Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Pizza King on the Lake

 Average Joe is a pizza connoisseur.  He won't eat pizza just anywhere, he has a few favorites.  And when I met him, he was delighted to introduce me to a place he'd been coming to since the beginning of time, Pizza King in East Killingly, CT.  He said "You're not going to believe this place, the pizza is slammin'! And it's in the middle of the woods, in the middle of NOWHERE!  And it looks just like something out of a Coors silver bullet commercial!"  And he was not lying.  He was not lying about the pizza, either. 

The view from the back deck in the fall
I had heard about this place since I was a teenager.  But growing up in South County, a lot of people get...well, stuck in South County.  There's a weird sort of mentality that precludes you driving more than 10 miles in any direction.  You have to drive all the way out Rt. 6, take a right down a narrow winding road, take a left onto a REALLY narrow road, and up a long dirt driveway to get there. So I'd never been.   The place has apparently been through a lot of changes over the years, but now you can go in anytime Thursday through Sunday and find Buddy holding court and making you feel like you're part of the family.  There's plenty of room for dining; in the winter you can huddle up next to the fireplace if you like (I do), and in the summer you can eat on the deck and marvel at the quiet beauty of the lake in back.

There are loads of options on the menu, but what we usually go with are spinach, feta, tomatoes and mushrooms.  Joe likes chicken on his half.  The pizza is thick and loaded with cheese, they are not shy with their toppings. Absolutely delicious.
Wings are one of the Pizza King specialties.  There are various degrees of hot sauce you can select, and I'm told that if you choose the XXX sauce, it comes with a personal visit to your table from Buddy, who will explain just HOW hot it is and try to talk you out of it.  A full selection of burgers, salads, pasta, grinders and Starlets' famous pies are also available if pizza is not your thing. 

Pizza King seems to be a very popular place for birthday parties.  A lot of the times we've been there on a weekend, there's been a party going on, and Joe says he had his 50th birthday there. 

One of the items on the menu is "a bowl of junk".  In one of my earlier visits, I got a big kick out of this and posted a photo of that menu listing on my facebook page as we were waiting for our pizza.  About 2 minutes later, Buddy came over to our table and explained what a bowl of junk was.  So he clearly pays attention to his facebook page!

So, what's a bowl of junk?  You just have to go to Pizza King and find out for yourself.  It's worth the trip, even from South County.  430 Ledge Road, East Killingly, CT.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Alaina's Ale House

"Pie and Pint Night", someone said to me last summer, "My boyfriend and I go every week, it's great!"  Pie and Pint night?? Never heard of such a thing.  And truly, it shouldn't have taken us so long to go check it out, but we finally made it over to Alaina's Ale House, 343 Kingstown Road in Richmond (at the Beaver River Golf Course).

Alaina's opened up last year, and while my friends raved to me about the food, Joe and I had not managed to work Pie and Pint Night into our schedule until last week.  The forecast had called for snow, but we don't have far to go so we ventured out for a late dinner.  It was coming down pretty hard by the time we got there, so we were the only diners in the place...just a few people at the bar.  Alaina's is not a big place, but it's VERY nice in there, classy like you'd expect at a country club but at the same time, very down-to-earth and the people are very friendly.  We were greeted by the manager, Chris, and the one server on duty (whose name I can't recall and this is why I should write these things right away!)

There were 4 pot pies on the menu, and a limited selection of beers for the deal; Joe chose the chicken pot pie and a pint of Harp.  He said it was the best pot pie he'd ever had, and he's a pot pie fan.  It was a good-sized pie, served in the cast-iron frying pan in which it was cooked, and I could see it was filled with big chunks of white meat and veggies.  I confess I don't care for beer, and as a (mostly) vegetarian I wasn't into the pies, so I went for the sweet potato veggie burger.  I usually stay away from veggie burgers when I eat out, as they tend to be premade/frozen little hockey pucks filled with unidentifiable but colorful chunks.  Not so at Alaina's;  it was a very tasty house-made patty, and a pretty big one at that.  My only suggestion was that it could have come with some sort of hummus or chipotle mayo or something on it; it didn't REALLY need it but I was offered ketchup and while I understand this is not a veggie restaurant, ketchup doesn't really go with a veggie burger in my opinion.  Just my opinion.  But it was really good, and it came with a side.  I wasn't feeling the fries so I went with green beans, which were cooked to perfection, not mushy.

In a rare display of gluttony, we decided to go with dessert.  What got our attention was when our server said "apple crisp with ice cream".  We got one and shared it, which was a good thing (for us) because it was a pretty big serving.  Delicious!

We will be back to Alaina's, there are quite a few things on the menu that we need to try.  They have  live entertainment on the weekends (which in the summer moves out to the back where there is outdoor dining too), as well as karaoke and other fun stuff.  Follow them on Facebook to keep updated!

