Mr. Mustacheo – West St. Paul, MN

West St. Paul got a new restaurant that opened this week and based on the menu alone, I knew I had to eat there. When the wife suggested it, it didn’t take much arm-twisting to get me in the car. I scoped out the menu ahead of time to help narrow down some decisions. They’ve got a big push for their mexi-wings and tacos, but there are other things on the menu, as well. They have some boneless wings, quesadillas, a sushi burrito, some sandwiches, a type of burrito bowl, some good sides, and even a few unique salad options. Check out their menu before you go so you can make some good decisions.  

We ordered some Pipian wings, and my wife was feeling invincible, so we got pineapple habanero wings (the hottest wings on the menu), taco al pastor, fish taco, and an order of waffle fries. We also got Limoncito to drink. There’s a salsa bar with mild, medium, and hot salsa, so you can grab whatever your flavor is while you wait for your food – they’re very quick, so it won’t be long. All the salsas are homemade, and have deliciously unique flavors – very happy with the three options.

 

The wings were fantastic. I’m not afraid of heat, but I’m also not the guy that walks into a wings place and orders the hottest wings on the menu. The pineapple habanero wings were really awesome though – don’t get me wrong, they’re hot, but not pointless hot – they actually have flavor. A lot of my daredevil friends would say they aren’t hot enough, but I was really happy with them. More of a thick sauce, than a drizzle sauce, but bright flavors and not angry ones you sometimes get when people are just trying to hurt their friends. 

 

The Pipian wings were a flavor I haven’t had before – the website describes it as a “creamy ancestral blend of pumpkin seeds, herbs, and chili”, which I’m now a huge fan of. Lots of meat on all of these wings, and I’ll be looking forward to working my way through all of the flavors on this list. These wings actually DO have Mexican flavors in the sauces, which is why they’re called mexi-wings – the chef really makes those flavors shine.

The Taco Al Pastor was filled with so much delicious pork and pineapple chunks - look at the photo to see how full these tacos are. I tried bites with all three salsas and decided the mild green salsa was the best combo for me. But they didn’t skimp on the fillings, so I was really happy with this order. 

 

The Fish Taco had a great breading on it and lots of fillings, as well. All of the salsas were good on this one, so don’t be afraid to order this one. There’s a bit of an upcharge for the fried fish (and for the shrimp), but it’s totally worth it. Live a little!

 

The waffle fries I thought would be boring, but they were very heavily seasoned and fried perfectly. We ended up dragging the waffle fries through the sauces from our wings and were really happy we did – in fact, the best dip was the pineapple habanero sauce with the fries.

 

And I would also suggest getting the Limoncito – it’s a drink made with limes, sugar, and muddled mint – like the lime version of a lemon shake-up with a mojito flavor. Soooo good. 

And, they have an axolotl on the sign for the restrooms, so you know they appreciate the fun things in life.

 

The owner (yes, he does have an awesome mustache) came out and chatted with us to make sure we were happy and we assured him everything was delicious and we needed to try more things on the menu. We will definitely be back to Mr. Mustacheo. Tell your friends and neighbors to go check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

https://mrmustacheo.com/

Café Corazon – Kansas City, MO

It takes an awful lot to really make a coffee shop amazing enough to want to review it, but we actually found something head-and-shoulders over many other places. It helps that my wife will research and research and research and research places before she picks the one she thinks will be awesome – and damned if she isn’t always right. Haha. She found Café Corazon (with two locations in KC) and the more she talked about it, the more we knew we needed to go there.

Let me also tell you that this was the first time we rode those dumb Bird/Lyft scooters you see laying all over downtown areas. It was a short learning curve, but we scoot-scooted right over to Café Corazon from our hotel and felt pretty darn confident for having done it – gold stars for us.

There are multiple reasons this Café Corazon is awesome. It combines Latin and indigenous influences in the ambience, food, and coffee. They have latte flights AND mocha flights. They have an amazing breakfast menu like no other place – empanadas, tamales, and burritos – all super authentic. You can add booze to many of their coffee drinks. They’re also a sort of customizable yerba mate (pronounced yer-ba mah-tay) bar, as well. The staff is so incredibly polite, helpful, and respectful. You can see they have a LOT going for them.

