Category Archives: Food

Fodor’s- 10 Best Summer Food Festivals

Food
a close-up of a logo

Fodor’s has a fun slideshow- 10 Best Summer Food Festivals. 

Kim and I love attending different festivals and events and have been to two from this list. 

When we visited Chicago a few years back, we happened to be in town while the Taste of Chicago was going on. After doing a Segway tour we headed over to the Taste and had a great time and tried some awesome food. I’d definitely recommend stopping by if you’re around while the event is going on.

Smorgasburg is a fun food event with lots of great vendors. Being that it takes places in Brooklyn (where we live) we attend the event every couple of weeks. It takes place on Saturdays in Williamsburg and Sundays in DUMBO. There are lots of great choices of things to eat. I’d recomend doughnuts from Dough, pizza from Pizza Moto and an ice cold slush from Kelvin Slush.

Here is the full Food Festivals list:

  1. Smorgasburg- Brooklyn, NY
  2. National Cherry Festival- Traverse City, MI
  3. Taste of Chicago- Grant Park- Chicago, IL
  4. Vermont Cheesemakers Festival- Shelburne, VT
  5. Copper River Wild Salmon Festival- Cordovva, AK
  6. Gilroy Garlic Festival- Gilroy, CA
  7. Maine Lobster Festival- Rockland, ME
  8. Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival- Cary, NC
  9. Truckeroo Food Truck Festival- Washington, D.C.
  10. Austin Ice Cream Festival- Austin, TX
Have you been to any of the food festivals from this list? If so let us know what you thought about it in the comments below.

Find out more about each of these food festivals on Fodors.com HERE.

Some Tasty Local Finds At McDonald’s In Japan

Food, Japan
a restaurant with a sign on the front
At home I rarely eat at McDonald’s. However, when traveling to a foreign country, McDonald’s is a must visit on my list. I like going for a few reasons.
  1. Sample the local menu items
  2. Free WiFi (usually)
  3. Sometimes you just want to eat something familiar when traveling

On our trip to Japan I was curious to see if McDonald’s sold a McSushi, McBentoBox or McTempura. They didn’t sell any of those items but did have a couple of locally- inspired items that I had to try.

a close up of a burger
Shrimp Burger
a close up of food

The Local Menu Items:

  • I had noticed the Ebi Filet-O right away when looking over the menu during out first McDonald’s visit. The ebi is a breaded, ground-up shrimp burger. It is available after breakfast hours. Shrimps seem to be available everywhere you go in Japan so a shrimp burger on the menu was a great idea.
  • I was surprised to not see any other interesting, local menu items until we stopped into McD’s one morning for a quick breakfast in Kyoto. While looking over the menu, I came across the Bacon Potato Pie. I ordered it as a side. I wasn’t sure what this item had to do with Japan but I still had to give it a try.
Thoughts About the Local Items:
a close-up of a fast food restaurant
a chicken burger with a bite taken out of it
Shrimp Burger

I’ve had shrimps in McDonald’s in the past. The first time was in Estonia but they were fried shrimp not made into a ground up burger. I was excited to see what this Japanese Ebi tasted like. The ebi had a mild yet tasty shrimp flavor and the breading was very good too. The shrimps weren’t ground up like a burger would be. You can actually see the little pieces of shrimp that make up the patty. The sandwich is served on a seeded bun with lettuce and a cream sauce. The sauce was very good but a little more sauce would’ve made the ebi taste even better.

Overall I really enjoyed this item. I had it two times and would’ve liked to have had it once more before heading home. If this was on the menu at home I’d be sure to visit McDonald’s for an ebi sandwich at times.

a food on a book
a food on a paper
Bacon Potato Pie

On one of our train rides we saw someone eating McDonald’s pancakes. They looked and smelled really good. At our first few hotels breakfast was included but when we got to Kyoto it wasn’t so we headed over to McD’s and I knew what I planned to get.

After placing my order for pancakes I skimmed over the breakfast menu a little more. To my surprise there was an item that I’ve never seen before. I went ahead and ordered a Bacon Potato Pie not knowing what to expect. The pie came out in a package just like the McDonald’s fruit pies. I was really impressed with this item. The outside of the pie was crispy and the potato inside was really creamy and flavorful. The bacon was mild and added a bit of a smokey taste.

I’d definitely recommend trying the Bacon Potato Pie if you are in Japan. If this was sold at home I don’t think that I would go out of my way to eat it but I’d recommend it if you end up in Japan.

If you’ve ever came across an interesting McDonald’s item while traveling, feel free to share what it was below.

