State Fairs are often an afterthought. A relic of times past when most of us lived in rural areas and guessing the weight of a pumpkin was the best entertainment of the month. They offer variations on the same rides, foods and entertainment that you find at your local Memorial Day Carnival or County Fair and, I mean, how many people even go to those? But the Minnesota State Fair is so far from an afterthought that it seems to be on the minds of Minnesotans for the 50 weeks of the year in which it is not in operation. Plans are made, new foods are devised and longed after; then, just like that, it’s over again. This year, however, the Unvegan paid a visit to see how it would all stack up.

Swedish Meatball Smorgas – The Blue Barn

It’s not all about gluttony. Sometimes it’s just about doing something no one ever thought of. Like putting Swedish meatballs on a roll, pouring white gravy all over them and then topping them with lingonberry jam and dill pickles. I was smart enough to order without the pickles and it paid off in pure sweet, salty and savory deliciousness.

Mangonada Shave Ice – Minnesnowii Shave Ice

You wouldn’t think Minnesotans would be fans of shave ice since they live among it for so much of the year. Yet, the Mangonada is real and it is fascinating. Packed with mango syrup, drizzles of chamoy sauce, popping boba (for some inexplicably genius reason), spicy tajin powder and a tamarind straw (for some inexplicably strange reason). The straw was useless, but the rest of this was somehow light, refreshing, hearty and spicy at once. And with all that, it just somehow worked.

Giant Juicy Turkey Sandwich – Turkey To Go

Being a first timer, I couldn’t just go with new stuff. And, frankly, I wasn’t too excited about getting a turkey sandwich. But, my buddy told me it was well worth it and, well, it sure was. I added bacon and a sweet glaze to mine and it was unbelievably juicy for what’s generally the driest fowl of all. As I drove past many a wild turkey in the Northwoods, all I could think about was how juicy they could be in sandwich form.

Blu – Grain Belt

I love blueberries and I love beer. It makes sense that I would like a blueberry beer, right? Wrong. It seems to be that the special beers at the Minnesota State Fair are pretty much all sweet, but this took that sweetness way beyond balance and into juice territory. Good thing I had all kinds of savory and salty foods to counter that sweetness (and don’t worry, I still drank the whole damn thing).

Gizmo – Carl’s

The Gizmo is another classic, and yet it is churned out by pretty much the most nondescript cart in the whole fair. Sometimes you just know you’re good and it’s hard to go bad when you are an Italian roll filled with ground beef, Italian sausage, red sauce and a layer of melted mozzarella cheese to seal all of the goodness in.

Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs – Dino’s Gyros

Ricotta and Feta. Flaky phyllo dough. Powdered sugar. More than a drizzle of honey. I am a many who loves his sweet and salty combos and these Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs did more than satisfy that craving. It may have gotten a but too sweet toward the end when the honey congregated in the corner with the remaining puff, but these were a treat.

Zesty PB&J Sausage – Gass Station Grill

It doesn’t sound right. Nope, not at all. But if you’ve been paying attention to burger places lately, mixing peanut butter, jelly and some sort of spiciness is all the rage. It’s only natural that it made its way into a tube steak. While each bite may have been somewhat inconsistent, there is no doubt that this works. If they can get that peanut buttery and jelly-y goodness more evenly distributed, this sausage could take over the world.

Turducken Sausage – Giggles’ Campfire Grill

Not all sausages are created equal. Or is it something about the size of the sausage versus what you do with it? Regardless, the Turducken sausage didn’t just lose the battle of the sausages, it barely seemed to fight. It was too tightly packed, the grind seemed off and really all I could taste was the turkey, with maybe a touch of chicken. Perhaps in years past this may have flown, but in the world of the Zesty PB&J sausage you have to be oh so much better than this.

