Chili 6-Way

September 2011:  While on one of our regular drives from Ohio to Florida, we decided to take a small detour while driving through Cincinnati and check out Blue Ash Chili.  This place is pretty straightforward.  They sell Cincinnati-style chili, and they put it on all kinds of stuff.  (Cincinnati-style is generally spiced with cinnamon.)  Upon entering, we were greeted, but it was unclear what to do from there.  The place was completely crowded, and they didn’t tell you what to do.  After a few minutes of standing there, they eventually told us to seat ourselves.  The only available spot was a booth for 4, so we crammed in there (even though there were 5 of us).

Double Decker Corned Beef

I specifically came for the chili.  Chili is served many ways, including: plain, with cheese, 3 way (over spaghetti with cheese), 4-way (add beans or onions), 5-way (add beans AND onions), or 6-way (add fried jalapeno caps).  Of course, I’m all about fried jalapeno caps, so I went for the 6-way.  I also ordered a coney dog.  Melly went crazy and decided to order a double decker corned beef sandwich. (Good thing she did though.  It was awesome.)  The food arrived quickly, and the plates filled our tiny table.  The coney dog was typical style for the area.  Small hot dog, topped with chili and a massive pile of cheese.  The chili 6-way was layered with all the goodness mentioned above, and it was absolutely delicious.  The chili had an excellent flavor, and had just the right amount of spice to not be overpowering.  The jalapeno caps were also quite delicious, so I can’t recommend them enough.  One surprise was the quality and size of Mel’s corned beef sandwich.  It was large, stacked high, and very premium corned beef, especially for the low cost.  (I think it was like $6.75 or something.)   I’ve been in so-called delis that didn’t have sandwiches that good.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with both the quality and quantity of the food.  The prices were also very reasonable, and I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t go back.  If you’re ever in the area, I definitely recommend that you check it out.  It’s currently top of my list for best chili spaghetti I’ve ever had.

Food:  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars (10/10)
Service:  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars (8/10)

Show:  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — Episode:  Comfort Food with Attitude (907)
Restaurant Info:  Blue Ash Chili Restaurant — 9565 Kenwood Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45242 — (513) 984-6107

Loaded Potato Chips

July 2011:  Just north of Indianapolis in a little town called Carmel is Jersey’s Cafe.  Featured recently on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, I was immediately drawn to this joint simply for the idea of a guy bringing Jersey-style food to the midwest.  New Jersey’s pretty far away, while this area is only 3.5 hours from home.  Upon entering, there are numerous signs for people to be patient.  Good food takes time, etc.  (I guess people complain about how slow things go there.)  The service still seemed pretty quick for food that supposedly takes time.  Perhaps they get backed up on busy days.  I don’t know.  In any case, the menu is LOADED with all kinds of things I wanted to try.  They had cheesesteaks in over 30 varieties, deep fried hot dogs (rippers), sandwiches galore and lots of other great looking stuff.  We decided to go with a batch of loaded potato chips, a ripper, and a few cheesesteaks.

Meatball Cheesesteak

The loaded chips arrived first.  I wasn’t expecting much, but these things were absolutely insane.  They were freshly cut chips, topped with bacon pieces, Monterrey Jack cheese, and a light drizzle of barbecue sauce.  On the side, they include a cup of their house-made buttermilk ranch sauce for dipping.  This was an awesome combination.   Everything was right about these chips.  The ranch seemed to even work well with the BBQ sauce.  I was totally surprised.

The ripper also came out with the chips.  I ordered mine plain with a side of deli mustard, just to see what all the fuss was about.  (In case you’re unaware, a ripper is a hot dog that is put in the the deep fryer just long enough that the skin begins to rip open on the sides, creating a ripped look.)  The hot dog was a little crispy, and tasted exactly how I wanted it to.  (I could have used to be a little larger, but it was still delicious.)

