JMueller BBQ - a Comidablog outing

It was cold outside and we haven't posted in five months.  What better time to get some BBQ and eat outdoors?

I was a huge fan of the original John Mueller BBQ on Manor Rd, and it was incredibly disappointing when it closed in 2005.  In September 2011 John Mueller made his triumphant return to Austin with the arrival of JMueller BBQ on South 1st and Elizabeth.  His return did not disappoint.

I made the long trip from NW Austin with my wife to enjoy some BBQ with TRE.

The wife and I ordered 1/2 lb of moist brisket, a link of beef sausage, a pint of potato salad (the best potato salad I've ever eaten), and we got a side of chipotle cole slaw.  TRE had a side of baked squash.  Everything was great.  The moist brisket is my absolute favorite brisket in Austin.  The brisket is covered in a generous amount of coarse black pepper that John Mueller expertly smokes into a wonderful "bark".  It's exactly what you would expect from someone with John's experience and pedigree.

TRE ordered a fatty brisket sandwich that looked great then and still looks good now.  I get hungry every time I see the photo.

JMueller BBQ - The spread

JMueller BBQ - meat close up

JMueller BBQ - Better picture of the fatty part of the brisket

JMueller BBQ - brisket sandwich

It took all the mental fortitude I had to not eat what was left of our brisket when I was already full.  The three of us sat knowing a meat coma was headed our way, so we left before we passed out in the cold.  I was happy, wife was happy, and TRE was happy.

John Mueller has gotten a lot of press recently with Texas Monthly featuring him and Aaron Franklin. It is well deserved and I wish him the best of luck and hope he is smoking meat in Austin for a long time to come.

JMueller BBQ is open W-Su at 10:30AM, and like all great BBQ places, closes when they sell out of meat.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar - Austin, TX

In my last post I discussed the Austin "big burger" scene and pronounced Hopdoddy to be tops in town.  Even though Hopdoddy is very far from where I live it's good enough that I agreed to go one weekend afternoon with the wife (and I try not to go anywhere on weekend afternoons).  Hopdoddy has 11 different burgers to choose from, but I don't find any of the specialty burgers to be quite right so I always go for a "Classic burger" - Beef, Red Leaf Lettuce, White Onion, Ripe Beef Steak Tomato with mayo and mustard (taken directly from their menu).

Hopdoddy Classic Burger with pepperjack

One thing I loved about Hopdoddy right off the bat was the default inclusion of mayo and mustard on the burger, exactly like I make at home.  I knew I wouldn't be waiting another 15 minutes after I got my burger because the waitress didn't remember my side condiments.

Firstly, the Hopdoddy bun, which they make in house, is a thing of beauty.  I don't care for hamburger buns very much.  I grew up eating burgers on plain wheat bread and have always found that better than cheap white buns most places offer, or even the sickeningly sweet Sheila Parlin buns from the dreadful Phil's Icehouse.  Hopdoddy buns aren't sweet or spongy, and have the right amount of wheaty sweetness to not overpower the whole burger.  They arrive with that perfect sheen from the griddle that says "I will be tasty".

The beef is well seasoned and not so thick that the middle part of the patty is tasteless.  The tomatoes are juicy and the onions add a nice crunchy sweetness.  Luckily for people like me who hate dry foods there is plenty of extra mayo and mustard available at the table.  I'm not a potato guy, but their fries are good enough that I'll order them, and I don't always order fries.  I'm sorry, but that's my only fry criteria.

Hopdoddy Classic Burger with cheddar

My wife ordered the Classic Burger with cheddar cheese and hers was the superior burger (and the picture of hers shows better evidence of caramelization from the flat top).  This is not a problem not relegated to Hopdoddy, but to all burger places.  Ordering a burger with pepper jack is a losing bet right from the start.  No place puts on a thick enough slice of pepper jack in order to get enough of the pepper jack flavor, and unlike cheddar, jack cheese isn't salty enough to add flavor to the burger on its own.  I'll be sticking to cheddar when eating out from now on, and saving pepper jack for home.

Hopdoddy has a strange seating set up where you get in line, then are given a table number based on how many are in your party.  You have to remember the table number (which you get before you order), and then search the restaurant for the correct table (huh?).  I have not had a problem with it, but I could see that it might rub some people the wrong way.  They must have a reason behind this style of seating, but I would think there's an easier, workable method of seating.

Now that I have declared Hopdoddy Austin's best "Big Burger", I eagerly await an opening of a Hopdoddy in  NW (Arboretum) area Austin so that I can go more often.

