Dave and Busters....For those who don't know about this wonderland of fun I'd say it's like Chuck -E- Cheese with beer. But, Chuck -E- Cheese serves beer. A fact that I learned a few years back when my buddy Ryan had his birthday party at the Cheese!
So here I am a few years later and I'm getting ready to celebrate another friends birthday with beer, food, and video games! Nothing says fun like drinking and then playing some first person shooter or even worse. Guitar Hero!
Best of all if you save the tickets you "win" you can buy AMAZING prizes! Like video games for a mere 12,500 points, a crock pot for 10,000 points, or a PS3 for the low low price of 75,000 tickets. So save your points and then buy something fun. Just don't think too hard about how much that "free" prize cost you. Trust me...it can get brutal!
Man Vs. Food has done it to me again! Last week it was a trip to Chompies for their Jewish Sliders. This week I had to hit up another local favorite of Phoenix.
Los Reyes De La Torta. All I have to say is Hail to the king baby!!
While the restaurant serves a wide variety of traditional Mexican food they are best knows for their Tortas. The torta is a traditional Mexican sandwich and they come in a wide variety of choices. The one that drew me in from Man Vs. Food was the Tortadel Rey.
This fantastic torta is made of: roast pork & Chicken, beef milanesa, cheese, ham, chorizo, hot dog, a friend egg, beans, onions, tomato, avocado, and chipotle!!! For my tastes I left off the avocado and tomato.
It is also served with a generous portion of chips. Had I known that the drink was going to be a can or bottle I would have ordered a regular Coke to go with this traditional meal. There is something about drinking Coke from a glass bottle that makes it that much better. Kind of like beer from a bottle vs. beer from a can I guess.
Now those skewers aren't there for show! This is not a small sandwich and structural integrity seems to dictate that those skewers be placed there until it reaches your table. Once out of the kitchen and in front of you, the diner, it's now your problem!!
Prior to your first bite may I suggest that you form a game plan and try to map out how you will attack this wonder. I just dove in and got good and messy.
The first thing that hit me was that you could taste all the different meats. It wasn't like the chorizo over powered the pork, or the chicken was lost to the beef. They were all there and they all came through loud and clear.
Usually I'm not one for chipotle. But, since I had dropped the avocado and tomato from the sandwich I decided to let it ride as to not change too much from the signature sandwich. I was rewarded with a nice sweet burn, the good kind, between the chipotle and the chorizo.
When I was done the first thought that crossed my mind was, "Damn, when am I going to have a chance to come back?".
I got there about 5:00pm and there was no wait. I was seated right away and was promptly working my way through the menu. Lucky for me I already knew coming in what I was going to have....but I still looked over the menu to see what next time may bring. Overall the food was excellent, the staff was friendly and the price was right. Heck, even the after dinner candies they gave me with the bill were great!!
For my torta with chips and a diet coke I paid $12 (and that included tip). I couldn't even finish the chips or even think about a desert! I'd like to say that next time I'll try something different. But, I can't promise that. I'm a creature of habit. I'll probably go back and get the exact same thing like I do at my other favorite local spot Chino Bandito (3Q, 7, Black Beans, Pork Fried rice and a snicker doodle...for the record)
So, if you find yourself hungry for traditional Mexican food then find a way to get yourself over to Los Reyes de la Torta at 9230 N 7th St in Phoenix and enjoy a Torta.
Seeing as JK has me "moving internal furniture" to make way for a monster from The Heart Attack Grill
For this experiment in food related journalism I decided to move in the direct opposite burger related direction.!
While the burgers at The Heart Attack Grill may be able to crush your skull (based on pictures) the only hazard the burgers I tried throw at you is choking! These tiny burgers aren't the tiny burgers you think...no sliders here...the culprit this time.
The BK Burger Shot
As you can see there is no tiny easy to grip box...this bad boy comes in an industrial strength container that called for BK to design a larger take out bag...one with handles! These tiny burgers are manly in every aspect. Except for the fact that they are really, well, small!
First impression when you open in the box is, "well..there sure are six of them. Just as advertised!"
First impressions are important..never judge a book (or burger) by its cover. Also, if I may digress for a moment..never make fun of a movie based on what you think it will be like...because you may end up loving it later and eating a big bowl of crow....
REPO! The Genetic Opera...a prime example...it rocks!! Go Buy it...buy the Soundtrack (currently available on itunes) see it in theatres, see it with friends, see it! See It! SEE IT!
But I digress....
I also got the impression that the crew at the "BK Lounge" wasn't all that into my late night order. as the above photo kinda shows...the just split the bun and dropped on some meat. The top six was one bun and the bottom part was the same. Granted there are directions on how to dismantle your burgers... Which, if you are going to sit down and eat, in a non driving type situation, isn't a problem. But, if you plan on trying to pull apart the buns "of steel" as you drive down the highway one of two things will happen:
1) you will crash and die, possibly taking others with you! 2) you will end up with two of the six burgers in your lap and on your shirt! (guess which happened to me!)
I must say that I did start off having a bit of a man crush on the burger pack. Mostly because I didn't fear the usual after effects of eating a certain competing mini burger en-masse.
