Happy birthday to me!

Having a birthday on a Wednesday sucks, so, therefore, I felt the need to celebrate it multiple times.

On my actual birthday, I went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, which is SUCH a fun place. For one thing, you get a ton of food for next to nothing, and just about everything there is good. I got a very normal order of spaghetti, but let me tell ya, it was tasty. Plus, anywhere that includes dessert with the dinner automatically makes me a happy girl.

To celebrate my birthday the right way, I went out to sing karaoke with a bunch of friends. Come on - when else but your birthday do you get the excuse to get drunk and sing badly? Beforehand, a friend and I had dinner at Delux, followed up with some dessert at the Gelato Spot.

Yes, Delux is expensive for a burger and fries... but HOLY CRAP are they good. Seriously - the Delux Burger comes with Gruyere and Maytag bleu cheese, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions and arugula. PLUS, they serve a massive amount of sweet potato french fries which, I swear to God, will change your religion. The aioli that they serve them with is just... ok, you just have to go try it. Beyond words.

(Gotta love Shana's shirt here... :)

The Gelato Spot was a great way to cap off the dinner. What better to follow a non-traditional burger than some non-traditional ice cream? With oddball flavors like Panna Cotta, Grand Marnier, and Caramel Apple, alongside the traditional Lemon and Raspberry, there were like 5 that I wanted to have.... I stuck with the Raspberry and wasn't disappointed.

The listeners to my rendition of "Harper Valley PTA," I fear, were not so lucky....

Tourist Trap

I know, I know... there are certain things that you're supposed to do when you live in Arizona, and the tourists always seem to do them, but after living here for 17 years, I still haven't. Yup, I am one of those Arizonians who has never been to the Grand Canyon, I've never gone to the O.K. Corral, and up until last month, I had never been to Rustler's Rooste.

What? The Rustler's Rooste is an Arizona must-do? Ok, well I didn't really think so either, but judging by the sheer volume of tourists present, I figured that I must have been missing out on one. Between the bull hanging out by the front door (yes, a real, live bull, with real, live, bullshit to boot), and the tourist (who had to be from Connecticut, judging from the stick up his ass) walking around with a Arizona state flag bandana tied around his very new looking cowboy hat (it's a birthday thing... see picture below....), this place is a hoot.

I didn't have the guts to try the chicken-fried rattlesnake that's on the menu - blech. Instead, I opted for the fried chicken, which was very ho-hum. However, I gotta say - I probably could have fed a small Ethiopian metropolis with the amount of food we were served. Baskets of Indian Fry Bread nuggets, biscuits, corn, beans, salad.... Not to mention the three enormous chunks of chicken - I was STUFFED. I couldn't imagine how anyone could really put a dent in the all you can eat beef ribs, but they offer them anyhow. Plus, it's always fun to literally drink your beer from a mason jar.

I have no idea who this guy is, but it looks like he's having fun....

ewwwwwww - squishy sushi!

Those of you who know me know that I don't like sushi. But, the whole point of this little New Year's resolution of mine is to get out there and try new things. Since it's been a few years since I've tried sushi, I thought that I'd try it again and see how it goes. Thus, I found myself at Sapporo on a Friday night eating the squishy stuff.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered (mental note: sushi at an all you an eat buffet might not be the best first place to try it). I tried caterpillar rolls, California rolls (yeah, yeah, not real sushi, I know), asparagus rolls (not sushi, either, but definitely my favorite!), and some other stuff that I can't name. It's still not my cup of tea, but hey - I gave it another shot.

Crackers & Co.

The next time that you wake up and think that IHOP is in order, I beg you to reconsider. Crackers & Co. is a ridiculously yummy alternative that I had no idea even existed until the roommate pointed it out. All I have to say is this - anytime you put hollandaise sauce on an omelet (that's already been stuffed with bacon, sausage, and cheese), you make me a happy girl.

One of these days I need to get around to putting a cardiologist on retainer.....

The Pink Taco

Ok, how could I not try this place? The Pink Taco has gotten more press since they opened up than even Jenna's girls. The place is pretty cool, with a rockin' atmosphere and a lot of folks having fun at the bar.

Now, you may be asking, Sarah, what did you order? You silly thing! Of course I ordered the Pink Tacos! The genius who created this dish made chicken tacos with - get this - red salsa! To turn the chicken pink! OH MY GOD! HE IS SO CREATIVE!!!

Yeah.

Dining al fresco in the Old Pueblo

The first thing that I can tell you about the Flying V Bar and Grill is that they have a phenomenal wine list. The second thing that I can tell you about the restaurant is..... nothing, because I overindulged in the aforementioned wine list. Um, yeah.

I will say this - the view is phenomenal... this picture does not do it justice. We had reservations for sunset, and with the mountains and GORGEOUS golf course in the distance over the lake.... I would highly, highly recommend taking a little vacation to experience this place! The restaurant is located at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, and with the Loews First discount program, you can get a place at a freaking steal in the summertime. If you are staying at any Lowes property, you MUST get a Lowes First membership... discounts, free stuff, late checkouts... the list goes on and on....

Durant's

So, this is yet another restaurant that I visited while working at the courthouse, but it's not quite downtown, so I thought I'd give it it's own post. Plus, it's Durant's, so it deserves special attention. Durant's is supposed to be the place to go for the traditional 2-martini lunch, and it's not hard to see why when you walk in.

To start off, I came in through the back door, which I'm pretty sure is the only door to the joint. Walking in from the scorching, blinding sunlight into the dark, mahogany paneled restaurant, and through the back door, no less, made me feel like a mobster's molly. I felt like I needed to shout back through the door, "Guido, once you've cleaned out the trunk, get back here to drive me home..." I digress.

The ambiance is definitively old-school. It's the kind of environment that requires you to leave your diet at the door, which is perfectly fine with me. Unfortunately, I had to resist the urge to either order multiple martinis or a whole bottle of wine, since the whole reason that I was there was in honor of the departure of our court reporter (who got an awesome job in California), and the entire court staff - including the judge - was present. Instead, I had to intoxicate myself with a large hunk o' beef, which is always a good thing. I had a big, fat steak, plus the requisite baked potato, and while the menu isn't remarkable (standard steakhouse stuff), I can't wait to go back and act like a 60's era lush - the way that lunch at Durant's was intended to be!

Downtown eats

22. Bubble room (Marston's at the downtown Wyndham)
23. Crazy Jim's
24. Downtown Deli
25. Tom's Tavern
26. Focaccia Fiorentina

To be completely honest, I don't have a whole lot to blog about these places.... these are all places that I stopped by for lunch while I was completing my externship at Maricopa County Superior Court this summer. I don't have all that many fun stories about the places or anything, except the first - Marston's. For some reason, the bailiff in our courtroom (Larry) insists on calling this restaurant "The Bubble Room," as in - "hey kid, wanna have lunch at The Bubble Room?" Um. That's really where the story ends. Don't know why he calls it that, he has no reason to speak of, and it's really not even a funny story.

And I'll just shut up now.

#18 through #21........ Erika's Graduation!

I was so excited and elated to be able to go back east for Erika's (oops, I mean Dr. Waters') graduation from Rutgers! Not only was it an absolute joy to see the venerable Dr. Waters get hooded, but it was also a great opportunity to try a ton of new food! I asked Erika to take me to some of her favorite places, since she would be leaving New Jersey shortly after graduation. Luckily, the food scene is the ONLY thing that Erika said that she would miss, so she had some great suggestions......

18. Stuff yer face - New Brunswick, NJ

Ok - strombolis have to be one of the best inventions EVER. Yummy pizza crust dough, filled with tons of meaty and cheesy and tomatoey goodness..... This place is a small joint in New Brunswick, near the University, and it's definitely got that college-town feel - meaning specifically that they have one of the coolest beer lists I've ever seen.

19. Jim's Steaks - Philadelphia, PA

Not specifically in New Jersey, true, but I couldn't let our little day trip to Philadelphia go without getting a genuine philly cheese steak - with whiz, of course. This place is one of the originals, with period art deco stuff everywhere, refelcting the joint's 1939 inception. I never thought I could love Cheese Whiz this much....



20. Hoysala - Somerset, NJ

I asked Erika specifically to take me out for a few types of food that were brand new to me. Our first stop was at Hoysala, an Indian Buffet that's been one of Erika's favorites in the area. The buffet was a great way to sample a lot of the different flavors that Indian cuisine offers, and, just like the first two places that Chica took me to, I stuffed myself to a pain point I have never known. Seriously - I think I must have gained about 10 lbs on this little three day trip.....



21. Makeda - New Brunswick, NJ

Stop number two on the freak-out-Sarah's-palette tour of culinary wonder was Makeda, an Ethopian restaurant. Luckily, this was as non-freaky as I could have imagined. The food was phenomenal (and YES, there was food.... insert tasteless Ether-nopian joke here...), even if the funky bubbly-bread-African tortilla thing was oddly spongy. The Tibs Wat was like a very strangely spiced sloppy joe mix, and just remarkably good. Paired with some honey wine, the flavors of the meal were incredibly unique and tasty. Besides - who doesn't love eating with their hands??