Birthday Breakfast With Daughter #1 at Penny Ann's Cafe - A Review & Celebration!

You may have noticed by now that I like breakfast. I am not a breakfast snob, it need not be omelettes at a nearby resort, It can be something as simple as a Sausage McMuffin. I credit my mom for my love of breakfast. We always had something good and homemade to start our days off right. I think because of that I have always liked making breakfast for my family. But until recently, I didn't make it for myself very often. My gandboys LOVE dippin' eggs and once told me I should open a restaurant that served only breakfast. I never tire of fixing breakfast for them and the never seem to tire of eating it. They will both request it when they come over and I happily oblige.

But this post is not about me or my grandboys, rather it is about the birthday of our first born, Daughter #1. Somewhere it became a birthday tradition to celebrate family birthdays at places featuring breakfasts. This year I decided to take my Daughter #1 somewhere she had never been Penny Ann's Cafe. A side note here - Daughter #1's middle name is Ann as is the middle name of my #2 sister and my grandmother. Penny is also the name of by youngest sister who lived less than a month. So Penny Ann has a familiar ring to our family.

This nice little restaurant is tucked away in a shopping center and isn't really visible from the street, so you have to know where you are heading to get there. No big, bright signs or marquee. I will say that my first experience at this place was several years ago after hearing rave reviews. I took grandboy #1 and we were unimpressed, so I have not returned. But I mentioned it to my daughter and she seemed game so we headed there.

Penny Ann's is famous for what they call "heavenly" hot cakes. My daughter also ordered their scone and boy was it a giant. I went bor their "big breakfast" and my daughter dis an ala carte thing. We were othe amazed and delighted. I tried my pancakes with both maple syrup and boysenberry syrup (they charge extra for real Vermont Maple Syrup), and they were both just right for their hot cakes.

Daughter #1 Ordered a Sausage patty that was almost as big as her pancakes. My big breakfast included two eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, potatoes and, of course, their heavenly hot cakes.

Because it was her birthday, (which I made sure to mention), they offered my daughter a free slice of their freshly made pie. I don't normally have dessert for breakfast, but I had signed up on their website and and in return they gave me a slice too!

My daughter had the chocolate mouse flavor and I had a childhood favorite, coconut cream. We were too full to eat it there but is was very tasty later that day.

I went in only having tried Penny Ann's once, and not enjoying it, but today they totally won us over. Everything was tasty, the portions were more than ample and the service was excellent all around. My only regret is not having been back sooner, something I will rectify soon!

By the Numbers:
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲 (not cheap but well worth it and you get what you pay for)

Conclusion
This is a great place for for a lovely breakfast. If you go, sign up online and get a free slice of pie, but even if you don't get one free, the pie and everything we had was well worth it.

Earl Eats Pork Belly Tacos at Taqueria27 - A Review & Update

Very recently I had the opportunity of joining Capt. Len (of BBQ fame), at a place totally different from the food truck scene, for some Mexican fare. On my first visit here, I tried their Duck Confit Tacos. This time I was looking for something a bit different from my first review/experience at Taqueria27. They offer classic Mexican dishes along with some re-imagined street food in what they call a "casual yet upscale environment". It was exactly as advertised! Everyone on the staff was polite, engaging and SMILING...even though we were in a bit of a hurry, and we let them know it. When I got the menu, I was drawn to a taco I had never heard of, designated simply by the alphabetic abbreviation "P.B.L.T.A." This reminded me of what my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") refer to as "BLAT", or a B.L.T. with Avocado added, so I read on. 

What their taco offered was different. Rather than bacon, it was made of PORK BELLY. For the un-initiated, pork belly is a "boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig, considered a delicacy in many parts of the world", and it is a darling of the foodies and food-TV. It comes from the uncured, un-smoked and un-sliced belly of the pig, and is a bit fattier than bacon. To this they added lettuce, tomato and one of my favorites, avocado. In essence, this was our "BLAT" substituting a tortilla for bread and the father of bacon (pork belly) for bacon.

