Fayetteville Favorites: Hammontree's and Hog Haus

Here's a tribute to two of my favorite restaurants in Fayetteville - two great local restaurants that add to the locale and culture of Dickson Street and Fayetteville: Hog Haus Brewery and Hammontree's Gourmet. :o)

Hog Haus

http://www.hoghaus.com/

Spotlight On: Brat and Stein Night! Giving new meaning to Mondays. :o)

That's right 32 oz. of beer (choose any of Hog Haus's in house brews - the Woodstock Wheat and FatBoy Blue are my personal favorites!) and a huge (probably actually several) brat on a bun - that you can top with onions, beer cheese dip, and/or sauerkraut (PLUS, homemade potato chips & German potato salad) ALL for only $9. Every Monday. Pair with their fabulous balcony overlooking Dickson (IMHO, the best in Fayetteville), and you have the best ending to a Monday ever. :o)

Hammontree's Gourmet Grilled Cheese

http://hammontreesgourmet.com/

Spotlight On: Celebrating their 1 Year Anniversary w/a new addition to the menu - hotdogs!

That's right, Hammontree's is no longer just gourmet grilled cheeses, but now also gourmet hotdogs (key word = gourmet)! :o) If you know anything about me, then it should be no surprise to you that I ordered the Aloha Dog for my first gourmet hotdog experience, and YUM! Like I said before key word = gourmet: this is no ordinary hotdog, but instead this is a smoked mozzarella and chicken sausage topped with grilled pineapple, jalapenos, teriyaki sauce, and pepperjack cheese served on a scali roll. Megan ordered the Apple Dog - a chicken and apple sausage topped with caramelized onions grilled apples, pomegranate mustard, and melted brie cheese also served on a scali roll. If your mouth isn't watering, you might want to check your pulse. Definitely worth checking out, although it's still hard to pull yourself away from their fabulous selections of grilled cheese sammiches! Good luck making this tough decision!

West End

If you frequent Dickson Street, then you are familiar with the bar formerly known as On the Rocks (OTR). It has a great patio always a good crowd. Unfortunately, OTR went under just before the start of the new year - rumor has it to poor management. Well, on the upside, I was out at 21st Amendment a couple of weeks ago on a very slow Monday night with a fellow law student, and we got to chatting with the bartender and a couple of guys at the end of the bar. As it turns out, she was training to work at the new OTR, called West End, which was set to open on the 8th of May by one of the owners of 21st Amendment. Then, we learned that West End was not only going to be a bar, but also a restaurant that served reasonably priced classics with a twist. So, being the foodies that we are, my best friend Megan and are felt compelled to test it out. Here is our experience on opening weekend.

Megan ordered one of their stuffed burgers - I think it was the Southwest style one on the menu. It was stuffed with cheese and topped with peppers. Megan ordered it with the corn salsa and tortilla chips. She really enjoyed the burger, said it had really good flavor and tasted like a good homemade burger off the grill. However, the corn salsa needed something a little more - it was mostly corn and beans, so it was missing the "salsa," some tomato and pepper base. Overall though, Megan enjoyed her meal. I think she spent about $10 on dinner, so it was a good value.

I ordered the berry salad with strawberries, walnuts, feta, and a house raspberry vinaigrette atop mixed greens. I must admit, there really isn't a whole lot you can say about a salad, but I did thoroughly enjoy it and it was very good. And for just under $10, also a good value.

Overall, we had a good experience. The service was a little slow, but I'll cut them some slack and accredit that to them just having opened and getting into the swing of things. The menu was certainly reasonably priced with a pretty good variety. Paired with the great venue and patio, I definitely recommend you check it out. :o)

#epicSB2010

My best friend, Megan Francis, and I took a cross-country roadtrip for spring break this past week traveling about 2800 miles in 40 car hours from Fayetteville, AR to New Orleans, LA to Minneapolis, MN and back to Fayetteville again. We only had a couple of rules for this trip – if one of us wanted to stop somewhere, we did. Also, we only ate at local or specialty restaurants (no “chains”). It was definitely epic, and of course, being they foodies that we are, there was LOTS of great food in the mix. Relive our adventure below with us as we take you through some of the highlights of all the great food that was #epicSB2010.

JJ's Lakeside Cafe in Chicot County, AR

Great cheeseburgers and what looked to be a delicious dinner buffet. The spicy fries were good too - not so much spicy, but seasoned. Yum.

Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, LA

The original beignets. Thus, the best. They make mix that you can buy in a yellow box. You can also watch them make them from the windows outside. They also have chickory coffee, which is quite strong, but has a really great unique (somewhat bitter) flavor. I'm a fan.

