Can I get some ICE with my Tea?

Lately we have been talking a lot about empty advertising - ads that fill your hopes and dreams and then leave you empty once you take the risk and try it.

Restaurants could never lie more than they do about ICED Tea. I'm not sure if you're an ICED Tea drinker, however I am and I'm angry.

Let's first begin by referencing the always accurate, Wikipedia: "Iced tea is a form of cold tea. Often served over ice." (Observe the photo below. Pitcher of ICED Tea with a glass FULL of ice to the left....that looks good).

Now that we all agree on a true and clear definition of what ICED Tea is, let me begin my story.

It's a hot summer day, I know it's hot because I have spent most of my day either inside a building with air conditioning or driving in my car with the air cranked on high. However the sun looks hot.....I need a refreshment.

Sometimes a bottle of water won't do the trick. A soda leaves you wanting more, but a nice large glass of cold ICED Tea is completely satisfying.

As my craving for a refreshing glass of ICED Tea begins I start to walk through my potential options. Who has good ICED Tea that I can get quickly? Panera, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, McDonald's....

The closest and most convenient option is the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A.

I order, "Two large unsweetened ICED Teas with lemon please."

Upon driving up to pay, the Chick-Fil-A employee hands me the cup and with my first initial grab of the non-sweaty cup I realized something.....I was just handed a cup of tea. Not ICED Tea, but tea. I didn't order hot tea. I didn't order warm tea. I didn't order 'put one cube of ice in my tea' (like the photo below), I ordered ICED Tea. ICED Tea is what they offer on the menu.

Through my irritation and gritted teeth, I politely ask the employee for an extra cup of ice. We pull into a parking spot and proceed to desperately suck down the non ICED Tea to make room for more ice.

However, it never tastes the same. The ice needs to be completely to the top of the cup with the tea poured over it. I'm disappointed, angry and not feeling happy about my purchase.

Chick-Fil-A is not the only one with this ICED Tea flaw. Have you seen the McDonald's billboards? On one side is a cup of ICED Coffee and on the other is a cup of ICED Tea.....I have been to McDonald's a few times to get ICED Tea and found myself drinking lukewarm tea.

Empty Advertising at it's finest. So much anticipation is built once you get the idea of a nice full glass of ICED Tea, and so much is lost with flawed execution in the restaurant. How hard is it for restaurant employees to put one extra scoop of ice in the glass before putting the tea in? What do these people have against ice?

The problem is they are just uneducated about the workings and importance of ICE in ICED Tea. They aren't ICED Tea drinkers, and their manager hasn't told them about the importance of making the perfect glass of ICED tea.

What can we do about this?

1. Think twice about going to a fast food joint to get ICED Tea. Panera is good for one thing, if you can beat the crowds and that is a perfect glass of ICED Tea.

2. If you are going through the drive thru, try this tactic when ordering: Can I have an ICED Tea with extra ice?

3. Hope that the person pouring your ICED Tea, drinks ICED Tea.

Lastly, don't let the advertising and idea of a perfect glass of ICED Tea get you too excited, it's likely that you may be disappointed.

Panera:Crowded. No Service. Overpriced Food

It happened again. I believed an advertisement.

Just yesterday I went on and on about what a scam all advertising is. Full of lies and misleading messages, most advertisements have only one goal: give consumers false hope.

Maybe it's time I start listening to myself talk.

For the past two months I have been watching new Panera Bread billboards go up all over town. On the left hand side they have a pimped out food shot of a bowl of soup with a sandwich served on what looks like a slab of marble. Hmm...I don't recall ever being served on marble at Panera before.

If not on a slab of marble you may see their glorious food perfectly placed on a piece of wood...appetizing. My favorite though? A picture of a women sitting at a beautiful table with her glasses on appearing to be working (ah yes the classic, "third place" shot) with text on the side that reads, "No plastic chairs. No plastic food."

Obviously if you have half a brain it is clear that Panera doesn't serve plastic food. This isn't a little Fisher Price restaurant that serves plastic bananas and hamburgers.

Here's the most annoying thing of all: those billboards make their food look really good. Too good. Enough to make me look at the billboard every time I drive by and think, "hmm...Panera sounds good right now."

You may recall a couple months ago I arrived at Panera at 10:31am to try their new breakfast sandwich. Long story short, I was denied because they stop serving breakfast at 10:30am. In a fit of rage I wrote Panera and they sent me a $10 certificate.

I have been holding on to that $10 waiting for the perfect moment. Today at lunch I decided it was time. I had been watching the billboards for too long, they were starting to irritate me and I was urged to give in and go to Panera again - trust me without the $10 certificate it's likely it would have never happened.

Some things never change.

There we were like always, fighting the crowd to get to the front to place our order. Panera has intelligently designed the line with some wall directly behind it so everyone can crowd around the register waiting to order, unsure if they're in line at all. Like a herd of cows waiting to get to the trough we waited and finally it was our turn.

