State Fairs are often an afterthought. A relic of times past when most of us lived in rural areas and guessing the weight of a pumpkin was the best entertainment of the month. They offer variations on the same rides, foods and entertainment that you find at your local Memorial Day Carnival or County Fair and, I mean, how many people even go to those? But the Minnesota State Fair is so far from an afterthought that it seems to be on the minds of Minnesotans for the 50 weeks of the year in which it is not in operation. Plans are made, new foods are devised and longed after; then, just like that, it’s over again. This year, however, the Unvegan paid a visit to see how it would all stack up.

Swedish Meatball Smorgas – The Blue Barn

It’s not all about gluttony. Sometimes it’s just about doing something no one ever thought of. Like putting Swedish meatballs on a roll, pouring white gravy all over them and then topping them with lingonberry jam and dill pickles. I was smart enough to order without the pickles and it paid off in pure sweet, salty and savory deliciousness.

Mangonada Shave Ice – Minnesnowii Shave Ice

You wouldn’t think Minnesotans would be fans of shave ice since they live among it for so much of the year. Yet, the Mangonada is real and it is fascinating. Packed with mango syrup, drizzles of chamoy sauce, popping boba (for some inexplicably genius reason), spicy tajin powder and a tamarind straw (for some inexplicably strange reason). The straw was useless, but the rest of this was somehow light, refreshing, hearty and spicy at once. And with all that, it just somehow worked.

Giant Juicy Turkey Sandwich – Turkey To Go

Being a first timer, I couldn’t just go with new stuff. And, frankly, I wasn’t too excited about getting a turkey sandwich. But, my buddy told me it was well worth it and, well, it sure was. I added bacon and a sweet glaze to mine and it was unbelievably juicy for what’s generally the driest fowl of all. As I drove past many a wild turkey in the Northwoods, all I could think about was how juicy they could be in sandwich form.

Blu – Grain Belt

I love blueberries and I love beer. It makes sense that I would like a blueberry beer, right? Wrong. It seems to be that the special beers at the Minnesota State Fair are pretty much all sweet, but this took that sweetness way beyond balance and into juice territory. Good thing I had all kinds of savory and salty foods to counter that sweetness (and don’t worry, I still drank the whole damn thing).

Gizmo – Carl’s

The Gizmo is another classic, and yet it is churned out by pretty much the most nondescript cart in the whole fair. Sometimes you just know you’re good and it’s hard to go bad when you are an Italian roll filled with ground beef, Italian sausage, red sauce and a layer of melted mozzarella cheese to seal all of the goodness in.

Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs – Dino’s Gyros

Ricotta and Feta. Flaky phyllo dough. Powdered sugar. More than a drizzle of honey. I am a many who loves his sweet and salty combos and these Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs did more than satisfy that craving. It may have gotten a but too sweet toward the end when the honey congregated in the corner with the remaining puff, but these were a treat.

Zesty PB&J Sausage – Gass Station Grill

It doesn’t sound right. Nope, not at all. But if you’ve been paying attention to burger places lately, mixing peanut butter, jelly and some sort of spiciness is all the rage. It’s only natural that it made its way into a tube steak. While each bite may have been somewhat inconsistent, there is no doubt that this works. If they can get that peanut buttery and jelly-y goodness more evenly distributed, this sausage could take over the world.

Turducken Sausage – Giggles’ Campfire Grill

Not all sausages are created equal. Or is it something about the size of the sausage versus what you do with it? Regardless, the Turducken sausage didn’t just lose the battle of the sausages, it barely seemed to fight. It was too tightly packed, the grind seemed off and really all I could taste was the turkey, with maybe a touch of chicken. Perhaps in years past this may have flown, but in the world of the Zesty PB&J sausage you have to be oh so much better than this.

