barbecue - San Diego, California

Phil's Barbecue is easily the most popular barbecue place in San Diego. When I went with the boys there was a line that would probably have taken us an hour to get through. However, since we're problem solving college students we decided to order the food to-go. There was no line for food to go so we got our ribs in about five minutes instead of waiting an hour. 


This picture shows that the seating area is filled. I would have taken a picture of the line outside but I would have needed a wide angle lens because it was so long. We were there on a Thursday night around 7:30 which makes this sight even more ridiculous. 


As you can see here, there are plenty of registers. However, because of the limited seating inside the restaurant there is a line outside of the restaurant nearly every night. If you want to try this place but don't want to wait in line just call in your order to-go and you can bypass the line completely.



After ordering, paying and driving to some park by the beach we finally got to eat. I was pretty hungry and riding in a car that smelled like ribs was not an easy task. These ribs are covered with a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Although the sauce isn't my personal favorite it is pretty good.

My sides were also good, although they aren't what I ordered. I ordered baked beans and mac and cheese. I was given fries and macaroni salad. In that sense the service was slightly disappointing. However, the sides that I was given tasted good and I was satisfied. If you haven't been to a barbecue restaurant be ready to spend a decent amount of money. A rack of ribs with two sides, which is what I ordered, was $18.95 before tax.

Overall I would definitely recommend Phil's to anybody in San Diego looking for a good barbecue restaurant. However, you out of town barbecue snobs may not be huge fans.

Phil's Barbecue
3750 Sports Arena Boulevard
San Diego, California 92120

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

State Street Grill - San Diego, California

State Street Grill is located across the street from San Diego State University. Their location is great for students living on or near campus. It isn't a very big restaurant, which is emphasized by the lack of available parking.


We went to State Street at dusk and sat outside. They have a nice enclosed patio which is great for the beautiful San Diego weather.


State Street has an interesting menu. They mix diner classics like burgers, sandwiches and salads with an Asian-American menu. Although I'm not a big fan of sushi my friends say that State Street's sushi is pretty good.


This was my first visit to State Street and my friends told me that I had to have fries. There weren't any other recommendations so I decided to get a burger. The "Hall of Flame" burger was what I ultimately decided to get. The burger had bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocados, lettuce, tomato, Frank's hot sauce and habanero lime mayo.

If you don't like spicy food, don't get this burger. It was hot and left my mouth a little tender afterwards. However, despite the heat the burger was great. I really enjoyed the combination of flavors. After the burger I  dove into the fries. They tasted really good and had a nice crispness to them which many places do not get right.

Overall State Street Grill is a good place to eat if you're at San Diego State and you're looking for a casual sit down meal. The relaxed atmosphere makes it a good place to hang out if you want to get appetizers and drinks with friends while watching a game.

5131 College Avenue
Suite F
San Diego, California 92115

Monday, June 27, 2011

Firehouse: San Diego (Pacific Beach), California

Firehouse is a trendy restaurant in Pacific Beach. I recently went there with a group of people for dinner and was impressed by the atmosphere. There was house music playing in the background which I thought was a nice touch. The mix of bright colors and the unique layout of the tables, lounge, free wi-fi, bar and rooftop patio make this a fun place to hang out even if you aren't eating.


This is a picture of the interior of the restaurant that was taken at the beginning of the evening. Twice during the night the lights were dimmed which made everything a little more romantic. Also, our female friends were particularly infatuated with the male waiters. This may or may not have been related to the fact that the lights were dimmed.


This is a picture of a "cup" of clam chowder. I was excited to see that the portion was so large because I was hungry. My excitement continued when I tasted the chowder. There were thick chunks of potato and  a good amount of clam meat swimming in this creamy and flavorful bowl. If you like chowder you will be satisfied with this choice.


Pictured here is the Firehouse Burger with bacon. The burger was pretty good, nothing too exciting. If I had to complain about something it would be that the bun was soggy on the bottom. That may have been my fault for choosing to eat the chowder first and the burger second. The fries were crispy and tasty. Kudos to the waiter that asked if we wanted any dipping sauce for the fries, that should be protocol at all restaurants. 

