Charlotte, NC - Bar-B-Q King

A year and a half ago, my dad and I went to a drive in called Bar-B-Q King in Charlotte, N.C. While on a road trip a few weeks ago, my dad knew we were going to pass right by it (it is less than 1.5 miles off the highway) and decided to time our drive so we could stop there for lunch. Because this is a drive-in you have to eat in your car. Just make sure to get extra napkins, because this BBQ is going to get messy!

The outside of Bar-B-Q King

But the messiness is totally worth it! This is the best barbecue you will ever eat, guaranteed! Guy Fieri did a Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives)  review on this place and said it was the best barbecue he'd ever eaten.  He also talked about it on the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." If that isn't reassurance that this place is great, I don't know what is. Guy Fieri's Triple D review of this place is how I found out about Bar-B-Q King. My brother ad I were watching Triple D, and when this place came up, i just knew I had to go there and try this great-looking food.  Guy Fieri also spray-painted his face on the wall, so if you do go there, try and find it! BBQ King itself is pretty interesting. It's been around for decades, and the food, or the people who own it, hasn't changed in over 40 years!

My barbecued pulled pork platter!

When you drive up to a little lane/spot, you park there, and wait for someone to come and take your order. It's kind of like a regular restaurant, but without a table. The menus are printed on these little stands next to where you park your car, and you just sit in your car and pick out what you want. Since my dad and I had been there before, we knew what to get. We got two barbecue chicken platters, two pulled pork platters, and an order of hush puppies (deep fried corn meal in the shape of balls). I liked the pulled pork better than the chicken, but they were both really great! The barbecue that BBQ King uses is a vinegary barbecue, which in my opinion, is the best type of barbecue! They also "double-dip" their chicken in barbecue sauce. Once before frying it, once after. If you order any type of platter, it comes with the main part (chicken, pulled pork, ect.), a container or house-made coleslaw, a buttery, flaky biscuit, and a hush puppy or two! My dad and I are both coleslaw fans and we both really liked theirs.  The platter is definitely a better value than the plate, so I strongly suggest that you go with that!

All the people that work at BBQ King are really nice and friendly. Most of them have worked there for a long time, and will help you with anything in any way they can. If you have any questions, just ask! The people there will be happy to help you! Overall, this is an awesome place! Great food, great people, great barbecue! So if you happen to be driving by, be sure to stop in for a quick bite! I guarantee you'll be coming back for seconds.

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookieness, with one cookie being burnt, old, stale, burnt, oatmeal raisin cookie nastiness, and ten cookies being the perfect, gooey, warm chocolate chip (my favorite) cookie. My Cookie Counter ratings for Bar-B-Q King are:

Food: 8 Cookies
Atmosphere: 7 Cookies
Service: 9 Cookies

Bar-B-Q King's Website: http://barbqking.com

Boca Raton, FL - Taco Bell

     This past Friday, after a sports practice, my dad and I were heading to my school's winter carnival. Along the way, we both realized that we were getting pretty hungry.  Not wanting the carnival to close before we arrived, we did something we almost NEVER do - we opted for fast food. There were a few places around us, but we ended up choosing Taco Bell. I am a pretty big fan of mexican food, so I didn't object. When we walked in, I immediately noticed to decor. The building itself was painted in

pretty neutral colors, with some checkered patterns on the walls, and a red horizontal stripe that went around the room. But what really caught my eye were the paintings. There were these really neat paintings on the walls that were done in a graffiti style. They were super colorful and really vibrant.

I'm a grilled "stuft" nacho bandit!

My shredded chicken burrito

     My dad and I ordered two shredded chicken burritos, a grilled "stuft" nacho, and two Doritos locos tacos (1 cool ranch, 1 fiery). Our food was ready about 60 seconds after ordering, so very convenient. My favorite thing I ate was the shredded chicken burrito. It was a burrito with shredded chicken, rice, and an avocado sauce that was really creamy and really yummy. The grilled stuft nacho was also pretty good, but it was basically a triangular tortilla with beef, nacho cheese, and some corn chips. Unfortunately all of the beef had gone into one corner of the triangle, so in each bite you either got all meat or no meat. I normally like Doritos, so I was surprised when I didn't really like the locos tacos. The cool ranch one was okay, but the shell (Doritos) didn't really taste like the chips, and the filling of the taco was about 70% lettuce,  23% beef, and 7% cheese. Not great... The fiery one was pretty much the same story, except for the fact that shell was spicy. I don't like most spicy foods, so I wasn't a fan.

