Fantastic Food by the (Prairie) Fire

As a former Lineage restaurant regular, I did not think I’d be able to enjoy a meal at 242 Harvard Street again. Its closing left me with a hole in my heart that needed to be filled. That may sound a bit extreme, but I mourned the loss of my favorite restaurant like I did a lost love. I figured the solution was to dislike anything that came into its space. I can confirm now, that was the wrong initial approach. What this really meant was that It took me a while to warm up to the idea (pun intended) of Prairie Fire in 242 Harvard Street. While nothing can fully replace Lineage, I really like and appreciate the warmth, food, atmosphere and people at Prairie Fire and I recommend it highly as a place to try if you’re in Coolidge Corner. Heck, it’s even worth a specific trip to the area especially if you can snag one of the coveted bar seats by the fire.

One of my favorite things about Prairie Fire, as I mentioned, is their bar seats. I love going and connecting with my friends and family and chatting with the chefs Jordy and Brendan or the bartenders. They care so much about creating community and about food bringing people together. I appreciate that they make delicious, local, fresh food that can be enjoyed by anyone, any age. I went with my friend’s 3 year old, and she loved her kids pizza so much she ate the whole thing while doing a happy dance. While I think that their pizza and other tasty dinner items are worth a happy dance, I’m going to focus this post on brunch. There are very few places in Coolidge Corner for a good brunch, and Prairie Fire is a gem in this category as well.

Brunching by the fire

We had just gotten back from Spain and woke up jet lagged and ravenous! We needed a brunch fix quick and close by and had admired the Prairie Fire brunch menu for a while but hadn’t gotten around to trying it despite regularly having dinner, or drinks there.  After my husband and I ordered coffees, full caf for him and decaf for me, we started the great brunch debate-- what to eat. As a New York transplant, I’m a sucker for great pizza and smoked fish. Lucky for me and my fireside and chefside seat, I saw the chef, Jordy, putting together a smoked trout pizza and decided to try it. I am often hesitant to try anything warm that has smoked fish in it because it changes the fish’s consistency. Part of what sold me on trying it over the other tasty dishes was that Jordy managed to mix cold smoked fish with a warm crust.

The pizza had dill creme fresh, capers, greens, and smoked trout atop homemade sourdough crust, and it was an ideal temperature and consistency. In addition to being a huge smoked fish fan, I have been really excited about fried eggs recently over my typical scramble. There is something comforting about a runny yolk in a farm fresh egg with the change of the season, which was the ideal complement to the sourdough pizza crust.

My husband and dining partner ordered the breakfast sandwich and ate it too quick for me to get a picture because he enjoyed it so much. One thing that struck me was that it was vegetarian and that there were carrots on it-- these are two aspects of a meal that don’t usually attract my husband. I tried a bite and I thought it was a great balance of flavor and appreciated that the sandwich was on a homemade English muffin (yum!).

My overall thoughts on brunch at Prairie Fire-- I can’t wait to go back and I think the fire will be a welcome addition to our weekend mornings. I highly recommend that you try it too! 

The Birthday Tour de Sewall

I recently had a big birthday that ended in a zero and the three things I wanted were: brunch at Eastern Standard and dinners at Lineage and Row34. I'll admit, this isn't the first time I've done what I like to call "Tour de Sewall." Each restaurant dazzled with excellent food and service. There's an opportunity to go more in depth on each meal, but I'll start with the highlights version.

Eastern Standard has excellent brunch, and few things bring me more joy than people I love with an excuse to eat a large amount of breakfast food. My two favorite things on the ES menu are their chopped salad with pan friend chicken cutlet served in a wooden bowl and the house smoked salmon platter. I rarely order nova outside of New York, but Eastern Standard is the exception to this rule. On my birthday, I was spoiled and had both. I recommend going with another person so you can do the same. The nova is not too salty and pairs nicely with the tomatoes, capers, bagel and cream cheese.

Luckily, I had a break between brunch and dinner. Row34 is hip and happening with great food. You feel cool just walking in, or at least I do! The shrimp cocktail was the highlight of the excellent meal. They were plump and fresh and the cocktail sauce tasted like it had a hint of ginger. The butterscotch pudding was an excellent ending.

As it turns out, this is the last birthday I'll get to spend at Lineage because it's closing this summer. I've been going to Lineage for almost 9 years and love the simplicity and excellence of the menu. My favorite dinner item, which I'm known to eat as often as once a week, is the burger with hand cut fries. They had a hunch that I'd order a birthday burger and surprised me with a candle. Yes, a burger with a candle was the perfect first to go with my last Lineage birthday.

I highly encourage you to stop by any of the three restaurants that I visited on my Tour de Sewall. My birthday was just an excuse, so you can find one too!

Finding the Beach Getaway

Last month, in an effort to escape the winter, my boyfriend and I set out to find the perfect beach getaway. We knew that sandwiched between work travel was the only way to do it. In addition to having an idea of the week we could go, we knew we wanted this to be a relaxing, beach front vacation with nonstop airfare. And, I have champagne taste with slightly more than a beer budget. In this post, I'm going to share some of what I learned while booking our beach getaway and how we saved over $1000. In a follow on post, I'll share some experiences we had on our trip.

For a week, any minute that we weren't working, we were working on planning our trip. We were checking different week period's in March or April in either Mexico or Puerto Rico. We knew we could get non-stop airfare and would get to use some Spanish. If we were going to stay in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area, we'd need to choose an all inclusive resort, and those were outside of our budget. Puerto Rico only has one all inclusive option, so we opted to look at different hotel and flight configurations versus focusing on booking all in one place. Finally, we decided on Puerto Rico in March.

My route to booking travel is usually to go through a credit card to see what deals are available. At this time of year American Express and other credit cards have great deals to save with nights free and resort credit. I also consulted with a travel agent from Liberty Travel and AAA's booking site. My boyfriend prefers to research it himself on TripAdvisor and find the best deal on a booking site. Needless to say, we had a lot of searches going on.

We had finally narrowed our search to either El Conquistador, about an hour from the airport for 6 nights, or the Condado Marriott for the same amount of time. We loved the idea of being remote at El Conquistador and having a private island, but we were concerned about the drive to and from the airport given that we didn't have a full week to be away. The Marriott seemed fun and came highly recommended and was close to the airport. While we tested different options, advertisements for the "number 1 hotel in Puerto Rico" kept coming up. I had eliminated the Condado Vanderbilt because of cost. It looked nice, luxurious, relaxing, beachfront, central, historic, but it was more expensive than the others. We realized the only airfare we would book from Boston was through JetBlue, so for fun, we searched their getaway deals.

