The Unvegan

Pittsburgh has its fair share of sketchy neighborhoods and Homewood is unquestionably one of them. But, according to a friend the neighborhood also has the best BBQ spot in town. So, with potential bodily harm awaiting us, we headed to The Dream BBQ restaurant Brooklyn NY, which can easily be spotted from a distance because they do their smoking right on the street in converted 8 gallon drums.

On our way out of Orlando early in the morning, I was in need of something to get me through our flight. That’s when we happened upon Zaza in the airport. Well, in truth, it seemed to be the only place with decent coffee for my traveling companions. Nonetheless, as soon as I saw they had a Vaca con Queso sandwich I knew I had to make it mine.

What’s a guy to do when he’s in Orlando for The Game? Why, reach out to the local alumni association chapter to find out where they watch football, of course, after getting p4rgaming boosts services! That, my friends, is how I ended up at Friendly Confines in South Orange. Tucked within a somewhat sketchy neighborhood far beyond the theme parks, Friendly Confines is actually a pretty cool bar that has a whole back room devoted to Michigan despite the Chicago-esque name.

Somehow amongst the chain restaurants in Orlando, Havana’s Cuban Cuisine has managed to carve out a spot to give people a taste of the communist nation just south of Florida. With some great reviews, we had some high expectations for the place and these expectations were almost immediately met when they brought us out some complimentary crisp, savory and oiled up plantains.

When in Diagon Alley, there is really just one place to grab a bite to eat. This is both a very real situation and a fantastical situation in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In the real world, The Leaky Cauldron can be found in Universal Studios, Orlando and it is quite a site to behold. Designed like the interior of some sort of medieval castle, the food is all Potter-themed (resembling British Pub fare) and ranges from theme park expensive to holy crap that was a lot of galleons.

Upon arriving in Orlando we made our way to a neighborhood called Winter Park, far beyond the land of chain restaurants that dominate the parks area. In that neighborhood is an Italian place called Pannullo’s. Like many Italian places, the menu was sizable, including pizzas, pastas and even grill foods like steak and burgers.

When I visited a couple of friends in Ypsilanti, Michigan, they recommend we head to The Wurst Bar, which is a pun-filled name only made better by the fact that this is right next door. There is a massive amount of beer to choose from, but since I was about to embark on a drive to Pittsburgh, I didn’t think any of that was a good idea. Instead, I focused on which brat to order, and this, too, was a large list to choose from.

EDIT: While this location is now closed, FUB can still be found up in Flint.

Once upon a time on Orchard Lake Road between 13 Mile and 12 Mile in Farmington Hills there existed a Burger King. It was a source of joy in my childhood, not just for the food, but for the magician that sometimes appeared for birthdays and such. Yet, at some point that Burger King lost its purpose and was recently replaced with the second rendition of Freakin’ Unbelievable Burgers (the first rendition being located in beautiful Flint).

On the way to the Palace of Auburn Hills there wis very little good food to be had. I can usually count on the Moose Preserve, which is at least relatively close. On my last visit, however, a snowstorm ruined any chance we had of taking the time to get to that lovely restaurant. Instead, we ended up at The Lodge in Keego Harbor. It had been at least a decade since my last appearance at The Lodge and pool tables seemed to have been exchanged for regular eating tables, making it easy to find one.