Just a Few Words . . . .

about Chili's.  Before I begin, a note on my crap update to work computer of MS OS and this crap explorer 9 browser.  All of a sudden my keyboard misses my key strokes and I have to type slow or really hard to get the letters.  so stupid.  I hate you Microsoft.  And, I mean it.  This is a hatred that goes to the soles of my feet from deep within my belly.  Enough about that.

So, Chili's.  Hubs and I used to eat here a lot for date meals back in the day when Chili's was pretty new and could be relied upon for pretty decent food, i.e. margaritas, chicken crispers and steak fajitas.  We rarely go there now b/c it kind of sucks, I think it's too expensive and oh yeah, we have 3 kids so eating out is a nightmare right now.

However, I want to put something out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back.  The chips and salsa at Chili's are more often than not sublime.  We got some really super bad take out from there the other night.  Best part of the meal was the chips and salsa.  Remember when that was free?  If you don't then it means you are a baby and probably not old enough to be reading this.  The bag o chips was thin and crispy, hot and salted to perfection.  I'm sure the salsa is nothing more than some Pace spun up in the blender, but it is damn good.  I LOVE IT.  Yes, I do.  For all its other total suckiness, when they get the chips right it totally puts a smile on my face.  Over the course of 2 days I pretty much polished off the bag.  The end.

No photos.  I ate all the chips and most of the salsa.

Chilis on its own is like a 2.  This one menu item is a 4 and recommended.  If your chips aren't hot, send 'em back.

Aaaack!

For some reason I can't seem to keep up with posting lately. Here is a smattering of my eatings of late:

District 7 in EaDo ( what the hell does that mean? I'm guessing east of downtown?) an old high school bud was in town and doing something at the convention center nearby. Seemed better than going to Grove. Got the muffuletta. Overall tasty and generous size although the olive relish was cold while meat and cheese warm. All warm would have been my preference. Good atmosphere, funky location. My lunch companion went with Kobe burger. Desserts looked good but we didn't get one.   Had a good catch up convo and then she had to go back to her thing.  I think we were each pleasantly surprised to confirm the assumption that we shared quite a few philosophies. 

A little pricey for lunch but good variety of options.  I'd go back and recommend. 3.5 microwave. 

Oh yeah. I don't know if the steak fries were hand cut or Ore Ida out of a bag. Either way they were good yo!

Next up: Sophie's Mexican in the tunnels at Allen Center. Twist and I hadn't been to lunch in  for ever. Finally had a chance and threw caution to the wind here pretty much going in blind. Not bad. We each had lunch special which was two tacos with beans, rice and a drink. The beans and rice were out if a can. On the beans that doesn't matter much but on the rice front it IS possible to have bad rice. Believe. 

Our extended period of non lunch had reached critical mass and I was getting out of sorts. Glad to get squared away. However this week I think I saw Twist for maybe 10 minutes which was all work related. Booo.  Will work on that next week. 

Ok so Sophie's was pretty good. I had steak tacos. Meat was great. Downfall was the overuse of cilantro (shock).   Next time I will skip the sides. 

I'd say Sophie's is a 3. Stick with entrees. Good for a fast Tex Mex fix.  Otherwise the Mexican downtown sucks as far as I know. 

 

Lets see, what other gems do we have? 

Oh! Some ratatouille pasta from Hubbel & Hudson kitchen in The Woo.  Huge portion. Pretty good. I love ratatouille.  Pretty true taste wise. Eggplant could have been more tender. Hubbel added fresh avocado as well which was a nice addition.  Pasta was some little shell things. Perfect choice. Add a glass of Pinot noir and some gelato and you have a pretty happy tummy. 

Hubbel is always solid. Generally give them a 4 and recommended. 

Next day, more Corkscrew BBQ. Hubs made his poor dad go wait in line Saturday morning for an hour in 90 degrees to get some BBQ.  I should clarify FIL was not waiting alone. He was with Hubs and No. 1 son.  But still. That line is like waiting in hell. It. Is. Hot. Admittedly the payoff is huge. They scored brisket, sausage, ribs, pork and I thought there was something else but maybe not. Dessert was peach cobbler.  I still haven't figured out how they do the crust but maybe I don't want to. The magic might be ruined. 

Corkscrew 5 and recommended. Of course.   Plus anyplace that hands out free brew while you wait in the hot line has to be awesome, right?

And in really fantastic breaking news: Gigi's cupcakes has an outpost in the tunnels. It is both fantastic and awful. I usually don't like most of the designer cupcakes that are out there. Gigi's however make me want to smash my face into a box of them. Creative flavors, moist cake and I think what is maybe the best commercially produced frosting of its kind. The frosting is the shit. 

Here is a photo of a cookie dough flavor and then a peanut butter cup. Both delish.  

I don't know how they do it but cookie dough tasted like cookie dough in cupcake form. I was seriously impressed with that. Damn you Gigi. Damn you and your delectable cupcakes. The tunnels under chase tower are no longer safe. 

Gigi's gets a 5.  Recommended ifyou can handle it.  If you are a addictive personlity type . . . . stay far far away.

Picnic Lunch . . .

At my desk. 

Yeah bitchez you know that looks good!

BBQ chicken

Asparagus soup from Corner Bakery and tomato cucumber salad. 

Mmmm. It's summer. 

A Love Letter

Dear Corkscrew BBQ,

Finally had the pleasure of waiting in your long line to nab some goodies before you sold out. I admit waiting in the hot sun in work clothes was not ideal. Wearing white pants, also ill advised. But it all worked out. 

I shared the 3 meat plate with Hubs and we both are loyalists now. Ribs, brisket and pulled pork were our meats of choice. Sides were beans and slaw. 

Thank you for having a choice of sliced or chopped brisket as well as fatty or lean. You already know me. Of course I went with fatty.  OMG. To die for. The smoke and the flavor were spot on. Meat was tender and melt in your mouth. Same with the pork. Best. Pulled. Pork. Evah. For realz. And I know pulled pork.  Ribs came off the bone with a plastic fork. Insanely tasty. I can only guess at the mojo you have worked to get ribs that tasty.  Clearly you have made a deal with the devil in exchange for your mad BBQ skillz. 

Oh yeah, the beans were also superior. Cole slaw however was a let down. It's like the meat took all the flavor and none was left for the slaw. No worries though. I wasn't there for slaw. Oh and your cherry cobbler with its shortbread like crust also fabulous. And I didn't get anything on my white slacks. 

Thank you for being awesome and conveniently located near my house. I love you, man. 

Sincerely, Yodi