Bigfoot Waffle Butt

People have been searching for Bigfoot for centuries.

Usually only "evidence" is found of him. The reason Bigfoot is so enticing is that he is an unsolved mystery. Is he man or animal? Wild or tame?

Much like Bigfoot, giant potatoes also exists. Usually we never see them, we just know out there somewhere there must be a potato the size of a basketball.

Chick-Fil-A has found the biggest potato know to the human race and turned it into a Waffle Fry Butt.

I found it last night and have filmed this short video as scientific evidence that it exists. This documentary also includes a taste test of the biggest waffle fry butt I have ever seen.

It almost lead me to my death bed as I bit into to a rough, salty, chewy backside. It was painful, but I survived.

It saddens me a little to know what could have become of this giant potato before Chick-Fil-A got their hands on it. Just think, instead it could have been living in glory as a perfect crispy large normal waffle fry - instead it was given the life of an outcast butt. Much like how Bigfoot is a lonely half man, half animal.

Eating In

Earlier this week I made a case for eating out. I explained how it's easier, cheaper, can reduce waste and overall is a better experience.

A loyal reader disagreed.

Her name is Christine. You may not know her, but soon her life is about to be turned upside down. Christine eats out avidly, and claims that it has run her bank account to $0.00 over the past few months.

She told me today that she wants to try something possibly no one has ever done before. She wants to push herself to the edge. She wants to eat EVERY meal at home for an entire month.

In a sentence it sounds simple. Sure you can do that right? Eat every meal at home? No problem. But let's stop and actually think about this for a moment.

It means for 30 days not a single penny can be spent on food service. No restaurants, no drinks out, no fast food, take out or going out on a Saturday night. Every meal must be eaten in.

Not to mention that 30 days is a long time, and honestly I don't think Christine can do it. She won't last more than three days.....which is why we will be following her on her journey.
About once a week (if she can last a week) she will write a guest blog post to share her experiences in a world without restaurants. Will she survive? How much money can she save? How will she find the time to make dinner every night? How much food will she waste?

It's possible she has lost her mind, but only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Publix and her refrigerator are her two new best friends.

Stay tuned....

Dairy Kurl

What's soft serve ice cream worth to you?

There is an ice cream shop by the name of Dairy Kurl in Clearwater, FL that has been around for ages. In many ways it has become a local icon, a historic site and a place that the entire city has been to at least once.

You probably have an ice cream shop that is similar to Dairy Kurl in your city. It's not a franchise, has no plan of expanding and isn't corporately owned.

The strangest thing about Dairy Kurl is that I have no idea why people go there. It seems there is some sort of magnetic ice cream force that drives people in droves to this tiny little ice cream shop.

It's a free standing white and red striped building that sits on busy Gulf to Bay Blvd. It's more of a shack than a building as there isn't any inside seating and the parking lot is half paved. Outside of this red and white shack are three metal picnic tables covered by an awning.

The owner of Dairy Kurl is a large silent troll like man with a moustache. He is there every day, every night, every moment they are open. The ordering process is similar to the Soup Nazi experience in Seinfeld. First you have to wait outside in a long line and once you finally reach the tiny little window that slides open and shut you have mere seconds to order before the silent man starts to get upset.

The menu is difficult to see as it is hidden in the back behind the window and hasn't changed in probably 20 years. However it's, basically a soft serve ice cream base that you can add anything you want to. He makes shakes, sundaes, or candy blends (blizzards). However the choice is sometimes difficult because there are so many options.

The silent man has a tiny little white paper pad that he writes your order on, (we're of the belief that no one understands what he writes except for himself). As you order he leans forward towards the window and glares at you, in his mind we know he is thinking: "order quickly, don't ask questions and no one gets hurt."

In desperate attempt to get him to crack I have made small talk, offered a few jokes and even asked ridiculous questions. His response has never changed, "grunt" is usually all he manages to get out.

He then proceeds to draw a line under your order. Manually ring it in his cash register, wait for your payment and then shut the window. Shutting the window is a key component of the service experience because it means it is time for the ice cream magic to start happening. Allow me to take a moment here and explain more of the reasoning behind the deliberate and abrupt window shut:

The silent man cannot keep employees working for him. Every time I go to Dairy Kurl there is a new 16 year old desperately trying to make ice cream creations without getting abused in the tiny shack. Because of this the service system is broken down. The angry man can't take orders at a constant pace because the ice cream can't be made fast enough, therefore he can only take 1 - 2 orders at a time. As you can imagine the line begins to back up pretty quickly and at any given time there will be 10+ people all waiting in line outside the shut window hoping the silent man will open it to take their order.

As you can see the process to get ice cream at Dairy Kurl is not simple, and no one seems to care. The food is more important. I recently wrote a post about service vs. food claiming that service always is more important than food.....Dairy Kurl may be the only exception.

I have been to Dairy Kurl many many times over the years and nothing every changes. The silent man, the window shutting, the white piece of paper and the pen, the long line of anxious people and the really really good ice cream.

The ice cream truly is amazing. The portions are generous, the prices are moderate and you can do pretty much anything you want (but be cautious in your requests).

I usually go with one of two things: 1. Ice cream with peanut butter sauce or 2. Peppermint candy blend. Both winners.

