Coffee shops have come a long way since the days of Friends and Seattle grunge. Now, they serve different teas, crazy concoctions and a bunch of quickie foods. And that’s just the chains. The indie spots take things a step further, like Brew Box in Salem, Massachusetts. And it’s not just hippy dippy and hipster stuff, they even had food fit for an unvegan like me.

The obvious choice was the Biscuit Egg Sandwich, which is made with a house-made biscuit, egg souffle (really a scrambled egg square) and white cheddar with the option to add bacon or sausage for $1. I tried both the bacon and the sausage, and the bacon was my preferred biscuit meat. Yet, despite the meat, the most amazing thing about the sandwich was the biscuit itself. It has an amazing crispy texture on the outside and was delightfully fluffy on the inside – just as a biscuit should be. It was also plenty moist, which is a word that I always like to use to describe pretty much anything.

And the best thing about the sandwich was that I was able to eat something “wich”y in Salem. I know you’re laughing. Fine, whatever. Don’t laugh. But do eat the Biscuit Egg Sandwich if you ever make your way to Salem and are in need of breakfast.

My lack of any sort of need for dessert has been pretty well-chronicled on this blog by now. Yet, there is one dessert that I have a hard time passing up and that dessert is pie. So, when I found out that Arizona’s best pies were on the way to Prescott before taking a quick trip to, uh, Prescott, I knew we had to make a stop at Rock Springs Cafe in Black Canyon City.

Unlike many pie purveyors, Rock Springs Cafe is about more than just pies, so I settled in for a meal. Since it was before 11:00 am, they would only serve from the breakfast menu and I found their breakfast burger to be right up my alley. It was a half pound, topped with a fried egg, bacon and cheddar cheese. It also came with country potatoes that were amazingly available without the onions and green peppers that usually go into such potatoes.

It came out with a perfectly shining, glistening egg yolk. The burger had clearly been hand-formed and cooked to a perfect medium rare, while the bacon was crispy AF. The only thing strange was that the cheese had not actually been melted onto the burger and sat atop the bacon instead of the other way around. I would explain it, but I can’t. Fortunately, being sandwiched between burger and egg softened it up and made it reasonably tasty considering cheese is almost never bad in any non-moldy state. I was also a huge fan of the country potatoes, which had been fried to a nice crisp on the outside and pillowy goodness on the inside. They were like Taco Bell’s potatoes and I mean that as an utmost compliment.

I finished off with the most important thing of all – pie. Per my disposition, I went with the banana cream pie and was in awe when the waitress brought out what amounted to a massive double slice. She claimed that she gave me two small slices, but I certainly wouldn’t have complained about just one of them. The pie was more cream than banana, which is not how I would have usually preferred it, but it was a good cream and not overly sweetened. The crust brought some nice salty balance to the pie and while I probably could have scarfed down both slices in one sitting, I exercised discipline and saved one for the road.

In my mind, Rock Springs Cafe is a must for anyone making the trek between the Phoenix area and either Flagstaff or Prescott. It’s basically right off the highway and if my experience is any indication, it’s hard to go wrong whether you’re going for a meal or just a slice.

Petoskey is a lovely little town and the main drag of it is even lovelier. Situated in the middle of it is a coffee shop and sandwich place appropriately named Roast & Toast. It, too, is lovely. And while I’m no fan of coffee or ampersands, I do appreciate a good toasted sandwich. Seeing as it was lunch time, it seemed a wise choice.

So I went with the Blackwich, a sandwich whose name was intriguing, but ingredients were welcoming. It consisted of Cajun-seasoned chicken, bacon basically from down the street at Plath’s, avocado from definitely not down the street, lettuce, Swiss cheese undoubtedly from somewhere other than Switzerland, bleu cheese pesto mayo spread and some toasted white-ish bread.

I ordered without the lettuce and tomato like a good unvegan and the results were something of a beauty. The Cajun chicken was more the cold cut sliced variety, but that didn’t stop it from being delicious. The avocado was fresh and the bacon was nice and thick and crispy. There was even pineapple on the side for garnish where you would ordinarily find a stupid pickle spear. And, perhaps most importantly, the toasted bread was superb, ensuring that Roast & Toast could continue using the latter part of its name.

Roast & Toast definitely knew how to construct a sandwich, and to garnish it the right way. It’s the kind of place that everyone wishes they had around the corner from home, and at least for my brief week in Northern Michigan it served that purpose well.

Perched on a corner in what is more neighborhood than retail area in Ventura is a restaurant called Cafe Nouveau. The restaurant boasts a pretty great outdoor eating area, but the wait there was nuts so we went inside to what felt like a home that had been converted into a cafe. I set to work at figuring out what to order, but after a quick look at the menu I had made up my mind.

It was the breakfast burger, which was appropriately topped with a fried egg, cheddar, hash browns and bacon. I ordered it medium rare and with a side of fries because the hash browns obviously wouldn’t be enough potato for me. Plus, we got a blueberry corn muffin for the table to share because it was supposed to be delicious. It was.

