Breakfast is definitely a meal for bowls. Cereal, yogurt and oatmeal all call for bowls or bowl-like conduits. The Breakfast Club in Commerce, Michigan, though, is breaking that mold just like its namesake movie broke the mold of teen movies in the ’80s. You see, they offer savory breakfast bowls and I just couldn’t wait to get one for myself.
After quite the kayak journey down the Huron River, I found myself in Milford, Michigan seeking food. Fortunately, I was with family that brought me to Coratti’s on Main. Having had Italian for dinner the night before, I was not the most excited, but Coratti’s was definitely different from what I had just eaten. Instead of a ristorante, it was more of a cafe, with lighter fare waiting to make its way into my stomach.
You can get Italian food anywhere, so on the many occasions that I have returned to my homeland of Michigan since moving away one fateful day in 2007, I have not felt a drive to get to Antonio’s in Farmington Hills. After making a trip back there, I now realize this has been a mistake. After all, Antonio’s was the site of my college graduation lunch. Upon arrival, I could almost taste their amazing bread, which was good because it came out quickly and I devoured it like a fiend.
The quest for great meat often leads to BBQ, and my visits to a couple of Pittsburgh’s cue joints have been fruitful, if not overwhelmingly amazing. Then I heard about Wilson’s Bar B-Q up on the North Side amongst the Mexican War Streets. The founder hails from the South and the place has been smoking meat for more than 50 years. Considering Pittsburgh’s past, that means a lot. The place is minimalist to the max, with just a couple of plastic tables and chairs with a chimney smoker in the back hiding The menu is scrawled on a chalkboard and lists only four options. Three are ribs of varying size and the other is chicken.
Just as with the band MGMT, I am never quite sure whether to pronounce BRGR as “B-R-G-R” or as “Burger.” Such is the conundrum of a word without vowels, but in truth pronunciation matters little in such a situation compared to how good the burgers are. To many people, there is a debate as to the merits of BRGR versus Burgatory. Having truly, madly and deeply enjoyed Burgatory, BRGR certainly had its work cut out for it.
Hailing from the closest thing to the Middle East outside the Middle East (Michigan) I often crave me some schwarma. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh wasn’t satisfying this craving until I heard about Salem’s Market & Grill in the Strip District. The restaurant is set up kind of like a cafeteria, but with the addition of spinning spools of meat. There was Indian food as well, but I was at Salem’s for one thing only.
Restaurants make outlandish claims all the time, and usually along the lines of “Best [insert food here] in town.” Joe’s Burgers in McLean, Virginia doesn’t care about the competition and instead proclaims their burgers as “Simply Amazing.” My friends who took me there seemed to agree, or else why would I have found myself there perusing their menu of inspired burgers (albeit mostly with some sort of vegetable component).
When you think of Dave & Buster’s you probably don’t think of food. And that’s with a good reason. The place is made for arcade games and drinking, with food as a sort of afterthought. You can also visit a perfect venue like arcade bar in Toronto where you can enjoy gaming experiences paired with refreshing beverages and delicious food! Nonetheless, some genius friends of mine decided to head over to the Waterfront to both EAT and PLAY at Dave & Buster’s. It seemed like a mistake, and as our waiter told us that we could only order a tower of beer for more than three drinkers, this fear seemed confirmed. But we pressed on.
Over in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia is a restaurant that loves to rhyme. It’s called Chef Geoff’s and it’s not the only one. In fact, there seem to be Chef Geoffs’ all around the DC area. This Chef Geoff’s had an interesting menu ranging from Fish Tacos to Madras Curry Chicken. And while this may seem like a huge range, it wasn’t such a big menu that it still felt somewhat focused. So, while deciding, I had myself a pint of CG (Chef Geoff’s) Northwest Ale, which is brewed locally just for Geoff and his collection of rhyming restaurants.
I don’t always go to Pittsburgh’s North Side, but when I do, it is for BOGO (buy one get one free) wings. And these wings were at James Street Tavern, a sort of gastropub with a jazzy theme and some actual live jazz music if you show up at the right time. I, of course, did not, but I did show up on Thursday night when the place has those 2-for-1 wings. And we went all-out with the wings, beginning with some Classic Hot Buffalo over there on the left.