I ordered my Chipotle Chicken Sandwich - cost $6.59. Choice of side? Bag of chips or bread. Oh but for a $1.99 more I can upgrade to some fruit feature. Hold on a second.....$1.99 to upgrade to fruit? I can buy a pound of apples for about the same price. As you can imagine, I declined this luxurious upgrade. However, I did add a drink and my total price with tax was almost $9. WOW.

My wife got a bagel, bowl of soup and a large drink. Our grand total before using the $10 certificate was about $17. We took our pager, and went to go search desperately for a table and found one outside. (Everyone else was inside sitting in the non plastic chairs eating their non plastic food).

Vrrgbbb vrrbbbgg our pager started to go off and I went to the trough to get our food. I picked up our plastic tray kicked a few people out of the way and managed to get back outside to our table.

Here's the thing. The food isn't bad. It's really good. But my heavens why does it cost an arm and a leg to eat there!?! If I'm going to be spending around $9 to eat I can easily go to a sit down restaurant, get service and more food for only a couple bucks more.

Here's what's interesting - all of the casual dining restaurants have brought their prices down to compete with the Panera Breads of the world. Red Lobster has lunch starting at $6.99. Applebee's, Friday's and Bennigan's all have lunch specials around the same price. They all offer things Panera doesn't: service, less crowds, and no lines....and only for a couple bucks more. When will people start to realize that "fast casual" chains really aren't that amazing? In fact they are extremely overpriced for what you're getting.

The gap between fast food restaurants, fast casual restaurants and casual dining restaurants is closing.

Maybe Panera should put up a new billboard that says what they really stand for: Crowded. No Service. Overpriced Food.

A Frosty Shake of Lies!

Don't believe advertisements. They're usually never true.

When I was a kid there used to be all kinds of amazing commercials for G.I. Joe, Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In the commercials the toys would do all sorts of unbelievable stuff. Naturally as a kid I would beg my parents to get these toys as clearly I was of the belief that they were real live action figures. (See a commercial full of lies below)

I would rush to the store, get the G.I Joe or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle come home, open the package and....nothing. The toy didn't do anything. It didn't fly on it's own, it didn't shoot it's own gun and it didn't blow up my other toys.

For obvious reasons I was disappointed. Here I had seen a commercial, believed it was real, begged my parents to buy it for me and then been lied to.

It seems that Wendy's has decided to take a similar route. No, Wendy's isn't selling toys but they are selling Frosty Shakes.

Late last week I was sitting watching TV and saw the most amazing commercial. It was a Wendy's advertisement for their new Frosty Shakes. In the ad they looked mouth watering. "Hand spun" Frosty with added flavor. Basically it appeared to be the ultimate milk shake.

I said to the wife - "babe, let's go get a Frosty Shake tonight." For some reason that I will never understand, she agreed.

Off we went, my heart filled with anticipation as we drove to Wendy's. In the good ole days the Frosty always came in only one flavor: chocolate. The lack of Wendy's to live on the Frosty edge always irritated me. Why did their Frosty only come in one flavor? Then they introduced vanilla - which for some reason everyone thought was so revolutionary.

So we get to Wendy's and I ordered a strawberry Frosty Shake. I was very very excited as you can tell from the picture above - it looks outstanding. When I get handed my small plastic cup (that sweats) the whipped cream was lopsided, the cherry was falling into the shake and it was slowly turning into strawberry looking milk.

Upon first suck it came to my attention that no only did it look like strawberry milk, it also tasted like it. The more I sucked the more it melted and the more it melted the more it tasted like Hersey's Strawberry milk. This would have been ok, however I paid almost $3 for a 12oz cup of milk.

This was not the standard, thick, creamy Frosty experience. Matched up against the Chick-Fil-A shake there is simply no comparison. It was runny, watery and just simply not that good.

There I was driving home from Wendy's sucking on my strawberry milk thinking about how Wendy's is full of lies. I was tricked, scammed and taken advantage of. I am an innocent consumer! I was just watching a commercial and Wendy's did an outstanding job of convincing me their new Frosty Shakes were a "must have". Not only was I convinced but I managed to convince my wife that I needed to have a Frosty Shake. My time, money and gas was completely wasted.

What was I thinking! Wendy's Frosty Shake commercials are just like any other advertisement - a kernel of truth in a field of lies. They might as well have been selling me G.I. Joe's that do nothing but sit there once you open the package.

What can we learn from this? Three things:

1. If you want strawberry milk, save money and just buy Hershey's Strawberry Mix.
2. If you want a Frosty - go with the original. If you want a shake - go to Chick-Fil-A.
3. Nothing has changed. TV ads have been filled with lies since the TV was invented. Don't let glorious food shots and a catchy voice over trick you.

You can watch the video below to see my real life disappointment....

We have a Winner...

We had a small change of plans.

When we started the Wings and Beer War we made a vow to only visit "wing houses." After a few days it came to our attention that we made a vital mistake: Wing Zone doesn't serve beer. In a matter of moments we quickly eliminated them from the War...if they don't serve beer we had no business going there. Our alternative was Beef O' Brady's after a tip from a loyal reader that claimed they had the best wings on earth.