Overall I would recommend the Firehouse. It's a good place to go for a nice dinner, especially if you want to be close to the nightlife in PB.

Extra notes about this restaurant. Parking in Pacific Beach is horrendous but Firehouse has complimentary valet. There is an automatic 18% gratuity on parties of 6 or more and there is also a $3 charge to split the check. 

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Stepping Stone Cafe: Portland, Oregon

Our family first visited Stepping Stone Cafe last year. My cousin saw it on an episode of Man vs. Food and suggested that we visit because it is relatively close to my parents' house. I was intrigued by the "B.A. Omelette" and ordered it on my first visit. It was really good, as was the rest of the family's food. Whenever I visit home I always request that we go back to Stepping Stone.

This particular visit we went on a Friday morning. The restaurant was full but we were fortunate to come in right as another group was getting up to leave. There are all sorts of little eclectic items in the restaurant. A Charlie Sheen poster, tiny figurines above the door, etc. It all makes for an interesting environment.

Pictures above is the chicken fried steak breakfast platter. It comes with eggs (cooked to your liking), toast (wheat, white, sourdough) and potatoes. The chicken fried steak is really good. This is the same chicken fried steak that is contained within the "B.A. Omelette." If I had to come up with a complaint about this meal it would be that there is almost too much food. I was feeling like I had eaten enough when I cleaned my plate and hadn't even begun eating the Mancakes yet.

These are what Stepping Stone Cafe calls "Mancakes." I would assume this is short for Manly Pancakes because these things are huge. The small sliver cut out of the stack of three is what mom decided she wanted. My brother, father and I finished the rest of them. The pancakes taste great. They're cooked to perfection, no goo in the middle, no burn on the outside. Personally I like to drown my pancakes in maple syrup. If you want to feel full after breakfast just eat one of these. If you want to be rolled out of the restaurant after your meal, eat all three.

I'm ashamed to admit that the three men in our family couldn't finish what was left of the stack after mom took her sliver. About half of a pancake was left and brought home to our dogs. They also enjoyed them thoroughly.

Stepping Stone Cafe
2390 NW Quimby
Portland, OR 97210

Friday, June 10, 2011

The Coachmen: Battle Ground, Washington

Battle Ground Village is a new development just outside downtown of Battle Ground, Washington. The area seems to be Battle Ground's attempt to modernize the area and make it more attractive to younger residents. The Coachmen is a relatively new restaurant in Battle Ground Village. My mother suggested that we dine there for lunch and I agreed that it would be good to try something new (new things don't come around often in Clark County).

The restaurant is relatively small. There may be seating for about 20 guests inside and there is additional seating outside if the weather is decent. There were only three other guests in the restaurant when we arrived around noon, pretty bleak for a lunch hour.

Although Battle Ground Village is a relatively new area there is high turnover. The rent in the new buildings is probably too high for the low amount of traffic in the area. This makes it hard for restaurants to stay afloat. I hope that The Coachmen is an exception to this phenomenon because the food was really good.


The menu was relatively simple. They had appetizers, soups and salads, chicken burgers and hamburgers. I appreciated this approach because they took the time to make their few items well instead of serving up a variety of mediocrity.

The empty tray you see was filled with pita bread, sliced cucumbers, those tiny tomatoes and had hummus in the cup in the middle. This was a well presented appetizer. I was impressed with the freshness of the vegetables and the quality of the hummus. Definitely would recommend this if you're in the market for an appetizer.

Next came the meat and potatoes (quite literally) of the meal. I had a Jalapeno Burger which was delicious. They use 100% Angus beef patties. The menu said they were half pound patties but the burger seemed larger than many others that claim to be a half pound. The bun was fluffy, the onion rings were cooked just right and they used fresh cut jalapenos! FRESH CUT JALAPENOS! I hadn't ever had those on a burger before, I've only had the lesser-quality pickled jalapenos that appear on most restaurant burgers. The tomato slice was juicy and the lettuce was crisp. All the freshness and quality justified the $9.50 price tag on this burger meal.

