Best of 2016

Maria's New Mexican Kitchen – Santa Fe New Mexico FullReview

SanTan Brewing Company– Chandler Arizona Full Review

Pomo Pizzeria– Gilbert Arizona Full Review

El Guero Canelo Mexican Restaurant– Phoenix Arizona FullReview

Matt's big breakfast – Phoenix Arizona Full Review

 Chanpen Thai Cusine – Phoenix Arizona Full Review

Tortas Chano– Anthem Arizona Full Review

Pork tenderloin sandwiches

TC’s point after – Dewitt Iowa Full Review

and Goldie’s ice cream shop – Prairie city Iowa Full Review coming soon

Big Mama's Kitchen & Catering – Omaha Nebraska Full Review coming soon

Jerico’s restaurant – Omaha Nebraska Full Review coming soon

TC’s point after – Dewitt Iowa

August 7, 2016

Apparently pork tenderloin sandwiches were a huge thing in Iowa so I had to make sure to try at least a couple of them out. So this day we drove up from Davenport which is about 20 miles. This was a Sunday morning and when we arrived fairly early sometime after 11, the place was completely empty. We were able to sit wherever we wanted. We checked out the menu, but didn’t need too much time because I already knew what I was going to get. When our waitress was back to take our orders we all three got a pork tenderloin sandwich which came with fries and coleslaw. We sat there for a bit, me with great excitement for my first pork tenderloin sandwich. Right before our sandwiches came, coleslaw arrived in little dishes for me and mom, dad told our waitress he didn’t want his coleslaw when he ordered.

Soon after three plates arrived filled with a pork tenderloin sandwich and a pile of fries. The Sandwich came with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion or whatever combination you wanted. Everyone else had a packet of mayonnaise on their plate except for me. I didn’t care so much, but it might have been good on this sandwich. This was a really good sandwich although it wasn’t as big as most pork tenderloin sandwiches are but it was still really good. It was breaded and the breading was tasty and salty and it was almost perfect with the pork. The one problem with this was the breading quickly got soggy so it wasn’t so crispy of a pork sandwich. The fries were all right kind of a bit thin and needed a bit of salt, but they were all right. I was very happy with my first try at a pork tenderloin sandwich, but I still wanted to try at least another one or two to see how this stacks up against other pork tenderloin sandwiches.

 

719 6th Ave, DeWitt, IA 52742

 

Harris pizza – Rock Island Illinois

August 6, 2016

I kept reading about Quad City-style pizza, so I did a little more research and found out that these pizzas have malt in the crust, usually the sauce has chili flakes and is a tad spicy, the sausage is ground and goes under the cheese, and these pizzas are typically cut into strips instead of slices.  I also found that there were many places that have Quad city style pizzas.  So since this seemed like a popular thing to get in the area I figured we ought to try it out. From what I found it looked like Harris pizza has been around for quite a while so I figured it was the one to try. When we arrived they seated us pretty quickly and took our drink orders which mom and I both ordered Pepsi’s and dad got a Hanks root beer in a glass bottle which they also brought out a cup with ice. We looked at the menu for a little bit, but since a Quad cities pizza seemed like sausage was the most common type we quickly decided to just order a large sausage pizza. So soon after when our waitress returned that’s what we ordered. As we waited I thought this place seemed like it’s probably a very popular local pizza place.

 

We waited for a while and then our waitress brought plates and then not too long later our pizza was delivered.  It was quite big probably a 16 inch and cut in strips like Quad city style pizzas should be. Some of the strips were long which made them a little bit harder to eat but it was doable. The sausage was ground and under the cheese.  The sauce didn’t seem too different to me but tasted alright.  I thought my first try at a quad city pizza was good and we had a decent pizza, but I don’t think it was as different as it sounded, it basically tasted like a good pizza and it was just cut differently. I won’t exactly go out of my way for a quad city pizza, but I would be alright with eating another.

 

3903 14th Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201

Machine shed – Davenport Iowa

August 5, 2016

When we arrived the place was absolutely packed and they said a 30 to 45 minute wait so we figured we might as well wait. So we waited out front and checked out their tractors they have parked in front and watched them shuck corn. Eventually our buzzer went off and we headed in. When we finally got to our table we had quite a bit of time to look at the menu. I decided to get the two-piece fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy ($9.99) and so did mom. Dad ordered the meatloaf dinner ($13.49). We had a waitress and a waitress in training. When we ordered the waitress in training made it sound like just me and mom got our choice of family-style sides.  The choices were coleslaw, cottage cheese or apples we chose coleslaw and apples. But they didn’t really ask dad what he wanted even though his dinner came with the same things, but I don’t think he wanted any of them anyways.

 

 

Soon after our waitress in training delivered a bowl of coleslaw and apples along with basket of bread was to our table.  I really enjoyed all of these, the bread was warm and homemade and I also enjoyed the apples which we had warm.  After we ate all this we were offered more, but we declined.  In a bit after this our meals arrived along with corn on the cob. 

 

The fried chicken was good, but I’ve definitely have had better.  The mashed potatoes and gravy were very good to go along with my meal.  The corn was very fresh and tasted very good, which you would expect in Iowa.  Mom I think thought about the same as I did. 

 

Dad’s meatloaf was piled high and he really enjoyed his meal.  At Machine shed you’ll get a good meal and won’t leave hungry all at a reasonable price.

Address: 7250 Northwest Blvd, Davenport, IA 52806

 

 

 

Cellar 19 Wine & Deli – Council Bluffs Iowa

August 5, 2016

On the second day of our trip we were driving from Lincoln, Nebraska to Davenport, Iowa and we stopped at this place in Council Bluffs, Iowa for lunch. At lunch this is an order at the counter place and I guess a sit-down place at night, but since we were there for lunch we went up to the counter.

 

 I ordered the cellar club which had oven roasted turkey, tavern ham, hickory smoked bacon, mild cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion and mayo on white bread with potato salad as a side,

 

Mom ordered the BLT on toasted wheat bread with potato salad

 

 

and dad ordered Mike’s melt which had tavern ham, Swiss, jalapenos and mustard on toasted marble rye bread with chips. After waiting for a bit our sandwiches were delivered. My sandwich was all right and it had everything you would expect in a club sandwich. This was a good sandwich but not much more than that. I really did enjoy the potato salad and thought it was one of the better potato salads I’ve had. It was a red potato salad with some bacon in it.  I thought it tasted really good. Everyone else thought their sandwiches were pretty good to.  This day we had a pretty good lunch although I most definitely had better sandwiches and I also thought it was a bit pricey for just sandwiches.

928 VALLEY VIEW DRIVE
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA 51503

Ana’s Mexican Grill - Westminster, CO

July 16, 2016

 

First chips and salsa were delivered and our drink orders taken.  I thought the chips and salsa was very good.  

 

I had the #17 combo plate which included a crispy chile relleno, beef and bean burrito, and a cheese enchilada Dad also had the same #17 combo.  Mom had #16 combo with a crispy chile relleno, tamale, and a cheese enchilada. 

 

 

These combos came with rice and beans on another plate.  Both were I thought just alright.

 

I thought this was pretty good Mexican food, and would be happy to return. 

 

 

 

 

ANA'S Mexican Grill  

2821 W 120th Ave, Westminster, CO 80234

 

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza – Denver Colorado

June 13, 2016

Once again we stopped for an early dinner after an appointment and this night it was at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza.

I ordered the Americo pizza which was a basic pizza with sliced pepperoni, mozzarella with mushrooms and fresh tomato sauce ($ 8.95),

 

dad had the 4 x 4 pizza which had four cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, gouda and goat cheese, & four meats: sausage, pepperoni, prosciutto and bacon ($11.95).  Dad really enjoyed this especially the bacon and the goat cheese which surprise me.  He thought it was one of the best pizzas he’s had.

Mom had the special pizza of the day which had spinach artichoke dip along with tomatoes and chicken.  I liked this place it definitely wasn’t the best pizza, but I would sure be happy to return and dad really would like to return.

Address: 8351 Northfield Blvd, Denver, CO 80238

Helga's German Restaurant & Deli - Aurora, CO

May 25, 2016



 

My parents and I stopped in for some German food for dinner on this night, we were a bit early so the place was mostly empty.  I ordered the breaded pork schnitzel, which came with two sides I choose Spaetzle and sauerkraut and a cup of soup and rye bread. 

 

 

The soup for this night was potato soup.  I really enjoyed this quite a bit.

 

The rye bread was very dry and I didn't care for it.

 

my pork schnitzel was pretty good, it was very thin and crispy.  I liked how the gravy was on the side so I could just dip pieces into the gravy and the schnitzel stayed crispy. The sauerkraut was alright, but was a bit sour for me after awhile, so I couldn't finish it. the Spaetzle was okay, kind of plain.  my dad had the fried potatoes which were very good and moms red cabbage which she didn't like to well, I thought was good and I liked it more than the sauerkraut.

I thought Helga's was alright, but there were some things I liked and some things I didn't like to well, so I thought it was pretty average.

Helga's German Restaurant & Deli

Address: Aurora City Square, 14197 E Exposition Ave, Aurora, CO 80012

Maria's New Mexican Kitchen – Santa Fe New Mexico

March 13, 2016

 

I had a tip from my pastor that this place was very good. So since we eat somewhere in Santa Fe every year on the way back from Phoenix we planned a stop. When we arrived it was not very full, but it did take a couple minutes for us to be seated.

 

Once we were our drink orders were taken and chips and salsa was delivered. I didn’t think the chips were all that good and the salsa tasted good, but it was a bit too hot for me. After a bit we ordered;

 

mom had green chile stew and dad and I both ordered the cheese enchilada plate Christmas style because I can’t ever decide if I want red or green chili, so I just usually get both. This also came with rice and beans and a sopapilla.

 

These enchiladas were blue corn stacked enchiladas like they should be in New Mexico. They were excellent to begin with but the red and green chili were both amazing on top with the perfect amount of heat. I don’t even want to try to pick a favorite I thought it was perfect with some of each the beans and rice were all right as well.

 

When we were about done our waiter brought out a fresh basket of sopapillas. I hadn’t had a sopapilla for quite a while and it was hot and delicious and perfect with the honey. This was a great meal to end our trip with and I would definitely go back and would recommend it to anybody that wants a good place for New Mexican food in Santa Fe.

 

 

 

Address: 555 W Cordova Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505

 

 

SanTan Brewing Company– Chandler Arizona

March 11, 2016

This place was packed on a Friday late afternoon, nearly dinner time so we waited out front and checked the menu that was posted outside. After quite a while of a wait we were seated and shortly after drink orders were taken and soon after that our waitress was back to take our orders.  I ordered the Chipotle Bacon Cheeseburger and so did dad and we both added onion rings as our side for a dollar more and mom got one of the more basic burgers. Then we waited a little bit but not too terribly long considering it was really busy and eventually our food arrived.

 

The burger was which was 75% Chuck and 25% Short Rib and was great on its own.  Then it was topped with smoked chipotle bacon, pepper jack, aged white cheddar, chile lime mayo, lettuce, tomato and red onion.  This was absolutely amazing especially the chipotle bacon which was rather thick bacon and had some chipotle smoky kick. The onion rings were big and also really good, but there was something kept tasting that I wasn’t sure about some sort of herb maybe Rosemary.  Despite that I still enjoyed them quite a bit. 

 

I really enjoyed SanTan Brewing Company, I can’t tell you about their beers but I can tell you that they have big burgers that are amazing and one of the best burgers I’ve found. And maybe the best bacon too.

 

 

 

 

SanTan Brewing Company

Address: 8 S San Marcos Pl, Chandler, AZ 85225

   

Pomo Pizzeria– Gilbert Arizona

March 9, 2016

After a spring training game in Mesa we stopped in here for dinner. We had visited the one in Scottsdale previously. We arrived just ahead of the dinner rush so we were seated right away quickly or drink orders were taken we all three ordered cokes. We then took a look at the menu but mostly know what we wanted  

 

I ordered the peppino that had spicy salami and ricotta,

 

 

mom ordered their Margherita

 

 

and dad had the Pomo which had italian sausage, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms. These cooked quickly and were delivered soon after mine was excellent in just about every way; the toppings, cheese, the sauce and crust. Mom’s margarita was simple like it should be. I really liked it too and it was maybe even better than mine.  I think it might be a case of simple being better. We all really enjoyed our pizzas and this was a perfect way to end a great day.

 

 

 

 

Address: 366 N Gilbert Rd #106, Gilbert, AZ 85234

  

Las Glorias Mexican Grill– Phoenix Arizona

March 8, 2016

We were early so the place was mostly empty. We were seated quickly and chips with a bean dip and salsa was dropped off.

 

I typically don’t like being dips but this was very good and it chunks of I think green chilies, onions and maybe something else. I also enjoyed the salsa. On this night I wasn’t sure what to get, so I took my time with the menu but eventually I settled on the green chile burrito, dad had the red chile burrito and mom had a chile relleno and cheese enchilada combo.

 

 I really enjoyed this burrito it had large tender chunks of pork and green chilies and some tomatillos. It wasn’t very spicy, but it had really good flavor.

 

Dad also liked his red chile burrito as well it had the red sauce with chunks of beef in it.

 

 Mom said her chile relleno and cheese enchilada combo was good but didn’t elaborate. All these came with rice and beans which I thought were decent and mine also came with guacamole which I thought was pretty good too.  This was another successful try for Mexican food in Phoenix and while it wasn’t the greatest Mexican food, I would be more than happy to return.

 

  

 Las Glorias Grill

7835 N 19th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021