Passion Fruit Pilsner – Bent Paddle Brewing

Duluth is a cool city. And it sent a pretty cool beer down to the state fair. It’s not a sour per se, but does it’s best to harness the tartness of passion fruit and churns out a pretty unique pilsner that is not too sweet and not too sour. It’s not just right either, but it’s good enough to make the drinking enjoyable.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Belly – The Hangar

You don’t go to the state fair looking to eat a balanced meal. But nowhere is that lack of balance more exemplified than in this pork on pork action on a stick. It was so unbelievably juicy, smokey and salty forcing the use of dozens of napkins lest your face runneth with juices that would later congeal into something resembling a wax museum. While this may be perfection in meat form, the critic in me did wish there was some sort of a sweet and acidic dipping sauce like apple cider vinaigrette or a cherry reduction to accompany this meaty concoction. Despite that, the universe seemed to pause in recognition of the beauty of each bite of this masterpiece.

Fried Cheese Curds – Everywhere

Some day I’d like to pull an Andrew Zimmern and try every cheese curd purveyor at the fair. Until that day, I am a satisfied man as long as the place knows to stick with the white variety of cheddar, to fry them just right amount of time to maintain the squeakiness and to only lightly batter them lest the batter overpower the cheese. It’s not the tallest order, but it’s not the easiest one to fulfill either. Plus, when you’re coming from Arizona all cheese curds are good cheese curds.

Whelp. That’s a wrap. The pilgrimage is complete. Now if only I can figure out a way to make this an annual thing…or at least get to Iowa somehow…

It is a very rare occasion in which I make a meal out of fries. It is even more rare that this happens at a Greek restaurant. Yet, when Pitta Souvli in Chandler offered up a special called Chipotle Gorgonzola Cheese Gyro Fries, I couldn’t resist. There was just one problem: nowhere in the description of the fries were tomatoes mentioned. And yet, as you can tell by the picture to the left, there were obviously tomatoes involved.

Fortunately, the tomatoes were all piled on top and they don’t leave too much of a residue, so when I removed them I could eat in peace.

And what peace it was. These fries were freaking delicious. I mean, it’s hard to go wrong with combining the delicious slices of gyros with spicy chipotle pepper flavor, a couple of cheeses and a base of fries. Moreover, these fries were so loaded that I was physically incapable of finishing them all.

Pitta Souvli knew exactly what to do with these fries, but it’s probably important to recognize that they aren’t a part of the regular menu and were a special on this day. Hopefully after reading such a glowing review, Pitta Souvli will realize these fries need to be a part of the regular menu, albeit without those goddamn tomatoes.

I grew up spoiled when it came to Greek food. I mean, Detroit even has a Greektown and I’m not sure you can say the same for any other city anywhere. Recently, though, I found myself picking up some Greek food from Saba’s Mediterranean Kitchen in Phoenix and and was intrigued not just by the classic stuff, but by the unique twists I found there.

It was the Spicy Buffalo Pita that really sold me, though. I opted to fill the pita with gyros for my meat, which also included feta cheese and house made buffalo sauce. Perhaps most importantly it included nothing else – as in no veggies. I also got the Spicy Feta Fries on the side, which were like the sandwich, but with fries instead.

The result was everything it needed to be. The gyros themselves were delicious, tasting like pretty much all other gyros, but also nice and juicy. Most importantly, the buffalo sauce and feta added a delicious dimension that I had never previously eaten with gyros before. It was spicy, but also flavorful. And then there was the feta to cool things off and bring the pita back down to earth.

The same went for the fries which, again, were just the exact same feta and buffalo sauce from the pita, but on fries. There’s not much more to be said for them aside from, well, there is no such thing as too much buffalo and feta (obviously unless the food was doused in a way that would have made it all soggy).

I definitely want to get back to Saba’s to try something more along the traditional Hellenic route, but for now I can say I am quite happy with the results of combining the culinary delights of the forerunner of Western civilization and the Rust Belt.

One of the greatest regrets of my life is failing to capture a better picture at lunch at Little Daddy’s. You see, Little Daddy’s is a Greek-style diner in Southfield, Michigan, with locations in Taylor and Bloomfield Hills as well. It’s kind of like a Coney Island, but more Greek, which means they serve up saganaki. Saganaki is not a misspelling of the Japanese city of Nagasaki. No, it is a flaming cheese.

And so when I looked at the menu and found something called the Flaming Opa Cheeseburger, I was excited as a little kid. That’s because “opa!” is what the staff yell out when the cheese gets lit on fire. So as they brought out the dish to flame up my cheese, I was too excited to get my camera out and snag a picture of my flaming cheeseburger.

