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Read more about the article A Wild, Wacky, Happy-Go-Lucky Hot Doggery in NOLA

A Wild, Wacky, Happy-Go-Lucky Hot Doggery in NOLA

This is probably the most bizarrely happy-go-lucky place anywhere on the entire planet. On this day, torrential rain was falling from the sky, the shop’s WiFi was out so the normal music source was unusable, and many of the ingredients had not and were not going to be delivered. But, that couldn’t hold the Dat Dog staff down – it’s not in their nature. In fact, from the moment I laid my eyes upon that gigantic, two-story, neon, multicolored building on New Orleans’ Magazine Street, I knew there was something special about the place. I think passing through those Heinz mustard-colored doors functioned as a sort of portal to a comically super-happy alternate dimension.

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Read more about the article Catfishing for Southern Deep-Fried Perfection in Denison, TX

Catfishing for Southern Deep-Fried Perfection in Denison, TX

Over my many trips to Texas and other parts of The South, there’s one thing I’ve learned for sure – the most delicious foods usually come deep-fried. There are exceptions, of course, but in general I’ve found that Southerners have a very skilled hand using a deep fryer. Whether it’s deep-fried bacon, deep-fried eggs, deep-fried breakfast steak, deep-fried vegetables, deep-fried cheese, deep-fried balls of mystery meat, deep-fried sushi rolls, deep-fried samoa Girl Scout cookies, deep-fried sandwich fillings, or even an entire deep-fried sandwich – it’s all bound to taste really good and of course be really bad for you. But, one of the simplest, but most incredible things I’ve found you can get deep-fried in Texas is catfish and there’s one place I constantly return to for the very best – Huck’s Catfish in Denison, Texas.

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Read more about the article Old School Italian Sub Sandwiches at Lucca Delicatessen in the Marina

Old School Italian Sub Sandwiches at Lucca Delicatessen in the Marina

When people ask me what I miss most about New York, the answer pretty much solely correlates to food. There are a lot of things that are better out here in SF, but there’s some things that I’ve found particularly difficult to get my hands on. Specifically, I truly miss my weekly stops in at the old Italian meat and cheese shrines at Di Palo and Alleva in Little Italy. Their prosciutto, mozzarella, porchetta, meatballs, and other sliced meats rank as some of my favorite things to eat in all of New York and it sort of feels like I’ve lost a part of myself without them in my life.

Upon moving to SF, I learned the hard way that finding incredible versions of these simple Italian classics wasn’t nearly as easy as it was back east. Sure, SF has North Beach – its own unsatisfying version of Little Italy, but just like New York’s Little Italy, most of it is just touristy dreck. In SF, to find the good stuff, you’ve got attack the city with a little bit more of an informed approach. And that’s exactly what brought me to Lucca Delicatessen on this Sunday afternoon.

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Read more about the article Emeril & Guy Fieri BOTH Love Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop on Magazine St.

Emeril & Guy Fieri BOTH Love Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop on Magazine St.

We had just endured a brutal red-eye from San Francisco to NOLA via LA to finally arrive at our Airbnb on the very fun, cool, and completely non-touristy Magazine St. After napping for a few hours to catch up on lost Zzzzs, we woke around lunch time and found ourselves in desperate need of something very satisfying to transition our minds and bodies over to NOLA time. A quick Foursquare search of the nearby neighborhood led me to a sandwich joint called Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop fully vetted by Guy Fieri and Emeril Lagasse on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Seriously, Emeril made a guest appearance on DDD just to hawk this place to the masses alongside The Spiky One. With a simultaneous seal of approval from both of these men, how could I not check it out for myself?

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Read more about the article A Bounty of Beer and a Ridiculous Reuben at Mikkeller Bar in Union Sq.

A Bounty of Beer and a Ridiculous Reuben at Mikkeller Bar in Union Sq.

Mikkeller is not your average beer bar. Despite its questionable neighborhood surroundings on the cusp of the bad part of the Tenderloin (we actually watched cops draw guns on a crackhead in the street a block from the place on our way over), it’s actually a very large, spacious, clean, polished space with a comfortable and appropriately adult, European vibe.

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Read more about the article La Ciudad de Mexico is a Torta Hole-in-the-Wall in the Inner Richmond

La Ciudad de Mexico is a Torta Hole-in-the-Wall in the Inner Richmond

In general, the Inner Richmond is known for its vast array of authentic Asian restaurants. It’s certainly not thought of as an opportune place to be able to get Mexican food, but there I was on a Sunday afternoon doing exactly that.

After a stop by the Presidio for Off The Grid’s Picnic at the Presidio to find ridiculously large crowds and excessive lines at every food vendor, I hopped onto Foursquare in search of a lunch alternative. Sure, mostly Asian food dominated the search results, but there was still a single listing that differed completely from everything else called La Ciudad de Mexico that caught my eye. San Francisco is definitely a town known it’s Mission style burritos, and there are plenty of great options for those around, but there is another traditional, handheld Mexican street food that La Ciudad de Mexico specializes in that tends not to get as much love – the torta.

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Read more about the article Burritos Bigger Than Your Head at La Costeña in Mountain View

Burritos Bigger Than Your Head at La Costeña in Mountain View

If there’s one dish that the Bay Area does better than anywhere else in the country, it’s most certainly the burrito. Even in Silicon Valley, where finding anything decent to eat is a challenge, there are a number of more than just passable options. Through my exploration of Sunnyvale, I’ve found Taqueria Latina, Ruby’s Taqueria, and in the neighboring town of Mountain View another excellent shop called La Costeña.

Whereas the former two are pretty classic Mission style Mexican, I think that La Costeña’s creations lean closer to Cal-Mex. The shop is a little brighter and a little cleaner than the others and the produce is super-fresh tasting. It’s just that I’ve found that the flavors tend to deviate just a bit from the truly traditional Mexican flavors – hence Cal-Mex.

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Read more about the article Wing Wings: Hands Down the Best Chicken Wings in SF

Wing Wings: Hands Down the Best Chicken Wings in SF

I was completely certain I was gonna love everything about Wing Wings. I absolutely love crushing buckets of chicken wings and I had heard such great things about the many unique varieties at this Lower Haight hole-in-the-wall and hot spot.

They’ve been featured in 7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat 2013, on Grub Street’s Best Places for Wings in SF, on Epicurious’ America’s Best Chicken Wings List, and in plenty of other high profile publications. To put it simply, their reputation precedes them. Beyond what I had read about online, I’d had already had the chance to experience their impressive chicken-preparation skill via the transcendent Fried Chicken served at their Off The Grid Picnic at the Presidio pop-up stall. I knew this was gonna be good.

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Read more about the article Get Your Korean Fried Chicken on at Bon Chon in Sunnyvale

Get Your Korean Fried Chicken on at Bon Chon in Sunnyvale

I think most New Yorkers have heard of (and had their fair share of) Bon Chon Chicken. After originating in New Jersey and expanding to NYC and truly blowing up with hype and mega-popularity, this mini-chain has now spread its reach across the US and around the world. There’s even two locations out on the West Coast near me in the Bay Area – one not far from my office in Sunnyvale. Since lunch options in Sunnyvale are so scarce, I’ve found myself stopping in whenever the urge for a satisfyingly deep-fried lunch strikes.

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Read more about the article Solid, Cheap as Hell Mexican at Taqueria Latina in Sunnyvale

Solid, Cheap as Hell Mexican at Taqueria Latina in Sunnyvale

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Finding a decent meal in Sunnyvale has always been a challenge and always will be. But, when I dig deep enough and keep my eyes firmly peeled, I have actually been able to find a few local gems.

On this particular day, I took a mile-long walk down a suburban road I’d never been down before stumbling onto something intriguing. For the majority of the walk, I saw nothing worth a second glance, but then I spotted it. It shined in the distance like a shining beat-up beacon of hope. The sign read Taqueria Latina.

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