But as for the burger, it was one of the most beautiful food things I have ever seen. And unfortunately that also made it one of the most disappointing. I bit in hoping for something amazing, but what I found was shockingly bland and the burger was also overcooked enough to make it somewhat chewy. It almost seems painstaking to make something with such ingredients bland, but Cafe Nouveau found a way. The restaurant is both quaint and cool, but that simply did not add up to a good burger and that is unforgivable.

The Malibu Cafe might be one of the coolest places to hang out in LA. The sprawling grounds are like an Anthropologie fan’s orgasm, with box lights, upside down umbrellas, giant chess pieces and pillows with words on them. Plus, it’s super family friendly. After winning me over at the Burger Battle in Santa Monica earlier this year, I was eager to find out what the restaurant itself would be like.

We began with some calamari that was, well, like any other calamari out there. At least that was my opinion as a guy who rarely gets calamari, but definitely knows when calamari is special. So I moved on to the Smoked Mac & Cheese. This was definitely a step up from the calamari, being creamy, crunchy and cheesey. Yet, it still wasn’t quite something I was super impressed with. After these two foods, I found myself confused. Their burger had been so damn good, but I was still not floored by what I was eating. That’s when I found myself face-to-face with their burger again.

Only this time it was the burger from the regular menu, as opposed to the special I had eaten at the event. This burger came with cheddar, aioli and some veggies that I had no need for, plus a side of fries. I ordered it medium-rare and when it came out it looked shiny and delicious. I bit in and was instantly met with satisfaction. The burger was cooked perfectly and the meat was nicely ground. The cheese and aioli just added to the flavor. Yet, while this was a nicely executed fancy cheeseburger, it still was nowhere as good as the burger from the Burger Battle.

I should also mention that The Malibu Cafe does pretty poorly with service. Everyone that works there is super nice, but obviously spread incredibly thin, resulting in copious delays. It’s definitely not a place to visit when you’re in a rush. But then, this is Malibu so you should never be in a rush.

Alas, my final thoughts upon leaving were that food is secondary as The Malibu Cafe. It’s a place to gather, to hang, to feel hipster and to see beautiful people. The food comes after that and might not blow any minds, but doesn’t fully disappoint either.

Oh the park at Echo Park. While it is unquestionably a Mecca for local Hispanic family picnics, it is also unquestionably working hard to attract the local hipsters. Hence, Square One at the Boathouse exists literally in the boathouse where people can rent paddle boats and serves up some good-looking if not exciting-looking food.

I chose the Organic Hot Dog on a Wheat Bun, which is clearly not a cluster of words that I enjoy uttering, but I do like hot dogs so whatevs. Plus I ordered the chorizo chili and cheddar cheese on top so there’s that. Oh and the Hand Cut Fries.

The hot dog began in disappointment, as apparently the chili and cheese included onions. They were diced so it was extra hard to take them out, but that I did. Then, the whole wheat bun completely failed to hold together so I was left with a very difficult eating situation, but eat I did. And it turned out the flavors were all there. The hot dog was nicely grilled with a solid snap, while the chili had a good kick and the cheddar was white.

The big winner, though, was the fries. I don’t know if these were fried in crack but they were potentially some of the greatest straight up fries I’ve ever had. I wish I could explain why, but really can’t say besides the fact that they were perfectly fried, perfectly salted and apparently being hand cut had something to do with them as well.

For a meal in the park, Square One at the Boathouse is not bad, but not especially great either. However, for a place to grab some fries as a snack, holy crap this place is amazing.

The Miracle Mile is often considered to be a culinary dead zone. In the beginning of the food truck explosion, the trucks took full advantage of the lack of good food to dish out grub to those hungry workers. So when I was meeting someone for dinner and they suggested Yuko Kitchen in the Miracle Mile, I was a little bit surprised. They knew I had a food blog, right? It turns out that yes, they did and they were more than a little concerned about what might happen after I got my hands…errr…chopsticks…on Yuko Kitchen’s food.

To start with, Yuko Kitchen had a few good things going for it. It was BYOB, had a happy hour boba (bubble tea) special with all drinks going for $3 between 4 and 7 and it didn’t limit itself to sushi. Sure, a lot of the menu was sushi, but there were a few options outside of that box. They pretty much consisted of teriyaki chicken and beef, which seemed disappointing at first, but that was before I got my teriyaki chicken rice bowl. The bowl came with the rice and chicken, as well as “greens,” which I ordered without. I didn’t even ask what the greens were because I assumed they were no good.

The bowl was so much bigger than I expected and the chicken was so much more delicious than I expected. Usually teriyaki chicken at a sushi place is an afterthought for picky eaters, but clearly Yuko Kitchen spent time putting together this dish. The sauce was just really quite tasty and even enhanced the flavor of the rice it touched.

The trouble is that Yuko Kitchen is more of a cafe than a restaurant. And I mean cafe in the classic sense that the food is pretty limited and it is more of a hangout place than a place to dine. It may be great for a sushi eater who likes the occasional teriyaki chicken or beef, but for a meat eater who rarely wants sushi the options aren’t quite as good. On the other hand, BYOB and cheap boba is nothing to be disappointed in.

About a five minute walk from the apartment of my special lady friend at Pico-Robertson is a restaurant called Cafe Bella Roma. In the five years that she has lived there, she has never set foot in said restaurant, and since she is leaving the location next month, I was able to convince her to check it out. So if it sucked she could be like, “Good thing I’m getting out of here,” but if it was awesome she could be like, “That’s worth returning to my old stomping grounds for.” Which one would it be?

Being call a cafe and looking a lot like one, I was a bit concerned about how full of a menu they would have or if it would just be a place for coffee and whatever it is Italians eat at cafes. Fortunately, I found a pretty full menu, ranging from panini to pizza to pasta. Despite this range, they didn’t have a crazy amount of options for each, which was actually refreshing compared to a lot of Italian places. Since it was lunch, I decided to keep it semi-light and set my gaze upon their meatball panino. This came with said homemade meatballs, marinara and provolone for 8.95. It also came with a choice of fries or salad. I chose the fries and then sat back wondering how they would manage to squeeze meatballs into a panino.

Soon enough, my question was answered as I stared into a panino with meatballs cut in half. The thick and melty provolone was oozing out and although the sandwich wasn’t massive, I was seriously looking forward to chomping in. And it was perfect. This panino had the perfect mix of meat, sauce and cheese. Plus, the bread was incredible. It was light on the inside and perfectly crisped on the outside. Yet, for it’s lightness, the sauce didn’t make it soggy at all. The meatballs tasted great and the whole thing ended up being just the right size.

The fries were a decent addition to the sandwich and had really great flavor. Unfortunately, they weren’t very crispy and couldn’t hold a candle to their big brother, the sandwich.

Sitting there eating that sandwich almost made me feel like I was sitting in some delicious cafe just outside the Pantheon, except that when I looked up I saw cars rushing past on Robertson kicking the scent of exhaust into my nostrils. This place is a little gem in the heart of LA and definitely worth a visit for a relaxing Italian lunch. The price is reasonable and can definitely be considered one of those “That’s worth returning to my old stomping grounds for” places.

On my way to work every morning I pass a little corner strip plaza with a huge sign proclaiming that one of the restaurants in there has the best chicken kabob in LA. That is quite the claim, so one day when the girlfriend made the trek to the valley and visited me for lunch, I thought it would be nice to get some Mediterranean food in our bellies. We strolled on over the the little plaza to find the chicken kabob, but when we arrived there was no Mediterranean restaurant to be found. The sign was there, but it pointed to a place called W Love Pizza Cafe. We were confused, but headed in to see if it was the right place.

And it was…

Apparently the best chicken kabob in LA doesn’t come from a Mediterranean restaurant, but from a pizza shop. I was confused and had trouble deciding if I wanted that kabob. Ultimately, we decided the pizza was the right way to go and ordered a large pepperoni for 6.99. We also got some garlic bread, since I’m a fatty who doesn’t think half of a pizza is enough food.

After about 15 minutes the pizza was ready and it looked delicious. There was no shortage of oil and all of the pepperoni looked perfectly distributed around the pizza. Hunger quickly overcame me and I snagged a piece. It was surprisingly good. Not surprising in the sense that a little shop like this had good pizza, but surprising considering the strange mix of food they served. It was definitely a step above typical delivery pizza and does quite well without attempting to be gourmet. The garlic bread came out shortly after the pizza and it was as close as you can get to homemade garlic bread as I have ever seen at a restaurant. There were two huge slices and they were loaded with butter and flavor. It made a nice companion to the pizza.

W Love Pizza Cafe was a nice surprise. It was not at all what I expected and actually seemed to be a microcosm of North Hollywood (aka what a strange mix of shit). They ended up making some pretty good pizza, which really only makes me more curious about that chicken kabob of theirs…

By suggestion, I went off to the Grand Casino Bakery in Culver City in search of some good Argentinian food after I came back from Georgia. I’m not entirely sure how they wound up with a name like that, which really doesn’t convey images of South American food, but somehow it works in this crazy town of LA.

The place is divided into two sections, one being devoted to baked goods and the other is a cute little cafe. Since we were there for a meal, we headed into the cafe and started out with an order of empanadas. As fate would have it, they were out of vegetarian empanadas, which saved me the trouble of saying I only wanted one chicken and one beef. These empanadas arrived and were indistinguishable from one another. I crossed my fingers as I bit in and hoped they weren’t accidentally of the veggie variety. Luckily they weren’t. After my first delicious bites, I took a look within and found tiny little bits of veggies within each empanada. I was a little distraught, but happy that the flavors and textures of the meats had completely overcome any vegetable characteristics.

For my main course, I got the salami and provolone sandwich on a French baguette. I ordered it without the lettuce, onions and other sandwich veggies, which made it all the more disappointing when my sandwich arrived with pickles and little greenish peppers. As soon as I saw this, I prayed that none of the juices had soggied up my sandwich and my prayers were answered. Miraculously the bread was juice free and after discarding the unwanted vegetables I was able to proceed with my eating.

The sandwich was pretty good, but it didn’t feel like anything better than I could have made on my own at home. This was unfortunate, but it was still a nice little place and definitely worth visiting for some delicious empanadas.