The Unvegan

‘restaurants’

Meat Stacks at Smoke Shack

February 28th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Chili? In Wisconsin? In February? Shocking!

Here we have a long-awaited new guest blog from none other than @RGspiegel. Catch more of his writing here.

Disclosure I: David Marcus, one of the owners of Smoke Shack, is my second cousin.
Disclosure II: I’m starting a movement such that cousins are classified only as first or second cousins. How much better is that than trying to figure out your exact relationship to your dad’s first cousin’s son with somethingth-cousin-somethingths-removed? A lot.
Disclosure III: Smoke Shack was legitimately awesome.

Now that my and Unvegan’s journalistic integrity are squarely intact, I can begin the review of my glorious Saturday lunch at Smoke Shack, a BBQ restaurant that opened up about a month ago in Milwaukee’s third ward. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, BBQ, Chili, mac and cheese, meat, Milwaukee, restaurants, sausages, Smoke Shack, Wisconsin

No True Food of Mine

February 26th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

False Food!

Friends, Romans, unvegans…what is true food to you? Is it gluten-free? Is it meaty? Is it kale? The answer is likely all of the above, because true food is what you make of it. Yet, a growing restaurant chain is trying to change all that. Calling itself True Food, it already has an air of pretension about itself. True Food tries to follow Dr. Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet, which actually isn’t as bad as it sounds. Yes, it mistakenly loads a ton of vegetables into foods, but at least the menu at True Food had some remotely meaty options, even a Bison Burger. Continue Reading»

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Arizona, phoenix, restaurants, Sandwiches, Travel, True Food

Lord Stanley’s Sliders

February 23rd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Mini-sandwich-riffic

Up in the valley is a place called Stanley’s that I have been hearing about pretty much from the day I started dating my fiancee. Very little about the valley is exciting, but Stanley’s is in a stretch of Sherman Oaks on Ventura that’s pretty cool, so I found myself surprisingly excited to go. Previously, I had heard they have delicious wings, but we were in a rush and I am not a man who rushes wings. Instead, I went with my arch-nemesis. Continue Reading»

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Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, Sandwiches, sherman oaks, short ribs, Stanley's

A House of Schnitzel at Wirtshaus

February 22nd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Crack a lack

Sausages are all the rage these days, and why shouldn’t they be? Who can turn down a good old fashioned tube and a nice brewski? For once, I could. You see, while I headed to Wirtshaus in Mid-City fully intending to tackle some sort of “wurst,” I surprised myself by going in a different direction. This direction was that of pretzel and schnitzel (and never fear, for I made sure to take down a brewski as well). Continue Reading»

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german, Los Angeles, Mid City, restaurants, schnitzel, Wirtshaus

Patriotismo at El Abajeno

February 14th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

The old one-two punch.

You can’t throw a stone* in LA without hitting a Mexican place that someone happens to call their favorite. It could be a shack, a hole in the wall or even an old-fashioned sit down restaurant. The variety seems only limited by the amount of physical space in LA and those damn zoning laws. As I’ve eaten my way through the city, I’ve creativity galore and more Mexican foods than I knew existed growing up on Taco Bell in Michigan. Some have been delicious, while others have failed me. On my latest foray into someone’s favorite Mexican place, I ended up at El Abajeno in Culver City. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Burritos, Carnitas, Culver City, El Abajeno, Los Angeles, Mexican, restaurants

Tonto and the Lone Burger

February 13th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

What's that you say, Kemo Sabe?

One benefit of getting married is the tastings. Not so much tasting food that the guests will eat, but traveling back and forth between Arizona and LA to plan things, and knowing there will be food in need of eating. On my most recent foray into the Grand Canyon state, we went out to dinner at a place called Tonto Bar & Grill in Cave Creek. Tonto is quite the popular place, with an outdoor patio looking out onto a golf course and an old Western eclectic interior. The menu ranges from some fancy salads to super fancy steaks, but somewhere in the middle there is burgers. And having gone at least a couple days without crushing a burger, I felt it was time. Continue Reading»

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Arizona, Bacon, Burgers, Cave Creek, hamburgers, phoenix, restaurants, Tonto Bar & Grill, Travel

A Scenic Dinner at Tilted Kilt

February 10th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Dipping at the Kilt.

