LaserGecko's Profile
Vegas Mexican
It's a hole in the wall, but Los Antojos on the southeast corner of Eastern and Sahara has the best tacos in town. Very Gringo friendly, too.
Five star chef Alex Stratta goes there when he wants tacos.
Las Vegas: Create Gourmet Burgers and Frozen Custard - Must Go!
First off, I have no connection to this restaurant other than a hole my bank account from our repeat visits. I've gotten to know the owner (Lance) and the staff just by coming in regularly and talking about food and custard. (Having lived in Missouri, I'm damned picky about frozen custard.)
If you haven't made the trip to the great Create burger and custard shop on the corner of Tenaya and Lake Mead yet, put it on your agenda. The burgers are outstanding, the frozen custard is the real deal, and they're probably one of the most environmentally friendly restaurants on the planet.
I can't give the place its due by writing about it and you'd probably be half way there by the time you finished reading, so I will just hit the high points and let you figure the rest out yourself.
From the framed plasma display showing works of art, to the famous and not-so-famous quotes on the wall, to the decor, it's just cool. They only have one location, but they put a lot of work into the decor and design.
PATTIES: First off, the burgers. Fresh, never frozen, Certified Angus Beef that's pattied up in four different sizes from mini (2.5oz) to monarch (1/2 pound). Personally, I think the majestic patty at 1/3 pound is the perfect balance between meaty goodness and putting another notch in your belt. They ask how you'd like it cooked, too. It's a great foundation for a terrific burger whether it's simple with just cheese, grilled onions, and a bun or one of the more complex creations. The meat is the star and shines through the supporting cast of flavors. (More on that later.)
Don't like beef? Try a turkey patty. (No personal experience with that.)
Don't like meat? Howzabout a grilled portobello? (done it at home, but haven't had one of theirs)
Don't like fire grilled fungus? Try their home made veggie patty! Yes, home made. (Very, very good, but like Homer Simpson, I prefer the "tasty, tasty murder" of beef)
BUNS: crEATe has great buns, too. White, wheat, hawaiian (my favorite), or a lettuce wrap
CHEESE: Eight different kinds
TOPPINGS: More than you can shake a stick at. (Four different kinds of leafy greens, three different kinds of onions, etc.) They've got you covered.
Of special note here is the bacon. It costs extra, but it's applewood smoked bacon that is "breakfast quality". The owner said the food sales rep just couldn't believe that he was using that grade of bacon on a burger when there are cheaper alternatives.
I think that says a lot about what he's trying to do here.
SAUCES: All the standards and a bevy of homemade concoctions including atomic mayo. Woo hoo!
...or just try one of the named burgers if you're overwhelmed by the options. The Medieval, Impressionist, and Dali are fantastic. Nothing takes center stage, IMHO. It's all about a great burger.
They do have salads, but um, well, I've never had one. :)
FRIES: Fresh cut or sweet potato. Side salad for a buck, if you want that.
DRINKS: Standard fountain fare and small cooler of specialty stuff. Diet Dr Pepper and China Mist Ice Tea are a big plus in my book!
FROZEN CUSTARD: Create uses a Ross Stoetling custard machine. This is the REAL deal. Anyone serving "custard" from a standard ice cream machine is literally selling you a load of cold air. These machines don't whip as much air into the mixture and they cost significantly more than the regular ones. Using one of these machines shows that the joint knows what it's doing and truly cares about the quality of the product.
(There's a dearth of real frozen custard in this town. If you try and point me to a shack off the strip, I can tell you exactly why I do NOT Luv It! I can breathe all of the air I want for free and I'm sure not going to buy it in substandard "custard" from a cheap machine.)
GREEN THINGS: No, not the lettuce. They use real plates and plastic cups and clean them with an energy efficient dishwasher. All of the "disposable" items like straws and custard cups are made from compostable things like corn starch plastic or sugar cane. They recycle and have local companies compost the food waste.
PRICING: A couple of bucks more than a Super Value Meal. I'm sorry, but once you see what a few hundred pennies more will buy from here instead of CorporateMegaBurger, you might want to sue them for false advertising by using the word "value".
Big Mac Value Meal: $5
Create Majestic (1/3#) Combo: $7
This is a no brainer, folks.
Two words sum up how I and my family feel about Create: Go there!
http://www.createburgersandcustard.com/ is their website.
Zion National Park - any suggestions?
For future reference (since you've already made your trip): Bit and Spur was one of the most disappointing meals of our life. We were so hungry and it was SO not even close to being Mexican, TexMex, or even Taco Bell quality.