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Zip's Diner

Since our travels today took us up to the wild and uncharted territory known as northeastern Connecticut,  we planned to stop at Zip's Diner, located at Rt. 101 & 12 in Dayville.  We went there once before, but it's not an area we frequent so it's been a while.

 First, let me (Jane) state that we are both big fans of diners in general.  The whole atmosphere is inviting.  And if you are out on a busy day doing lots of errands (which we usually are) and find yourself needing some lunch, you can usually find one within a reasonable distance from wherever you are where you can grab a quick meal that won't break you and is a step up from a fast-food joint.  Having said that, although we love diners, we try to not visit them TOO often because while the food is decent, it's not by any means what you call "healthy". Lots of fried stuff, salty stuff, comfort food. And no matter what you might infer from our reviews, we do eat healthy most of the time.

Anyway, what we've realized is that diner food is pretty much the same everywhere.  Mostly the same stuff on the menu, all pretty good.  You've been to diners, you know the score.  So I'm not going to review the food at Zip's even though it was good (except the frappes, they were exceptional).

What I AM going to review is Zip's itself.  The diner opened in its current location in 1954, and has a long and interesting history.  The place is bright and cheery, and very clean.  It has the added appeal of being open 6AM-9PM every day!  A lot of diners close at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, which is inconvenient because not all of us follow the same schedule.

We were enjoying our frappes and waiting for dinner...it was kind of quiet, a few diners in there...when in walked Paul.  As I said we are not regulars in that area, but apparently Paul is because everyone, from every single employee to several of the patrons, greeted Paul by name as if he was everyone's best friend.  He sat at the counter and was immediately served his coffee just the way he likes it, without even having to ask.  That's the kind of place Zip's is, and it makes you want to be a regular, too.

As far as I'm concerned, though, the real star of the show was Michelle, our server.  She waited on us both times that we've been to Zip's, and she's an absolute ray of sunshine.  I wish everyone who has that job could have her personality.

So yeah, go to Zip's.  It's a fun place and the food won't disappoint.  Ask for Michelle!


Sunday, February 17, 2019

Dante's Kitchen

We love our lazy mornings at home, taking our time over coffee and tea and what-have-you, but once in a while we'll go out for breakfast (which usually turns out to be brunch, by the time we get our lazy selves out of the house), and so it was on Valentine's Day.  We'd seen Dante's Kitchen, 315 Main Street, East Greenwich advertised in the area magazines for quite some time, and it was on the list, so....today was the day.

When we got there, it was slammed!  Not really surprising, because East Greenwich seems to be a really hot destination for people who love to eat and no matter where we stop in, there's always a bunch of people who had the same idea.  The atmosphere was very cozy and welcoming, and despite the crowd the wait staff was right on top of things and got to us right away.  French vanilla coffee was our beverage of choice.  Lots of southern-inspired goodness on the menu!  After much consideration, Joe decided on the veggie breakfast burrito, which I also wanted but it contains scrambled eggs, which I can't do.  As there was no scrambled tofu option to replace the eggs,  I went with one of the day's specials, apple-cinnamon pancakes.  Joe was very pleased with the burrito.  It came with a side of home fries, which I DID sample, and even though home fries sound like a simple thing it's worth mentioning that Dante's Kitchen is really good at them.  I've had them overcooked, undercooked, greasy, too much seasoning, etc. etc.  but these were done right.  He also got a side of cheddar grits.  They were good too, I mean grits are grits but the addition of the cheese was an interesting twist.

My pancakes were good, and they (the pancakes themselves, topping notwithstanding) tasted different from anywhere else that I've had them.  I could be wrong but it seemed to me to be a marked lack of salt, which I feel is a VERY good thing. They came with whipped cream and some sort of caramel drizzled on them, so no syrup needed (IMHO). 

Only two things we didn't like; I'll refer back to a post Joe recently made on our Facebook page regarding servers.  When you order food, and the server says, "I love that!" or "Excellent choice" that's ok, but when you're in a crowded little restaurant and you can hear your server saying "Excellent choice" to every single customer he's waiting on, it kind of loses its meaning.  The other thing was that after our server brought our check, he kind of disappeared.  I mean, it WAS really busy in there and he wasn't standing around doing nothing, but it's kind of a pet peeve of both of ours; you were right on top of things taking our order and the food came out pretty quickly, but once we're done we want to go.  And don't you want our table for the next customer?

We liked Dante's Kitchen a lot, and will most likely go back.  The food was very good, and above comments notwithstanding, the service was good too.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Condesa Restaurante Mexicano

We love Mexican food.  Almost too much, if that's possible.  So we kept driving by Condesa, 721 Quaker Lane, West Warwick, AFTER we had already had Mexican somewhere else and saying, "we have to try that place". 

Well we finally made it in, and let's just say we both had mixed feelings.

