A Disappointment of Donuts

I tried a new to me donut place recently, Paradise Donuts & Coffee. I was looking forward to enjoying their made fresh donuts.

I'm old enough to remember Dunkin' Donuts before they went to centralized donut baking; when each store made their donuts fresh several times a day. The memory of those donuts are why, when I dragged out of bed on a recent Sunday morning, I was expecting to be rewarded with warm, fresh donuts. Nope. Sad face emoji.

I was there a half hour after opening. My selections made, box packed, I looked forward to giving these a try.

Sadly, this brightly colored box held a bakers dozen of disappointment. More sad face emojis.

Not a warm fresh donut in the bunch. Not only that, they all tasted like day old donuts. What? I've come to find out that the donuts at this Paradise Donuts are NOT baked fresh in the store. No, they're baked at another location the night before and then delivered to this location. A dozen sad face emojis.

To be fair, the donuts were ok. They tasted almost as good as any SuperMom's donut or grocery store donut I've had. Almost.

My takeaway? When it comes to donuts I should have quit while I was ahead. Smiley face emoji!

Hot and fresh!

Happy dining!

Moxie Burger - Marietta, Georgia

Over the past couple of weeks the Dining Companion and I have been scouting out dining spots where the 4LB Wonder would be welcome. With patio season in full swing that task has been fairly easy. As I've mentioned before I use the website BringFido to find dog friendly spots in any given area. Moxie Burger was a great find.

Moxie Burger is located in a picturesque business district made up of local, small businesses.
 

We made our way there for lunch a couple of weekends back. We got a nice tour of the business park thanks to the 4LB Wonder's desire to smell all the things. After a bit of a walk we found a seat on Moxie Burger's shady covered patio.

Although not visible in this photo water dishes are available for 4-legged visitors

Moxie Burger is a fast casual place. Most typified by the process of ordering at a counter and then having your order delivered to your table. We grabbed a menu to look over our choices and then I went inside to place our order.

Besides the traditional beef burgers, Moxie also offers a few other options. You can get a lamb burger, a black bean patty, a portobello cap or a turkey or buffalo burger. Something for most everyone. They also offer hotdogs, salads and a nice variety of sides that include things like brocolli salad and goat cheese fritters. A nice, well thought out menu.

I decided on the eponymous Moxie Burger and the Dining Companion had The Entrepreneur burger which is Moxie's build-your-own-burger option.

The Moxie Burger - Bacon, fried green tomato, pimento cheese & Moxie sauce

The Entrepreneur Burger - Lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo

The burgers were good; perfectly cooked, sturdy but soft buns and plenty of tasty toppings. You can get beer or wine to go with your burger as well as the usual soft drinks.

Overall we were happy with Moxie Burger and plan to get back there soon. The fact that the 4LB Wonder is welcome is a nice perk that we really appreciate. 

 Happy dining!

NOTE: In our search for pet friendly dining spots we found a couple more that made the cut for return visits.  

The Rib Ranch in Marietta serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and welcomes furry family members on their patio. All this from a BBQ place that also serves a really decent bowl of Texas chili.

Pisano's Pizza in Kennesaw, GA A great Antipasto Salad as well as pizza by the slice, strombolis, pasta and sandwiches.

Brazilian Bakery Cafe - Marietta, Georgia

All I know about Brazilian food I learned from a waiter at Fogo de Chao. Well, mostly. It was on his advice that the Dining Companion and I sought out our first Brazilian restaurant that wasn’t a churrascaria.

Poking around the local dining scene, the Dining Companion found that there are a few Brazilian restaurants in the area. Armed with that knowledge we set out to try a couple. The Brazilian Bakery Café was first up.

We were there early on a weekend morning. It wasn’t overly busy which was great for me. I was able to ask about some of the delicious looking things on offer without holding up a line. The guy behind the counter was very helpful. (I wish I had his name) We looked over the options in the cases and chose a few things to try.(menu)

Coxinha are deep fried drumstick shaped fritters filled with chicken

We had one of the split pastries above. Filled with vanilla cream.

So many things to try!

There were cakes as well and flan

We ended up with a coxinha, a small shrimp pie and a ham and cheese pastry called an Americano. The coxinha we’d had before but the other two were new to us. We enjoyed all of the things that we tried.

Clockwise from top: Ham and Cheese pastry, coxinha and a shrimp empadinha

I did end up getting a sweet pastry as well. It was so good that it didn't last long enough to get its picture taken.

I asked about the feijoada and found out that we were there too early. We’ll be back for it another day. From what I can tell most of the local Brazilian places serve it on Saturday. Brazilian Bakery Cafe has it both Wednesday and Saturday.

The cafe also offers different soups and salads daily and bacalhoada on Fridays. Bacalhoada is a dish that consists of salt cod, onions and potatoes. There are sandwiches too. A little something for everyone. Judging by the steady stream of people coming in and out while we were there it's a popular weekend stop.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

I saw several foil wrapped packages hanging here and there in the bakery. I asked about them and was told that they're chocolate Easter eggs, a tradition in Brazil. They each have a hollow space inside that can be filled with a small toy or something. I'm sorry I didn't get one.

Sitting in the café was what I imagine being on vacation in Brazil would be like. Everyone it seems, but the Dining Companion and me, were speaking Portuguese. It's the kind of thing that can transport you right out of your everyday and into something new. We love that.

There are a couple of other places that we're going to try. One of them is a buffet place and the other appears to be a market with a place to eat attached. They both look interesting.

Stay tuned, the Brazilian food adventure is just beginning.

Happy dining!

A Taste of South Texas

The Texas Gulf Coast; it's hard to imagine a more perfect storm of foods that I love. It's where you can find a mix of great seafood, steaks, barbecue, TexMex and even authentic Cajun food.

There's everything from good BBQ at a chain like Rudy's to really great barbecue at a local one-off like Killen's Texas Barbecue.

Rudy's Texas meat market style barbecue

Rudy's Green chili stew

Killen's Beef Rib and Brisket

Killen's Ribs and Sausage

All the great TexMex is like my idea of heaven.

Everything good about a TexMex breakfast

Freshly made tortillas

Breakfast tacos

Some of the best TexMex we had was at Lupe Tortilla. The best veggie fajitas and awesome margaritas. Just so good.

There's a place in Houston called Abe's Cajun Market. I can't even remember all the times that we ate there. It's a local place, off the beaten track, but for Cajun influenced cooking it was our go-to.

Cajun spiced boiled shrimp (image from Abe's website)

Crawfish Etouffee and Seafood Gumbo (image from Abe's website)

Image from Eater Houston

Besides a barbecue joint, Chef Ronnie Killen also helms Killen's Steakhouse. A gem of a restaurant located in the Houston suburb of Pearland. I had a wonderful meal there highlighted by both a perfect Manhattan and a perfectly prepared steak. Definitely worth the drive.

Another favorite is Perry's Steakhouse and Grill. Although we never did have a steak at Perry's, their signature Famous Pork Chop is amazing.

While there are a lot of places to find fresh seafood in the area, one of the nicest is Pappas Seafood House. Wonderful fresh fish cooked simply and a fried stuffed avocado appetizer I love.

A short and sweet list of the places the Dining Companion and I enjoyed. If you find yourself in the Houston area any of these places would be well worth a stop.

When I think about places with a food culture I think about a place like Southern Louisiana with its creole and Cajun flavors or coastal New England with its great seafood. Houston, for me, hadn't been a part of that conversation before. It is now. If you're looking for a place with a great mix of some of the best food cultures look no further. You'll find it in the Lone Star state, on the Third Coast, where the best of land and sea come together.

Happy dining!

Mother's Restaurant - New Orleans, LA

Looking out the window of our hotel room in New Orleans, I kept noticing a line of people at a place across the street. My curiosity piqued I set out to find out what everyone was lined up for. I figured if people are lining up for food in New Orleans we had to check it out.

Turns out we were right across the street from Mother's Restaurant. Mother's has been around since 1938 and is famous for, among other things, the Ferdi Special. The Ferdi was named for a local merchant and is a po'boy made with roast beef and Mother's famous baked ham. Mother's has been featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Man vs Food and Food Paradise. We didn't know any of this when we walked in the door.

You walk in, look over the menu as you head toward the counter in the back. You place your order and are given a ticket and told to grab a seat. (Mother's is usually busy so at peak times there may be no seats to grab.) Your order will be delivered to your table. 

Turkey Ferdi - Turkey with ham, the original debris & au jus

Fried Shrimp Po'boy - So many shrimp my po'boy couldn't contain them

The Dining Companion had the Turkey Ferdi and I had the fried shrimp po'boy. Everything about it was good; the right bread, crispy shrimp and pickles. And of course the other things you need for perfect po'boy enjoyment were there too...

Mother's serves breakfast too. Check out the Early Bird Special:

Served Monday-Friday, 7-9 a.m. only
Scrambled eggs, smoked sausage, grits,
biscuit, coffee or small orange juice

All that for $6.50! If you're not an early riser have no fear, Mother's serves breakfast all day. (Four of my favorite words to see on a menu.) You can even get some of their po'boys as early as 7:00am. There's something here for everyone.

Mother's is open 7 days a week from 7am - 10pm serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The thing is, you can get po'boys all over the city. Part of the fun of visiting a great food city like New Orleans is trying different places and finding the things that will become your favorites. Get out there and explore; there's a whole city full of tastes waiting to be discovered.

Happy dining!

Tito's - San Antonio, Texas

On our most recent trip to San Antonio the Dining Companion and I stopped in at Tito's Mexican Restaurant. We've walked by this place on prior visits and finally made the time to try it.


Tito's is a full service restaurant located in the historic King William neighborhood. We stopped by one morning for breakfast.

 We took a seat at the bar and looked over the menu.

Breakfast menu and a good morning margarita

I ordered the King William Favorite and the Dining Companion got a couple of breakfast tacos.

King William Favorite

Two eggs, ranchero sauce, papas con chorizo,

refried beans & a side of carne guisada

Salsa and fresh made tortillas

Breakfast tacos - (1) Machacado & (1) Barbacoa

For my money you can't beat a plate of carne guisada and fresh tortillas. The Dining Companion graciously shared his tacos with me. I'd never heard of or had machacado before. Machacado is a dried beef dish. The beef can be sauteed with eggs (machacado con huevos) or with peppers, onions and tomatoes. I can't be sure but I think the version we had was the one made with tomatoes, peppers and onions. What I do know, is that it's delicious, and I would gladly have it again.

If we get the chance to get back to Tito's we'll give it a try for happy hour and dinner. I'd love to try the fajitas.

When planning your trip to San Antonio be sure and plan to visit the King William and South Town areas for the great local bars and restaurants. A little off the beaten path but definitely worth exploring.

Note: If you're traveling with your pet Tito's outdoor dining area is pet friendly. One more reason to check them out.

Happy dining!

Pssssst...
I'm going to take a minute here to mention that we also stopped in at B&D Ice House this visit. We've been here before for BBQ but wanted to give the menu another look. This time we decided on two of their unique sandwich creations.

The "Bruno"

Southtown Slammer

 I did mention unique right? Tasty and the perfect thing with a cold beer. If you're strolling through the neighborhood and looking for lunch, definitely give these guys a try.