Passion Fruit Pilsner – Bent Paddle Brewing

Duluth is a cool city. And it sent a pretty cool beer down to the state fair. It’s not a sour per se, but does it’s best to harness the tartness of passion fruit and churns out a pretty unique pilsner that is not too sweet and not too sour. It’s not just right either, but it’s good enough to make the drinking enjoyable.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Belly – The Hangar

You don’t go to the state fair looking to eat a balanced meal. But nowhere is that lack of balance more exemplified than in this pork on pork action on a stick. It was so unbelievably juicy, smokey and salty forcing the use of dozens of napkins lest your face runneth with juices that would later congeal into something resembling a wax museum. While this may be perfection in meat form, the critic in me did wish there was some sort of a sweet and acidic dipping sauce like apple cider vinaigrette or a cherry reduction to accompany this meaty concoction. Despite that, the universe seemed to pause in recognition of the beauty of each bite of this masterpiece.

Fried Cheese Curds – Everywhere

Some day I’d like to pull an Andrew Zimmern and try every cheese curd purveyor at the fair. Until that day, I am a satisfied man as long as the place knows to stick with the white variety of cheddar, to fry them just right amount of time to maintain the squeakiness and to only lightly batter them lest the batter overpower the cheese. It’s not the tallest order, but it’s not the easiest one to fulfill either. Plus, when you’re coming from Arizona all cheese curds are good cheese curds.

Whelp. That’s a wrap. The pilgrimage is complete. Now if only I can figure out a way to make this an annual thing…or at least get to Iowa somehow…

I’m going to say something unpopular. Bloody Marys are the worst. Tomatoes suck, celery sucks and there’s just something weird about spicy drinks. But I must say that I am glad that Hash Kitchen has made the big bucks off of having an incredible Bloody Mary bar. Why? Because it has enabled them to expand out to Chandler for their latest Grand Opening. And because I got to snag a bunch of the meats and cheeses from the Bloody Mary bar to decorate my beer. It may be frowned upon normally, but at the Grand Opening anything goes. As expected, the bacon was the best.

Having eaten at the Scottsdale Hash Kitchen locations a couple of times, I thought I knew what to expect from the Grand Opening. Regardless, here were some of the samplings.

Herb Fried Chicken and Waffle

With thick cut bacon, fried leeks and a warm maple reduction.

Avocado Toast

Using the split-top biscuit from the benedict, this is topped with avocado, carnitas, an over easy egg, green chili salsa and more of those fried leeks.

Carnitas Hash

Read more on this beautiful stuff here.

Cannoli Donuts

The biggest surprise of the night was how incredible the darker of these donuts were. Aside from the custardy filling, these donuts tasted as close as I’ve ever had to Cider Mill donuts this side of the Mississippi and that’s basically the best compliment a donut can get.

Fruity Pebbles Cereal Shooter

Fruity Pebbles dust, loopy vodka, rumchata and milk. A sweet and creamy way to get morning booze.

In all, I didn’t need convincing that Hash Kitchen is delicious, but it was definitely great to try some new things from the menu. Chandler is a lucky place to now have its own rendition of Hash Kitchen.

According to HKM lawyers, when it comes to religion, it’s generally frowned upon for a company to push its views on its employees. Yet, what about other views? Say, like eating meat? WeWork just announced that not only would the company no longer provide catering with meat at its office locations, but that it wouldn’t even allow employees to expense meals with meat.

Yes, you read that right. No more meat. WeWork claims it is to cut down on greenhouse gases, water use and whatnot, but it has been proven time and time again that if meat suppliers use sustainable practices, meat is actually better for the environment than plant agriculture. It’s only a matter of paying more money to make that happen. At a $20B valuation, one might think WeWork has enough money to make that happen.

Yet, that is not a path that WeWork decided to tread. They took the easy way out, because at the end of the day that bean curd and kale salad is cheaper than sustainable meat. I don’t knock a company for trying to make a profit, but I do knock a company for acting like it is being altruistic about it. If WeWork was upfront about the real reason – namely some PR and pushing views on other people – things might be a little different. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

So, for besmirching meat for all the wrong reasons, WeWork is one heck of an unvegan villain.