I got a latte flight – which is horchata, dulce de leche, and churro atole. My wife got a mocha flight – which is spicy mayan, sevilla, and Azteca. We also got a beef empanada, a breakfast empanada, and a rajas (blue corn) tamale.

The latte flight was great – especially if you like cinnamon. The things are absolutely beautiful on their flight paddle, and they taste even better. The horchata one you could actually tell it was a cinnamon rice drink, even without the cinnamon dusting on the top. The dulce de leche was my favorite, since I’m a caramel fiend. The churro atole one was also good, again, if you like cinnamon, and a hint of maple. Such a good set of choices to sample.

The mocha flight was even better, though – because it has ALL THE WHIPPED CREAM and the sweet drizzles! The spicy mayan had just a little bit of kick, but wasn’t spicy and was still totally appropriate for a breakfast drink. The sevilla had a chocolate drizzle with some orange zest and whipped cream – my favorite one. And the Azteca had a lot going on, with chocolate, cinnamon, cacao nibs, peanuts, and whipped cream.

The tamale was top-notch with the blue corn, jalapenos, and cheese. Great flavor with the masa and they don’t skimp on the fillings. Really a memorable tamale. The beef empanada was really great, with a really tasty and crispy crust, and the chimichurri added so much fun flavor. It didn’t NEED the extra pop of flavor, but it definitely elevated it. The breakfast empanada wasn’t a boring old Caucasian breakfast pastry – it had eggs, bacon, and cheese, but also came with a salsa that had such good flavor – and again, the crust was so good.

This place cranked through the people, as well. Many stayed and sat down (inside or outside on the sidewalk tables), but many popped in and took it to go. We would tell anyone to go to this place and you’ll never regret it.

Also, we decided to walk back to our hotel and take it more leisurely than if we had scooter-ed home. Hahaha.

https://www.cafecorazonkc.com/

Slap’s BBQ – Kansas City, MO

I’ve been a huge fan of BBQ since way back. In fact, my family used to drive to Kansas City and purchases CASES of BBQ sauce from a place that unfortunately went out of business. I know everyone has their favorite BBQ place in each town, and KC has a pretty significant set of choices to select between, but I’ve been on the Slap’s bandwagon for a few years now.

Slap’s (also known as Squeal Like a Pig, when they do competition BBQ) has a weird but totally functional set up. They’ve got a smoker building in front (with a rooftop seating area), a bunch of large smokers on the side of the building, there’s the main restaurant building and bar, then they have a covered/heated patio as a dining room with picnic tables. You’re going to wait in line here, just prep yourself and settle in. On previous trips, I have waited more than 90 minutes, but I convinced my wife we needed to get there before they opened on a Friday. We showed up early and were still number 30 or 40 in line. People will line up for this food, even in the rain. But like most passionate fans, I’ll tell you it’s all worth it.

Once you get in the front door (after your wait in line outside), they have this genius set up where you can order yourself a beer or soda at the side of the bar and they’ll give it to you to drink while you’re standing in the last part of the line inside. They’ve got beer in cans and plenty of taps – genius idea for helping pass the time in line.

Also, they love the Kelce family here, and as a fellow shirtless brother, I had to take a photo of the Garage Beer sign inside.

It helps to know what you’re going to order when you get up to the counter – you don’t want to hold people up by asking weird questions and slowing them down (cough cough…Ben…cough cough). Luckily, you’ve got time to look at your phone online and also, when you get inside the building, there’s a large menu that you walk past on your way to the counter. So you SHOULD be ok. I just wanted you to be ready.

You tell the first person what kind of meat you want. Then you tell the second person what sides you want. Then you tell the cashier what kind of drink you want. Easy and organized. I ordered a pretty common order for me – a couple of ribs, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. And when they ask you about peppers and pickles, yes, you DO want those. It’s jalapenos and pickles to add to whatever you want. My wife got a pulled pork sandwich, called The Sandwich, and some deep-fried pickles. They DO have large sampler platters, which I ordered last time, and I just stuffed myself until I hurt, so I tried to scale it back this trip so I could walk later.

They give you the food right there at the counter, so once you order, you’re off and running. Pay for your food, stop at the fountain drink station (or bar again), and then head into the dining room. Once you’re in the dining room, you can pick up your plastic utensils and various sauces (hot or mild), and there are plenty of napkins at the table. Doesn’t this food look delicious?!?!