The other thing pictured is a potato. I'd assume they used an apple peeler and put a potato on it, then stuck a stick through the middle of it. Then they dip the stick in a light batter and deep fry it. What you end up with is something similar to a huge curly fry. The texture of this creation was amazing, the potato was soft inside but the outside was crispy. It was the best of both worlds when it comes to fries. They also gave us a side of their custom cucumber-ranch dressing to dip them. The cucumber-ranch, like everything else served, was very well done. It had a great flavor and texture.

Overall, if you want a great burger and you're in Clark County you need to go to The Coachmen. This place is way better than Red Robin's "gourmet burgers" and any other place I've been to in the area. If you know of a better place I'd love to know because this is the best place around here.

The Coachmen
1417 SE Rasmussen Boulevard, #130
Battle Ground, WA 98604

Monday, June 6, 2011

Smokin Mo's Barbecue: Chico, CA

Oh barbecue, how I had missed you. We were last together during winter break. I dreamed of the day when we would finally reunite. After our last encounter I knew you needed your space, needed some time to recharge the batteries. I dreamed of you, thinking of you made my mouth water.

Who knew that we would be brought together in Chico, California? Only someone with divine power could have predicted such a thing. Ultimately though, it happened.

Smokin Mo's in downtown Chico is a quaint little restaurant in downtown Chico. Luckily this was the recommendation of choice on Sunday afternoon. After spending 9.5 hours in a car we all needed to refuel. What better way than with rib-sampler-protein-overload?


The rib sampler consisted of three different sets of ribs, each with a different sauce. I believe the total was about one full rack but I could be mistaken. There were also four sides included in the meal; cornbread, coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans (which were more like a thick chili).


The quality of the ribs was pretty good. They definitely were cooked by people that are well versed in barbecue. There was no meat falling off of these bones, instead it was cooked for high flavor and chewiness. That may not sound appealing to some of you, but this is how ribs are supposed to be when cooked correctly.

The sauces were the most disappointing part of the experience. The regular sauce was very plain with no excitement. The sweet sauce was also fairly bland. The shining star of the three was their mustard based sauce. This sauce took the experience from mediocre to good for me.

Overall, I had a good experience at Smokin Mo's. If you happen to be rolling through downtown Chico and have a hankering for barbecue this is a good place to stop.

Smokin Mo's Barbecue
131 Broadway Street
Chico, CA 95928-5317

Thursday, December 16, 2010

California Pizza Kitchen in LAX: Los Angeles, California


Well, I'm on my way back to Washington. United decided the best place to connect was LAX for a flight to Portland. Unfortunately I have almost a 3 hour layover, even though my San Diego flight was delayed.

By the time we got off the plane it was 6:40 and I was ready to eat. Wandering around the terminal I found a California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). I've had good experiences at CPK in the past so I had high hopes. Their prices were ridiculously high; no surprise there. I paid $13.50 for a personal size pizza and a drink.

The quality was mildly disappointing. When I ordered "The Original BBQ Chicken" pizza I thought I was in for a treat. What I ended up with was something that was about as good as a pizza that had been microwaved. I know for a fact that they didn't microwave it because I saw them put it in the oven. I don't know if they didn't leave it in long enough or what but it didn't turn out well.

The crust was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This odd combination made for a pizza that basically fell apart when I tried to fold it in half. The pizza was warm but not hot. Shouldn't pizza that just comes out of the oven be hot? Overall it was a very mediocre experience. I guess thats to be expected from airport food right? Oh well, I'll be living with the best cook in the world for the next couple of months so I guess I can stomach some mediocre pizza.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Studio Diner: San Diego, California




Shout out to my Aunt Rachel who suggested we go to the Studio Diner in San Diego. This diner has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives which is a television show on the Food Network. We were pretty excited to have an opportunity to go to one of the places featured on that show because the food always looks SO good.

