When 95 degrees was not hot enough for us, my wife and I made the decision to travel to Arizona and hang out in 117 degree heat.  However, we had a great time and had some wonderful food and some really bad food.  Our trip to Los Reyes De La Torta can be found here, otherwise I will lump the rest under this post.  When we arrived, we went straight to:

Dick’s Hideaway
6008 N 16th St
Phoenix, AZ 85016
http://www.burningembersphoenix.com

Based on the picture above, I get the “hideaway” part.   The place smelled great and was really cool inside as it was someplace I could hang out here for a while.

What I Ate:  Rellenos and Eggs. I chose one duck and one pork and had it with green sauce. It was served with two eggs any style, potatoes and pinto beans, for around $11.

I really liked this.  Their green sauce is amongst the best that I have ever had.  My wife had the Huevos Rancheros with red sauce and neither of us liked it. If you go to Dick’s, remember…go green!!

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, though I am not sure it is a must have. The green sauce is great and I really liked this place.  I would feel comfortable recommending this to a friend.

Hotel Valley Ho, Trader Vic’s and Café ZuZu
6850 East Main Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

We stayed at the Hotel Valley Ho for a night as it was soooo cheap and has a retro vibe to it that I thought was cool.  We visited happy hours at both restaurants ( Cafe ZuZu for earlier happy hour and Trader Vic’s for late night menu) that are at the hotel and both were horrible.  It is not worth even going into.

Would I Buy It Again?  No.  Horrible food, bad service a train wreck. 

Cafe ZuZu:

Trader Vic’s:

Because our food was so bad and the service was horrible, we went to:

Metro Brasserie & Bar
7114 E Stetson Dr #105
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
http://www.metrosouthbridge.com

Because it is 117 degrees and no one is around, there are happy hours everywhere.  At Metro, we had the poutine and a carmelized onion flatbread. The poutine was really really good and the flat bread was tasty as well.  The gravy was thinner on this version, but it was really, really, really good.  Then again, what did I expect out of putting all these awesome ingredients together?

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, easily.  Great food, good service and I would like to go back the next time I am there.  I can’t help but think this place would do lights out in Indy.

Cowboy Ciao
7133 E Stetson Dr
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
http://www.cowboyciao.com

This place is influential in defining modern southwest food.  Their signature dish is a mushroom stir fry for $12.95. They have over six or seven different types of mushrooms in a cream sauce served with polenta. 

I really liked this quite a bit.  It was really rich and I couldn’t imagine eating more than a lunch portion, but it was pretty tasty.  My wife had a roasted duck sandwich that we didn’t care for that much.

Would I Buy it Again?  No.  I enjoyed the mushroom dish, but the sandwich was a mess.  I just didn’t love the place.  However, if someone really wanted to go, I would give it another try, but it is not making my “must have” list.

Meals without pictures:

Spotted Donkey – A cool little place with upscale Mexican food.  They make a mean margarita (of which I consumed many) and have a great happy hour.  Since it is so close to my in-laws house, I will definitely go again.  The food is ok, but there is something about it that I just like being there.

Would I Buy it Again? Yes, for drinks and chilling out.

A Different Pointe of View – A Four Diamond Award winner that is perched on a mountain top, this is knows to be one of Scottsdale’s best.   However, it wasn’t that night.  The five course tasting menu was a major disappointment.  With wine pairing, the bill was around $240 without the tip.  Again, a major disappointment. However, the service was great and you really can’t beat the view. 

Would I Buy It Again? No.

Binkley’s - Another Four Diamond Award winner.  This meal was unlike any other I have had.  Seven amuse bouches throughout the five course tasting menu.  I enjoyed the service and it was just a constant onslaught of food.  Extremely creative food and presentations.  For two people, it was around $215 without the tip, but I thought it was well worth it.  A great meal.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes and I would like to go there the next time I am in Arizona. 

I think that is it. Some really good food and we had a great time.  If you have never been, you should go…and I hope this list helps you.