Ribs are always spot on here – dry rub and you can add sauce if you want. Meat has a non-tough bark on it and still has some good chew and doesn’t fall off the bones from steaming, and the flavor is amazing. The baked beans are too “wet” or “saucy” for many people, but I love the consistency and the meat they put in it. The mac and cheese isn’t flour-y and just actually tastes like there’s real cheese in it. It’s so good.

The Sandwich has sooo much meat on it, and the meat it really good. A little bit of sauce is included on it, but you can always add more. It’s got two onion rings on it and then some “creamy Provel cheese”, as well. The fried pickles are super tasty and not greasy, which is exactly what you need. Overall, it’s such a large portion of food, and crazy high quality. It’s just going to satisfy you for at least one meal.

If it isn’t raining, you can sit out front or up on the roof of the building, as well. I didn’t want you to think that everyone had to cram into the covered patio – though somehow it works out and you don’t seem to have to wait on a table ever.

Just go here. I know people are going to argue other places and yes, they ARE good, but Slap’s has always delivered and it’s where I send people when they ask. And they're one of those places that cooks and serves until they run out - keep that in mind, friends.

https://slapsbbqkc.com

Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop – Kansas City, MO

We popped into Lulu’s to check out the noodles here. We didn’t know much about it, but we were all up for some tasty Thai food. It’s in a triangular-shaped building and it’s really fun inside – some good decorations and varied seating options, although there’s still some front-of-house areas being used for storage, which always changes the vibe. The menu has some good options on it – various street food appetizers, soups, salads, curries, and of course noodles. We thought we’d better check out the sampler platter, and then each of us got our own noodle dishes to try some things out. Drunken Noodles, Spicy Beef Jantaboon, and Rainbow Peanut Noodles. I also got a tiki drink (Mai Thai) since it was calling to me….

The appetizer platter came out pretty quickly. It had Vietnamese spring rolls, crab rangoons, pork dumplings, veggie dumplings, and some dipping sauces – a sweet carrot sauce, a gyoza sauce, and a sort of yellow curry peanut sauce. The Vietnamese spring rolls were good – I like mine with a peanut hoisin sauce, but the carrot sauce worked just fine. Tasted fresh and not like it’s been refrigerated all day. The crab rangoons were especially good – light and fluffy and crispy with plenty of filling. The dumplings were also really good – we asked the server if we should get them steamed or fried and she liked them steamed, so that’s how we got them. Really good and plenty of filling in them.

The drunken noodles arrived and though we had ordered our food with a medium heat, there wasn’t any at all. The noodle dish was good and satisfying, but not what I was hoping or expecting. There wasn’t a lot of seasoning nor flavor in this. It was perfectly fine, but the drunken noodles I’ve had at many other places are a bit darker and seasoned well (especially since I like thing medium-to-hot). The photo even looks a little bit white/plain. I will say that the basil flavor was the best and most prominent flavor in this dish, for what it’s worth.

I didn’t get photos of the other dishes (as they weren’t technically mine), but we made sure we each tried each other’s dishes to see what we got. The Rainbow Peanut Noodles were also just ok. The yellow peanut curry sauce from the appetizer sampler was the base for this dish (more curry than peanut) and it was also not up to the spice level ordered.  The Spicy Beef Jantaboon was also in that same ballpark of just fine but not the spice level requested. The sauce in this dish was probably the best tasting and the right amount, but there really wasn’t much in the way of seasoning for this one. Two or three jalapeno slices and some cilantro wasn’t what we were hoping for.

I think this dish might work well for people without a lot of spice tolerance or who are new to Thai flavors. I am always glad there are sort-of “gateway” restaurants like this, but we were all surprised this place has been cranking out noodles since 1997. They’re also serving noodles at the CPKC Stadium, which is also a good way to get into people’s brains, but if you want something with some heat or some flavors, there are a lot of other options to chose from in the KC area.

 https:www.lulusnoodles.com

 

Jellybean and Julia’s BBQ – Coon Rapids, MN

This BBQ place has been popping up in conversation a lot recently, mainly because some friends of mine had them cater their wedding – that’s a pretty good sign in my book. We showed up at J&J one night with a large group and they found us a table that fit us. It’s a large dining room with multiple seating options and seating at the bar – there’s also a stage for musical acts, which is cool.