The guacamole was yellow and had standing water in it. Here's an idea. DON"T SERVE IT if it looks like that.
Perhaps there's a different definition of "Mexican" food in Utah because that really bland Cafe Rio chain's food was really similar.
Zion Lodge was actually pretty good and the view is outstanding.
Las Vegas - looking for the opposite of what Vegas is all about
We had a great time eating at Swish Japanese Hot Pot. The food was good and the staff really took care of us "newbies" to shabu shabu cooking. I got the shabu shabu with the Kobe shoulder roast and my wife got the sukiyaki.
http://www.usmenuguide.com/swish.html
Best of Las Vegas 2006. Cool beans!
They're in the Entertainment book, too, so you can get 2 for 1. That's really the only reason why my wife agreed to go, but she really liked it.
It may sound weird, but their cheesecake dessert was one of those "nothing I ever eat again can compare to that" moments. Yes, cheesecake at a Japanese place, but man, oh, man.
Of course, Lotus is amazing. The sour pork with crispy rice appetizer is just incredible. Everything is good. Even their lunch buffet is better than most thai places' A-game.
Chow worthy spots near Hilton in Las Vegas
Avoid the Korean place next to Lotus of Siam. The food wasn't good and they were pretty hostile towards us "round eyes". I've heard a similar experience from a friend of mine.
You won't be far from Firefly on Paradise near the Hard Rock. Excellent, excellent tapas!
Also, the Hofbrauhaus is a bit spendy, but very, very good. I don't like or drink beer at all, but theirs is pretty good. The pretzel appetizer with cheese dip made with grilled garlic (I won't even attempt the actual name!) might just one of the best things you'll ever eat.
LAS VEGAS RIBS
It's between Durango and Hwy 95. Google Maps shows that it's .7 miles from the highway. It's in a strip mall near or next to Bugsy's. (?)
By far, the best Q you can buy in Vegas. I haven't tried their pulled pork yet and can't say anything about their sauce...because their meat doesn't need any sauce. This is the only joint out here that I've ever considered better than my own Q.
They also make their own gelato and ice cream.
Unlike Memphis, Buzz BBQ's stuff IS good enough to be "competition" quality.
Las Vegas Ice Cream or Gelato
Well, unless you like regular soft serve, avoid Luv-It Frozen Custard. That guy has never been to Missouri, for sure or he'd know what custard really is!
It's not far from the Strip if you're driving, but I wouldn't pay for a cab to get to it, but there's a Sheridan's Frozen Custard on Eastern a few miles south of 215. It's no Andy's Frozen Custard, but it's pretty good. Uses Ross freezers, so it's the real deal.
Also, there's a cool new place called Create Gourmet Burgers and Frozen Custard on Tenaya and Lake Mead (just about two blocks west of 95). This place is incredible! I need to do a full review, but everything there is just amazing. Also uses Ross freezers.
If you have a car, I would definitely take the 15 minutes to drive to Create!
LV/Henderson: Outlaw Barbecue and Chili - Avoid
The only illegal things about this place is what they do to their pork and what they charge for it.
This place used to be Red Rock Chili Company. I only made it there once...sadly. It was great for a chain.
They tried to expand their market by changing and adding barbecue. It's just freaking horrible. While I know I smelled smoke before we walked in (don't eat at a Q joint if you don't!), the ribs were boiled first. You might as well eat at Tony Roma's if you want parboiled ribs! They sucked, but they made up for it by being horribly expensive, too. Not a lick of pink to the meat anywhere, just gray lifeless and tasteless pork.
Shame on you and what you did that to pig!
Outlaw BBQ has a shelf of "Other People's Sauces". Too bad it's just an big advertisement for places you should have gone instead. They didn't even have any of THEIR sauce available. ...the hell?
My "Frito Boat" (remember, this used to be a chili place) was $5.99. It was a small SIDE sized bowl of Fritos with about a 1/4 cup of chili on top. The diameter of the bowl was barely bigger than 4". Luckily for us, it was close to closing time so they gave me some extra chili for my....OH WAIT, THEY DIDN'T. It's a good thing you were breaking down the line ten minutes after we ordered and got all that chili back into the refrigerator instead! I wouldn't want you to have to give people their money's worth.
Seriously. Six freaking bucks for a side dish???? Why wasn't it listed on the Side Dishes menu instead of the Main Course section? Heck, Jason's Deli (no relation) only charges $4.99 and gives you almost three times as much.