Underneath the awkward silence from the big man, the tired old atmosphere and the sticky picnic tables out front there is some sense of romance in the air. Customers think they have found a local Clearwater treasure, possibly the only true soft serve ice cream shop left on the planet.

My recommendation is this: if you have a thick skin and you want an interesting experience along with good cheap ice cream, go to Dairy Kurl. If you have an ounce of fear inside you though, turn around, you may be safer at Dairy Queen.

The Case for Eating Out

For years, "dining out" has been considered an unnecessary expense.

"Why bother going out when we have plenty of food at home?!" - this is a question that is asked in thousands of households across the nation almost every night of the week.

You know the feeling...you have had the debate yourself over and over again. You think, "I really shouldn't go out to eat tonight, I have plenty of food in the fridge." Right.....you have plenty of food, but somehow you don't have anything to eat.

The image below is a snapshot of the amount of food wasted each month based on an American family of four. The New York Times wrote an article on "the food we waste" early last week and the St. Petersburg Times republished this story yesterday. They calculate that 122 pounds of food is thrown out each month by one family.
There is also a blog, called Wasted Food that you may be interested in checking out. The New York Times' approach was that there are starving people all over the country yet the typical family is wasting about 1 pound of food per person per day.

I have an entirely different way of thinking about it. Let's forget the "waste", instead let's think about the money you are literally throwing away.

How often have you thrown out a half gallon of bad milk or a loaf of stale bread? When is the last time you didn't manage to eat the entire watermelon you had to have at the grocery store and threw it out? Let's not forget the tricky bagged salad that comes perfectly proportioned by Publix ready for you to dump in a bowl and add dressing....only to find that 6 days later it hasn't been opened and is now considered garbage.

About 3 months ago my wife and I stopped buying milk because we found ourselves throwing half of it out at the end of every week. Do I miss it? No. I don't even notice the difference. In a time when convenience is king, I would much rather grab a Nutri-Grain bar or put my dry cereal in a bag than spend 15 minutes eating a bowl of cereal each morning.

Grocery stores have done a phenomenal job of convincing us that they're "cheaper" and more affordable than going out to eat. However, I completely disagree.

For example, tonight I went to Bonefish Grill. We got a beer and iced tea to drink, chicken egg rolls as an appetizer and two entrees. One was the tuna special with two sides and the other was a chicken dish with two sides. The total cost came to $47.

For $47, I couldn't have bought all of these items and the ingridents that went in to preparing them at the grocery store. Not to mention it most likely would have taken me 2+ hours to make all of the food the way they did AND I would have had to serve it to myself. It was worth $47 at Bonefish Grill.

My idea - stop buying groceries completely, or only buy what you can't live without.

After you have stopped buying groceries - eat all of your meals out. Have you ever considered it? Let's figure that you spend $80-$100 per week on groceries, chances are you are throwing a solid $20 of that in the trash at the end of the week.

Go wild, take the $80-$100 you would spend on groceries and only use it for eating out. It doesn't matter where. Do you think you could do it? Would it save you money?

It's likely you will eat an average of 21 meals a week. For the sake of argument, I'm going to eliminate breakfast and guesstimate that you either don't eat it at all or you will eat cereal or a breakfast bar at home. Now you can eat 14 meals a week out. If my calculations are correct, for each meal you can spend roughly $7.

In today's restaurant world of fast food, fast casual, grab and go, and 2 for $2 hot dogs at 7-11, I have a feeling that $7 can go a pretty long way.

The best part? You won't be wasting food or money. The money you would have spent on food that could have gone to waste, will now be spent eating out which includes: food, service, atmosphere and an experience.

Just an idea.

Chick-Fil-A Knows How to Strip!

I'm boring and regular.

I typically get the same things at the same places over and over again. I do this because I have a fear of getting something I'm not going to like and wasting my money.

Let's take Chick-Fil-A for example. Here I can often times stray away from the original chicken sandwich and move to a spicy chargrilled or regular chargrilled chicken sandwich. However, more than likely I'm going with the good old fashioned chicken sandwich.

For this reason, I have never really gotten in to the Chick-Fil-A chicken strips. The first time I tried them was the day after our wedding when we stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way out of town for our honeymoon and I convinced the staff to give me free food. Our free food consisted of chicken mini's and two packs of chicken strips.

Much to my disappointment these strips tasted nothing like the regular Chick-Fil-A sandwich or the chicken mini's. The bigger question at hand is, why? Why do the strips taste different from everything else on the menu?

It's a mystery I have never resolved, however I think you must agree that the strips have a completely different taste than the rest of the chicken at Chick-Fil-A....until now.

If you have visited Chick-Fil-A in the past week you might have noticed that they have gotten a new menu. This is definitely a good thing. It has been a long time since they updated everything and the changes they made were long over due. First up - a brand new recipe for the chicken strips. They also have a "Chick-Fil-A" sauce, which is essentially a form of honey mustard and some new wraps.

Last night, my wife ordered up a 4 pack of chicken strips. Previously, you could get the strips in a 3 pack or 6 pack however now they only offer in 3 or 4. I believe from first look that the strips are significantly larger than they used to be which is why they now serve in smaller portions.

Luckily for me, my wife was in the mood to share and I got one of her strips. Upon the initial bite I noticed the change. The breading tasted different, more unique and fresher. The strips were wider and tasted very moist (or sweaty).

