Moving to a new site

Turns out, Google's AdSense program was never going to pay me, and it shut down my account for no reason when I got close to making money.

So I'm done. As of today, I have officially moved Dan vs. Food to WordPress, where I won't make money but the blog will look cleaner and I'll get back to enjoying this. The posts will be coming the same as before, but now they'll come at a new address.

Here's the link to the new place: Dan vs. Food

Hope you follow me there to continue the ride. Thanks for reading.

Dan

Pappy's Smokehouse, St. Louis

When you think of the Midwest, chances are good that St. Louis is one of the first cities that comes to mind. When you think about St. Louis, you think about great barbecue. No, this isn't another bad DirecTV commercial telling you to get rid of cable so that some tragedy doesn't befall you. It's the introduction to Pappy's Smokehouse, which is the best barbecue in a city that knows how to smoke meats.


I spent four years at college in Missouri, but I never once ventured to Pappy's because for 3/4 of my college life, the restaurant didn't exist. It's only been around since 2008, but in that short time, it has become the place in St. Louis to find fantastic barbecue, appeared on Man vs. Food and made it on to the Chowdown Countdown at 48.


How good is Pappy's? As you can tell by the grass in the picture, I couldn't actually eat it in the restaurant. I had to make it to work in Iowa (four hours away), so my only chance was to call for takeout and eat on the streets of St. Louis. That's how long the lines are. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

What makes Pappy's so amazing is the quality of everything. First, you aren't going to find anything that wasn't made fresh that day at Pappy's. The restaurant doesn't want to serve day-old barbecue, so what they do is make a pre-set amount at the start of the day based on the crowd they expect for their hours. Once they hit their amount of an item, they don't make more of it. It goes up on the board at the store to mark that they've sold out of that particular food, and it won't be available again until tomorrow.


When they sell out of all of their items, well, that's when the store closes. Pappy's says it's open until 8 p.m., but that's just a suggestion. They almost always shut their doors before that time comes.


The reason is because Pappy's knows how to do great barbecue. They might have only been around since 2008, but their owners have a combined century's worth of experience smoking meats. The St. Louis staple of ribs is one of the top choices on Pappy's menu, and you've got three sauces to choose from. Other meats available for you to select are pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef brisket, turkey and hot link sausage.


I love barbecue, and when I find a barbecue place, 90 percent of the time I'm going to go with at least one and possibly both of my two favorite meats: pulled pork or beef brisket. That's what I did here, and it was incredible. Throw some of Pappy's original sauce on it, and you have a barbecue meal that simply can't be beat. There's a reason it won the best barbecue in St. Louis three years running, and its streak was stopped only because the editors of the magazine didn't want to make that category an automatic win for Pappy's.


If you want to step outside of barbecue, the Frito Pie might catch your attention. This is basically beans, onions, cheese served on top of a bed of Fritos and topped with your barbecue of choice. I haven't had it yet, but I'm sure I'll be back in St. Louis again.


It's probably a good thing this place didn't exist while I was in college. I didn't have money, and given how often I went to STL, I'd have been losing money left and right standing in line for some Pappy's. It's that good.


Recap
Time to go: Early. Pappy's mantra of cooking all food fresh means that there is no guarantee the restaurant will even be open by the time you arrive if you get there later in the day. The restaurant opens at 11, and I'd advise being there near that time.


Wait during my visit: Here's the other reason why you need to get there early. If you don't, you'll be waiting for well over an hour, or you're going to be calling it in and having a picnic. 


Remember Ike's Place? Pappy's is very similar, as lines can easily go for over an hour. To-go orders can jump the line, but if not, you'll be waiting a while. My advice is that if the line extends outside the restaurant, call in your order.


Location: Pappy's can be found near the campus of St. Louis University, at 3106 Olive Street in St. Louis.


Parking: You'll find some. Being near the university, if you can't park at Pappy's, garages and street parking can be had.


Cost: Average. Pappy's does feature two pricey items in the Big Ben and the Adam Bomb, but these are not meant for one person. The Big Ben includes a slab of ribs, beef brisket, a pork sandwich, a quarter of a chicken and four sides. The Adam Bomb adds a hot link Frito pie to all of that.


Those go for over $40. However, sensible meals at Pappy's cost roughly $10-15.


Website: Pappy's Smokehouse

Signature items: Barbecue, Frito pie

Ike's Place, San Francisco

No, I haven't forgotten to post the picture for this one. Tonight, we actually have our first review that will not have a picture, because my Dec. 2009 visit to Ike's Place predates when I began taking pictures of the places I visited. So I'll try to describe things as best as I can without the use of visual aids.

Luckily, Ike's Place is so creative that this is probably the best place to have to do one without photos if I must. Those of you who read my Voodoo Doughnut review know that in addition to wonderful doughnuts, it's just as famous for its creative names that it bestows upon said doughnuts. 

What it is to breakfast, Ike's Place is to lunch. Owner Ike Shehadeh has come up with no fewer than 83 sandwiches that dot the Ike's Place menu, and that doesn't include discontinued sandwiches or sandwiches that are only available to Ike's fans that sign up via e-mail or social media for the restaurant's alerts. All sandwiches are available on your choice of freshly baked French, sourdough, wheat or Dutch crunch bread, and all sandwiches come toasted with lettuce, tomato and Dirty Sauce. If you want, you can add onions, pickles, banana peppers and mustard for free.