To start, it's a little more upscale than the Mexican places we usually frequent.  The decor is nice, but I found it a little strange that in a place that is more "upscale" the seating reminds me of a more casual place you'd go to have lunch.  There are no booths, and the tables are situated pretty close to each other; we were seated next to a group of people who were pretty boisterous.  Maybe it's just me (Jane, BTW), but if I'm out to a nice dinner I want to be able to talk without yelling over my neighbors.  And the water tastes like bleach.  Yeah, I know, it's city water and that's the way it comes out the tap, but yuck.

The service was great, no problem there.  Our server brought us a big bowl of chips and four different dips, which was fun.  We each ordered a sangria; he the Classic 9 red, and I got the Peach Ginger.  Both were excellent.  Joe has a thing for tamales, so he got an order of the chicken & poblano.  He described them as "lame".  Could only taste the cornmeal, I guess there wasn't much chicken in there.

For dinner I went with the California burrito.  It was between that and an enchilada that also sounded good, but every time I get an enchilada I regret it.  Something about the wet, slimy tortilla I don't like.  So I went with the burrito, and it came on a plate smothered in sauce.  I understand "burrito"means different things everywhere, so maybe that's on me for not asking.  It was ok, that's the best I can give it.  And for $15, I feel like it should be more than just ok.  What it WAS, though, was enormous.  Two of us could have split it and been full.  Joe went with the Pollo Maya, which came with grilled veggies and chipotle mashed potatoes.  He was really happy with it, and I tasted some too.  Very, very good.  The price was around the same.

The consensus?  We won't be going back.  It's a nice place, but you can get better Mexican for a lot less money at a lot of other places.  I wouldn't say don't go there, it wasn't BAD.  It just wasn't for us.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Crazy Burger

It was a dark and dismal day...we were cooped up in the house, too rainy and miserable to play outside...so we took a ride, and ended up at Crazy Burger, 144 Boon Street, Narragansett RI.


A whole lot of people already know about Crazy Burger, judging by the fact that every single time we've been there, it's packed. Sometimes there's a wait line down the sidewalk in front.  Not today, though.  Today our table was waiting.  The atmosphere in here is so interesting!  Local art all over the walls is different almost every time you come in, lights and fun lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  The booths are big and roomy, or you can sit at the bar if you like.  They use cloth napkins, which I like.  I'm a big fan of cutting down on waste. And the water is good.

For those of you who DON'T know, Crazy Burger is not a burger joint.  Well, not JUST a burger joint.  The menu there is unlike any other.  Sure, there are burgers, but some really unusual ones!  And lots of other great stuff too, with a great deal of vegan and vegetarian choices.  On this day, I opted for breakfast for lunch.  Eggs and I don't get along, but their Mexi-tofu is comparable to scrambled eggs with salsa and goat cheese, and it comes with home fries and Brioche.  It's extremely tasty.  (my favorite way to have them, BTW, is in the summertime out on their back patio.  Plants growing everywhere, it's just a whole experience).

Joe went with the honey barbecue chicken enchilada, which he described as a taste bud orgy. It came with a side of seasoned rice that had corn in it (among other things which are a mystery to me) which was also delicious, and cornbread, also delicious.

When I go to a Mexican restaurant, I want to hear Spanish music.  Ditto Asian food=Asian music.  So what was playing that day at Crazy Burger?  Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance".  Perfect :)

So if you haven't been to Crazy Burger, we both highly recommend it!

Friday, January 11, 2019

Anchor Pete's

Jane here...wow, it's been over a year and a half since the last review!  Trust me, we've been eating, but life intervenes and we've both been too busy to post.  Too bad, too, because we've been to lots of great new places but neglected to take notes, so we'll just have to revisit some of them.

However, today we visited Anchor Pete's in Wakefield, RI, and it inspired me to get going on this blog again!

For those of you who might not know, Anchor Pete's is the old Rhody Joe's.  We had gone there several times, but the new place is much better.  The atmosphere is nice, very much more open and bright than it used to be, with a nautical theme (of course) that we both liked.  One thing we noted right away was that the televisions in the dining area were off.  This is a pet peeve of both of ours; we feel like the TVs should be in the bar area.  Televisions on when you're eating are an unpleasant distraction.  There were only a couple of people in the dining room, but then we were there in between the lunch and dinner crowd so not surprising, I guess.  The service was excellent (our server was Shelby).  We both decided on the chicken burrito, one of the specials.  It did not come with fries or chips or anything like that, and that's probably a good thing because it was just the right amount of food for lunch.  Joe says it was probably the best burrito he's ever had, and he loves his burritos!  I must agree, it was very tasty and came with small sides of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

The menu stated that it will change weekly, and that was very intriguing to me. Anchor Pete's didn't waste money getting permanent menus made up; the menus are just printed paper which makes sense if the selection is expected to change. The food was so good that we will be back to check out one of the several seafood dishes they offer, and they had some interesting salads on the menu also.

Two thumbs up from both of us for Anchor Pete's.  We encourage everyone to stop in and check them out!