Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Apr 2022 (Colorado Springs) First visit: Oct 2018 (Colorado Springs) Back for our annual review a bit earlier than anticipated. Mrs. RJG and I had just finished a very successful day selling at the Colorado Springs Record Show (side hustle as they now call it), and we were exhausted. Unfortunately the taco truck that was hired didn't show up - so we were starving too! So we decided on an early dinner at Biaggi's. Not too much different than our experience below, especially the kitchen was on point this late afternoon. Despite the early hour, we were looking at a 20 minute wait. Fortunately there was a table in the bar area, and we went for that for immediate seating. I went with the Spaghetti and Meatball this time, and the pasta was cooked perfectly, as were the meatballs. Probably could use a bit more flavor in the sauce, but not complaining. Mrs. RJG went for the Farfalle Alfredo, which she enjoyed. It was a bit salty, but this was a day where extra salt was w...

BWI airport First visit: Dec 2021 To be honest, the rest of my business trip was disappointing from a dining perspective. I fear to say that my peers would rather "meet than eat", but OK, when in Rome... There were so many places I would have loved to drop by and say hi again: Joe Benny's, Max's Taphouse, Taco Fiesta, and Ale Mary's leading a long list. But I wasn't there on vacation, and there's work to be done. So roll up the sleeves and sway with the breeze. There's always a next time. I hope. The coffee place in the Marriott where we stayed (Harbor East) is awful. They serve Illy, but the mocha was really bland. There used to be a Starbucks in there, but I guess they decided to pack up and leave. For lunch on "big meeting day" they did bring in some food (that was good of them...). I'm not entirely sure where it came from, but I think it was Samos Greek Island Grill, which is nearby and the menu items look about the same (the photos t...

First visit: Dec 2021 Continuing on from the same day as Pasta Mista, it was time to meet the new boss for the first time - again in person. Also two peers, including a new hire like myself. Boss Man chose Cindy Lou's Fish House. It's a new place, established after my last foray into Baltimore. It's in an ideal location at the edge of the harbor with super views. In fact, it's part of my harbor running route in the morning, so I knew exactly where it was. Cindy Lou's is the latest venture from well respected chef Cindy Wolf, and her nearby Charleston restaurant has won many awards. As it turns out, she is also a personal friend of our very own Rude Dante! It's the Indiana connection. Small world, eh? Ms. Wolf was not on hand this night, working her regular job at the Charleston. I was hoping for a quick introduction on behalf of the RJG team. Though Cindy Lou's could be considered high-end dining, it doesn't really feel that way. It's a unique menu, ...

First visit: Dec 2021 (Canton) They have a second location in Towson. I met with my new direct reports for the first time (in person) in the morning. Now it's time for a team lunch, but where to go? The office is in Canton, so I'm not that familiar with the neighborhood. Bo Brooks would have been great, but they are no longer open for lunch. Hudson Stackhouse wouldn't be appropriate. Fortunately one of our team is a resident of Canton. Grew up there as well. His go-to place for an Italian lunch? Pasta Mista. The RJG is always about local, and can't do better than a local recommendation! Pasta Mista is your classic pizza pasta place, with sandwiches and pizza by the slice. And a welcoming owner. I settled on the meatball parm sub. Excellent bread, meatballs (though I don't think they're homemade - too perfect), gooey cheese, and best of all a slightly sweet tomato sauce to bury it in. I like that they leave the sauce on the side so you can add on each bite as you...

Latest visit: Dec 2021 (Fells Point) First visit: Jan 2019 (Fells Point) A bit surprised to see I hadn't added The Abbey Burger Bistro. This was a tip I received from a fellow patron at Max's Taphouse, and it's pretty much around the corner from there. After my first visit, it became part of the weekly rotation when in town. I chose it as the first place to come back to when returning to the Charm City, since they have the perfect balance of beer choice and high quality food. While the beer selection isn't quite up to Max's (no one else does either), the food quality is definitely a cut above. But one's a beer bar that serves food and the other is a restaurant that has craft beer. And Abbey Burger Bar definitely brings the beer selection - close to 40 if memory serves, and constantly rotating. They used to have the large screens with the latest and greatest, but it looks like they canceled that service, another victim of the pandemic.  As for the food, there are...