White Castle has nothing to worry about from the BK doppleganger. The only real inprovement is that the burger tasts like...well, a burger. Packaging edge to the BK ( you don't have to order 20+ to get a big box/bag) taste...depends on preference...big edge in my book is that the BK shot doesn't hit the system quite as harsh as the slider. But, that may just be me!
So...on to the ratings!!
Texture: 10/10 (ranked against normal size BK burgers) It's small, it's really small! But, it is just a mini BK burger. So if that is your thing...this one's for you.
Taste 10/10 (same as above) It's just a mini BK burger...nothing lost nothing gained!...Sadly the two pickles on the patty were larger than the meat on two of my burgers.
overall 8/10 If you are looking for a smaller version of a larger BK burger...than look no further than the BK Burger Shot..if you are looking for a simple "slider" style burger these are nice (minus the fact that you need to concentrate on seperating each burger from their neighbor!
Hershey's is now in full damage control mode after announcing that they will no longer be producing their "Pacs" line of breath fresheners.
The main concern with the product is the fact that it resembles "nickel" bags of meth.
Now I was sceptic about how much a candy breath freshener could look like street drugs! Until I found the candy on the shelf of my local gas station.... At first glance there seems to be no problems with the packaging.
Really the only problem I saw with picking up this item is the fact that I had to shell out $2.49 for 18 "pacs"
So I tore into the outer wrapper and got to the source of the complaints.
Now I am not a "drug guy" I haven't really had a wide exposure to that type of culture. I know people who use, but they know that I don't and so the subject never really comes up when I am around....but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see why parents and law enforcement officials are up in arms!!!
I am not the brightest bulb in the pac....but that does look a whole hell of a lot like a nickel back of funk...err...drugs.
I now understand the problems that could arise from this product being widely available...BUT....
If your main argument is that a child could ingest a bag of meth or some other drug thinking that it is one of these Icebeaker "Pacs"......there are bigger problems going on in THAT house then mistaking drugs for candy...like the fact that there are drugs around!! According to the article linked at the top of this blog... Hershey's is going to see through the product they have produced...then that's all she wrote!
The real sad thing is that this is really a good product! The cool mint is great and the Orange flavor is better than average!
Reading Things JK Eats the other day got me thinking about a few food/drink items from that past that I really miss...or maybe would just like to see one more time.
JK brought up the fact that we need a revival of the Taco Bell "Bacon Cheeseburger" Burrito. I would have to concur. Especially with the recent surge of Bacon related products. Just look at a Hardee'smenu and you can get a Bacon Cheeseburger, Bacon Cheddar Fries, and most of the monster line has bacon.
First up in the Soda Category....Crystal Pepsi!! That's right...the greatest soda to ever disappear from the face of the earth is one that I would like to see get a revival!
Not really sure what it was that I loved about "the Clear Choice" but as long as I am not totally blocking out my childhood....this stuff was good!
If you don't believe me that we may have gotten rid of the cure for world hunger, the single greatest invention of the last 25 years....check out the commercial below and tell me I am wrong!
I dare you to find one fault with the below tv spot, great music, a naked baby, and the center piece, Crystal "MF" Pepsi. P.S Youtube is great!
Now that you have seen the proof on my first choice for missing soda...the silver medal goes to another favorite from about 10 years ago....Surge .
Kinda of like the Vault of the mid 90's. Again not really sure why I liked this green pure sugar drink so much, maybe it was due to the fact that the gas station I worked for while at Illinois State never sold the stuff so when it went out of date....i got to take home CASES of the stuff. Free will always cloud one's judgment! I do think that the Surge formula was recently revived for the Simpson's Duff Energy Drink, but I may be wrong!
I would come up with the bronze medal winner but I really don't want to think about this all that much...so the fact that you can't find JOLT cola everywhere gives it the edge. (preference to Grape)
Food Category:
1st place Gold Medal- Taco Bell Bacon Cheeseburger Burrito (as mentioned above)
The genius of this little food item was that on those hard days when you couldn't choose between the drive thru at McDonald'sor Taco Bell you could get the best of both worlds in one convenient location....a burrito. I won't elaborate but it was God Like in its goodness.
2nd Place Silver Medal - The KFC Chicken Little
Nothing beats a mini chicken patty sandwich. Just chicken and a dab of mayo made this little "for a limited time only" menu item stick around for YEARS. I do believe that the sandwich has now gone to college, dropped out, and returned to KFC as the Snacker!
After the time away the soft little sandwich man has grown up and gotten tough, coming back "crispy" and "spicy" depending on how you like that kind of thing.
3rd Place Bronze medal - McDLT
I think it is more the Environmentally "UN-friendly" package that I miss on this one...Remember when Styrofoam was the be all end all of food storage devices?
Keeps the cold side cold, and the hot side hot! Those were the day's it even marked which side was which...you know in case you were shocked to see that your meat was hot and your lettuce and such was cold!
I believe that the Big Mac came in a similar device for a time!...Those were the days!
REPO! The Genetic Opera
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