Parking was a bit of a hassle because there are only a handful of spaces right in front of the diner itself, we ended up parking on the side of the street. We were surprised at some of the quirky names on the menu. The "Boob" was something with a chicken breast, and "Jewish Penicillin" was what they called traditional chicken noodle soup. There was a wide variety of food ranging from seafood to more traditional diner food like burgers and breakfast.

Ultimately I decided to go for the Baja Burger with a side of Clam Chowder and Rachel went with the Club Sandwich. As you can see the burger came out with a generous helping of fries. Unfortunately neither the clubhouse or the clam chowder are pictured because the food blog pictures were a bit of an afterthought (we were both hungry). The burger was decent, nothing too special. The guacamole didn't have much flavor and the salsa wasn't of the spicy variety. Rachel's clubhouse sandwich was good, as was the clam chowder.

Overall, if you're looking for a decent place to eat at any hour this is a good place to go. However, if you're looking for a gourmet restaurant you should look elsewhere.

Studio Diner
4701 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Big Squeeze: San Diego, California


Angle Shot of the Acai Bowl and Extra Granola
Top Shot

I have a number of friends who have attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. When we were visiting recently they mentioned that they were going to The Big Squeeze. They couldn't believe I'd never heard of it before. They said I HAD to go when I got a chance.


Well, the other day I finally had the chance. The Big Squeeze is located in the Pacific Beach area. From what I understood this was a local version of Jamba Juice. I found that there is a big difference in quality between the franchise shops (Jamba, Juice-It-Up, etc) and this place. We all ordered Acai bowls. For those that don't know, Acai is an extremely nutritious berry. Acai bowls are frozen berries ground up to a juice consistency. Then chunks of fresh fruit (in this case strawberries, bananas, peaches, and mangoes) are mixed in along with granola. Many people (myself included) also add honey. This treat is a great breakfast and you can feel great about eating it because it is really healthy.

I'm a big fan of Acai bowls in general. This one was particularly tasty. They keep everything nice and cold, I actually got a brain freeze from eating too fast. The fruit was all fresh and tasted really good. As for the granola, well, it was granola. Nothing too exciting other than the fact that it had almonds (I'm allergic). Luckily they were few and far between, otherwise this short trip for breakfast could have turned into a trip to the ER.





Location:
1826 Garnet Ave
(between Kendall St & Lamont St)
San Diego, CA 92109

Monday, August 23, 2010

Bubba's Smokehouse Barbecue: La Jolla, California

Sides on the Rib Platter: Mac and Cheese (7/10), Baked Beans (7/10) and Cornbread (5/10

Ribs (8.5/10)

Bubba's Smokehouse Barbecue is probably my favorite place to eat barbecue in the San Diego area so far. We first went there from a recommendation from a friend who has lived in the area for a while. However, he told us to go to a place called Joey's Smokin Barbecue. Apparently it hasn't been called that for some time now.

Anyway, on to the food. The ribs here are fall-off-the-bone meat with a dry rub and two different sauces. You can go for sweet sauce, which is pretty good or a spicier sauce which is also good. They have a pretty wide variety of things on their menu for a barbecue place including Frickles (fried pickles). Last time we were here my mom got some chicken which she wasn't too impressed with. However, if you're going to a barbecue place to eat chicken you probably shouldn't be going there at all.

This time she had a brisket sandwich and enjoyed it quite a bit. Typically she's the healthy eater in the family and never finishes her plate but this time she ate the entire sandwich.

The prices are pretty typical of a barbecue restaurant but we had to pay $10 to park in the middle of the day which added to the cost a little bit. The restaurant is located in a great shopping area which is only a couple of blocks from the beach. For those of you that live outside of San Diego, La Jolla is a great place to visit.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Five Guys Burgers and Fries



Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a national burger chain. They have a pretty simple menu but we had heard that this place was really good. While waiting in line you realize that all of the decorations in the building are cutouts of newspapers and magazine articles where they've been called "best burger joint," "best burger value," and "other random burger related award."

At this point I was pretty excited. I love hamburgers so the prospect of having the BEST was making my mouth water. Unfortunately my excitement was met with disappointment.