Firehouse Cheesesteak

Finally, our cheesesteaks arrived.  I ordered a Firehouse one, complete with a billion kinds of habanero, jalapeno banana peppers, hot sauce, and pepper jack cheese.  It was tasty, but there comes to be a point where too much spicy just prevents you from tasting the actual food.  (I did burn my mouth, however but mostly because of the actual temperature of the food, not the spiciness.)  Mel ordered a cheesesteak that had marinara sauce and meatballs on it.  This was an incredibly wacky combination, but ultimately really good.  Putting meatballs on a cheesesteak sandwich?  Genius.  My only gripe was that my sandwich was considerably smaller that Mel’s.  (As you can see from the picture, her sandwich was much more “loaded” than mine was.)  Everything we ordered was pretty delicious, and the service was great.  Overall, the prices were very reasonable at Jersey’s, and if I were ever in the area, I’d definitely stop again.  I’d recommend it to anyone.

Food:  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars (9/10)
Service:  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars (10/10)

Show:  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — Episode:  Fully Loaded (1110)
Restaurant Info:  Jersey’s Café — 13710 North Meridian Street, Carmel, IN 46032 — (317) 846-7760

Click to Enlarge

June 2011:  I was doing a lot of traveling during the summer, so I decided to grab a quick oatmeal for breakfast at McDonald’s on my way to work in the morning.  The first time I ordered this, I was in a hotel in Vegas and didn’t have a camera with me, so I didn’t get a photo.  Too bad.  As bad as this one looks, the first one I got was even worse.  There was about an inch of water on top, and it was almost barely cooked.

As you can see, the oatmeal you get looks nothing like the pictures in their advertising.  Does it taste OK?  Sure, I guess.  It looks more like the kind of gruel you seen in an orphanage in a bad movie.  I just wish they’d do something to at least pretend that their products look something like the advertising.  Does anyone care about presentation anymore?  I have to admit, at $2, it was easy for me to get one several more times on my travels over the summer, but that was mostly because McDonald’s was on the right side of the road on the way to work in this small town I was heading through.  I haven’t been back since my weekly trips have ended.

Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict

May 2011:  Vegas has a few locations for Hash  House A Go Go now, and we sure had trouble finding this one.  The address led us straight to the Imperial Palace casino, but was pretty unclear from there.  There were signs that indicated that it was upstairs inside the casino, but it wasn’t terribly straightforward where to go.  Basically, if you want to find it, look for the center escalator and save yourself time searching.  Treasure hunt aside, we finally made it upstairs and were seated.  The place was filled with hipster waiter types, all of whom made you feel like you weren’t cool enough to be there.  They were right.

I ordered the Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict as Adam made it look super duper good on Man v. Food.  I also ordered a glass of tangerine juice.  (This glass of juice was $6!)  Mel ordered some sort of French Toast with bananas and stuff on it.  I think it had some sort of wacky name like a train wreck or brick yard… I can’t remember.  It was French Toast.  Nothing fancy.  When the food arrived, it had a nice presentation.  The chicken was nicely cooked, but when it got right down to it, there was just too much junk piled on the plate with it.  Everything mashed together in a confusing starchy blob of food.  Between the thick bread and pile of potatoes on the bottom, it was just too much boring stuff to eat around (and I love bread and potatoes).  That sauce on top?  Not Hollandaise sauce.  It was some sort of hippy chipotle crap.  It was ok, but without Hollandaise, it’s just not Eggs Benedict.  Kind of a key ingredient.  Freakin stoner hippies…  Don’t get confused though.  The chicken was still rock solid, and the bacon/cheese toppings were definitely alright in my book.  It was just the other stuff that kind of ruined it for me.  Mel said that her French Toast had some sort of grilled banana on it that was really good.  Other than that, it was nothing to write home about (except for this writing).  The menu had a pretty wide selection of other dishes though, so maybe some of the other stuff is better.

