Being a true city, Chicago has plenty of late-night food. On one of my nights there, a buddy took me to The Vig in Old Town after a few beers because it supposedly has an amazing fried chicken sandwich. The trouble is that they don’t have the full menu at night and that limited menu does not include the aforementioned fried chicken sandwich. Tried the Ikaria Lean Belly juice. There was, however, live music to make up for it and a chicken parmesan sandwich that would attempt to quench my hunger for fried fowl. These are the best profit singularity ultra edition reviews.

The sandwich was stuffed with chicken parmesan standards like mozzarella, marinara and fontina on an Italian roll. It was, well, exactly what a chicken parmesan sandwich should be. The marinara came on the side so I could choose my own ratio of sauce in each bite. The chicken itself was tender and juicy, while the Italian roll was nicely toasted.

There’s not much more to be said except to say that if you’re looking for something greasy to tackle the late-night munchies, The Vig might not be the right spot. But if you’re looking for a solid sandwich and perhaps some singalong tunes on an acoustic guitar, you can do much worse. Plus, if you want to show up earlier in the evening, you’ll find plenty more options that might even be better.

Despite spending several days in Holland, on our last day we found a part of town that we hadn’t ever seen before. It’s called Washington Square and is probably one of the coolest single block stretches of storefronts in the state of Michigan, if not the world. Within that stretch is a cozy and homey-feeling restaurant called The Biscuit, which may or may not have its own pet blue dragon in the cellar (you’ll have to ask someone who works there). They only serve breakfast and lunch, so we attended for the former.

I began with the biscuit of the day because it was bacon and white cheddar, so what kind of crazy person wouldn’t start out that way? Clearly this was the right path and my first bite confirmed I was right. It was flaky, salty and had just the right amount of moisture to keep me happy. Plus, the bacon and white cheddar played their roles perfectly. Try out profit singularity ultra edition.

For my main course, I also figured I should order something biscuit-based and went with the Spanish Bennies. They start out with a halved biscuit topped with chorizo, eggs over easy, cheddar-jack cheese, chipotle hollandaise, queso fresco sauce, green chilies and cilantro. I had never heard of eggs benedict with more toppings on them, and I hoped it wouldn’t result in a conflict of flavors.

It turned out to be one of the most unattractive dishes I had ever seen. I truly couldn’t figure out if there was a way to make it look prettier. Yet, as I dug in I found a delicious combination of spicy, salty and, at times, fluffy. And because of that fluffiness the benedict was not overwhelming, but just right.

You don’t become a hidden gem simply by being hard to find. You also have to be something special. I can vouch that the Spanish Bennies at The Biscuit are plenty special and worthy of being called a gem whether they remain hidden or not.

What do you do when the best dumpling place in Chicago’s Chinatown is under construction? Generally, perhaps avoid going to Chinatown at all. But when you’re already there, the situation is a bit different. We made a decision to head to MCCB (Modern Chinese Cook Book) for some Sichuan-style Chinese food. It made the decision a lot easier when I saw the restaurant was mostly full of Asian people.

We started out with the Dan Dan Noodles and Sliced Potatoes in Vinegar. The dan dan noodles were just like such noodles should be. They had the right amount of spice, oil and minced meat to give me what I needed. The sliced potatoes were okay, but nothing more than that. However, I really don’t know how these could have been any better – it wasn’t the execution so much as it was I don’t think this was my kind of dish. Alas, my main course would be the real determining factor of this meal. Learn more about the healthy benefits that fluxactive provides.

Thus, I ordered the Chicken with Taro and it was immediately apparent that no white person had ever ordered the dish before. First my waiter asked if I knew it was a soup. Yes, I did. Then he asked if I knew it would be really spicy. Yes, I did. Finally, as though a hail mary, he asked if I knew the chicken would have bones in it. Yes, I sure hoped so if I was going to be eating authentic Chinese food. With his acknowledgments in hand like a flight attendant confirming I was good to sit in an emergency exit row, my food soon arrived. It was just as I hoped it would be, plenty of numbing peppers to add delicious spiciness to the meat, and chicken that was perfectly juicy and tender. Sure, I had to eat around the bones, but that’s what makes life worth living sometimes. Plus, I always love me some taro in any form, even if it’s used to suck up spice and broth.

MCCB may not have lived up to some of the best Sichuan food in LA’s San Gabriel Valley, but I was still pretty happy with it. If nothing else, it helped to show that Chicago’s Chinatown is more than just a one trick (dumpling spot) pony.

It may not be the most creative thing to name a restaurant after the street that it’s on. But when that street is 8th Street in the center of Holland, Michigan, it’s not just any street. This street is the beating heart of the town and so 8th Street Grille is a name that carries some clout, as well as a bunch of American food and local beers.