Check out a couple of other McDonald’s posts:

Check out post about the first half of our trip to Japan:
Keep checking back for posts about the rest of our trip to Japan.

The 6 Oddest Foods That I’ve Ever Tried

Food, Odd
a plate of food on a table
Cuy (Guinea Pig)

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been catching up on watching my recordings of the Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods America. In the show Andrew Zimmern travels around the U.S. seeking out “weird and wonderful” foods. When Andrew first came onto Travel Channel with his show Bizarre Foods, he traveled all over the world looking to see what the locals eat, learning a lot about the people and their customs.

While watching the show, it got me thinking. I decided to put together a top 6 list of odd foods that I’ve tried during my travels.

Here is my list (in no particular order):

1- Cuy- Guinea Pig: Peru

I had to try cuy on my visit to Peru. I decided to give it a try while spending a few days in Cusco. Getting over looking at the guinea pig was the first challenge. Trying to eat around all of the tiny bones was the next issue. Difficulties aside, I found the meat to be a bit greasy and gamey. There also wasn’t a whole lot to eat from the animal. Regardless of this, I think guinea pig is a must try if you visit Peru.

Review- Shake Shack at Delta T4- JFK Airport

Food, Review,
a group of men standing in front of a restaurant
L-Michael W. R- Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the opening of Delta’s Terminal 4 at JFK airport.
Check out a couple of posts about my visit:

There was a lot of anticipation and excitement for the opening of T4. The thing I was most excited for was the great food options the terminal would offer, especially Shake Shack.
I wrote a post about this prior to the new terminal opening which was also featured on the Boarding Area blog Delta Points.

a group of people in a terminal
T4 Shake Shack

When I arrived at T4, I had a couple of objectives in mind. As long as the lines weren’t long, I had to eat at Shake Shack and check out the new Sky Club/ Sky Deck.

There will be two Shake Shack locations at T4 but it turned out that only one was open in time for the terminal’s opening. The second location should be opening very soon. Continue reading Review- Shake Shack at Delta T4- JFK Airport →

USA Today: 12 Outrageous Foods At Minor League Parks

Baseball, Food
a hot dog with whipped cream and sprinkles
photo from USA Today article

USA Today has a fun list of Outrageous Food served at Minor League Parks. I’ve seen a few of these items on food- television shows. It was interesting to hear about other odd foods being served at parks around the country.

While some of these items sound pretty good, I am happy with the offerings of my favorite Major League team. The New York Mets are a tough team to watch these days but eating at their park Citi Field is always enjoyable. You can never go wrong with Shake Shack and some of the other tasty things offered.

Here is the list from USA Today:

  1. Twinkie Dogs– Battle Creek Bombers: It’s exactly as it sounds- hot dogs stuffed inside a Twinkie. I love Twinkies and hot dogs but am not sure if I’d want to try this one.
  2. Bacos– Western Michigan Whitecaps: a taco served inside a bacon shell
  3. The Fifth Third Burger– Whitecaps: a 4 pound specialty burger made from 5 burgers topped with chili, cheese, chips, salsa, lettuce and sour cream in a giant sesame seed bun. 
  4. The Funnel Dog– Northwest Arkansas Naturals: a hot dog battered & friend with funnel cake and coated with powdered sugar. Sounds kind of interesting to me!
  5. Baseball’s Best Burger– Gateway Grizzlies: a burger with bacon and sharp cheddar placed on a Krispy Kreme glazed (and grilled) doughnut. I had a burger similar to this a couple of years back. It was weird but really good at the same time.
  6. Philly Cheesesteak Nachos– Grizzlies: tortilla chips with shredded chicken, Monterey  Jack sauce and grilled pepper & onions. 
  7. The Peanutbutter and Pepper Jelly Jalapeno Bacon Burger– Charleston RiverDogs: the ingredients all seem to be in the name. I had a burger in Milwaukee with peanut butter and it was shockingly good. 
  8. BBQ Nachos– Memphis Redbirds: corn tortilla chips with pulled pork, spicy cheese sauce and sliced jalapenos. 
  9. Red & White Hots– Rochester Red Wings: a combination of red & white hot dogs from Zweigle’s, the only hot dog brand sold at the stadium since the ’20s. 
  10. Wicked ‘Wich Sandwiches with Fries & Slaw– Sacramento River Cats: a mobile food truck where you pick the meat (from pastrami to turkey to BBQ turkey to salmon  & more) which is placed on to thick cut deli bread. Provolone cheese, seasoned fries and oil & vinegar slaw is then added.
  11. The Triple Play– Reno Aces: triple decker sandwich made with grilled slices of Pullman bread paired with pulled pork and brisket and a huge portion of cole slaw. The sandwich is topped with barbecue meatballs, pickles and cherry peppers. 
  12. Country Bob’s Chicken Sandwich– Gateway Grizzlies: chicken breast sandwich topped with Country Bob’s apple- chipotle sauce, bacon and melted provolone cheese.
Find out more and check out some photos in the USA Today article HERE