Old Town Scottsdale is basically the touristy mecca of Scottsdale. And while touristy doesn’t often translate into delicious food, there are a few gems among those crowded streets. On the outside, Farm + Craft seemed like such a place with a great open concept and an “order at the counter” or “order at your table” that seemed to depend on the whim of the workers that day.

The menu wasn’t exactly extensive, and certainly seemed to care a lot about giving off a healthy vibe. Thus, I decided to go with the Grass-Fed Burger. I love my burgers grass-fed, and I also like it when they are topped with havarti, sun-dried tomato sriracha mayo and avocado. I don’t like it when those ingredients are on a whole wheat bun with mixed greens, but I got them to omit the greens and accepted the bun. The side options were all pretty dumb and veggie-like, with the closest to any sort of reason being sauteed sweet potatoes.

With all that, you may expect me to say I loved the burger, but in reality it actually was pretty lacking in flavor. It makes sense to a certain degree though, as havarti is a pretty mid cheese, avocados don’t bring too much flavor to the table and the beef just didn’t seem seasoned. The mayo tried to save it all, but not successfully. It was also hard to overcome the burger not being very juicy. Oh, and I didn’t even mind when my son went after my sweet potatoes, because sweet potatoes are meh in the best of times.

So while I always want to say I loved a grass-fed burger, I couldn’t help but feel let down by Farm + Craft. There is apparently no farm nearby with seasoning, but if they find one it would go a long way in making a better burger.

The Super Bowl is set! And while everyone is pumped to see the Patriots again, and the Eagles again (but not nearly as again), it is important to realize that for most people the Super Bowl is about food and commercials. So, food, right? Lil’ smokies might sound good for another year, but sometimes it’s smart to just hit up a bar. I was just given an opportunity to check out the goods* at B2 Burgers and Brews, which is looking forward to hosting a bunch of people with some pretty exciting specials.

And the goods were good. The burgers ranged from the Aloha (pineapple, ham, teriyaki mayo and provolone) to the Breakfast (over easy egg, sausage patty, bacon, ham and hash browns). And then there was the one that I ate – Spicy PBJ & Bacon – topped with its namesakes, as well as pepper jack cheese. It’s also maybe important to note that the jelly is pepper jelly.

It was another great take on what seems to be a growing trend of merging the American classics of bacon, burger, and peanut butter and jelly. And perhaps even more important than the execution of the toppings was the perfect medium rare that the burger was cooked to.

The burgers can be ordered with a variety of buns and also with some delicious fries or sweet potato tots. I’m generally not a sweet potato man, but if you’re into that I’m sure you’ll be into these.

Oh and there were the wings as well. Because no self-respecting sports bar can go without wings, right? Unlike some places that resort to an all-out blitz of flavor options, B2 only has buffalo, honey BBQ, and teriyaki. I tested out the buffalo and BBQ, which both tasted like your standard buffalo and BBQ. Most importantly, though, they were meaty, juicy and fried just right. Which, of course, brings me to the point of all of this.

For the Super Bowl, B2 has specials up the wazoo:

• 75 cent wings all day (boneless or the good ones)
• $1 domestic beers from kickoff until the first score
• $5 bloody mary bar
• All day happy hours (think cheap drinks and lots of $5 apps)
• Raffles at the end of each quarter, including a 55 inch TV at the end of it all (must be present to win)
• 10% off pre-ordered takeout and $15 growler fills

Those are some pretty sweet deals if you ask me, at the very least good enough to get you out and about instead of sitting on your couch alone watching the Patriots and Eagles play for it all.’

*Which is code for free, but those specials are really close to free so there’s that.

Good food is always made better if it’s found in a strange place. You know, like the Cheetos you find in the couch cushion. No, but seriously, like BBQ at a gas station. Such is Tom’s Thumb in Scottsdale. And while it may be more of a restaurant that happens to have a gas station attached than the other way around, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is literally a gas station and BBQ place.

