Saz’s Statehouse Milwaukee WI

 September 14, 2011.

This was our last day in Milwaukee and I had to get more cheese curds before we left.  These were very very  good with a white barbecue sauce that was also good.  

I had half a Sandwich and soup and so did my mom.  We both got the barbecued pork sandwich which I thought had too much barbecue sauce which kind I covered up the meat,  and it was very messy. We both really enjoyed the broccoli cheddar soup.

My dad’s Ruben was good but he didn't really didn't think that it was the best.  He thought his froes were good and they came with ranch to dip them in.  My dad got full so I had to help him out and they were good.

5539 W State St  Milwaukee, WI 53208

Saz’s Statehouse

Miller Park Klements hotdogs Milwaukee WI

September 13, 2011

Miller Park Klements hotdogs

 I got that jumbo sized look like a normal size hot dog but with a jumbo price. It was a very good hotdog.  They had sauerkraut in the condiments which I like. They also had stadium sauce which I thought tasted almost like Arby's sauce. I also had the koops mustard which I really liked, it was like a very good spicy brown mustard.  

My dad had a Polish sausage which also liked.

Titletown brewing Co Green Bay Wisconsin

September 12, 2011 We decided to head up to Green Bay for the day, to see Lambeau Field and the Packers hall of fame.  While in Green Bay we wanted to eat lunch somewhere, and after doing more research online I thought this place sounded good.

 We started out with cheese curds, they were different than the ones at the previous place, but not quite as good but they were still good.  They also came with marinara sauce which was good.  

My dad had the bison melt which he thought was great, and he even still talks about it. He also liked the pub chips very much.   

My mom had to cranberry turkey melt she wasn't quite sure about the bread before she ordered it. It was zucchini bread, but she tried it out and thought I was very good. They also brew their own root beer with my mom and dad both tried, I’m not a big root beer fan, but they liked it. I had the club sandwich with turkey, ham and bacon.  It was a triple-decker but the meat and cheese were on the bottom layer and the veggies; lettuce, tomato and onions on the top layer so when you squeeze the veggie layer down it tasted like you had too much bread, but at least it was good bread.  It was spent grain bread which was very good. But I think having meat and veggies on each layer would've been better.

We really enjoyed this place.  The food was very good and the building being an old train depot, made this a very good place to eat.

Titletown brewing Co

200 Dousman StreetGreen Bay, WI 54303

Botanas Mexican restaurant, Milwaukee Wisconsin

September 11, 2011

You probably don't think of Milwaukee for Mexican food, but we were in Milwaukee and a Mexican food sounded good.  The best sounding place I found online was this place.

I liked the salsa, it was good maybe not too exciting.  It had a little bit of heat, but no really too hot, but it tasted fairly good. My mom had the chile relleno.  She normally doesn't like the soft ones she prefers the crispy.  She decided to try this soft one, these had tomato type sauce on it and my mom really liked it. My dad had one of the small combos and he really liked it.

I also had one of the small combos with a chicken enchilada and a tamale.  I thought that the enchilada was good, I liked the sauce.  The tamale on the other hand I didn’t care for.  I usually don’t have too many tamales, but I am intrigued by them so I thought I would try one.  This one seemed kind of hard and dry and didn’t taste very good. I thought that the rice and beans were just average nothing special. This place for dinner was $43.35 with a tip which for three people isn't half bad.  My parents liked this place more than me; they would have rated it higher.

Botanas Mexican restaurant

816 S. 5th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Milwaukee Brat house, Milwaukee WI

September 11, 2011

We arrived around the normal lunch time and the place was empty it was a Sunday, so maybe that was why.  I found this place just by looking online for a place close to the riverwalk which we were planning walking along.

 I had a bacon cheeseburger with cheddar and substituted cheese curds for the side for two dollars.

My mom had the Wisconsin burger with cheese curds on top and just got the kettle chips. My dad decided to get a bacon cheeseburger and substitute onion rings for 1 dollar. I thought this burger was really good. There was like a crust on the burger and like kind of charred.   This was my first chance at trying cheese curds which I haven't really had any before except at culvers.  I thought that cheese is good and fried cheese could only be better.  Boy was I right they were fried greasy and delicious.  Cheese can't get much better than that. This is my first attempt at cheese curds and I couldn’t wait for more. My dad’s onion rings were not very good when you bit the ring the onion came out leaving you with just breading.

 I really liked this place it was greasy and good.   At $44.28 with tip it was a little pricey for lunch.

Milwaukee Brat house, Milwaukee WI
1013 Old World 3rd Street  Milwaukee, WI 53203

Country Junction Dyersville Iowa

9/9/2011

We were in Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams movie site and had read about this restaurant online and thought it sounded good. First they brought a plate of bread with real butter, which is always a plus.   The bread was actually pretty good.   

I ordered the hot roast beef sandwich and so did my mom.  my dad got the chicken fried steak. My hot roast beef sandwich for looked pretty good, but when I started eating I figured out it wasn't so good.  It was kind of dry and I didn’t think the meat was very good.   The mashed potatoes and gravy with it were okay and I think the best part was the gravy on the bread underneath.   

My dad didn’t really care for his chicken fried steak either, but he ate it since he was pretty hungry.  

My parents both decided to get a piece of pie, one piece of peach and one cherry.  I sample both of them which were okay, but not great.  This was kind of disappointing since their menu says their regulars order pie first, which made me think the pie would be better.  

Overall this place is not very good, their food and was kind of disappointing after reading about it online.  I thought it sounded pretty good but oh well maybe next time I'll find a better place.

Country Junction

913 15th Avenue Southeast

Dyersville, IA 52040-2315

Jerico's Restaurant Omaha, NE

We had been to Jerico's before a few years ago and were really impressed.  We were going through Omaha and again and we decide to stop by. We arrived early to get the early bird special between 4:00 and 5:30. All three of us got the prime rib which was a 7 oz. It came with a salad and a cup of the soup of the day, which was beer cheese with bacon bits and Green onions on top which was very good and I don’t even like beer. It also came with bread that was also very good. You didn't get a choice of potato it was just a baked potato. The early bird special also included ice tea or coffee all for $13.99

The baked potato and salad were not anything special. The prime rib however was amazing and by far the best prime rib I've had, it was melt your mouth and delicious.   When you dipped it in the Au jus it was even better.

Also with it being the early bird special for 13.99 it made it even better.   Normally it is 21.99 for a bigger piece of meat, but with the soup or salad instead of both and your ice tea or coffee would not be included. This place didn't look all that exciting from the outside, But once inside it was great.

 Jerico's Restaurant

11732 West Dodge Road, Omaha, NE 68154-2425

Milwaukee WI

We are taking a trip to Milwaukee in search of cheese curds. updates coming soon.

Santiagos, Loveland CO

Aug 25, 2011

My dad and I stopped by Santiago's for lunch. It was about 12:30 when we got there and they said it would be about 5 min. wait which was fine with us. After not too long we were taken to a table and we ordered chips and salsa (which you have to pay for, it was not included).  I was not bothered by this because places with free chips and salsa add the cost in somewhere, by charging more for your entrée or drinks, and it was only $1.50 anyways. The chips and salsa were fairly basic chips and salsa I liked the salsa, It was more of a thick liquid than a chunky salsa.

I had a Deluxe beef and bean burrito with half-and-half green chili on top and it also had cheese lettuce tomato on top.  The half and half green chili was kind hot but it tasted really good and I really enjoyed it, it was green chili just like I would think of green chili.  The burrito itself was a plain burrito nothing fancy, just a tortilla with beef and beans inside, but it was good.

 

My dad had the three beef enchiladas with the enchilada sauce he thought they were very good and really enjoyed them.  

This was second time my dad and I have been to this location, the previous time my dad had the cheese enchiladas and I had the chicken burrtio, which were both very good as well.  The pictures are actually of these items, but are very similar.

I really enjoyed my meal and the price was very good, we had two lunches chips and salsa and two Pepsis all for around $18 including a tip.

Santiagos

1477 E. Eisenhower, Loveland, CO 80537

Tres Margaritas Ft Collins CO

My mom and I were planning on going out for lunch and we thought Mexican food would be good and I am always up for trying to new Mexican place.  We were seated quickly and chips and salsa were brought quickly as well, they were okay nothing exciting.   After we were seated it seemed to take the waiter forever to take our orders.  When he finally came back I ordered the lunch combo with a beef taco and a beef enchilada. My mom ordered the chili relleno after we ordered, the food came almost too quick.  My mom liked her relleno, but wasn't too excited about it.  She especially liked that it was crispy.

My enchilada was not very good at all in the taco was sitting in the enchilada sauce making my crispy taco very soggy and it basically tasted like the enchilada. I did not like the beans and Rice either

Tres Margaritas

3400 South College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80525

Choice City Butcher

I met a friend at Choice city butcher.  He said that he heard that this place was good, and I saw a ton of very good reviews online.

 The door was a little difficult to get in and difficult to move around inside with my wheelchair.  I was able to get in which was good, since I really enjoyed my sandwich. When you get inside you order at one counter and pay at another

  We weren’t sure what to get so we checked out the menu.  There were many different sandwich choices for most of the sandwiches you can get a half version with a side or drink, or the whole with a side and drink.  I wasn’t really too hungry so I got the half Colorado Rueben sandwich which had buffalo instead of corned beef.  If I didn’t know ahead of time I don’t think I would have known it was buffalo.  It was very good, one of the best I have had.  The 1000 island tasted like they actually made it, to go with good swiss cheese and sauerkraut and the very good buffalo made an excellent sandwich.  It was a little greasy, but it is a Reuben.  My friend had the whole Italian sandwich with coleslaw, he enjoyed it and had plenty left to take home. 

After ordering it, it seemed like it took forever to get our food and it was a little weird how the food didn’t come out in order it was ordered.  A lady in front of us got her food well after we did.  The price was also a little high.

 The sandwich was excellent, but the service was slow and weird, and it was a little pricy

104 W Olive St
Fort Collins, CO 80524

ground floor of the Armstrong Hotel

La Casa Del Rey

July 15, 2011

A handful of times a year I have to go to Denver for various Doctors’ appointments for my Muscular Dystrophy, while in the Denver area I like to find a new place to eat, so I have something to look forward to after.  This time I found La Casa Del Rey.

We got there for an early dinner. The lady at the front just told us to sit wherever we wanted to, the first section near the door just had booths further into the restaurant there were tables which we sat at one of them. While here we didn't just have one waiter or waitress, at least three or four different people helped us at some point. They took our drink orders and brought chips and salsa shortly after we were seated. I really enjoyed this salsa it was chunky and you could see all the different things in it, the onion, peppers, and tomatoes among other things.

Usually when I go to a new Mexican place I like to get a combo with multiple things instead of just one. So if I don't like one thing there's not that much of it to eat, and if I really like one thing I can get it next time. This place however was a little harder to do this since they don't have a build your own combo. They did have about 14 different combos, my mom and I both got the number 13 combo which had a Chile relleno, a cheese enchilada and a beef taco, which I didn't really want, but it was the best sounding combo. I thought everything on the plate was very good but I don't think any of it was the best Mexican food I've had. The Chile relleno was long and skinny with green chili on top. It was crispy, which is what I like, it had cheddar cheese inside the pepper. It was a little bit different from what I expected; I thought it tasted kind of like a jalapeno Popper. The green chili was good on top, I kind of wish I would've had more of the green chili. The enchilada was good not anything too exciting, but good. The taco was also good I really liked the shell, it was different than any taco shells I had before. It was like they actually made it. My mom also like her combo plate, she thought the Chile relleno was hot up by the stem, which mine didn't have.

My dad had the combo with the Chile relleno and a beef and bean burrito. His whole plate was smothered in green chili and he also thought it was good.

Overall this place was very good, not the best I've ever had but still very good. My favorite part I think was the chips and salsa, and the green chili which I wish I had more of.

La Casa Del Rey

7035 East 72nd Avenue, Commerce City, CO 80022-2107

Big AL’s Burgers and dogs

March 23, 2011

I met a friend at Big Al’s Burgers and dogs, multiple people had told me it was really good.  I decided to get a single with fries and my friend just got a single burger.

I thought the burger was good, but not as good as everyone made it sound like.  This may have had to do with just having In n Out burger in Arizona, which I thought was better.  The fries were fresh cut with the skins still on, but for some reason I usually don’t like fresh cut fries.  I didn’t like them that much, but they weren’t awful.

Overall I thought the burger was good, and very good for a fast food place and the fries I thought were ok, but not that great.  I would go back to this place, but I probably would not good out of my way.

140 West Mountain Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524

Grimaldi's pizzeria, Gilbert Arizona

Grimaldi's pizzeria, Gilbert Arizona

March 12, 2011

I saw the original Grimaldi’s pizzeria in New York on the Travel Channel, and thought it looked really good.  I looked them up on the internet, and found out there are locations in Arizona. 

It was a Saturday night so it was a little crowded, but not too bad we had about a 10 minute wait.  We were seated at a table with a checkered table cloth.  We decided to get the large 18” pizza with pepperoni.  The menu was basically pick the size for one price and then you pay for your toppings.  After not too long our waiter brought out our pizza.  The pizza looked very good, it was a thin coal fired crust and looked very simple.  The crust was a little blackened, and made it taste even better.  All the toppings, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni were all very good, but I think the crust is what made it so good.  We thought that the 18” would be a lot to eat, but since it was thin and so good we didn’t have a problem finishing it.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria was so good, the best pizza I have ever had, I can’t wait until next time I am close to one.

2168 East Williams Field Road # 102, Gilbert, AZ

Black Bear Diner, Gilbert Arizona

Black Bear Diner, Gilbert Arizona

March 12, 2011

After driving past another place for breakfast/lunch that had a line out the front, we stopped at the Black bear diner. They had a little bit of a wait but wasn't too bad. I was thinking I wanted breakfast but I changed my mind when I was reading the menu. I had a small club sandwich which was smaller than the regular one. It had two pieces of toast instead of three. It had lettuce tomato onion and pickle in the sandwich and on the side of the sandwich, which I liked having extra. The fries that came with it were also good.

My mom had the same thing but with potato salad for her side she thought was okay but nothing great. And my dad had the patty melt and he liked it.

I liked the Black bear diner, it wasn't the best sandwich I've ever had but it was good and after seeing some breakfast plates go past I think breakfast will be what to try if I get back to the Black bear diner.

1809 E. Baseline Road

Gilbert, AZ 85233

Rancho De Tia Rosas, Mesa Arizona

Rancho De Tia Rosas, Mesa Arizona

March 11, 2011

Being in Phoenix I wanted to make sure I tried some of the Mexican places. This place was on my list of Mexican places to try and it was close to where we were at that day.

We got there for an early dinner, so not many others were there. We were seated only brought green and red salsas and chips. I really like the red salsa and had a really good flavor and some heat, the green I thought was a little too sweet for me.

Then I ordered the beef enchiladas with red sauce, with shredded beef. There was some taste that I couldn't figure out where it was but it tasted good. The beans and rice were good and I especially liked the pico de gallo, lettuce, and cabbage that were on the plate.

My mom had the chicken enchiladas with green sauce and really enjoyed it and was the first one done, my dad had the beef chimichanga that had shredded beef in it and he also really enjoyed it as well.

This place was very good, the chips and salsa were good and so were my enchiladas, and having a Mexican Coke made it a good place to eat.  I really like good Mexican food and I found it at Rancho De Tia Rosas.

3129 East McKellips Road

Mesa, AZ 85213

Joe's farm grill, Gilbert Arizona

March 11, 2011

Joe's farm grill, Gilbert Arizona

We decided to go to Joe's farm grill after seeing it on Diners drive-ins and dives on the food network, where they described the onion rings as capital K crunchy and that is enough to get me there. At Joe's farm grill you wait in line and then order at a window, they give you a buzzer that buzzes and flashes when your meal is ready. There are places to sit inside and outside with shade. All three of us got the farm burger for $7.99. This came with the choice of cheese and fresh out of the garden vegetables. I had mine with cheddar cheese and I added grilled onions. This came with lettuce tomato and onions that were fresh and very good, and homemade pickles which I didn't like since they were sweet pickles. I thought the burger was very good too. My dad and I both substituted onion rings for the fries for $2.50. They were panko and Rosemary breaded these were as crunchy as advertised and I like them a lot since the onion broke when I bit it, and the whole onion didn't come out.

Joe's farm grill was very good, it was kind of fast food but a lot better. I really enjoyed all the fresh ingredients for the burger and the onion rings were very good. Diners drive-ins and dives was right again.

3000 East Ray Road
Gilbert, AZ 85296-7832

Haus Murphy’s, Glendale AZ

Haus Murphy’s

 March 10, 2013 update

 

Again I ordered the paprika schnitzel ($13.95) this was just as good if not better than last year. Mom also tried this schnitzel after trying some of the others in the past and said they were all good.

 

Dad had the Schweizer Schnitzel (16.95) which was a pork schnitzel with ham and Swiss cheese.  This was like a Cordon Bleu. He thought this was really really good.

 

UPDATE:

March 8, 2012

We had to come back to this place after last year and it was still great.    

I had the paprika schnitzel again which was a pork schnitzel with a bacon onion and paprika gravy which was delicious as it was last year. One thing I did notice was it seemed like the sides were kind of small compared to the schnitzel.  I finished my sides and still had half of my schnitzel left.  The sides were very good though; fried potatoes and some kind of creamed cabbage dish. This is also a neat place because of all the things hanging on the walls, German stuff that was just interesting to look at.

2011

After going to a spring training game that had a very exciting finish and getting to meet the Nuggets coach George Karl at the game I thought that my day couldn't get any better, but then we went to Haus Murphy’s. We decided to go to Haus Murphy's after seeing it on food network on diners drive-ins and dives and because I had never been to a German restaurant before.

It was so good, I forgot to take a picture first

We chose to sit inside and were taken to a table. I decided to get the paprika schnitzel, which was a fried pork loin, similar to a chicken fried steak. This was topped with a paprika, bacon and onion sauce. This was very good nothing in the sauce was overpowering, everything went together well. It was served with wirsing, which was cabbage with some kind of white creamy sauce that had some kind of cheese in it. It was also with fried potatoes which were good.

My dad had the steak schnitzel which he enjoyed. My mom decided to get the sauerbraten. She was concerned that it might be too sour, but the waiter said it wasn't too overly sour or sweet just an even balance. She was happy with it and enjoyed it very much. All of our meals came with a cup of the soup of the day which was potato it was excellent.

We are usually not to into desserts, but we decided to split a slice black forest cake it was also excellent.

I didn't think about taking a picture first, I was distracted by how good it was

My whole meal at Haus Murphy’s was excellent, it had to be best place we went to on the whole trip. I can't wait till next year so we can go back again.

5739 West Glendale Avenue

Glendale, AZ 85301