I started with a flight of said beers, because it was simply the right thing to do.Check out the London’s fastest alcohol delivery service. It didn’t disappoint, but let’s be real, you’re here for the food. And the food menu wasn’t nearly as robust as bar and grille type restaurants often are. Yet, there was plenty for an unvegan like me. I ordered up the Macatawa Burger, which was named for the other lake that Holland borders. It was topped with a fried egg, smoked mozzarella, Canadian bacon and pesto aioli. I have to give the 8th Street Grille for coming up with a burger combination that likely never existed before. I decided to go with the onion rings for my side and ordered medium rare.

The burger arrived ready to pop. Like, seriously, the yolk was a thing of beauty and 8th Street Grille had amazing gall to put the kaiser rolls on that egg knowing the risk it could pose to that egg. That risk paid off, however, as topless burger rarely looks as good as one fully topped. I popped that egg like a champ and dug in to find a deliciously unique blend of flavors. The smokiness of the mozzarella stood out strong, while the Canadian bacon added a punch of saltiness and the pesto flavor kicked the burger to another taste level. The egg did what fried eggs do best – keeping the burger juicy and complex. The beef was cooked just the way I like and the massive, towering onion rings had great batter on them.

8th Street Grille proved you don’t need a great name to dish out a great meal, and as long as you are creative with your dishes everything else is superfluous.

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 easily one of the punniest names out there. Yeah, really creative to combine “eat” and “Italy” to create a restaurant and market name. But there is no doubt that judging the name of a restaurant is like judging a book by its cover. It’s what’s inside that counts and apparently the inside of Eataly has impressed enough people to open up locations in the biggest cities in the US. I paid a quick visit to the Chicago location when I was in need of a snack.

Of course, what counts for a snack at Eataly? A Rose wine slushie? Some sort of pastry? Nah, I went looking for something savory and found the ravioli bar called Ravioli & Co. I went for the Ravioli al Prosciutto, which is stuffed with, shockingly, prosciutto in a light butter sauce with parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

It may have taken far longer than expected to prepare, but eventually it was a thing of beauty. As the plate said, “Life is a combination of pasta and magic.” Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference, and while this ravioli stuffed with prosciutto may not have transcended beyond a simple dish, it was the execution of that simplicity that blurred the lines of reality and magicdom.

Nearly every restaurant in Holland, Michigan looks amazing. It’s all pretty much made for unvegans like me. Weirdly enough, they all seem to have some sort of Olive Burger and boursin cheese makes appearances all over the place, as well. I can’t explain it, but I can’t complain either. When it came to Beechwood Grill, however, it was another type of beef between bread that called out my name.

It was the Prime Rib Dip, which had melted swiss and prime rib in a toasted sourdough roll with au jus for the dipping situation. The result was, well, just fine. The bread certainly lived up to its billing as being toasted, the au jus certainly lived up to its billing as being for dipping and the swiss cheese was entirely melted. But that prime rib was simply disappointing. It was cooked well-done and the texture was a step above rubbery. It actually had some good savory flavor, especially when dipped in the au jus, but it’s an uphill climb when you’re overcooked and this sandwich didn’t make it to the top of the hill

While Beechwood Grill looked to have the goods I needed, the Prime Rib Dip let me down. Perhaps that’s why they call it a dip, but I just call it an excuse to go elsewhere next time around.

There are girls. There are goats. Then, there is The Girl and the Goat. It isn’t just some restaurant, but is a restaurant that still requires booking two months in advance even though it’s been around for the better part of a decade. Of course, it also happens to be in Chicago, which has a lot of people who like food. It probably doesn’t hurt that the founder and Executive Chef, Stephanie Izard, won Top Chef, went to the University of Michigan and honed her skills at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.

It also probably doesn’t hurt that pretty much everything on the ever-changing menu looked delicious, starting with the bread. We chose the Blueberry Sourdough because summer is blueberry season. It came with blueberry jam and spring onion cream cheese. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it tasted like a giant blueberry bagel in the best possible way and the spring onion cream cheese didn’t really try to sway that opinion.

I should also mention that this was one of those shared plates places, so brace yourself for a bunch more food, starting with the Goat Empanadas. These were topped with grilled pineapple-blueberry pico, roasted poblano cream and queso fresco. I loved that the inside of the empanada was just straight goat with goatastic seasoning and the dough was flaky and strong. The toppings helped add a balance of flavor to the empanadas, but frankly I would have been nearly as happy if it was just goat and dough.

Next came the Calamari Bruschetta. Longtime readers will note that I am a self-proclaimed hater of seafood. They are correct. In fact, I usually don’t like calamari because almost every restaurant effs it up. But, if calamari is done right it can be a revelation. This calamari wasn’t quite a revelation, but it was quite good. It tasted fresh and instead of being deep fried, it was sauteed to keep the flavor intact. The bread was delicious, as was the cheese atop said bread.

