San Luis has yet another coffee shop in town...Kreuzberg Cafe. John and I decided to check it out this weekend and it was pretty good. The atmosphere is really cool with lots of lounging furniture, cool artwork, upside down lamps as lights, and books to buy or swap. It reminds me of a place that would be in San Francisco or Seattle. Hopefully it will have a long life in SLO!
Showing posts with label good eats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good eats. Show all posts
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Day 19: Newbie
San Luis has yet another coffee shop in town...Kreuzberg Cafe. John and I decided to check it out this weekend and it was pretty good. The atmosphere is really cool with lots of lounging furniture, cool artwork, upside down lamps as lights, and books to buy or swap. It reminds me of a place that would be in San Francisco or Seattle. Hopefully it will have a long life in SLO!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Day 16: Can I help you?
I brought my co-worker Cheryl a hat from The Varsity as a souvenir from Atlanta. I think she is ready to take your order...what do you think?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Day 12: FO
Saturday was our last day in Hotlanta. We didn't do too much...did a little shopping, ran a couple of errands, got the girls photos taken with Santa, and ate some more good food.
The night ended with a dessert stop at The Varsity for their famous Frozen Orange AKA FO. We were introduced to The Varsity and their awesome FO last year and I must admit I was worried I wasn't going to get one this trip, but low and behold the BEST HOSTESS EVER pulled through 10 hours before we were to leave the state. Here is my gigantic FO and it was even BETTER than I remembered.
Here is an added photo bonus for you...the mandatory group photo we had taken before going into the Aquarium.
And.................the group shot from last year. (I am impressed they have changed the background image).
The night ended with a dessert stop at The Varsity for their famous Frozen Orange AKA FO. We were introduced to The Varsity and their awesome FO last year and I must admit I was worried I wasn't going to get one this trip, but low and behold the BEST HOSTESS EVER pulled through 10 hours before we were to leave the state. Here is my gigantic FO and it was even BETTER than I remembered.
Here is an added photo bonus for you...the mandatory group photo we had taken before going into the Aquarium.
And.................the group shot from last year. (I am impressed they have changed the background image).
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Summa Time and the Livings Easy
This weekend was pretty mellow which was much needed. I FINALLY had time to test out my new cruiser! We rode downtown and got to our destination in just a few minutes. Let me tell you it was not long enough! I wanted to keep riding because it was so fun. I can't wait to be crusin' all summer.
(Click photo to enlarge)
John and I are planning/hoping to make one dish a week out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (John got me the recipe book after seeing the movie last fall). We decided to start with something simple, so the first thing we made was a roasted chicken. (Ok, John made most of it, I was assisting by taking photos). 
The bird is ready. (We sold our roaster when we moved, so we got a cheapy rack at Bed Bath, and it worked great!)
Buttering up the bird.
John trying out his belated birthday gift from our friend Molly. Onion goggles even work for shallots! Who knew?
Turning the bird.
Ta-da! Golden brown! John also made a butter/fat sauce that we put on top and it was really good! So far so good. I'm not sure what we will make next week as I personally don't like real labor intensive recipes, so we will see.
(Click photo to enlarge)
The bird is ready. (We sold our roaster when we moved, so we got a cheapy rack at Bed Bath, and it worked great!)
Buttering up the bird.
John trying out his belated birthday gift from our friend Molly. Onion goggles even work for shallots! Who knew?
Turning the bird.
Ta-da! Golden brown! John also made a butter/fat sauce that we put on top and it was really good! So far so good. I'm not sure what we will make next week as I personally don't like real labor intensive recipes, so we will see.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tips Galore!
A few weeks ago I saw this post on Chris' blog. I had NO idea they had a cake decorating tool box! I HAD to get it. All of my cake decorating supplies were currently in zip lock bags. (They were in a box before the move, but I got rid of the box to conserve space, but still...how tacky is a brown box?)
Like the thrifty shopper that I am, I waited until I got a 40% off coupon from Michael's until I made the purchase.
Needless to say this has been one of the best purchases I have made in a long time.
Since we are on the decorating subject, last week was our last French class so I made French inspired cupcakes for everyone. (I also made some small French flags that I stuck in them but I didn't get a photo.)
The French class was a great introduction to the language but we didn't really learn how to converse with each other. John and I will be starting the Rosetta Stone this summer, so hopefully that will give us the extra practice. 3.5 months until our trip...time to book some tickets!
Like the thrifty shopper that I am, I waited until I got a 40% off coupon from Michael's until I made the purchase.
Needless to say this has been one of the best purchases I have made in a long time.Since we are on the decorating subject, last week was our last French class so I made French inspired cupcakes for everyone. (I also made some small French flags that I stuck in them but I didn't get a photo.)
The French class was a great introduction to the language but we didn't really learn how to converse with each other. John and I will be starting the Rosetta Stone this summer, so hopefully that will give us the extra practice. 3.5 months until our trip...time to book some tickets!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
DDD #22
How did we go from #27 to #22? Well I’m obviously WAY behind in my blog posts since I only posted once in May. I’m also worried as time goes by the critical DDD information that is stored in my head will slowly disintegrate before I can document it. THE HORROR! So…to avoid this I am writing about the most recent DDDs while that info is the freshest.
So back to #22. Last month after my second PRP injection John and I met up with Maggie at Baby Blues BBQ for our 22nd Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
Like always we took Guy’s suggestions and ordered the dishes he featured on the show, but this time we were a little disappointed.
Click to enlarge
John got the pulled pork, which was pretty good, but a little dry without adding more BBQ sauce. We also got the corn since it was features on the show and it was just ok…not real sweet. I got the baby back ribs and they were AWESOME. By far the best thing we ordered all night…along with the GIGANTIC glass of Kool-aid.
Maggie was pumped to have the option to just order sides, since they are her fave, however they were dry as well, (without adding BBQ sauce).
Baby Blues and BBQ was featured in season one and I’m starting to think that the most recent restaurants featured on DDD are at a higher quality then some of the ones featured in the earlier seasons. Sad but true.
I also think this DDD was before Guy started using his stencil to mark the places he visited. However he did leave this behind.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
DDD #27
Last week John and I headed back down to LA for my last(?) PRP injection. After my second injection I did notice that the pain had decreased. It still swells up a lot, but at least I’m seeing any difference in my foot. After the first month’s injections I only noticed a change one day, and was thinking that the injections weren’t doing anything. I’m not sure if they will heal my Achilles 100% but if I can run or jump by the end of the year, the mission accomplished!!
The third injections hurt just as bad as the first two, but I didn’t start to feel any pain until we got home around 11pm. With the first two injections I felt pain immediately after the numbing shots wore off. I’m not sure if that was a good sign or not, as my foot hurt pretty bad the next morning.
After the injection we had made plans to meet Maggie at Gloria’s Café for our 27th Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. At the last minute I got a text from my sister-in-law that she and her husband were going to be able to meet us as well!
Gloria’s started out as a Mexican restaurant but over time she started introducing more and more San Salvadorian dishes. Every dish I tasted was REALLY good. The flavor was outstanding.
Maggie got the beef tacos, I got the 7 seas soup, and Molly and Michael split the popusas combo plate.
Click to enlarge
John got the carne adbodaba and popusas.
The flavor of John’s carne and my soup, was SO good. I’ve never had anything like it before. I could have used some crab extraction utensils though, but I managed…as some of you know, I have a bit of crab cracking experience.
The décor was authentic and it had the neatest light fixtures…very 70ish. (Sorry no photo). If you didn't notice in the first photo, Gloria's has their DDD poster hanging in the window of their door. That is what I like to see! Be so proud that you risk the poster fading away to nothing. I'm sure Guy would replace it if they needed. Overall I LOVED Gloria's and can't wait to eat there again. Thanks Guy!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
DDD #21
Before we left LA we decided to head out to Glendale to eat at Mambo’s Cafe, our 21st DDD. We showed up and they had this awesome Cuban band rocking the house…however it was a bit too loud for us old fogies, so we decided to eat outside. We remembered a few things that Guy tried, and our super nice waitress helped us figure out the other dishes to order.We started with the Tostones and Shrimp. Let me tell you that these shrimp were some of the BEST shrimp I have ever had.
After the shrimp I was mad that I didn’t order a main dish with shrimp. I got the half of chicken, John got the Cuban sando, Michael got the Cajun chicken, and Molly got the halibut, but they served her the wrong fish.
Overall the meal was good, but John and I both agree that the Cuban food at Sol Food in San Rafael is better.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Santa Barbara Mini Break
For John’s birthday I decided to surprise him with a mini break to Santa Barbara. Not the most original idea I know, but since we were out of town the weekend before I only wanted to go somewhere for one night. Since SB is only 1.5 hours away it was the perfect location!
I did my best in not giving him any clues because I knew he would guess it…I mean really…how many options were there? Well apparently A LOT. He first thought I was taking him to Vegas, then Arizona to hit some DDD’s.
Once we got on the road and started heading south I thought for sure he’d figure it out, but he didn’t! He first thought I was taking him to a Dodger game…then he thought I was taking him to Ojai! At first I thought these were fake guesses, but they weren’t!
I actually threw him off a bit by driving past SB and stopping in Ventura. I wanted to try to sell some of my clothes back to Buffalo Exchange. All of the consignment shops in SLO only give you store credit, but BE didn’t. Let me say that I’m SO glad I took my stuff there! They took about 10 pieces of mine and I got $50 in return, (or $70 in store credit). That is way better than I’d make at a garage sale.
I was also excited that we got to stop in Ventura because we had recently read about an authentic Italian restaurant in town that we wanted to try. It was called Sicily by Gino’s and it was REALLY good. We got a prosciutto and Parmesan cheese pizza.
We even got to talk to the owner, which is always cool, and she told us how they only use the freshest ingredients. We told her you could totally tell, as the quality of the pizza was very similar to the pies we had in Italy.
During our lunch I finally let John know where we were going, and he said he really had no idea. Being the planner I am, I handed John a map of SB that had all the places we were going to go during the weekend. The main spot was Williams-Sonoma. For his b-day I got him a gift card there, along with my mom, and his mom! Every month when the dude gets the WS catalog he drools over it. Since we don’t have a WS in SLO, I thought it would be the perfect gift to combine with the mini break!
After lunch we headed back north to WS. Needless to say John was like a kid in a candy store. I can’t tell you how many rounds we made in there before I told him we needed to make a list to help narrow it down. Once we did that we were able to focus a bit easier. (Granted if I had told him ahead of time, we could have looked through our kitchen and seen what we wanted to upgrade.)
Next we checked into our Motel. I was a little worried about this place, but it got a good rating on tripadvisor.com, and so far that site has never let me down. The only problem was that NO SB hotels let you book a room for one night. Isn’t that LAME?? I can’t tell you how many places I had to call. Most of them told me to call back the week of, and hopefully they would have a room. Luckily for us the Agave Inn had a room.
It was a sweet deal as most of the rooms had recently been renovated. I was glad John liked it too, as I’m sure it would not have passed my mom’s and sister’s standards.
After a mini rest we headed downtown to do a bit of walking and shopping. Williams-Sonoma didn’t have a few things we were looking for, so they told us to check out Sur La Table. It was our first time in that store and it was AWESOME! John found exactly what he was looking for and I even found a cupcake doughnut pan!! (You can bake doughnuts in it as well, but I want to try cupcakes.)
Next we headed to The Palace Grill…our favorite restaurant in SB. It NEVER disappoints. I’ve blogged about it before, and honestly I don’t know why I just didn’t repost this entry as I’m having de ja vu rereading it!
Even though we were stuffed to the brim we decided to stop off at an ‘English’ pub which was on the same block. John was pumped because they had Hoegaarden, and I got a cider. I was a little miffed because they didn’t have any legit English cider. Seriously…if you want to be an authentic pub, you need to have authentic drinks.
After some enjoyable people watching, we did a bit more walking/shopping, and then went to Pinkberry!! I was so excited to go again, AND to get mochi on my yogurt. Let me tell you it did not disappoint AGAIN! I am really falling in love with that place. DANGER! DANGER!
I got the DEAL OF THE YEAR on these sunglasses. They were regularly $98, but marked down to $54, and then $29. However when the clerk range up the price it, of course, range up as $54, BUT He gave them to me for $29! I then used a 30% off coupon and a $10 off coupon bringing the cost down to $11!! Deal of the year, I’m telling ya. (I'm trying to look tough in this photo).
We decided to get an early start on Sunday as we had a couple of rentals to look at back in SLO. Our first stop was to a bakery that I had found online. The baked goods weren’t that good, but once John saw some of the breakfast food he insisted we eat there. (We were heading to our fave Sambo’s).
It was really good. I got the breakfast burrito and John got banana French toast. (John was also photoed out his morning...hence the reason he is not in this food photo.)
We stopped for another café and some more baked goods before we finally hit the road.
It was amazing how much fun we had in 24 hours. I’m actually mad that we don’t go down to SB more often…especially when we know of so many good places to go. 1.5 hours really isn’t that far. I think we will head back after we move.
I did my best in not giving him any clues because I knew he would guess it…I mean really…how many options were there? Well apparently A LOT. He first thought I was taking him to Vegas, then Arizona to hit some DDD’s.
Once we got on the road and started heading south I thought for sure he’d figure it out, but he didn’t! He first thought I was taking him to a Dodger game…then he thought I was taking him to Ojai! At first I thought these were fake guesses, but they weren’t!
I actually threw him off a bit by driving past SB and stopping in Ventura. I wanted to try to sell some of my clothes back to Buffalo Exchange. All of the consignment shops in SLO only give you store credit, but BE didn’t. Let me say that I’m SO glad I took my stuff there! They took about 10 pieces of mine and I got $50 in return, (or $70 in store credit). That is way better than I’d make at a garage sale.
I was also excited that we got to stop in Ventura because we had recently read about an authentic Italian restaurant in town that we wanted to try. It was called Sicily by Gino’s and it was REALLY good. We got a prosciutto and Parmesan cheese pizza.
We even got to talk to the owner, which is always cool, and she told us how they only use the freshest ingredients. We told her you could totally tell, as the quality of the pizza was very similar to the pies we had in Italy.During our lunch I finally let John know where we were going, and he said he really had no idea. Being the planner I am, I handed John a map of SB that had all the places we were going to go during the weekend. The main spot was Williams-Sonoma. For his b-day I got him a gift card there, along with my mom, and his mom! Every month when the dude gets the WS catalog he drools over it. Since we don’t have a WS in SLO, I thought it would be the perfect gift to combine with the mini break!
After lunch we headed back north to WS. Needless to say John was like a kid in a candy store. I can’t tell you how many rounds we made in there before I told him we needed to make a list to help narrow it down. Once we did that we were able to focus a bit easier. (Granted if I had told him ahead of time, we could have looked through our kitchen and seen what we wanted to upgrade.)
Next we checked into our Motel. I was a little worried about this place, but it got a good rating on tripadvisor.com, and so far that site has never let me down. The only problem was that NO SB hotels let you book a room for one night. Isn’t that LAME?? I can’t tell you how many places I had to call. Most of them told me to call back the week of, and hopefully they would have a room. Luckily for us the Agave Inn had a room.It was a sweet deal as most of the rooms had recently been renovated. I was glad John liked it too, as I’m sure it would not have passed my mom’s and sister’s standards.
After a mini rest we headed downtown to do a bit of walking and shopping. Williams-Sonoma didn’t have a few things we were looking for, so they told us to check out Sur La Table. It was our first time in that store and it was AWESOME! John found exactly what he was looking for and I even found a cupcake doughnut pan!! (You can bake doughnuts in it as well, but I want to try cupcakes.)
Next we headed to The Palace Grill…our favorite restaurant in SB. It NEVER disappoints. I’ve blogged about it before, and honestly I don’t know why I just didn’t repost this entry as I’m having de ja vu rereading it!
Anyway, I was planning on sharing a meal with john, but he talked me into getting my ‘ole stand by…because he wanted to eat it! I’m really glad he talked me into it, because it was really good.
John also got the blackened fish.
He also LOVES the bread pudding here. I think it was the biggest yet.
In case you were ever wondering what is the proper way to eat bread pudding...here is John's in instructional video.
John also got the blackened fish. He also LOVES the bread pudding here. I think it was the biggest yet.
In case you were ever wondering what is the proper way to eat bread pudding...here is John's in instructional video.
After some enjoyable people watching, we did a bit more walking/shopping, and then went to Pinkberry!! I was so excited to go again, AND to get mochi on my yogurt. Let me tell you it did not disappoint AGAIN! I am really falling in love with that place. DANGER! DANGER!
I got the DEAL OF THE YEAR on these sunglasses. They were regularly $98, but marked down to $54, and then $29. However when the clerk range up the price it, of course, range up as $54, BUT He gave them to me for $29! I then used a 30% off coupon and a $10 off coupon bringing the cost down to $11!! Deal of the year, I’m telling ya. (I'm trying to look tough in this photo).We decided to get an early start on Sunday as we had a couple of rentals to look at back in SLO. Our first stop was to a bakery that I had found online. The baked goods weren’t that good, but once John saw some of the breakfast food he insisted we eat there. (We were heading to our fave Sambo’s).
It was really good. I got the breakfast burrito and John got banana French toast. (John was also photoed out his morning...hence the reason he is not in this food photo.)
We stopped for another café and some more baked goods before we finally hit the road.It was amazing how much fun we had in 24 hours. I’m actually mad that we don’t go down to SB more often…especially when we know of so many good places to go. 1.5 hours really isn’t that far. I think we will head back after we move.
Friday, March 26, 2010
DDD #20
On my way home from Ukiah I met up with John, and his friends in Emeryville at Rudy’s Can't Fail Cafe for our 20th Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives! I can’t believe we have actually eaten at 20 different restaurants!
I got really lost finding the place…thanks to the GPS. The GPS is supposed to help you right? Not get you lost and get car jacked, right? It had me turn right instead of left and before I knew it, I was crusin’ through the ghetto with all these thugs hangin’ out in the middle of the street. It was the perfect scenario…a white girl in her cute little MINI Copper crusin’ in the ghetto lookin’ for for a burger joint! Luckily I know how to drive fast when I need to and I got out of there in a hurry. I even drove by PIXAR during the adventure, but I was a bit too stressed to be excited about it. Needless to say, I was very thankful when I saw John standing on the corner waving me down.
Rudy’s was packed, but the wait wasn’t very long. On the show they showcased burgers and a few other dishes, however I think the other dishes were ‘specials’ as we did not see them on the menu. BUMMER! I got a buffalo wing chicken salad, John got a blue cheese bacon burger, Jessie got a portabella mushroom burger, Nory got the Cajun bacon burger, and Kiera had a bottle.
Unfortunately this DDD was pretty disappointing. I’m not saying it was bad…it just doesn’t compare to the other places we’ve been to. I’d rate it a 19 out of 20…20 being the worst. I think our expectations should have been a little lower because it was mainly a burger joint. We have learned that lesson for next time. The fries were good, and the cheese on John’s burger was good, but the meat wasn’t anything special. Either they were having an off day or our expectations have really gotten high from the last few places we’ve eaten at.
Overall it was a really cute place, the vibe was cool, and the atmosphere was totally funky. On to number 21...
I got really lost finding the place…thanks to the GPS. The GPS is supposed to help you right? Not get you lost and get car jacked, right? It had me turn right instead of left and before I knew it, I was crusin’ through the ghetto with all these thugs hangin’ out in the middle of the street. It was the perfect scenario…a white girl in her cute little MINI Copper crusin’ in the ghetto lookin’ for for a burger joint! Luckily I know how to drive fast when I need to and I got out of there in a hurry. I even drove by PIXAR during the adventure, but I was a bit too stressed to be excited about it. Needless to say, I was very thankful when I saw John standing on the corner waving me down.
Rudy’s was packed, but the wait wasn’t very long. On the show they showcased burgers and a few other dishes, however I think the other dishes were ‘specials’ as we did not see them on the menu. BUMMER! I got a buffalo wing chicken salad, John got a blue cheese bacon burger, Jessie got a portabella mushroom burger, Nory got the Cajun bacon burger, and Kiera had a bottle.
Unfortunately this DDD was pretty disappointing. I’m not saying it was bad…it just doesn’t compare to the other places we’ve been to. I’d rate it a 19 out of 20…20 being the worst. I think our expectations should have been a little lower because it was mainly a burger joint. We have learned that lesson for next time. The fries were good, and the cheese on John’s burger was good, but the meat wasn’t anything special. Either they were having an off day or our expectations have really gotten high from the last few places we’ve eaten at.
