‘Buffalo Chicken’
While Walnut Street in Shadyside is the typical haunt of my fellow students, Highland is another street in Shadyside that has a lot to offer. One of those offerings is Buffalo Blues, a sports bar with a fair amount of food options that you might expect at such a place. Wings dominate the menu, but there are also burgers, sandwiches and a few other things for those not so inclined towards the wings.
As an apparent result of success, Italian Village Pizza expanded recently into a few new locations. One of which was in Fox Chapel/Blawnox and when the wife and I needed to get out and get some grub one night, we found ourselves in the friendly confines of a place with possibly the greatest happy hour hours ever (7-9). And while I enjoyed a Yuengling, I was really at Italian Village Pizza for their namesake.
While in Boston (Brookline to be exact) for a vegetarian wedding or something like that, I found myself at Coolidge Corner Clubhouse in greater need of meat than usual. Fortunately, this sports bar was more than willing to help me with my needs. Having eaten an absurd burger the night before at The Standing Room, my meat needs this time moved more toward the chicken side of the menu.
Torrance is simply full of surprises. Just when I thought I had exhausted all non-Japanese, non-Hispanic options, along came Buffalo Fire Department, a place that specializes in burgers, but still has a good deal of other options. With burgers like the Mac & Cheese and Burger Stack and the Thai BBQ and Wasabi Sauce Burger, they quickly earned points in the creativity department.
Many months ago, someone was telling me about a delicious pizza chain from the Midwest called Godfather’s. Being from the Midwest, I was a bit surprised until he told me it was from that other Midwest. You know, like Kansas and stuff. Then Godfather’s started getting a lot more attention because of some dude named Herman Cain that wants to be President. So when I ordered some pizza delivery from a place called Godfather’s that recently appeared in Palms, I was thinking this was one and the same as the fabled Godfather’s I had heard so much about. I was wrong, for the first time.
For a little lunch pickup in Cave Creek, Arizona, just north of Scottsdale, I was told we would be ordering from a local sandwich shop called Bad Donkey (not to be confused with Bikkuri Donkey). Although actual donkey was no where to be found on the menu, it seemed they had come up with some very creative names to make up for the lack of donkey. Their veggie sub was called Grass on a Roll and their Reuben was creatively called Reuben Worth Choosen (yes, choosen and not choosin’).
Though LA still doesn’t have it’s own style of pizza, I keep finding more and more places that attempt to create a sort of New York style pizza. My buddy recently brought me to Tomato Pie Pizza Joint in Silver Lake. At first I was frightened by any restaurant that would use the name of a vegetable in their name. Would every pizza be loaded with tomatoes? Would this actually be a pizza place or just a place that baked pies made with tomatoes? Did my friend even know who he was eating with? What’s the meaning of life? All these questions and more flooded my brain, but when I walked into the joint and the kind of pizza they had to offer, my questions and most of my fears washed away.
I had never been to The Tavern on Main for food before, as I had always thought of the place as more of a bar than a restaurant, yet I wasn’t going to turn it down when I found out some people were going.
We sat in a back room, which almost looked like a real restaurant, despite the fact that you still had to go through the bar area to get there.
I deliberated with the menu for quite a long time, since a lot of the burgers and sandwiches looked really good. Ultimately, thought, I decided I needed to add some spice to my meal, so I ordered the Buffalo Chiicken Wrap, which came with bleu cheese, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing. The lettuce and tomato would not make a good unvegan meal, so I ordered without. The wrap also came with a side order, so I asked for the mac and cheese.
Edit: This location may be gone, but Rally’s is definitely still a thing.
Some days, typical fast food restaurants just aren’t enough. Enter: Rally’s. It’s like fast food, but with a few little twists. In fact, it isn’t always called Rally’s. Supposedly it is called Checker’s in some strange parts of the country.
What really drew me to Rally’s in Palms was the sign that said “2 for $4 Double Bacon Cheddar Burgers and Double Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.” After seeing these options, I didn’t even need to look at the menu except to decide which fries I wanted. One thing that sets Rally’s apart from other fast food places is that they have two drive-thru windows, ensuring speedy ordering. In-N-Out could certainly learn a lot from this. They also have a window that you can just walk up to for ordering, if you want to sit in the nice outdoor dining area.