Plus, every sandwich has some kind of creative name, with the majority of the names having something to do with San Francisco, although that's by no means required. Here's a sampling of what you can find on Ike's menu:


Menage a Trois: Halal chicken, honey, honey mustard, barbecue sauce, pepper jack, Swiss, cheddar
Nacho Girl: Wild salmon burger, mushrooms, avocado, havarti
Paul Reubens: Pastrami, coleslaw, French dressing, Swiss
Peg Bundy: Breaded eggplant, French dressing, avocado, cheddar
Lincecum: Ham, turkey, bacon, avocado, havarti
Tom Brady: Vegan breaded chicken, garlic and herb sauce, mushrooms, avocado, cheddar
Kryptonite: Roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, salami, turkey, bacon, ham, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, onion rings, avocado, pesto, pepper jack (basically, just about every ingredient on Ike’s menu)


OK, if you've read this far, I'm sure you're wondering exactly what is Dirty Sauce? Quite simply, Dirty Sauce is the condiment that takes Ike's from being good to amazing. Dirty Sauce is Ike Shehadeh's garlic mayonnaise, with several secret spices for a simply fantastic taste.


Before any ingredients touch the sandwich, Ike's spreads the Dirty Sauce onto the bread and bakes it into the bread, giving the sandwich the distinct flavor of the Dirty Sauce in every bite. The sandwich is then toasted again once the ingredients are all loaded onto the bread, resulting in hot and fresh deliciousness that simply has to be tried to be believed.


On my visit, I went with the SF Giants, an incredible combination of turkey, bacon, mushrooms, Swiss and avocado. Quite honestly, it might very well be the best sandwich I've ever had. When combined with the Dirty Sauce throughout the sandwich, a bunch of things I already like become perfection.


Ike's is so incredible that it's won numerous awards in the short time it's been open and has become an indelible part of San Francisco and the Bay Area in just a couple years. When you manage to do that, it's because of one reason: you're really, really good at what you do.


Recap
Time to go: Lunch or dinner. Ike's is open between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.


Wait during my visit: Oh boy. Ike's is the reason that San Franciscans need more than an hour for lunch. The line almost stretched to the end of the street, and Ike's location (at the time) on 16th Street is on a pretty long street. I waited approximately two hours for my sandwich. That I'm still giving this a high review speaks to just how good Ike's creations are.


The good news is that Ike's does allow you to call in your orders, and if you do, you can pick up your sandwich without having to wait in line. I highly recommend doing this. Even better, if you're not sure you can make it to Ike's by 7 p.m. and you call your order in, Ike's will hold your sandwich for up to an hour after its doors close so you can pick it up.


Location: You can find Ike's at 3489 16th Street, a new location across the street from the original Ike's. Ike's also operates a secondary location on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto.


Parking: Good luck. It's San Francisco, which means parking will be both costly and a nightmare. There are meters available, but they will cost you a few dollars for your wait. I would recommend finding a transit option of some kind. You can take BART to the Mission/16th Street stop, which would give you a half-mile walk to Ike's. Not ideal, but at least you don't have to find parking.


Cost: Average. Ike's sandwiches tend to cost roughly $10, which can be more or less depending on what you order.


Website: Ike's Place. Ike's offers a great website, allowing its patrons to rate their sandwiches and listing the ratings of each. It's a great feature.


Signature items: Sandwiches, Dirty Sauce

Albano's Pizzeria, Lyons, Ill.

As my college friends can attest to, I'm a pretty frugal guy. While they were buying drinks and going to bars, my wallet was known as the place dollars go to never be seen again because of how rarely they saw me buy anything. 

I've gotten a little better at that since then, but with that reputation, it follows that I love a good deal, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than at Albano's, known for what it labels as the nation's largest pizza puff. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but what I do know is that it's located in the Chicago suburbs, it checked in at No. 8 on the Chowdown Countdown and it's totally worth a visit.


For those who don't know, a pizza puff is a Chicago version of the calzone, piled with toppings, cheese and sauce and cooked inside the dough. However, the difference between your standard calzone and a pizza puff is that the pizza puff is fried rather than baked, which is almost certainly less healthy but certainly not less tasty. In fact, as usually happens when you fry something, this is really excellent.


Besides being really excellent, it's really huge. As I said, I have no idea whether or not these are actually the largest pizza puffs in the country, but if they aren't, they're darn close. Albano's pizza puffs are the size of a football, as they really load on whatever toppings you ask for. On my visit with my wonderful lady Amy McFann, we went with chicken, mushrooms, olives, spinach and ricotta to pair with the sauce and mozzarella that come standard. Each bite was filled with a great mix of all of those toppings.


Notice I said we there, as in we split one. This is the way you're supposed to have the pizza puff. They are so large that the picture at the top of this blog is half of a pizza puff. Yes, half of this takes up a full dinner plate. These are not made for one person to eat. We actually had some left over after splitting it.


Surprisingly, though, while it isn't made for one person, it's priced for one person, which is the great deal I referenced at the start of the blog and why I brought up my legendary cheapskate ways. The standard pizza puff is seven dollars, with each topping costing you 75 cents. With beverages, dinner for two or more people costs less than $15. If you can get multiple people to agree on the toppings, this might very well be the best deal in Chicagoland.