Then something happened.

I was at Outback Steakhouse over the weekend and discovered something that needed our immediate attention: Tassie's Buffalo Strips (boneless wings). Shortly after my life changing visit I phoned Adam and told him about this remarkable product.

Critics may say that Outback can't count in our War because it is not exclusively a wing joint, however, our mission when we entered this war was to bring you the best wing and beer combination on earth. We planned to accomplish this solely through "wing houses" however, Outback's boneless wings were too astounding to over look. They had to enter the War.

Tonight we went to Outback again and paired their boneless wings with Beach Bum Blonde Ale. This was only the beginning of our amazing experience.

Not only was the beer selection great - so were the wings. Outback was the polar opposite of everything that was wrong with WingHouse, Hooters and Buffalo Wild Wings: real silverware, real plate ware, great service and no charge for the celery or blue cheese dressing.

The wings are large, and tossed in an unique Outback mild/spicy sauce. The taste is superb. The wings aren't dry, the sauce isn't too overwhelming and the portion size is just right.

After a few initial bites it occured to us that we had found our winner....Outback gave us something no other restaurant did: the complete package. No, there weren't any "gorgeous" half naked women, however the food quality and price out weighed everything else. Did I mention that it cost $6.49? Less than every wing place we went to - and the sides were free.

Our decision was completely scientific. We ordered the most popular choice, it was boneless, and we judged on service, quality, taste and price.

We were shocked to say the least. I had fully expected Buffalo Wild Wings to win this War. Outback came in out of no where and was not part of our original plan, however the wings they served up cannot be ignored. Paired with the refreshing taste of Beach Bum Blonde Ale (on draft) the experience was truly sensational.

Next time a satisfying plate of Wings and an ice cold Beer is on your mind go against your natural instinct - go to Outback and ask for a few orders of Tassie's Buffalo Strips.

Commercial Break for Pizza

I probably owe you an explanation.

It's Wings and Beer War week and here I am writing about something that has no connection to wings or beer.

However, it is important that I bring this to your attention. It's a little pizza place called Country Pizza Inn. I have written many times about "Off Brand Pizza" however I have never mentioned the magic that is Country Pizza Inn.

The magic begins with the square slices. I remember the first time I ever saw a square sliced pizza. It was the early 1990s and Pizza Hut launched the Big Foot Pizza. Do you remember it? It was a giant rectangle pizza with square slices. The reason it was so remarkable was because suddenly the crust is eliminated when you eat the interior pieces. Every bite is delicious - no crust, just cheese all the way to the edge.

Country Pizza Inn takes it a step further. They serve a round pizza only sliced in squares. The result? The best of both worlds. If you are a normal pizza slice person there are 4 "corners" shaped like triangles and the rest is for everyone else. It has the perfect layer of thick cheese with a delicate crust.

We ordered Country Pizza Inn tonight and once again - - - it was amazing. I got my middle pieces and my wife got the 4 triangle sliced corners. Which type of pizza slice do you prefer? (Vote to the left).

There are four Country Pizza Inn locations in the Tampa area and here is a Classy Eater tip: order take out instead of delivery and get 20% off of your pizza.

From now live a life only with squared pizza. I promise you won't regret it, plus it theoretically could be better for you: less crust = less carbs. Hmmm....that makes me feel better.

Now....back to the War.

WingHouse Robbed Hooters

If I worked at Hooters in 1994 I would have been furious.

I would have been mad because some local guy by the name of Crawford Ker stole my entire concept.

Ker (the founder of the original WingHouse) is a local of the Tampa Bay area and after a short run in the NFL thought he would come back to Tampa and open a restaurant. His idea? Wings, full bar, hot women, and lots of TVs.....sounds like Hooters to me...

It's not like when McDonald's launches the "snack wrap" and then Burger King does the same thing. It's not the same as when Subway offers $5 subs and then a month later Quizno's does the exact same offer.

I'm not talking about a single menu item, idea or price point. I'm talking about stealing an entire restaurant concept - from top to bottom.

There are small differences between the two restaurants - both have an entire wood interior, simple streamlined menu, Christmas lights around the restaurant all finished off with old fashioned pictures from the "good ole days".

The only difference? Shorter shorts.

Well, that's not the only difference but it is the most notable one. If you walked in WingHouse, took all the menus off of the table and had a bunch of Hooters' girls serving instead of the WingHouse girls you probably would never even know the difference.

The plate ware is also very similar. We ordered our standard two most popular wing choices which came out on a fake wood plate. After we ordered our wings our server asked if we wanted any "celery, blue cheese or ranch" with that. Learning from my last wing scam experience I kindly asked our server if there was a "charge" for the side items. Much to my surprise.......there was. 99 cents for a side of dressing and another 99 cents for celery. I kindly declined this outrageous up sell.

How can they possibly be charging for Kraft Ranch dressing in a side plastic cup in the restaurant? It's wrong and sneaky. Normal dudes who go there would never imagine that they are charging for a side of dressing or celery.

