Sandwich Forensics

In case you didn't know, Wendy's fast-food chain has a new sandwich, the pretzel burger. I decided to try this burger the other day even though I have been kind of trying to stay away from fast food. Kind of. The flavor of the burger was delicious and the consistency of the band was perfect; it was tough on the outside and fluffy on the inside just like a regular hot pretzel you would get at the mall or at the fair. The meat was delicious and the sauce was great as well. Included on the burger was lettuce, tomato, and red onion slices. The only real problem with the burger was that it was so incredibly greasy.

When you have a sauce that is a delicate emulsion of oil and "other", sometimes it is very difficult to get that sauce to a high enough temperature without breaking, also known as separating. I believe some of the greasiness of the burger was due to the sauce breaking and the oil from the sauce leaking out into the container and settling underneath the bottom bun. I believe the rest of the greasiness was due to regular greasiness of a beef burger combined with the greasy sauce and all put on a bun that does not have the consistency or ability to absorb grease like your typical hamburger bun would.

I'm going to try the pretzel burger again because the flavor was absolutely amazing, however, if it is greasy the next time then I will know it is just a poorly made burger!

Neighbor's Deli Update!

I've been going to Neighbor's Deli since they were a Jersey Mike's franchise. Super awesome owner, super awesome food, and just when I think it can't get any better (unless they moved closer to my house) - French Onion Soup.

OMG.

The best non-sit-down-restaurant French Onion Soup that I've had in a long time. Make sure you go get some as soon as possible. Also, join their Facebook page for great deals.

And now, the photos (do not judge too harshly, this soup sat in the car for 25 minutes while I was stuck in traffic. I popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it was perfect):

There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

Location:

The Gyro Shoppe

2061 Henderson Rd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 442-1200‎

Located on Henderson Road in Upper Arlington, just down the street from Neighbor’s Deli, is a sweet little gem of a place located in an old Taco Bell.  The Gyro Shoppe has been on this corner for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been getting their amazing gyros and fries for at least ten years.  Finally, I decided to give them a shout-out on the blog.

 

To be generic, everything they serve is delicious… I’ve had the gyros, the Greek salads, the baklava, stuffed grape leaves (see photo above), you name it.  But my favorite meal is a super gyro and fries (and pop).  The gyro meat (lamb, traditionally) is tender and peppery, and cooked on a vertical spit to ensure maximum deliciousness.  A nice amount of meat is stuffed into a pita and topped with onion, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce.  Oh, the tzatziki sauce – a yogurt based cream sauce involving cucumber, dill, garlic, and lemon juice (among other ingredients) – is to die for.  I’m not sure what they do to make it so tasty but the creamy zing of the tzatziki cuts through the density of the lamb-pita combo perfectly.

The fries, which I believe are fried in peanut oil, are breathtaking.  They come in a little wax bag, always overflowing and leaving those renegade fries at the bottom of your brown paper bag.  I love those renegade fries.  But I digress… the Gyro Shoppe’s fries are thick cut, but not steak fries, giving them a super-crispy outside and perfectly potatoey inside.  They offer “Greek seasoning” to shake on them, but I don’t think it’s necessary, and besides I’m pretty sure the “Greek seasoning” is really just Lawry’s seasoning salt.

All in all, a spectacular place for Greek food.  The service is fast, the prices are cheap, and now you can even find another Gyro Shoppe in Dublin on Woerner Temple Road!  The only downside to the Gyro Shoppe is that they close kinda early, so if you get a late-night craving for lamb, you’re s.o.l… at least if you want good lamb!  I used to be a big Yanni’s fan, and then I moved on to loving Gyro Express.  Now that I’m a grown-up, I love the Gyro Shoppe and that is where my devotion will remain!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 5

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

iMe encanta este lugar!

Location:

La Michoacana Market & Restaurant

Corner of Bethel & Sawmill Roads, next to J. Lindsay’s

Columbus, OH 43235

Being a chef, I am very interested in trying new cuisines from different cultures.  If you couldn’t already tell from previous posts on this blog, Mexican/Hispanic food happens to be my favorite.  One day I decided to go into La Michoacana and check out their grocery selections, and I was pleasantly surprised by what awaited me inside.

