Domino's Pizza

I don't know if you have seen it or not, but I just saw a report on the news about some disgusting Domino's Pizza employees that made a video of themselves while at work. The video showed one of the employees (Michael) preparing sandwiches while being filmed by co-worker (Kristy). He stuck cheese in his nose before placing it on the sandwich and fanned his butt with the salami. I was going to provide the link for you to see the clip, but decided against doing so as that would make me part of the problem.

If you think this kind of behaviour is funny or cute, GROW UP! There is nothing amusing about idiots seeking their 15 minutes of fame at the expense of an established brand and company. I call what these two did corporate terrorism and they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Only when these punks are dealt with in a serious manner will they think twice before doing such a thing. What upsets me is that you know it will only be a couple of more weeks before we see something similar from the next idiot from another chain. That's why these people need to be reprimanded expeditiously and with extreme prejudice. (Can you tell I am pissed?)

I have not ordered from Domino's recently, mainly because there is not one near enough to my house to deliver, but I have gone there in the past to get something for carry-out. I have been thinking about trying their toasted sandwiches, but after seeing this video it gives me pause. That is the type of damage I am talking about when somebody does something like this. It is so unfair to the many hardworking employees that work for Domino's. The company's and employees reputation and trust gets hammered by a three minute video.

I am not going to allow these knuckleheads to win. Sometime over the next few days I plan on going to a Domino's location and ordering a sandwich. I'll review it here and let you know how tasty they are.

Stay tuned!

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Daisy Dukes Southern Saloon

Daisy Dukes Saloon
2479 W. International Speedway Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL
(386)257-0920

I have to be real careful here with this review. My guess is that there are a lot of Daisy Dukes locations across the nation. What I don't know is whether or not the one here in Daytona Beach is a chain or not. My guess is that it cannot be as there is no way a chain can run as dysfunctionally as this location was running tonight.

I was turned onto this restaurant by my friend Kelly who told me that it seemed to be a great sports bar with multiple televisions. I'll agree that there are tons of televisions in this place and they are all of the flat screen, high definition quality, but this place should not be called a restaurant if you ask me. Maybe the stars aligned and it was just bad news for me on this visit and a second visit is in order to really determine what they are like. Its just hard to believe I would even consider going back again.

This adventure started with me sitting at home watching SportsCenter and finding out about the deaths of Harry Kalas at age 73, the longtime Philadelphia Phillies announcer and Mark Fidrych at age 54, the great Detroit Tigers hurler. To add to my misery, I also found out that porn legend Marilyn Chambers died at age 56. The news was almost too much for me to bear. My wife calls me and asks me to meet her, my mother-in-law and daughter at Daisy Dukes for dinner. I try to bow out, but mourning the loss of a porn star doesn't usually go over well with the wife.

As I arrive, I notice the name of the restaurant and am immediately taken by the use of the word, "Southern" in their name. I think I have spoken on this blog before about restaurantuers that throw around adjectives to describe their location. Using the word "Southern" sets a level of expectation to diners that can be tough to meet. There wasn't anything about my meal tonight that represented anything about what makes the South great.

As I am led into the restaurant to be seated, I notice that the Orlando Magic game is only on a couple of screens and ask the young lady to let me sit at a booth near these screens. It is obvious that she gets jammed-up by my request. She was taking me to another section of the restaurant, but does in fact seat me where I wish to be seated. Our waitress shows up in a timely manner wearing the namesake Daisy Duke shorts to take my drink order. I order a Budweiser as I wait for the rest of the group to show-up. The get there within about five minutes and it is on.

My daughter, who is seven, is hungry and states she wants an appetizer and a salad. She wants the chicken fingers. My wife and her mother both order what is called the Kitchen Sink salad and I order the fried catfish sandwich with macaroni and cheese instead of fries. Afterall, we are in a southern style restaurant. The mac and cheese has to be good, right?

The chicken fingers show-up in a timely manner and we have to ask for some plates from the young lady that delivers our food. She is not our waitress. She leaves and comes back with three plates. Now if you have been paying attention, you know that there were four of us at the table. Strike One! I get up and get my own plate from the booth in front of us. We get the chicken fingers with ranch dressing and honey mustard. Both have a good taste and go well with the chicken. My daughter complains that the breading is too hard and hurts her teeth. She is at that age where she is dropping teeth about one a month right now. I find the chicken crispy, hot and tasty.