Beyond the pizza puff, Albano's serves everything you'd expect at an Italian restaurant, with pasta, pizza, soups, salads and sandwiches dotting its menu. I can definitely recommend the pizzas whether you get standard or deep-dish, having tasted the quality of the ingredients in the pizza puff.


That said, unless you just don't like calzones (since you can order baked as a regular calzone), I can recommend the pizza, but I won't because of the greatness that is the pizza puff. That's the reason you come to Albano's: a unique, high-quality meal at a very low price. When you have that, that's really all you need.


Recap
Time to go: Lunch/dinner. The pizza puff is great eating for either meal, and Albano's is open seven days a week.


Wait during my visit: None. Even though it's Chicagoland, it's the land part of Chicagoland, which means the restaurant traffic isn't usually bad. Things could be a bit worse at the Cicero location, which is a little closer to Chicago proper than Lyons.


Location: Albano's offers two locations, one at 8699 W. Ogden Avenue in Lyons, Ill., and the other at 5913 W. Roosevelt Road in Cicero, Ill.


Parking: It's available right in front of the restaurant.

Cost: Very wallet-friendly. Most entrees are under $15, with the pizza puff at $7 and yielding at least two meals.


Website: Albano's Pizzeria


Signature items: Pizza puff

Voodoo Doughnut, Portland, Ore.

Perhaps no place lives up to the term "hole in the wall" better than Voodoo Doughnut. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon on the western side of the Willamette River, Voodoo Doughnut is hidden so well that you'll miss it if you don't know exactly where you're going. This actually happened to me, as I couldn't find it on my first trip to the City of Roses in 2009 and had to give it up so I could catch my flight from PDX.


Luckily, Idaho State plays at Portland State every year, so I got a second chance to find the elusive doughnuts a year later while I was still covering Bengal basketball. This time in better daylight and on foot, I was able to find what I was looking for, and I'm darn glad I did. Voodoo Doughnut is home to some of the most creative names and pastries available. Here's a list of some of what you can expect to be waiting for you at Voodoo, the No. 20 restaurant on the Chowdown Countdown.


Portland Cream: Chocolate yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream
Triple chocolate penetration: Chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate icing and Cocoa Puffs
Grape Ape: Yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting, grape dust and lavender sprinkles
Gay Bar: Yeast bar doughnut filled with cream, frosted and topped with a rainbow of Froot Loops
Marshall Matters: Vanilla frosted doughnut covered in M&M's
Memphis Mafia: Doughnut with banana chunks and cinnamon sugar, covered with peanut butter, chocolate frosting, peanuts and chocolate chips.

As you can tell, this place is creative, and I haven't even mentioned my doughnuts of choice yet. As you probably gathered from the main picture, I had to order a Voodoo Doll, which begins life as a bar doughnut, but then has its arms pulled apart to give it the doll look. It's frosted with chocolate, given a face and then has its bottom half injected with raspberry jelly. A pretzel stick is then added to complete the look. It tastes simply wonderful. If you like chocolate and raspberry, as my mom does, you will love this.


My other doughnut, I really don't wish to name, but I will: It's called an Old Dirty Bastard. What is it? It's a chocolate-frosted yeast doughnut, topped with Oreos and peanut butter. It is incredible, as you can see for yourself.

But that's not even the strangest thing about Voodoo Doughnut, nor is it their Maple Bacon Bar, which is served with actual bacon on top of a maple-frosted doughnut. Their strangest doughnuts aren't on the menu anymore because the health inspector told them they had to stop making two doughnuts, the Nyquil Glaze and the Vanilla Pepto Crushed Tums. 


Yes, for a time, they actually sold one doughnut with Nyquil and the other with Pepto-Bismol and Tums. Apparently, the goal of the second was to be used to try to help people recover from a night of drinking. Novel idea, but apparently the health inspectors disagreed. But that's not the strangest thing about this place. The strangest thing about this place is they perform weddings here.


No, I didn't make that up. For a couple hundred bucks, you can legitimately get married at any of Voodoo Doughnut's three locations, and these are legal marriages performed by a minister. No word on if anyone has attempted to marry a doughnut.


For sheer creativity, Voodoo Doughnut is worth a look. But it's the quality of the doughnuts that make this place amazing. This place takes quality so seriously that they will not ship doughnuts (they say the product's shelf-life is 8 to 12 hours) and they will not guarantee you can purchase a dozen doughnuts without calling ahead your order 24 hours in advance, because they don't want to serve sub-standard doughnuts. All restaurants should have those high standards of quality.


Recap
Time to go: Whenever the heck you want. Voodoo Doughnut is open 24 hours a day except for certain holidays at all three of its locations.


Wait during my visit: None, but I went at 6 a.m. It is possible the wait could increase with the original restaurant's expansion, as the size has greatly increased which could allow for people to eat at the restaurant.


Location: The original is located on 22 Southwest 3rd Avenue in Portland. They have a second location at 1501 Northeast Davis Street on the other side of the Willamette River in Portland, and a third two hours south in Eugene.


Parking: Don't bother. Portland is not a very car-friendly city, as most of the locals prefer to either bike or hop on public transportation. Your best bet is to take the Red or Blue Line of MAX (Portland's rail system) to the Skidmore Fountain Station, which is two blocks from Voodoo.
This only applies if you're going to the original location. If you're going to the Davis Street location, you'll be fine. That store has plenty of parking available.