This was my best tasting experience yet. Everything was flavorful and seasoned just right. Two tacos were served with the order, and the only thing I would change is I wanted more, even though these were stuffed full of goodness. If you live in the Salt Lake Valley, go to this place! Taqueria27 is locally owned by a husband and wife team. They now have 5 locations in the greater Salt Lake City area. I recommend you try them. There are so many good choices, both classic and more modern, and I doubt you will go away hungry OR disappointed.

By the numbers:
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food ⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲
As you can see, the service and food are high and the price is low. A good value! Thanks again Capt. Len!

Earl Eats Sweet Pork Burrito with Daughter #1 at Cafe Rio - A Review

I must be living right! My oldest daughter asked me out of the blue, to go have lunch and SHE WANTED TO PAY! She loves the salads at Cafe Rio ...without lettuce. I love burritos, their specialty.

Their sweet pork is my favorite. I order mine with with double beans (pinto) rather than beans & rice. 

There are a couple of things I like about Cafe Rio. 
1) All of their food is prepared fresh, including their handmade tortillas which are cooked on a traditional smooth, flat griddle called a COMAL, typically used in Mexico. 
2) They are a company that started in a small Southern Utah town, that has grown to over 100 restaurants, so even though they are big, they are local too!
3) Their food is very good! It is the kind that when you want it, there really isn't any substitute.

Cafe Rio's portions are very large and a single burrito will feed two, but we wanted separate things so we ate well! One thing - we were there at lunch hour and it took a long time to get our food, but that just tells me not to go during lunch!!

By the numbers:
Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: 💲💲💲💲(on the pricey side $20 for 2)
Service: ⭐⭐(just because it was slow)
If you have never eaten at Cafe Rio, you should. If you don't have one nearby, you probably will soon...they are expanding fast!

Earl Eats at El Jaripeo with Grandboy #1 - A Review

I don't get to spend as much time with my Grandboys as I would like. We used to eat many more meals together both at home and on the road. We have even taken road trips to simply eat various foods at various places. But they have grown into adults and have jobs and lives that conflict with one another and theirs with mine. It is a fact of life, but not one I have to like.

But today, I get to help my eldest grandboy get started moving into a new place and out of his mother's abode. He is moving quite a distance...not too far from his work, and not far from where my wife and I moved to 42 years ago as newlyweds.

After unloading all of the things from our cars into his new place, I offer to take him to a nearby restaurant and buy him lunch. I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't a chain. In a new neighborhood it seems like a good idea to become familiar with surrounding businesses. The one that caught my eye said it was a Mexican Grill. That suits me fine, having lived in central Mexico for 2 years in the mid-seventies.

Even though I lived in Mexico, I was unfamiliar with the term "El Jaripeo". It turns out that It was all about bull riding...but not like our rodeos, they rode the bull until it stopped bucking!

The interior was very pleasing and we were helped right away. The menu was familiar, with many favorites we have come to know as "Mexican" food.(Click here for full menu for El Jaripeo Mexican Grill) It was well after lunch hour and very few customers so we felt like we got plenty of attention.They brought us chips & salsa right after we were seated, which was nice. The salsa was tasty (if a bit mild), and the chips seemed fresh. My favorite chips are those found at Chili's, because of their lightness and crispiness. These were not very thin, but were tasty.

We were there for lunch so didn't want anything too elaborate. My grandboy has been learning to love Mexican cuisine because of a food truck near his workplace. We were both rather hungry, and everything looked good to me. He settled quickly on the breakfast burrito, and that sounded good to me too. He went for one with carne asada, and I gravitated to the the chorizo. A should mention here that there are MANY restaurants serving ginormous breakfast burritos. This did not disappoint. The chorizo was cooked perfectly, without being over cooked, and this one seemed EXTRA LONG and FAT. It was almost longer than the oval plate it was served on. An aside here: While living in Mexico, I never once ate chips or a burrito! In central Mexico, in the mid-seventies, this was not part of their cuisine. Tortillas were soft and fresh, and made from corn, not wheat flour.
...Okay, back to the review. These burritos were massive in two ways 1) SIZE and 2) FLAVOR. They had everything one would expect in a breakfast rolled into a nicely toasted flour tortilla. It included healthy servings of: POTATOES, EGG, CHEESE, AND YOUR CHOICE OF BACON, HAM, CARNE ASADA OR CHORIZO.