Our entrees show-up next and immediately I notice my fish burnt on the outside. The breading is completely black, but the fish inside is nice and flaky and moist. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that either a) the oil is too hot or b) the oil is old. I take a couple of bites and try to ride out the storm, but to no avail. I cannot eat this sandwich. The waitress comes back to see how our entrees are and my wife and mother-in-law ask, "Shouldn't there be chicken on this salad?" The waitress realizes that the salads are wrong and promplty takes them away. Strike Two!

When she returns with the salads, she asks me about my sandwich and I tell her I cannot eat it. The following is the conversation between the two of us.

Waitress: Would you like me to have them cook another piece of fish for you?

Me: I don't know. Is this how the fish usually looks?

Waitress: I'm not sure. I am new here, but I can have them cook you another one.

Me: Okay.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.

Waitress: I checked and the cook tells me that he can cook another piece of fish, but it will still come out that dark as it has to cook that long to insure that the fish inside is done. Strike Three!

I have her take my plate and order another beer. I am done with this place. As my wife and mother-in-law continue with their salads, they realize the salads are missing other ingredients that were listed on the menu. Evidently, they did not get the Kitchen Sink salad as ordered.

This visit was really a disappointment as it is always nice to have a new restaurant open in the area. However, it is clear these guys will not be around long. The waitress asks me if I want to have the manager come by, but she tells me that she had him come to another table a couple of days ago and he didn't do anything for her table. I tell her to forget it. When we get the bill, I notice they did not charge me for the fish, but the manager never came to the table to offer his apologies. However, he did sit back-to-back with me in the booth behind us to talk to a table of hotties that were behind us.

I figure this place will try to hold on and make it to the July race at the Daytona International Speedway and then die a slow death in the fall when area restaurants have to rely on the local crowd. I was planning on telling my boys we should go here to watch the NFL draft instead of the Oyster Pub this year, but I do not believe I can to that at this point. As a matter of fact, if anybody reading this visits Daytona Beach, I would strongly suggest that you not stop at this location.

For my visit tonght I have to give Daisy Dukes zero Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Charlie Horse Restaurant

Charlie Horse Restaurant

810 South Atlantic Avenue

Ormond Beach, FL

(386)672-4347

I met up with my friend Gary and his 20-month old son today at the Charlie Horse Restaurant. Though I've been by it a million times before in the past, I had never eaten here before today. Boy am I glad I listened to Gary about this place.

As I pulled into the parking lot around 11:45, I was a bit surprised that there were very few cars on the lot. Approaching the front door, I found a sandwich board outside that listed all of the specials for the day. They had a cheesesteak sandwich, a chicken sandwich and a couple of others all for $5.99 that includes the drink. I thought that was a great deal. Evidently, one of the specialties at the Charlie Horse is their crab legs. Since we were only having lunch, I didn't go that route, but would love to check it out sometime in the future.

Once I walk into the restaurant, I notice that Gary and his son Vuk are the only ones in the place at this time. I join them and start to peruse the menu. The Charlie Horse has an extensive menu with offerings that you would expect to find from a grill type restaurant. Gary had already ordered Vuk some shrimp and green beans by the time I had gotten there. His order arrived as I sat down and smelled really good. Not that I thought shrimp and green beans were in my future this day.

I asked Gary what was good here since he had visited before and he gave me a couple of options, but at the end we decided to order chicken wings. The wings here come, "Mild - Medium - Hot - and - You'll Pay for it Tomorrow." I love a proprietor with a sense of humor. Gary and I decided to get after it and go for the "You'll Pay for it Tomorrow" wings and a basket of fries. The wings come to the table quickly and I immediately notice they are covered in what has to be a very hot sauce. You can see the seeds from the peppers on the wings. I know I am in for a taste explosion.

As we dig into the wings, I realize they are great. They are hot, both in flavor and heat. However, the most surprising parf of the meal is the fries. These fries were crispy on the outside and wonderfully tender inside. They have a great flavor that I cannot get enough of during the lunch. We even were able to convince Vuk to try a few. He seemed to like them as well. Gary is loving the sauce on the wings as am I. It is flavorful and very hot just like I like it. Both Gary and I start to sweat after a few wings, but it is nothing uncomfortable. While the sauce is very hot, it doesn't mask the great flavor of the chicken. These are really great wings and fries.