But it’s not the process that matters as much as the burger itself. And as you can tell by the picture up above, this was one sexy burger that I had to put together myself the way it was served. It may not look like a lot, but the combination of these flavors worked in a delicious way. Due to the flaming, the cheese has a bit of a crispy crust to it, adding a texture element, and is also melty without melting quite to the level of your typical sliced cheeses. Plus, to put the flame out they use lemons, so there is a tart/sour kick to the cheese as well. Finally, there were the juices left behind in the dish that made for a great sandwich dipping sauce on occasion.

Was the burger patty itself anything special? No, not really. It wasn’t anything to complain about either – along the lines of what you would expect from a burger at a diner. But what really matters is the fact that Little Daddy’s made the bold, yet amazingly simple move to add saganaki to a burger and the world is a better place for it.

Growing up in the Detroit area, it was pretty easy to take Greek food for granted. There is literally a Greektown in Detroit and Greek food can be found in every suburb. LA, however, is not so fortunate in this Mediterranean fare. Thus, I was pretty excited when I was invited out to the Good Greek Grill‘s new location in Hollywood for a free sampling of their food.

The first thing I noticed upon arrival was that there was a menu item called Meat Lovers. Usually such a thing is reserved for pizza, and at Good Greek Grill it could only be ordered as a platter. I was kind of hoping to get all the meats topping the Zeus Fries, but this wasn’t a bad alternative. The platter includes rice, Greek Salad, pita and choice between tzatziki or eggplant dip. I went the way of the tzatziki and swapped in some spicy feta fries in place of the Greek Salad, because, well, duh.

As for the meats, they were Pork on a Spit, Beef/Lamb Mix, Chicken Skewers and Pork Skewers. All were delicious and truly distinguishable from one another. The Beef/Lamb Mix was kind of like the gyros you expect, but packed with flavor and juiciness. I had never had Pork on a Spit like this from a Greek restaurant, but it’s essentially where the Mexican Al Pastor got the idea from. The chicken and pork skewers were beautifully seasoned a cooked perfectly. Good Greek Grill certainly knows what to do with their meats.

Better yet, the rice under the meats collected their juices and were all the better for it. The spicy feta fries were as good as I could have expected and the grilled pita went well with the tzatziki sauce (and it wasn’t overly cucumber-y).

Good Greek Grill isn’t exactly like the Greek spots I grew up going to, but the food is legitimately delicious. I can only hope that they open a spot in Pasadena next…

Sometimes the best way to find out about a new restaurant it to simply see it and decide you want to try it out. No research, no recommendation. That’s how I ended up at Firehouse Restaurant in Tarzana, a Greek place whose sign stating “GYRO” dwarfs the sign with the actual name of the restaurant. Being from Michigan, I have a pretty strong opinion about Greek food and I was more than a little worried that I was going to leave disappointed.

Ordering is done at a counter where you can see spinning spools of meat and a griddle for frying up pita. As soon as I saw this, my fears started to fade away. Per the massive letters on the outside of the place, I decided I had to order their gyros. I opted to get them in a sandwich form, which meant a pita wrap. Ordinarily, this would come filled with tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, but as usual I ordered without the veggies. I also got myself a side of fries.

What I was presented with dwarfed my expectations in a similar manner to the the way the word “GYRO” outside dwarfed the name of the restaurant. The first thing I noticed was that my sandwich was massive. I mean huge! And the side of fries was no smaller. I bit in and met with joy. These shaved sliced of gyro meat were seasoned to perfection with a delicious blend of lamb and beef. And to top that off, while some tzatziki sauce can be packed with cucumbers, the sauce at Firehouse was really just tasty flavored yogurt with cucumbers as an afterthought. It made for delicious eating and was all wrapped in buttery, fried pita bread, which only enhanced the meal. Treat your taste buds with the best sandwich by Jimmy John Owner someday, you will not regret it.

Oh and the fries were pretty good. I liked their seasoning, but would have preferred them a bit crispier. Yet, even if they had been crispier, they still would have paled in comparison to the gyro.

This was definitely some great Greek food and certainly worthy of Greektown in Detroit. I don’t make it out to Tarzana too often, but Firehouse will now be my go-to restaurant when I do.