I ordered the Brisket Stack off the breakfast menu because it was easily the most interesting thing on their menu. It was sliced brisket over cheesy hash brown cakes, topped with two fried eggs and some chipotle aioli. I grabbed some of the BBQ sauces that were available and got down to business.

I must say I was a bit disappointed upon first looking at the dish, as the yolks of the eggs were cooked solid, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Then I got to the next layer, which was the brisket. While it had a nice smokiness and flavor, it was shockingly difficult to eat them because the meat was just tough. Like not tender at all. Which is weird. But the cheesy hash brown cakes were delicious, so that’s something.

I don’t know if their regular BBQ items would have been better than the Brisket Stack, because not even the great variety of BBQ sauces could save this dish. I mean I hope that is the case, because otherwise you might be better grilling your own juicy BBQ using your tools from Smokers Edmonton store.

BBQ is pretty much the best. But the Bay Area is a long way from where the best BBQ is supposed to be. Yet, while there for a quickie trip I made my way to 3 Pigs BBQ in San Carlos. The place definitely has a rustic feel, with an homage to the southern source of great BBQ in the form of an American flag made from Bud and Bud Light beer cans. It seemed like my kind of place and I set to work on ordering.

I opted to split a couple things with my buddy. The first was a half rack of St. Louis ribs. The ribs came out pre-sliced and followed the mantra of “ribs shouldn’t be fall off the bone.” I prefer them at least a bit more tender, but they had a good, smokey flavor and went well with all of the BBQ sauces provided by 3 Pigs.

We also split a Chopped Brisket Tray, which came with two sides and corn bread. For the sides we went with chili and mac and cheese because chili and mac and cheese. Duh. Unfortunately, the highlight of this tray was everything except for the ribs, which is definitely not what you want to say at a BBQ spot. The brisket was flavorless and simply not as tender as brisket should be. Not even the sauce could salvage the brisket, but at least I had the sides. The mac and cheese was great, with bread crumbs on top to for crunch and despite lacking in creaminess, there was plenty of cheesy flavor. The chili was also pretty solid and was a much better use of the brisket than the actual brisket. Oh, and the corn bread was plenty moist, fluffy and corny.

So, while the ribs were better than the brisket, 3 Pigs BBQ was nothing to write home about. That’s why I am writing about them in a blog, because home just wouldn’t care.

A short time ago, Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern opened up a location in Santa Monica. On it’s own, this can be seen as a good thing, but an even better thing is that I was invited out to check the place out and give it a review. I happily accepted and set off for the place where the land meets the sea (well almost, Jimmy’s is a few blocks inland).

The meal began with some of the sexiest meatballs the world has every seen. They are called Buffalo BBQ Beef Meatballs, which meant that they were a combination of sweet and spicy, plus they were nice and juicy. They were served with a honey garlic ranch and despite the fact that the thin-sliced peppers on top came as a surprise, I enjoyed the hell out of these. We also got the Spicy Ahi Poke, which was good for raw fish and I’m sure those who like poke would have liked this, but it just isn’t my thing and I don’t see a future where it is.

Next came the Whiskey Shrimp, which was apparently cooked with Bourbon (so maybe bourbon shrimp would have been a better name), shallots, Cajun spices and dijon. The shrimp itself tasted pretty fresh (and I should have hoped so considering our proximity to the ocean), but the sauce was really the best part of the appetizer, as I probably could have dipped asparagus in there and made it taste good. Once again there were some unfortunate random tomatoes on top, but I slapped these aside.

When it came to the main course, I probably would have normally ordered a burger, but the waitress highly recommended the fried chicken. Like an obedient unvegan I listened. I can safely say the recommendation was not a mistake (although I still long to know what that burger might have tasted like). The fried chicken was definitely geared more toward the Santa Monica crowd then, say, a Louisiana crowd as it consisted of thin-sliced chicken breast instead of something dark and/or bony. Nonetheless, it was super juicy and the batter was flavorful, if not quite at my preferred level of crispiness.