-wibia

Even though summer doesn’t officially end until later this month, Labor Day signifies the end of summer and beginning of fall to some.  This is especially the case for me because when I was in college, school started on Labor Day every single year.  Yes, that was a major bummer.

Anyway, the picture above is to let you have one last memory of one of the greatest pleasures life can offer on a hot summer day (it’s a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Sundae from Baskin-Robbins).  Enjoy!

We’ll be back tomorrow with another review.  Enjoy your Labor Day!

-IndianapolisEater

Wolfie’s WaterFront Grill
20999 Hague Rd
Noblesville, IN 46062
http://www.wolfiesgrill.com/

I was in Noblesville spending the day on Morse Lake recently and after a long day in the sun, some friends and I decided to hit up the deck at Wolfie’s for dinner and a few post-lake drinks.

What I Got:  Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich, $7.99.

When I received my sandwich, my first thought was “Wow, that is a healthy portion size.”  Being that I was in the sun all day and hadn’t eaten in quite a while, I was quite pleased with that.  As you can see from the picture, the sandwich topped with pickles (the sauce was served on the side) and was also served with what appeared to be homemade potato chips.

In terms of taste, this sandwich was delicious.  The pork was tender, flavorful and not slimy or greasy as pulled pork can sometimes tend to be.  The bun was toasted (and huge) and served as the perfect compliment to suck up the barbecue sauce that I had doused my sandwich with.

The potato chips were also crunchy and delicious as well and if these are truly homemade, they do an excellent job with them.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I definitely would if I was ever up in the area again.  The sandwich was very tasty and at $7.99, I got a solid value for the price that I was paying as well.

My sandwich did not appear to be an outlier either.  I was with a group of about seven people and all but one of the people was very pleased with the taste of their meal.  The one person who was not very pleased said his food was “okay”, so it’s not like they served us any bad food.

In addition to a good sandwich, Wolfie’s on Morse Lake also has an excellent setup.  Indoors, they have the traditional bar and dining area, but they also have an outdoor deck (you can look at the pictures on their website) that is large and spacious and overlooks the lake.  On a pleasant night like the night that I was there, you can really have a lot of fun.  If I lived closer to here, I would visit quite frequently.

Wolfie’s also has a non-lakeside location in Fishers on 96th Street as well.  It’s a smaller location and doesn’t have quite the setup, but if the food is as good as the Morse Lake location, I may have to start visiting frequently since it is closer to where I live.

-IndianapolisEater

Outback Steakhouse
3454 W 86th St
Indianapolis, IN 46268
http://www.outbacksteakhouse.com

I usually stay away from places like Outback Steakhouse just because reviewing them is so boring.   Everyone knows what the place is about, Bloomin’ Onion, etc.   However, I got an e-mail from the manager from my closest Outback and said that he loves the blog and that he would like to be reviewed.  He went on talking about how the vast majority of what they serve is made in house, etc.  This is my first e-mail from a manager of a chain asking me to come in, so I was suspicious.

I actually had Outback twice in the last month and I will just push them together in one review.

What I Ate: First visit, Prime Rib, 12 0z $18.95.  Second visit, Ribeye 12 oz $18.00.  You get a choice of two sides so I decided to vary my salads.

House Salad with Ranch Dressing: 

This was a pretty big starter salad.  I liked the ranch dressing, the croutons were pretty good, tomatoes were ripe…nothing to complain about here.

Bleu Cheese Wedge:

Sorry about the bogus picture, it was really dark.   Ripe tomatoes, red onion, bacon and bleu cheese crumbles.  I liked this quite a bit as well.  This would easily rival a $6.00 salad that you would get at the prime steakhouses in town.  It was huge too.  Hmm…

Ribeye Steak:

It was a little past medium rare, but not enough to send it back.  The ribeye was a very lean for a ribeye and I liked the flavor quite a bit.  Outback uses Choice grade (the same as Sullivan’s), so it is a good quality steak.  The sweet potato is always a favorite of mine and this did not disappoint.