At JetBlue Getaways we played with the flight time, and the dates and which hotel we wanted. As we continued testing different options, we found out that the Condado Vanderbilt for 5 nights, all fees included, was less expensive than a six night stay at the Marriott or El Conquistador, where the fees were variable. I had the same set of hotels open on the Amex site and he had the hotels up on Expedia and we were each toggling back to JetBlue. Condado Vanderbilt became a great option for us. We looked to arrive Sunday evening and leave Friday evening. The JetBlue getaway deal was over $1000 less than if we had booked flight and hotel separately. It seemed too good to be true. We called the hotel and then we called JetBlue. They confirmed that we indeed found the deal of a lifetime.

Finally after a week of hunting, we booked our JetBlue Getaway to San Juan, Puerto Rico for nonstop airfare, 5 nights in a 5 star hotel, taxes and fees, and a checked bag a piece included for under $2,500 total. Once we finally booked it, we felt elated and proud. We had figured out how to create a great vacation, on a budget where we could celebrate warmth, a beach and relaxation. The research was worth it and I would highly recommend doing all of the research and prioritizing needs and booking it. Stay tuned for more about our fun in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Moody's: Much More Than a Delicious Deli

Moody's Delicatessen and Provisions with the Back Room is the best thing to happen to Waltham since I graduated college. Over the summer, I sat in the Back Room and this time, on a Tuesday night in February, the Back Room was so full that we sat in the window of the front of the deli. They must have added these seats because business was so successful.

The front room had deli cases and refrigerators full of house cured charcuterie. Along the walls were some wooden tables and benches. Chef Joshua Smith runs New England Charcuterie and Moody's. All of the charcuterie is made in house-- rumor is there is a downstairs where sausage, salami and other charcuterie is made. The back room has a different, slightly more formal look and feel.

Upon sitting down, I was greeted by a plate of complementary charcuterie. I was so hungry, there's no picture of it. But, it whet my appetite for the carnivorous feast yet to come. The first thing we ordered were the meatballs. There were four perfectly seasoned waygu meatballs perfectly seasoned with pepper, cheese and spices smothered in tomato sauce with ricotta and Parmesan cheese. 

We let the waiter surprise us with a four part cheese/charcuterie plate. The cheese was an aged gouda and the other cheese was soft and creamy. The charcuterie was coppa and salami. The salami was soaked in Bourbon and the coppa was fresh, thinly sliced and perfect with the cornichons, jam, hot peppers and crostini. There was a year where my new years resolution was to eat more charcuterie and so it has a special place in my heart. Everything about the cheese and charcuterie plate was perfect and my only wish was that we'd ordered the plate with six choices instead of four. 

The brussel sprouts, roasted with meat and orange were perfectly cooked and very flavorful. I liked that the citrus was fresh and balanced out the smoky meaty flavor. The brussel sprouts were soft and flavorful.

While everything was fun and tasty, we were still hungry so we splurged for one more dish, the pastrami flat bread. This was essentially an open faced Reuben with homemade sauerkraut and mustard instead of Russian dressing. The pastrami was tasty and while sparse on the pizza, the flavor was that of a large sandwich. 

Usually, I save room for dessert, but at Moody's, I decided on a flat bread instead of dessert and I couldn't have been happier. The flat bread crust was flaky, and tasty. While the dessert menu looked excellent, I will just have to go back for more local salty goodness and maybe, just maybe, I'll save room for a sweet dessert. Though, I wouldn't count on it. That savory food is worth all the hype it gets.

Breakfast and Pastry at Tatte

Ever have a moment where you bite into a dish and you need to close your eyes to have a quiet moment just savoring the beauty and the bite? This happens for me frequently at Tatte. It's the home to the best breakfast, pastry, coffee drinks and warm vibe in the Boston area. I've been going to the Tatte by the St. Mary T stop for a few years now. Recently, I learned that they are doing an 8 week renovation starting January 1, 2016. This means that once we get through winter, we'll be greeted with double sized Tatte!

Once I learned that my favorite local bakery and quick breakfast spot would be closing and renovating, I decided the best thing to do was to eat there as much as humanly possible for its last week. The good news was, I had the week off so it was an achievable goal. 

Avocado Tartine

The first day I stopped by of my Tatte week, I made it up to the counter at 11:27. Thankfully there was still time for me to order breakfast. I was intrigued by the avocado tartine. I learned that this dish is homemade bread with avocado, a fried egg, arugula, dill, tomato and radish. It's a great dish to share with a friend because you get two of these hearty toasts. I think theoretically the open faced sandwich is supposed to be picked up and eaten, but I chose to use a fork and knife and to break the yolk. The combination of the fresh flavors of the veggies, with the avocado, egg and homemade bread made me take a deep breath and smile. 

Pain au Chocolat

I only got through one avocado tartine because it was so filling. I also got a pain au chocolat. These pastries are flaky with semisweet chocolate and they're made with real butter. There is a huge difference to me between a pastry from Tatte that's made fresh daily and a pastry from a grocery store or national chain. I highly recommend any of their homemade pastries! A trick I learned is that they go on sale late in the day, they're less fresh and less money. I think it's worth the whole price to get one early in the day.

Shakshuka

The next day after my avocado tartine and pan au chocolat, I went back to Tatte and it was snowy and rainy and crowded, as it does get. I lucked out though, I won the sat battle and got a seat. I ordered shakshuka which is a very tasty, fresh, hearty and warm breakfast. At Tatte they make theirs with tomatoes, peppers, poached eggs and feta. It's served with Challah toast and is again big enough to share. Since I was by myself and I know how much I like it, I opted to order it without the lamb meatball add-ons but next time I go I may try them.

This dish is also excellent and hearty. The homemade bread complementing the skillet of warm food is a perfect way to start a damp day. But let's be honest, it's also a great way to start a sunny day in the summer outside.

Where to go while you wait for the renovation

The good news is that Tatte has a few locations around the Boston area that we can go to while they renovate and expand their Brookline spot. I have visited one in Kendall Square and it's big, bright and airy with even more food than the Brookline spot. Only a few more weeks...

I recommend that if you enjoy good, fresh food, that you make your way to one of the Tatte locations get yourself a dish or pastry and a latte and close your eyes for a few seconds and enjoy the perfection.