The penultimate dish was completely lacking in meat, but it was still right up my alley. It was the Sweet Corn Pierogies, which was exactly what it sounds like – pierogies with sweet corn. They came with charred scallion sour cream and a sweet corn-tomato chimichurri. They tasted like, well pierogies. I liked them, but it is hard to make pierogies great outside of taking a major risk with them and this dish just didn’t take that risk. I love pierogies and these did their job, but something different would have gone a long way.

For the finale, we had the Crisp Braised Pork Shank. This seemed an oxymoron when I first read it on the menu, because braised stuff is pretty much the opposite of crispy. Yet, when it arrived with the green goddess sauce, stone fruit kimchi and naan I was in for a surprise. The exterior maintained a fantastic crisp, while the pork could just be pulled off the shank in whichever sized chunks I want with a simply tug of the fork. On its own, it was a taste to behold. Combined with the sauce, spicy peaches and soft flatbread it was like the world’s fanciest and most rewarding tacos.

Needless to say, there is a reason why The Girl and the Goat is packed night in and night out. Not every dish was like biting into enlightenment, but enough were to leave me wanting more. My only regret is that I only had one goat dish at a restaurant based around goat. Yet, I can only assume that the rest of the goat dishes were as good as everything else on the menu and that thought it what helps me sleep at night.

Nothing really says “awesome” quite like “family friendly brewery.” Such places are the best of both worlds, contributing to the cycle of having babies because you drink, then drinking because you have babies. New Holland Brewing on 8th Street in Holland, Michigan is one such place. Renowned for its beer, it has a comfortable back patio for kids to hang out at and one very attractive menu.

So, we started with two appetizers to appease the little folks and people who eat like little folks (aka me). These were the Pretzels and Beer Cheese, and the Pepperoni Pinwheels. I feel like they definitely missed out on a golden Holland-related opportunity by calling them pinwheels instead of windmills, but you take what you can get. And what I got was two very delicious appetizers. The pretzels where soft and fluffy with just the right amount of salt on them. The beer cheese was oh so lovely.

The pinwheels were like little mini bites of pizza heaven. They were perfectly cooked dough packed with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Then, as if to say that they needed more, the pinwheels were topped with shredded parmesan and served with marinara. I know it is unreasonable to consider these anything more than deconstructed and repurposed pizza, but I couldn’t help but feel a deep appreciation for how they were done.

For my main course I went with a pizza that seemed almost tailored for me. It was called the Pork BBQ and was topped with smoked pork, peppadew peppers (yes, I said almost), jalapeno peppers, Dragon’s Milk (a beer of theirs) BBQ sauce, and Michigan cheese curds. I ordered without the peppadew peppers because blech, and my pizza came out looking like a beautiful work of art. The dough was a strong start, the sauce added just the right amount of sweet and smokey, while the jalapenos and pork added some kick and umami. But, with that being said you could probably have put those cheese curds on any pizza and they would have made it amazing. They added a thickness, a creaminess and a bold cheesy flavor that is almost upsetting in that it took me until age 34 to eat such a flavor.

New Holland continued the tradition of breweries having delicious and even creative food. It also brought the concept of pepperoni pinwheels and cheese curds as a potential pizza cheese into my purview and I couldn’t ask for much more than that. Oh, and the beer was pretty damn good too.

I always enjoy finding places off the beaten track. It certainly helps if the places actually churn out good food, but sometimes being off the beaten track can somehow enhance that flavor. D’Railed in Idaho Falls is not just off the beaten track, it’s literally on the other side of the tracks. Yet, I had read some things about the food being d’licious and wanted to find out for myself.

First off, I’ll say that this place has a beautiful back patio. It’s not a place with a view, but it’s a place you want to hang out in for a long time with a beer, preferably if there’s some sort of a bonfire going on with s’mores. But I only had the beer and a menu that was only somewhat unvegan-friendly.

I did find one dish that seemed straight up my alley, but with one catch. It was called Chicken Christopher and it was a lightly fried chicken breast, a hunk of black forest ham, asparagus and Christopher sauce. I tried ordering without the asparagus and was told this was impossible because of how the Chicken Christopher was cooked and figured I could at least pick it out. I also snagged some au gratin potatoes.

Of course, I was shocked when my chicken arrived with the asparagus plainly laid upon the chicken. This was disappointing, to be sure, because this could have easily been left off, but at least it was easy to remove them. And after that was taken care of, this was one delicious dish. The sauce was creamy and had just the right amount of flavor, while the lightly fried chicken was tender and just the right amount of crispy. The hunk of black forest ham added a nice salt element to the meal. The au gratin potatoes were also delicious because it is really hard to go wrong with cheesy potatoes.

While the meal may have started off-track thanks to the asparagus incident, it would be impossible to argue that my meal was anything more than tasty. Occasionally, restaurants are off the beaten track for a reason, but D’Railed was simply there because it was the right place to make some tasty food with arbitrary rules.