My wife's baked potato was late coming out. Fine, we understand. However, don't serve one that's 200° after just coming out of the microwave...and still not cooked through. Her replacement macaroni and cheese was similarly nuked. It was so hot at the end of our meal that it was barely edible.
My son's Grilled Cheese was pretty good, though. He didn't like it, but since I made the mistake of coming into the place being hungry, I was scrounging for anything edible from our $29 meal. Yes, $29...and I had a $6 bowl of Fritos and a drink and my son had a grilled cheese. WTF?
The owner or manager was there, too. He's a balding middle aged guy who you'd probably think just bought a Corvette since his divorce. He has "that look".
Please note: Your High School blond counter help is jailbait. You should show more interest in your customers than flirting with her. We couldn't decide what was more disgusting: Your complete disdain for your customers, you putting the moves on the Kinder, or the food.
We got the feeling that this place was going out of business.
Good. The sooner, the better.
If you're considering eating here, grab a hot dog from 7-Eleven instead, then punch yourself in the mouth after you eat it. You'll save yourself some serious cash and have a more enjoyable culinary experience.
Las Vegas: Galerias Comida Mexicana - Goooood!
Hi everyone,
There's a new Mexican joint (where a Coco's went out of business..woo hoo!) on the corner of Buffalo and Vegas called Galerias. They've only been open a couple of weeks, so go before the crowds find out about them.
Sorry, Michoacan restaurants, we love you immensely, but I think we have a new favorite Mexican place!
We had dinner there last night and it was incredible. The place is decorated like a Mexican mansion of old, so there aren't any sombreros or sarapes on the wall. It's quite attractive. They're so new, the Las Vegas location isn't even on their website yet. (That's GaleriasGourmet dot net for those who are interested.) It's a second location of this restaurant, not a chain venture, btw.
I have to rush to work right now, but will fill in the details later. The menu is filled with dishes that you've probably never seen unless you've lived in Mexico or eaten dishes prepared for local fiestas. Not many Mexican places offer dishes with ingredients like rose petals or fresh mint.
My wife's enchiladas suizas were delectable. I had the Filete Uruapan which is grilled skirt steak, layered with sauteed mushrooms, peppers, and onions, then covered in an avocado sauce. Presentation was beautiful and the Mexican rice was the best I've ever had.
Very much not your typical Mexican joint...and that is a wonderful thing!
More later.
Fisherman's Wharf - Cafe Pescatore ... OMG, was it good!
There are a lot of "gas assist" wood burning ovens out there. Perhaps it is one of them. The CPK at The Mirage uses white oak.
I definitely notice these things since I'm a Q-Snob. There was wood being used when we were there.
Agave Restaurant - Las Vegas
FOOD: Mexican, nuevo, modern, slightly hoity toity twists on the classics
WHERE: 10820 W. Charleston (near 215 and Red Rock Station)
COST: Not too bad, but you'll feel like you've cheated them when you leave
ATMOSPHERE: Incredible.
WEBSITE: http://www.agavelasvegas.com/
CHAIN/FRANCHISE: Don't think so. Owned by the people behind Sedona and Roadrunners, but I think this is the only one.
MUST YOU GO? You must, you must!
KICKING OURSELVES FOR NOT GOING SOONER: Absolutely.
OVERALL: Counting the seconds until we return.
First, I am definitely a gringo. I might have been the Spanish III honor student in high school and remember enough to be able to pronounce the chicken dish at the Michoacan restaurants to get a free tequila, but I'm pretty damned white. The closest I've come to Mexico is a few trips to Tijuana and that doesn't really count (except for a few meals at Hotele Lucerne).
I love Mexican food in all shapes and forms: real Mexican, fast food Amer-exican, Tex-Mex, New Mexican (stuffed sopapillas, anyone?), authentic Mexican. Along with real Q (my own and a select few restaurants) and Thai, I could eat Mexican for the rest of my life and just die happy.
Possibly sooner than anticipated, but happy, still.
That said, I have always viewed places like Agave with some trepidation. Do I reward their investment in a good architectural firm by throwing away $50 on mediocre food? Just what in the hell are they trying to pull anyway?