New Year's Resolutions

I am constantly examining how food and technology impact communities. I do aspects of each in my personal and professional life. I think that food brings people together and can create and build community. I initially started this blog to have an outlet to discuss food, friends and fun and I am committed to these discussions happening more frequently in 2016 in a potentially different way.

As we're all talking about resolutions at the beginning of the year, I resolve to write more. Eating and sharing experiences brings me joy as I hope it does for you reading it. This year, I'll be sharing information on restaurants, recipes and great events. I initially started the blog thinking that I'd only write about a restaurant once, but I am going to open myself up to write more if it's a new visit after a while. 

When I initially started this blog, I was in grad school which meant that I had a lot more time. I needed something to divert me from the hundreds of pages of reading a week and as a writing warm up. Now, I'm in a full time demanding job and food is still a huge part of my life as are friends and fun. Again, I need a creative outlet-- a way to share my passion with who wants to read about it. I started this blog completely as a passion project to share my love of food and what I learn about community events with whoever wants to read. I also was curious how different channels brought traffic to the site. Back to technology and its impact on community. Since graduating a lot more of my food life has been happening offline, but not to worry, it's still happening!

Some new year's thoughts

During 2016, I want to think about how to have more fun with the blog and share more. I initially started writing this blog as "Fun Foodie," but I am thinking about sharing more about who I am. Part of why I use the anonymity is for anyone who is reading. I want to share the experience of another diner without any perks that come with being known as a diner to watch who may get different service. However, this means that my personal Instagram posts (which are predominantly food related) are not linked to the blog or when I connect with someone in the food scene, I don't write about it because I'm afraid I'll be identified. This seems counter intuitive as I reflect because there are some great stories about people I've met in the industry who are interesting, kind and who I've built a rapport with. As I continue to evaluate the direction of the blog, please feel free to share what you think. My feeling is it's fun to hear good stories and learn about great places to go and if I can continue to provide that more frequently, that is beneficial to all.

Another reason, I'm thinking about writing more without anonymity is I really love sharing and meeting new people and making recommendations. I often diagnose my friends' and family with the right restaurant for an occasion and price point or organize group dinners. I would love to connect more with people through food and volunteering this year and I think that this can happen more. 

One idea for connection comes from a trip my boyfriend and I took to Canada at the beginning of the summer. We went on two food tours. We had the best time and enjoyed meeting the people. I have been thinking about how these food tours could work in the Boston area.

What about eating in?

Most posts for this blog are focused on food or community events that have food. That is only half of the fun we can have together! I've been cooking and baking a bit and think that some of these recipes and discoveries are worth discussing. Expect more posts about cooking as well as eating out.

And the fun?!

As I discover new opportunities for fun, that will be shared too. This could be a trip to a new market, yoga studio or a vacation.

Expectations for 2016

This year, 2016, is already off to a great start and I think that the new year is a great time to reflect and think about how to be better and how to have more joy and more fun in life! You can expect somewhat of an evolution to FoodFriendsNFun and more-- more posts, more joy, more food and more fun. I want to figure out a way to have more community, so that will happen too. The best way to get up to date information about this evolution is on the blog and on twitter.

Happy New Year to you and I look forward to eating my way through the year with you and having fun while we do!

Why I eat out

Consistency is an interesting word and I used it deliberately. I love going to the places that know me and offer the best homey service accompanying great, creative food. It feels comforting to build relationships with people at restaurants and to be a regular. It adds a level of consistency to a fast paced world and life. Not to worry, I still love trying new places but below is a recap of some of my favorite consistent spots around Boston highlighting some excellent dishes and service. 

During the month of March, once it stopped snowing, I ate at Strip T's at least once a week (maybe more if you ask my boyfriend) and had a bowl of their smoked miso ramen and a small Caesar salad each time. There was something comforting about both of those things and the perfect service. I even have a spot at the bar that I usually sit. They know my voice when I call. That miso ramen is one of the best dishes I have had and coupled with the perfectly cooked noodles it was a nice hearty, flavorful warm dish to get out of the snow zone. The Caesar salad is truly one of a kind. After I eat it, I sweat garlic for 24 hours but it's worth it. Consistently perfection. Also in the month of March and related to Strip T's, I went to the BTG Boston's first series of events where I got to enjoy Tim Maslow's fine Ribelle food paired with some of the best of Boston's sommeliers' wine choices. I loved that it felt like one big giant family style meal-- put together by two of my favorites, Theresa Paopao and Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli.

Smoked Miso Ramen at Strip T's

Over the winter, I went to Lineage for burgers at the bar about once a week. It was nice to go out, get a great glass of wine, a phenomenal burger and speak with Brad, Amy, Matt or even Jeremy, at the bar. Anything Jeremy Sewall does is perfection and I think Lineage is one of his less written about "famous" restaurants, but it is the original and that burger is my "best of Boston." I'm not a big fan of fries generally, so I usually sub out fries for a side salad when I have a burger. When I go to Lineage, I eat the hand cut fries. If I really feel like splurging, I go for dessert with a tea pairing. My favorite of the winter was a brulee'd banana split. What can I say, I'm a sucker for red meat and any dessert that has bananas. I am also a huge fan of Island Creek, Eastern Standard and Row34, but those were a bit more of a trek this winter.

Bruleed Banana Split and Tea at Lineage

Another spot or series of spots I think of when discussing good service is anything Barbara Lynch. I love all of her spots that I've tried. I still have to try B&G, but if I want excellent food with perfect service, I go to any of her spots. My favorite for special occasions is Menton because I feel like I'm at dinner and a show. It's perfect food with the right choreography. I haven't been in a while but after I went to a few Full Plate lunches, I felt that the staff at the whole restaurant group got to know me. As I mentioned in previous posts anything at Drink is a good time-- they take the decision making out of the equation for you and the cocktails are perfect. I feel like my soul is being fed at Sportello-- through tagliatelle and coconut cake and at The Butcher Shop with the charcuterie platter and wine. The service is friendly and consistent at each place. I love the ability to go from formal at Menton to more casual at the other spots in terms of look and feel but to have the same great quality of food and service.

Charcuterie and wine at Butcher Shop

Service and consistency matters as does creativity. Sometimes in a super fast paced world, knowing what you're going to get from a service and food quality is all you need for a slice or a plate of happiness.

Dazzled by Deep Ellum

Clearly a fantastic brunch as a start to Super Bowl Sunday was the right move! It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm thrilled to be back in action and look forward to sharing more eating adventures with you!

Today, my boyfriend and I woke up hungry after a night of dancing. We have been cooking brunch more than we've been eating it out, but today was special since we knew we'd be making food for the Super Bowl. We trudged through the Allston/Brighton slushy streets to Deep Ellum and it was worth the walk. It was obvious from the crowd that Deep Ellum is the spot to be for brunch if you're in that neighborhood. When you walk in the spot is abuzz with good music and happy people eating delicious, creative food and drinks. We were too hungry to wait for a table and lucked out with two seats at the bar.

The bartender was really nice and knowledgeable. When I go out anywhere, I like to ask the server for their advice. I'm a sucker for breakfast food, but was enticed by their lunch menu. I'll have to come back for a recommended rueben. In the end, my New York roots had me go for house cured salmon. My boyfriend got their homemade egg and chorizo sandwich.

While we were waiting for the food to arrive, which was not very long, we enjoyed listening to David Bowie and watching the bar tender mix uniquely delicious looking drinks. I was surprised that they had about 22 beers on tap, but they chose to serve soda out of the bottle. They are serious about their beer! I asked if I could try their Bloody Mary mix because I wasn't ready for a drink but I'd seen the bar tender mix a few. I appreciated that they were willing to pour me a shot. That mix was perfectly spicy and pungent. Next time I go, I'll have a bloody!

The food arrived and it looked bright and as perfect as it tasted. I was excited to see my salmon thickly sliced with fresh tomatoes and arugala. The color and freshness is usually saved for summer tomato season. The nova was served on a bagel with caper cream cheese closed faced. I was excited to see that there was enough nova to turn this bagel sandwich into two open faced bagel sandwiches. I love nova open faced because I get to spread out the experience of eating one of my favorite comfort foods. The cream cheese was a perfect addition to the fresh nova, bagel and tomato. I liked that the capers were mixed in so that they didn't have the chance of rolling off the top of the sandwich. When I finished the sandwich, I was sad because it was so tasty. While the bagel did not taste like it was from New York (a little too soft), the toppings were so good, that it could have been on a saltine and I would have wanted more. I appreciated the flexibility to give me a side salad instead of potatoes. The salad was fresh and excellent: cukes, tomatoes and arugula with some lemon and salt.

I was lucky enough to also get to try my dining partner's chorizo sandwich. The egg was perfectly fried and had quite a bit of pepper on it. It was served on a homemade English muffin and the house chorizo was sliced and crisped perfectly. I was not expecting the homemade English muffin but it made the sandwich that much better. The crunch of the chorizo paired with the homemade English muffin and perfectly cooked egg made my bite absolute perfection.

Not only was the food outstanding, but it was reasonably priced ($25 including tax and tip) and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. I will go back to Deep Ellum in a heart beat. Looking forward to having lunch, dinner and drinks! When I do go back for brunch, it will be hard to decide if I will try something new or have that nova that tugs on my nostalgic New York heartstrings.

No 9 Park Night Out

I decided that for Dine Out Boston (what was formally known as Boston Restaurant Week), I'd eat (and Drink) at as many of Barbara Lynch's restaurants as possible via their "unofficial restaurant week". The only two I'm missing over the special two week period will be Sportello and B&G (which I have yet to try). I started my journey at No 9 Park. I'd heard from a friend that it is better than Menton, and I wanted to check it out for myself. It was a total splurge meal, even with the unofficial restaurant menu deal, but I thought it was a great experience. The ambiance was bright and cheery, and the vibe was modern and clean. I went with one of my friends and we decided to do it right and try the five course tasting menu with wine pairings and have a cheese course. The service was excellent as was the food. My only wish was that the pours for the wine pairings were a little larger because those were so tasty.

We were seated at a two top and each got to sit on the booth-cushion on a corner of the table. This small detail made it easier to share food and conversation. The meal started with two pieces of homemade bread. The roll was soft with a perfect sweetness and the slice of Italian bread was a balance of doughy and crusty. Both went nicely with the butter and salt we were given. I resisted the urge to get more bread because I wanted to save room for my dinner.

The first course to arrive was a (crab and) mackerel salad with parsnips tarragon and walnuts. I have a shellfish allergy, so the restaurant was accommodating and gave me mine without the crab and my friend had hers as was. It tasted like a higher end version of white fish salad but without mayo and went nicely on the homemade crackers that came on the plate. The roasted walnuts added a perfect crunch to the dish and the parsnips were roasted and sweet.

The next course was salmon with chicory and lentils. The salmon was moist and flavorful, served with the skin still on and the lentils made me feel like I was eating very healthfully and made the dish more hearty. 

Course three was prune stuffed gnocchi with foie gras and almonds. It was excellent even though I am not a huge foie gras fan (hard to believe, I know). We were told by the waitress that this is Barbara Lynch's signature dish and I'm not surprised. The gnocchi was the consistency of wheat pasta with a sweet and umami flavor. It came with two pieces of sweet, cooked foie gras and more foie gras in the sauce.

By the time the fourth course came, I expected to be full, but I was ready to keep going. This speaks to the excellent job the restaurant did with portions. The fourth course was a hanger steak with artichokes, bone marrow, a layered potato side and green garlic. The plate had my favorite things on it. I love nothing more than a good steak and artichokes-- this exceeded my expectations. The meat was cooked on the rare side and had excellent flavor that did not drown out the sides.

Before the final course we experienced the cheese course. We had a specific person who knew a lot about the cheese walk us through our ten options. It was fun to learn about the cheeses and that about half of the board was from the US. I thought that most high end cheese came from outside the US, so I was happily surprised. They were accommodating of us wanted to save our appetite for dessert so we got two full slices and about three half slices of cheese. We had goat, cow and sheep's milk cheese and the cart was arranged in that order as well. The cheese was accompanied by homemade toasts, honey, walnuts and some fruit. I enjoyed trying all of the parts together. My dining partner was more focused on just the cheese and she and I both enjoyed. We also learned that Formaggio supplies the cheese to No. 9 Park. Can't wait to take a trip to their store out in Cambridge to buy some of what we tried!

Dessert came after the cheese and it was plated beautifully. Of the six courses, I was surprised that dessert was not my favorite. It was a rich dark chocolate rectangular cake with mint ice cream and lemon bourbon mint sauce and compote and a homemade "Oreo" cookie-like cookie on top. I loved the flavor of the chocolate cake and mint chip ice cream with a cookie on top, however I found the lemon and mint compote to be a distraction from the outstanding chocolate cake, ice cream and cookie. 