Cost: Very wallet-friendly. Doughnuts are inexpensive, and this is no exception. You can buy a couple doughnuts and spend about three dollars.


Website: Voodoo Doughnut 


Signature items: Doughnuts

Black Market Pizza, Ames, Iowa

Yes, there's more to Ames, Iowa than Iowa State University and its wonderful buttermilk brownies. Those who know me from college are very familiar with my assertion that Iowa State will dominate the Big 12 if the Cyclones are ever smart enough to give their football recruits the brownies they serve in the press box at Jack Trice Stadium, but Ames is also home to some excellent pizza at Black Market Pizza, just north of the university's campus. Given that I've yet to review anything from the Hawkeye State, which I now call home, it's the perfect time for this review.


What sets this pizza apart at Black Market is the unusual kinds of pizza you're going to find on the menu here. Black Market is famous for taking sandwiches and turning them into pizza form. See if you can recognize what inspired their Witness Protection Pizza based on its ingredients:


Ground beef, Thousand Island sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed crust.


If you guessed a Big Mac, you're absolutely right. Other pizzas served at Black Market include taco, Reuben, chicken bacon ranch, bacon double cheeseburger and Patty melt. Every ingredient you'd find on these creations in their normal form shows up on the pizza. The Reuben, for example, uses rye seeds to mimic the rye bread one normally eats a Reuben on. It's an interesting concept that really works.


Of course, the reason it works is that Black Market uses quality ingredients and makes sure the flavors match up perfectly. In my pizza at the top, ranch sauce is used in place of tomato sauce on the pizza, and it's then topped with chicken, bacon and tomatoes. I can hear the purists howling in New York, but it's actually really good this way. A pizza isn't much different from an open-faced sandwich when you think about it, and Black Market certainly has.


If you're not up for a sandwich as a pizza, Black Market also serves the traditional thin crust and deep dish pizza those in New York and Chicago respectively have grown up eating. In fact, its Chicago-style pizzas are just as much a part of its identity as its sandwich pizzas. If you want something really different, try one of these pizzas using a sweet potato crust. Different toppings also routinely dot the specials board and are available for customers to try.


Size-wise, these aren't ridiculous sizes like at Big Pie In The Sky. Black Market serves their pizza in a standard size, with 16 inches being as big as they go. The 10-inch pizza, their smallest size, can feed one person quite well.


It's a shame that Black Market couldn't sustain a second location in the Des Moines suburb of Altoona, but some places are just meant to be in one spot. Clearly, that applies to Black Market, which has found itself a home in the college town of Ames.


Recap
Time to go: Lunch or dinner work well here. The small pizzas work great for a lunch serving, while one big one can feed a family for dinner.


Wait during my visit: None outside the wait for the pizza to cook. It's Ames, not nearby Des Moines. There's not going to be a ridiculous crowd unless you've decided to go when the Cyclones are playing a home football or basketball game.


Location: Black Market Pizza can be found at 2610 Northridge Parkway in the northern part of Ames, Iowa. It also delivers to locations around the Ames area.


Parking: Again, it's Ames. You shouldn't have a problem here.


Website: Black Market Pizza

Signature items: Sandwich pizzas, deep dish

Eagle's Deli, Brighton, Mass.

It's about time we had a burger place here, and what better choice than to go with the lone Boston location that I've visited? Eagle's Deli, located in the Boston suburb of Brighton, is known for doing burgers and doing them in a big way. Right across the Chestnut Hill Reservoir from Boston College (that's where the Eagle's name comes from), this place has been a tradition for the students of the northern-most ACC school for years, which is why they've been visited by Man vs. Food and claimed No. 21 on the Chowdown Countdown.


What makes Eagle's so beloved is not that they do burgers big, they do them right. Every burger is flame-grilled to perfection and topped with whatever you've chosen to devour. Sure, they have the standard toppings, but they're very willing to throw some specialty burgers up there for your pleasure.


The Cowboy Burger, for example, features bacon, grilled onions and a healthy dose of barbecue sauce. The Ranch Burger, which I chose to go with, gives a new flavor to the standard bacon cheeseburger by using ranch dressing instead of mayonnaise. Want to try a version of Philly on a burger? Order the Bianco, with onions, peppers and mushrooms. There's a lot of options available.


Of course, this being a deli, Eagle's also shines in their sandwiches. Turkey, roast beef, ham and chicken pesto are just some of the high-quality ingredients that dot Eagle's menu. Want breakfast? They've got you covered there too. There's something for everyone here.


What takes Eagle's to the next level, however, is their mammoth burgers. Eagle's is home to the legendary undefeated Challenge Burger, born out of the restaurant's idea that hungry college students consistently want to eat more and more. Originally, the restaurant's non-specialty burgers were the King Kong and the Godzilla. The King Kong weighed in at a half-pound, while the Godzilla was a full pound. Sizable, but not insane.


That was what the Boston crowd thought, too. So Eagle's upped the ante, introducing the Cowabunga Burger, a two-pound cheeseburger with two pounds of fries. Not even that satisfied everyone, so Eagle's added another pound of burger and created with the challenge. 


The rules were simple and made the challenge unbeatable. If anyone could finish Eagle's Challenge Burger, that burger would be named after the person who completed it, and Eagle's would add another pound to the new challenge.