     One of the best things about Taco Bell was the staff. All the staff there were really nice, and circled the restaurant every 5 minutes or so to make sure everyone was okay, and that everyone was enjoying their food.

    Earlier, I reviewed a restaurant called Rocco's Tacos. If you are choosing between these two places, here's my input. Both places will offer mexican food, but the better one BY FAR is Rocco's Tacos. It is more of a dining experience, and is a lot better.  Taco Bell lived up to our expectations for being fast, but not much else.

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookieness, with one cookie being a old, stale, burnt oatmeal raisin cookie, and 10 cookies being a perfectly baked, soft, chocolate chip (my favorite) goodness. My Cookie Counter ratings for Taco Bell are:

Food: 5 Cookies
Atmosphere: 4 Cookies
Service: 7.5 Cookies

Taco Bell's website: http://www.tacobell.com/



   

Livery Tavern - Lewisburg, West Virginia

     Because I was on winter break, and because my family traveled up north to see some of our cousins, we got to go to some really great restaurants with some really off the charts food. Livery Tavern was one of those places that I was super happy to get to eat at.  We've eaten there a few times before and have really enjoyed it.  Before we went to eat there this time, I looked up the restaurant online, and found the entire backstory of the place. Turns out that the family that owns the Livery also owns another nearby restaurant, "Stella's". Stella's was their first

The Livery, all decorated up for Christmas!

restaurant, and was created as a beautiful and elegant restaurant, which they say is just like their mom (Their mom's name was Stella hence the name). When their first restaurant did really well, they decided to open another, called "Livery Tavern".  Because their first restaurant was modeled after their mother, they decided to model this one after their father. A masculine interpretation of a mid-1800's tavern, they certainly delivered. This place looks like a tavern in the woods, which in my opinion, looks AWESOME! The Livery on the outside is made of stone and wood, and the same on the inside. Inside there is a bar, waiting area with couches and a fireplace, and the dining area. One of the things that I really like about this restaurant is how it is such an open atmosphere. Unlike most restaurants, in which rooms and areas are separated by walls, The Livery is one large room, which is really neat.

   One of the really unique aspects of The Livery is that they change their menu every four to six weeks, so you usually have a different menu every time you go there. This way, you are always in for a new and delicious treat! This time I was there, a certain pasta caught my eye. It was a penne pasta with a tomato creme sauce and fresh vegetables. I was intrigued, and decided to go for it, knowing that anything I ordered would be awesome anyways! My dad decided to order oysters to start.  When our food came, I realized I was totally right about the pasta! It was phenomenal! The past was house-made,

My pasta! Yum!

which made the pasta fresh, soft, and just totally perfect! Now the sauce was a whole other ballgame. Normally when I get tomato creme sauce on my pasta at  a restaurant, it is more creme than sauce and you aren't able to taste the tomatoes. This was completely different. You got a really great and bold tomato flavor, and the creme didn't dilute that flavor, which made me very happy. The creme's only purpose was to improve the sauce's texture, and it did just that. The vegetables were fresh and cooked to perfection. Overall impression: Great Pasta! My dad's oysters were really good too! They came cooked three ways; fried, baked, and raw, and all were delicious! Not only is The Livery a place to get great food, it's also a great place to chill out and meet new people. Everyone, including the staff, are nice, and it's always fun to meet new and interesting people! I love The Livery, and I know you will too!

    Livery Tavern is a great place, but kind of far from where I live, so sadly, we can't get there often. But whenever I go, I make the most of it. I strongly suggest that if you're in town, or just nearby, drop in for dinner sometime. I think you'll be happy you did.

   As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookieness, with 1 cookie being old, stale, oatmeal raisin cookie nastiness, and 10 cookies being the perfect, warm, gooey chocolate chip (my favorite) cookie. My Cookie Counter ratings for Livery Tavern are:

Food: 8 Cookies
Atmosphere: 9 Cookies
Service: 8 Cookies

Livery Tavern's website: http://liverytavern.com

Arch and Eddie's- Jackson,Ohio

 Very recently, my grandma had taken my family and me to a place called Arch and Eddie's. Arch and Eddie's used to be called The Colonial, but it recently reopened with this name. This was a special place for my family, because our family has been going there for over 50 years! That's a long time! I had heard of this place many times before, but never actually been to it!