The Praline Connection in New Orleans, LA

You will find the Praline Connection in the French Quarter. It was recommended to us by Captain Ted from our swamp tour earlier that day, so we knew it'd be good. We started with fried green tomatoes in a remoulade. Megan got the jambalaya (pictured below), and I had the crawfish etouffee. Yum, yum, yum. Cajun style soul food.

Inez Cafe in Brookhaven, MS

Cute little local restaurant. We actually caught the church crowd headed to lunch as they were leaving a service and this is where a darling old man recommended we go. It was awesome. One of the best meals we had on the road if you ask me. I started with a basic green salad and then had some great seafood gumbo with cornbread (tasted like cake!). Megan had a club sammich with fries that she attested was great. We finished with dessert - Megan had the banana pudding and I the caramel cake. Oh, and the had the greatest sweet tea, served in large mason jars. Like I said, wonderful meal.

Lambert's in Sikeston, MO

So, if you've never been to a Lambert's, it's worth the trip to MO just to go. Country cooking at its very finest. Home of the "throwed rolls". That's right, they throw rolls to your table, and bring around large buckets of "pass-arounds" like fried okra, apple-butter & sweet molasses (for your rolls), black-eyed peas, tomatoes and macaroni, and fried potatoes and onions. Megan ordered the chicken fried steak and I the pork-chops. We also had cinnamon apples, baked sweet potatoes, corn, and mashed taters. They also have great tea - served in awesome huge trucker mugs. Another one of the best meals of the trip.

Fast Eddie's Bon Air in Alton, IL

So, Fast Eddie's is perhaps the greatest concept ever though up. So great even, that Megan and I drove 20 miles off the highway just to make this stop featured in Alton Brown's "Feeding on Asphalt". It's basically a bar (must be 21 to enter) with cheap food (as indicated, literally, by the menu below). In fact, we ordered the entire menu and each had a beer (required to order food) for $20. That's right, french fries, a cheeseburger, a "hot"-dog, a bratwurst, chicken wings, steak on a stick, pork on a stick, and shrimp cocktail. It was great. The owner even came over and signed our book. Definitely worth the trip.

Cosetta's Italian Market & Restaurant in St. Paul, MN

Cosetta's. The greatest Italian food I've EVER had. Hands down. I had the Tortellini Alla Panna which is basically cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce and crisp prosciutto bits and it was TO DIE FOR. Some of the other things ordered from our group included the pizza, spaghetti, meatballs, lasagne, and the penne with marinara. Each came with garlic bread. Everything was honestly amazing. Well, then we had to order dessert - we had the gelato and cannolis. OMG, wow. Really, there aren't words to describe. Just go. You'll be glad you did.

Rainforest Cafe in Minneapolis, MN

Ok, so this was kind of our break-away from the whole "no chain restaurants" rule, but it's the Mall of America (everything is a chain), I'd never been to one, and they are definitely an experience in themselves, so it was our choice for lunch. The food wasn't half bad either. And they had fun drinks. Like I said, mostly a fun theme restaurant. Worth a visit if you've never been. I had the coconut shrimp, and some other menu selections included an appetizer sampler, the quesadillas, etc. Dessert was a fun volcano brownie tower, which was really good - and huge. Mostly, fun again. In the restaurant, it thunderstorms every 20 minutes or so, AND the gorillas go crazy every other 20. So it was a good time.

Fiorella's Jack Stack in Kansas City, MO

And finally, on our way home, we felt obligated to stop at our favorite BBQ restaurant in the world on our way back through KC, MO, because, come on, how often do we make it to KC? Not often enough to pass up this stop. So, we did, and it lived up to our first experience just as we had hoped. Meg and I split the rib plate for two and did it up right with some french fries, cheesy corn, and the cheesy potatoes. Anyhow, it was pretty much the perfect food ending to our food and road-trip adventure. Ahhh. :o)

Anyhows, that was mine and Megan's #epicSB2010 in a nutshell. There are plenty of more fun stories that go beyond the great food that we had including a swamp tour, a random carnival stop, some great shopping, a fish hatchery, several historical landmarks, and even the search for an unfindable cave winery. It was a really great trip with lots of great people, and I'm glad that we can share it with y'all this way. :o)

