Bagels Since Before You Were Born

It's 10:15 am at our local popular Dunkin Donuts and there is a long line.

I'm in line for two bagels, coffee and some munchkins. I patiently wait for about 10 minutes and when I finally get to the counter to place my order they're out of multi-grain, blueberry and everything bagels.

How or why they're out of this many bagels is beyond me. However, we were very very annoyed.

We walked out, discouraged and began pondering other options. Our day was really riding on eating at Dunkin Donuts and now that was no longer available we needed to think of something quickly.

Then, out of thin air a historical local bagel shop floated into my head. If you're local it's likely you have heard of it, Clearwater Bagels.

It's a small bagel place in an old, worn down plaza off the side of a busy street. The signs are all faded outside and unless you were looking for it you would probably drive right by.

In high school we used to go to Clearwater Bagels all the time, but it's been many years since I was last there. The parking is limited and the restaurant itself can probably only fit about 10 customers inside.

As soon as you walk in you're greeted by baskets of freshly baked bagels and on the wall near the door are old reviews of the bagel shopped that have turned yellow over time.

There is nothing exciting about Clearwater Bagels. There are no discounts, deals or special bagel breakfast sandwiches. They just serve bagels and they have no shame in doing it. However they do 2 things that are very special indeed: their cream cheese and bagels are made fresh in store every day.

We placed our order and the owner and his side kick employee got to toasting our bagels and spreading their magnificent cream cheese over them.

As they were making our order I wandered around the small area and started reading the old articles on the wall. One photo in the article looked like the owner and I asked him, "Hey is this you?" He half laughed and half grunted under his breath and said, "Yes but that's from a long time ago." I couldn't seem to help myself so I asked how long ago it was. His response? "Are you 30? If not, then I've been making bagels since before you were born."

Wow.

Making bagels since before I was born....there is something to be said about a restaurant that has been in business for 30 years. When he handed us our bagels and I took my first bite I suddenly knew why.

They were amazing. Crunchy on the outside.....moist and chewy on the inside. They tasted fresh, homemade and the cream cheese was absolutely perfect. The recipe tasted like it had been 30 years in the making.

The first sign that something is amazing is when no one is talking while your eating.....there was complete silence in our car as we ate and drove home.

Finally when we were done I was the first to break the silence. "Thank goodness Dunkin ran out of bagels, we're never going back there again."

Bagels are a very special breakfast food. For a long time, Dunkin has always been my favorite....but they didn't deliver and now I'll probably be going to Clearwater Bagel a lot more often.

Everyone has their favorite bagel place, what's yours?

Sounds Phenomenal. Sounds like EVOS

Greasy, salty, fatty, unhealthy.

I must be describing fast food right?

For years Fast Food has gotten the reputation that their food will kill you. From greasy fries to fattening triple stacked burgers with special sauce, fast food only does one thing: clog your arteries.

Until now.

There is this little fast food joint called EVOS who is doing things very differently. Their claim is that they are the "fast food, feel great" restaurant that also offers all natural products that are good for the earth too.

Sounds impossible. A fast food place with healthy food and it's earth friendly?

Everyone I have talked to always says how amazing EVOS is. After a year of people telling me how I "have to go there" I finally decided it was worth a try.

When you walk in to EVOS you feel healthy. Everything is green, hip, modern and contemporary. Signs all over the restaurant talk about how they are conserving the earth and behind the counter where you order are snacks that look like something you would buy at Whole Foods. Naturally raised chocolate bars, treats, drinks and more.

The menu is straight forward. You can order a special burger, chicken fingers, or wrap. The burgers are special because they're not grilled. EVOS roasts them in an oven, therefore there is no grease at all.

They have a few side choices, however my primary focus was on the "Airfries". Similar to the burgers....they're called airfries because EVOS bakes the fries in the oven instead of dropping them in a bucket of boiling grease to cook them.

I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted a steak burger or a regular burger. I always feel like trying something different, but I'm afraid I won't like it. When I go to my usual restaurants I traditionally get the same thing because I'm worried I won't like something new.

This is when EVOS got really amazing. The very cheerful, friendly and helpful employee told me that if I try something I don't like I can bring it back up and they will give me something else.....and he guaranteed it.

When the heck has this ever happened to you?!

Think about all of the times you have been in a restaurant. Have you ever had the employee guarantee you'll like something and then promise to change it out before you even order?

I was stunned, so from his urging I ordered the steak burger, airfries and vanilla shake.