A Visit To The Oldest Restaurant In Denver- The Buckhorn Exchange

Food, , ,
a brick building with a red awning

Last month Kim, Lucas and I headed to Colorado Springs so that I could attend BAcon aka Boarding Area Conference.
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We flew from NYC to Denver and then rented a car to drive to Colorado Springs. We could’ve flown directly to Colorado Springs but one of our favorite airlines for domestic flights, Southwest does not fly there.
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We arrived in Denver a few hours before we needed to get to Colorado Springs and wanted to visit some sights or do something fun. However, we were all exhausted from our  4 am wake up for our flight so we opted to go for lunch.
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I knew from before we left that we wouldn’t want to first start looking up where to eat when we got to Denver so I had done my research beforehand .
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Continue reading A Visit To The Oldest Restaurant In Denver- The Buckhorn Exchange →

Eating Our Way Around The Great GoogaMooga- Brooklyn, NY

Food, New York,
a large multi-tiered cake with colorful circles and letters

Yesterday Kim, Lucas and I headed over to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY to spend the day at The Great GoogaMooga.

The Great GoogaMooga is a food, drink and music festival taking place for the second year. The food vendors were from top restaurants all over the city. There was also beverage tents featuring many wineries and breweries. We didn’t know any of the musical acts besides the closing one- Matt & Kim which we did not stay for.

The festival is free to attend as long as you have a ticket which are given out through an online lottery. This year we didn’t get selected but a friend had an extra pair of tickets for us. There is also a paid option which we did not consider. The food was pay as you go and each booth has their own prices ranging from $5- $16 per item.

A little about the food:

Continue reading Eating Our Way Around The Great GoogaMooga- Brooklyn, NY →

Patsy Grimaldi Returns: Julianna’s Pizza- Brooklyn, NY

Food, New York, ,
a brick oven with a red sign above it
Back in 1998 Patsy Grimaldi sold his famous and successful pizzeria Grimaldi’s which is located under the Brooklyn Bridge.
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The Grimaldi’s brand went on to expand to various locations around the country.
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Fast forward to 2012. The owners lost the lease on the original Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn and had to leave the coal oven behind.
a restaurant at night with people sitting at tables
Patsy Grimaldi regretted selling off his beloved pizzeria and recently had an opportunity to get back into the pizza business in his original spot. From what I understand, Patsy went partners with the owners of the building at 19 Old Fulton Street while Grimaldi’s moved to the corner at 1 Front Street. Here’s the catch. Grimaldi’s could not bring the historical coal oven with them. Apparently, coal ovens are illegal to install but if they are already existing they are grandfathered in. So Patsy got his original oven back.
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Shake Shack: Great American Shake Sale- May 1-31

Food, ,
a close-up of a flyer
I’ve written about my love for Shake Shack quite a few times and saw a really great offer that I’d like to share.
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For the month of May, Shake Shack is hosting the 2nd Annual Great American Shake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign.
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Here is how the sale works:

Shake Shack guests that donate $2 or more to No Kid Hungry will receive a card for a complimentary hand-spun shake- valued at $5- redeemable on their next visit. One hundred percent of donations will benefit No Kid Hungry.

The sale is available at all Shake Shacks besides stadiums and international locations.
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Continue reading Shake Shack: Great American Shake Sale- May 1-31 →

A Visit To The First McDonald’s In Russia

Food, Jumping, Trip Reports, ,
a group of cars parked on a snowy street

During our trip I had to visit the very first McDonald’s to open in Soviet era Russia.The location opened in Moscow in 1990 and I remember it being major news due to the lines of people that went on for blocks, all wanting to get inside for a taste. This was one of the first stops we made during the trip. (Read a recap about our stay in Moscow HERE.)

I rarely eat McDonald’s at home but always try to check them out while traveling. One of my top things to do while abroad is try local food but sometimes it feels good to walk into a place and pretty much know what to expect both price and taste wise (plus McDonald’s pretty much always has free Wifi). One of the main highlights for me is seeing what items are offered that differ from the McD’s at home. I always try to get a menu item that seems  to have a local feel. Continue reading A Visit To The First McDonald’s In Russia →