So, I've been wanting to go there ever since we had lunch at the also wonderful Island Burgers next door. Honestly, though, any time I see a building like Agave's, I wonder if they get it. Are they trying to lure me in with a cool building (that I get to help pay off through inflated prices)? The place is gorgeous, inside and out. The sundry pieces and parts (even our waiter) are all imported from Guadalajara, but that doesn't mean jack if the food doesn't work. It's even more dangerous when a chef decides to get all fancy, schmancy with a classic cuisine. Sure, Agave offers lump crab meat on top of their fresh guacamole, but they don't get it if the guacamole underneath "the twist" isn't good. I judge a restaurant by the simple things. For Mexican, their tortillas, guacamole, and pork green chile are my indices. Those three things are really simple, uncomplicated foods. If they get those right, they probably know what they're doing.
Oh boy, does Agave get it...and how.
The trio of salsas for the obligatory bowl o' chips were all great: one standard, one sweet chipotle, and one tomatillo. Not much heat in any of them, but the chipotle was my favorite. The blue and yellow corn chips were great. It seemed like there was a sprinkling of fine, crumbled cheese (cotija?) on them with the salt...not really enough to demand attention, but enough to notice.
We just had to try their freshly made guacamole...with lump crab meat. (Cue Robot Chicken M. Night Shyamalan "What a tweest!"). I perused the menu and decided to do the three Taco Sampler: carnitas with nopales salsa and tomatillo puree (muy standardioso, but props for the nopales), fried rock shrimp with chipotle crema & Mexican slaw (muy commercializado), and birria de chivo w/ avocado puree, cilatro, and onions. (Hell, yeah! Any restaurant that offers goat meat stewed in chiles and beer must have someone who knows their stuff. Muy autentico!)
My wife decided on the Shrimp and Crab Stacked Enchiladas with sweet corn-chile enchilada sauce and micro-greens.
The fresh guacamole appetizer is $8. For an extra George, you can have it made with chipotle peppers. For tres Jorges addicional, you can have a pile of lump crabmeat on top of it. Words can't really describe it, but that won't stop me. It might just be the best three clams you ever spend. I doubt the server would even flinch if I just ordered a big bowl of this for my entree next time. Seriously. Just put a trough of it in front of me and keep your hands out of the way.
If quicksand were made of this guacamole and crab, no one would ever escape. Why would you want to leave? No one would ever try.
The entrees arrived muy rapido, pretty much perfectly timed. The stacked enchilada plate was cookbook picture perfect, three inches tall, topped with beautiful red microgreens and sauced perfectly. My tacos were presented diagonally on the plate with a slice of lime for each. Beans and rice were on their own plate with what looked like a handmade, rather largish spoon for them.
First, my tacos in order of consumption: Rock shrimp.....um, rock shrimp, breaded and fried rock shrimp in one of those crunchy, but soft shells mixing with the juice from the slaw and the chipotle crema. Amazing. Incredible. The tortilla was also perfect. Obviously homemade due to the double layered feel and grilled to just the perfect point of warm, soft, and crispy.
Carnitas - eh, something tasted odd about them to me. OK, but not great. Very drippy, too.
Birrio de chiva - Yum, yum, yum, yum. Extremely drippy, but it what part of "stewed in beer and chiles" is hard to understand? For me, this is an occasional dish, but it's so good. Do not order if you're wearing a white shirt.
Now, for the Stacked Enchiladas.
Wonderful. Muy fantastico! A giant cylinder of sweet corn tortillas, crab, shrimp, sauce for nineteen smackers. Freaking awesome and totally responsible for KEEPING ME FROM HAVING ANY SOPAIPILLAS FOR DESSERT. As a responsible diner, I could not let my wife's leftovers go to waste...that and it was so damned good.
Speaking of sopaipillas, there is a horrible dearth of them in Las Vegas, stuffed or not. Garduños has them, but they're not as good as the ones in New Mexico, so we don't go that often. That made it all the more disappointing that there just wasn't any room for them.
Of course, Adobe is open 24 hours. Hmmmmm...
Go. Eat. Be happy.
LAS VEGAS RIBS
Buzz ain't new. It's been there for a couple years now. I just created a "place" for it.
Blah on Memphis. It's adequate, but just does not compare.
I haven't made ribs in awhile, but I will save you a few the next time I do to get the taste of Memphis' out of your mouth. :-)
LAS VEGAS RIBS
Best ribs and Q in Las Vegas:
Buzz BBQ
http://www.buzzbbq.net/
7810 W. ANN Rd # 130
LAS VEGAS, NV 89149
(702) 294-BUZZ
Take I-15 north to the Spaghetti Bowl, then Take Hwy 95 North toward Tonopah. Exit at Ann Road and go West/Left. It's about a mile down the road in a shopping center on the north.