The outside of Arch and Eddie's

Once we got there, I immediately felt welcomed. The place itself has a warm and fuzzy feeling to it, like you were being invited to someone's house for a dinner party! The restaurant was painted a light
creme color, and had many windows, making it not only feel but look like a house, which I found really cool. The inside of the restaurant had walls made of brick painted over with a pastel yellow paint, and tables made of mahogany. There were many rooms within the restaurant, and at first I feared that if I left the table I might get lost! But as we walked to our table, I realized that there were not nearly as many rooms as it had seemed, diminishing whatever fear of getting lost I might have had

Those LEGENDARY mushrooms

 When our party took a seat at the table, I grabbed my menu and began looking over it. On the car ride to the restaurant, I had overheard my dad rave about these fried mushrooms they had, so I knew we had to get an order of those. Boy was my dad right! They were delicious! My favorite thing about them was not that they were fried, but how they were fried. The chef did a fantastic job on these by applying a light batter to the mushrooms, so they were crispy on the outside, but never lost their juice, flavor, or slightly chewy texture on the inside. I am a huge fan of mushrooms, mainly because of their texture and flavor. This dish went way beyond my expectations! After we had finished up FOUR ORDERS of fried mushrooms, we decided that it was time to order our main dish, but only after ordering ANOTHER ORDER OF MUSHROOMS!  I was a little afraid of being too full to eat a main course. I wrestled between between a few things on the menu, and I chose fish and chips. And believe me, I was very, very, very glad with my choice, but

Mmmmm..... Fish and Chips

I'm sure that everything I was thinking about ordering was great! When my food came, I dove right in. The fish was haddock, and the batter was really crispy, a perfect combination! The soft fish was falling apart, and the batter gave the fish a great crunch! The fries were really great as well, with a soft inside and a crisp and crunchy outside. One of my favorite foods is bleu cheese, so I asked the waiter for some bleu cheese dressing, and once I got it, I put it with the fries. Even better! The cheese and the fries went perfectly together! I had a few leftover mushrooms from the appetizer, so I dunked those in the bleu cheese dressing as well. Result: Heaven on a mushroom! I was already pretty full before I got my main course, but soon after getting my fish and chips, I was stuffed. The problem was I couldn't stop eating it, I just felt it was too good to give away.  After I had finished most of my meal, I decided I would take the rest home, because I felt like I was going to burst! Even though I really, really wanted dessert, I decided against it, because I was already stuffed. But if you do get the chance to go there, Dad says the pineapple icebox cake is fabulous!

 Arch and Eddie's was a really great place with great food, great service, and a great atmosphere. If you're in the area, I strongly recommend you stop by for a quick bite! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookieness, with one cookie being burnt, stale oatmeal raisin nastiness, and ten cookies being perfect, warm, gooey chocolate chip (my favorite) goodness. My Cookie Counter ratings for Arch and Eddie's are:


Food: 9 Cookies
Service: 11 Cookies
Atmosphere: 8 Cookies

Arch and Eddie's Website: http://archandeddies.com

Until next time, keep cooking!

Ristorante Il Latini - Florence, Italy

The crowd outside of Il Latini
(This is only a small part of it) 

This is my first review of a restaurant outside of the United States, and it's for a great place!  My family and I traveled to Italy for two weeks and I wrote about everything on the trip, including the restaurants, in a journal my parents bought for me! Before the trip we were searching the internet for amazing restaurants to go to while on our trip, and my dad stumbled upon Ristorante Il Latini in Florence, Italy. It sounded like a great place online, and everyone in our family became super-duper excited to go to this restaurant - so my dad made reservations for us several months before the trip! During the trip, it was one of the stops my family was looking forward to the most.  For dinner on our second day in Florence we took a cab to the long-awaited Il Latini. The road in front of the restaurant was absolutely PACKED!!! Outside in the street there were way too many people crammed into way too small of a space waiting to get in.  The road actually was not small, but it certainly felt like it.  If you are thinking of going there, make SURE you have a reservation, because if you don't you will NOT get in.  But if you do, you are in for a real treat.