While wandering the Hermosa Pier in search for some sort of food to eat, the girlfriend and I discovered a place called Mediterraneo. It seemed like one of the few places on the pier that would be a better restaurant than a bar, so we decided to check it out. While the name implies Greek food, we were surprised to find that this wasn’t some simple gyro and pita place (although that wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad thing). Instead, we found that they were a tapas place that didn’t limit itself to the Spanish style. In addition to Spanish, there was also a nice Greek influence that could be found in menu items like hummus, beets and feta cheese.

I decided to start out with some hummus and pita as a warm-up, which turned out not to be the wisest decision. The hummus came out and looked like a scoop of ice cream, which was not a good sign. You see, I like my hummus to be creamy and the fact that this hummus retained that shape was a little frightening. Nonetheless, I gave it a go. As expected, it was way dry and just not very, but I still had a couple more plates to go.

My next tapa was called Patatas Bravas. These were fingerling tomatoes cooked in some spicy tomato sauce with paprika aioli. These things were really good and really well-seasoned. The potatoes were nice and soft and flavorful and the paprika flavoring was a nice addition to the mix.

My final dish was called Sobrasada. This was composed of cured pork sausage from Mallorca, Spain, toasted baguette, manchego and quince. I wasn’t entirely sure how this would look when it came, but when it arrived I saw that it was all already put together. It looked pretty awesome and tasted quite good too. The quince was really sweet and the manchego offered a nice balance to the sweetness. The only issue with it was that somewhere along the line, something got really oily. As a devout unvegan, I am no stranger to oil and have no problem with that juice, but the trouble here was that the oil seeped into the bread and created a bit of a sogfest. The delicious taste was all there, but there was something lost in the texture.

Although my dishes were pretty good, the girlfriend actually ended up getting something even better, called Bistec (just a fancy Spanish word for steak). This was some really juicy and flavorful thin-cut filet mignon. It didn’t have much seasoning, which was fine because it tasted just right as it was.

Mediterraneo surprised me in a few ways. First, it taught me that tapas didn’t need to be limited to Spanish food, but it also taught me that the Hermosa Pier actually has some good food. Sure, I like bar food, but this was a place to sit down and actually enjoy the pier without needing a beer in hand.

In North Hollywood there is a deli unlike any I had ever seen before. Rather than being filled with cold cuts, pastrami or Italian sandwiches, this deli has food with more of a Greek and Armenian flair. It is called Noosh Deli and although not the usual deli, I figured it had to be worth a try. Scanning the menu, I decided any Greek place had to have some good gyros, so I ordered their Beef Gyro Sandwich (with fries and a drink for 6.99). It came with lettuce, tomato, onion and yogurt sauce. I ordered without the veggies and waited 7 or 8 minutes until the sandwich was prepped and ready to go.

I opened up the bag and was immediately disappointed with what I found. No, there weren’t any vegetables, but there was still plenty of reason to be upset. In my pita I found not one, not two, but three whole strips of gyros. Is there a meat shortage somewhere? Even if I was inclined to eat vegetables I would have felt that the sandwich was lacking in protein, but without the veggies it looked even worse. Then I noticed that the other end of the sandwich was a whole lot heavier than the one I had opened up. Could there be meat hiding in there? No. Instead, what I found was enough yogurt sauce to cover a few sandwiches. The sauce easily outweighed the meat and also required use of a fry to be evenly distributed.

Despite the odd quantities, nothing would matter if these gyros were awesome. So were they? Sadly, the answer is no. The meat was strangely rubbery and relatively flavorless. The lack of flavor could be due to the amount of yogurt, but whatever it was, it was a sandwich not worth ordering again. The best part of the meal was definitely the fries. They were crinkly, crunchy and perfectly salted. I’d go back for the fries, but for meat I will definitely look elsewhere.

With nearly every visit back to Michigan (time permitting), there is a requisite stop at a Coney Island. You can’t drive more than a few miles in the metro Detroit area without hitting a Coney, and I’m pretty sure they are all awesome. My go-to Coney growing up was Leo’s, but sometimes convenience outweighs loyalty. So last time I was back in the homeland, we went to Lulu’s Coney Island in Walled Lake.