Two more views of my pepper jack burger:
Picture 1, Picture 2

Austin "big burger" scene

The search for a good burger in Austin is never ending.  Yes, there are the always dependable old-fashioned greasy flat top burgers from Dan/Frans and Sandys, but Austin has no go-to big, tasty, juicy, and cravable burger like Chris Madrid's in San Antonio.

Austin was once home to some really great burgers at places like The G/M Steakhouse on the Drag and Mad Dog and Beans in West Campus.  Unfortunately both closed in the mid-90s before I could fully appreciate them (I ate at GM three times and Mad Dog and Beans twice).  I still miss G/M Steakhouse to this day.

Some people might point you to the perennial Austin Chronicle "Best Burger" winner Huts, but those people are dead wrong.  My burger at Hut's tasted like it was full of lighter fluid.  Clearly overrated and just plain bad food overall.  Its Austin Chronicle wins are inexplicable (unless the explanation is that people in Austin keep voting for the same old shtuff year after year).  The other burgers many would point you to are over-rated burgers at Casino El Camino.  Food Network and word of mouth built up the mystique of an unwelcoming atmosphere and rude counter help to mythical proportions.

Graphical representation of Casino El Camino's reputation

The burgers were built up just as much, but what you got was a half pound lump of tasteless meat who's only flavor was char and whatever else was on the burger (bleu cheese and buffalo sauce were popular choices).  Casino El Camino goes down as another over-hyped Austin eatery.

Here's the good news, within the last year a new restaurant has opened that, while not reaching a Chris Madrid level of food enjoyment, is pretty damn good and definitely holds the top spot for Austin.  In my next post I'll review this new(ish) place, Hopdoddy Burger Bar.

and now, here's something else that's "neverending":

Dear Sonic - Your New Commercials are Terrible

Dear Sonic:
What is going on with your commercials?  As if the car hops on skates weren't boring enough, you are now using these unfunny, lame, and just-plain dumb commercials.  I guess you are trying to go for a crazy, funny, kooky vibe on them, but it just doesn't work.  The characters are not funny and are unlikable.  I especially feel contempt for the guy in the car with the cardboard robot (a total rip-off of AWESOM-O).

I found an article saying you recently changed ad agencies after 17 years, and this is what they came up with (so this is what happened to your commercials).

You really thought those commercials were a good idea?

The people who came up with the "Pete and TJ" commercials deserve a Nobel Prize for that idea compared to what's on right now.  Long live Pete and TJ!




What do you think about the new Sonic commercials?

Dos Batos - Austin, TX

Driving around with a date trying to find food before a show at the Alamo Drafthouse I'm reminded of some praise for Dos Batos on the website that rhymes with "cow pound".  Their thing is "wood fired" tacos.  We drive into the shopping center parking lot and see a hand made sign near Conn's that says "Tacos" and has an arrow pointing to the right.  My date asks what type of food they have because she's really not in the mood for tacos having already passed up the choice of trying Torchy's for the first time.  "Uhh, I know when they opened they only had tacos, but I'm sure they have more than that now," I replied with false confidence.  Pictures and more after the break!

Bartlett's - Austin, TX

I've been wanting to eat at Bartlett's for about 14 years (it used to be Houston's).  Within the past five or six years I had read (probably on austin.food) that they have the best prime rib in Austin.  Having never had prime rib, but always wanting to try it Bartlett's was a logical choice for my wishlist.  We happened to go, without even thinking about it, the Saturday before Valentine's Day.  The restaurant was very crowded and despite a reservation I made online we weren't seated until about 20 minutes after our scheduled time.  The one plus to our timing was that we were able to order from the prix-fixe menu.  We both ordered the prime rib.

The meal started with a salad.  This may in fact be the best restaurant salad I've eaten.  It had lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, bacon, eggs, and a very tasty house dressing.  The lettuce and carrots were fresh and crisp, and the tomatoes were flavorful and juicy.  I would go back to just eat this salad as a meal.  I ordered the prime rib medium rare, and once again I fell victim to my hunger and began eating before I took a picture.

The plate came with a baked potato, with butter, bacon, sour cream, and chives (loaded) as well as a cup of au jus for dipping.  I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to expect when I ordered prime rib, but what arrived was excellent.  It was fattier than I expected it to be, but of course that only made it taste better.  Simply seasoned with salt and pepper, it didn't need anything else.  The prime rib was a welcome change from regular steaks and I look forward to ordering it again.

We don't eat a lot of desserts.  Firstly I don't really like sweets and secondly, desserts aren't very healthy.  Because we ordered from the prix-fixe menu we had dessert.

As desserts go I'm sure this was good, but  just can't get excited about sweet stuff.  This was a brownie with nuts and caramel with ice cream on top.  I would have rather had another cut of prime rib.

Bartlett's was a great choice and had terrific food.  On a non-food note, our waiter did a good job of making sure other servers were taking care of us when he was dealing with another table of his that was difficult.  I'm looking forward to trying more of their menu.

Cherry Creek Catfish - Lenten (and year round) favorites

It was a Friday during Lent and I was craving crunchy fried fish.  I've never been able to quite find a fried catfish that I really like in Austin, but Cherry Creek Catfish does a decent job so we took a trip South to satisfy my crunchy catfish craving.  Honestly the best thing on their menu is their chicken fried chicken which sadly was not going to be an option this Friday night.

I ordered the Regular Catfish Dinner:  Five catfish fillets, French fries, cole slaw, beans, and hushpuppies.  Because of a mix-up when my order first came out I ended up with six pieces of catfish.

Regular catfish dinner (French fries not pictured)

This was the best catfish I've had from Cherry Creek.  The pieces were large, and the coating was very light, crunchy, and not greasy at all.  My previous complaint about the catfish was that it was always heavy and greasy so this was a welcome change.  Also for the first time the beans had flavor and did not seem like an afterthought.  It was a very satisfying meal and they have proved to me that they are the place to go for fried catfish in Austin.

One note, sides of tarter sauce are apparently very expensive.

$75!!!

CNN Grill - Part 2: Max's Wine Dive

Despite my better judgement I returned to downtown on the last Saturday of SXSW.  After taking the MetroRail and walking to a free show, we found ourselves hungry and tired.  With Thursday's memories of the CNN Grill fresh on our minds we headed back to the Convention Center.  I'll admit I was terrified it would take too long and we would miss the last train back, but the pull of Anderson Cooper 360 quesadillas (you know, because they're round), Piers Morgan fish and chips, Jane Velez-Mitchell nachos, and the Larry King corned beef sandwich was too much to resist.  What did we see as we rounded the corner?

Max's Wine Dive was back.  This article from the Austin Chronicle explains the CNN Grill/Max's switch.

That was fine with me as I had been wanting to eat at Max's for some time.  I just didn't want to go there tired and wearing an Evil Dead shirt.  Max's is known for their fried chicken so that was my clear choice for dinner.

It was an excellent meal, and I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture before we destroyed the plate.  The plate came with three pieces of chicken (breast, thigh, leg), mashed potatoes, collard greens, Texas toast, and a serving of honey.  The coating was outstanding.  It had a very homemade crunch and consistency.  It was like fried chicken you might get at a church picnic.  Even the breast meat was very juicy and it wasn't in a greasy way.  The toast was crunchy, buttery, and all around awesome.  The honey was a nice touch for dipping the chicken.

Drumstick dipped in honey and eaten

The potatoes and greens were really nothing special, and while the chicken was very good, like the potatoes it could have used more salt.  It was a very good meal and a nice enough place to take a date or go be fancy with your friends, but not very economical if you want to feed your family fried chicken.  I would still recommend Bill Miller for that.  I hope to make it back there when I'm not tired and worn out and actually have some wine/drinks with it.

Their fried chicken meal was enough to feed both my wife and me.  I wanted to ask the waitress if people routinely order one dinner for each person, and assure her that we aren't cheap, we just can't eat that much.


Video of the Max's Wine Dive to CNN Grill switch.

CNN Grill - Part 1

Prior to this past week I had never attended anything at SXSW.  However one day last week I was wandering around downtown Austin with my girlfriend in a haze of Coors Light and Lone Star when we stumbled on the CNN SXSW Grill in place of Max's Wine Dive.  We were pretty impressed.  The building had a large, rotating, and seemingly permanent sign.  I thought Austin had really arrived when major news organizations are opening up restaurants in the middle of downtown.  Max's had a good run, but you can't stop the Nancy Grace, you can only hope to contain her (incidentally Nancy is now another person who insists on dressing like Han Solo).

Not really wanting to brave the crowds who were surely inside taking pictures with Bernard Shaw and Wolf Blitzer cardboard cutouts, we headed across the street to a soft drink sponsored party zone knowing we would be back to the CNN Grill on another day.

To be continued.

Reale's - Austin, TX - August 28, 2010

Unfortunately for Italian food in Austin, the dreadful Romeo's and the terminally disappointing Mandola's get a lot of ink.  After that all that is left are chains (Maggiano's has been reviewed on this site).  A restaurant that doesn't get as much hype as it should is Reale's, which is absolutely the best red-sauce Italian restaurant in Austin.  It is go-to comfort food for my wife and me.  When I first moved to Austin I couldn't find decent Italian food similar to the great red sauce Italian restaurants found in San Antonio 20 years ago (Caparelli's comes to mind).  Then I went to Reale's and my search was over.

The first time I had manicotti I was a child on a family vacation and the manicotti was made by my cousin.  I was hooked.  What could be better than enchiladas?  How about Italian enchiladas?  That's how I viewed them as a kid and how I continue to describe them today.

Our meals at Reale's start with an appetizer, bruchetta - basil, olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, and tomatoes on top of toasted French Bread.  It's wonderful, full of garlic and basil flavors that meld with the mozzarella.  I've managed to copy the Reale's version (an upcoming post) and am very pleased with the results.

Entrees are followed by a salad with the house dressing.  The dressing has a nice vinegary bite that, paired with the bread sticks, could be a meal all themselves.

The manicotti is one of my top ten meals.  Thin and light manicotti tubes are filled with a tasty Béchamel that isn't overly creamy and is seasoned well.  Reale's marinara sauce is full of garlic and wine flavor (I still haven't been able to duplicate the sauce), and it is perfect on top of the manicotti.  The flavor is complimentary to the filling and is also great on it's own.  I always finish up the sauce on my plate with a bread stick.

The Reale's waitstaff is always on the ball and they help make the dining experience even better.  We've been eating there for seven years and most of the servers I have seen there for all seven.  The restaurant is family owned and they do make patrons feel welcome.  Highly recommended.

Torcy's Green Chile Queso

Torchy's tacos are known for their creatively named tacos (The Dirty Sanchez [don't google that], Mr. Pink, Trailer Park), high quality ingredients and the great flavor combinations. This however, is not a review of their tacos, but of their delicious Green Chile Queso.

this is a terrible photo.

The queso is filled with green chiles and is topped with a hearty amount of queso fresco, cilantro, quacamole and Torcy's Diablo sauce (a habanero chile sauce which is now being bottled and sold). It is served with freshly made chips that are lightly salted which is great because this queso can have the tendency to be a little salty. It doesn't matter: this queso is delicious and addictive.

Lick It Bite It or Both

The recent emergence of cupcakes as the “it” dessert (macarons are making a move) has spurred the opening of many new cupcake bakeries in Austin. Lick It Bite It or Both (yes, that is actually the name) is one of these newly opened cupcake shops in north Austin. They, like Gypsy Rose Lee, have a gimmick – they also serve homemade ice cream.

I ventured in with two equally sweets loving friends to give this place a shot. We ordered three cupcakes – Vanilla, Mimosa and Red Velvet.

The icing on the vanilla cupcake was delicious – sweet, great texture and a beautiful shade of blue. Sadly, the cupcake itself managed to have a mealy, yet overly buttery texture – the flavor was there, but something was definitely off. The mimosa cupcake (citrus flavored cupcake with a champagne icing) was better than the vanilla – it even had glitter (or Disco Dust as it was called on Top Chef: Just Desserts) on the top which was a nice touch. The most disappointing of the three was the red velvet. The cupcake tasted bland and the icing could have used not only a stronger cream cheese flavor but a heartier dollop of icing on top to even out the dryness of the cupcake.

I am actually quite worried to post this review. The owner has a history of posting responses to negative reviews on Yelp (the delete, edit, repost, delete, edit and repost again until he comes up with a response that he is satisfied with) but I’m here to give my honest opinion.

I do think this shop has its share of promises. The samples of ice cream were delicious – especially the cake batter and coconut flavors. The owner, who was working the counter that day, was very nice in person (online might be a different story) and customer service really makes a difference in my book. I’ll also say that it is a relatively new place and they may still be working on perfecting their cupcake recipes. In the meantime I’ll stick with Betty Crocker. (Me skipping out is actually a good thing -the owner donates the cupcakes at the end of the day to Ronald McDonald charities around Austin!)

Cafe Java on Metric - Austin, TX, August 7, 2010

I worked and lived near the Cafe Java on Metric for five years before eating there.  I had not heard anything bad about it, but since I don't drink coffee, there wasn't a lot of appeal there for me.  Someone eventually dragged me there in 2007 and it was a close-to-home breakfast revelation.