Overall it was a really cute place, the vibe was cool, and the atmosphere was totally funky. On to number 21...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
DDD #19
Before we headed back to SLO, we had planned to go to the Cuban restaurant Mambo’s on our way out of town. However I waited until Sunday to check their hours and I found out that they were closed! BUMMER! Luckily we had a back up located in Eagle Rock called The Oinkster.
After the realization that we would not be having Cuban food, Maggie was still game to make the trek out East with us. (It’s always an extra bonus for us when we get to share our DDD adventures with our family and friends.) I had never been to Eagle Rock before and I always get excited driving on new roads in CA. (Is that nerdy? Whatever). We passed the WB studios, and then this HUGE cemetery where Michael Jackson is buried. There were tons of people on the side of the streets selling flowers just in case you forgot to buy some for the King of Pop. The drive out there was really pretty and there were even snow-capped mountains in the distance. I was surprised how big Eagle Rock was and it looks like it has a bunch of neat coffee and taco places. It was a beautiful day when we were there, however it gets really hot there during the summer.
The Oinkster is a BBQ joint, and it did not disappoint. Maggie got the reuben, John got the chicken and I got the pulled pork.
(Don’t you love how the food is over exposed? Nice work on my part right? Maybe next time I should make sure the food AND the person look good. DUH!)
As you can see the portions were HUGE, but you must try everything when eating at a DDD = no sharing allowed. The fries were also flash fried for extra crispiness and accompanied with some great dipping sauces. I also got the Oinksterade for my drink and it was AWESOME. I think it was more of an orangeade vs. lemon, and it was SO good!
I am happy to say that The Oinkster is PROUD to be featured on DDD, as they have their stencil displayed:
I also loved the architecture and signage of the building…it was totally 70’s.
Amber’s Rule of Thumb:
If every type of dish at a restaurant is exceptionally good, i.e. beverages, sides, and main courses, then that is proof of an awesome eatery.
You know what? The Oinkster totally fits that category. I’m just bummed it’s not more accessible, and that it wasn’t our milestone 20th DDD. What will our 20th DDD be? I don’t know…stay tuned!
After the realization that we would not be having Cuban food, Maggie was still game to make the trek out East with us. (It’s always an extra bonus for us when we get to share our DDD adventures with our family and friends.) I had never been to Eagle Rock before and I always get excited driving on new roads in CA. (Is that nerdy? Whatever). We passed the WB studios, and then this HUGE cemetery where Michael Jackson is buried. There were tons of people on the side of the streets selling flowers just in case you forgot to buy some for the King of Pop. The drive out there was really pretty and there were even snow-capped mountains in the distance. I was surprised how big Eagle Rock was and it looks like it has a bunch of neat coffee and taco places. It was a beautiful day when we were there, however it gets really hot there during the summer.
The Oinkster is a BBQ joint, and it did not disappoint. Maggie got the reuben, John got the chicken and I got the pulled pork.
(Don’t you love how the food is over exposed? Nice work on my part right? Maybe next time I should make sure the food AND the person look good. DUH!)
As you can see the portions were HUGE, but you must try everything when eating at a DDD = no sharing allowed. The fries were also flash fried for extra crispiness and accompanied with some great dipping sauces. I also got the Oinksterade for my drink and it was AWESOME. I think it was more of an orangeade vs. lemon, and it was SO good!I am happy to say that The Oinkster is PROUD to be featured on DDD, as they have their stencil displayed:
I also loved the architecture and signage of the building…it was totally 70’s.
Amber’s Rule of Thumb:If every type of dish at a restaurant is exceptionally good, i.e. beverages, sides, and main courses, then that is proof of an awesome eatery.
You know what? The Oinkster totally fits that category. I’m just bummed it’s not more accessible, and that it wasn’t our milestone 20th DDD. What will our 20th DDD be? I don’t know…stay tuned!
Monday, March 15, 2010
DDD #18
When we were in L.A. a few weeks ago we managed to go to TWO restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives! It’s usually a challenge to go to one DDD on a weekend trip, so for us to hit two was great.
Crazy fact about the Grundman’s DDD quest:
Neither John nor Amber had ever been to a DDD in Southern California.
How crazy is that? Granted there aren’t a ton of them down there, but still…we go to L.A. at least four times a year. I think one factor is that we never made it a priority when we traveled there, because there are so many other good places to eat. However now things have changed.