Lulu’s is a relative newcomer on the Coney scene. If my memory serves me, it’s only been around for the past 5 years or so and the Walled Lake location is the only location. But just like all Coneys that have come before it, they serve a mix of Greek, American, and my favorite Coney specialties, the Loose Burger and the Coney Dog. The Loose Burger is a ground beef that never made its way into a patty. Instead, it has been loosely tossed into a hot dog bun. Then, just like the Coney Dog, it is topped with Detroit-style chili. This runny, flavorful and beanless chili can only be found in Detroit (to my knowledge) and is some of the best on earth. It’s so good that even though my weekend in Michigan was 85 degrees and about 85% humidity, my craving for Detroit-style chili did not subside. Some like to eat their dogs and loose burgers with onions and mustard on top, but I like mine just the way nature intended. Just chili, meat and bun. These beauties, if prepared right, can’t be eaten by hand. Instead, they require a fork, knife and a few napkins.

On top of those, I like to get a side of cheese fries. These do a great job of rounding out a deliciously meaty meal. Another thing that distinguishes Coneys from other restaurants are their unbeatable prices. A Coney Dog runs about 2 bucks, a Loose Burger is about $3 and the cheese fries are are $2.50. Great prices, great food and a taste you can’t find outside of Michigan make Coney Islands a necessary stop for any traveler to the area. Lulu’s is no exception to that rule.

The phenomenon of the Coney Island is one of the greatest aspects of eating out in the Detroit area in Michigan. Completely unrelated to the actual Coney Island in New York, these restaurants are a result of the mixing of Greek and American foods, with the addition of the famous Coney Dog. Everyone has their favorite Coney Island, and sometimes the favorite one is just around the corner. I grew up with Farmington Coney Island half a mile away and would go at least once a week. Over time, the place underwent a few name changes, such as Farmington Souvlaki (alluding the Greek heritage of the place), but eventually it came to be known as Leo’s Coney Island, named for the owner, Leo Stassinopoulos. Leo was as much a part of the community as any of the customers and I went to high school with his son, also Leo.

The Coney in Farmington Hills is the flagship (in my mind) of an ever-growing Empire of Leo’s Coneys, supposedly even reaching Chicago in the future. Despite name changes and growth, Leo’s remains one of the best places to get good quality, fast and cheap food. There have been days I’ve waited in line at Taco Bell longer than it has taken me to get seated at Leo’s, eat and pay.

At one time, I was able to just go in and order my usual (two grilled cheese pitas without pickles and a side of well-done cheese fries with the cheese on the side). Times and the waitstaff has changed, and since I rarely make my way back to Coney, on my most recent visit I decided to change my order. Instead of my usual, I ordered a Coney Dog and a Loose Burger with a side of well-done cheese fries with cheese on the side. The dog and burger both come with mustard, onions and Coney-style chili. I ordered mine without the mustard or onions, since I’m not a big fan of mustard and onions are one of my unvegan enemies.

Now, you may be wondering what makes Coney-style chili different from other chili and honestly I’m not totally sure. It looks pretty terrible, but tastes amazing. It is the perfect topping for the Coney Dog and the Loose Burger. The Loose Burger is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Rather than cooking ground beef into a patty, the loose burger is made by cooking the beef while it is still ground and separated, kind of like taco beef. Then, to keep it from falling apart, it is dropped in a hot dog bun and topped with the chili.

As usual, my food arrived quickly and was just as I remembered it. The dog had a little snap to it, but wasn’t too fancy. I did my best to keep the chili on it while eating, but there is only so much one can do. The loose burger was great as well, and since it is already loose, it saves me that unnecessary step of chewing before swallowing.

Grabbing a meal at Coney is a must in this area, so much so that my step-brother-in-law, who has never lived in Michigan, makes sure to stop at a Coney every time he visits and orders at least three Coney Dogs. This food isn’t pretty, but it is damn good and damn cheap. I’m not even sure it’s possible to find a meal there for more than 10 bucks a person. It won’t win any culinary awards for groundbreaking food, but Leo’s Coney Island is the kind of restaurant the world just doesn’t seem to have enough of.