The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Cured Meats’

7/22/2018 Chandler

Hash Kitchen in Chandler’s Grand Opening

Who needs Bloody Marys?

I’m going to say something unpopular. Bloody Marys are the worst. Tomatoes suck, celery sucks and there’s just something weird about spicy drinks. But I must say that I am glad that Hash Kitchen has made the big bucks off of having an incredible Bloody Mary bar. Why? Because it has enabled them to expand out to Chandler for their latest Grand Opening. And because I got to snag a bunch of the meats and cheeses from the Bloody Mary bar to decorate my beer. It may be frowned upon normally, but at the Grand Opening anything goes. As expected, the bacon was the best.

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10/3/2017 Scottsdale

Chomping Down on Chompie’s

Three meats, please!

Creating Jewish deli meat is like a perfect combination of art and science. Some delis have found the ideal balance, while others are more content to satisfy the science part of it all and move on from there. I paid a visit to Chompie’s in Scottsdale to see how it would measure up against my admittedly high standards for Kosher-style delis.

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9/28/2017 Phoenix

Spinning Around Compass Arizona Grill

Round stuff.

There was a weird time in history when revolving restaurants became popular. Only one of these, at least as far as I understand, also was a Playboy Club back in the day, and that was the Compass Arizona Grill on top of the Hyatt in Downtown Phoenix. Today, it serves as kind of a throwback steakhouse, there to remind you how cool rotating restaurants once were, while trying to adapt to the modern palette.

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7/20/2017 Ho Chi Minh City

Locally Sandwiching at Banh Mi Huynh Hoa

The realest banh mi.

Look, I’ve already confessed to not being the biggest banh mi guy, but that doesn’t mean I was not eager to find the most badass banh mi that Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) had to offer. Therefore, I knew I had to make my way to Banh Mi Huynh Hoa. The internet informed me that the lines could often be massive, but that they would mostly be filled with locals. But I had a little trick in my back pocket.

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3/5/2017 Pasadena

Seasonally Delicious at The Eatery

How amusing.
How amusing.

The Eatery in Pasadena is undoubtedly one of the city’s hidden gems. It’s off the beaten path and in a building that seems much more likely to house a Mexican grocery store than a fancy restaurant (in fact it does share the building with such a store). But once inside the candles, dim lighting and intimate ambiance scream non-pretentious fanciness. Of course, none of this would matter to me if the food didn’t satisfy my unvegan desires.

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5/31/2016 New York

Italian Sandies at Parm

Two heavenly halves.
Two heavenly halves.

The chicken parmesan sandwich somehow escapes ridicule as one of the most carby delicious foods. If you threw fried mozzarella on a sandwich with some grilled chicken and marinara people would think you were insane, but here we are in a world that allows for breaded chicken on a sandwich and I heard a spot called Parm on the Upper West Side knew how to make a pretty good one.

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3/13/2016 Pasadena

Herding Sheep at the Pasadena Sandwich Company

No sheep here.
No sheep here.

It’s no secret that Pasadena isn’t quite flush with Jews. That might be related to the fact that the Hebrews were banned from living in the place until more recent times, but who can really know. What is know, though, is that without Jews there is a certain lack of amenities like good bagels and Jewish delis. Fortunately, the Pasadena Sandwich Company is there to at list fill part of the niche of the Jewish deli.

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2/21/2016 Pasadena

Pork and Booze at Celestino

All the good things.
All the good things.

Pork and booze are easily two of the greatest things that can be consumed on the planet, if not just two of the greatest things in general. Celestino in Pasadena is fully aware of this and has combined them in a pasta dish worth writing about. It is called the Pennette Con Prosciutto e Vodka, but it may as well be called Paradiso.

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1/11/2016 Altadena

Getting Pancheezy at Pizza of Venice

So unevenly good.
So unevenly good.

In the world of pizza, it seems that Sicilian style and Neapolitan style come up pretty often. Roman style is apparently also a thing, but a Google search for Venetian pizza only seems to produce pizza options at The Venetian in Las Vegas. Nonetheless, a spot in Altadena calling itself Pizza of Venice has gained quite the following and it was high time I made it there myself.

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12/10/2015 Pasadena

One Badass Sandwich at Roma Market

THE SANDWICH
THE SANDWICH

Not too long ago I decided to make Roma Market in Pasadena the center of my 7 Year Blogiversary. Yet, what it is really known for is something simply called “The Sandwich.” It doesn’t go by any other name because it doesn’t need to — after all, its maker (Rosario Mazzeo) has been dishing the thing out by the hundreds since perhaps the beginning of time. It was only a matter of time before I would make it mine.

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