I’ll say – tactfully – that the vibe is weird. It seemed like we were putting them out with our large group (and is 8 really a large group?). Then the servers seem like you’re putting them out, as well. Sort of hard to tell if it’s a schtick or if they are actually bothered. Then the menus themselves are hilarious – just names of sandwiches and other dishes – no description at all. If you want an actual description, you have to click on a QR code that takes you to their website where it explains ingredients, but you can’t order from there. It’s all just weird. I’m not complaining, I’m just warning people what you’re going to get, because I’ve heard this from pretty much everyone of my friends who has been there. And now that I’ve said that, every time there’s been weird or even bad service at a BBQ place, I’ve had reeeeeeally good luck – so I was actually getting very excited about this food.

We ordered some cocktails, which I was pretty happy to see they were tiki drinks. A Mai Tai and a Painkiller. We also got a pulled pork sandwich, fries, and a cornbread fritter; and a 1/3 rack of ribs, with beans and mac and cheese.

The food was right on point – the pulled pork sandwich was juicy and generous with really good flavor. It was sauced, but not in a way that made it sloppy, plus you could add more sauces, if you ordered them. The fries were done well and also seasoned heavily, which rules. So good. The cornbread fritter I never got a bite of, so I’m guessing it was really good. Hahaha

The ribs were actually pretty great. Lots of meat and dry rub, which allows you to try out a couple of sauces (again, you have to order them ahead of time). The beans were really awesome, and honestly some of the best I’ve had in a while – lots of different beans and meat in them. You can even throw in some of the jalapenos they give you to jazz it up a bit. Finally, the mac and cheese was awesome – nothing from a box, without question. Creamy and firm noodles with actual cheese flavor and no grit or flour texture. Well played, Jellybean!

I’m already planning my next trip to Jellybean and Julia’s. Like I suspected, the food quality allows them to be a little gruff, whether or not it’s intended. Just heed the warning so you’re not taken off guard. Look at the website menu ahead of time so you’re prepared. Then, just order your damn food and ENJOY it!

Jellybean and Julia’s BBQ

620 Club – St. Paul, MN

Keenan’s Bar or Keenan’s 620 Club has been a staple on West 7^th in St. Paul for many years. The owners retired, but some new folks decided to give it a go and re-opened it, after some remodeling. It popped up on my radar because of this and my wife reminded me about it, so we thought we’d better go check it out.

The menu is surprisingly robust considering it’s thought of as a dive bar. It isn’t a dirty skeevy dive bar, just a homey-but-clean kind of place with a pool table and TouchTunes and really good vibe. There’s also a board with daily specials on it, so don’t miss that one, either. Plenty of local Minnesota beers on tap and a full bar, for those of you that enjoy a fun cocktail.

We ordered some drinks, a fried chicken sandwich, and a Cowboy Killer burger right from the bartender and we didn’t have to wait long for our order, despite the place being full.

The Cowboy Killer burger had cheese, BBQ sauce, bacon and an onion ring on it. One of the juicier burgers I’ve had, as well. Super flavorful and just the right amount of messy. It comes with a delicious toasted bun and the thing wasn’t small at all. Lots of crispy crinkle-fries, as well.

The fried chicken sandwich was one of the better ones I’ve had. Really a thick chicken breast and served with lettuce, tomato, and Old Bay mayo – a delicious touch. Also, plenty of crinkle-fries to go around.

The light isn’t the best in the 620 Club, so the photos turned out a tad bit drearier than I had hoped, sorry. We would tell anyone to go here. While it might not be a destination to drive 6 hours to from another state, it’s definitely going to serve you up some great food if you’re anywhere in the Twin Cities. We’ll be back, for sure.

620 Club

Tori (Ramen) - St. Paul, MN

This old train car (literally an old railway passenger car) has been a few restaurants in the past. Probably more than I even know. I know I went here when it was Chris and Rob's. But, Tori (formerly Tori Ramen when they were up in the Summit Hill area of St. Paul) has taken it over and given a totally new vibe and menu. They consider themselves noodle specialists and it shows in the menu they have put together. I know this opened up during the pandemic in this location, but for some reason, it has taken me a bit to get here.

The inside is… unusual… in that it has a sort of dining room in the train car portion, then a very small bar area – apparently housed by local regulars – and then there’s this unusual area with one of those open-atmosphere garage doors that sort of spreads out onto the sidewalk. Not complaining at all, but I just didn’t want you to walk in expecting a traditional 90-degree-angles everywhere situation. 

