Category Archives: Eating

Boys Night Out – Joe Momma’s Pizza

http://www.joemommas.com/

Elote Cafe

Big treat on Friday. Sweetie tore herself loose from her busy schedule and came downtown. We went to lunch at the Elote Cafe. It’s been downtown at the old Nelson’s Buffeteria location for at least a couple of years but I had not been there yet.

My loss, the food is good and very reasonably priced.

I had the Sweet Potato Tamales.

The tamales had a sweet potato filling and they were tasty! They were not overly spicy but had enough heat to be satisfying. The sweet potato gave the tamale’s a nice flavor and they were not overy filling. I don’t usually eat the rice and beans at Mexican food places but I did here. The black beans and rice tasted fresh and were not too filling. It was a very satisfying lunch.

Sweetie had the Puffy Tacos. The man taking the orders said it was their signature dish.

She let me have about a third of one taco. It was great. That’s what I’m getting next time.

The place is a great place to eat.It’s not overly fancy but is a pleasant space. The staff are hustling butt because they have a lot of people eating there but take time to make sure that everything is ok.

So I’ll be eating lunch at Elote’s from time to time now. I give it four stars out of four.

They have a great web site. Check it out. They take pains to be a “green” restaurant.

They are downtown at 514 South Boston Avenue, their phone is 918 582-1403. They are not just a lunch spot, they are open for dinner until 10PM Tuesday through Saturday.

Pappadeaux Restaurant – Houston, TX

I went on a business trip to Houston this week. Saw a bunch of customers. We went to eat at my favorite restaurant in Houston, Pappadeaux at 6601 Westheimer. There lots of Pappadeaux locations in Texas but this is my favorite. Why? Because the General Manager, Robin, and I are best friends now. See!

So if you are ever in Houston go to Pappadeaux to eat some seafood. Ask for Robin, tell her I sent you. She’ll take very good care of you. Tell her you want my usual table. It’s the best table in place. It usually has a little reserved sign on it. Just for me and my friends.

What did I have to eat? It was the special that night. I forget the name of it but here it is.

It is blackened mahi, blackened shrimp, blackened butternut squash with green beans. It was wonderful. Even the squash, honest.

And, and, and – They have FAT TIRE BEER on tap. I think they do that just for me.

I’ve been eating at this restaurant for about 22 years. I strongly recommend it!

Pappadeaux gets four stars out of four. Ya gotta eat there if you go to Houston.

Road Trip – National Cowboy Museum

Gramps is still visiting. We enjoyed looking at all the western art at the Gilcrease Museum that we decided to make a little road trip down to Oklahoma City to see the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It’s only about an hour and a half drive from Tulsa. Those two shadowy characters underneath the sculpture is us. (The sculpture is “The End of the Trail” by James Earle Fraser.)

It is loaded with Remingtons and Russells and works from other great art from guys like Bierstadt, Leigh, John Singer Sargent. They also have a great collection of contemporary western art also. Guys that our grandchildren will be talking about. They restrict photography in many of the galleries.

I grabbed this off the Museum’s web site

(“Emigrants Crossing the Plains” by Albert Bierstadt)

It is much more than an art museum though. They have a whole gallery on the west as portrayed on television and in movies.

Remember this guy?

(That is Marshall Dillon from Gunsmoke you Gen X and Y folks.)

How about this guy?

In their Special Events Center the Museum has five triptych works by Wilson Hurley. Each of the triptychs is 18 feet tall and 46 feet wide and are named “Windows to the West.” I’ve attended several banquets and luncheons at the facility and studying the paintings are a great way to get past a droning speaker. (My apologies to the droning speakers I’ve listened to in the past.)

Here is an example.

(“Wyoming Suite” portraying the lower falls of the Yellowstone River.)

I strongly recommend a stop at the museum if you find yourself in Oklahoma City. They have got lots more stuff than what I’m showing here. We were on a road trip. You don’t have time to poke your head into every nook and cranny when you are on a road trip. Road trips are about moving on.

So we moved on to Leo’s Barbecue Factory. You can really pig out at this joint but we just had the barbecue sandwich without any side except the baked potato.

It’s kind of basic, but it is great.

Leo’s Barbecue Factory
7 Harrison Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Next, we motored back to Tulsa. We made a pit stop at the Phillips 66 in Stroud and that is where I found what I’m getting Sweetie for Christmas. I’ll show you what it is but you have to promise not to tell. Yeah really.

What do you think of these?

I think that she’ll love them! And you know, its like as they years go by I can add to her collection. And they are so affordable.

Have you picked out what you are getting your loved ones for Christmas yet? Tell me, your secret is safe here.

Saint Louis – Where to Eat

During a Fall Break Trip to Saint Louis in October we had a lot of fun covered in previous My World posts and now I’m going to tell you a little bit about where we ate. The Yogi’s try to eat well on trips. Luckily Saint Louis has lots of great places to eat.

Of course, we start with desert. We love frozen custard. We were clued in by some friends to try Ted Drewe’s Frozen Custard.

It’s really good. I mean really really good. We went there a couple times. It is on old Route 66. I would give you the link to their web site but the site locks my PC up. So I’ll spare you.

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard
4224 S Grand Blvd
(314) 352-7376

Saint Louis has a section they call the “The Hill” with lots of Italian Restaurants. The two we tried were wonderful. The one we liked the best is Cunetto House of Pasta.

My favorite was Cunetto on the Hill. They are noted for their house salad. It was great! It was as pretty as it tasted good.

For the entree I asked the waiter what their customers liked the best. He recommended the Linguine Tutu Mare, pasta with clams, crab, and shrimp in a broth. It may be the best pasta dish I have ever had. Maybe, I’ll have to go back and check it out again.