Run by two old black guys and a fat white guy from Oklahoma. Even has homemade ice cream and Italian ices.
Pretty easy to find. It's not near the Strip, but beats the pants off of K's BBQ. It's the only restaurant out here that has ever produced barbecue better than I and my Kamados can produce...and I am a BBQ snob (was even on FoodTV for five seconds once when I competed).
Memphis does not produce Championship Barbeque. Sorry, Mike, you've dumbed it down enough to inspire me to get into the restaurant business and drive you out of it.
-----
Buzz BBQ
7810 W ANN Rd 130, LAS VEGAS, NV 89149
Lotus of Siam Las Vegas Review
Lotus is extremely accomodating to whatever level of heat you prefer. Even if you overestimate, the fresh mango with coconut ice cream and sticky rice will break all that molecular velcro loose from your tastebuds.
Thai iced tea helps, too.
If you don't go, just start kicking yourself right now and beat the rush. Seriously. If you remotely enjoy Thai and don't go to Lotus while you're here, DON'T SAY YOU LIKE THAI FOOD AGAIN!
You're officially out of the club. :)
The tapas at Firefly is wonderful, too.
White Truffles - LV?
Well, they'd shoot me for not knowing what restaurant it is since I work there, but there's an awfully good looking giant poster for some place at the Bellagio that serves Diver Scallops with Winter Truffles in the back of house.
It looks like slices of the truffle (black, though) are inserted into the scallop through surgeon like precision, then the whole thing is wrapped in truffle slices, coated with something then made golden, brown, delicious and sauced.
It sure looks like one scallop, so props to the person who can successfully insert slices of truffle into one!
It wouldn't take too much to find the place, I bet.
It's not white truffle, but it does look good. Too damned bad they put it so close to the employee dining room. It's hard to believe the same company is responsible for the same food, but at least the leftovers from the buffet are good at night. :-)
Vegas: El Patron deserves El Skippo Grande!
I posted this to the ReviewJournal's comments section, but I don't know if it will be approved or not. So, for the benefit of Mr. Kite (and the Chowhounds, too), here's my take on the RJ's Staff Pick for Best Mexican:
Usually, I am firmly behind the RJ Staff on their picks. When the people of the land, the common clay, you know, morons in Las Vegas vote for Taco Bell as the Best Tacos or The Olive Garden as the Best Italian, the Review Journal Staff will bring some sensibility to the table and suggest a place worthy of acclaim.
Not so in this case. So, very, very not so.
Our dinner tonight at El Patron was completely unremarkable. Well, it *was* very odd to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant while a Jazz quartet with a combined age of over two centuries belted out standard American hits. (With a grey haired lawyer as your hip vocal cat, you don't get much more of an authentic Jazz experience, do you?) So that was an interesting "note" to the evening, however, the food was competely and totally average. It was like when the Griffins went to Purgatory for their vacation: Not good, but not bad.
(Side note: If I EVER get to the point where I'm chair dancing to jazz while eating chips and salsa, you all have permission to cleave me however you see fit.)
When checking out a new Mexican joint, I will often order the pork in green chile sauce as a basic reference point. It's a true peasant dish and quite easy to overlook and even easier to present as a half-assed dish since it's so "simple", yet an outstanding version of it speaks volumes of the restaurant's attitude toward the cuisine.
Unfortunately, the route taken at El Patron is the path most frequently traveled: mediocrity. The path is consistent, though since the salsa presented with the chips was little or nothing more than canned tomato puree, cilantro, and jalapeño. My wife's enchiladas were just there on the plate. Nothing made them nor her margarita stand out in the slightest.
My hopes that were elevated by seeing Birria de Chiva on the menu (weekends only) were dashed by the food. You just don't see goat meat on the menu of a restaurant that doesn't know a thing or two about real Mexican cuisine. They also seemed to have their fair share of octopus/shrimp/bait combination dishes on the menu, too. Sadly, I don't think the person responsible for it was there tonight.
About the only other people in the place were the retired, jazz loving White folks.
That's NOT a good sign. Unfortunately, we ignored it and ate there, anyway. This was a trip for us since we're in the northwest, but the evening was saved by $7 spent at The Pinball Hall of Fame and a side jaunt to Sheridan's Frozen Custard.
The truly sad part about this is that we love to find new restaurants, yet when you go out of your way to get food that doesn't even approach your "regular" food from the Michoacans, it's THAT much more disappointing.