The prime rib (not pictured) was actually my favorite.  It was a little bland as I like a salty crusty edge to it, but it was pretty good.  There is not a lot that I can say here, it is a standard cut of meat done really well.

Would I Buy It Again?  A very enthaustic YES!  You really don’t know how bad I wanted to slam them after the manager e-mailed telling me how great it is.  I say that only because my last five visits to other Outbacks were pretty bad.  This particular location is worth trying though.  

The service is exceptional, I mean really top notch (Mandy was particularly awesome.  We were greeted quickly with well paced meals and very friendly service.  Plus, I sent back the kid’s chicken and the manager was over in about thirty seconds making sure everything is okay and then we were comped a free app for that.  Totally unnecessary, but a nice touch.

This location really has their ducks in a row.  I figured out why the manager e-mailed me…because he gives a damn and is proud of his restaurant…and he should be.

-wibia

Greek Tony’s Pizza and Sub Shop
1732 East 116^th Street
Carmel, IN 46032

For a year, I rented a place near Tony’s and I frequently visited for my ritual Friday night pizza.  Although it does not make my list of top 2-3 pizza places, it is a solid local choice offering a good variety of pizzas that are heavily covered with toppings and a good thin crust.  Although I always carry out, the inside is very casual with a dated décor including checkered table coverings and environment that just does not feel all that clean.  You serve yourself your own drinks and the only service is someone dropping your food off at your table making Tony’s a carry-out destination for me.  On this trip to Tony’s, I decided to try a couple of subs from their large range of choices.

What I Ate:

Tony’s subs can be ordered as a half ranging in price from $4.30-$4.90 or a whole usually around $9.

Stromboli Sub (half):  I am always on the lookout for a good Stromboli and recently had a good one that I reviewed at Lennie’s in Bloomington, Indiana.  The Stromboli at Tony’s was a more traditional Stromboli on a soft white bread that tasted so fresh that it reminded me of bread made in house even though Tony’s does not seem like the kind of place that would make their own.  The Stromboli had a heavy layer of Italian Sausage that had good seasoning and was ground to the texture that I like on a Stromboli.  Although the ingredients listed green peppers and onion, there was so little on the sub that the meat overpowered any taste the vegetables may have given.  The sub had a thin layer of cheese that was sufficient but the sub was very dry with only a small amount of red sauce.  All of this combined with the sub being served lukewarm on a day when they were not busy left me disappointed.

Italian Sub (half):  Although I favor a good cold Italian sub, on this day I decided to try Tony’s toasted version.  Like the Stromboli, this sub was served lukewarm at best.  I tasted the meats individually on this sub in an effort to try and determine what they actually were and what kind of quality they had individually.  I believe the meat on the top in the picture is a Capicola which comes from the shoulder or neck and usually packs nice flavor as a fattier meat.  The quality was low missing most of the flavor that one would enjoy from a good Capicola.  Below that was just a basic pepperoni and my least favorite meat, bologna.  A good quality bologna has potential but this was just some average process bologna you could buy anywhere.

Under the meat was a heavy layer of head lettuce, which for me is always a big turn off.  If that wasn’t bad enough, some of it was turning brown as it was clearly on its last day.  Under all the ingredients was a layer of what must have been 5-6 tablespoons of mayo that shot out from all sides when I took my first bite completely overpowering any other ingredient on the sub making it almost tasteless.  I have had some bad subs over the years but this one ranked among the worst I have ever had and I ended up throwing almost all of it out even after scraping off a good amount of the mayo.  Where were the onions or some vinegar and oil like you find on a good Italian like you might get at Jersey Mike’s?  Dreadful!

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes for pizza, but no for Tony’s subs. When the best part of your meal is the bread, much like the breadsticks at Olive Garden, it is not saying much for the product.  The subs were lukewarm at best when served and either had too much in condiments or too little sauce in the case of the Stromboli, and lack proportional distribution of ingredients as any good sub should have.  If you visit Tony’s, stick with the pizza.

