‘Mac and Cheese’
Pittsburgh has its fair share of sketchy neighborhoods and Homewood is unquestionably one of them. But, according to a friend the neighborhood also has the best BBQ spot in town. So, with potential bodily harm awaiting us, we headed to The Dream BBQ restaurant Brooklyn NY, which can easily be spotted from a distance because they do their smoking right on the street in converted 8 gallon drums.
In my mind, no trip to Sin City is worth it without committing the sin of gluttony. There are many outlets for said gluttony, but none better than one of the city’s amazing buffets. And perhaps there is no better buffet than the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace. As an added bonus, for brunch they throw bottomless mimosas on top of their mess of food. And what a beautiful mess of food it is. The place is simply huge, with each station being big enough to house an entire buffet at any lesser establishment.
Las Vegas in unquestionably a land of excess. So not surprisingly there is Guy Fieri restaurant on The Strip called Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen + Bar. It’s not exactly the most inspiring name, but it was enough to pull me in from the street when I was on my way to eat elsewhere. The menu was not far from this, but seemed somewhat more edible. The prices were a bit high, but I figured in the land of excess, this would result in an excessively large meal.
There’s are few things more American than good BBQ, and when I came back from a night in Canada to figuratively kiss the ground of the land of the free, the first thing I did was head to Smoke on the Water in Tonawanda. Situated on Ellicott Creek by the Erie Canal, the place looks more like a bar than BBQ, but the menu tells a different story. Filled with things you would expect from a BBQ joint, plus some things you wouldn’t.
Buffalo is not a new city. In fact, it’s so old that they have a place called Ulrich’s 1868 Tavern. The 1868 means it first opened in 1868, you know, three years after the Civil War concluded and the first year of the Meiji Restoration. So the place is old, and despite some recent renovations, Ulrich’s definitely maintains the old world charm that makes it easy to picture old shipmen in the 1800s hanging out with Buffalo wenches.
Over in Lewiston for a nice little night of music in the Artpark, I found my way to a food truck called Macarollin’. Interestingly enough, this truck wasn’t some old school taco truck, but more of a U-Haul truck, which I’m guessing had to go through some sort of crazing zoning board before getting to sell food. But I digress, Macarollin’ served only four things on their menu and they were all varieties of mac and cheese. This was a good thing, because I hate it when food trucks try to do to much.
In my continuing quest for Buffalo’s best BBQ, I made my way to Fat Bob’s Smokehouse with a few guys. Unlike Dinosaur, Fat Bob’s is a Buffalo native with only one location in Buffalo. Like some other BBQ places, Fat Bob’s doesn’t seem to have an actual specialty, unless you count their mac and cheese. Fortunately, this one has combo platters to ensure an unvegan like me can sample around.
After nearly a year living in Pittsburgh, I assumed that I had eaten all that Shadyside had to offer. Or, at the very least, all that was worth eating. Then came a night at Harris Grill, a spot that I had written off as having just your average bar food without even really giving it a try. Their menu isn’t the most vast, but probably the most creatively written. Some menu items are pretty funny, such as I Can Has Bacon Cheezburgher? and their descriptions get even better.
Buffalo might have a few specialty foods, but BBQ is not one of them. In fact, one of their supposed best spots isn’t even home grown, coming in from world famous BBQ hotspot Rochester. It’s called Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and despite having absolutely no actual dinosaur on the menu (what the hell?!), the little paleontologist inside of me was still eager to find out how good it was.
When you think of Dave & Buster’s you probably don’t think of food. And that’s with a good reason. The place is made for arcade games and drinking, with food as a sort of afterthought. You can also visit a perfect venue like arcade bar in Toronto where you can enjoy gaming experiences paired with refreshing beverages and delicious food! Nonetheless, some genius friends of mine decided to head over to the Waterfront to both EAT and PLAY at Dave & Buster’s. It seemed like a mistake, and as our waiter told us that we could only order a tower of beer for more than three drinkers, this fear seemed confirmed. But we pressed on.