We were seated pretty quickly and spent some time deciding what we were going to get. The menu has a handful of delicious sounding starters, a list of various ramen dishes – the items in red are the ones that are spicy – and then some add-ins. Super easy to understand. They’re also known for pretty advanced cocktails, so I went with the tiki-est of the drinks “Will There Be Rum?”, and the server assured me that yes, it DOES have plenty of rum. D got a strawberry lemonade. We opted for some cold sesame noodle to start and then D got the Dra(MN) – which is the chicken noodle, miso, and bali ramen’s combined – and I got the Com Saw Mi Da, which is chili crisp, gochujang, chicken, and a soft egg.

Drinks were fantastic. The strawberry lemonade was sweet, but not too sweet, and downright refreshing. The Will There Be Rum drink was an excellent tiki-style drink and it was a challenge not to drink it down in like three drinks. Would highly recommend this one.

The sesame noodles were perfect. A nice tall pile of noodles and red cabbage and cucumbers with tahini and black sesame seeds (the most evil of the sesame seeds). Not necessarily spicy, but there was some zing there somewhere. We slopped tahini sauce all over table by sharing this one, but fighting over a dish just means its really good and fight-worthy. You should try this one.

The ramen arrived more quickly than I expected, which ruled. The rich broth in both of our bowls looked the same, but this proved to NOT be the case. The Dra(MN) had a little bit of heat (it was in the spicy section of the menu) and had really good flavor. Lots of tahini flavor from the bali, without it being too peanut butter-y, and a surprisingly generous portion of noodles. Really good dish. 

The Com Saw Mi Da was incredible, though. Plentiful noodles and lots of chicken, but the broth was so tasty and spicy. Growing heat, too. By the end, I was sweating. This place doesn’t mess around. Both ramen dishes were some of the more memorable ramen dishes I’ve had, so we will definitely go back here again.

A couple of random notes about this place:

• This place is great for vegans and vegetarians, and they’re willing to make changes to dishes to make sure you’re happy.
• I heard the table next to us say they had called “bullshit” on the heat level and ordered the Fire Shoyu and the Vegan Fire Shoyu. Both of them commented to the server that they may have ordered outside of their expectations and it definitely wasn’t Minnesota hot. Hahaha
• This place has a reallllllly weird vibe. Like Portlandia almost-jokingly quirky atmosphere. Apparently, on weekends, they’re open until 2am still serving ramen, but they have a DJ and it turns into a club atmosphere. Super out-of-the-box. Just didn’t want to forget to mention that it won’t be a chill Japanese restaurant vibe here.

Neither of us could finish our ramen, and we brought a whole additional meal of leftovers home. You can also have them throw in some extra noodles for like $4 and bring some home to reheat with your leftovers. …which I did. And they were so good the next day.

I would definitely recommend this place and I’m looking forward to going back and trying some different dishes, but I doubt anything is going to beat what I got this first time.

https://toriramen.com 

Cannon Beach Hardware & Public House - Cannon Beach, OR

I read about this place in Cannon Beach, Oregon, that has combined a hardware store with a bar & grill situation. It sounded too good to be true, but when QuarterBoy and I were out on the Oregon coast, I knew I could get him into a hardware store pretty easily. If they had beer and food there, he’d be up for that kind of pleasant surprise. The place is a legit hardware store complete with all kinds of drill bits, screws, saws, belts, clamps, clothing, cords, and everything else you might need in a hardware store. It isn’t a large store, but I would for sure shop here if I lived in town. The appeal of having someone get up from their table while you looked through various drill bits and tools is really appealing to me.

QuarterBoy and I needed some beer, which is handy because this place is also known as “Screw & Brew”. I got a Lug Nut Lager from Tap 29, and QuarterBoy got a pFriem Pilsner. Both great lighter beers and both welcome after the drive from Portland in the rain. The food menu is bigger and more appetizing than you might expect – especially from a hardware store. 

QuarterBoy wanted a Ecola Burger (named after Ecola State Park up the road, not the virus) and I needed a hot pastrami sandwich, with tots. These lunches were no joke and we both commented about how we shouldn’t try to finish these sandwiches. Only one of us listened to that advice…. I tried to stop and even the tots filling me up weren’t enough to stop eating this large pastrami sandwich. It was really tasty and had some delicious melty provolone on it. QuarterBoy’s burger was covered in Tillamook cheese and he made plenty of approving sounds as he ate as much as he could. 