When you walk into La Michoacana, you are instantly transported to a different space, a different time, a different world.  There are piles of fresh produce to the right, and aisles upon aisles of Hispanic foodstuffs to the left.  I had to walk through twice just to look at everything before I even started to consider what I might buy.  They have spices, candles, statues, cheeses, a meat counter complete with pig and chicken feet, funky pops and candies… simply amazing.  In the corner near the front is the jewel of La Michoacana – the restaurant or “taqueria”.  I didn’t try it that day, but I took my boyfriend back later that week to see what it was all about.

 

We were clearly the minority here, even though there was only one other couple in the tiny restaurant.  There was one waitress to serve the 15 tables, and I’m pretty sure she only spoke enough English to get by.  I ordered a chimicanga, of course, and he ordered the quesadilla.  Oh my god, were we in for a treat!  The food was ever so marvelous, and for once I was at a loss for words.  They served us chips and salsa, but not salsa like you would think of – it was actual salsa (most restaurants serve “salsa” that is actually a juicier form of pico de gallo).  There was a green flavor and an orange flavor, and honestly, despite my super tasting powers, I could not decipher the main ingredients in either sauce.  Either way, they were freakin’ delicious.  My chimichanga was covered in green chile sauce, grated queso blanco, and sour cream and served with a side of rice and beans.  The quesadilla, which was enormous, was served plain, also with a side of rice and beans.  As you can see from the pictures, my poor boyfriend struggled to get the last bite of his quesadilla down the hatch… but he triumphed finally and we asked for our check.

All this deliciousness only cost $15, and along with the bill came two Mexican suckers!  Awesome!  Overall, I would say that if you are looking for a truly authentic Hispanic meal, La Michoacana is the place to go.  Obviously I feel that other restaurants offer a bona fide experience, but La Michoacana is run by Hispanics for Hispanics and that means they don’t change anything up for the gringos!  Go here as soon as possible.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 3

Value: 5

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

Like the moon hitting my eye...

Location:

Dough Boy’s Pizza Co.

4658 Kenny Road

Columbus, Ohio 43220

614-459-4400

Dough Boy’s is located in an old “strip mall” next to the Kenny Road Market (yay exotic beers) and U-haul rental spot.  We ordered delivery, so I never saw the inside, but peeping in through the windows a couple times led me to believe they were straight on the cleanliness – and they had a green sticker.

The man was tasting for pizza, and I had a flyer. “Anniversary special! One large pizza any way you want it with an order of cheesy bread only $9.99!” WOW! What a great deal!  They had left the door hanger about a week before that, so we called up to take advantage of the bargain… and that’s when my unhappiness began.

Upon ordering this super-awesome “Anniversary Special”, my man was told that it had ended on Memorial Day.  Wait – didn’t Memorial Day happen in May?  Why were they putting door hangers out almost two months after they expired?  So we ordered a large pizza with five toppings – extra cheese not being included as a topping but rather costing $1.50 extra, was skipped – bacon, pepperoni, tomatoes, green peppers and onions.  No cheesy bread because that was $4.95 extra and we weren’t trying to spend a whole lot.  They quoted us 45 minutes to an hour (at five o’clock on a Sunday… apparently this is prime pizza time).

The one good mark Dough Boy’s gets is in time management.  The pizza arrived within 20 minutes.  I was thoroughly shocked.  Bill: $11.49 - $9.49 + $2.00 delivery charge.  Not bad, but not as great as that tantalizing Anniversary Special that had lured us in.  The slogan at Dough Boy’s is “We load on the toppings!!” and in all fairness to my readers, don’t believe this false advertising.  If by “load on the toppings” they mean toss them about randomly in a haphazard fashion so that only some slices have 2 toppings and some have 5, well then fine.  But in my book, “loading on the toppings” means having lots of each topping on every single slice across the entire pizza.  Ugh!  There were no more toppings than any other pizza I’ve ordered from any other place.  As for the size of the large, well, it was actually the size of a Pizza Hut medium.  Seriously.

Overall, I was quite disappointed.  It was a fine pizza, not great or spectacular, and I’d really like to know exactly who voted them best new pizza in Columbus.  The menu is fairly extensive, with wings and Italian dinners and salads and all that jazz, which might be the reason why they can’t focus on an awesome pizza.

To learn more about Dough Boy’s, click here to visit their website.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: unknown

Value: 2

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 3

Menu: 5

Summer Series #4 - Grapes of Mirth

In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage. ~The Grapes of Wrath

 
Location:

Grapes of Mirth

59 West Spruce Street

Columbus, Ohio 43015

614-221-9463

Located on the east wall of the North Market, Grapes of Mirth is your one-stop-shop for all exotic beer and wine needs.  They feature over 600 wines and 200 beers, all crammed into a teeny tiny area comprised mostly of eight to ten foot high shelves and small wooden skids with the occasional haphazard stack of cardboard crates.

David Bihn has owned Grapes of Mirth since 2003 and, according to the website, has been with the company for over fourteen years.  He’s a friendly fellow,  always ready to lead you to your favorite bottle or suggest something new if they don’t have what you’re looking for; however, if they don’t have what you want, he will gladly order it on the spot.
 

Grapes of Mirth features artisan wines as well as “commercial” wines, and they carry a plethora of Ohio wines as well.  From what I could tell, many of the Ohio wines available are not readily available in your everyday local wine shop or grocery store.  Yay, Locavores!  They have the largest selection of Belgian beers in the central Ohio area, possibly in all of Ohio, and the best part of the beer selection (and the wine selection) is that if you ask David a question, odds are he knows the answer.  Not only does Grapes of Mirth have the physical inventory, they also have the mental inventory.

When I stopped by Grapes of Mirth, I was on a mission: find Vinho Verde, my number one most favorite wine of all time.  It’s a sweeter wine, which I normally don’t care for, but the fermentation and bottling processes cause the wine to have a slightly carbonated feel about it – not as fizzy as beer or pop but definitely more tickly to your tongue than a normal white wine.  I was in luck – big time – because David had just gotten in a large shipment of Vinho Verde!  There were four inexpensive choices ranging from $5.99 to $7.99.  At the time I thought I was just getting lucky on the price, for in the past I had paid up to $15.99 per bottle at another wine shop near Dublin.  Apparently Grapes of Mirth always sells their Vinho Verde for these low-low prices!  Having worked in yet another wine shop since that day, I can tell you 100% that you will NOT find a lower price on this delicious wine.

Official tasting parties or events are not regularly scheduled, but you can arrange a “private” tasting with the owner.  Obviously Ohio laws call for a charge, but this is typical of all alcohol tasting venues and events.  Also for sale at Grapes of Mirth are different accessories, such as gift bags, wine keys, corkscrews and so forth.

For more information, visit their website here.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)                    

Cleanliness: 3 (everything has that dusty wine-cellar feel to it)

Value: 5

Accessibility: 3 (the North Market is easy to get to, the shop is easy to get to, the bottle are definitely not easy to get to!)

Friendliness: 5

Menu: n/a but the selection is mind-boggling!

 

"The diner is everybody's kitchen" - R. Gutman

Location:

Famous Jack’s Diner

755 US Highway 23 North 

Delaware, OH 43015

740-369-6677

Back in February of this year I was contacted by a company regarding a diner management position.  I met with the owner of the diner and a woman who worked for the company (a real estate development firm) and the interview went quite well.  I didn’t hear back from them until the beginning of April, and by then I had already started a new job… and hated it.  So I met again with the owner and he asked me to go in as a “secret shopper” and check the place out, see what I think about it, and get back to him.  I figured, “Hey!  A free meal and I can put this on LPS!  Sweet!”  So here is the review for Famous Jack’s (a place where I may be the manager in the near future).

I live in Columbus on the edge of Upper Arlington and Dublin, near Sawmill and Bethel roads.  Famous Jack’s seemed so far away, but when I took Riverside (33) straight up to 42 and over to 23 just south of downtown Delaware, the trip was only about 20 minutes.  I didn’t mind either because I love to drive on Riverside; once you get past the zoo it’s beautiful and scenic, especially on a misty Sunday morning.  I had my dog with me because he loves car rides (my dog has been adopted out to a new home, by the way) and in no time we were pulling into the parking lot… Well, I should say that in no time we were driving past the entrance to where I should have pulled into the parking lot.  I turned around at the gas station, headed back toward the diner, and missed the entrance again.  I was forced to exit onto Sandusky Street, which in turned forced me to go all the way back through the town until I got to 36/37 and could cut back over to 23 north.  Again.  This time I didn’t miss the driveway and after spending almost as much time trying to get into the parking lot as I had driving there, we finally parked.