Today, as a result, you can order a Reilly Burger (3 pounds) or a Paul Jones Burger (4 pounds). The menu hasn't been updated, but recently, someone finished the 5-pounder, making the new challenge a 6-pound burger. Oh, and just to make the challenge more fun, they throw in five pounds worth of fries. No big deal there.


But these burgers don't need the size to be incredible. They're grilled to perfection, given just the right amount of char to juiciness, with a perfect complement of toppings that create burger bliss. No matter how hungry you are, a visit to Eagle's is always a good idea.


Recap
Time to go: They serve breakfast, but the burgers are the best thing about Eagle's. Given the choice, I'm coming for lunch.


Wait during my visit: Get ready. This place is famous and you're going to be waiting a while for your meal. The BC crowd loves this place and will be there at any time of day that it's open. I waited with my brother Zach for 40 minutes when we went...and this was on a Sunday afternoon when the New England Patriots played a playoff game the night before. Be patient, it's worth it.


Location: Eagle's is at 1918 Beacon Street in the Boston suburb of Brighton, Mass., right across the street from the Cleveland Circle T stop on Boston's transit system.


Parking: Even though it's Boston, you can find parking here. Just be ready for a short walk from your car to Eagle's. You won't be able to park next to the restaurant unless you're really lucky.


Website: Eagle's Deli

Signature items: Burgers

Pickerman's, Rock Island, Ill.

Although the title of this blog might say Dan vs. Food, this is hardly limited to just Man vs. Food restaurants. Occasionally, I'll branch out to good local places that don't get the worldwide attention that the Travel Channel if I choose to do so, as I did today for lunch here in the Quad-Cities.

My only rule on this is that I'm not going to be reviewing chains, unless there's something incredibly iconic about them. For example, should I make a return to California, I might review In-and-Out Burger. I'm not going to be reviewing Jerry's Subs and Pizza, even though I think Jerry's is awesome and it's almost a required stop when I visit Virginia. It's just not iconic enough to warrant it, although the cheesesteaks there are wonderful.

Anyway, Pickerman's is a soup and sandwich shop in Rock Island that specializes in toasted subs and high-quality soups. Their slogan is that it's the bread, and the bread is excellent. They offer white and wheat bread, freshly baked to perfection and serve every sub toasted.

Sub-wise, they serve 12 sandwiches that look like a pretty solid lineup. I went with an old favorite, roast beef with lettuce, tomato, onion, Provolone cheese and bistro sauce. Excellent combination of flavors and heat made it work well. Some of their other sandwiches include chicken and Swiss, ham and capicola, smoked turkey and their Numero Uno, which includes ham, prosciutto, salami and Provolone. Even their vegetarian appears to be money, served with cucumbers and dill cream cheese.

But it's the soups that really make this place worth a visit. Pickerman's rotates a list of 36 soups in and out of their menu, selling four a day. It says on one menu that they sell six a day, but I only saw four in the restaurant. Some of the soups in the rotation include the five-star mushroom, Wisconsin cheese, lobster bisque, roasted garlic tomato and what became my choice, the Asiago cheese bisque.

Two things need to be true about a quality bisque. It needs to be flavorful, and it needs to be creamy. The Asiago cheese hit on both qualities, delivering a nice mix of flavors with bacon and vegetables mixed in while providing a velvety texture that was perfect for its temperature. Throw in a soda and you've got yourself an excellent meal.

It's about as far south as you can get and still be in Rock Island, but it's worth the drive. I'll definitely be heading back.

Recap

Time to go: It's a soup and sandwich place. You're going for lunch. Pickerman's is closed on Sundays.

Wait during my visit: None. That's the nice thing about being a good distance away.

Location: Pickerman's is at 4659 44th Street in Rock Island, Ill.

Parking: There's a good amount.

Website: None

Specialty items: Toasted sandwiches, soups.

Big Pie In The Sky, Kennesaw, Ga.

Located in a shopping center in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Big Pie In The Sky is hidden so well that if you don't know what you're looking for, you'll drive right past the Publix and miss the restaurant completely. That would be awful, because Big Pie is more than worth the short detour off Interstate 75 to find it.

Two things define Big Pie In The Sky: quality and size. The restaurant uses a wide variety of toppings, several of which aren't exactly ingredients found in your local Pizza Hut. Sharp cheddar, feta, smoked provolone and cream cheese are some of the cheese choices at your disposal, while artichokes, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes are the high-brow ingredients on the vegetable side.


That brings us to the size. When they say Big Pie In The Sky, they are not kidding. They offer their pizza in medium, large and extra large, or you can go by the slice. A medium pizza here is 16 inches. Yes, you saw that correctly. The extra large measures in at 30 inches, can weigh roughly 11 pounds and is said to be able to feed 8 to 10 people.

One of their extra larges, the Carnivore, is even used by the restaurant as a challenge. The Carnivore Challenge is attempted by two people, who have one hour to eat an extra large pizza topped with bacon, ham, pepperoni, sausage and ground beef. Do it and you win $250, which probably isn't enough to make up for the feeling that comes with eating 5 1/2 pounds of pizza.


