‘Lake Tahoe’
Sometimes it’s best to keep things simple. As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.” Quite often, restaurants fail to recognize this necessity by throwing in vegetable garnishings or trying to turn a burger into a gourmet meal. Big Daddy’s Burgers in Lake Tahoe, however, wouldn’t dream of crossing this line. They only make burgers, hot dogs and fries. It’s a menu so simple that it makes In-N-Out Burger’s menu look like a novel.
After a long day of hiking, there’s nothing better for an unvegan than beer and greasy food. Luckily, just a few steps from my hotel in Lake Tahoe, there was a nifty little joint called McP’s Irish Pub & Grill.
We took our seats in the upstairs and outdoors dining area, just outside the doors of a small performance. As we looked at our menus, there was a small child dancing like a crazy person to the sound of the music from within. This was infinitely more entertaining than the menu, but food had to be ordered. There was plenty of good-looking food on the menu, and eventually I decided to get the BBQ Beef Sandwich.
I’m not usually a “go out to breakfast” type of guy, but recently when I was in Lake Tahoe, going out to breakfast was really my only option. Rather than take my chances with a place I had never heard of, IHOP started calling my name, and I answered.
The wait was kind of long, but I knew it would be worth it to get a hearty meal before spending the day hiking. IHOP was having a special called Hawaiian Pancakes at the time, so my eyes immediately started checking them out. This wasn’t simply an order of pancakes though, the special also included bacon, hash browns and eggs. Amazingly, this special cost less than if I had just ordered eggs, hash browns and bacon (without the pancakes) so I knew it had to be mine. Of all the Hawaiian flavors, I decided to get the Strawberry Passion Fruit. The picture of it on the menu looked delicious, especially with the strange yellowish cream spilling out from between the two pancakes.