This place is really great food – I might even say the restaurant is better equipped than the hardware part of the store, but even the hardware part has plenty of items. It just isn’t a big box store with absolutely everything. Plus, there’s the whole “can you get up from your lunch while I look at these tape measures, please?” situation that cracks me up. Still, worth the visit to tell people you ate in a hardware store and loved it. 

And, as a bonus, it's basically a block from the beach where Haystack Rock is - the rock in the ocean that you see in The Goonies!

Cannon Beach Hardware & Public House   
1235 S. Hemlock St.
Cannon Beach, OR 97110

Dead Man's Isle - Astoria, OR

As most of you know, I love a tiki bar. Anything that encourages rum and fruit juices to flow down my throat is going to be a winner every time. Dead Man’s Isle wasn’t open the last time I was in Astoria, evidently because they opened in 2022. The décor and the feel are pretty fun and the staff were perfect!!! We happened to be there on the chef’s birthday, so he was sitting at the bar sharing drinks with friends and seemed like a great guy to have around (or a round with).

 

The menu is pretty extensive, both with drinks and even with the food items (more than just appetizers). I started with a Rum Barrel. As often happens, the bartender warned me this was for like 2 or 3 people, to which I replied “yup”. It does have 4 or 5 shots of rum in it, but it also has a bunch of juices and ice and garnishes, so it’s basically healthy. It really was delicious, and I’d recommend this one to anyone.

Since I wasn’t driving, I opted for a second drink – Nielsen’s Blood – rum, brandy, blood orange, falernum, and ginger beer. I was looking for something unusual, and the bartender (Audrey, I think) recommended this. It was fantastic and I enjoyed it so much. Just a few bubbles form the ginger beer and the combo of rum and brandy is always delicious. 

The place has an impressive collection of merch, including t-shirts and tiki mugs – including in a tiki vending machine! Be sure to stop next doo at Muntiki for some seriously upscale and unique tiki mugs. You won’t be sorry you did. 

Looking forwarding to hitting this tiki bar up every time I’m in Astoria! Gold star for you fine folks!

Dead Man’s Isle
1239 Duane St.
Astoria, OR 97103

The Rib Co. - Twentynine Palms, CA

I had read about this BBQ place when I was planning our trip out to Joshua Tree, and it got really good reviews. It was, of course, a hundred degrees when we stopped by this place and there was a guy working the grills with a smile standing outside in the heat. That’s a good sign. Plus the folks working the dining room inside were also very happy to see us.

 

The menu is more expansive than most BBQ places I’ve seen. Tons to look at, so when I saw there was a rib sampler on the menu, I decided to go with that, even though I knew it was going to be way too much food for me. It comes with a half rack of each of the five types of ribs, some sides, and corn muffins (with honey butter) – I got baked beans and mac and cheese. D ordered a combo meal with a half rack of triple threat ribs and pulled pork. She also got fries and mac and cheese for the sides. Well played.

The orders came out and they were massive. The rib sampler was piled high with meat. I’ll show you two photos, so you can get a good perspective. The overhead shot doesn’t do it justice until you see how high the stack is. I know what I read on the menu, but I still assumed it was going to be two or three of each kind of rib, not a half slab. It was, in fact, a half slab of each kind. In order of my favorite style: Triple Threat, Baby Back, Beef, St. Louis, House Rub. And please understand that fifth place on this list is still way better than most ribs I’ve had. These folks know what they’re doing. No wonder that guy working the smokers and grill was so happy. The baked beans were better than average and the mac and cheese also above average. Nothing here was meh, truly.

 D was happy with her Triple Threat half slab and the pulled pork was really flavorful with no gristle or fatty parts at all. And her fries were pretty solid, as well. Nothing out of a bag here. 

 

Tremendous showing all around here. And the best part was we literally had enough food left over for two additional meals. So three meals-worth of food for one visit – the other option might be to bring 6 of your closest friends to help you out. 

 

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes BBQ and I look forward to heading here again the next time I’m in town. It was way better than expected!

 

The Rib Co

72183 Twentynine Palms Hwy.

Twentynine Palms, CA 92277

Phi Chay Thai Cuisine – St. Paul, MN

 

D and I wanted to check this place out, since we saw it had changed names/ownership. It used to be called Supatra’s and we really liked that place. So, we had high hopes as we went into check out this new iteration. 

The person working the register and hosting was really polite and helpful. And the interior of the restaurant looks like they didn’t change it a huge amount, so it still felt home-y. The menu is very large, so it took some time to narrow down what we wanted. We went the adventurous route today and tried some things we wouldn’t normally get. 

We ordered the Salt and Pepper Tofu Puffs, Coconut Curry Noodles with Chicken, and Pad Woon Sen, (stir-fried silver thread noodles) with pork. 

The tofu puffs arrived quickly, and piping hot. The little cubes of tofu were fried crispy and came with some peppers and onion, and also two dipping sauces – one was a rice wine vinegar sauce and the other was a peanut sauce. The tofu was seasoned with salt and pepper and the fry on them was perfect. I liked the peanut sauce a little more than the other, but both were very good. Really a much better appetizer than we expected. 

The coconut curry noodles were different than we expected. D took a bite and said, it’s sort of like the Thai version of macaroni and cheese. The noodles were in a very mild and light curry sauce with a couple pieces of broccoli and chicken. The sauce was good, but didn’t have much kick, despite us ordering it medium. However, D added a scoop of the dried pepper that was on the table and it totally changed this dish. Made it much better and more flavorful. Even seemed to bring out more of the curry flavor. This dish ended up being really good, after we massaged it a little bit. 

The Pad Woon Sen was perfect right off the bat. A rich brown sauce coated all the silver thread noodles and vegetables. It had good spice level to it and the pork was really delicious, as well. I always wish there was a ton more when I’m done eating it, even though I was super full. This is one of those dishes that I would probably order again and I’m not usually an -order-the-same-thing-twice kind of person. Really good. 

Overall, an impressive showing from Phi Chay and an excellent replacement for a restaurant we really loved when it was around. We’ll be back here again. 

Sippi's American Grill & Craft Beer - Davenport, IA

 

I’ve driven by Sippi’s maybe not a hundred times, but it’s getting close to that number, and I’ve never stopped. While D and I were in town, we were in that neck of the woods and thought we should check it out. It’s a bar and grill, but they’ve also got some fancier things on the menu. Lots of tvs for the sportfolks, but also plenty of outside patio space for you to get out and enjoy the elements. Pretty diverse clientele inside – some fancier folks, but plenty of shorts and jerseys to be seen throughout.

 

The menu does have some interesting items on it, but we were in the mood for something hearty. D ordered the Cajun Catfish Filets and sweet potato fries, and it came with soup or salad and she went with baked potato soup. I got the Taste of the South Burger with Shells and Cheese as my side. We talked ourselves out of wings to start, since we realized it was going to be plenty of food. 

 

The baked potato soup came out first and was actually quite good. Really thick and hearty without being super flour-filled. Lots of potatoes and black pepper, which is exactly how I like my baked potatoes anyway! We wanted hearty food, and we were getting hearty food.

The food came out quickly and we were really impressed with the portions. There was a mound of sweet potato fries, which were really delicious – although they weren’t crispy at all. I know this is one of those things that’s hard to achieve, so I always cut a little slack. But they were just fine. The catfish was actually the best thing of the night. Really good seasoning, although not spicy at all. Really light and flaky fish and the breading was just about perfect. Crunchy and not greasy. Great job on these catfish filets. I’m not sure if they are Mississippi River caught or not, but it’s a safe bet going with catfish when you’re in the QCs.

 

The Taste of the South burgers was just ok. I might have gotten my hopes too high on this one – Burger with bacon, fried green tomato, Carolina BBQ sauce, and pepper jack. It was fine, but I couldn’t taste much of the ingredients – it ended up tasting like a cheeseburger to me. Maybe I ordered poorly on my part, but I wish I had something as awesome as D’s catfish. Hahaha. The shells and cheese were much better than the burger, so I was glad I went with those for the side. 

 

Overall, it was an average/fine meal. Nothing earth-shattering or reason to round up friends and family to go here, but if you’re in the neighborhood, it’ll get you where you need to go. The beer list is good, but I had literally had everything on the list, so it wasn’t anything crazy. 

 

http://www.sippisrestaurant.com