That brings me to the slices. At the top was my choice, the West Coast Pesto, which features chicken, pesto, Romano cheese and cream cheese. The slices are taken from the extra-large pizza and cost $5 for one slice. Be warned: these are not tiny slices. That is a normal-size pizza pan that the slice is lying on, and one slice is probably going to be enough to fill most people. If you're really hungry, maybe you can put down two, but that's not likely. I almost ordered two before wisely asking the girl behind the counter, and was glad I did.

Because of its size, you're almost certain to need silverware. You can't pick it up and eat it (believe me, I tried many times) until you're about 3/4 of the way through the pizza, it's just too massive. You can try to fold it, since it is New York-style pizza, but that doesn't work much better either. Really, your only course of action is to use a fork.


It's worth it. The toppings blend so well together on the West Coast despite the unusual combination. The big surprise is how the cream cheese and pesto go together. I'd never tried the two at once before, but wow, what a pairing. It's something I'm going to have to try again, probably even on a pizza at home someday.


Big Pie does serve sandwiches, calzones and salads for those who just aren't feeling pizza. Whichever way you go, pair it with a Coke or a sweet tea (this is Georgia, after all), and you've got one excellent meal before getting back on the road in the Peach State.


Recap
Time to go: This place is perfect for lunch. It's a good dinner spot if you're feeding a lot of people, but if your party is small, lunch is the time to visit.


Wait during my visit: None. I came shortly after the restaurant opened and was served immediately. I would not guess it is always like this, but since Kennesaw's a suburb rather than in downtown ATL, the wait probably won't be too bad.


Location: Big Pie In The Sky has been located at 2090 Baker Rd NW in Kennesaw, Ga., since 2007. It's in a shopping center near a Publix grocery store.


Parking: Plentiful. With the grocery store right there, you will always find a spot somewhere.

Cost: Very wallet-friendly. The slice is a meal and costs $5. Slice and drink can be had for $7. That sounds good to me.


Website: Big Pie In The Sky


Signature items: Really big pizza

Ben's Chili Bowl, Washington

For review No. 5, it's time to go back to my roots, and that means the Washington DC metro area. It's almost embarrassing to admit this, but I didn't make a pilgrimage to Ben's Chili Bowl until I was 23, a full six years after I left Virginia to move on to the next stage of my life, despite living a little over an hour from Washington for 17 years.


It was only after hearing about its greatness from fellow Virginian Will Palaszczuk that I decided that Ben's was something I had to experience for myself. When Adam Richman visited in season 2 and the Chowdown Countdown put it on the list, it moved to an absolute must. That's right, Ben's is the first restaurant on this blog to have shown up on the Chowdown Countdown, where it was ranked No. 28.


Boy, is it well-deserved. Ben's claim to fame is the chili half-smoke, a Washington legend made so by Ben's famous chili. The chili is made with several secret spices from the mind of Ben Ali, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to the United States, setting up shop in 1958.


While Ben's chili is excellent plain, having just the right amount of meat, beans and spices, it really shines when paired with the half-smoke, which is a half-beef, half-pork sausage smoked and cooked to perfection. Mustard and onions are added before the chili is smothered on the sausage and bun for one excellent meal. Add a shake or some homemade sweet tea and everything is perfect.

Sides are unmemorable, just your common potato chips. But when you have the chili half-smoke, you don't need much else, as Bill Cosby can attest to. In the 1980's, Cosby held his press conference for the Cosby Show at Ben's, having been a regular customer since the restaurant opened in 1958. Cosby and the Obama family, also frequent visitors, always eat free at Ben's in reward for their visible loyalty.


As its fame grew, Ben's became the spot for politicians visiting the nation's capital. Leaders from as far away as Africa and Europe have visited, and it's become as much a requirement for a DC politician to visit Ben's as it is for a Philadelphia politician to get a cheesesteak. Ben's is such an icon in DC that during the 1968 riots, residents asked Ben's to keep its doors open at its location on U Street. 


Truly, a Washington landmark.


Recap
Time to go: Almost any time. From Monday through Thursday, Ben's is open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. On Friday and Saturday, Ben's shuts its doors at 4 a.m. Only on Sunday does Ben's actually close before midnight, and they close at 11 p.m. Better, Ben's serves its chili and lunch/dinner menu at all times it's open.


Wait during my visit: Not long. Ben's lines can get crowded and table space is an issue as the restaurant is very small, but I was fortunate.


Location: Since 1958, Ben's has been at 1213 U Street in Northwest DC.


Parking: Do you feel lucky? Ben's does actually have parking behind the restaurant on Ben Ali Way, but there are a mere 10 spaces available. If the restaurant is packed, you're not going to find a space, leaving you to try your luck in DC. That's not an experience I want to try.


So how do you get to Ben's? Simple: Hop on the DC Metro and find your way to the Green Line. Ben's is right across the street from the U Street/Cardozo station, making for an easy run across without the worry of parking. A much better choice.


Website: Ben's Chili Bowl


Signature items: Chili half-smoke

Mi Nidito, Tucson, Ariz.

Located a mere 70 miles from the Mexico-United States border, Tucson, Arizona is brimming with immigrants who brought over authentic Sonoran recipes from their homeland down south, and Mi Nidito is as good as it gets. The restaurant is celebrating its 70th year in operation this year, and it's as popular as ever because it's been doing things the same way for all this time.


All of the staples you would expect at a Mexican restaurant are on the menu here, but what sets Mi Nidito (Spanish for "my little nest") apart is the quality of everything and the amount of care they put into making it. For example, the refried beans that you see on the plate above are made from scratch every morning and served to you hot, fresh and topped with cheese. They are quite simply the best thing about eating at Mi Nidito...but they're far from the only amazing thing.


The dish I ordered included, along with the beans, a chicken taco, a cheese enchilada and a beef tamale, plus a heap of lettuce and tomato. Everything on the plate was made to perfection. The flavors work together so well, mixing the cheese, meats and red sauce together to form a perfect combination that simply can't be beat.


The most accurate thing I can say about this is that I've been around for 24 years, and I've not found a Mexican meal that has topped Mi Nidito. Taco Bus in Tampa is right up there with it, but the plethora of meals available put Mi Nidito ahead by the tiniest of margins.


Speaking of a plethora of food, what I got isn't even the biggest thing on the menu at Mi Nidito. That would be the President's Plate, so named because in 1999, Bill Clinton visited Mi Nidito and asked the restaurant to load up a plate for him with their best dishes, because the president had a pretty big appetite that day. 


So the restaurant put together a dish that included a chile relleno, a chicken enchilada, a beef tamale, a bean tostada and a shredded beef taco. Clinton devoured the whole thing, and from then on, the President's Plate has been a Mi Nidito staple. They even have the President's booth to commemorate where Clinton enjoyed his meal, which is open for customers.

The atmosphere is pretty awesome, you're eating at a Mexican institution in a city known for its Mexican cuisine. I really can't recommend this place highly enough. If you find yourself in Tucson and only have enough time for one meal, make it Mi Nidito.


Recap
Time to go: Lunch or dinner. Mi Nidito is closed on Monday and Tuesday.


Wait during my visit: Oh boy. The wait is very lengthy. Once you get in, you're going to wait, and wait, and wait for a table. However, if things go your way, this wait does have the potential to be an enjoyable one. If you're fortunate enough to be there while owner/general manager Jimmy Lopez is working and he gets a minute, I highly recommend starting a conversation with Jimmy.

A word about Jimmy: Jimmy is one of the most attentive and personable men in the restaurant business, period. He's the grandson of the founders of the restaurant, and he treats every customer like the most important person in the restaurant. As I explained, when I visited, Mi Nidito was packed. The wait time was 45 minutes, and the restaurant had the potential to be chaos.


Didn't matter to Jimmy. Despite the fact that I had never been to Mi Nidito before, giving him my name for my reservation was all Jimmy needed to remember it for the rest of the night. Even after I had completed my meal, Jimmy still addressed me as if we'd been friends for years. I left one of my best tips ever that night, in large part because of Jimmy.


Location: You can find Mi Nidito at 1813 S. 4th Avenue in Tucson, Ariz. Be careful because Tucson uses numerical designations for more than just avenues.


Parking: There's not much, but you can find a place. If it's busy, though, it's going to be tricky.


Website: Mi Nidito 


Signature items: President's Plate, refried beans

The Pancake Pantry, Nashville, Tenn.

How many different ways are there to serve a pancake? Well, if you take the word of Nashville's Pancake Pantry, the answer is 22. Yes, the Pancake Pantry offers that many selections of just pancakes on its menu, and it offers other selections as well for those who don't feel like trying the restaurant's namesake.


But if you're coming here, chances are it's for the round griddle cakes that are cooked to perfection with the lightest touch. Pancake Pantry's philosophy is to never pat a pancake because that squeezes the air out of them and changes the texture to something that is below their standards of quality. The result is several delicious cakes with a plethora of toppings available.


Want to go with fruit? You have your choice of strawberry, blueberry, cherry, raspberry, lingonberry, orange and an apricot-lemon mix. In a mood for the sweet stuff? Try the sugar and spice (pictured at top), Carribean, pecan, Swiss chocolate or chocolate sin (chocolate raspberry) pancakes. Want a mix of sweet and savory? Pigs in blankets or Santa Fe corncakes with green chiles are for you. In short, if you can't find something you like here, you just plain don't like pancakes.


Now, to address my meal here. As you probably gathered, I went with the sugar and spice pancakes, which are made from a cinnamon sugar batter and topped with powdered sugar and butter, then served with applesauce and either maple or cinnamon cream syrup. I chose cinnamon cream. I also added a side of hash browns, because they're pretty well-known for those too. If you go this route, I recommend pouring the applesauce on there too and getting all those flavors mixed together, like so.

The flavors work incredibly well together, and these are not small pancakes. They will fill you up, and you will not leave here hungry unless you haven't eaten recently. If with a friend, I recommend asking for one thing of hash browns if those interest you (the potatoes are really high-quality) and splitting them along with your separate pancake orders.


If you want something besides pancakes, Pancake Pantry also serves French toast, waffles and several egg-and-meat dishes. They'll go up to seven ingredients in their omelets. They also serve lunch items here, strangely enough.


As far as the atmosphere goes, this place attracts all of Nashville, but be ready for the college crowd. Pancake Pantry is right between the campuses of Vanderbilt University and Belmont University, which makes it an easy walk for students from both schools to get their breakfast fix. While I was here, I saw the Belmont softball coach take a player to Pancake Pantry as part of her recruiting visit. It's a great tool for those schools.


Recap
Time to go: Breakfast, and come early. Although Pancake Pantry is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., the line increases exponentially after 9 a.m. Come at the wrong time and it'll take forever to get a table.