Our waitress was great, checking on us throughout our meal and keeping our drinks full. She was very attentive and obviously enjoys her job. I love dining in places like the Charlie Horse Restaurant.

For our visit today, I have to give the Charlie Horse Restaurant five Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

IHOP

I took my father to a doctor's appointment the other day and he wanted a little breakfast afterwards. It was around 11:30 at this point, when I am usually craving a burger or something, but figured if that is what he wanted I could suck it up and go along.

I wasn't really feeling breakfast on this day, so I perused the menu for some type of sandwich. Now I am one of those people that believes you are not going to find an outstanding burher at the IHOP, so I figured I was going to have to compromise and get a breakfast sandwich. I chose the Ham and Cheese Melt.

The Ham and Cheese Melt consists of ham, cheese, scrambled eggs all on grilled sourdough bread. I comes with your choice of hash browns or fries, but in an effort to keep with the breakfast theme, I chose hash browns. My dad got after a more traditional breakfast of eggs, sausages and pancakes.

The food arrived pretty quickly given that it wasn't that crowded at the time of our visit. My dad's food was cooked exactly as he ordered, which made him happy. My sandwich was excellently prepared. The sourdough bread was grilled to perfection, the eggs were nice and fluffy, the cheese melted and gooey and the ham plentiful. The hash browns were cooked to perfection as well.

I have never noticed this sandwich on the menu before, but now have it as a favorite of mine. I used to be a big fan of the Moons Over My Hammy at Denny's, but this sandwich crushes that one. I'll probably never get another Denny's breakfast sandwich.

I have to give my most recent IHOP visit four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Hot Diggity Dog

My buddy Gary has been telling me about Hot Diggity Dogs out in Bunnell for quite some time. Given my current unemployed status, we finally had the time to head out there and give it a try. Gary's father has been going there for some time and has been a fan forever.

We went for lunch a couple of weeks ago to get our hands on some great hot dogs. When you pull up to the place, you realize this is a joint. There is no indoor seating, but they do have a great area off to the side of the building with talbes under umbrellas. The tables are large enough to fit about six people. I am not a big fan of al fresco dining, but in the day we visited, it was perfect weather and at this point in Florida, you don't have to worry much about being accosted by flies.

I was amazed at how extensive the menu is at this small shop. They may specialize in hot dogs, but the menu included burgers, chicken sandwiches and just about anything else you can imagine. I ordered two hot dogs with chili, mustard and onions along with an order of Freedom Fries. My guess is they're called Freedom Fries after the French failed to support our efforts in Iraq after 9/11. Yes, this place is a true slice of Americana. I also ordered a root beer to wash it all down and quickly realized I made a mistake as Hot Diggity Dog also specializes in ice cream treats including milk shakes. I guess I'll have to try that during my next visit. Gary opted for a footlong Chicago dog and chili cheese fries.

You take your seat at this location and they bring your food to you when it is ready. We hadn't been in our seats five minutes when a young lady came out and said she accidently put cheese on one of my dogs and wanted to know if I wanted her to re-do the dog. I hate wasting food, so I told her I would deal with it. Mistake on my part.

Our food came out a few moments later and everything looked great. The fries were crinkle cut and hot, just like I like them. The bun on my hot dog was nice and soft with the chili perfectly spiced. My first dog was great. The second dog with the unordered cheese was not so great. It had a melted cheese sauce at the bottom of the bun, which I found to be a bit too heavy. I am not a big fan of Cheez Whiz except when it is on a cheesesteak sandwich. Gary said his dog was great as well, but his chili cheese fries were covered in the cheese sauce and were rather messy.

Overall, this was a good experience and I cannot wait to get back up there to satiate my craving for a good hot dog sometime soon. I'll definitely be getting a milk shake the next time I go. I would encourage anybody looking to take a nice ride in the Florida country for a nice meal to check-out Hot Diggity Dog in Bunnell.

I have to give my visit to Hot Diggity Dog four Stiffy's for my most recent visit.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry