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