Friday, December 11, 2009

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Pizza a' Fetta
http://pizza-a-fetta.com/
231 N. Hemlock Cannon Beach Oregon, 97110(503) 436-0333

Excellent pies served here. You can buy the pizza by-the-slice during lunch hours, the pieces are huge and delicious. Definitely an 8 on the 'i hate myself after eating this' scale. Worth it.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Minneapolis, MN

The Duplex
http://duplexmpls.com/Page_1.html
2516 hennipen ave south
minneapolis, mn 55405

The Duplex is a converted house on a major street with excellent foot traffic and people watching. Sit on the porch if you can.....assuming its not 10 below zero. The beer selection here is top notch, the staff is friendly and usually has a two significant digit hottie coefficient(this means the ladies are good looking for any non-engineer readers). I suggest the Duplex Burger, they have excellent house made fries that come with it and they make their own ketchup. The burger itself is filling and comes with applewood smoked bacon. Its not so big that you leave feeling utterly ashamed of yourself.....maybe a 7 on the "Sweet Jesus I shouldn't have eaten all of that" scale.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Grand Rapids, MN

The Sawmill
2301 pokegama avenue
Grand Rapids, MN

The Sawmill looks pretty chincy from outside (it has a giant saw on the billboard), but don't let this fool you....excellent steak. The Black Angus ribeye is fantastic, if you follow it up with the home made strawberry shortcake you can't go wrong. The biscuits they give you prior to dinner are absolutely amazing.

Zorbaz
32946 Crystal Springs Rd
Grand Rapids, MN

If you see a Zorbaz just stop. The pizza is excellent and usually they are located on or across from a lake so the view is great. They give away a muscle car every year and the locals are always present.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

If for some reason you should find yourself in Cedar Rapids first you should ask yourself who you have recently pissed off, second you should visit 'The flying Wienie'.

The Flying Wienie
http://www.theflyingwienie.com/
103 8th Ave.SWCedar Rapids, IA 52404

The Flying Wienie is a definite hole in the wall dive joint, if you dig the aero scene this is the place for you....well if you also like downhome excellent food this may also be your place. If you go at lunch time expect a line out the front door, all of the locals hit this place early but its worth the wait. I had the double play which is two chicago style dogs with fries.....heart attack on a bun?....maybe, delicious.....definitely. The place has character, its a must hit next time I'm in town.

If the wife has you down I can also suggest (but of course have never been) the Lumber Yard II (where real men go to get wood). Its a.....shall we say all nude revenue and definitely worth a look. Will they give you a non-itemized receipt from American Express? I'm not sure, worth a shot though. Nothing says company man like a lapdance on the corporate card.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Lake Tahoe/Minden Nevada

The Old Post Office

-5245 N. Lake Blvd, Carnelian Bay, CA


- This place is on the north side of Lake Tahoe, maybe a half hour drive from Carson City, NV. The drive alone is one of the best things about this place, the road curves around the Lake Tahoe rim and the beauty is unrivaled.


- Go for breakfast, the chicks are cute and the coffee is good. Get the italian sausage links and anything on the menu. I have never had anything bad here and everytime I'm within an hour of Tahoe I stop by.


- The place is a local hangout for ski bums and the occasional richy rich who feels like slummin. It has great character and the food is top notch, drive out here and you will not be disappointed. Plus rich old ladies come in here every now and then ( I call them my 'retirement plan' ).



Russell's Bakery: Minden, NV

- No address for this place, its in the small strip mall across from Arby's near the Carson Vally Inn.

- Go for breakfast, come hungry or you're just wasting time. Get the sausage-egg-n-cheese breakfast sandwich on jalapeno bread.....just get one, its all you need. The sausage patty is the size of a burger and puts anything from McD's to shame. Seriously, come hungry.

- May want to schedule a post sandwich angioplasty.


Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Cattleman's Cafe/Steakhouse
- http://www.cattlemensrestaurant.com/
1309 S. Agnew, Oklahoma City, OK

- This is an old school steakhouse, don't bother with your suitcoat and slacks. Just throw on your fat pants and coat check your self respect at the door.
- I had the Cattleman's Strip, they don't give the size but I'm guessing at least 16 ounces and it was excellent. Bun's are served with the meal, these were really good as well.
- If you're really hungry get the onion rings and have a salad with their house dressing (its garlic/parmesean greatness) for an appetizer.
- Stone Mountain Cabernet goes well with the steak and won't knock the corporate card into a spending induced coma.
- For dessert I recommend the chocolate pie, it tastes like silk and is light as air. They gave us a free slice along with a couple pieces of chocolate cake and ice cream (its our dirty Irish good looks that made this happen eh dad? She was powerless in our prescense).