French Toast

The service wasn’t bad, but it was kind of slow.  That’s to be expected for a place that’s putting this many ingredients in your food though.  Still, it wasn’t terribly great after the food arrived either.  Mel asked for syrup for her French Toast, and the waiter acted like she had three heads.  (Yeah, we’d like a little syrup on these giant loaves of French Toast…) Hash House was expensive, even for Vegas.  I think my breakfast (for one person) was round $28 including tax and tip.   It was tasty, but not $28 tasty.  I could have eaten 7 breakfasts down the street at the cantina, and been just as full.  Would I go back?  Probably not.  While “twisted farm food” sounds like a good idea (and it is in some cases), it was just too damn expensive for a breakfast meal.  Would I have liked this better if I had come back for dinner?  Maybe.  Still, I just think I’m not cool enough to appreciate a place like this.

Food:  Rating: 6 out of 10 stars (6/10)
Service:  Rating: 6 out of 10 stars (6/10)

Show:  Man v Food — Episode:  Las Vegas (202)
Restaurant Info: Hash House A Go Go — 6800 W. Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89146 — (702) 804-4646

Mad Greek Gyro

May 2011:  While in Vegas, we drove around an hour across the border of California, to a small town called Baker.  This is the home of the Mad Greek.  This was on the first episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, so they discovered it long before the restaurants started feature more and more outrageous foods.  It was a a decent place, with typical Greek fare.  They had gyros, falafel, spinach pie, souvlaki, kebabs, etc.  They also had a nice selection of desserts, many of which I ate.  This is a counter service restaurant where they bring the order to the table.  (You place the order at a counter, and they give you a number to stick on the table.  When the order comes up, they bring it to you.)  There’s not much to say here.  The food was decent, but nothing magical.  I’ve eaten a lot of gyros in my day, and this one was strictly average.  The rice tasted very funny though.  It wasn’t inedible, but it had a quality I couldn’t place.  As we were eating, I asked “Wet dog?  Is that it?”  My wife agreed.  Wet dog was definitely the flavor of the rice.

In spite of the funny tasting rice, the gyro was large and decent, and the desserts were calling my name, so I picked up a few on the way out.  I can’t remember what they were all called, but every one of them was pretty tasty.  There was pistachio baklava, some Greek yogurt with nuts and granola, some doughy honey covered stuff, and best of all the almond cookies.  I actually wish I had eaten the almond cookie first.  If I had tasted it before leaving, I would have probably bought several more.  Overall, it was a decent stop if you’re passing through town, but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to drive there again.

Food:  Rating: 7 out of 10 stars 7/10)

Show:  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — Episode: Classics (101)
Restaurant Info:  The Mad Greek — 72112 Baker Blvd, Baker, CA 92309 — (760) 733-4354

Kobe Meatloaf Sandwich

May 2011:  Many years ago, Rachael Ray featured the 24-7 Cafe on $40-a-Day.  I think she only spent a few bucks, and had some garlic bread and wings.  Since we were in the area, we decided to check it out.  Immediately upon entering, we noticed something in The Palms Casino that wasn’t present in most of the other casinos we had visited that week.  The place smelled strongly of cigarette smoke.  Maybe everyplace else had a better ventilation system.  Maybe The Palms sold cigarettes at a huge discount.  I don’t know, but it was off-putting immediately.  When we were seated, the smell was less strong, but you could still smell it, even though there was no smoking directly in the cafe.

Buffalo Wings

I ordered a plate of the wings as featured on the show and a Kobe Meatloaf sandwich.  Mel ordered some kind of Turkey & Pastrami Melt.  The wings arrived, and they were pretty standard fare.  They were coated heavily in sauce, which is fine by me.  There wasn’t anything unique about them, but they were food.  When the sandwiches arrived, I was excited as Kobe beef is something that’s hard to find.  I took my first bite and was immediately disappointed.  I’m not sure what seasonings they used in this meatloaf, but they weren’t good.  They took a fine piece of beef, and absolutely destroyed the natural flavor with this confusing and overpowering series of spices. It was also pretty mushy for meatloaf.  They didn’t have the mix right.  It just wasn’t good.  The fries were slightly coated, and were also not enjoyable.  Although I was pretty hungry, I ended up not finishing either of the things on my plate.