-EatHSE

Jasmine Thai
4825 E 96th St
Indianapolis, IN 46240

This was my second visit to Jasmine and the first for lunch.  I had dinner there a few months ago with a large group and I didn’t love it, but also didn’t hate it.  Fellow blogger Indianapolis Restaurant Scene mentioned that she had an eggplant dish there that she liked quite a bit so I decided to give it another try.

What I Got: Lunch special Garlic Pork with Tom Yum soup, $6.95.

The Tom Yum was the mayor of Lametown.  In fact, I am not sure if it was even Tom Yum.  It had potatoes in it and I have never had that variation.  I am not sure if that is like beans/no beans with chili.  I am not going to tell you that I am an expert on Thai food.  In fact, it is some of my least favorite cuisine.  The soup was really bland and it needed salt in a bad way.

The garlic pork was actually pretty good.  Very straight forward with pork, scallions and thinly sliced cabbage.  The quality of the pork was nominal, but the sauce was garlic heavy (duh) and had a lot of black pepper in it.  I ordered it medium and I am glad that I did…not too spicy, but there was a little bite there.  I really liked the cabbage as it added the essential crunch.

Would I Buy It Again? I really could toss a coin here.  Better than the first time, but I didn’t love it.  I liked the garlic pork, but it surely wasn’t top notch Thai that I have had before.  They were packed on a Thursday lunch, so I assume they are doing something right.   I will reserve a Yes or No judging for the next time.

-wibia

Black Diamond Barbecue
6404 Rucker Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46220
http://www.blackdiamondbbqcatering.com

I’ve driven by this place on Binford Boulevard (it’s on a side street right off Binford) about a thousand times over the years and have never stopped.  In all honesty, when it first opened, I figured it would last about three months and then go out of business because it’s not in the greatest location.  Three years later, it’s still chugging along and has even expanded to include outdoor seating.  Good for them.

Ordinarily, I do all my barbecue smoking by myself, but I was feeling lazy one Sunday and didn’t want to spend my entire day waiting for meats to smoke.  So, seeing that this place recently expanded, I figured it must be good and finally gave it a shot (one of the owners was working and gave me a little ribbing by saying, “you know we’ve been here for three years right?”).

What I Got:  Hungry Man’s Special (not listed on the online menu), $19.99.  This includes three meats (I got ribs, brisket and chicken wings) and two sides (I got cole slaw and macaroni and cheese).

First things first, the name of this combo does not lie…this is a TON of food.  Any regular reader of this site knows that I can throw down some food from time to time, but even this was too much for me for one meal.  It was actually enough for two meals because they serve you ample portions of all the meats and all the sides.  As such, let’s address these individually:

Ribs:  I’ve got to say, I was really impressed by these.  You often hear the term “fall off the bone” to describe how ribs should be cooked and these ribs fit that description to the letter of the law.  They were tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  A little greasy, but when you smoke meats as opposed to grilling them, that is to be expected.  Honestly, these were the best ribs I’ve had in a while.

Brisket:  These were served in a separate container because there was so much of it (LOL) and much like the ribs, this was also tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  I prefer my brisket to have juice oozing from it when I cook it and unfortunately, this brisket did not have that.  That said, when compared to other barbecue restaurants in the area, the brisket was exceptional.  The only reason I can complain at all is because of my ego when it comes to making it myself.  Ha!

Chicken Wings:  I’ll admit, I don’t know that I’ve ever had smoked chicken wings before and since I am thinking of doing it on my own smoker, I decided to give these a try in order to see what I was in store for.  My first impression of the wings was that they were HUGE (a good thing) and there were A LOT of them (a recurring theme).  What I found interesting about these wings was that while they were meaty, tender and juicy on the inside, they had a crispy outer skin that provided a nice texture contradiction to the softness of the inside.  As with the ribs and brisket, these also had a strong smoky flavor and I liked them quite a bit.  So much so that I’m anxious to try this myself.