Wait during my visit: Get comfortable. The line was to the door when I arrived at 9 a.m. I spent roughly 20 minutes waiting for a table to pop free. When I left, the line was well out the door and circled around a side of the building. You have been warned.


Location: The Pancake Pantry has been at 1796 21st Avenue South  Nashville, TN 37212 since it opened in 1961.


Parking: There's a lot behind the restaurant, but this is also part of the come early recommendation. The lot is free if you use it for less than 90 minutes. If you're there at the wrong time, you'll have to spend a couple bucks.


Website: The Pancake Pantry


Signature items: Um...pancakes.

Taco Bus, Tampa, Fla.

Getting good Mexican food in Florida is hardly a surprise.  Getting good Mexican food out of a school bus? OK, that's a little different. But that's what you have with Taco Bus, a Tampa-area restaurant that offers authentic Mexican served either in a fixed location or from the streets, but both from that familiar yellow bus that we all rode to school decades ago.


What makes Taco Bus so excellent is the quality and authenticity of what you're getting. Taco Bus's owner grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, so there is no Tex-Mex in this place. Having once been to a real Mexican place in Nogales, that's the only thing I can say compares to the tacos here. For filling, you've got steak, beef, chicken and fish available to you, but if you really want to try something special, go for the pork.


Their cochinita pibil is slow-roasted pork shredded and marinated in achiote and bitter orange, which really comes through to make this flavorful. It's further wrapped in banana leaves and smoked, which they say is based on a 5000-year-old Mayan recipe. I don't know how true that is, but the results are unquestioned. Throw some cheese, cabbage, cilantro and pico de gallo on it and you've got one incredible Mexican experience. Complete the meal with beans and rice, and it's perfect.


Not feeling the tacos? They offer quesadillas, burritos, the usual stuff you'd expect from a Mexican place. Pretty much the only American thing on the menu is the drinks, but even those aren't all American, as they serve Mexican Coca-Cola.


What's more, if you're just not feeling the usual fillings, they offer special fillings served only one day a week along with the standards. Maybe you show up on a Wednesday for some chicken mole, for example. There's always a new option available to you at any time of day, because this place is open 24 hours a day. I love places that do that.


For the atmosphere, it's basically street eats. At its restaurant location, Taco Bus offers seating on the patio, but this is not a typical restaurant and you shouldn't expect it to be one. It's a place that offers great food with some open-air tables available for your convenience. Just find the yellow bus and you've got some great Mexican coming.


Recap
Time to go: Anytime, although I wouldn't recommend going late at night. I'd guess the line would get long.


Wait during my visit: Very short, served almost immediately


Location: You can find them at 913 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, in the northern part of the city. They're also located in downtown Tampa and over the bridge in St. Petersburg.


Parking: Readily available


Website: Taco Bus

Signature items: Cochinita pibil tacos

Edwards' Drive-In, Indianapolis

Pork tenderloin, onion rings, root beer

To kick things off, I'll start with the most recent restaurant I've experienced, that being Edwards' Drive-In in the state capital of Indiana. Edwards is your classic 1950's diner, known for serving huge portions of Indiana's beloved pork tenderloin sandwich with a frosted glass of homemade root beer.

For those who have never heard of it, the pork tenderloin sandwich is about as Indiana (and Iowa) as it gets. It's basically a pork loin pounded thin, breaded and fried, then topped with your standard hamburger toppings. What sets Edwards apart, aside from the 1950's atmosphere, is the sheer size of the tenderloin. The meat hangs a long, long way off the bun, which makes for more pork for your money. The pork is very good without the bread, cheese and condiments, but it really works well when you hit the inside of the sandwich and all the other stuff combines with the crisp breading and the flavor of the pork.

For your side, having spent 19 months in Idaho, I tend to prefer the potatoes, but you've got to go with the onion rings here. They are big and the onions stay crisp, flavorful and delicious throughout the meal. The onions are so good that they really don't even need the breading, and that's always a good thing when that's the case. Don't get me wrong, the breading is great, but when you've got a product inside that's so good that it tastes wonderful without it, you've got an awesome food item there.

That brings me to the root beer. Little-known fact about me, I'm not a root beer guy. I'm a sweet tea, grape soda and diet Mountain Dew/Coke/Pepsi guy. When I bought my home soda maker, I tossed away the root beer packets in the sample pack, because I just wasn't going to use them.


But this root beer is wonderful. First, they serve it in a frosted glass, just the way a good root beer should be served. It's ice-cold from your first sip to the last drop. Second, this root beer is homemade, and it's something special. The taste is wonderful and the cold temperature keeps it that way throughout your meal. It's good enough to make me like the taste of root beer.


As far as the atmosphere, it's a 50's diner and the jukebox does actually work without you paying for it. I found this out when I punched a few buttons and accidentally played "The Name Game". The other customers probably didn't appreciate that, but oh well.

Recap
Time to go: Lunch


Wait during my visit: Very short, served nearly immediately


Location: 2126 South Sherman Drive, Indianapolis, IN, inside of Interstate 465 but outside of downtown. It's in the southeastern part of metro Indianapolis, and it's not really close to a lot.


Parking: Plentiful


Website: Edwards Drive-In


Signature items: Pork tenderloin sandwich, onion rings, root beer

The exterior of the building