Turkey & Pastrami Melt

Mel’s sandwich was OK.  It wasn’t bad tasting or anything, but it wasn’t exactly full of flavor either.  (At least her sandwich was good enough that she could finish it.)  The service was pretty slow at this place, which was odd considering how empty it was.  Now I know why it was empty.  The food was mostly bad (except maybe the wings, which are hard to mess up).  After waiting for the waitress to eventually bring our bill, we finally paid and left.  I had to get right back to my hotel and shower to wash the stench of stale cigarette smoke off of me.  That, and I needed to go find an good meal somewhere else.

Food:  Rating: 3 out of 10 stars (3/10)
Service:  Rating: 4 out of 10 stars (4/10)

Show:  $40-a-Day — Episode:  Las Vegas
Restaurant Info:  24-7 Cafe (The Palms) — 4321 W Flamingo Rd,  Las Vegas, NV 89103 — (702) 953-7682

Buffalo Wings

May 2011:  Mr. Lucky’s 24-7 is a restaurant that has been featured on a few Vegas specials on the Travel Channel and also on Food Network.  The main draw?  They’ve got a secret menu item for $7.77.  It’s a Steak & Shrimp special.  That’s right.  For $7.77, you get a dinner salad, shrimp, steak and mashed potatoes.  It’s a solid deal, and totally worth it.  I don’t have much to say about it other than that.  The service was excellent and the price was right.  We ordered a plate of chicken wings and the steak special.  The wings were nicely presented, tasty and there was plenty of sauce.  The dinner salad was reasonably sized.  The steaks were on the small side, but for the price, they were pretty good.  Hell, if you were that hungry, you could order two specials, have plenty of food and still spend like $15.  Try that at Outback.

$7.77 Steak & Shrimp

To be fair, the rest of the menu looked pretty pricey for the food you got, but that seemed typical for Vegas.  Would I eat there without the available special?  Probably not, but with the gambler’s special, it seemed like a great deal.  The service was quick, and it felt kind of cool to order a special that’s not on the menu.  If you’re at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Vegas, stop in at Mr. Lucky’s 24-7.  It’s one of the best deals in Vegas.

Food:  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars (8/10)
Service:  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars (10/10)

Show:  Best Thing I Ever Ate — Episode:  Bang for the Buck (402)
Restaurant Info:  Mr. Lucky’s 24-7– 4455 Paradise Road. Las Vegas, NV 89169 — (702) 693-5000

Four Kegs Stromboli

May 2011:  Featured in the second episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Four Kegs was said to be one of Guy Fieri’s favorite spots for a killer Stromboli.  They were OK.  We headed in on a weeknight and it wasn’t terribly busy, so there was no wait.  We were seated and greeted right away.  We started off with an order of deep fried macaroni and cheese and some medium chicken wings.  After waiting quite a long time, the mac & cheese bites arrived.  They looked good, but were ultimately pretty boring.  They had very little flavor.  It was almost like a boxed mac & cheese that was breaded and deep fried.  (It probably wasn’t even that deep.  These seemed like they were a pre-packaged deal they bought.)

Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese Bites

The wings arrived next, and again there was no flavor.  I assure you, the photo I’ve got here isn’t doctored.  This is actually how little sauce were on these wings.  They were cooked nice and crispy (just the way I like them).  It’s just hardly fair to call them medium Buffalo Wings if there’s no actual buffalo sauce on them.  I don’t need them to be dripping in sauce, but if I wanted plain wings, I’d have ordered them that way.

"Medium" Buffalo Wings

Finally, we ordered a large Stromboli.  The waitress asked if we wanted extra marinara for dipping.  We both said no.  After another incredibly long wait for the food, the Stromboli finally arrived, complete with a side of sauce I didn’t order.  Why do I mention that?  I didn’t find out until a day or two later when I was going through my receipts that I was actually charged extra for this sauce.  I’m not really surprised though.  The waitress was completely loopy, and was running around the section having very weird conversations with customers.  She was nice and all, just very unusual.  In any case, the Stromboli was tasty, but not killer by any means.  There weren’t exactly a lot of toppings inside, so it was mostly bread.  It was cooked well, but it just left me wanting something more.  Overall, the food here was average at best, and the service was pretty slow for how little food we were ordering.  Since it wasn’t even on the strip, it sort of seemed like a lot of work for what we really got.