Before,

After,

Cunetto House of Pasta
5453 Magnolia Avenue
(314)781-1135
http://www.cunetto.com/

The Yogi’s, at the least the two oldest of the three of us, love brewpubs. Tulsa, to my shame, has not had any for some time. Tulsa is a “Bud Light” kind of town. (Even the Garden of Eden had thorns) Anyway we tried the Saint Louis Brewery & Tap Room. The beer and the food were both great. Nothing like a brew pub for the visuals.

Saint Louis Brewery & Tap Room
2100 Locust Street
(314) 241-2337
http://www.schlafly.com/

You know something though. The best meal we had was at a place called Sweetie Pies. Do you watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network? Well if don’t check it out some time. That is where we learned about Sweetie Pies. It is home style cooking and it is wonderful. It was the last place we ate on our trip and was it ever memorable. Check out their mac and cheese.

Sweetie Pies at the Mangrove
4270 Manchester Avenue
(314) 371-0304

We give Saint Louis four stars out of four for food. Which is wonderful. The only places better, that we have been to, are San Franciso which we gave five stars out of four and New Orleans which, I don’t know, gets maybe forty stars out of four?

After Sweetie Pies we loaded up and headed down I44 back to Tulsa.

Here is SuperPizzaBoy in travel mode.

He can do that for hours.

Sweetie was in charge of the camera.

For other views of our world check out That’s My World.

U2 Concert – the Day After – Classen Grill and Full Circle Bookstore

Sunday we went to the U2 Concert in Norman, Oklahoma. We spent the night in Oklahoma City. Slept in until almost check out time.

We had breakfast at the Classen Grill on Classen Avenue.

I’ve posted about it before and I’ll keep posting about it. We had the Chinook eggs. Poached eggs on salmon patties with hollandaise sauce. It is tasty but very very bad for you. Oh, did I mention the baked cheese grits that come with it? Or the fresh squeezed orange juice you can get?

Here is the Roadfood.com entry for the joint.

Sweetie, patiently waiting for Yogi to move it!

Next we went up the street to one of the few remaining independent bookstores in Oklahoma. Full Circle Bookstore on Northwest Expressway.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to demonize Barnes & Noble or Borders. They are great bookstores. But there is nothing like an independent bookstore run by people who love books rather than just sell books. I am a huge library user but we bought lots of books on Monday. This place is a treasure. Check out their website.

Classen Grill – Oklahoma City

During our recent road trip we had breakfast at one of our favorite places in Oklahoma City, the Classen Grill at 5124 Classen Circle.

We used to live in Oklahoma City and Classen Grill was a favorite breakfast place. It was one of those places where you might see an actress from a play you saw the night before. She might even be one of the staff. It is a little disheveled from the outside. You may not want to eat there if you are on a tight schedule or if you are one those that wants their coffee cup filled instantly. This isn’t Denny’s folks.

But they serve some great food. I had forgotten about how good the food is. I had the Chinook Eggs: poached eggs with hollandaise sauce (I know, I know ultra bad for you) on top of home made salmon patties. They throw in a big slice of cheese grits. Just what you need for a road trip!

Try their fresh squeezed orange juice. Their small size is larger than most places large sizes and it is fresh squeezed. It is not ice cold and has the seeds still in it. Tastes great!

I rate this a four stars out of four.

Petty’s Fine Foods – Utica Square,

I found myself at Utica Square in Tulsa the other day at lunch while running an errand. I needed a bite to eat but the little deli I usually go to was closed. I was by myself and just wanted a sandwich, not go to a sit down place.

I wandered into Petty’s Fine Foods, a small locally owned Grocery Store. They made me a sandwich at the deli counter. They did a great job, roast beef, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions, mustard on wheat. They wrapped it all up for me in butcher paper, I grabbed a pear in the produce department, a small bag of chips, and a soda. Paid for it and ate it at one of their tables out front.

Anybody remember when you could go to any grocery store to the meat counter and they would make you a sandwich? A good sandwich. In a previous life when I was a real engineer who actually built stuff out in the gas fields of the Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. If I was out roaming around the country checking my projects and got hungry I would often go to almost any small family owned grocery store in a small town and get my lunch (or dinner as they call lunch in Texas; they call dinner supper.)

Of course I didn’t have to pump my own gas either. If I wanted to check in with the office (remember offices?) I had to find a pay phone (remember pay phones?) And I talked to my secretary instead of voice mail (boy do I loathe voice mail!)

That was in a different era when small towns actually had a retail economy. I had forgotten all about it. But hey, things aren’t all bad, thanks to Al Gore inventing the internet for us we get to read each others blogs and Facebook updates.

All I know is, I know where I’m eating lunch next time I’m running an errand at Utica Square.

Boys Night Out

Its Book Group time for Sweetie! Her once month outing with the ladies. SuperPizzaBoy and I go out and do stuff. Come join us!

Are you ready to go SPB?

First, Dinner at Fuddrucker’s. Plain Cheeseburger for the kid.

Dad loaded his up at the “make your own” bar.

Then to Laser Quest. One 20 minute game. Very intense workout. I came in number one! I gave those 11 year olds a butt kicking they will never forget. I’m the King of the World!

We finished at Barnes & Noble. The rule is I’ll buy you a book but you better be with me at the checkout stand; he was!

Home,

Habanero Popcorn

Do you have a problem with popcorn. I mean you microwave a bag and then everybody wants some. I’ve got the solution. Habanero flavored popcorn. I’m the only one in our house that will eat it. They carry it at Bass Pro here in Tulsa.

Its really good but it is really hot. Water and beer don’t help. Soda is probably the best, something with a little fizz to it.