Overall, the experience was excellent! I would happily go back to No. 9 Park and recommend you save up and try it. The next time I pay them a visit, I'll probably try the bar as I have heard it's a different menu and there are outstanding cocktails. If you are comparing Barbara Lynch restaurants, it's a slightly more casual atmosphere and experience than Menton with the Italian flair of Sportello.

So I needed chicken fingers after yoga

Last Friday I took an awesome yoga class at Down Under in Brookline. It was relaxing and perfect and completely cleared my mind. Once I returned to reality, all I could think about was fried chicken. I'm a classy lady, so I didn't want to trek to KFC and was afraid to try anything in walking distance of my house. I remembered that feeling of longing I get every time I drive past Raising Cane's and decided that if I was able to find a parking spot, I'd indulge in some "fast food" chicken fingers.

Raising Cane's is right by the Agganis Arena and fits the bill of tasty food on a budget. I can't remember the last time I spent under $8 on a Friday night dinner out and ate 4 chicken fingers, a serving of fries, cole slaw and Texas toast. The chicken fingers were perfection. They were moist on the inside, crispy on the outside. The promise was that nothing was frozen and everything was fresh. It's a risk to do that because you may end up with soggy fingers. This was not the case. The chicken fingers were piping hot and a great texture. The cole slaw was ice cold with finely chopped. The french fries were the kind I used to get at the pool, they were crinkle cut. Something about crinkle cut fries and chicken fingers makes me feel like a kid again.

Raising Cane's is famous for their Cane sauce. I have to say when it comes to chicken fingers, all I want is ketchup, but if you're a fan of ranch and ketchup, that's what the secret sauce tastes a lot like.

Going back to the post-yoga piece, what I was craving was fried chicken and silence. What I got was chicken fingers, sides and entertainment. I sat there inhaling my food while listening to all of the youngins talk about where they were going to party. Turns out Cane's is a meet up spot for undergrads wanting to carb it up before heading out to party. Next time I go back to Raising Cane's, I'll choose a mid-day spot to go after my fried chicken and silence. Maybe next time, I will indulge a little bit more and get more fingers.

please note that the image used for this post is from here. I was so focused on inhaling my chicken, that I forgot to take a picture. All other images on foodfriendsnfun.com are taken by the blogger unless explicitly said otherwise.

Ribelle me fantastic

To start, I'm aware that "Ribelle me fantastic" is not a sentence that makes sense, but if you visit Ribelle, you will understand. Much like Tim Maslow's other restaurant, Strip T's this restaurant is a gem to behold. The quaint, modern, bright Ribelle is in Washington Square featuring small plates with big flavor and fresh ingredients. As soon as you walk in you notice the large communal table made of beautiful wood. The bar is also wood and fully stashed. The kitchen is open promoting a feeling of modern and airy. The light fixtures look like large sequins and geometric shapes. One of the highlights of the trip was the pre-meal. I stood at the communal high top table by the kitchen sipping on a beat, citrus and gin cocktail after speaking with the chef. This cocktail was of the best I'd ever had and I was surprised. The beets were refreshing combined with the gin and lime and tasted like fall. It was such a great cocktail that four out of the five people eating and drinking in our group ordered it.

We sat down at the communal table at the end. I was expecting to feel cramped but it felt like we were having our own party not a part of our neighbors' dining experience. There were five of us in the party and we were there as a part of a monthly dining group. We all partook in their $30 price fixed menu because it was before 6:30pm. I wouldn't be surprised if they do away with this. The restaurant is so hot right now, they don't really need to do anything from a price standpoint to draw a crowd. The price fixed menu was full of great options, probably 3/4 of the regular menu. I was so excited about the bolognese and the mushroom lasagne that I ordered two pasta dishes. When I was last at Ribelle, I ordered duckfat garlic knots. Wow, they were fantastic, so I ordered them again. Needless to say, my meal was very carb full and I probably could have ordered one less small plate, but it was just so much fun. My dining buddies ordered squid, kale and pasta with squash. The best part of the large dining group was getting to experience lots of dishes.

When deciding what to order, I decided against to kholrabi because it had veal tongue in it. The manager was so sweet and sent over this dish so that we could try it. The veggie portion, a mixture of kholrabi, beans and spices was awesome. I even liked the flavor of the veal tongue, however the consistency was pretty fatty and rubbery. If I were to order it again, I'd ask for just the veggies. For those who haven't tried it, kholrabi is a bulb that can be shredded, it's in the broccoli and cauliflower family.

The duckfat garlic knots came out first. They were moist with oil, salt, herbs and garlic. They came with a zesty tomato sauce that paired nicely with the rich rolls. I could have made a dinner of just these rolls and sauce, they were that good and that filling.

The mushroom lasagne had meaty mushrooms with homemade vinegared ricotta cheese. The pasta tasted homemade and perfect.

The pappardelle bolognese was rich with different kinds of meat. The tomato was not overpowering, it was all about the meat. It was topped with fried pork skins and fried baby greens. When I had the pork skin on its own the flavor and consistency was not great, but the combination of this in the dish was outstanding and added a little crunch to an already flavorful dish.

Another highlight was the truffled toast one of my dining partners ordered. Remember the eggs in a frame that your mom made you when you were sick? Maybe that was just my mom. This was one piece of thick toast covered in truffle oil, cheese, egg and little peppers. The dish was comfort on a plate.

Overall, Ribelle is worth the hype and I recommend that you go and try it. The beet cocktail was outstanding. I can't wait to go back and try some new dishes. While the pastas are fantastic, I recommend mixing them in with more veggie dishes or protein than what I did. Maybe that way there will be room for dessert. Looking forward to going back and trying the ever changing menu.

Panza is perfection

It's been a while since posting and I'm definitely looking forward to doing so more! This weekend I had a fantastic girls night out with outstanding food and well priced and tasty wine. If you have not already, I recommend that you go to Panza in the North End. It is some of the best food you can find in Boston.

We waited until the last minute to make a reservation, so we ended up with an 8:30pm one. Lucky for us, the cute restaurant sat us in the window so we could enjoy the warm October night. A little known fact is that Panza is the sister restaurant to the cash only, wait on line, outstanding Giacomo's across the street. Aside from the well priced, tasty food, it is nice to be able to make a reservation and pay with a credit card.