Restaurant Review: Trailside Cafe & Tea Room

Megan and I have been driving by the Trailside Cafe & Tea Room for almost a whole year now saying, "We need to eat lunch there sometime." We were usually on the way somewhere else though, and because it's tucked away off of Center Street, it just didn't come to mind when contemplating places to eat. WELL, we finally went yesterday, and it was wonderful! Our waitress Katie was adorable, super sweet, and so helpful! We started off with pot of tea - White Chocolate Green, which was superb. The pairing of white chocolate with the green tea seemed a bit odd to me, but the subtle scents and tastes of white chocolate in the tea complemented really well! It was heavenly. Then we each ordered up a bowl of chili, although the decision was difficult with so many wonderful menu options - including a daily special plate lunch. So Megan paired hers with a apple and cream cheese tea sandwich. We giggled at the combination with the chili, but Megan said that it worked out just fine, haha. Well, and if you know anything about Megan or I, we are suckers for dessert, so I had to sample the homemade apricot turnovers that had just come out of the oven and Megan (with her odd distaste for cooked fruit) resorted for the Valentine's Day cookies - both were delicious. We are so excited that we found this little treasure, and we are definitely going to become regulars very quickly and so should you!

Also, I wouldn't be doing the Trailside Cafe & Tea Room justice if I didn't mention all of the other exciting tea adventures to experience there. I got really excited to discover that the owner actually hosts free tea talks and tastings once a month on Saturday afternoons at 2pm. Sadly, Megan and I missed the first one last month, but we will definitely be making an effort to attend the rest! The restaurant was so peaceful and relaxing, and it made a great break to a busy day. The tea options are limitless, but here are just a few that strike me as interesting: Catnip, Red Rooibos, Autumn Harvest, Fine Lung Ching or Dragon's Well, and Smoky Russian Caravan. Megan and I decided that we would take recommendations from Katie as to what type to try when we come in each time - so if you don't know where to start either, just ask! Anyhow, for more information and whatnot, check out their website at http://www.trailsidetea.com/ or better yet, stop in for lunch today. You'll definitely be glad that you did!

Trip to the Paris of the Plains (KC, MO)

My good friends, Megan, Alana, and I traveled this past weekend to Kansas City where we met with our newlywed friends Kevin and Vicky who recently moved to Minnesota for an "Ice Break 2009" reunion of sorts in combination with an APO Regional Conference. As this post will evidence, we spent a great deal of our time in the "Paris of the Plains" eating... Haha. We had plenty of great recommendations for food from individuals familiar with the area as well as several ideas from Food Network's hit television show - Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/guys-diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html). Overall, it was just a great trip, and I wanted to share my KC dining experiences with all of my blog followers. :o)

Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ

(http://www.jackstackbbq.com/info.asp?ii=2&sid=&eid=&tid=)

Straight up the best rib dinner I've ever had. And likely in the top 10 of the best meals period I've ever had. The meal came with two sides, of which I sampled their french fries, cheesy corn, cheesy potatoes, and baked beans. OMG, amazing. All of it. This picture is kinda dark because I took it with my iPhone so as not to be super obnoxious in the restaurant, so it doesn't do it justice, but seriously, awesome dinner. We followed up with creme brulee, which is definitely my favorite dessert ever, but Jack Stack's was legit as well. Yum.

Grinders Pizza

(http://grinderspizza.com/index.php?/grinders/)

Grinders was a recommendation from DDD, and all of their food was delicious. I ordered a Hawaiian calzone for my entree and not only was it huge, but it was so good. I forgot to take a photo of it, so you get the outside of the building instead... oops, haha. But all the same, yum here as well. We also sampled their crab rangoons (not a spelling error), nachos, cheesy bread, and fried mushrooms. Others ordered slices of their pizza, the "grinder" (basically a Philly cheesesteak), and several other things that I forget. I would definitely recommend stopping here for a cheap but great lunch or dinner with LOTS of options while in KC.

Mama's 39th St Diner

(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kansas-City-MO/Mamas-39th-Street-Diner/55005599947)

Mama's was also a DDD feature, and all I can say is WOW. There was a huge menu with a ton of choices and once again, everything was wonderful. The specialties included a JUMBO deep-fried cinnamon roll, specialty omelettes, and corned beef hash among other things. Vicky tried the french toast as well. Once again, it was all legit. I'm nervous to be giving all of these positive reviews (haha), but really it was just a great weekend for great food!

CANstruction in KC Union Station

(http://www.canstruction.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1)

Ok, so this isn't really a restaurant review or a food review, but it is food related, haha. When we went to Union Station, we came across this display with canned food for "CANstruction" - a food charity competition. I really don't have much to comment on here other than the fact that I thought it was a really cool project with a great cause. Check out the website for more details about it. The Warhol Marilyn Monroe canned food structure had received first place, although the lawn gnome was definitely my fave, haha. :o)