We took a seat, they called our name and on our way back from getting our food I stopped at the "ketchup bar". EVOS offers 4 different types of ketchup, some spicy, and one that has a slight BBQ flavor. Feeling bold I got all 4.

The burger was good. It was nice and juicy and the bun was more like bread than a standard white bun from McDonald's or BK. It tasted like a regular burger, however I didn't feel like I was going to have a heart attack and die when I was done eating it.

Airfries.....very cool concept and extremely tasty, but because they are cooked in the oven and not fried they don't have the certain "crispness" that makes fries so amazing. However the shake made up for it. Extremely thick, delicious and the best part........only had over 100 calories in it. YES.

When we were finishing up our meal the same employee who was working the cash register and guaranteed I would like my food came over to our table to check on how we were doing. Again....what the heck?! Hourly employees who care enough to come from behind the counter and ask me how my food is?! It was like some perfect customer service restaurant time warp!

Let me run this down for you simply:

- Healthy fast food that's naturally raised
- Amazing shakes
- Extremely cool atmosphere
- Guarantee you will love it and the promise to change it if you don't
- Ketchup bar
- Employees who walk the restaurant to make sure you're happy.

Sound phenomenal. Sounds like EVOS.

6 Reasons to Avoid Wing Street

It was 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon and through an unfortunate series of events I found myself inside of a Pizza Hut/Wing Street.

The people I was with thought it would be interesting to order wings from Pizza Hut's Wing Street. We had our choice of bone-in or bone-out wings (doesn't that just sound a little nasty....bone-out?)

The Manager warned us that the bone-out wings were a little smaller than bone-in and were actually more like nuggets.

Ok, so instead of Wing Street this place should be called Nugget Street?

We decided to go for the bone-out wings (nuggets) anyway and took a seat in the rather unattractive and dirty dining area.

Once the wings (nuggets) came out I couldn't help but be completed shocked. How does Pizza Hut/Wing Street charge for these? They looked completely disgusting....and here are 6 reasons why you should avoid them at all costs.

6 Reasons to Avoid Wing Street

1. They're overpriced. For our 10 wings (nuggets) and a small soda it was over $10.
2. It costs extra for Blue Cheese. 50 cents for 1.5oz of dressing for your wings.
3. The wings are frozen before cooked and not entirely fresh (confirmed by the manager).
4. Veins. There was one in my nugget. (At this point I stopped eating them completely).
5. The wing sauce isn't any good and half of the wings weren't even covered in it.
6. There are thousands of other places to get wings that are higher quality and taste better.

Wing Street is Pizza Hut's attempt to take advantage of their delivery business in hopes of selling more than just pizza. This is similar to what they're now doing with pasta. Their idea is that if they can make a decent quality product and deliver it to customers' front door then people will order it.

I have a better idea: stick to pizza.

Guilty Pleasure: Boston Market Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese is one of the great food pleasures in life.

It combines two of the world's most wonderful creations: pasta and cheese.

Mac and Cheese comes in a variety of forms, shapes, sizes and tastes. To find world class mac and cheese is extremely difficult. From my personal experience, homemade mac and cheese is the best, however there is at least one alternative: Boston Market.

I know, crazy right?

Boston Market is a strange fast food restaurant. It's set up like a buffet, but it's not all you can eat. Actually it's more like a cafeteria, not to mention it's a little expensive. Like most people out there you probably know them for their rotisserie chicken.

Their chicken is good. But, who cares?

We don't need more choices and flavors and types of chicken. Every fast food joint in the country serves some form of chicken.

What we need is more mac and cheese and Boston Market has some of the best.

Spiral soft noodles covered in gobs of melted cheese. Mac and cheese is perfect when.....there is a ton of cheese and Boston Market does it up right. Their cheese is thick and runny and every noodle has the perfect portion of cheese to go with it.

A large side of Mac and Cheese at Boston Market costs around $4. Worth every penny. I highly recommend it for a meal substitute, an afternoon pick me up, or a late night guilty pleasure.

Now....where do you get your favorite Mac and Cheese?

Cross Country Food

There is only one place to get a New York Hot Dog.

In New York.

This presents a serious problem because I don't live in New York.

The Hot Dogs from the stands on the street aren't the only amazing thing, there is also Ray's Pizza, NYC Bagels and amazing desserts from Roxy's in Times Square.

So, when you live thousands of miles away from the food you love, what do you do?

Simple, you transport it across the country in your luggage.

Crazy right? I think not.

On my last trip to NYC I brought home on the plane with me a bagel from a bagel cart, a hot dog from a hot dog stand, dessert from Roxy and a piece of pizza.

I couldn't leave New York without it and for some reason it tasted even better when I got home....like I had access to a forbidden food.

I've also brought pizza from Mo Mo's in Tallahassee 5 hours home and have once ordered Cream Sticks from the Amish country in Ohio (they're amazing....look in to it).

Yes, while it may appear to be insane to carry food across the country to eat at home, it seems perfectly logical to me. Food is special and it's even more special when you can only get it in certain parts of the country.

So, have you done it? Have you carried food thousands of miles home with you because you couldn't live without it?

By the way if anyone is heading to Tampa from NYC anytime soon, can you please bring me a piece of pizza?

Custard = Happiness

Custard is way better than ice cream.

It's thick, creamy, tasty and really flippin awesome. Not many places around serve good old fashion vanilla custard.

Except one: Rita's Italian Ice

Rita's has been around in the Tampa Bay area for years. My first experience was years ago when we would go pick up a quart of Italian ice to bring home with us. Sure, the ice is good...made from scratch with real fruit etc. etc.

But, I'm much more interested in the custard and the way Rita's manipulates it to make phenomenal creations.

On a recent trip to Rita's I opted for just custard, vanilla and orange swirl.....aaah so good....think of it as the ultimate creamsicle.

However, the Misto is still my all time favorite. They mix any flavor ice (I recommend Mango) with vanilla custard into a thick, fruity, delicious shake.

The Gelato is probably their most popular with vanilla custard on the bottom of the cup, ice in the middle and more custard on top.

I always find it odd that amazing restaurants like Rita's have so few locations. Compared to any other ice cream chain, Rita's is at the top of their game. They offer something completely different, there are thousands of creations and......they serve custard!

Custard (not ice cream) = happiness.

If you've never had it before I guarantee you won't come within 15 feet of ice cream again. Find your Rita's here.

Midnight Truffle

Dairy Queen just recently launched a new Midnight Truffle Blizzard. Below is a video blog review of DQ's latest blizzard creation.

Can't see the video? Click Here

Friday's $5 Desperate Menu

"Desperation"

Might be one way to describe TGI Friday's new menu.

If you haven't heard yet or seen the commercial, TGI Friday's just launched a new $5 menu that features different sandwiches and salads.....all for $5.

This is the latest move from a casual dining restaurant to try and survive during these challenging times. In the past month or so we have seen the pricing of entrees at major casual dining restaurants steadily decline. First it was Applebee's 2 for $20, then it was Chili's 10 under $7, and now Friday's has just hit the bottom of the barrel by selling their dishes for $5.

By selling entrees for $5 this now puts Friday's head to head with Subway, Quizno's, Arby's, Domino's, and every other fast food joint out there. Think about this: You can eat a full meal cheaper at Friday's than you can at Chipotle or Panera.

Knowing that this deal at Friday's seemed too good to be true, a group of us went earlier this week to try the $5 menu.

Friday's is a very strange place.

I'm not sure when you have last been there but maybe you felt the same way I did.....sensory overload. I have never seen a corporate chain try so desperately to get me to drink and party. Happy hour signs all over the place flags dangling from the ceiling, red and black colors everywhere. I felt like I had just stepped into a once hip modernized bar from the 1980s.

There was about 7 of us in the group, so instead of trying to decide we ordered about a handful of the new $5 menu items to share that included:

California Club
Chicken Parmesan Sliders
Jack Daniel's Chicken Sandwich
BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad
Cobb Salad
Shanghai Salad
Chipotle Grilled Steak Sandwich

All of the sandwiches are served with fries and you can upgrade to sweet potato fries for $1. (Not worth it, trust me). I tried everything that we ordered and here is the basic rundown:

-A couple of the salads tasted like they were made earlier in the day and left in the refrigerator.
-The sliders and steak sandwich were a little "dry"
-For $5 the Jack Daniels Chicken Sandwich is a serious steal. Well worth the $5.

Friday's is far from quality. If anything it's like fast food in a sit down restaurant. I have never seen food come out so quickly...it literally took minutes for us to get what we ordered. However, for $5 it really isn't that bad.

The original prices of all of these entrees isn't $5. If you do decide to go and look on the main menu you will see that many of them are priced between $8-$9, so the $5 price is a very significant discount. From the looks of the inside of the empty restaurant we were in I think I know why Friday's might be offering these deals....they need customers....bad.

The restaurants want us....but do we want them?

How low are they going to have to go in order to get us in their front door? Is it really all about the price anyway?

I'll let you decide.

Now it's harder than ever to make decisions with everyone offering so many discounts. Who knew $5 could get you so far?