HUGE improvement! My wife will tell you that they don't taste different at all and that it's just a marketing tactic to get you to buy them, however I must disagree. I didn't like the strips before and now they taste like a sliced up Chick-Fil-A sandwich. They are much more like tenders than strips and the new Chick-Fil-A sauce compliments them extremely well.

My only issue is that for the 4 pack value meal the total cost is $6.59. A little overpriced in my opinion for 4 strips, fries and a drink.

Make a Classy move, either order the kids meal and get the strips OR just order a pack of strips and get a small fry (since the medium and small are basically the same size).

Whatever you choose, these strips are worth sinking your teeth in to.

Straight from the Outback Food Whisperers

Rarely does something this earth shattering happen to a humble eater such as myself.

I should begin by telling you about an obsession I have with Outback's Alice Spring's Chicken. No other restaurant that I know of has mastered and used the beauty of the cheese and chicken combination so wonderfully.

If you have never had it before, allow me to take a moment to explain. It's an 8oz grilled chicken breast perfectly grilled topped with homemade honey mustard, button mushrooms, bacon and Monterrey jack and cheddar cheese (I usually order mine without the mushrooms). In my fatter days I used to order this slice of chicken heaven on a frequent basis, now however I usually go with a steak.

I found myself dining at the Outback Steakhouse on Henderson Blvd in Tampa, FL late last week and our server told me about a "new test" item at the restaurant: Alice Spring's Chicken Quesadillas........what?!

How could a dream become so real so fast? This was a must have. I ordered and waited with excitement. The food came out and here before me laid the most innovative food combination creation I have ever seen. It was sliced grilled chicken, melted Monterrey jack and cheddar cheese, mushrooms, and bacon with honey mustard dipping sauce. WOW.

My description really doesn't do this justice.

We all know that Outback is known for it's amazing food innovations, but this new item is surely something created directly by the Outback food whisperers.

The sad news is, I have no idea how long it will be offered at the Henderson Outback and I don't know if it will ever make it to the actual menu. I do know though, that my life has been changed.

Sooner rather than later you need to go to the Henderson Blvd Outback in Tampa and search for this item. If they don't offer it, beg. I promise it's worth it.

The Fake Restaurant

Remember this?

Who couldn't? If you can't recall seeing this, click here. Never before has eating a hamburger been so arousing. It was possibly the sexiest commercial (if you like Paris Hilton) known to man. It was played on network TV over and over and over again. Who knew that Paris Hilton, a giant hamburger, and a car wash could be so tempting?

You haven't seen anything yet. Hardee's restaurant has now gone to a whole new extreme to convince the world their new Thickburger is the best on earth.

It's something no other restaurant has ever done before. Hardee's built a fake "gourmet" restaurant, filled it with actors and then invited customers in to try a premium burger. Little did the customers know that they were paying $14 for a Hardee's burger, which they of course thought was unbelievable.

Half way through the dining experience the server finally tells them, "Hey, you're eating Hardee's right now." The look on their faces is truly priceless.

You can watch the entire short video by visiting the Fake Restaurant site.

I must admit, it kind of makes me want to visit Hardee's and try one of these bad boys.

Mint and Peanut Butter Cup

The combination is something I have never heard of before.

The last time I went to Cold Stone I was almost killed. This time however, we were celebrating our one year wedding anniversary and we had a coupon so I somehow convinced my wife we should go.

It has been 3 long months since I last stepped foot in a Cold Stone and I must say there is no better ice cream joint. Cold Stone does it right. They have a variety of flavors (all hand made in store) and you can basically put anything known to man in your ice cream.

This was only the beginning of my problem. What flavor should I get? I didn't want to order something off the menu and I didn't just want to get a single flavor. I knew in the back of my mind that I may never go in a Cold Stone again. For some reason, the mint ice cream was standing out at me. It looked light green, fresh and tempting.

What's good to mix in the mint green ie cream aside from Oreos or M&M's? Nothing really. Thinking out loud I said, what I really want is Reese's Peanut Butter cup.

The genius Cold Stone employee looked at me and said, "Why don't you get the mint ice cream with the peanut butter cup...it's amazing."

I look in shock - what? Wait, wait - you want me to put the peanut butter cup in the mint ice cream? That doesn't sound right. That sounds like "green ketchup" or chocolate chips in my salad.

The employee said, trust me. You'll love it. I took a leap of faith....and I ordered it.

My life has never been the same. What happened afterward is a blur of ecstatic food pleasure. The taste combination sensation was taste bud shattering.

Amazing. Unheard of. How could something so simple and original be so good? The peanut butter cups complimented the green mint ice cream in a way that felt like dancing. It's always a pleasure to go to a restaurant and talk to an employee that knows what they're talking about.

Nothing else can really be said here except for go to Cold Stone, get the mint ice cream and ask for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in it.

Not Invited

I got a forwarded email early last week from a co-worker about a new restaurant that had just opened in Oldsmar, FL called the Twisted Bamboo.

She forwarded me the email because the restaurant was promoting "free food" from open to close during their "soft" opening week. The free food included a meal for two, drinks, appetizer and dessert. Obviously, I was sold as this could be prime material to blog about.