This diner is kinda junky looking on the outside, and being surrounded by construction equipment doesn’t help.  The building itself really is quite awesome, and I believe it may be an authentic diner – you know, the kind that looks like a trailer, very long and narrow.  I was nervous walking in for some reason, probably because Delaware makes me nervous, but upon entering my nerves were calmed.  The staff, mostly female, all hollered there hellos and a short gray-haired woman instructed me to sit wherever I liked.  I chose the bar because most of the booths were occupied and because I despise when one person takes up a space that could fit 5-7.  Also, sitting at the bar gave me a good vantage point of the whole place.  It’s a classic place, wood paneling and red leather seats, pictures of Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne… cliché but classic.  Not too overwhelming on the décor and there is one TV on the far side near the ceiling.

I ordered the 3-egg breakfast which included 3 eggs any style (over-easy for me!), toast (white, wheat or cinnamon), bacon or sausage (links or patties) and hash browns.  On Sundays you get free coffee with your meal, so I took advantage of that even though I normally don’t drink coffee.  My waitress, the short gray-haired lady (“Shorty” was her name), was so incredibly nice.  It was like having a mom for a server!  As I sat waiting for my meal, I observed the clientele.  Lots of families, mostly coming from church it seemed, and most of the servers seemed to recognize the customers.  The atmosphere was very jovial and home-town-ish.  When my food appeared in front of me, I was surprised.  The eggs, which I knew would number 3, must have been jumbos because they took up almost the whole plate.  The hash browns were placed half on top of the eggs, and the bacon was strewn over the whole pile.  The toast, hot and heavily buttered, came on its own plate with two flavors of jelly.  The eggs were cooked perfectly, and that’s a pretty impressive statement coming from someone who loves dippy eggs but loathes slime.  The bacon was crispy and the hash browns were awesome.  I was impressed.  Total bill came to $8.00 with tip.  In general I’d say that if you feel like taking a drive, this would be a great place to go, or if you live in or near Delaware it’d be a great place to go.  Even if I don’t get the manager job, I’m still going to head back there because I’d like to try out the rest of the menu.  Oh, the menu!  I forgot to tell you guys – it’s huge – too huge actually.  They serve breakfast all day as well as sandwiches, burgers, and actual dinner meals like pork chops and steaks.  But if I get the job we’ll be working on that! *wink*

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)                    

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 5

Accessibility: 3 (no sign, no turn lane, misleading driveway entrances)

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 3

The Men Who Sell Hot Dogs (and more)

Location:

Village Coney

418 E. Whittier St.

Columbus, OH 43206

(614) 445-9633

Finally a place where I can get a damn chili dog and it doesn’t involve dog-food-esque ingredients from a can!

Bradley, Brad, and Nick Martensen, along with Jon Graham, run this cute little joint down in Columbus’s German Village on the south side of downtown.  It’s nestled between old houses and surrounded by tree and brick-lined side streets.  Started in 2001, I’ve heard that it was once a failing burrito shop (sources needed).  Regardless of the building’s past, the future looks as bright as yellow mustard for this happy hot dog heaven.

My time today was limited, and I honestly spent more time catching up on the last ten years with Nick, who I went to high school with, than I did eating.  I opted to order their original village coney ($1.75!!) and a side of homemade coleslaw ($2.00).  The dog was charming – coney sauce, mustard, onions (plenty of each topping too, my lil wiener friend was barely visible under all that goodness) on a nice fluffy bun, and it was scrumptious.  The coleslaw was also a good-sized portion, no carrots (yay! I loathe carrots!), dressed in a poppy-seed creaminess.  I was pleased with my total bill, for who can take leftovers home after only paying $3.75 for the entire meal?!  Amazing.  The menu isn’t just limited to hot dogs, oh no!  They have burgers, salads, fries, tots, onion rings… the list literally goes on and on.  I’m very interested in trying the Cleveland dog with a side of fried mushrooms.

Village Coney is quite small, tiny in fact, but it oozes charm all over the sidewalk.  They have outdoor seating and 5-6 tables inside, and in the half hour I spent there about six customers came & went.  I can imagine this place probably gets pretty packed!  Brad & Nick’s older brother Chris painted the whole inside, including a mural of Schiller Park and featuring his original artwork with prints available for sale.  Places like Village Coney are some of my favorite places to visit and frequent.  They are 100% neighborhood, a wee little gathering spot for good food and great conversation.  Even though this restaurant is fairly far from my place, I have a dog now and we need excuses to get to a park… Village Coney just happens to be right around the corner from one!  Next time I go back I’m going to take an empty stomach and fill it up as full as I can.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 5

Accessibility: 3 (street parking, small signage)

Friendliness: 5
Menu: 5