Our first DDD was The Nickel Diner in downtown L.A. I thought we might have missed the lunch crowd by showing up after 1pm, but I was wrong! The place was packed and we had to wait…but no biggie.
The place was pretty small and the kitchen was right in the dining area, which was kind of cool. We actually saw the owner, which is always a treat, and let me say that her hair had definitely been styled for the show. But can you blame her? I would have done the same thing…and had my makeup done! She has a really cool Cruella DeVille vibe going on with her hair.
These lights are actually upside down lamps.
I started off with a homemade ding-dong, although it kind of looks like a hostess cupcake.
As you know I normally like to order what dishes were featured on the show. I was ready to order this awesome looking salmon dish but it wasn’t on the menu. I’m assuming it was a special. We also wanted to try the bacon maple doughnut that was featured on the show, but they ran out! At least they had the mac-n-chee which you can see here with John. He also got the pulled pork hash, which was to die for. So weird but SO good!
I got a bacon cheeseburger that was pretty good, but the mac-n-chee and pork were better.
We even dragged my sister and brother-in-law with us. Molly got a fish burger, and Michael got a chicken salad sando. Both very good. As you can see they were very excited to pose with their food. Such good sports!
After Michael posed for the photo he caught a woman’s eye and he told her ‘I don’t know why we are taking photos of our food.’ I turned and saw this cute lady with a huge smile and she asked me if I was a food blogger. I told her I had a blog but it wasn’t specifically about food. She then told me that her daughter-in-law was a food blogger. How crazy is that? I briefly talked to daugher-in-law and got her blog address. Here I am talking to her. (John was actually being impatient while waiting for me to pose with my food...hence the attractive shot of the back of my head.)
I found out that her name is Lynn, and her blog is called The Actors Diet. You should definitely check out her entry about The Nickel Diner. See if you can spot the cute chick in a pink sweater in a couple of her photos. She actually got some really good interior shots of the place.
Once again there wasn’t one sign that Guy had been there with his crew. No poster and no stencil. What gives?
Crazy fact about the Grundman’s DDD quest:
Neither John nor Amber had ever been to a DDD in Southern California.
How crazy is that? Granted there aren’t a ton of them down there, but still…we go to L.A. at least four times a year. I think one factor is that we never made it a priority when we traveled there, because there are so many other good places to eat. However now things have changed.
Our first DDD was The Nickel Diner in downtown L.A. I thought we might have missed the lunch crowd by showing up after 1pm, but I was wrong! The place was packed and we had to wait…but no biggie.
The place was pretty small and the kitchen was right in the dining area, which was kind of cool. We actually saw the owner, which is always a treat, and let me say that her hair had definitely been styled for the show. But can you blame her? I would have done the same thing…and had my makeup done! She has a really cool Cruella DeVille vibe going on with her hair.
These lights are actually upside down lamps.
I started off with a homemade ding-dong, although it kind of looks like a hostess cupcake.
As you know I normally like to order what dishes were featured on the show. I was ready to order this awesome looking salmon dish but it wasn’t on the menu. I’m assuming it was a special. We also wanted to try the bacon maple doughnut that was featured on the show, but they ran out! At least they had the mac-n-chee which you can see here with John. He also got the pulled pork hash, which was to die for. So weird but SO good!
I got a bacon cheeseburger that was pretty good, but the mac-n-chee and pork were better.
We even dragged my sister and brother-in-law with us. Molly got a fish burger, and Michael got a chicken salad sando. Both very good. As you can see they were very excited to pose with their food. Such good sports!
After Michael posed for the photo he caught a woman’s eye and he told her ‘I don’t know why we are taking photos of our food.’ I turned and saw this cute lady with a huge smile and she asked me if I was a food blogger. I told her I had a blog but it wasn’t specifically about food. She then told me that her daughter-in-law was a food blogger. How crazy is that? I briefly talked to daugher-in-law and got her blog address. Here I am talking to her. (John was actually being impatient while waiting for me to pose with my food...hence the attractive shot of the back of my head.)
I found out that her name is Lynn, and her blog is called The Actors Diet. You should definitely check out her entry about The Nickel Diner. See if you can spot the cute chick in a pink sweater in a couple of her photos. She actually got some really good interior shots of the place.Once again there wasn’t one sign that Guy had been there with his crew. No poster and no stencil. What gives?
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