Needless to say, we were both happy with our food and hungry enough to eat every drop. I will be going back, hopefully to try some of the more authentic fare. But I may have to sneak back just for the Breakfast Burrito!

By the numbers:
    Price: 💲 (inexpensive)
    Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ of 5 (excellent)
Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ of 5 (very good)
   Value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ of 5 (the best)

Earl Celebrates Grandboy #2's Birthday at Salsa Leedos

This is a review which I have put off for far too long! My second Grandboy, my youngest, is now less than a year from leaving his teens! I can't believe it. I consider myself fortunate with my Grandboys because I got to spend so much time with them when they were younger and cute😄. We spent a bunch of time cooking and eating out. Indeed they were my biggest cheerleaders when it came to cooking, and I love them for it💖. We didn't have any boys, just two lovely daughters and one great son-in-law. But I feel I have 3 sons, and they are the best on earth

For his birthday, my grandboy decided he wanted a dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, Salsa Leedos, near his home, and invited a crowd. We were the first to arrive (we usually are), and staff was friendly and confused, but it was an easy fix, they just had his name wrong. It is such a rare pleasure when the serving staff is friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. They were very good.

Salsa Leedos is in a new location since I last ate there and it suits them. They call themselves a Mexican Grill which could be a problem because I lived in Mexico and know authentic Mexican food. While modified for us Gringos, this is good stuff. They say they have the best Chile Verde in the valley, so I start there.

One of my favorite foods at Mexican restaurants here in America is Chile Verde or Chile Relleno. Tonight I am going with their Chile Verde Burrito. I judge a good Mexican restaurant by their refried beans. Nothing screams Mexico to me like these smashed up gems. They deliver to the table chips & salsa & BEAN dip, so I am happy. Their salsa is good if not memorable, and when my CHILE VERDE arrives, I am in heaven. Needless to say I recommend Salsa Leedos.

I would like to say that I shared a meal with my Grandboy, but there were 12 or so at the table, and he ended up at the other end from us. I did get to sit next to his other grandparents, and we had a lovely interaction about insurance and medicare😄. We retired to my daughter & son-in-law's new home for cake and ice cream and the gift exchange. What a great way to celebrate!

Earl Over Eats at Texas Roadhouse's Early Dine

It has been a very long time since we visited the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant nears us, but I don't know why. We have been there for celebrations and simple casual dining for 2 reasons...their food has always been good and they have an early-bird deal that rocks! My wife a.k.a. "Turkey" has had a couple of extra days off this week and it seemed appropriate to treat her to a night out, a vacation-y thing to do, and I didn't feel like cooking!
Two of the things they are known for are their free peanuts and rolls. When they seated us, the peanuts were waiting and the rolls came immediately. There was no waiting to be seated or to take our order when we arrived. The atmosphere is pleasant, though the music is a bit loud for my taste.
We both ordered from their Early Dine for $8.99 Menu. "Turkey" ordered their 6 oz. Sirloin Steak Dinner and I opted for the Country Fried Sirloin Dinner. My wife's was almost exactly as pictured with the house salad and baked sweet potato. Mine was covered with country gravy (they do have a brown gravy option but why?). I also had the sweet potato and had mashed potatoes with the same creamy gravy. "Turkey" ordered her steak with no pink and it was still tender. Her salad was ample enough to share, and a small amount of salad was fine with me. The sweet potatoes were piping hot, too hot in fact, to eat right away, but perfect for melting the butter and brown sugar. The nice thing about how hot it was is that it stayed hot throughout the meal! My country fried steak was great, tender inside and crispy out. Their breading was just right!

Conclusion:
I said I over ate because I had 6 rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potato, my steak, 2 bites of my wife's steak, ⅓ of a side salad and some peanuts (though not much room for them), and a drink.
I would rate our experience as:
Overall ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ out of 5⭐
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price 💲💲 (It's good a value)

We will be going back often! That's the best recommendation we could make!

Earl Eats Porterhouse Pork Chop at Outback

I should start by saying that I have never cared for Outback Steakhouse. I have always felt a bit disappointed by their offerings. In fact, while checking my journal (facebook) I found it had been 5 years to the day since we ate there last! But my wife A.K.A "Turkey", got a gift card and that was enough to make me be less disappointed no matter the food, so off down under we went. Let me begin by saying that the staff was great! We went early enough (5 p.m.) to eat and get back in time to watch the Utah Jazz. We were seated right away with no waiting. The whole restaurant was spotless. The lighting was of particular interest because it gave us plenty of light without being harsh or overly bright. On to the meal...

They started off by letting us know that they were out of "their" bread because of the successful holiday traffic (it was 2 days after the New Year) which surprised and disappointed me (there's that word again). Bread is something that can be made in-house or purchased from a commercial bakery fairly easily. They probably have some special recipe they have shipped in frozen since they are a chain, but that's no excuse. However, they did not let us down! They offered their Bloomin' Onion appetizer rather than bread at NO CHARGE! Great save, Outback! It was a great way to save the day👍, and the onion was zesty and hot and their dipping sauce delicious, even though not quite enough, but they brought more upon request.

I ordered what they call their Porterhouse Pork Chop after seeing this picture from their menu. It was very tasty and cooked just right. It was fork tender and came with 2 sides (mashed potatoes and broccoli, which were just okay), and I found myself picking it up to get the last of the meat from the bone. It was reasonably priced and worth the money.


My wife ordered a seafood trio which included a lobster tail, a crab cake, and 1 grilled shrimp skewer. She also upgraded her side salad to a lettuce wedge, which she shared with me. She enjoyed the crab cake. She would not let me tell them that the lobster tail and shrimp were a bit rubbery, so I didn't. The salad was the star of her meal and we do like their bleu cheese dressing. Rather, let me say I LOVE bleu cheese, and she likes it on this wedge.

Conclusion:
While there were disappointments, we were not disappointed with the overall experience. I am not sure what the significance of going to a restaurant with "steakhouse" in the name and not wanting a steak is, but we would go back, just for the Lettuce Wedge and Bloomin' Onion!
By the Numbers:
Overall Experience ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Price 💲💲💲

Earl Eats Phoenix Chicken at Chin Wah with Daughter & Grandboy

There are very few locally owned and operated restaurants left, and even fewer left near me. But this place has held a special place for me and my family for years, practically since they opened in 1990 in a location vacated by a failed franchise chain. Now they are in new digs and the atmosphere has improved immensely.

I don't know how authentic their menu is to Asian/Chinese cuisine since I am 6,677 miles from China, but I really don't care. Most often I eat there with Daughter #2 for lunch and our selection rarely varies. Their lunch specials are enough to feed two, so we split one and order an extra cup of soup. Sometimes when I eat out I want to be surprised, almost entertained by the meal, but when we eat at Chin Wah, it is comfort food. We order their Phoenix Chicken, a nicely crisp piece, with a sweet yet savory sauce, pork chow mein, and ham fried rice in abundance. You can request hot, medium or mild, we normally have medium, but the hot is good too if you like a bit more heat.

From Daughter #2's FB feed...get it? Food=Feed😁

Since Grandboy #2 came along, who is nearly 6'5" and a teen, we ordered another meal for him. But being a teen, he wanted his sauce on the side and white rice. He mostly likes the crispy chicken and took the extra home for later. They took care of his special request with ease and we all left full and happy!

If you are looking for a nice meal at a nice price, this is a great choice and it is always good to support locally owned and operated businesses!

