Saturday, March 27, 2010

Subway


First of all, I am not a big fan of what Subway is known for. I just do not like their subs and now the report comes out today that they are going to start serving breakfast. I think this experience will be very interesting. Check here to read more.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/03/26/subway_will_soon_be_serving_breakfast/

If you go for a Subway breakfast, please let me know your thoughts. Personally, I cannot see myself going to a Subway for a breakfast sandwich. Lets talk about it.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Friday, March 26, 2010

Calvary Christian Academy


Calvary Christian Academy
1687 West Granada Boulevard
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
www.calvarychristiancenter.com/CCA

So this is a little bit different from what readers may be used to, but hey, I actually ate here today and feel the need to report on it.

Today was "Lunch with Daddy" and the book fair at Kennedy's school. The one thing that jams me up with these events is that Kennedy has lunch at 10:30 in the morning. That is just too early for me to do lunch, but I hung in there and made it happen. I had the pleasure of eating lunch today with not only Kennedy, but her friends Hailey and Jasmine. We were all at a table together and I have to tell you there is nothing better than having lunch with three beautiful eight-year-olds.

Today, they were having hamburgers and cheeseburgers with French fries. I came through the cafeteria line and was abandoned by Kennedy as she took off to go get a table and seats. She brought her lunch from home and was having sushi today. Yes, she is her daddy's daughter and has already showed her penchant for being a future food snob. She leaves me and the woman behind the counter asks if I want a hamburger or cheeseburger. Of course, I go cheeseburger. She reaches below the counter and serves up a cheeseburger to me with nothing on it. I see some lettuce and tomato behind the counter and ask if I can have some and they tell me sure, and to come into the kitchen to get it. They explain to me that if they put it out, the kids will just mess over it, so they have it available if you just ask. I can appreciate that move on their part. As I am fixing my burger, I cannot help noticing there are a number of burgers on the grill, which obviously are very hot. I can see that the burger she has given me is not as hot as these and for a moment think about asking her if I can have one of those. I decide not to ask and stick with what I have. She doesn't know I am a food snob and I don't want to be a pain in the butt. However, it made me think about a quote I really like. In the words of the great French author and critic, Andre Gide, "It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not." I am a food snob. What can I tell you?

I find the condiment counter and get my mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper and head to the table. Once I sit down, I fix my burger up with all my condiments and go for my first bite. As suspected, the burger was a little cooler than I would have liked, but I have to tell you, it tasted pretty good. The cheese was melted, the meat was pretty good and it wasn't overcooked. On top of that, the fries were very hot and crispy and had a great flavor. I started thinking that if that meal can be had for a couple of bucks, I might be back there more often. It was much better than I expected or remember from my school days. The best thing about the lunch was the time spent with Kennedy, Hailey and Jasmine. Hailey had a pack of crackers with Vanilla Creme filling and I got to listen to the girls talk about how they had spelled creme wrong on the packaging. I tried to explain to them that "cream" means a liquid form and "creme" means an icing type form, but I don't think they believed me. It is amazing that they really only believe anything their teachers tell them about spelling and such. I really love spending time with these kids and it totally made my experience.

For my first visit to the Calvary Christian Academy cafeteria, I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Ker's Winghouse Bar and Grill


Ker's Winghouse
2721 W. International Speedway Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
(386)252-8710
www.winghouse.com

Let me start this post by applauding Crawford Ker on going head-to-head with his main competitor, Hooter's in attempt to own the hot girls serving hot wings space in the state of Florida. If you have ever been to one of his stores, you will notice the locations seem to be much nicer than many of the Hooter's locations, the girls younger and hotter and the food better. You can tell this is an ex-athlete that is serious about what he is doing. We are lucky here in Daytona Beach in that we have one site on the mainland side of town and another on beach side. While I have not been to the beach side location, I am looking forward to my first visit.

The Winghouse is a great spot to check-out sports and gets some great wings. I had that opportunity a couple of weeks ago when my buddy Chasse decided we needed to meet for lunch. It was the first day of March Madness and I thought there was no way we would get in there, but we were able to get a table pretty quickly. Actually, I was able to get a table. I got there first and was met by my other buddy Eric and we waited on Chasse. Seems he was in the car on a phone call right out front the entire time. I never saw him as I walked in.