RJ Staff...you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Thrown to the Chowhounds with a couple of edits and additions to flesh out my feelings about the $33 that could've bought incredible food elsewhere.
Las Vegas Emergency
I don't know if it's the same joint, but there was an Italian place in The Rio that went so far to be authentic that they paid a hefty premium to get olive wood for use in their woodfired oven. Not cheap at all, but perhaps that's why there could be a "new" Italian place. there
That comes from my wood supplier who supplies the charcoal and wood to pretty much every place in town.
Vegas?
Luv It is NOT frozen custard as most people know it. Legally, it might qualify as "frozen custard" but it's nothing more than good soft serve ice cream because they use the standard soft serve machine to make it.
It's easily forgettable for a reason and barely above TCBY in quality. Ours came directly out of a softserve machine. Not a custard machine, but a softserve machine.
"Extremely disappointing" is how I would describe this supposed "custard" stand.
Sheridan's Frozen Custard is the closest you'll get to REAL frozen custard in southern Nevada. They use the extremely expensive Ross freezers that don't whip air into the mix. It's still not as good as Andy's or Ted Drewe's, but it's close enough to work.
If you know what frozen custard really is, you'll go somewhere else.
Good Breakfast in Vegas?
Omelet House: multiple locations, but locally owned AFAIK.
You won't have to eat again, for the rest of the day and possibly forever.
Dol Ho: A bit slow, but You Must Go!
That's a good way to put it "down home". It's certainly not MY "down home", but people are people.
A great, L.O.S.-quality dinner in Vegas?
The Michoacan restaurants have good carnitas. They actually have two styles. One traditional and one cooked with Coca Cola. I've had them both. Quite good, but there are better dishes to be had there. Birria de Chiva, for one.
I can also recommend Firefly Las Vegas for tapas. We got there very early in the evening and were quite obviously NOT in their target demographic since we had our son with us and it filled up with the beautiful people, but it was very tasty.
Fisherman's Wharf - Cafe Pescatore ... OMG, was it good!
I just posted a review of Dol Ho. This was lunch on our "Accidental Day of Eating Cheaply". After having breakfast at the Farmers' Market for $9 (two Oxoacan chicken enchiladas with beans and fruit water shake), we couldn't believe the bill at Dol Ho.
Anyway, thanks again.
Dol Ho: A bit slow, but You Must Go!
Dol Ho:
(in my best ComicBook Guy Voice) Best Dim Sum Ever!
We never would've found this were it not for the recommendation here and it being listed in my Magellan Meridian's DirectRoute database. Well, the GPS really helped.
If you can't find Dol Ho, it's right up the street from the place in Chinatown that sells the oranges. :-)
Seriously, though, you don't get much more authentic than this. The arguing in the kitchen only added to the experience. This is not a place that's trying to earn your business by luring you inside with, well anything. There is no decor WHATSOEVER. We didn't even get a menu and had to ask if we were supposed to seat ourselves. They were incredibly busy and the place was just packed full of local Chinatown residents.
Good sign. VERY good sign.
The grandmotherly waitresses were very friendly and accomodating to us. (Is there a Chinese word for "Gringo"?) Our water was served in a tea pot with tea cups. The first waitress saw us and said "We bring dumpling soon" noting our skin color and supposed (and correct) love of sui mai.
Service here is "when it's ready". The wait was long, but well worth it. We kind of got to know some of our dining companions. The older gentleman next to us was having the steamed spareribs over rice and he let us know in no uncertain terms that we were in a very good place to eat. It was really neat to see another great grandfatherly type get up from another table to leave, then come over to sit and chat with our next door neighbor friend once he was recognized.
The only difference between this event and my Grandpa Bill doing the same thing countless times in Frank and Minnie's Cafe in Harrison, Arkansas was the language being spoken.
God bless those cooks wearing homemade smocks almost exactly like my Granny used to wear! They were surely the most incredible sui mai we've ever eaten. I don't know what the difference was, but what a difference it WAS. Something was just very, very good about these. It wasn't our hunger nor the lack of a basis for comparison. There was just something beyond any other we'd ever eaten.
It took awhile before the next dish was out. Well, it took awhile before the next dish made it to our table since a couple were brought out, then taken by the tables between us and the kitchen. I swear, that entire restaurant looked like pack of attention starved dogs at the pound looking for new owners whenever a new tray of little happiness-es left the kitchen. It was hysterical after awhile because the collective "sigh" as the food was taken was just like the group of partying mice in the Speedy Gonzales cartoon where Sylvester keeps turning off the lights.
This was group Bi Polar Dim Sum, for sure.
Anyway, about ten minutes later, we jumped at whatever we could get. This time is was a shrimp paste cooked on top of a bell pepper slice. My wife doesn't like bell peppers, so she enjoyed this dish free of its green cooked, yet crunchy raft.
The next dish was giant meatballs...of what, I'm not sure, but likely beef with crunchy bits of vegetables in tow. (It's been awhile since I've cooked dim sum, but I'm sure this is in my cookbook.) These were almost too good to eat, but we managed.
OK, by this point, we were stuffed. You know how Mom always said to slow down and chew your food? Well, the service on this day made it a necessity. I could understand my wife being full since she has a lap-band, but I didn't understand why *I* was so full.
This is why it was so hard to turn away the lady when she brought a plate of steamed pork buns specifically to us. She looked so disappointed, too. After I looked at my wife, we both decided to get them anyway since they were probably going to be the best we'd ever had. Luckily, I caught her before she gave them away.
Now, I'm usually not a big fan of these. Being from the South, I'm particular about anything called "barbecue pork" and wrapping that in (usually) soggy steamed bread just really isn't my cup o' iced tea. That said, these damned steamed pork buns were also just the best damned things on the planet. The bread was better than ever. Their pork on the inside was nothing but pure, made-with-love goodness.
It probably took about 40 minutes from start to finish to eat the four finest dim sum dishes of our lives. They were just incredible. The differences to us cannot be named, but something about it all made it absolutely stellar in comparison.
The next surprise came when we finally had to leave this friendly little bit of heaven. Our bill.
For four dishes of dim sum that were beyond comparison, the bill was a staggering $7.50. I asked if that was correct and the cashier's tone of "Yeeaass, seven fifty!" confirmed it and told me to not bother asking again. I felt guilty leaving her only $12. Hey, we're not rich by any means, so we're not these $1,000 tippers that you read about in the paper, but at $12 we honestly felt like we were stealing from these people.
We were quite glad that it was now a downhill walk to our next destination.
Thanks for the tips, Chowhounds!
Fisherman's Wharf - Cafe Pescatore ... OMG, was it good!
Thanks for putting this into its own thread. I suspected that it was part of a corporation because of the computer based ordering system, but it still has an "independent" feel to it. The "polenta al forno" was indeed the dish that I had, so please forgive the incorrect name. We were a bit exhausted at the time. :-)
They do indeed serve homemade focaccia bread. I think it has a hint of rosemary to it, but it's far from overpowering. Of course, there's oil and balsamic on the table, but it took a bit of balancing for my wife to get it right. It's not high grade stuff in either case, but at least they're not serving butter with the bread.
My wife had the chicken calzone and I had the Italian sausage pizza. We were once again starving after our evening trip to The Rock, but after the liquid gold of the polenta and the perfecto-foccacia, this was way more than we could eat.
The quality of the food was definitely in that "we really care about the food" echelon of restaurants. Was it "take off the top of your head" good? Well, other than the polenta, not quite, but it was definitely wonderful.
We really got a good "locals vibe" when we recognized four of the tour guides from Alcatraz who came in a few minutes after we arrived. Perhaps Cafe Pescatore is on their way home, but it's not exactly right across the street from that pier.
Where do the locals eat in Vegas?
The Bootlegger's on the Strip, so not really. However, it quite good and still has that "sit with your back to the door" vibe to it.
When we dined there, it definitely had a gangster movie feel to it. It only helps the food taste better when it looks like a scene from a movie right before a snitch gets whacked.
Where do the locals eat in Vegas?
Well, "Chinatown" is the official name, but it's more like "ChinaBLOCK"
There's a new ChinaBlock like center that opened up just west of Decatur on Spring Mountain. Excellent bakery there: Provencal Bakery
It's connected to a sandwich shop that's well rated, too. Hue Thai, IIRC.
Hidden Gems in SFO? / Best Crab at "Regular Guy" Prices
Hokay, well, we'll skip that, then. :-)
Sometimes you're looking for good and sometimes, well, you're starving. After quite a trip (thank you, fog related ground delay), getting to pet Kevin Spacey's dog while we waited for all waited for our luggage (confirmed, btw but we were cool and didn't bother him), riding BART with Reverend Al Sharpton (If it wasn't him, it was his twin brother), and getting to the hotel, we were pretty darned hungry. We got hornswoggled into Nonna Roses crab ("same owner as next door"). We split the whole crab dinner. It reminded me of the bit on Family Guy where they flashed back to their vacation in Purgatory. "Well, this isn't bad. It's not good, but it's not bad."