The wings were good. We got mild and Dallas (BBQ), neither of which had a defining unique taste. The mild especially tasted very similar to Hooters and the BBQ also was close to Hooters. Unlike Hooters however they were completely tossed in the sauce. The Hooters wings weren't completely "tossed" in the sauce and the WingHouse wings were completely coated.

I suppose in reality the WingHouse concept is like Hooters 2.0 - same idea but slighted updated. The women are a little better looking and however, I think it's more perception than reality - loose the white scrunchy socks, make the shorts a little shorter, the shirts a little tighter and for some reason they appear to be "hotter".

How should you decide where to go get wings? It's hard. The prices are the same, food quality is the same, atmosphere is the same, service is the same.

My suggestion:

First decide which location is closest. Assuming they are both the same distance from where you are, ask yourself this question: Do I want to look at hot women or do I just want to go eat and not be distracted?

If your answer is - I want to go see hot women then your choice is clear: Go to WingHouse and check out the hooters.

It's still 1983 at Hooters

Hooters is part of the American culture.

It began as a sex symbol in the 1980s - the real life extension of some sort of Playboy fantasy. Back then, the world as we know it was turned upside down. Women servers in tight short orange shorts with tank tops on.....serving me beer and wings?!!??! It's no wonder Hooters spread rapidly across the country.

Once they opened for business and the word started to spread, men from across town came flocking to this new safe sex haven. A place with decent food, decent service and above average looking women.

That was the 1980s....now over 20 years later nothing has changed. That's not necessarily a good thing. The uniforms are almost identical, the logo is still the infamous "owl", and the inside is tired and still lit up like 1983.

What has changed is the culture surrounding Hooters. Now they aren't the only restaurant with good looking women, they aren't the only one who serves wings and cold beer.

Not to mention we now have something called MTV which broadcasts sexy reality shows on a nightly basis. Suddenly - Hooters isn't as sexy as it used to be.

For this reason among many others I personally haven't been to a Hooters in years.

The Wings and Beer War however called for our immediate attention to what Hooters has to offer.

When we got inside it was like walking through a time machine to 1983 - I should also take time to mention that we were dining at the original Hooters in Clearwater, FL. Colored lights line the interior of the 90% wood panel restaurant and the only uniform change has been the shift from orange shorts to black.

We sat ourselves and true to our plan ordered the "most popular" items. One order of original Hooters medium wings and one order of BBQ wings. I also requested celery, and sides of blue cheese and ranch dressing for dipping reasons.

Our service was by no means outstanding however our food did come out on real plates and I used real silverware to eat. In comparison to BW3's......the wings were unbelievable. It's clear they weren't microwaved, and were actually deep fried in the back. They were tossed in a fresh sauce and had a unique flavoring that only Hooters can offer.

The portion size was decent and I think overall we were happy with our experience. The beer combination was going well and we were feeling pretty good with ourselves as we lived for a short hour in 1983.

Everything was going great until something catastrophic happen.....we got the bill and as I began to review it quickly I noticed a $0.59 charge for celery and $0.39 for the dressings. WHAT?!?! Since when do we charge for tiny little sides of dressing? In the big grand scheme of things, it was just over a dollar. But, it's the principle of the matter. It just doesn't seem right to be charging a premium for a very average dressing. If this was some sort of specially designed, unique high quality product I would be ok with it, however......this IS HOOTERS!

My advice is that if you want to spend a night out, eat some good wings, get some cold beer and live in the past for a few hours Hooters still isn't a bad place to go. But - make sure you don't get celery or any dressing as a side!

The Fast Food Wing Joint: BW3

My saga begins first by understanding where the chicken wing came from.

Think about it for a moment - basically the "chicken wing" is the scrap piece of chicken that nobody wanted. It's the left over bit that didn't make the cut into a whole portioned meal. Interestingly enough, this revolutionary food product had a humble beginning.

The year was 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. Owner Teressa Bellissimo was faced with feeding her son and his friends a late snack. Having an excess of chicken wings on hand, she fried up the wings, dipped them in a buttered spicy Chile sauce, and served them with celery and blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce to cut the heat. The wings were an instant hit.

Today the wing is still idolized as a miracle restaurant meal. Restaurant concepts have been built on the wing and wing alone. Men across the nation escape the work week grind by finding the local "wing house" to indulge.

One of the restaurants that has been built solely on wings is Buffalo Wild Wings.

It was my first visit to Buffalo Wild Wings - a place I have been itching to go to for quite sometime. My interest began when I started hearing people refer to it as BW3. A name that I'm not sure anyone really understands the reasoning behind. It doesn't make much sense as there are only two Ws. My wife's theory is B Wild (wings, grill, bar) 3. However my friend Adam states that the name is based off of the three founders last names. Wikipedia writes that the nick name comes from the original restaurant name which was Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck.

They may want to consider changing the name to BWFF for Buffalo Wild Fast Food. The atmosphere isn't horribly awful, and it is more of a "family" restaurant than I had imagined. They have an outstanding selection of beer and it would be a great place to watch a football game. Their signature "offering" is all of their special sauces. In order to keep the Wings and Beer War accurate and correct we made a decision to order the most popular boneless wings at every location and we always will order the smallest portion to measure on price and portion size.