Once we sat down, the bright red stack of bruschetta at the other table caught our eyes. To start we ordered the goat cheese bruschetta  My dining partner ordered Caesar salad. While we waited for our apps to arrive we ordered a bottle of Pino Griggio for only $20 and lined our stomachs with the crusty Italian bread and good olive oil.

 

I am not usually one to order goat cheese, but the bruschetta was creative, light and the goat cheese was a perfect compliment to the smoky, toasted bread, garlicky diced perfectly ripe tomatoes and onion. There were two pieces of bruschetta which was perfect for the three of us to share and still have room for our entrees. My dining partner let me try her Caesar salad. The greens were fresh, crisp and the dressing a perfect balance of creaminess, garlic, cheese and stuck to the greens perfectly.

For dinner I ordered the chicken Marsala over linguine. I do judge an Italian place by it's chicken Marsala and this was excellent. They an abundance of perfectly golden sauteed chicken in a sweet Marsala sauce. There was some pancetta too for added flavor and a lot of fresh mushrooms. This was the best Marsala I've had in a while!

My dining partners ordered butternut squash torteloni and pasta with eggplant. The torteloni was hand made over sized tortellini shaped pasta and tasted like thanksgiving. There were also chunks of squash on the outside. The eggplant pasta dish was described as a healthier eggplant parm.

All in all, it was a great night out. The food was perfect and very reasonably priced for the stellar food quality. Looking forward to visiting Panza again soon. Can't wait to see what their seasonal options will be.

No words to describe

This blog is focused on food friends and fun, and on a Boston day usually centralized around those things, I pause to acknowledge this truly tragic day.

It was so beautiful today. There was positive energy everywhere you turned. A friend of mine equated it to Christmas, running a Marathon with all of his loved ones waiting to cheer for him. The day was beautiful and then took a tragic turn for the surreal.

I hope that all are safe and that Boston and the world eventually find peace.

A Mid-afternoon Dream at Strip T's

It was a cold and snowy Thursday after a successful trip to Target, and I stopped in at Strip T's for an indulgent tasty treat. This place is worth all of the hype it gets. The food is great and unique and service is quick and reliable. When I worked in Watertown a while back, I had to keep from eating at Strip T's every day for lunch. This was before the Tim Maslow era, back when it was just a neighborhood shop to get a soup, salad or sandwich. Since the reign of Maslow, I've driven to Watertown a handful of times with the intention of having a fantastic and creative meal and am consistently satisfied with the result.

Luckily, I arrived at 3:53 pm, just in time for the last plate of food to be served before the hour break before dinner. All I knew was that I could not stop thinking about their Caesar salad, and that I wanted to try something new as well. Shawn, one of the front guys who worked at Craigie on Main previously, advised that between the Moxie Wings and Fried Chicken that the fried chicken would go better with the Caesar salad. Each entree comes with a side, so I was pumped that I could have two mini-meals in one! He and I chatted about how the comfort food matched both of our moods with the dreary, wintry mix. I chose to sit at the bar because I was at Strip T's with the purpose to eat the best Caesar salad ever and some protein. 

The restaurant is quaint. When I walked through the curtained front door, I saw a bar with a half open kitchen and people preparing for the dinner shift. To the left was the main dining room where some of the best food around is served. 

At about 4:03, my half of a chicken fried arrived with my baby Caesar salad. The crust of the fried chicken was perfectly crisp and the chicken inside was moist and juicy. I was really excited that they brought a full, three joint wing, thigh and breast because I get a real kick out of eating and taking apart wings, but the other cuts of chicken are a little bit more hearty. To go on the chicken, Shawn brought over some pepper syrup. Essentially this syrup tasted like honey with a tiny almost unnoticeable kick to it. The sauce was perfection as the sweetness of it brought out the saltiness of the chicken.

I interspersed bites of fried chicken with the Caesar salad. The salad was dressed perfectly. Their Caesar dressing is extremely flavorful and light. I rarely would describe a Caesar salad dressing as light, but the only way to get the lack of cream in the dressing across is to describe it that way. The dressing is more about garlic and cheese than it is about cream. They may even put in a smidge of mustard. The bottom line is the dressing sticks perfectly to the crisp lettuce and homemade croutons without being overwhelming or too creamy.

My only wish for this experience was that I had a fellow diner with me to kvell over the food with! Instead, I have not stopped talking about my decadent mid-afternoon dream at Strip T's. I do not use the term dream loosely as I have been known to dream about their Caesar salad and so this meal literally fulfilled my dreams. I can't wait for Tim Maslow and team to open a more T accessible restaurant later this year in Brookline. In the meantime, I will continue to make excuses to visit Watertown for the awesome food and laid back ambiance and I recommend that you do the same.

Photo from past Strip T's experience.

Digesting Technology

As an MBA student at a Boston based school of management, I was lucky enough to take a class with a field study component out to the West Coast. Prior to heading out of town, I'd read about how great the food is at Apple, Google and Microsoft. I visited these companies with high expectations for the food and the management and expectations were exceeded on every count. Given the top secret nature of most of the places we visited, I had to keep my camera in my bag, so we will both have to live through the written memories of the tasty meals in Seattle and Silicon Valley instead of photographed ones.

The first corporate cafeteria we went to was at Microsoft/XBox and it was fun and delicious. Turns out Monday is free cookie day. The headquarters was a very modern, airy campus in Seattle. There were so many food options to choose from including some of Seattle's finest from Pike's Place market. Yes, those homemade donuts made it to Microsoft's campus, but I resisted. Given the time constraints, I chose to make a salad. The salad bar was better than the Whole Foods salad bar, which I hold in the highest regard. While the food was about the same price as any other cafeteria, I appreciated that drinks and Monday cookies were free. I chose an oatmeal raisin cookie and saved it for later. It was outstanding. It tasted homemade and was perfectly crisp and gooey. One of my dining buddies had a chocolate chip cookie and claimed it was the best he'd ever tasted, high praise if I've ever heard it.