We finally got settled and placed our drink orders. Chasse and Eric both ordered wings. They ordered their wings hot and naked and hot Dallas naked. (I know this now, but didn't know this when they were delivered.) They also ordered some grilled wrap, which they were going to split. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger medium rare with French fries. We were sitting there shooting the shit for a few minutes when Eric got a call on his cellphone. Like any respectable person, he took his phone call outside so as not to disturb the rest of the people around us. While he was gone, one of the waitresses showed up at the table and said, "Ten wings hot and ten wings hot." Chasse said, "Yeah, right here and over here. He is out on a phone call." After the waitress left the table, Chasse noticed his wings were not naked as ordered. Also, he wasn't sure what Eric had ordered and I couldn't help him out either. We call the young lady back to the table and tell her we don't think these are the wings they ordered. She says, "That was the order I told you when I came to the table." But you could tell from the look on her face that what she really wanted to say was, "That's the ordered I told you when I came to the table, Dickhead." This is where things can get a little bit shitty at these hot girl restaurants. These girls think they can do no wrong. She didn't announce that the wings were breaded and that would have told Chasse she was delivering wings to the wrong table. She only announced the flavors that were right, but it was our fault now that she had delivered the wrong wings. She took them away, but we could tell there wouldn't be anymore love from her coming to us that day.

They finally get the orders right and deliver all of our food. Eric comes back to the table after missing all of the action and we start to dig in. My burger totally missed the medium rare mark and was well done. However, that is not what jammed me up the most. I can only tell you that my experience with my burger and the bacon on it reminds me of something that Yogi Berra said about pizza. Yogi Berra said, "Pizza is like sex. When it it good it is very good and even when it is bad, it is still pretty good." That does not hold true for bacon. It is hard to screw-up bacon, but my bacon on my burger was burnt. That totally crushed it for me. There is nothing worse that having bacon with burned edges. At least in my book. The fries I had were extremely hot and tasty, but the burger was hurting by being overcooked and served with burnt bacon. I was a bit surprised as I have had good burgers here before. I must have caught them on a bad day.

We all finished our meals and thought it all was about average, which was a shame given that it was the first day of March Madness. Kind of started our tournament off on a bad note. I knew at that point my brackets were doomed.

I have to give Ker's Winghouse three Stiffy's for my last visit. Hopefully, I'll have better luck the next time I get back there.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Bud Light



While my beer of choice is Budweiser, this is the commericial that I am currently claiming as my most favorite. I am a fan of anything with T-Pain in it. If you get a chance, go to www.snl.com and look up "I'm on a boat." That's my all time favorite.

I know this isn't about food, but it is about beer and that is just as important to me as anything I might eat.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Hooter's



It has been a while since I have been to Hooter's, but there has been a fire burning within me recently to get there and have some wings. For various reasons it hasn't happened until a few days ago after joining my brother for a Magic game in Orlando. My plan was to order the wings and take the home. Usually, I am not a big fan of the to go order, but I was tired and it was just wings, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad.

As I waited for my wings to come up, I noticed that Hooter's has stepped it up on their menu. They have added a number of different sandwiches and the wings come in a myriad of flavors now. I ordered hot garlic and a second order of extra hot. The plan was to eat the extra hot and then Julynn might eat some of the hot garlic wings. However, once I got home Julynn told me she had eaten and didn't want anything. Again, Julynn killing me on the wings.

To start, I tried one of the hot garlic wings and found it to be incredible. I was hooked immediately. The extra hot wings went straight into the refrigerator and I polished off the hot garlic. What made these wings great for me is that they were hot temperature wise and didn't get soggy on the way home from the restaurant. That is why I usually don't like to take food home to eat. It steams in the packaging and is just bad by the time you get home. Not the case here though.

Most of my friends are not fans of Hooter's, so that is why I don't get there very much, but I can see a return visit in the very near future.

For my post Magic game, solo Hooter's excursion I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Vince Carter's Restaurant



All right, I know what you're thinking. He must be getting paid by Vince Carter to blog about the restaurant at least every two weeks. Yes, there have been numerous posts about Vince Carter's recently, but one was to report about the beauty of the place when it first opened, the second was a lunch with my friend Katie and this one is when I finally got to eat one of their burgers. Trust me, I am not getting paid for these posts. If I were, you would be getting reports once a day from me and twice on Sundays.

I have been the burgers each time I visited, but was just not that hungry at the time. A mental note was made that a burger from Vince Carter's needed to be in my future. That chance finally came when I took the family there for dinner.

At Vince Carter's, all burgers are something like $9.25 and then you can pile on whatever toppings you like. On this evening, my choice was the bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. I went with a side of fries, but should have shaken it up and ordered either the sweet potato fries or the macaroni and cheese. My problem with the sweet potato fry is I don't know what condiment to use. Like everybody, I like ketchup on my fries, but cannot make it work with the sweetness of the sweet potato fry. I also can't go with some kind of cinnamon dipping sauce either. It is hard for me to get down with anything sweet during my main meal.

I ordered some wings to start for the table since I had heard they are so good. The restaurant was not too busy when we got there, but was starting to pick up. The wings came out pretty quickly after I ordered them and they were great. Nice flavor, perfectly cooked and extremely hot, both in taste and heat. Julynn killed me by telling me she had something going on with a bad tooth or something and couldn't help me eat the wings and Kennedy just can't take the spice yet. I'll get her there one day. I was only through my fourth wing when my cheeseburger showed up. I know they had been having problems with food getting backed-up in the kitchen and long waits, but you can't fix that by bringing people their entrees so close to the appetizer. I would have liked more time with those wings.