We got two orders of 8 wings - the Parmesan garlic and chipotle BBQ priced at $8.99. All was fine and dandy until the wings came out in a cardboard dish.......wait what? Hmm.....a cardboard dish and then the server handed me a plastic fork in a plastic wrapper. The blue cheese was in a plastic container with a lid. A few moments later I couldn't remember if I was in KFC or Buffalo Wild Wings.

The wings were good. Flavorful and a good portion size for the price. BUT as we started eating something else caught my attention......a sticker on the inside of the cardboard dish with "Parmesan garlic" written on it. My guesstimate is that this sticker is so the cook can see the dish of food, grab it out of the fridge and pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes before serving to the guests. Suddenly, $8.99 didn't seem so cheap.

Buffalo Wild Wings has designed a beautiful system. Decent, clean environment, good beverage selection, lots of TVs and fast food they charge a premium for. The entire system is based off of adding sauce to boring chicken wings. The food isn't quality, the service isn't outstanding, and yet they have managed to take this concept nationwide.

Bottom line - it's good but don't expect high quality. Buffalo Wild Wings truly is serving the scrap piece of chicken no one wanted, just coated in a sauce to drown out the poor food quality. If all you want is a cold beer and some wings with sauce on them BW3 is the place to go.

Read The Brew Reviews here.

Wings & Beer War

Lots of restaurants have wings. Even more serve beer.

Which restaurant has the best wing/beer combination? Does it exist? With all of the flavors, sauces, spices and taste of wings we can sometimes get lost in what exactly is going on. Who knows how to pick the right sauce and then compliment with the perfect refreshing beer?

We are of the belief that this great food/beer mystery has never been resolved. Many men have attempted it, but none have quite figured it out. Our journey this week will be part art, part science as we uncover and fight through all of the choices and potential combinations and end with one final ultimate restaurant that serves the best wings and beer combination. We will be going to Hooters, WingHouse, Wing Zone, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Much like the Sandwich Smackdown and the Breakfast Bake Off, the Wings and Beer War will be difficult. I won't be alone. My good friend Adam and author of The Brew Reviews will be joining me on this quest. He will provide analysis of beer choices and I will review food quality, taste and the overall restaurant experience. Together we will write and provide you the most accurate and in depth results you can find.

Let the war begin.

Eating Out Never Felt So Good

It seems not even the strongest can survive. Read below for the latest update from Christine as she fights to continue "Eating In"....

Day 24,130,948,239,048,234 -- June 14, 2008, 10:17 PM

I was doing so well. I was halfway through...and then? A group of 9,000 people came to Coronado for a convention and after spending 6 hours in the 90 degree heat to assist with remote check-in (for close to 1200 reservations!), Sarah, my fellow intern, and I decided we needed a few drinks.

At that moment in time, I couldn't resist any longer. I had to do it.

The thought of a $4 Long Island Iced Tea made my mouth water. The need to collapse into the fetal position hit me at that very moment.

And I did something awful. I kinda cheated. While I, myself, didn't pick up the tab, I still went to a restaurant and I still consumed food and several Long Islands.

I'm not gonna lie. It felt AWESOME at that moment in time. This morning, when I woke up, though, I felt like I cheated on a boyfriend. I'm sorry I let you down, but here's the deal: With the money I would have spent on that venture, I'm going to purchase a Publix Gift Certificate and donate it to one of the shelter's downtown. Someone else should benefit from my enjoyment, too. Especially someone who needs it more than I do.

I'm still going to continue on this journey, because not all is lost here. One of our Green Eggs readers sent Dan a book of fun recipes from which I'm going to make several of my meals from next week. I'm going to review them as well as keep you updated about how things are going.

Keep tuning in, 'cause I'm still gonna keep Eating In for the next 15 days...

Aahh the Power of the Spoon

Eating begins with a spoon.

It's the first utensil we hold. We learn to eat by scooping directly into our mouth. While it is slightly barbaric, it's also extremely efficient. What better way to dine than just moving everything directly from one location to another?

A fork doesn't work nearly as well and it's much more violent. It involves stabbing and trying to keep everything balanced onto it as you transport. Knives are good for nothing except for making things more manageable for the forks. But - the properly designed spoon can do it all. Think about it...

What can't you do with a spoon?

I first discovered its unique and underestimated power while camping. When I first went camping I would bring the full utensil set - fork, knife, and spoon. Then as I became motivated to reduce what I was packing and carrying (and because I'm lazy) I soon realized that the spoon was all I needed to survive.

I know what you're thinking now.....why not a Spork? Sure...sporks are ok. But basically they are the off beat cousin of the spoon.

While at my primitive wilderness environment I for the first time began to understand the pure beauty of the spoon. Give me a meal, I pull the spoon out of my bag and bam I'm eating.

Then Chipotle came into my life.

If you only order the burrito at Chipotle, you can stop reading now because you are clearly more barbaric than I am since you eat with your hands....however if you order the "bowl" please continue.