The next day we journeyed to Silicon Valley to spend time at Google. The headquarters is worth the hype. Between the large meeting bike to the kitchens every 150 feet, I was impressed. People work amazingly hard and it's great that they receive perks while doing it. The Google food was amazing. We went to Charlie's Cafe, a cafeteria inspired by the original Google chef for lunch. The food was free, thus disproving the theory that there's no such thing as a free lunch! I had some neat rice balls, seaweed salad, sweet potato soup, whole chicken pieces, the salad of the day and dessert. Let's just say that if I worked at Google, I'd have to rein it in as to keep my girlish figure. The dessert was spectacular, and I indulged. There was chocolate banana bread pudding, banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and cookies. The cookies were creative and exciting like Google. I had a cappuccino chocolate chip cookie and it was buttery and chewy and crunchy. I also indulged in a chocolate chip one. Banana is my favorite element of dessert, so it was a treat to have bread pudding and cupcakes, both banana themed. I loved that the sweet potato soup did not have cream or milk in it. The consistency was smooth and it just tasted like fall. Overall Google had the best cookies from any company on the trip.

A few days later, we went to One Infinite Loop to meet with Phil Schiller. Of course that meeting was the highlight of the visit to Apple, but the food was great too. We got to Apple really early, so they brought us to the cafeteria to get coffee and breakfast. I got an almond butter and avocado open faced sandwich. It sounded too unique not to get, so I got it and they held the pepper and just sprinkled some salt. It was the most filling sandwich I'd had in a while and I can't wait to reproduce it at home. Anything with avocado has my vote. After my sandwich we had a great discussion with some executives and then went on to lunch. I wish I could tell you what I learned, but we had to keep things confidential, so instead I will focus on the food!

Lunch at Apple was innovative. All of the produce was was fresh and delicious and the dishes seemed deliberately prepared. The cafeteria was subsidized so the prices were fair and far less than they would be for the high quality food elsewhere. I had a chopped salad with beets and avocado and artichokes and then I had spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese sauce. I loved that everything was so healthy. So I could make an apple to apple comparison (pun intended), I got a chocolate chip cookie to compare with Google and Microsoft. While the cookie was good, it was not great. I felt like I was eating food that a really great mom or grandma was making. I am going to make a variation of the spaghetti squash for dinner this weekend!

Overall, the field study could not be beat. My brain and body were both well nourished and we were shown such hospitality. After a trip out west, I will never look at the corporate cafeteria the same way

Drink, Sportello and Girls Night Out

Ever have those nights were money and calories don't count? You just want to eat really well, drink great drinks and have fun with your friends. Saturday night was one of those nights that will go down in history as one of my best nights in Boston from a food, friends, fun and drink perspective. We decided to start the evening at Drink and then work our way upstairs to Sportello. I found out after the fact that if you do the reverse, they can sometimes help you skip the line at Drink, but this is water under the bridge. This post is a bit longer than usual, so I will start with some advice in case you're in a hurry. Run as fast as you can to Drink and Sportello. The food, service and drinks are outstanding. Please share a part of your soul with the mixologist/waiter at drink and then when you are done or on another occasion go upstairs and order the tagliatelle bolognese. I am not innately a pasta person, but I will now dream of Sportello's pasta dishes.

We arrived at 7:30 to get five of us in at Drink. To add some context, Sportello and Drink are both part of the Barbara Lynch restaurant empire and happen to be housed in the same building in the Fort Point area. Drink is on the bottom and Sportello on top. Lucky for us, we only had to wait in the hallway for about 25 minutes before being served at Drink. We had a 9pm reservation at Sportello and they came down to retrieve us when the table was ready (super convenient). Drink is dimly lit with exposed brick and beautiful wooden bars all around. If you are lucky, you get to stand and if you're luckier you get to sit. I will tell you, I don't like standing at a bar for extended periods of time, but for Drink, I feel lucky to be in the room. It has such a positive happy fun vibe. The waitperson comes over to your party and gives you a food menu and then asks what you want to drink. To this you can say something like "I like sweet things" (me) or "I like cucumber" (a friend) or "I feel like something holiday" (my other friend) and they bring out a beautifully constructed tasty cocktail for you. Mine was a champagne with citrus, my friend had some sort of fresh cucumber drink presented in an old school champagne glass and my other friend had a brandy Alexander like drink with frothy foam on top. My first drink was like happiness in a glass. I love champagne and it was a pretty color. The second drink I ordered was perfect given the descriptor I gave, but I forgot to mention that Tequila and I are not friends. The waiter could not have been nicer and took it right out of my hand and off of the bill. Drink has some of the best service I've experienced. The waiter was subtle and kind about exchanging my drink, which I imagine happens so infrequently given how tasty and well constructed the cocktails are there.

It wasn't just drinks at Drink. They have great food, but given that Sportello was in our midst, it was bar cheese and toast for five of us. The toast had a little bit of oil on it and the bar cheese was like chive cream cheese-- the good stuff that you get in New York.

At approximately 9:10, the host from Sportello came down to get us. This was perfect because there was no lingering and waiting upstairs, instead it was a fluid transition from one establishment to the other. Had any glasses still been full they were welcome upstairs! Sportello is the perfect balance with Drink. It is bright and white and relaxed. When you walk in, it looks like a very clean diner. The kitchen area is open and there is a bakery counter lining one wall. We were seated on two sides of a table/bench between the "kitchen" and the bakery counter. Our waitress was awesome! She came over and gave us a heads up that the beef carpaccio and fish special were about to see out, so two of my dining buddies secured their dishes on the spot. Also, she offered a great perspective on the wine. We ordered a bottle of Pino Nior but it was white instead of red. The flavor was smooth and cool.

I shared a squash salad with one of my friends to start. While it was delicious and creative, I wished there was more on the plate. Others at the table ordered the spicy tomato soup and the last beef carpaccio in the kitchen (yum).

For dinner I had pasta bolognese. To say this was delicious was an understatement. I would have been happy if someone dumped me in a vat of pasta, bolognese and asked me to eat my way out. It was homemade pasta, which meant the pasta was a perfect smooth consistency. The sauce was full of different kinds of meat. I think there may have been hints of lamb in the sauce that had the perfect balance of tomato, herbs, meat and spices.

Dessert was a combination of cookies, cupcakes and a whoopie pie both to stay and to go. I can't get enough pumpkin especially in cookie form so I was excited about the pumpkin whoopie pie and a bacon cupcake seemed too good to be true, so I got one to go. The chocolate cookie was creatively sweet and salty. The bacon cupcake was really vanilla cake and maple butter cream with bacon on top.

Moral of the story is go to Sportello and Drink. You will not be disappointed. If you're on a budget, go to Sportello for a price fixed lunch.

Eastern Standard Brunchielunch

Eastern Standard is worth all of the hype it gets. I've only had consistently great meals and service there. No matter what I eat, it's satisfying and creative. Since it was a weekend between 10 and 2, I was geared up for some brunch. I define brunch as breakfast, but bigger. Eastern Standard had a part brunch, part lunch menu because it was Saturday and they only serve full brunch on Sunday. The food was awesome, but sitting outside comfortably in late October was the best part.

After pondering the menu for a while, I was set to order eggs. The past few times I dined at ES, I had a pastrami sandwich and since it was missing from the menu, I branched out. My dining partner had settled on the Croque-Madame. When the waiter told us the addition to the menu, I made a quick change and went for the homemade ricotta gnocchi with veggies and lamb sausage. I am a sucker for homemade pasta, and I figured the gnocchi would be the perfect substitute for all the bread I'd eat if I chose a breakfast option. We decided to balance the extreme carbs with a side salad.

After enjoying the fresh bread, butter and good conversation, the meals arrived. I started eating the perfectly cooked gnocchi with fresh almost crisp cauliflower, pea pods and tomatoes  The gnocchi was seared on the outside and right amount of chewiness. I could not find the lamb in my dish. Not to worry though, because the waiter could not have been nicer when adding it. They re-plated my dish with the lamb sausage, so it went from being a gnocchi primavera to a unique combination of gnocchi, lamb and veggies. I hope that in the future they make both the pasta dishes available. While the lamb sausage added a lot of flavor and smokiness to the dish, it was just as good and even a little bit lighter without it.

The side salad was tasty. It was mesclun greens with a garlicky mustard vinaigrette  Given the size of our entrees it was the perfect size to share. Sometimes at Eastern Standard, I find myself having the great salad versus french fry debate. The fries at ES are thin and perfectly crisp with some fresh herbs and the salad has those qualities with the added health benefits. At lunch we had our salad and fries too, because my dining buddy's dish came with fries.

The Croque Madam was beautiful. It was a layer of french toast topped with ham, cheese and a sunny side up egg and french fries. The dish looked to pretty to eat, and it tasted as good as it looked. The combination of sweet and savory was great. If I had to categorize it, I'd pair it with eggs Benedict because it had most of the same components. We joked about how big the dish was, yet it was devoured. I'm glad I got to try it because, had I ordered it, I probably would have been full for 24-hours and I never like skipping meals!

I appreciated that even after I had the waiter put my leftover two bites of pasta in a doggy bag that they still offered us dessert menus. The desserts sounded delicious, and I was tempted, but we opted to get the check for fear that we would be unable to stand if we ate anymore.

Eastern Standard is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. Jeremy Sewall is an artist! Their menu has a large variety of dishes with an array of ingredients and prices. While I have yet to go for dinner, I can vouch for the outstanding breakfasts, lunches and brunchielunches. Maybe next time I go, I'll steal less fries and have room for dessert!

Hawthorne Pot de Awesome

This is a somewhat impromptu post as I expected to just get a few apps when out for my friend's birthday last night at the Hawthorne, but wow, I got so much more. By so much more, I got a very tasty Caesar salad and the chocolate pot de creme for dessert.

The ladies around me had amazing looking drinks and got a few other apps. I decided given my low tolerance and the fact that it was a Monday night, I'd stick to apps and dessert. I tasted the potato skins which were really stuffed full fingerling potatoes. They were perfect and delish with bacon and a hint of mustard and cheese. I also tried the olives. The portion was large and the olives warm. My salad was perfectly chopped and dressed. I even forced myself to eat the anchovies. I think anchovies get a bad rep and are actually quite tasty.

I waited for a while for my dessert. I am notorious for going out and getting just dessert, but I figured I should fill up on something else first. The pot de creme was perfect and fulfilled my chocolate craving. My only wish is that I'd taken a picture. It was like rich chocolate pudding with salt and orange on top and really think rich whipped cream. The consistency was thick and creamy and the salt enhanced the chocolate. I don't usually eat orange rinds, but this dessert had some and they were shaved so finely, that I just ate them with the rest. For the prices I paid, I felt like the dessert was the most reasonable $9. While the salad could have been bigger for the $11. I will think about this dessert often and probably find myself at the Hawthorne bar often in search of it. I hope for the willpower to not visit more than once a week. Looking forward to next time I stop by where I'll pair it with a fancy drink or one of their large glasses of wine.

Next time you go to the Hawthorne for their signature drinks, check out one of the best desserts in Boston too. And if you feel like being nice, get a spoon or two to share it.

Tasty Burger for delicious prices

After my positive experiences at some of the other restaurants in Franklin's restaurant group, I was dying to try Tasty Burger. There is something really fun about a walk to the Fenway area on a Sunday night to go get burgers and fries.

I had initially shied away from Tasty Burger because it looked like a fast food joint and while I'm budget conscious, I try hard to avoid chains when I can eat at more unique concepts. My take on Tasty Burger was that it was a great spot with fast service and super inexpensive prices. Most of there burgers were between 5 and 8 dollars. We chose to sit inside becasue we wanted table service and we found a table near the pool table and bar. It was funny to find myself at a burger place when I didn't actually want burgers. Not to worry, the menu was extensive with hot dog, vegetarian and turkey alternatives to red meat.

Between me and my dining buddy, we ordered a turkey burger-- lettuce tomato and guac and a blue cheese burger with jalopenos. The turkey burger was my favorite turkey burger that I've eaten out. There were pieces of onion and spices in the turkey burger. The bun was light and flluffy and the guacamole was chunky and fresh. I was told that the blue cheese jalopeno burger was great for those who like some heat and blue cheese.

We also ordered a half and half to share. It was fries and onion rings. The fries were good. The onion rings were great. They were the thin stringy kind with perfect amount of breading and crispy! I took the first handful of each before my dining buddy added malt vineager. I loved the fried indulgence with and without the malt.

One of the most exciting parts of the dining experience was the huge amount of condiments. They were all out on the table and offered a ton of free ways to sass up your dish. Next time I go here, I will save room for a coffee milk shake.

Overall, I was impressed by the tasty burgers that Tasty Burger provided and can't wait to go back and add a coffee milk shake to my order! The prices were cheap and I bet the restaurant draws a huge late night crowd. I thought the turkey burger was comparable to any that I've had before and better! My dining buddy enjoyed the burger and put it in a cateogry with In and Out. I think part of the schtick is to serve the food in baskets while wrapped in paper and I appreciate it. However, if they want to differentiate themselves in look from fast food joints they could serve the food in a more formal way if one chooses to sit inside. I would not do this, though at the expense of raising the prices of the burger.