Cafe Java has become the go-to place for weekend breakfast, replacing previous favorite Jim's.  While Polvo's breakfast tacos (their only worthwhile menu item) and Juan In a Million's Con Queso Breakfast are still all time favorites, the distance, time, and trouble to get there make them special occasion breakfasts.  Unlike Polvo's however, the service is always prompt and friendly, and unlike Juan In a Million, wait times are reasonable and the restaurant is not full of hungover students and hipsters.  It is mostly full of people who were formerly hungover students and hipsters. 

We try to eat breakfast at home as it is one of the easiest and cheaper meals to make ourselves, and it never disappoints.  Cafe Java breakfast never disappoints either.  Their breakfast sausage and biscuits are amazingly tasty.  I don't even care if the sausage might be basic Sysco brand, it's very flavorful and has the perfect blend of breakfast sausage type spices.  The biscuits are very tasty, and split in half with the right amount of butter from being toasted on the griddle.  The best way to sample both of these delights are with the Hill Country Breakfast that is normally available on weekends.

Hill Country Breakfast has two eggs, two sausage patties, hash browns, two biscuits, and gravy.  I ask for no gravy and a small side of queso.  I'm not a big potato eater and I was getting tired of ketchup on the hash browns.  The queso has been a welcome addition.



I forgo the gravy as I use one biscuit to eat the eggs and sausage and the second biscuit purely as a dessert biscuit.  Cafe Java has individual sized Kraft jellies and jams that contain no high fructose corn syrup.  I can't find sausage this good in the store and we haven't been able to duplicate the biscuit at home.  On this particular day the only to-go container I needed was my stomach.

Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Domain – Austin, TX, August 26, 2010

I’m not a chain snob. Many food forums I read, including one that rhymes with “cow pound” have posts from people who seem to feel chains are beneath them, or incapable of serving good food. Of course, these same people will recommend dreck like Maudie’s, Kerbey Lane, Jorge’s, and Enchiladas y Más. If a chain serves food I like, and enjoy, I’m not ashamed of it, and you shouldn’t be either.

I went to Maggiano’s Little Italy for lunch. It’s a very nice looking restaurant in the Domain right next to Dillards. The interior was much bigger than I thought it would be and it looks like the type of dining room you would find in an expensive hotel. The bar area had a lot of dark word and dim lighting and looked really appealing. The kind of place Don Draper and Roger Sterling would have after another hard day of lying on their office couches “working”.


Our waiter was far too interested in pushing the Maggiano’s feel, “we’re a scratch kitchen which means everything is made from scratch…If you have food allergies, let us know and the chef will come out and talk to you.” We get it, this isn’t Olive Garden. Guess I won’t be bringing my Italian uncle to come eat here.

They have a deal where you buy one bowl of pasta and you get another to go (it doesn’t have to be the same dish) for about $13. My lunch dish was eggplant parmesan, my favorite variety of parmesan. My to-go dish was spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve recently (in the past year) become a fan of meatballs after considering them kids’ food. The food came out and it looked fine. I was hungry so I cut my eggplant before I took a picture. That won’t be the last time that happens.

The eggplant was flavorful, and the pasta was cooked well. Unfortunately the sauce suffered from chain style preparation. Not wanting to offend anyone with strong garlic, onion, or wine they just decide to walk behind the Morton Salt girl with their saucepan. There were no delicate or subtle flavors in the sauce like at North, and no strong old style red sauce comfort, just harsh tomato and salt. It just had no “love” or care in it, and I was left underwhelmed. While not overpriced for two meals, it would have been for one. Johnny Carino’s is a better deal with better food for chain Italian. Next time I’ll skip lunch and head straight for the bar.

Chris Madrid's - San Antonio, TX, August 14, 2010

Chris Madrid’s is all that is right with San Antonio food. Visiting SA without hitting Chris Madrid's or Henry's Puffy Tacos can seem like a waste. Unfortunately I’m now past the age of being able to eat a “Macho”, and can only eat a regular sized burger if I want to be able to stay out of the hospital.

The bun comes out shimmering with goodness from the grill. It sits on top of a wonderfully seasoned patty covered in melted cheddar cheese that has been adorned with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions, pickles, and yellow mustard. Of course like most food in SA, vegetables are ancillary to the discussion. I’ve tried many times at home to duplicate the seasonings of the patty, but have never come close to getting the mix right.