When the burgers came out they looked good. Their "regular" burger is two quarter-pound patties. I got mine with bacon, cheese and a ridiculous amount of vegetables. The burger was fine but "fine" definitely didn't meet my expectations.

Their fries come in two variations; simply salted and Cajun. Both styles of fries are thick slices of skin-on potato. We opted for the simply salted. The portion size of fries was fairly generous but that didn't really make up for the fact that they didn't taste great. Apparently at Five Guys, "simply salted" means "doesn't taste salty at all." This is a great example of, "I don't care if its healthier if it doesn't taste good."

Overall I wasn't extremely impressed. This place probably falls somewhere in the middle of my fast food burger rankings. Maybe I didn't order the right thing, maybe they were having a bad day but either way this burger wasn't my favorite.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Fireside Cafe: Vancouver, Washington

Fireside Cafe is a restaurant in Vancouver, Washington that recently opened. They are occupying the space where Cafe Divine used to be located. Our family is friends with friends of the owners and we heard it was a pretty good place to eat. More importantly, we heard they served mountainous nachos on a pizza dish. I'm a sucker for nachos so we decided to go there for dinner.
Mom is the healthy eater in the family and she got a salad. I don't really know what kind it was, looks like there was vegetables, fruit, bacon and dressing.

Joshua, Dad and I decided to share a plate of wings and the legendary nachos. The boneless wings were okay, nothing special. However, we did get them with barbecue sauce. They may have been better with hot sauce.

This is the glorious plate of Fireside Nachos. It is a 14" pizza pan filled with nachos that were at least 6" tall in the middle. The chips were multi-colored which added a lot of flair to dish. The nachos had cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, black beans, chicken and guacamole (on the side). The chips also had some sort of seasoning on them but since it wasn't listed on the menu we're going to assume its some sort of secret ingredient.

This picture probably doesn't do these nachos justice. There was a LOT of food on that plate. We were able to get through most of the plate but it was tough. These monstrous nachos could easily be a meal for 4-5 people and could be a snack for 10. They are a great value at the low price of $12.99.

Fireside also has more "traditional" cafe dishes such as sandwiches, soups, and burgers. They also have a wide selection of beverages from coffee and smoothies to wine and beer. It's a nice quiet atmosphere and they offer free wi-fi. Whether you're in the mood for coffee, want to try something new, or want to feed nachos to a small army you should definitely check out Fireside Cafe.



Monday, July 26, 2010

Mo's Chowder: Cannon Beach, Oregon


Everybody loves going to the coast. We love going to the coast so much that we went on a day when it was 55 degrees and misting. In July.

After the long drive on Highway 26 we were ready for lunch. Luckily there weren't too many people at Mo's and our food came out quickly. It was a glorious moment when that bowl of clam chowder landed on on the table in front of me. From what I remember it was REALLY good but you probably shouldn't take my word for it since I ate an entire bowl in less than a minute...

If you go to Mo's you've got to try the chowder. The grilled chicken cesar salad is not worth trying, but the chowder is great.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Voodoo Doughnuts: Portland, Oregon

Portland is known for being a very "eccentric" city. One of the best examples of the Portland culture is Voodoo Doughnuts. You can visit their website at http://voodoodoughnut.com/ I had heard about this place many times previously but never visited until this morning. We decided to sample a number of different doughnuts and weren't disappointed with any of them.

Voodoo Doll
The Voodoo Doll was a yeast raised doughnut with raspberry filling and a pretzel stake through the heart. This was my personal favorite of the group for its originality and flavor.

Bacon Maple Bar
The Bacon Maple Bar is a commonly known doughnut at voodoo. I was excited about this doughnut because of the sweet and salty combination. I also love bacon so I thought it would be pretty good. Unfortunately the maple bar was EXTREMELY sweet and overpowered the saltiness of the bacon. I was a little disappointed but my aunt and cousin both thoroughly enjoyed theirs.

