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 22^nd 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.

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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.

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 27^th 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.

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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!

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.

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...

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!

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?

DDD #16 & #17

This past week when John and I were in S.F. for my doctors appointment we of course had to take advantage of being in the city…meaning we had to make sure we ate good food…meaning we of course had to try to go to a few restaurants featured on our fave show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!

We actually started our DDD quest a year ago when we went to our first place, Tommy’s Joynt, after another one of my S.F. doctor appointments. In 12 months we visited 15 different places, and I am very curious to see how many places we will go to this year. (I secretly hope it’s just as many.)

The first place we went to, (for breakfast), was Dottie’s True Blue Café. We arrived at the perfect time and didn’t have to wait. The place was packed, but it only had about 10 tables.
We started off with a berry lemon cheesecake bar thing. It was tasty! We also got the jalapeno cakes which were featured on the show and were really good, as well as a breakfast basic kind of meal.

You know when cappuccinos are served with a little spoon they know what they are doing. Everything was really good! It was pretty basic breakfast fair, but the quality was definitely above average. The eggs were some of the best eggs I’ve ever had. I have no idea what they did to them, but they had great flavor and great texture (nice, fluffy and not burnt). Of course we ordered too much food, but you have to do that at DDD joints!
An extra plus to the dining experience was that the owner was doing all the cooking! He is only the 5th owner we’ve seen on our DDD adventures. Impressive!

After a quick shopping trip we luckily worked up our appetites and we headed to our second DDD restaurant, Q. This place was totally funky inside. It had crazy artwork, tables, and there was even a fake tree coming out of the middle of one of the tables! I got the pulled pork, which was pretty good, however I liked the garlic fries the best.

Both dishes were featured on the show and both were tasty. The tator tots on the mac-n-chee were so awesome, that I made some mac-n-chee this week and topped it with tots! The cheese was equally good on their mac, but neither John nor I could pin point the type of cheese(s) that were used. I can’t copy if it if don’t know what it was!
One interesting thing about both of these places is that neither of them had any evidence that Guy was there, which was quiet shocking. Most of the places we’ve visited display at least a poster or Guy’s spray painted stencil somewhere on their walls. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed that neither of them were proud enough to display their honor in being part of DDD history. Their loss.

Wedding #2

This past weekend John and I headed up to Napa for his cousin’s Val’s wedding. I love Val and I have actually unofficially adopted her as my cousin. John has quite a few cousins that are close to him in age and I’ve been telling him for years that he is so lucky. I have two cousins younger than me but they live on the East coast and I think the last time I saw them was 20 years ago. My other cousins I see every so often but they are all 10+ years older than I am. I had no idea how great it was to have cousins within a 5 year age span. Even if John doesn’t appreciate it at least I get to!

I was so excited to cruise through Napa with John. If you remember…I visited Napa for the first time this past March when I had my girls weekend. The whole time I was there I knew John would love it as much as I did, and I was right!

I was totally sketched out by our hotel as it looked like a total dive, but then once we got into our room and saw that it was nice and clean my attitude changed. I knew I had checked the reviews on tripadvisor.com and I remembered after the fact that the reviews said it had been recently remodeled. Thank goodness!

Saturday morning John went and played golf with the family and I had a mini adventure morning. One highlight was definitely all of the hot air balloons that I saw BOTH mornings! How cool!!!! Some flew right over the hotel. I am all pumped up about hot air balloons right now because we are going to the hot air balloon festival this weekend in New Mexico. It is one of my life dreams to ride in one but we won’t be able to do it in N.M. That is ok though, because I’m hoping to return to Napa for a ride and a meal at French Laundry. I may need to find a financial sponsor for that trip though. Anyone?

John's Grandpa on the course.

I know Napa is filled with spas so to treat myself, I got a massage. At which spa you ask? Try a place in a strip mall! I know, I know…I was totally weirded out at first but they seemed pretty legit and were actually a chain. My masseuse seemed a bit sketchy but after 15 minutes I was like WHATEVER get that knot out of my back! Plus it was only $50 for an hour. I hope I never become a massage snob…I love a good deal!

For lunch I was able to take John to Taylor’s Automatic Refresher…our 5th Triple D restaurant together. So tasty!

Val and Ron’s wedding was at Aburg De Sol. It was up a hill in Rutherford and had a great view. Here are a few of my fave shots of the night:John and his Grandpa

Me and Auntie Jane (Mother of the bride)Us with John's cousin Robert

Gramp and his kids...John, Jane, Allison, and Phyllis.

Keeping ourselves entertained while we wait for the party bus.

The next day John and I headed up north again to Yountville to go to Bouchon. If you recall…when I was there last March Molly and I surprised our friend Jeremy who was working there. Unfortunately he is no longer working there so we could not go behind the scenes and act all cool. Dang!

Apparently Yountville was having some sort of parade and we totally got caught up in it trying to find a parking spot! It was madness….for a very small parade. Needless to say we finally made it to Bouchon and feasted on some of the best bread in California…and two awesome cappuccinos to boot. It was so nice to sit in the sun and treat ourselves…I felt totally spoiled. I also wound up with two loafs of sourdough as I got one when I was there before and it was by far some of the best bread I have had.After our morning/afternoon exploring John drove me to the Oakland airport where I caught a flight home…but to Phoenix first. (A direct flight from SFO to SLO was $600). John is currently up in Fortuna spending the remainder of the week with his family. I had to pack my carry on very carefully. It consisted of my sleeping boot/sling, my cosmetics, my new pair of GAP pants (their outlets there are really good), and of course my two loafs of sour dough bread.