The Chipotle burrito bowl is outstanding. Here you have all of the ingredients and magic of Chipotle in a bowl in front of you. You can mix it up how you like and also get the flavor of every bite since all of the ingredients are evenly proportioned.

One problem - you can't get everything out of the bowl. As you near the conclusion you may begin to notice that the salsa, cheese, rice, and meat begin to stick in impossible edges of your bowl. A fork does nothing for you here because of it's poor design. The fork can't get in the tiny places of the bowl to get the goods out. Don't bother trying to stab, it won't get you anywhere. (the picture to the left is extremely disappointing, obviously Chipotle thinks the the fork is a more useful tool).

What you need, is a spoon.

Pundits will disagree. They will shout and try to make a case that the spoon is ineffective at getting pork and steak out of the bowl. I however, disagree. Go back to the basics, remember your childhood - scooping is the key for true spoon success.

I have tried spoon burrito bowl eating and as I predicted it was a completely different experience. Refreshing, captivating and empowering. Finally I controlled the end of my Chipotle burrito bowl. I could get out all of the bits of delicious food out of the awkward spots. No one could stop me with my spoon in my right hand and my napkin in the other, I was on top of the world.

On my recent visits at Chipotle I have noticed a trend, I'm not alone. Many loyal Chipotle visitors have discovered the same thing I have: If you want to eat right at Chipotle, eat with a spoon.

Don't be ashamed, no one is looking. I mean....you eat cereal out of a bowl with a spoon....how is a burrito any different?

Trust me, you won't regret it. Next time you're at Chipotle and you walk up to grab your napkins and fill up your drink stop for a moment - think of me, grab a spoon and behold it's power. I guarantee you will never touch a fork again.

Searching for Sierra Mist Undercover

I rarely discuss "products" with you.

Restaurants are my thing, and if you haven't noticed I try to eat at them more than "eating in". I have had many readers write in requesting that I cross the bridge to discuss new food products or drinks on my blog and I have gracefully declined. No food/drink product has ever been compelling enough for me to discuss with you here.

Then, something strange happened.

My wife bought Sierra Mist Undercover.

I should also take this time to mention that I am not big on drinking soda. I will have an occasional Coke Zero, but usually I order tea wherever I go and keep tea in my refrigerator at home as well.

In the past few weeks for some unusual reason I found myself buying Sierra Mist at Target or Publix. I have had it once or twice and it became a good alternative to water and tea. It's refreshing and not too horribly bad for you (I drink the "free" no calorie can by force).

Since I was drinking Sierra Mist, my wife came across "Undercover" and picked it up for me. My life hasn't been the same since. It has the core flavor of a regular Sierra Mist with a splash of Mandarin orange. It sounds odd at first but the taste is sensational.

It leaves out everything that is bad about orange soda (weird after taste, orange tongue, etc) and puts the subtle flavor of orange mixed in with the lemon lime to create something I have never tasted before.

Soon in a matter of days I became obsessed with Sierra Mist Undercover. I would take a can to work and drink one at home. My obsession turned into a sense of urgency when I stopped being able to find it in the grocery store.

I was as if our Publix stopped carrying it, over night. I requested that an employee go pull the last 12 pack they had out of the back and then a few days later we couldn't find it at all. I decided to go to a different Publix, they didn't have any either. I went to another Publix and they also were sold out. Since then I have checked Target and they don't have it either. To be perfectly honest I feel slightly abused by Sierra Mist...I know the drink is limited edition but I just thought that made it special not impossible to find!

What is going on?!? How come I can't find this soda I have become obsessed with!? As an alternative and in a moment of desperation, my wife bought me Sunkist Orange soda and thinking I knew the secret to Sierra Mist's genius I put a splash of my orange soda in with my regular Sierra Mist....much to my dismay it tasted nothing like the Undercover soda.

Currently you may find me wandering the aisles of your local grocery store in search of a 12 pack of Sierra Mist Undercover. If you happen to find it before me, resist the temptation to buy it and email me instead....just pretend I told you it tasted awful.

Eating In Tip: Buy Spinach to Continue Living

The saga continues....below is part two from Christine who is Eating In for an entire month...

Day 6 – June 3, 2008, 10:09 PM

So far, I’ve saved just three George Washingtons short of two Benjamin Franklins, and that is since Thursday. On this coming Thursday, I will fill up my gas tank (roughly $35), pick up some fresh fruits and frozen veggies (this week, since I still have some food from last week, I’m not going to spend more than $30), and continue on this mission.

Due to an increase in the amount of work and that $300 dollar check from the government, in addition to Disney paying me back $86 dollars they unlawfully stole from me because I had too many pieces of costume (…even though I’m not even in a costumed role?!), I am projecting to save close to $750 by next Thursday…and I will only be at the two week mark. Is that unbelievable or what?!

Spinach has become my new best friend. I’ve discovered how you can stuff pretty much anything from tomatoes to manicotti to lasagna to chicken with it.