When you walk into Il Latini, the first thing you notice is the ceiling. But this is no ordinary ceiling, no, this is a celling full of hanging hams!!! No, I am not kidding, but there seriously must be at least 50 hams hanging from the ceiling!! My brother absolutely LOVES meat, and we he was really excited!!! One of the things that makes Il Latini so unique is that there is no menu. You get what you get, and I can assure you that you won't be upset. The first course for us was melon with some super-yummy, meaty,  prosciutto. At first I was skeptical about putting fruit and meat together, but once I tried it, I thought it was pretty good! I mean, who would've thought that some fruit and some meat together (A pretty weird combination if you ask me) tasted so good? Not me!! After we finished off the first course, out came the second: toasted bread with chicken liver! When it came out, I didn't know what it was, and my dad told me it was beef, because that's what

My brother and I enjoyed our prosciutto!

it looked like. Little did I know he was kidding and took a big bite. Yuck!! I like almost everything, but liver is one of the few things I don't like. It's really good if you like liver, but if you don't, not so much.  My dad really liked it.  We then had a "tuscan salad" that we all really liked.

When the next course came out, we had three different kinds of pasta - ravioli, penne bolognese and one in particular that caught my eye.  I was told that it was gnocchi with a rabbit sauce. Now, I had never had rabbit meat before, but I was assured that it would be good. However, after my liver experience I wasn't sure, but...they were wrong... It was AMAZING!!! The rabbit was gamey, which was nice, the gnocchi was cooked to perfection (a little crispy, a little soft ), and the warm sauce just brought it all together. In my journal, I described it as "One of the best things I have ever eaten". If that tells you anything, it was pretty darn amazing! So amazing in fact, I stole some of my brother's gnocchi!! After that we had the meat course - a huge plate of meat!   They brought veal, steak, chicken, lamb and pork.  I love steak, but only get it once in a while, and this was excellent!  It was really juicy, and cooked medium rare, just the way I like it! Mmmmmm.......just thinking about all this food is making me hungry!! But seriously, I can promise you that is one of the best steaks you will ever have!

A group picture!
Grandma Carol, Mom, Dad, my brother and me.

On to dessert!! For our final course, we had a platter of different desserts. I wanted the Strawberry Tart, Biscotti, and Chocolate Cake. The desserts came with some warm chocolate sauce that I put around each desert on my plate. To make it fair, we split up all the desserts and we each got a little taste of each one. The strawberry tart was really good, the tart being flaky and crispy, and the filling sweet and fruity.  The biscotti was so good, it was almost as if it had just come out of the oven. It was warm, and had a really great texture to it. The chocolate cake was very rich, and had a chocolate ganache on the top that was exquisite!!

The staff was really great, and they were very impressed when we started having conversations with them in Italian.   We had studied Italian at home before the trip and had a lot of fun talking in Italian with people there.

All in all, this is definitely one of the best meals I have ever eaten, and would go back in a heartbeat. If you happen to be in Florence, and happen to have a reservation for Il Latini, be prepared for the meal of you life!!

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookiness, with 1 cookie being  burnt, old, stale oatmeal raisin nastiness, and 10 cookies being a perfect, warm, gooey chocolate chip (my favorite) goodness. My Cookie Counter ratings for Il Latini are:

Food: 12 Cookies (that's right - 12!)
Atmosphere: 9 Cookies
Service: 9 Cookies

Il Latini's Website: http://www.illatini.com

The Cheesecake Factory-Boca Raton,FL

Those AWESOME Pot Stickers!

Just today, my family and I went out to brunch at The Cheesecake Factory for my grandparent's 50th Anniversary! When we were thinking of a place to go, The Cheesecake Factory came up, and we all decided that it sounded good to us. We got there pretty early, so there weren't many people there. One of the great things about The Cheesecake Factory is that even if it's morning, you can get whatever you want! Knowing that the entire menu was open, I began searching for things that sounded good to me. As I was looking through the menu, something caught my eye - Chicken Pot Stickers!!!! I absolutely love pot stickers, and could probably eat them all day, so I decided to get an order of those. I knew I also wanted pancakes, but there were just so many choices! After a few minutes, I decided to try something new and go with the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. These were pancakes in which lemon zest and ricotta cheese had been mixed in with the batter. My dad got the Bang-Bang chicken and shrimp, my grandma got the Pasta Da Vinci, my brother got the Brunch Combo, my mom got the Asian Salad, my other grandma got an Omelet, and my grandpa got the Baja Chicken Hash.

 

Me and my pancakes!