I said I had seen the burgers in Vince Carter's before and knew one was in my future. I guess the one thing I missed was the bun. The burger was incredible, but I am not a big fan of the forcaccia bread as a burger bun. Personally, I think that bread is too dense for a burger this size and didn't add much to the experience. My guess is restauranteurs have been seeking ways to deliver a better burger for years, but I think the best thing to do is leave the bun alone. Sure, you may go plain bun, toasted bun with butter, sesame seed bun or even toast, but if you look at all of these, they really are quite simple. If you want to make an outstanding burger, use the best meat possible, great seasoning and quality toppings. The bread will take care of itself. Because the toppings and meat were so good, I still found this burger to be great. Would I get another one based on my experience with the bun? Yeah, I probably would, but only after I try some additional things on the menu. Next up for me is one of their juicy steaks.

For my burger experience at Vince Carter's, I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ritz Crackers



Today I was chatting with my buddy Nick on IM and told him I had a lunch meeting at Five Guys and would blog about my experience this evening to tell everyone how things went. I fully planned to do so, but quite honestly, I am so tired I can hardly hold my eyes open. However, I just experienced something that made me have to write tonight even in my beaten state.

Do you remember when you were a kid playing with your brothers and sisters in the yard at your grand parents house? You may have been playing football, wiffle ball or just throwing around a Frisbee. Do you remember how huge that yard seemed to you? Then when you went back twenty or thirty years later that damn yard seems so small that you cannot imagine how you ever played and had so much fun in that yard? Well, that is what I experienced tonight in a gastrinomical way.

I went to the store yesterday and was cruising the aisle to pick-up my daughter some snacks and noticed they had Ritz Crackers on sale. It has been a while since we had any Ritz Crackers in the house, so I decided to pick up a box. As I stated previously, I went to Five Guys and had a great burger and fries today with my friend Kelly, so I wasn't that hungry tonight. However, after sitting here reading the newspaper and taking care of some work things on the computer, I felt I needed a snack.

I decided to have a couple of cheese and crackers to tide me over until morning. When I opened the sleeve of crackers, I swear those damn crackers have gotten smaller. Has anyone had Ritz Crackers recently and noticed this change? I very well may be wrong, but swear they are smaller than they used to be. Surely, you have all heard that ice cream packaging has gotten smaller recently, but the price has stayed the same. I think this is an inside conspiracy by these food companies to increase their revenues without us noticing.

Let me know your thoughts on what I am now calling the "Ritz Reduction Conspiracy" and let me know if you think I am off my rocker.

Look for those promised blog posts tomorrow night for Five Guys and other local restaurants I have visited lately. I am out!

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Maria Bonita



Maria Bonita
1784 S. Ridgewood Avenue
South Daytona, FL
(386)767-9512

I recently had one of my readers ask me how much weight I had lost recently and I asked her what she was talking about. She said I must have lost a ton of weight since I hadn't been blogging about any meals I had eaten recently. Truth is, I am still that same fathead I have been, but just have not been going out as much as usual. I am currently trying to get two new businesses off the ground and it has been challenging to say the least. So I am finding myself trying to save as much money as possible.

However, a couple of weeks ago I did have the opportunity to go to Maria Bonita in South Daytona Beach. The specialize in Mexican and Cuban food. I love both and had heard good things about this restaurant for a long time, but had never been there. My friend Kelly convinced me to meet her there and I am happy I did.

We got there around 12:30 and the restaurant had a pretty good crowd. Seems a lot of the folks from the courthouse visit the restaurant as Kelly heard a table of lawyers speaking to some judges that had arrived for lunch. We sat down at a nice size booth and were immediately given chips and salsa. The chips were hot and crispy with a very fresh, spicy salsa to accompany the chips. Kelly ordered the tacos and I went with the burritos. Each come with yellow rice and refried beans. Kelly made a special request regarding her beans, which I don't quite remember, but she ended-up with way more than she bargained for. These guys serve a tremendous amount of food.

Our orders came out in a timely manner and were spaced just right, given that Kelly's order included soup to start. Both of us were pleased with the amount of food we received and how fresh everything seemed to be. My burritos were filled with spicy ground beef and covered with ranchero sauce and cheese. The rice was fluffy and flavorful and the beans were great. This is truly authentic Mexican food.

I hope to get back to Maria Bonita soon to try some of their Cuban dishes. I want to go there at least once in the evening to see how things change at dinner time. My guess is it is a lively crowd in the evening and the dishes are even more bountiful than what they serve at lunch.

This is really a little slice of Mexican heaven in Daytona Beach. For my first visit to Maria Bonita, I have to give them four Stiffy's. I urge you to visit if you like Mexican food in a nice, casual atmosphere.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry