San Diego
California, USA
Ah, San Diego. If you like 75 all year round, a view of the pacific, a great gas lamp district, Point Loma, and a freakin aircraft carrier to walk about on then San Diego is for you. Do not miss out on checkin out Point Loma, the lighthouse there is stunning along the cliffs. If you have been hanging out at the Gas Lamp district enjoying the sites, little do you know that at the bottom of it is a little restaurant that is gonna light up your day!
While the Pesky Combo (which isn’t on the menu anymore) at Rubio’s on Mission Bay and Grand ave. is the original Fish Taco, The Tin Fish is THE spot to check out. I tried the fried and the grilled, however the Grilled is where you want to be. If The Tin Fish could perfect this anymore I may just loose my mind. Just fantastic. The fish is grilled to perfection with just the right amount of add on’s on top to make each bite phenomenal.
If you are lucky you can chill outside in the great weather and catch a train going by which I always find impressive. A heads up though, this is an early late nighter. The kitchen usually closes at 8pm :(.
Go Fish at the Two
San Francisco
California, USA
The City By the Bay, Fog City or older generations may know it as Frisco. Home of great movies like Bullet where they must have destroyed dozens of cars screaming down the hills of this massive Metropolis. San Fran has many different looks, and I have been fortunate enough to see quite a few of them.
That being said, there is only one look that you should be seeing around 1am on any givin night. That look consists of a square slice of pizza that has clams and garlic on it. Clams and Garlic? yes... clams.... and garlic! Don't take your date here unless breath isn't a factor. Golden Boy Pizza is a great little dive with some fairly inexpensive local beers. Eat in or get it to go! Order inside or at the window. If you're havin a party order a whole sheet of the stuff.
Amazingly the clam garlic pizza makes your stomach feel all warm and fuzzy. That thin dough, that melty cheese, clams and baked garlic just go in your face so well together. Wash it down with another local beer and your night is fairly complete. You may even feel as though you won. I know I did.
Winning at the two.
Seattle
Washington, USA
Seattle, The Emerald City called so because of the lush evergreens in the area, is a fantastic city. I am totally biased to this city because it just has a great feel to it. During the day if you're lucky you can sneak down to Salumi, to get the best salami in the city. So good in fact it's where most of the chefs order their salami from in the city. The line is long though and the hours are short, open only from 11-4.
Side tracked there, what do you do when the lights go down and the fish market is closed and you are roaming the streets or parked in a pub? You find yerself a Seattle Dog. Now I found a Seattle Dog just north of the city area on the south side of Belltown from a vendor on the street. Seattle Dog's consist of the following: a grilled warm bun, a slightly peppered large hotdog, cream cheese, and nearly caramelized onions on top. I know what you're thinking, cream cheese on a hog dog? At first I too thought this a might bit strange. However after that first bite though, magic happens on the tongue and your taste-buds are a flurry with excitement.
I've had Seattle Dog's all over seattle and the best I have had is from the vendor but if you're looking for a more cemented establishment try in front of the Mediterranean Mix. Damn those dog's are good. I wish you a wonderful cream cheese filled experience.
yummie to the two.
Salt Lake City
Utah, USA (SLC)
Welcome to Don Carlos Bar-Be-Q! You can’t find it, you say? Let me check, oh yeah, that’s not here anymore. Welcome to Salt Lake City, home of the Mormon Church, clean streets, a very large Salt Lake, and breathtaking scenery. It is also a home base for another thing, Fry Sauce.
Fry sauce is a Utah specialty. It has spread to a few other states but it originated in Salt Lake City. SLC is also home to another treat, the Pastrami Burger. I know, calm down, I’m about to tell you where to get BOTH of these things at the same time! Enter Arctic Circle, a fast food joint that started in SLC.
A man named Don Carlos Edwards started his restaurant Don Carlos Bar-Be-Q back in the 1941, 9 years later in 1950 he opened Arctic Circle. Don Carlos is credited with the invention of Fry sauce. Fry Sauce is basically a combination of ketchup and mayonnaise and a hint of lemon. Dunk some fries or some onion rings in that bad boy and you have a mouthful of amazing. If you want to go for the uber amazing I highly recommend you dunk that pastrami burger (a burger with pastrami on it) you just ordered, into it. You’re mouth will thank you.
Keeping it saucy at the 2
St. Louis
Missouri, USA (STL)
If you want to try new things then you have come to the right place. Not only will you find the Arch, Busch Brewery and a huge baseball city, you will also find a ton of food that was born in St. Louis. St. Louis is home to over 25 plus new foods and "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"-JT Stinson at the St Louis Fair in 1904. There are a few things you must try though.
I'm going to take you through an evening of originals. First off I highly recommend you getting some Toasted Ravioli. These wonderful little pieces of pasta were created accidentally at Charlie Gitto's (jee-toes) on "The Hill" by cooking ravioli in oil instead of water. I didn't have the pleasure of going to the Hill because its a little ways out of town and cabs are very expensive in St. Louis but I did go to the Charlie Gitto's downtown. Its not open incredibly late but swing by to snag these tasty little treats. The other food at Charlies is great too, you can snag the baked ziti with Provel (Pro-vel) cheese another St. Louis original.
Next I would say you have to hit up some cement. I didn't get the opportunity to go to Ted Drewes for their frozen custard but it is what the blizzard is based off of. They have been making it since 1929, so I was very disappointed that I couldn't make it here but time was limited and again its just a little outside of downtown.
Now for our late night food, (or early morning depending on how you look at it). You must get a Slinger! Especially after a night of drinking you need to go to one of two places. This is a little complicated so I will do my best to explain it. A Slinger is comprised of a small pile of hash brown, topped by two sausage patties, topped by two eggs anyway you want them, topped by a cup of Edwins Chilli. Originally Eat Rite used Hodges Chili but switched it up about 20-30 years ago.
Whats complicated about this situation is that Courtesy Diner was where the Slinger originated, a restaurant a little ways outside of downtown on Kings Highway. Both of these restaurants are so old they don't have a website so I have linked to google maps for you. Eat Rite was originally managed and then bought by the nephew of the owner of Courtesy. Eat Rite used to be a Courtesy Diner until the nephew bought it. The lady that works in Eat Rite told me (shes been there for 42 years) that one day about 35 years ago one of the customers from Courtesy came to their location and asked for a Slinger. This is how it all got started. It's a must have though, whether you can make it out to the original site on Kings Highway or just south of Busch Stadium is Eat Rite. You may need a Tums after all that, which also originated in St. Louis. Enjoy!
Slinging round at the Two
Talkeetna
Alaska, USA - (Near the Mountain)
I was surprised when I rolled into Talkeetna because of a number of things. Number one, it was super packed for a small town, so much so that driving down the one small road in town is not easy. Number Two, you can see Denali on a clear day. Number three, (which explains the people) its where you get most of your tours and flights to Denali. Number four you can get the equivalent of an Alaskan pig in a blanket.
Welcome to the Roadhouse, a place where you can order a Chili-Rudy. A Chili-Rudy is a hearty meal that is great after a long drive, long walk, long tour, or empty stomach. Start with a reindeer sausage, put some cheese in it and bake it in sourdough. Then take Reindeer chili with some cheese and chives and dump that on top and you have yourself a heaping pile yum.
Other than the Roadhouse, Talkeetna has a lot of of older frontier type places to look at while walking up and down the four blocks. You can always grab some ice cream too. Just about every place I saw, sold ice cream. Good luck with Denali though, it seems to have its own weather system even on the clearest of days.
Eating Rudolph at the Two.
Tampa
Florida, USA
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a close call to report. Tampa came pretty close to becoming another Houston. I understand the appeal of the Tampa Bay area but it's still a tough area for uniqueness and inventiveness. Ybor city is sort of an up and coming area but it's not there yet. The only thing I could find that was of interest was in Tampa was The Taco Bus.
It's open 24/7 and the food is real mexican. None of this namby pamby tex mex crap. I will say there is nothing that is truly unique that I could find there other than the establishment itself. It's a bus with a shack built around it and the bus is the kitchen. It's pretty awesome. You've gotta get a Burrito when you go, with or with out beans and rice depending maybe on how much you may be stuck in a small space with someone for the foreseeable future.
Enjoy the Taco Bus and brush up on your spanish!
Tampa two out.
(Las) Vegas
Nevada, USA (Viva Las Vegas)
Some people just can't handle Vegas. Don't worry, I have a tip for you thats gonna save you some cash because undoubtedly you've spent it all at the tables, slots or many of the other various ways you get your money extracted from your pocket here in Sin City.
I have to say, Vegas is a tough one because of the various town's and sections of Vegas. The other thing thats tough is you can find anything in Vegas, which begs the question if you're hungry where do you spend the pittens you have left?
I'm going to have to go with In-N-Out Burger. Harry and Esther Snyder started this burger drive-thru in California back in 1948. The crazy thing was that Harry had a two way speaker system which was revolutionary for that time. You used to have to wait on people to come to your car to serve you, I know, how did they survive? I choose In-N-Out Burger because of the "Animal" toppings.
You wanna waltz or stumble in there and order a Number 1 which consists of a Double-Double Burger and Fries (you have to request animal style on both) and a Chocolate Shake. You HAVE to get the animal style burger and fries. The fries consist of melted cheese and caramelized onions on top. The Double-Double burger has a Big Mac type sauce on it followed by the other items on the fries. The Chocolate Shake reminded me a little of those Wendy's Frosties, yum! They're open 24 hours so it's good to go anytime and it's cheap so you can blow your hard earned cash on the lighter things in life!
There is an unspoken rule though: You are only allowed 3 items total off the menu. Lore has it that more than 3 may have devastating results. Yes a shake counts as an item. You stick to the rules you'll be a happy bunny. When you're in Vegas you defo wanna hit up one of these joints. It's a great late nighter.
Up again at the two spot
Wichita
Kansas, USA
Welcome to Wichita, where wild things wroam. Well not too much any more because it is the largest city in Kansas. Home to the Keeper of the Plains statue which is pretty amazing and is lit on fire every night. What more do you want? Food perhaps
I bring you a crumbly burger! No not crummy burger, crum-Blee, like little bits. At this point you may be thinking, well that's silly. Back in the 1930's it was a revelation and it was and still is tasty. Throw down some home made root beer or float with it and get some cheese on that burger and you are golden.
NuWay Burger is where its all happening. I went to the original (of course) at 1416 W Douglas. The atmosphere is just like it was back in the day. Everyone was super nice and the cheese does help keep the burger together. Go forth and and crumble!
Nu from the Two