Final score: cholestoral = 289 self respect= zero
- well played Cattleman's Cafe.......well played.

Salt Lake City, UT

The Red Iguana
- Outwardly....I'm just going to say the place looks a little 'suspect' if you will. Its small, kind of loud and always packed.
- Be sure to go before 7 pm if you want to be seated in a timely fashion (less than ten minutes). In the winter you may have to stand outside if you don't go early enough because there's no bar and the waiting area is non existent.
- You're going to say I'm crazy but they have the best seafood platter I've ever had in my life. I lived in Houston for awhile and I'm going to say the Iguana was at least an arm's length ahead of anything I've had there.
- 736 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 check out www.rediguana.com

Wasatch Pizza
- Small homegrown pizza joint in the downtown area. Cool place, excellent pizza. They make some weird stuff if you like that kind of garbage on your pie (I'm a purist, thus the Widowmaker was a great option for me). Good beer selection here as well.
- If you're in the mood for pizza go here, locals come down and its a lot better than Papa John's or Pizza Hut.
- http://www.wasatchpizza.com, they have a couple locations in the Salt Lake area.
- 820 East 400 St South

Ada, Oklahoma

Oscar's Chinese Restaurant
618 N Mississippi Ave, Ada, OK, 74820

- The thing about this place is that the outward appearance would lead you to expect not only bad food but perhaps a health code violation or twenty in progress. I was tempted to ask for a hepatitis vaccination as an appetizer instead of the hot and sour soup (which was amazing).

- Don't let the dark, somewhat scary interior and dingy exterior fool you..this place is excellent. Get the special for lunch, they give you three or four different servings which gives you some variety. No buffet here, but the amount of food they give is pretty great.


Lucky 7 Cafe

- I can't even get an address for this place, if you're working out at the OG&E power plant near Ada be sure to hit this place up.
- They hand bread their chicken fried steak and serve it with real mashed potatoes and gravy that will make your arteries beg for mercy.
- Try the catfish if you don't like chicken fried steak (what kind of sick bastard doesn't like chicken fried steak?).
- This place will give you ample opportunity to observe the yocal's in their nature habitat. Last Thursday I observed a gentleman with what appeared to be cow feces (it may have been fake cow crap) covering the better part of his entire shoulder. Oh, and the feeble A/C unit keeps the place just a hair under sweltering.
-All of this said, I ate here three times in two weeks...it's frickin great.


Sante Fe
- Across the street from the Holiday Inn, north Ada.
- Great steak here for a chain restaurant. Get the queso dip starter and enjoy the complimentary whole shell peanuts which are served with every meal.
- I recommend the NY Strip, it has just the right taste and price to beat the corporate card senseless and still satisfies the taste buds.


Papa Giorgios Italian
- Couple blocks west of the Holiday Inn.
- Get the meat pizza (thin crust), they fire it in a special oven and load it up with cheese and enough meat to induce a cardiac 'event'. Pure vegan nightmare.
- Day fresh homemade bread is served with every meal and is excellent.

Cinemark
- Across the street from the Holiday Inn, they're nice enough not to look at you funny when you take in a movie by yourself...well at least not when you're looking
- I recommend the movie popcorn, if you put enough Synthetic Butter (SynButter) on it the calorie intake equals a 28 ounce steak or roughly a baker's dozen choco choco donuts.

-Wash it down with a diet coke, nothing like 2200 calories worth of popcorn washed down with a gallon of DIET coke...because that diet cola will make the difference.

Side Note: SynButter can also be used as a substitute for turbine oil if you find yourself in a pinch.


Prairie Kitchen
- On Richardson Loop, 1 mile west of the Holiday Inn.
- Excellent breakfasts here, the pit ham and eggs were great. They'll give you a 'to go' coffee which is just the right size to make it from here to the OG&E plant.


Things to do in Ada, Oklahoma
- Think of ways to leave ada oklahoma as fast as you can.