What’s nice is that you can mix it with all kinds of foods and flavors, from garlic and Gorgonzola to Parmesan and artichokes (or all of them if you’re feeling wild!) to cheddar and red peppers if you want, and those combinations will make for great stuffings.

The following is a recipe for Spinach Stuffing…stuff whatever you want with it.

1. Package Green Giant Frozen Green Spinach or Frozen Creamed Spinach

Some Bread Crumbs

Some Parmesan

Mix together in a bowl. Add any of the following items to flavor/taste: garlic, Gorgonzola, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese, salt, fresh cracked pepper, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar. Add all of them if you want. Stuff Manicotti, Lasagna, Chicken, or toss with regular pasta and bake until it looks like it’s done. Keep in mind the only item that is measured in this lovely concoction is the Spinach. Add everything to your liking…it’s pretty impossible to mess this one up.

The Days Are All Starting to Blur Together - June 09, 2008, 9:16 PM

So, I’ve been avoiding restaurants, and I’ve been grocery shopping and snatching food from the hot-box at work, but the cravings are starting to hit me, and hit me bad. I just want some Starbucks Venti Unsweetened Black Iced Tea (which I can make for free at my house…but it tastes so much better when it costs $2.24 and someone else makes it for me).

I’m also jonesin’ for a good Sunday Brunch…those are what I miss the most. I could definitely go for a Gorgonzola Bacon Burger from TooJay’s, or a Cobb Salad from Bonefish. PS – do any of the restaurants listed above want me to write about how delicious that particular menu item is when I make my comeback on June 30?

I have managed to save the projected amount : $750, and it’s not even Thursday yet. By then, I’m projecting $1100, since I get paid roughly $350 per week. I think the most exciting thing about this is that I might actually get to pay for my rent and tuition before they send me one of those notices telling me that I have 7 days until they kick me out.

Cell Phone Popcorn

Authentic Mexican Food

I used to know what authentic Mexican food tasted like.

Then Moe's, Chipotle, Qdoba and Taco Bell came around and the country changed with them. Sure they serve "authentic" Mexican food. But really, it's been Americanized to the extreme so we aren't too overwhelmed by the true "authentic" flavors.

Before all of the fast casual Mexican places I used to eat true Mexican food in a restaurant run by Mexican chefs.

It's been years since I found myself with an opportunity to even eat at a real Mexican restaurant because few have been able to survive the overwhelming growth of fast casual wanna-be's.

Except for one.

In downtown Dunedin, FL there is a restaurant: Casa Tina that still serves up a real Mexican restaurant experience. I have driven by this restaurant probably 15 times, I've even walked up to the outside of the building poking my head around, reading the menu and then walking away. As you know it's hard to earn my trust, and risking my money at a new restaurant can sometimes be overwhelming - what if it's not good? Would I have rather had something else?

It wasn't until someone else was willing to pay that I found myself suddenly eager to try this restaurant I had been thinking about for years.

The inside of Casa Tina is overwhelming to say the least. Here, the walls are plastered with all sorts of Mexican artifacts, colors and the speakers play loud music that drowns out conversation.

The tables are tight and you feel at times that everyone in the restaurant is all in one giant party. The menu is limited and the prices are high.

We ordered chips and salsa and I also attempted to order something "unique" off the menu, all the while in my head day dreaming about a burrito from Chipotle.

The service was mediocre at best and I often found myself ssppluurrrgggppsssllurrg (sucking) on ice in order to signal the need for a refill.

Then our food came out all on different plates. Different shapes, sizes and designs. No, this was not a "creative" attempt at being original, they just really had all different styles of china.

By now I was horrified. In disgust I started thinking and mumbling in my head - "How can a place like this be open?!?" "Why is this place packed?!" "Do these people realize they can probably get better food, better service and a cheaper price somewhere else?!?!"

Then as I started eating it occurred to me - this is real. I'm in Mexico right now. The people in this restaurant aren't paying for quality food or outstanding service. They are paying for a real life Mexican experience.

Casa Tina is banking on providing something authentic. They don't care what plate ware they serve food on or how highly trained their servers are. It doesn't matter to them if you can't understand or read the menu or if the tables are stacked on top of each other. They know you'll be back because only at their restaurant can you get something real, something Chipotle, Moe's or Taco Bell can't offer.

It's amazing how a "real" restaurant can get away with this. Can you imagine walking in Olive Garden, not being able to read the menu, getting served on 10 different style plates and sitting at a table where your elbows touch the table next to you? NO! You would walk out - enraged!

Would I go back to Casa Tina? Probably not. For me, the food and service is more important than anything else. But, if I'm in the mood for a trip to Mexico without having to fly there Casa Tina is the place to go. It's possible it's the only authentic Mexican restaurant left.

Great Balls of Fried Macaroni!

Macaroni and cheese over the course of time has always been a food of comfort, trust and complete and utter pleasure.

Depending on the specific recipe, the taste quality can vary however, one thing always stays the same: melted delicious cheese. I have been eating different variations of mac and cheese my entire life: baked, out of the box, and tossed in cheese.

Last night, something revolutionary happened. I tried macaroni and cheese....fried.

I was at Cheesecake Factory - didn't have too wait long, but did still had to read the novel menu and finally fell upon my decision: Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls.

It felt like I was ordering an item off of the Florida State Fair menu (which is one of my favorite places to eat) however instead of getting fried mac and cheese balls on a stick I got them on a plate.

The design on the plate was simple yet mouth watering....four giant fried mac and cheese balls placed in the four corners of the plate with a garnish in the middle and some sort of red tomato marinara like sauce on the side.

When I cut the fried ball open, cheese and noodles came gushing out....much like fruit juice from a Gusher. However the ball didn't fall apart and I dipped the fried shell with perfectly melted cheese and pasta into the marinara. The bite was sensational. Suddenly everything became right with the world.

How does Cheesecake Factory do it? The concept is genius: take a pleasurable food item and then fry it (which makes everything taste better) to perfection.

Technically speaking the fried mac and cheese balls are an appetizer but don't let that stop you. Cheesecake Factory has a lot of items on their menu which are completely unnecessary however with the mac and cheese balls they have gone to the edge of food innovation.

I ordered dessert (because I had to by force, who doesn't go there and order cheesecake?) which was a slice of Adam's Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple cheesecake: peanut butter and snickers....yes.

So here's the plan, next time you are thinking about a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese stop, get in your car and drive to Cheesecake Factory. If you're going to eat mac and cheese you might as well do it the best way possible: fried.

It's worth the wait.

Hands Free Eating

"Eating In" Survival Kit: Lunchables and Broccoli

The journey has begun.

This is the first blog post chronicling a month in the life of Christine, who has made a vow to go 30 days without eating in a restaurant. Below she writes about her life in a world without restaurants, and how much money she has saved in the first 5 days of: "Eating In."

"Day One: May 29, 2008 - 10:38 PM

I made the decision to go a whole month without eating out about 6 hours ago. It was a swift decision, one that was made not long after my co-worker and I decided to eat lunch for free at work instead of wasting time and gas to go out. I had already previously decided to attempt this monstrous feat yesterday, but was only going to try a week. I decided to go for a month once I realized that I have made close to $10,000 dollars since January 11^th and have spent every…last…penny. Granted, I did pay about $3,000 worth of bills, but still…$7,000 dollars on going out to eat?! After concluding that I didn’t need to drink heavily and eat at fancy places to be around my friends (and myself) in order for me to have a good time, I saw the light.

I rarely discipline and challenge myself the way I should. I go to the gym when I feel like it (which isn’t that often), I spend money on stupid things, I forget to pay my bills on time and I have the tendency to talk a lot and not provide any sort of result. I don’t understand how I’ve managed to get to work on time every single day since I began my new job, and keep track of the necessary tools I need to do my job, but I’ve done it. However, it’s not enough.

It’s time for me to start saving and spending. Saving my money, but spending my time being more creative. It’s time for me to pay my $2,000 rent bill…two weeks ago. It’s time for the results I’ve been failing to provide. I’m accepting this challenge I’ve presented to myself.

I’ve always wanted to start a cooking show, but since I don’t have a video camera, I’m outta luck, but throughout the next 4 weeks, I’ll post recipes of things that I’ve made that you yourself can enjoy.

Tonight, I spent $40.08 on the groceries needed to survive my first week. I’ve given myself a $50 per week budget, so I still have $9.92 to get rid of. It will probably go to three $2.99 bottles of wine from Wal-Mart, which is what I’m sure I’m going to need to get me through this first week of going Restaurant-Free, completely cold turkey. Sounds tacky, I know, but I’m going into crisis mode.

My first meal, restaurant free:

Broccoli Salad…the easiest, but tastiest broccoli snack around:

You’ll need: Broccoli, Sunflower Seeds (seeded), Honey Dijon, and Grated Cheddar Cheese

Mix ingredients in a bowl. Eat. Digest.

Day 5 – June 2, 2008 - 9:08 AM

I had a dream last night that I lost the challenge because I forgot about it and ordered a salad at a restaurant. That salad just happened to be the delicious broccoli salad I’ve been eating for the past four days, except instead of costing me about $2.00, it cost me $20.00! It’s a tasty salad, but it wasn’t even a salad worth losing for! If I’m gonna lose this, I’m going big.

I’m not yet in the fetal position, though, and I consider this to be a good sign. I have to say that even though I haven’t been dining out, I’ve still been having a pretty good time. We had a BBQ the other night which was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I went and saw Sex and the City the night before that, so I’ve been keeping myself busy. I joke about being in the fetal position, but really, so far, this hasn’t been all that hard. It’s just a major adjustment.

Here is another recipe for you to enjoy:

Lunchables Pizza:

You’ll need: A grocery store, a car, money.

Go to grocery store. Pick up Lunchables Pizza (3 for $5). Pay with money. Get in your car and drive home. Enjoy. Tastes best at 5 AM before going to sleep, or at 5 AM when you're waking up to go to work.

25 days to go..."