Small place, short wait. They claim it’s Tex Mex but the traditional food is some of the best I’ve had. Lots of locals and a steady line of people waiting. Cash only.

Salsa is a bit spicy but fresh. Chips are home made.

Chili Con Queso is excellent. Creamy and flavorful.

Tacos are simple but flavorful. The fajita seasoning is awesome. Skip crunchy and go soft. A bit easier to eat.

Great selection of Mexican beers. Had a Victoria.

Verde sauce with enchiladas had a good flavor.

Thumbs up to the refried beans

Though the chili con queso was of the velveeta yellow variety it had a nicely spiced flavor.

He said: Great town bar with excellent food. Perfect place for a burger and MD crab soup after watching a tough football game. Lots of locals. Good spot to play Keno.

She said: The atmosphere is always fun and local. My favorite since they changed the menu is the spinach and artichoke “Greek” salad. The quotation marks are in the menu. I am not sure why. I have had the salad many times now, and except for the one time they put the dressing on it, instead of on the side it has been fantastic. Every ingredient is fresh and crisp. Very satisfying. The dressing is a creamy feta and I love to also order a side of Old Bay chips to dip into it. Not the healthiest part of the meal, but the crunch and flavor add a lot to the cool crispness of the salad.

We are always in search of tapas after our Barcelona trip. This place is the closest we’ve found in the US.

I am a long time Marylander.  I grew up eating crab cakes that my Polish grandmother would make for me.  My crab cake tastes are special.  I am a bit of a crab cake snob and I am skeptical of crab cakes not made in Maryland.  I certainly won’t eat a crab cake south of Washington DC.  Even if it’s called a Maryland crab cake.  Something about adding onions and celery to a crab cake that just isn’t right.

I went to Cava Mezze in Capitol Hill yesterday.  Their Crab n’ Cake (jumbo lump, oregano, cayenne, crazy feta johnny cake, smoky corn puree) dish is excellent.  It’s not a Maryland crab cake but a very nice simple tasty version of one.  This dish is better than the description.  They will be changing their menu soon and I will be back to have this again before it goes away.  Enjoy!

http://www.cavamezze.com/menu/

I always try Mexican food in every city I visit.  Today I visited the Mexican District in Detroit.  The food was good but not worthy to be named.  To date, my favorite Mexican food is in Gainesville, FL – La Tienda.  In full disclosure, I rank my Mexican food 1st by the chips and salsa, 2nd by the queso, and 3rd by the rest.  I don’t judge the margs because they are so different to everyone’s taste.

I will continue this post but right now, I have to say La Tienda is my favorite Mexican restaurant all around.  Taco Boy in Folly Beach, SC has “obviously” the best tacos.  Blue Agave surprised me recently.  La Palapa in Ellicott City has the best steak fajitas.  Clavel in Baltimore is just cool refreshing tasty and awesome!  The Taco Spot in Hollywood FL has awesome tacos (but bad Margs..)

Rebecca is raving about some Mexican in NJ she loves. I can’t wait.

1. Aqua al 2
2. Osteria Morini
3. Lavagna

The honeycomb accompaniment on the Aqua choice puts this at the top.  The cheese is always interesting and flavorful.

Osteria only loses because Aqua is just that good.

Lavagna has terrible pickled accompaniments.  But the cheese is awesome.

Spent a week in Napa and Sanoma. We had a wine driver and an excellent time. Our experience included my family from New Jersey, my girlfriend and myself.  It was quite a nice time.  We just rated our winery tours and visits.. this is our list:

Wednesday
Chimney Rock – Female winemaker – 8.5
Laird – Lunch outside – 5
Luna – 4.5
Jameson / Roots Run Deep – 7.5

Thursday
Pride – 9
Lunch at Farmstead – 5
Seavey – Cats, Small family, Concept (broke into the winery) – 6

Friday
Schramsburg – 10
Behrens Family – 10
Lunch – La Prima Pizza – 8

Smith-Madrone – Riesling – 7.5

Saturday
Thumbprint – Tasting room in Healdsburg – 6
Quivera – ok  – disappointed – 4

Sunday
Mill Creek – 7
Twomey – 6
Thomas George – 7
Benziger – Tram tour – 5.5

Monday
Macrostie – 8
Landmark – 5.5
Arista – 8
Thomas George – 7

Hollywood Florida – Memories from a few days..

• Go to 5’oclock bar early. Bar has changed.
• Hurricane (the real one not the drink) has effect at some of the places here..
• Tiki bar north of us is our fave.. love the bike gangs.. you know the peddle bike gangs are rough..
• I gave Rebe a can tab in the old style.. I wanted to propose to her and the ring didn’t show… Darn ETSY
• We’ve been listening to a lot of Hamilton music..
• Rebe is grumpy.. idk why
• Rebe needs quiet and I talk a lot.. problem solved with my headphones.
• Don’t eat inside at the Greek place we love
• Good pedicure in West Palm.. Venetian Nail Spa
• Tacos on the boardwalk are awesome.. not the corn..
• Stay north.. away a little from Margaritaville
• Baseball is awesome. Especially spring training..
• I lost my red card.. fuck
• The beach was nice, glad to have the umbrella, water was cool and nice on my knee.. yea I tore my ACL a few weeks ago
• Bug bites.. Rebe
• Blogging outside at midnight..

 

 

 

Dinner at Osteria Morini.. it was fantastic. We shared, a 3 cheese plate, Brussels sprouts, spinach lasagna, and rigatoni with mushrooms.  Prosecco for dessert.  Dinner for 2 with wine was $185.  Sharing is our norm.. Food was great and we weren’t overfed.

I decided to start a blog because I travel a lot.  I travel primarily for work and occasionally go on a few vacations.  I have a home business and my work takes me all over the US.  I use an app called TripIt to log my trips and I looked at my stats for last year.  I logged 69,856 miles over 180 days in 48 cities and 3 countries.

I almost never stay in a hotel or dine at a chain restaurant.  I make it a point to live like a local on all my trips.  I will be sharing my experiences on those trips on this site.

Today I am in Washington DC.  My sweetie lives there and I hadn’t seen her in two weeks.  Today is our valentines day dinner (because I was away).

Tomorrow I will be in Charlotte NC and be spending the night near Orlando FL.