Glazed Doughnut
The Glazed Doughnut is a staple of all doughnut shops. We figured this would be a great way to compare the Voodoo Doughnuts to other shops. The yeast raised dough and thin layer of sweet frosting make this one of the best glazed doughnuts that I've had.

No Name
The No Name doughnut was the same yeast-raised dough as most of the doughnuts but was covered in chocolate frosting, Rice Krispies and peanut butter. This was a really well done doughnut with just the right amount of peanut butter and chocolate with a nice crunch from the Rice Krispies.

Marshall Matters
Marshall Matters was a cake doughnut covered with vanilla frosting and M&Ms. I personally didn't get to sample this doughnut but my cousin assured me that it was really good.

Portland Cream
The Portland Cream was a yeast raised doughnut filled with Bavarian cream, covered in chocolate with a couple of vanilla frosted eyes. Personally I'm not a big fan of cream filled doughnuts but this one was as good as any that I've had.

Grape Ape
The Grape Ape was one of the less conventional doughnuts on the menu. It was a yeast raised doughnut covered in grape powder and sprinkles. I enjoyed the taste of this one but it was definitely a novelty, not something that I would want to eat regularly.

Triple Chocolate Penetration
Triple Chocolate Penetration was a chocolate cake doughnut, covered in chocolate frosting with Cocoa Puffs on top. This one was actually really good and wasn't over the top like I assumed it would be with so much chocolate.

Orangutang
The Orangutang doughnut was the typical yeast raised doughnut with Tang powder and sprinkles. I thought this one would be a novelty like the Grape Ape but it was surprisingly one of my favorites of the batch. The sweet doughnut contrasted the sour punch of the tang powder to make a really good doughnut.

Chocolate Cake Doughnut
The Chocolate Cake Doughnut was another doughnut that I wanted to compare to "normal" doughnut shops. It was a cake doughnut covered in chocolate. The cake doughnut was moist and the chocolate wasn't too sweet or melted.

Overall we were very impressed with the quality of the doughnuts. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes which wasn't particularly fun. However, we did get to enjoy some of the weird characters in downtown Portland. Our custom dozen (two were repeated so there are only 10 shown) doughnuts cost $18.75 was a little expensive but as they say, "you get what you pay for."

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Danish Baker: Dannebrog, Nebraska





There's a tiny town in central Nebraska called Dannebrog. It has a small Danish bakery and on Thursday nights they make pizza. It just happens to be some of the best pizza in the world. At our family gathering we had three pizzas. One was half sauerkraut/sausage, one was meat lovers and one was supreme. On my plate I have one piece of meat lovers, half a piece of the sauerkraut and some mixed fruit to "balance" the meal a little bit. The pizza was amazing, extremely thick, well cooked with good ingredients.

Gates Barbecue: Kansas City, Missouri


Gates Barbecue is my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world! The wonderfully cooked meat plus their signature sauce combine to create the best barbecue ever. Sadly this chain is small and only lives in Kansas City so I don't get to go there very often. However, this summer on our family vacation we were able to make the all important stop. What you see here is a Burnt End on Bun with a side of Fries and a sampling of Original and Spicy sauces.

Oklahoma Joes Barbecue: Kansas City, Missouri


Everybody in Kansas City knows that they have the best barbecue in the world. However, not a lot of people outside of KC know about the barbecue there. I grew very fond of Kansas City's barbecue in the 12 years I lived there and every time I go back there are always a couple of places I have to go. Gates Barbecue is our family's number one, all time favorite. However, on this trip we tried out Oklahoma Joes because we were told it's the best barbecue in the city. This little gas station turned restaurant is actually really good. If you can't tell by the picture I had pork ribs, barbecue beef (brisket), garlic toast and a side of fries.

In-N-Out Burger: Temecula, California


My summer began with an 18 hour drive from San Diego, California to Brush Prairie, Washington. It was a long haul and wasn't particularly exciting. However, a couple hours into our drive we stopped at an In-N-Out for lunch. This little beauty inspired me to create this blog of favorite foods. Yes, it tasted just as good as it looks.