On Friday I called the restaurant around 6pm to double check. The polite employee told me that yes they were giving out free meals but it was, "invitation only." I asked her if I could get an invite, which she answered awkwardly, "no they had already been given out." Feeling defeated I asked when they would be "open to the public" and she told me this Monday.

Do you think I have any intention of ever going to this restaurant? No.

Why? They didn't keep their promise. They told me earlier in the week that I could come get a free meal. I planned, plotted and spent quality time "thinking" about what I was going to get there. I invested time and they let me down.

Just think if I had loved the Twisted Bamboo. I most likely would have went again to eat and spend money. I would have told all of you about it. Their "free meal" would have returned possibly hundreds of visits by me, my family and potentially you.

If you owned a brand new restaurant, and had an eager customer on the phone willing to drive out of their way to eat at you restaurant, wouldn't you do everything in your power to get them in the door? Even if this meant "stretching the rules" of being invited or not invited?

Sometimes we are so limited by the rules we fail to see the possibilities in breaking them.

Cheesecake + Ice Cream = One Dessert

When I go to Dairy Queen, I only go for one reason: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.

I never change, I never consider another option because I know it's good (except for the bottom) and I know I will be satisfied with my purchase.

Dairy Queen, being the innovative food creators that they are tend to come up with a "limited time offer" blizzard every month or so. Sometimes you will see the pumpkin blizzard, or peppermint blizzard. Last night their special was the: Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard - which means they drop little chunks of cheesecake and strawberry in your blizzard.

The name alone does little to spark my interest. Why would I want cheesecake in my ice cream?

Last night however I found myself inside Dairy Queen thinking I should try something different. I don't know what had overcome me. Deep inside I knew I wouldn't like anything besides the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, yet I felt the urge to sway from my norm.

Of course over the register they have a beautiful picture of the Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard for you to drool over in line and then the guy in front of me ordered a large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard.

Who orders a large blizzard?

If this guy is getting a large then it must be good. As he walked from line chowing down I pulled him aside and asked him if it was any good. He had ice cream in his mouth so it sounded a little like, " Yaampph, ift's gfoogood." Which I think meant, "Ya it's good!"

I was convinced.

I ordered a small and true to DQ's roots, the top of the blizzard was beautifully designed, but the bottom was...plain white ice cream. I wasn't horribly disappointed as I expect this when I go to DQ and I have given up on my efforts to cause a revolution to end the bottom of the blizzard phenomenon.

Back to the "CheeseQuake". This blizzard consisted of one giant chunk of cheesecake on top mixed in with about three strawberries. The strawberries were very good (probably coated in sugar) and the cheesecake made me feel awkward. It was good, but it didn't feel right.

The soft consistency of the cheesecake mixed with the soft serve DQ ice cream makes for one creamy experience. But not the normal creamy. There was most definitely an odd mouth feel.

My next question is, has DQ lost all of their creative innovation that they now have to combine desserts in order to create a new one? I was fine with just adding candy to the blizzard. What's next? A Vanilla Cake Blizzard? Cherry Pie Blizzard?

It also may alarm you to know that I found out on their website that this dessert blizzard combo clocks in at 520 calories.

Maybe next time I will just go with one dessert instead of two in one.

Let Freedom Ring

If it's free it's for me.

Dunkin Donut's must have the same belief. They are giving out FREE 16oz Iced Coffee today just for walking in.

It's from 10am-10pm which makes the deal even sweeter because you can go 5 or 6 times.Speaking of free, McDonald's is handing out their new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich today also with purchase of medium or large drink.

With all of these free handouts, who said a pending economic recession was a bad thing?

Caught in the Act!

It wasn't my idea.

My boss had invited me to lunch at one of the restaurants at International Plaza in Tampa. (Why would I resist, the lunch was free!)

As we ate lunch my wife was texting me. Ironically she was on the way to the mall with her mom and wanted to meet us. Once they got there she came over and sat down with my boss and I. After chatting for a few minutes she went on her way to spend my money shopping with her mom.

After we had finished eating my boss suggested that we stroll in the mall because she needed to "look for something". We walked around for 10 minutes or so and on our way out found ourselves in the food court.

We began walking past a Nestle' Toll House Cafe and my boss stopped abruptly. She turned to me and said, "We should get some dessert."

My heart started beating rapidly. Dessert? For me? A delicious chocolate chip cookie and no one will ever know about it?! (Please note that I have been walking past this Nestle' Toll House Cafe for about 3 years now, yearning to stop and buy something).

I look through the glass case at all of the glorious cookie selections. I had to pick out my favorite: The chocolate chip cookie icing sandwich. Simply, a gift from the cookie heavens, this particular treat is two chocolate chip cookies with white icing in the middle. (A fat kid's dream).

In fear of living too far on the edge, I only got the mini version. But it was still more than enough food satisfaction. As my boss paid I turned to her and looked her directly in the eyes and said,"My wife can never, ever know we did this. We can't tell a soul. She must never find out." My boss said, "Ok! Don't worry about it."

We went on our way.

I pulled my cookie out of the bag and took a bite.....oh the glory! The utter satisfaction! The combination of soft cookie and soft white icing is magnificent! As we were walking along though, I saw something that covered me in fear: my wife. There was no escape we were only 10 feet away! She was eating lunch with her mom outside Earl of Sandwich - in the way of our direct path back to our car! OH THE IRONY!

In a moment of pure insanity, I attempted to use my cheetah like moves to hide behind my boss and did so with little success.

Then, it happened. She saw me, and soon I was embarrassed in front of people in the mall I don't even know as she stood up from her table, looked at me and said: "What do you think you're doing?"

I responded sheepishly, "nothing". My boss meanwhile was laughing hysterically in the background.

My wife said, "What makes you think you can go get a cookie in the middle of the afternoon?" I replied with confidence, "It's only the small one."

With a twitch of her eye and a clenching of her fist she responded, "Oh and the small one makes it better?"

With nothing else to say, I simply started running...er jogging....I mean walking quickly away. Shouting as I walked, "We can talk about this at home!"

The moral of the story?

If you're going to get icing filled chocolate chip cookies behind your wife's back, make sure she's not in the building first.

Service vs. Food

You might recall my little encounter with Gayle at Publix during the Sandwich Smackdown.

It was a rough evening, one I won't soon forget.

Tonight I went to a different Publix and met Nancy. She gave us outstanding service. Friendly, attentive and flexible. I got an Italian wrap and was feeling on the edge so I asked her to press it. I'm not sure what it is about hot pressed sandwiches that get me so excited, but it's something I insist on.

I asked her to press it in fear because I knew this was not "the norm". Normal people don't ask to get their wrap pressed. Normal people just keep their fat mouth shut and take the wrap cold. When I asked Nancy, she looked at me with a smile and said, "I've never done it before, so I'm not sure how it will turn out. But, it's worth a try."

If you remember, I asked Gayle to press my sandwich - not my wrap, and she gave me an attitude because I already had lettuce on the sub and it might possibly fall out.

The Publix "product" hasn't changed since the last time I was there. The meat, cheese, lettuce, and bread are all the same. The decor hasn't changed, nor have the uniforms. The taste of the food hasn't changed.

One very important thing did change though - the service. The service meant more to me then the food to begin with. Sure, I want it to taste good, I want to feel like I got my money's worth. However, the only way I can "feel" this way is if I believe I was well taken care of, served well and cared for.

Tonight, my wrap was unbelievable. I felt good about buying it. It tasted fantastic and I feel like I got my money's worth. I went home happy, content and prepared to go back to Publix and purchase a wrap again.

The service is and always has been more important than the food. Some of you will argue with me, but can you think of a time when you had really amazing tasting food and horrible service and actually enjoyed it?! Now, can you think of a time when the food was mediocre at best, but the service was outstanding?

Which would you prefer?

When it comes down to creating emotions, retaining customers, getting better tips, driving higher sales and being remarkable there is only one answer: Amazing Service.

California Pizza at California Prices

I remember the first time I tried "gourmet pizza."

I also remember thinking, "Why is this $11.99?" Don't get me wrong it was definitely good, but paying over $10 for a personal pizza hardly seems worth it.

Last night though, someone else was paying so I had good reason to go to California Pizza Kitchen. I have eaten there many times before last night and I'm usually impressed with their service and food quality.

The best part about CPK are the tiny little plates they already have on the table. They are good for a few different reasons.

1. For the bread, however the bread isn't too amazing because the butter comes in tiny little hard to open packets.

2. The pizza comes on a plate that is huge and now you have some place to pull a slice off and eat it.

For some reason, we decided to get an appetizer which was spectacular. They were three different types of spring rolls - all delicious. We took our time deciding what to order as I was determined not to get pizza on this particular visit.

I have only had one other thing besides pizza at CPK which was a chicken Caesar sandwich. It was very good, but I felt like I was cheating on the pizza. On our visit last night I was comfortable finding something on the menu that didn't make me feel like I was missing out on the pizza yet, I was unsuccessful.

I did go with a pizza I have never had before - the Neapolitan Sicilian. Basically this is a thin crust pizza with Salomi, spicy ham and sausage. Price - $13.99.

My pizza was amazing. The spicy flavor combination was perfect. My question is, how can CPK get away with charging so much for a tiny little pizza?! I know Domino's is no where near gourmet, but you can walk out with a pizza for $5. Not to mention, my favorite off brand pizza shop charges $11.99 for a large cheese!

I guess the only answer to this is the same answer Starbucks has - "for the experience."

CPK can also pull it off because of the word - "gourmet" or as their website says "hearth baked" and "crafted to perfection". Trust me - the pizza is outstanding, but the prices shouldn't be as high as they would be in California!

In an interesting marketing move, CPK also gave us "raffle" tickets at the end of our meal. The ticket however was sealed in an envelope. Our server told us that inside the envelope could be a trip, dinner for two, $500 etc. The only way to see what's in our envelope is to come back in to the restaurant and open it in front of a manager - otherwise it's not valid.

What do you think I did? I started to open it (as I had no intention of coming back before the contest ended in June) and the manager stopped me! Although, he did let me off the hook. He finished opening mine for me and inside was a dinner for two (valued up to $40). He signed the certificate saying he would let it slide although technically it wasn't valid.

I can sum this up pretty quickly:

Outstanding expensive pizza - paid for by someone else - free dinner for two.

Boo ya!

McDonald's Snack Time

There used to only be three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Then McDonald's decided to invent a new one: The Snack. Only a restaurant that has the size and power of McDonald's could invent a meal time and then convince the entire world that during this new meal time we should all eat at McDonald's.

An executive from McDonald's was in the restaurant at 3pm one day and thought, "Wait a second....no one is in here eating right now....maybe we should invent a new meal to sell."

Hence the creation of: The Snack Wrap.

When is it appropriate to eat The Snack Wrap? In theory, anytime. However, McDonald's wants you to enjoy this tasty fried treat between 1:30pm-4:30pm - the ideal snack time. It's slightly after lunch but not close enough to dinner. You need a break away, you feel like eating something but you don't want a whole meal. Maybe you'll pull out a Fruit Roll Up, Gushers, or the traditional cheese and crackers. OR, you could go to McDonald's and get a Snack Wrap.

I found myself last weekend driving the "scenic" route back from south Florida to Tampa. We had eaten a big breakfast so skipped lunch. There was nothing along this scenic route besides trees and after about 2 and half hours of driving my stomach started to rumble.

Suddenly as if by scenic route magic we came through a little "town" with a Wendy's, Taco Bell and McDonald's. Choices, choices. We weren't hungry enough for an entire meal but, we did need a snack.

Then I remembered that McDonald's had chicken Snack Wraps. We went immediately, got in the drive thru lane and now needed to make some decisions. How big is the Snack Wrap? How many do I need? Will it make me too full or not full enough? Should I get fried or grilled? What sauce should I get on it? Never has a fast food decision been so complex.

I was worried about it being too small so I went with two fried chicken wraps with Chipotle (BBQ) sauce. Cost? $1.29 each. Personally, a little over priced since I can get a cheeseburger for half that price.

My initial thought after biting in was - good. But wow this would be a lot better if it had a Chick-Fil-A chicken strip in it. McDonald's southern style chicken sandwich and chicken strips taste completely different. The strips are a little dry and more crunchy or as they would say "crispy".

However, I must tip my hat to McDonald's for their food innovation. All they did was take their strip, sprinkle some cheese and lettuce on it and roll it up in a tortilla shell with a side of BBQ sauce. For a snack it was definitely good, but not something I crave or "have to have."

If you're going to eat it for a meal you definitely need to get two (or three) but for a snack one is probably enough.

Bottom line is that McDonald's knows what they're doing. Invent a new meal for the day, take one of our current products and repackage it, then sell to the public.

I don't want to recommend that this is a bad thing, but if you're looking for a snack the 100 calorie pack in your cabinet might just be as good.

Banging for Bonefish

My wife hates fish. I used to hate fish too.

Over the past year and a half however, I have developed a unique craving for a finely cooked fish. Most restaurants have a "decent" fish offering, however Bonefish out shines them all.

My first visit to Bonefish was over a year ago and we sat at a table in their "snappy casual" atmosphere. At this time I was still afraid of fish, and my wife refused to come near them (I'm not sure what we were doing at Bonefish). Out of downright fear of the deep ocean we both ordered steak - which was fantastic.

In addition to the steak we also ordered Bang Bang Shrimp (I wasn't scared of shrimp and since my wife was, I got to eat them all). Have you heard of this shrimp phenomenon? If not, you have not lived. Words cannot describe it's pure and utter beauty. The presentation is outstanding and the taste is one of a kind. It burned pleasure into my food soul and ever since this visit I have been yearning to go to Bonefish again.

My wife refused. "I don't like fish!" she claims. "They don't have anything I like!" she reminds me. Meanwhile I weep in the corner, as my one true food desire is kept from me.

Last weekend, I got lucky.

It was our one year wedding anniversary and some how I managed to convince her that we needed to celebrate at Bonefish. I called ahead and we waited for a booth. As we walked to sit down I looked around and soaked in the atmosphere and thought to myself, "Dang I'm Classy". It's something about the low lights and stylish servers that makes everyone in the restaurant feel like they are a bit....fantastic.

We took a long time to order as I wanted to make sure my wife ordered something she would like. In the back of my mind I knew that it all came down to this meal, this moment, this restaurant. If I ever wanted to eat at Bonefish again it was imperative that my wife loves her meal. In order to ensure my success I pushed her to create her own meal, which thankfully our amazing server agreed to. It was a pasta dish with grilled chicken, and some other vegetables.

I went off the beaten path, per our servers' suggestion, and ordered the rainbow trout with a side of Au Gratin potatoes. Allow me to pause here and remind you that we came to Bonefish for the Bang Bang Shrimp. What appetizer do you think we got? Not Bang Bang. At first I was saddened but, we ended up ordering Cajun Chicken Egg Rolls which changed my life. They were large, spicy and full flavored.

Once the food arrived I think my heart skipped a beat. The rainbow trout was as big as the plate. The flavors were overwhelming and the Au gratin potatoes were melting in my mouth.

I wiped the plate clean. My wife did too.

Have I mentioned that the service was some of the best I have ever received in a restaurant in my life? Our server, Jasmine was attentive, knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient. The way all servers should be.

Go to Bonefish for four reasons.

1. Bang Bang Shrimp
2. You feel classy when you eat there
3. Really amazing service
4. The best fish on the planet.

Since this last experience, my wife has lifted her restraining order and we are now allowed to go to Bonefish.

Bring on the Bang Bang!

Dear 7-11

Dear 7-11,

I love your Slurpeess. So does my wife, in fact I put her engagement ring in the bottom of a Slurpee cup.

Every day I go get my wife a Slurpee. We have five different refill cups in a variety of colors and sizes. After our engagement your 7-11 staff gave me an "engagement gift" which was a free refill cup.

If you add it up over the course of the year I spend almost $500 a year completely on Slurpees.

I have some issues though. Your Slurpee machines never work. My wife and I are not mixing and matching type of people, we like one flavor: Coke. Why do your Slurpee machines only work half the time? I have spent countless minutes wasted walking in to a 7-11 getting in front of the Slurpee machine only to find the Coke emergency light on and one of two things happen:

1. The machine is completely frozen
2. The Coke Slurpee is liquid

When this happens I have to go to another 7-11 and try again. Lucky for you, there are three 7-11's in a 3 mile radius of my house. My solution is simple. If Krispy Kreme can have a neon sign that lets me know when the doughnuts are "hot and ready" why can't you have a sign that lets me know the Slurpees are ready? This means if it's not lit up I can drive by and not waste my time.

Here's the other thing, lately it appears that you think you need to invent awkward and strange Slurpee flavors such as: cappuccino, rock star, and some strange blue color. You have even gone to the extreme of REMOVING the Coke flavor to replace it with a NEW flavor like - banana. Why would anyone want this? We all want Coke.

So now - you have narrowed my Slurpee options down to TWO 7-11s. This means if one 7-11 Slurpee machine is broken I only have one hope of getting a Coke Slurpee and based on your track record it's likely its a lose lose situation.

I demand you for the sake of my wife and future child that you first implement the neon Slurpee sign and second you design Slurpee machines that only serve Coke.

Thank you,

Dan Holm

Feeling in the Mood?

Much like my eggs, the winner of the Breakfast Bake Off is scrambled.

For a number of reasons, I think you will agree it has been far too difficult to decide which fast food restaurant has "the best breakfast known to man kind."

I have eaten more fake eggs in the past week than I have my entire life. I have studied service styles, taste profiles, and thought about this long and hard. I would be lying to you if I told you one restaurant out of the ones I tried was the best. Therefore, much like your life, there is a "season" for certain breakfasts and I have selected the best restaurant for your season.

Below I have outlined different breakfast moods and the obvious selection you should make when in this mood:

In the mood for: Champion's Breakfast
Thought Process:"I want the ultimate. I don't care about calories. Give me good food, amazing coffee and lots of choices. Oh, and I don't want to spend more than $5."
Restaurant: McDonald's
Why?: They have amazing coffee. By far the most selection of good tasting food and the prices are moderate.

In the mood for: The All American Breakfast
Thought Process: "Just give me something classic and original. I don't need a special egg burrito or a fast food attempt to re invent the egg. I want something pure, just and wholesome. I want a plain bagel toasted with plain cream cheese."
Restaurant: Dunkin Donuts
Why?: They have bagels with cream cheese that could change you're life. Their coffee is one of the best and America runs on Dunkin.

In the mood for: The Rich and Fabulous Breakfast
Thought Process: "I make enough money to spend $8 on fast food breakfast. Jealous? You should be because I'm going to get a unique breakfast creation and you can't afford it."
Restaurant: Einstein Bros.
Why?: They have some of the best premium breakfast choices out there and they're different from everywhere else. Did I mention that their coffee is better than Dunkin and McDonald's?

Use this guide to help you decide where to go eat when you're feeling in the mood.

The Breakfast Bake Off has consumed my life for the past week, and it was worth it. While there is no obvious winner to this week as there was the Sandwich Smackdown, I still hope you have gained something. Even if it was just the knowledge that Panera stops serving breakfast at 10:30am.

Sponge King

You may have used this sponge before.

We have one in our house to wash dishes. It's amazing because it has that green textured surface on one side and the yellow spongy surface on the other. Basically - it's the perfect sponge.

If you were to peel the green textured surface away, you may notice that the yellow sponge is almost identical to the "eggs" that Burger King uses on their Croissant sandwiches. I discovered for myself on Friday that the Scotch Brite sponge serves much better as a dish cleaning tool than breakfast.

My breakfast selection was simple: egg and cheese croissant sandwich. I have realized this past week that I am not extremely fond of the "sausage patty" which is why I just got egg and cheese. I also ordered a cup of BK Joe coffee.

I get through the drive thru open my bag, and first observe that the croissant is slightly bigger than the egg. I take a bite and......ugh what is that?! I look and blink knowing now that I have bitten into a yellow sponge with cheese. I think - maybe it's my imagination. One more bite, I got a little more cheese this time so it wasn't nearly as bad. The egg was thin, dry and had tiny holes in it like a sponge. I took two more bites and called it quits. I couldn't take anymore.

I drank the coffee........not good. It's too difficult to relive and describe the taste, just know it wasn't any good. Because I paid for it, I demanded on choking it down and got only half way through before throwing my towel in and giving up.

When I got to work I threw the remains of my "breakfast" away. It is the first time I have voluntarily thrown food away that I paid for when I was still hungry. You can probably guess at this point that it was bad - awful. The worst fast food breakfast I have ever had.

I don't know if Burger King really does use sponges for their breakfast sandwiches but I do know that I prefer to eat real eggs for breakfast and leave the sponge for cleaning up afterward.

Wendy's Burrito Phenomenon

I may be on the verge of insanity for what I am about to suggest.

I had no intentions of visiting Wendy's for the Breakfast Bake Off this week, however after your encouragement I decided it couldn't be a bad idea. After all, they just launched breakfast recently and chances are it wasn't going to be that good.

I went to the Wendy's by my house, and ironically no one was in line at the drive thru. In my head I'm thinking: "Great, this really must be bad there isn't even anybody in line." As I glance across the menu board, breakfast isn't any where to be found and then I notice that no one has spoken to me through the magical speaker.

Thinking somehow that they might be able to hear me on the other end I yell - "Hello! Is anybody there!?" No response. I keep glancing over the board and then notice the small sign at the very bottom: "Drive Thru Window Open at 10:3oam". What!? Now I have to go in to get my breakfast? I drive around to the front and as I drive past the door I read the hours of operations and this Wendy's isn't even open for breakfast!

Although I was slightly annoyed, I was also on a mission. There is another Wendy's just a few miles in the other direction so I headed for it hoping that they served breakfast.

I debated what to order, while they had a variety of menu options the Sausage Egg Burrito stood out. I went for it and also got a medium cup of coffee - since they, like every other fast food chain, now have a "premium blend."

It came wrapped up like a Taco Bell burrito, which freaked me a little since I was about to eat breakfast and the feeling and smell of the shell reminded me a lot of Taco Bell too. It also was smaller than I had imagined. At this point I was slightly horrified. What am I doing? I'm eating a breakfast burrito at Wendy's!? I closed my eyes, took a bite and....wow. WOW. I look down at this tiny shell of heaven I just bit in to and what do I see? A perfect combination of sausage, egg and beautifully melted cheese.

You've all had burritos before, and 90% of the time the contents inside are not evenly distributed. Wendy's had it right. The eggs didn't taste spongy, the sausage was sliced nicely and the cheese covered every bite.

I was shocked, amazed and sad that I only ordered one.

The coffee on the other hand was an entirely different story. Yes they do put the cream and sugar/Splenda in for you (not on the side) but their premium coffee tastes more like premium hot brown water. It's "Foldgers" which doesn't impress me, so you can just pass on the coffee all together.

My insanity begins when I say this: Wendy's probably has the best breakfast I have tried so far. I do need time to reflect on all of my choices but at this moment I know one thing: For 99 cents I have never tasted a more perfectly designed breakfast burrito.

McDonald's....Better than Chick-Fil-A?!

For years Chick-Fil-A has owned fried chicken.

Last week when I discovered that McDonald's was launching a new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich and Chicken Biscuit I was outraged. How dare they try and compete with Chick-Fil-A!

Chick-Fil-A isn't going off and creating cheeseburgers and then trying to lure customers away from McDonald's. Suddenly, as if by a stroke of fried chicken magic when I tried the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich last week all of my anger and disgust was washed away. Why? Because....it was good.

This Wednesday, like last week McDonald's gave out free Southern Style Chicken Biscuits and Sandwiches with the purchase of a medium drink. Since I tried the sandwich last week I had to go get the biscuit this week.

Again, I approached this situation cautiously. I felt like it was a doomed fate. My last fried chicken biscuit experience (not the minis) was dry. How could McDonald's get it any better?

We hit the drive through and after a short coffee/Splenda/sugar disagreement with my wife (see video) I had my medium coffee and chicken biscuit in hand.

Let me take this moment to mention that I am still a little irritated that Chick-Fil-A puts cream and sugar "on the side" when you order coffee. They can serve you refills and come by and pick up your trash if you eat in the dining room but they can't put cream and sugar in your coffee?! I think this is a little outrageous...

When I get the bag with the chicken biscuit in it, I notice that on the side of the bag McDonald's has printed how they serve fresh eggs every morning....hmm I know some other restaurant that claims they do that ....what's the name....oh ya PANERA. But wait - they're out.

My first observation is that McDonald's chicken biscuit is slightly bigger than Chick-Fil-A. First bite - .....it's good. Why? It's all about the biscuit - McDonald's is soft, moist, chewy and doesn't have a single ounce of dryness. The chicken is good and juicy. The chicken is also properly portioned for the size of the bun. I found myself eating the biscuit without little dry chunks breaking off and falling all over the place. With McDonald's I also avoided the awkward cotton mouth that can sometimes occur when eating a dry biscuit. You know how it feels - you keep chewing and chewing and even after you swallow you feel like you have a cotton ball in your mouth.

It's priced at $1.99 which is much higher than their other breakfast menu options but it seems to have a rare quality about it that makes it worth it. (I must admit, it was free for me since I was there on Wednesday).

Bottom line is this: Chick-Fil-A will always own fried chicken in my mind. But if you want a vacation, McDonald's isn't a bad place to visit. One thing is for sure, their Southern Style Chicken Biscuit beats Chick-Fil-A's biscuit hands down.

I believe that McDonald's is offering this free chicken party again on Wednesday. You need a plan, I'll help you:

Breakfast - McDonald's
Lunch - McDonald's
Dinner - McDonald's

P.S. - McDonald's has also launched an interactive website debating whether the chicken or the egg came first: What Came First. My answer? The Chicken, obviously.