Before anyone had their entree, we all split the Chicken Pot Stickers. They were even better than I expected! They were very juicy, and crunchy on the outside of the wonton, but soft on the inside! Very good, but the sauce was pretty salty. Soon after we had finished off the Pot Stickers, our entrees were served.  The size of the pancakes was impressive - I felt like they were the size of my head, and there were three of them!!! My pancakes were kind of tangy, but at the same time kind of sweet. They were ok, and after a few bites, I was too full to eat any more. Overall I didn't like them as much as I had hoped.  I also tried my grandma's Pasta Da Vinci. That was really good!! It had mushrooms, chicken, and onions with penne pasta all tossed together in a beautiful Madeira Wine sauce. It was like comfort food, to a degree. It was exquisite!

BEST CHEESECAKE EVER!

     At the end of the meal, although everyone wanted cheesecake, we were all too stuffed to eat it right then, so we decided to take it home. So my grandma and I went up to the big display case that held about 30 different kinds of cheesecake, and after discussing our options, opted for a slice of S'mores Cheesecake, and a whole Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake. Once we got home, we dug in. Like OMG this stuff was THE BEST CHEESECAKE EVER!!! The S'mores cheesecake was my favorite, even though it didn't really taste like cheesecake. It was like a super-rich and super-moist chocolate cake that someone decided would be better with a marshmallow on top! And they were right!! The sugar high was awesome.  For all chocolate fans, this one's a must-get! The Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple cheesecake was really good too, but it didn't come together as nicely as the S'mores did. I really liked the peanut butter frosting on top, and the chocolate went really well with it, but I personally think that it should be a cake, not a cheesecake. I mean, the cheesecake kind of ruined the whole dessert which is really a shame because otherwise, it could have been a super-great dessert.

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookieness, with one being burnt, stale oatmeal raisin nastiness, and ten being perfect chocolate chip (my favorite) goodness. My Cookie Counter Ratings for Cheesecake Factory are:

Food: 6
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 7.5

Until Next Time, Keep Cooking!

Cheesecake Factory's Website: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com

Charm City Burgers - Deerfield Beach, FL

That awesome mural!

      Not too long ago, my family and I were out and about and realized that our entire family was hungry. My Dad and brother both wanted burgers, so my family and I went to the best burger place we know in south Florida, Charm City Burgers. The place is kind of small, but with all the awesome decorations, you can't notice any difference! They have this really awesome mural on the wall with their burgers as characters! Once we got to Charm City Burgers, we looked at the menu and were in a pickle of what we should get. My Dad and brother both ordered the Cowboy Style Steak Burger, my Mom got

My dad's Cowboy Style Burger!

The Mobster burger, which had sausage instead of beef, and I decided on the Good Ole Steak Burger. My Mom, Dad, and brother all wanted onion rings with their burgers, but I decided to try the one side we had not tried before - the tater tots. Those tater tots were amazing! They were really crispy on the outside and perfectly soft on the inside. The Cowboy Style burger has bacon, aged cheddar, grilled onions, and sautéed shrooms (mushrooms) The bacon was really crispy, and full of flavor, which made the burger really good! My Mom's Mobster was really superb, and had a great meaty flavor from the sausage topped with peppers, onions, and provolone cheese! My Good Ole was good, with just the meat and the cheese. ( I like the classics)   All of the burgers can come with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and the house "Charm Sauce" and you can choose between a sesame or whole wheat bun.  My family and I have been to this restaurant a few times.  The other times I went there the burgers were off the chain, but this time we all agreed that the burgers just weren't quite as good.  I'm not sure why, but they just didn't hit the spot like they have on other visits.  That being said, we are still big fans.

This is a great place with inexpensive burgers, and the only complaint I have was that I felt that my burger was just a little bit under-seasoned this visit. My Mom loved her Mobster, and my brother and Dad liked their burgers a lot.  My burger was pretty good and the tater tots were a cool side dish.  This is a great place to go if you just hit a sudden burger crave, or are just looking for some good local food.

As always, I will be rating the places I go on my Cookie Counter Scale of Cookiness, with one being burnt, stale oatmeal cookie nastiness, and ten being the perfect, gooey chocolate chip (my favorite) goodness.  My Cookie Counter ratings for Charm City Burgers are:

Food: 7.5 Cookies
Atmosphere: 8 Cookies
Service: 9 Cookies

Until next time, Keep cooking!

Charm City Burger's Website: http://www.charmcityburgers.com