We finished things off with the Bananageddon, which seems an appropriate name to end all things forever. This monster was a combination of bananas, pastry cream (which is apparently a thing), pecan blondie crumbles, butter pecan ice cream, candied pecans, whipped cream, caramel and white chocolate. It was all at once overwhelming and manageable. And by manageable I mean this would have been enough for an entire meal, but alas i had already basically eaten my weight in food.

I can safely say that I didn’t leave Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern hungry, but more importantly I left fulfilled. Overall, the menu vibe is like a Southern Upscale bar and it suited me just perfectly. Hopefully it will suit Santa Monica just as well.

Once upon a time I was featured on a show called Eat Street to talk about a food truck in LA called Grill ‘Em All. Eventually, like many successful food trucks, Grill ‘Em All opened a real restaurant. For some reason they chose Alhambra, which is better known for its Chinese food than its burgers, but diversity is always a good thing and the restaurant has stood strong for a couple years now. I finally got the chance to try it recently to see how it turned out.

The loud metal music has not changed. So if you’re into that, you’ll like this spot immediately. If not you might want to eat outside, because the burgers are definitely still worthwhile. I ordered myself a Jump in the Fryer, which uses waffles for buns and is stuffed with fried chicken, bacon, a beef patty, cheddar cheese, maple syrup and sriracha. It’s basically an unvegan dream and when it was ready it tasted like one too.

Obviously when you order a burger as excessive as this, you’re not looking for refined taste, but I can tell you that this thing is worth trying once. Each component is solid and occupies enough time on the taste palette to leave a mark. The only hard part is getting over the fact that the beef is not center stage on this burger. In fact, neither is the chicken or bacon. The waffles seem to take over each bite a little too much, overstepping their bounds as far as buns go.

While I wouldn’t order the Jump in the Fryer again, that is not at all a reflection on Grill ‘Em All. It’s just that a burger like that has a hard time being more than a one time thing. And according to my eating companions, the other burgers have not lost the touch that made Grill ‘Em All champions of the first season of the Great Food Truck Race.

Thanksgiving is nigh, and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. You see, one of the perks of being a meat blogger is getting free meats! This year I have been graced with free meats from a number of sources, and there is no better time than now to go through them all and point out a few great meals I’ve put together with them. Plus, if you’re looking for a gift for the meat lover in your life look no further! I swear I don’t get any kickbacks.

These “His and Hers” steaks came from US Wellness Meats, which is 100% grassfed. The left is a bone-in ribeye and the right is filet. For steaks like these, I lightly dusted some Lawry’s Seasoning Salt before grilling and this really brought out the incredible meaty flavor. Also, it is super important to give the steaks about 10 minutes to sit before slicing them open and eating.

These short ribs also came from US Wellness, but the broth is from Kettle and Fire. Kettle and Fire specializes in Beef Bone Broth, which is a staple in any paleo diet and a great way to ensure that even the bones of cattle are put to good use. These short ribs were slowly simmered in that broth with bacon and a few other things for seasoning, resulting in that shimmeringly tasty meat.

Vermont Smoke and Cure has been making hipster meat since before hipsters were a thing. One of these meats is Bacon Hot Dogs, which are free of antibiotics and hormones. They’re even smoked. I wrapped these with Us Wellness’s Beef Bacon, which is not nearly as good as pork bacon, but certainly nothing to complain about. I figured string cheese is the perfect hot dog cheese and then drizzled the whole thing with Deaf Man’s BBQ XXX Sauce. As you can probably tell by the picture, it was spectacular.

Some of these things I got for free, and some I didn’t. Regardless, they were all delicious. I don’t get any sort of referral money, but highly recommend checking out and of these meaty places when it comes to holiday shopping. What better gift could there be for the meat lover in your life?