Skip to being starved after the Alcatraz Night Tour. We just didn't have the patience nor energy to seek out anything on the list, so we went to Cafe Pescatore since I had a great lunch there last year with fantastic service.
OMG, was it good! I ordered the Polenta Con Forma as an appetizer. I don't have the energy to detail the full meal right now (it was a great meal), but this $7.50 appetizer is OUTSTANDING.
Wood oven baked polenta with parmesean, marinara, and pesto in an Italian flag motif. Of course, it's served so hot that you expect scientists to land a helicopter on it and take a core sample, but it was so, so, so fine.
Take one bite and you'll probably end up calling it "my precious". Somebody who knows Italian food should come down here and try it. I'd really like to know what an expert would think of it.
Plus, they have Sugar in the Raw for your iced tea. I really dig a restaurant that goes to the extra effort to buy turbinado. I don't know why they haven't been mentioned on Chow, but I'll write a full review when I get a chance.
Hidden Gems in SFO? / Best Crab at "Regular Guy" Prices
Thanks for the wealth of info, everyone!
I will try (but will likely fail) to post our non-updated "Places to Eat in San Francisco" list, but since the plane leaves in twelve hours (and I'm not off work for another two hours).
The Farmer's Market is one thing we had already planned to do, so it's great to see it mentioned here. The list of vendors just sounded heavenly. One other place on the list is a Chinese pastry shop with a logo that resembles the Gorton's fisherman. I'm sure you'll know it instantly, but I can't even fathom the name now.
I'm printing this and all the linked threads right now just in case our laptop gives us fits.
We're at Fisherman's Wharf because I stayed there last year at about this time on a two day business trip, so it was a familiarity thing. I told my friends last year that we were doing the equivalent of going to The Strip in Vegas. That trip convinced me how cool your public transportation system is and how much I wanted to come back!
Of course, driving into town while the Governator was arriving to start the bike race was the world's worst timing.
Thanks again, guys!
Help! - Best BBQ/Soul Food in Vegas?
Buzz BBQ
7810 W. Ann Rd. #130
Las Vegas NV 89130
Phone: 702-294-2899
None others can compare. Period. (However, the Best Sandwich on the Planet is still the Smoked Philly from Buckingham's Smokehouse BBQ.)
This is the only damned Q joint at which I have ever bought brisket that was equal to or better from than my own backyard. Luckily, they don't do pulled pork, so I'm still the best in town. :-) Their ribs were amazing and the sausage, oh the sausage....not polish, not summer, but genuine andouille sausage smoked over hickory, like everything else.
This was TRULY competition level barbecue, unlike that crap that Mike Mills sells at his "Championship" restaurants. I've been part of a competition team (even been on Food Network for five seconds!) and can honestly say that Buzz's ribs and brisket are that damned good.
Plus, homemade ice cream and Italian ices. I don't care where you are in the valley, it's worth the drive.
I'll say this about The Salt Lick. It was good, but our waiter didn't know the difference between a St. Louis style rib and rib tips. The only worse ignorance I've seen was when the waiter at Lucille's told me "brisket and tri-tip are the same thing".
Thank God there wasn't a hammer in reach or I would've dropped him like a sack of potatoes.
Speaking of Lucille's, I wasn't a fan because of that and their imaginary barbecue. (Shut up, Heidi Knapp-Rinella, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "SOUTHERN STYLE TRI-TIP" so don't make excuses for stupidity. Heidi doesn't know JACK about Q!) However, we had a Christmas party there this year. I was impressed with the ribs. The newly added to the menu brisket was awful, but their "Banana Pudding" was out of this world.
Granted, it was NOT real "nanner puddin'", not even close. It was more of a mousse like consistency and there wasn't a Nilla wafer to be found, but whatever it was, it was amazingly good. Try it and I guarantee that you will not be able to walk away from it.
BTW, Big Mama's is in a former McDonalds building. We liked it better than Kathy's (because the waitress there told my wife that her dish "wasn't spicy at all"). Skip their Q, but the rest is fine, fine, fine. Be sure to go during the cooler months, 'cause Big Mama don't cotton to no high air conditioning bills!
The Smothered Chicken is a bit o' heaven. My son loves the Ghetto Juice. Their cabbage is straight off of my Granny's stove.
I never knew that those Sunday dinners at Granny's house were actually $500 meals until I moved to Las Vegas.