Chin Wah Menu (PDF - Opens in new window)

from Chin Wah's Eat-in Menu

Earl Eats All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp at Red Lobster

When I was younger...a lot younger, I considered all-you-can-eat as a challenge. Now it is more of a punishment. I force myself to eat more than I should to get the value that really isn't there. But every year, Red Lobster offers their "All-You-Can-Eat" shrimp special, tempting me to punish myself...again! But it was my wife "Turkey's" birthday and I knew she looks forward to it, even though she eats like a bird (get it? Turkey=bird😏).
They did have a couple of new offerings and of course, they forced me to eat the delicious cheddar biscuits so I wouldn't have room for too much shrimp...oh and a salad. So when my food gets there I have eaten 3 biscuits, a fair sized salad, and almost an entire glass of water. Where would I put the shrimp?

 I started with 2 new flavors, Mediterranean and Nashville Hot Shrimp. Of course, I also had a side dish and the Mediterranean comes with a pilaf. Again, where do I put the shrimp? Turkey had her standbys, hand breaded and scampi.

While I liked the Nashville Hot, it was a bit inconsistent. The Mediterranean was very good. Grilled on skewers with a nice sprinkle of scallions on top. I found the space and reordered. They only allow 1 at a time but they give you plenty of time to get it going. I went for the scampi, then the linguine. Made room for everything except some of the pilaf. So I ate 4 servings of shrimp and was miserably full for the rest of the night. But I think I got my money's worth, and "Turkey" got her birthday dinner. Challenge WON! And I just saw an ad for all-you-can-eat wings at my favorite wing place!(What am I saying?)

Earl Eats "The Hog Burger" at Britton's Restaurant in Sandy

Britton's Hog Burger

The last time I went to lunch with one of my grandboys, we went to Britton's in Sandy, UT. I had the Louisiana Heart attack and loved it. Today, my other grandboy and I went back to Britton's. I showed him the menu description of the Louisiana Heart Attack and he wanted to order that for himself. But he pointed out to me something I had missed on my previous visit...The Hog Burger! Here is their description:
-Hog Burger-Two Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, One with Bacon, One with Tomatoes, with a Burger and Grilled Onions Stuffed in between

How could I go wrong! I love EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT. Again it is:

• Grilled Cheese
• Bacon (It gave the whole sandwich a rich smokiness) 
• Tomatoes
• Burger
• Grilled Onions
• Fries with their own Fry Sauce

Everything was done to perfection, even the server who was wearing a tiara because it was his birthday.

Conclusion

I couldn't finish it, but not for lack of trying. It was just fries I had to leave behind, but only a few. Go try this all you who love Burgers, Grilled Cheese, Bacon & Tomatoes!

 Britton's Louisiana Heart Attack w/Veggies Removed (kids!)

Sonic's Cheeseburger

Sonic® Cheeseburger

Tried Sonic's Cheeseburger today and it was pretty much as advertised, which made me ask "Why Advertise this?"




This is exactly what their site advertises, but I was still disappointed. The first thing I noticed was that it is more expensive than othe competing national chains cheeseburger. It had some things I don't care for in a burger. The patty was nicely seasoned, but  the lettuce is shredded, a bit of a pet peeve of mine. In addition the patty was not HOT. The pickles were crisp and plentiful, if picles are your thing. I like them so I consider that a minor plus. The American cheese slice was the same as most other chains, and not melted.

Winger's "Fowl Cow" Burger (it's a meal really)

Fowl Cow Burger at Winger's

I Went with my Grandsons to Wingers' this afternoon to try their new Burgers. THEY ARE THE BEST WE HAVE EVER TASTED!
Fowl Cow Burger (a House Specialty) is Fresh ground chuck, a juicy chicken breast, sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheese, mayo, applewood smoked bacon, and topped with a fried egg! The Porker (Burger, Pork, Bacon, Cheddar) was very good too, but Fowl Cow...Freaking Amazing!