Somewhere along the way, someone figured out that sex sells. I don’t know when this time came, but I’m pretty sure everyone in the room looked at each other and nodded in agreement without a word. In the ’80s, Hooters took that genius concept to the restaurant industry and became a household name. And while Hooters is still going strong, the look has become a bit dated. Enter Tilted Kilt, which has taken the Hooters concept, splashed it with Scotch and trimmed the uniforms significantly so that even flat girls have cleavage and they all show some midriff. In other words, the girls at Hooters almost look like nuns in comparison. Yet, while Hooters is gimmicky, they still have pretty tasty wings. Would Tilted Kilt have good fare to offer with their good looks? Continue Reading»

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Bar Food, Colorado, Denver, french dip, meat, restaurants, Sandwiches, Tilted Kilt, Travel

Winter Grilling at Coppertop

February 9th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Just like out back.

In dire need of lunch at the base of Breckenridge, I skied on over to Coppertop Bar & Grill to meet up with the fiancee while she was on a little break from ski school. Realistically, very little is expected of ski mountain food. The restaurants have a captive audience, jack up the prices and provide more warming and high energy foods than truly good food. So when I moseyed on over to the food area at Coppertop, my expectations were quite low. But wait…did I just see a dude walk by with curly fries covered in cheese sauce? Scratch that, my expectations hit the roof. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Breckenridge, Burgers, Colorado, hamburgers, restaurants, Skiing, Travel

An Engaging Dinner at Michael’s

February 3rd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

I did it for the ziti!

Well, you must have known the day was gonna come eventually. You know, the one where that lady I often refer to as “the girlfriend” in my reviews becomes “the fiancee.” Yes, I’m sorry for not consulting you wonderful readers of mine ahead of time, but it was something that had to be done. So, while in Breckenridge, Colorado for a bit of a ski trip with the family, my parents decided to take everyone out to dinner to celebrate the engagement. We picked out a mid-range Italian place called Michael’s, thinking it would be a great place to make everyone happy. Continue Reading»

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Breckenridge, Colorado, Italian, Michael's, restaurants, Travel

Electing to Eat at Lukshon

February 2nd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Delukshus!

A while back, Sang Yoon opened up a place called Lukshon in Culver City. For some, this was a time to rejoice, as this was the man behind the Father’s Office burger. But for me, it was a time to…well…consider trying out Lukshon. You see, if you know me, you know my disdain for the Father’s Office burger. So it took until dineLA’s Restaurant Week to get me out to Lukshon. I went with a sizable crowd, collectively known as the Suppah Club, and we had ourselves a seat at a massive table on Lukshon’s patio in Culver City. Continue Reading»

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Asian, Chinese, Culver City, dinela, father's office, Indian, Los Angeles, Lukshon, Malaysian, restaurant week, restaurants, Sang Yoon, sausage

Rants and Raves

Even Jim Cramer Likes Carl’s Jr.

June 3rd, 2009

A friend of mine told me that Jim Cramer did a special on Mad Money about Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. Apparently he loves their stock, but “…wouldn’t enter a Carl’s unless 24’s Tony Almeida had planted a canister full of pathogen there, millions of lives were on the line and [he] was the only person who could diffuse it.”

As a result, Andy Puzder (the CEO) came on the show to talk with Cramer about his company, their burgers and, most importantly, their sexy ads with Padma Lakshmi and Paris Hilton. In the end, Cramer tried one of their burgers and loved it.

Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoys a burger from Carl’s Jr.

Going Global at Plan Check

Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

‘restaurants’

Meat Stacks at Smoke Shack

No True Food of Mine

Lord Stanley’s Sliders

A House of Schnitzel at Wirtshaus

Patriotismo at El Abajeno

Tonto and the Lone Burger

A Scenic Dinner at Tilted Kilt

Winter Grilling at Coppertop

An Engaging Dinner at Michael’s

Electing to Eat at Lukshon

Rants and Raves

Even Jim Cramer Likes Carl’s Jr.

Going Global at Plan Check

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