I was particularly gluttonous on this trip. My aunt ordered nachos for our table of seven diners. Halfway through my Regular Cheddar Cheezy I noticed that no one had touched the nachos so I proceeded to stuff the nacho quarters into what was left of my burger creating my own Tostada Burger. My idea was inspired and terrible at the same time. Satisfied with my expanding waistline and constricting arteries I made the drive back home knowing that no burger in Austin can come even close to Chris Madrid’s.  Then again, I've never had any burger better than Chris Madrid's.

Weekend of Food - August

So about once a month, I like to have me a Weekend of Food -- all out gluttonizing, indulging to the point of inducing food comas, usually trying some place new. It makes me happy and gives me something to live for during the rest of the month.

In early August, I took a Friday off from work along with the S.O. and went out for brunch. I'm not normally a brunch person. I have all sorts of issues over breakfast foods being eaten at non-a.m. hours of the day. But I sucked it up to try Stax, the new spot in the Little Italy area. The place was promising right from the start. They had Intelligentsia coffee, their own special brew made just for them by the company (Chicago's best coffee). AND the waitstaff walked around in shirts like this:

I like having things to read.

I couldn't make up my mind between the Banana Cakes and the Banana French Toast (stuffed with dulce de leche). Hey, I like banana. But with a name like Stax, how could I not order the pancakes, right? My banana cakes came with a macadamia nut crumble and were soooo good.

Moist, the perfect density. Real maple syrup at the table, not that fake crap you get at some places. A sprinkling of powdered sugar. And the macadamia nuts added this perfect crunch that I wouldn't have thought necessary. On a scale of "how full of saliva was my mouth as I looked at that plate?" -- it was a 4 out of 5.

On to lunch/dinner. If you're a fan of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, you might have seen the episode where Guy Fieri visits Cemitas Puebla, this hole in the wall joint in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood serving up unique Mexican tortas that you can only find in Puebla, Mexico. If you've never seen it, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYeeUUpPkks&feature=player_embedded

Holes in the wall are always fun. You never know what you're gonna get, just like Forrest's momma said. When the cashier saw that me and my plus one were taking too long to read the menu, she asked, "Have you been here before?" "No," we said, smiling. She seemed annoyed as she called out to the owner, a man I instantly wanted to call Welito. He led us to a table and brought over a cemita (sesame seed bread) and what looked to me to be a flour tortilla gone wrong. He told us we weren't there to have tacos or quesadillas. We were only to have the place's specialty: the cemitas and the tacos arabe. After he chastised Ray for not speaking Spanish, he gave us his dissertation on the cemita. The gist is this: It's made in Puebla. It's awesome. You gotta try it.

I ordered the cemita with carne enchilada. It's a pork chop marinated in chile guajillo slapped between two pieces of cemita bread slathered in avocado, topped with adobo chipotle peppers and doused with an excessive spread of Oaxacan cheese.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed that sandwich. I wound up taking out some of the cheese. It was too much even for me, who snacks on cheese the way other people snack on nuts, but Oaxacan cheese is pretty bland. The marinade and the chipotle peppers really gave the sandwich a great flavor. Ray insists it was the best sandwich ever. I give it an A for avocado.

The chalupas we had, which I ordered just for the hell of it, were sad. I could make those at home. Green sauce and red sauce over a tortilla with cheese? Please. The tortilla was soggy, too. This calls for a "PUES NO," (the Spanish equivalent of 'oh, hell no').

The next day I was in the mood for some cow on a bun. Chicago magazine recently did an issue that featured the "best burger" in the city. I've been trying to hit up the spots featured in that issue. I've knocked Hop Haus and DMK off the list, and since Kuma is impossible to get into, I went for Epic Burger, where the focus is on all-natural ingredients and eco-friendly packaging. Holy cow, that was an amazing burger. They offered the fried egg as an optional topping to the burger, but I'm still not down with that idea. Why's it so popular? I just don't get it. Probably goes back to my breakfast foods issues. I went the plain route: all natural epic burger with epic sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickle with fresh cut fries seasoned only with sea salt.

We have a winner for best burger in Chicago...Epic, by far.

That night we tried this new brewery called Revolution Brewing. Tasty, tasty beer. My favorite was one called the Workingman Mild with hints of toffee and caramel. Man, I love toffee. But what I couldn't get enough of was the bacon popcorn. THAT should be what people snack on instead of nuts.

Yep, that's shaved parmesan up on top. Man, I drooled over that thing. Whoever invented that is a GENIUS.

So, there you have it. My August weekend of food. You should join me for my next one!!