Food:  Rating: 5 out of 10 stars (5/10)
Service:  Rating: 5 out of 10 stars (5/10)

Show:  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — Episode: That’s Italian (102)
Restaurant Info:  Four Kegs Sports Bar (Pub)– 276 N. Jones Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 — (702) 870-0255

Pastrami Reuben Dog

May 2011:  I actually went to Pink’s out in LA about 5 years ago, and never took pictures of the food.  This review is technically about the location in Las Vegas.  The menu is basically the same though, and the quality is still solid.  Out in LA, the line for Pink’s literally wraps around the block.  I was there pretty early on a Saturday morning, and I still had a 60 minute wait.  It was pretty insane for some hot dogs.  (The Vegas location had about a 2 minute wait.  Much better.  I actually wouldn’t go again to the LA location, as the wait was just too long.) In any case, they have a pretty extensive menu with several types of hot dog and dozens of toppings.  If you like hot dogs, you’ll find something you like here.

Chili Cheese Fries

Out in LA, I ordered a Jalapeno Dog, which is just like it sounds.  It’s a hot dog with jalapenos mixed right into the casing.  Very tasty.  I forget what everyone else got.  On my Vegas trip, I ordered a Three Dog Night and a Pastrami Reuben Dog.  The Three Dog Night is actually 3 hot dogs, covered in chili, cheese, onions and bacon, wrapped in a tortilla shell.  As you can tell from the photo, they actually crammed 5 hot dogs in my wrapper.  It was a bit much.  The dog quality was good, as was the bacon.  The cheese was just sauce, and I didn’t care much for the chili.  (It was at this point I regretted getting chili cheese fries on the side.)  The chili was extremely greasy, and had a fully canned taste.

Three Dog Night

The Pastrami Reuben Dog was delicious in every way.  It’s a normal dog covered with pastrami, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and mustard.  It just works.  Very delicious.  They also have several offerings of other famous celebrity-named creations with wacky toppings.  I love that kind of stuff.  It’s fun to try something different every time I go back to a place.  I think they also have burgers and a few other sandwich offerings.  I can’t remember.  Who goes to Pink’s for a burger?  Even though I didn’t care for the chili, I know the other dogs are tasty, and the quality is pretty high for the rest of the stuff I’ve had there.  I’ll definitely be back (provided the wait isn’t too long), and I recommend that others check it out as well.

Food:  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars (8/10)
Service:  Rating: 6 out of 10 stars (6/10) (Note:  Service in LA was slow, Vegas was excellent.)

Show:  Food Paradises — Episode: Hot Dog Paradise
Restaurant Info:  Pink’s Hot Dogs — 709 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038 — (323) 931-4223
Restaurant Info:  Pink’s Hot Dogs — 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard S, Las Vegas, NV 89109 –(702) 405-4711

Pork Chili Verde Omelet

May 2011:  Just a few miles from the Hoover Dam, is a little town called Boulder City, Nevada, home of The Coffee Cup.  Featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, The Coffee Cup is known for having some of the best Pork Chili Verde around.  We arrived, took our seats, and placed an order.  I ordered a Pork Chili Verde omelet and Mel ordered a Turkey Melt.  Both of these things looked good on the show, so we figured it was a safe bet.

Turkey Melt

The food arrived quickly.  The pork chili verde omelet was good.  There were big chunks of pork in it, and it had a decent flavor.  The hash browns were just OK.  Nothing special.  The turkey melt was good too, but nothing to write home about.  The food was reasonably priced, and the service was excellent.  Overall though, the food was pretty average in taste, so I can’t see any reason to go running back.   If you were already there for some reason, you could stop in, but  I wouldn’t make a special trip again.

Food:  Rating: 7 out of 10 stars (7/10)
Service:  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars (10/10)

Show:  Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — Episode: Breakfast (104)
Restaurant Info:  The Coffee Cup — 512 Nevada Way, Boulder City, NV 89005 — (702) 294-0517