Sides:  Along the lines of the recurring theme, the sides didn’t come in little miniature cups…they came in sizeable containers as you can see in the picture above.  The cole slaw was obviously homemade (big positive in my book) and was more vinegar based as opposed to mayonnaise based, which I prefer.  It was crunchy and fresh, although it could have used a little something extra to give it some kick.  I would rate this as a B/B+ effort.

As for the macaroni and cheese, well, I’ve got some strong thoughts on this one.  I will be the first to admit that I’ve never been a huge macaroni and cheese fan because it is so often botched and lazily made (cheeses are too bland, not enough cheese, etc.) in so many different places.  Because of that, about the only time I will eat macaroni and cheese is when it is out of the Kraft box and yes, I know that is pathetic.  So, in what I thought at the time was an act of stupidity, I decided to give Black Diamond’s macaroni and cheese a try and I am so glad that I did because this was incredible.  It was easily the creamiest and richest macaroni and cheese that I have ever had and I loved it.  They certainly didn’t skimp on the cheese and unlike most places that I’ve eaten macroni and cheese, they actually used a cheese that had a little kick to it and I LOVED that.   Honestly, if you skipped all the meat and just got a huge order of macaroni and cheese, you would be delighted with your order.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely and without hesitation. I can see why that despite an odd location, Black Diamond has managed to stay in business and actually expand in the three years that it has been open.  This is damn fine barbecue and it will always be my FIRST choice on the days that I decide to not make it on my own.  There are not a lot of great barbecue options in this city, so I would strongly advise you to give it a try if you are a barbecue lover.

By the way, Black Diamond caters (one of the owners made sure to let me know that) and also has coupons on my new favorite website, Coupons4Indy.com.

-IndianapolisEater

I have an appreciation for authentic Mexican food and Taco Bell is far from authentic.  However, it appears Taco Bell is trying to take a step in this direction with its new Cantina like tacos made with two corn tortillas, chopped onions, cilantro and a lime wedge with three meat choices.  Writing a review gave me a good excuse to stop by and try all three.

What I Ate:  Cantina Triple Pack, $4.62.

Chicken Cantina:  The chicken was finely chopped and tasted marinated but was still a bit dry.  The cilantro taste was strong but squeezing the lime over the top gave it a nice flavor.  Overall, mixed with the chopped onion, I enjoyed this 170 calorie taco with only 20 calories from fat making it a sensible choice.  For those watching your salt intake, this taco had 350mg, the highest of the three Carnitas.

Steak Cantina:  I am always leery of the quality of the steak from a place like Taco Bell.  Have you ever had the pre-made steak you can buy in a zipper bag in the processed meat section at your local grocery?  To me, this kind of steak usually has an odd texture and is missing the grilled taste.  This was the case for my experience with the chopped steak on the Steak Cantina as it tasted like hard pellets going down.   A problem with all the Cantinas is how quickly they fall apart even though there are two corn shells supporting the insides of this taco.  The double taco shell has a purpose but leaves flaps of corn shell hanging off making it an even bigger mess.  Surely Taco Bell could have a double thick shell made for this taco.  I ended up taking one of the shells off and giving it to my carb crazy daughter who loved it.

Carnitas Cantina:  Although wibia is a big fan of Carnitas, I have never been myself.  Of all the Cantinas, this taco was the big winner for me.  For some reason this one held together the best and the pork was soft and almost creamy with a nice juice.  That juice softened the chopped onions making them softer creating a blend of the ingredients that went well with the lime.  Due to the pork, this taco comes in at 200 calories with 60 from fat making it the worst choice of three for those counting calories.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes & No. I commend Taco Bell for trying something new that leans toward the authentic side a bit more.  The Carnitas were a hit for me and it would be something I get every time I go to Taco Bell.  The chicken is worthy of another try and a good choice for those with a chicken preference that like that cilantro chicken combination.  At all costs, stay away from the steak which had poor texture, little taste and was very dry.

-EatHSE