Latest visit: Dec 2021 First visit: Oct 2016 Our first visit here came via one of our personal trips to the area before moving to the Springs. Not sure if our flavors were off, or they just had an off night, but it wasn't to our taste. Last month we decided to try it again, and it's much better than we remembered. And we're already back again. As you all know, Thai food was always a dinner pursuit for us, with a BYOB of Chardonnay by our side. It was a weekly tradition Mrs. RJG and I had going in Texas for almost the entire 15 years we lived in NE Tarrant. BYOB is not legal in Colorado, despite a recent effort to reverse that course. I have no idea why the concept hasn't taken off here. It would be even more popular than in the Bible Belt. And most Thai restaurants don't want to bother with getting a liquor license, and if they do, the costs are fairly exorbitant. As such, we've decided to make our Thai meals a lunch event sans wine. It's something I first d...

Latest visit: Apr 2025 First visit: Dec 2021 This is only my second visit to Wade's. I was way ahead of schedule and found myself further north than usual for an early lunch. Let's see how it goes. Location: Just off of North Academy at the intersection of Carefree. Standard issue free standing diner restaurant. In addition to plenty of tables, they have a few solo counter stools, so I grabbed one on this visit. I should mention that I've been here twice since my last visit but both times they had a waiting list, so I moved on. It's a popular place. I think with today being Wednesday that helped. Food: Breakfast appears to be the main draw and since I had a bird's eye view to the kitchen that is mostly what came out. But they have a hearty lunch menu of sandwiches, burgers, and even entrees like liver & onions. My dad would have liked this place since he loved that dish! I went with the chili cheeseburger this time, doused in green. See for yourself. Came with f...

OK, starting to get back on the horse again. Honestly, dining out has been a huge disappointment for the latter half of 2021 (though it's been on the downhill for a few years now). The reasons are hardly a secret, and is national news. Supply chain issues, inflation, and worker shortages have been particularly hard on the restaurant industry. It's been relentless. For long time readers, you'll note the RJG was around during the Great Recession. That had the opposite effect - the dining experience was at its peak. For most of my life, the idea of eating out has been an exciting one. For the last 6 months, I'd much rather eat at home than go out. Even when I go to Denver to buy records, I eat before I go, not to waste time on a bad experience. $50 for a mediocre meal for 2 (with no alcohol) and bad service is a non-starter here. And we eat great at home for a fraction of the price! Thank you Mrs. RJG! As much as I'd like to support our local dining spots, I'm not ...

For dinner, we decided to check out a place in Novato called Boca Pizzeria. It's a Napolitano pizza place, wood fired grill, ya know - my fave! The place was really nice. They had plenty of outside seating as well as inside. We ordered some roasted brussels sprouts, which were excellent. Then we got a salad with feta, cured olives, cucumber, and heirloom tomatoes with homemade croutons and lemon vinaigrette. It was huge, fresh, and yummy! We then had the Margherita pizza. It was amazing! It had a very light sauce, nice pools of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil just as the traditional ingredients prescribe. The crust was awesome. Chewy and delicious! We had a little dessert. A Belgian chocolate mousse cake! Oh boy, it was so rich and delicious! I also had a sparkling lemonade and mint drink with dinner. It was very delish and refreshing. We saw some things go by as we ate. One was the chicken picatta, one of Ms. Music's favorite dishes. So we decided to eat there again th...

Muir Woods Park Quick hitter here: Ms. Music was feeling low on energy after our long hike in the woods. We were planning on going up the Coast and to Muir Beach and Stinson Beach. She wasn't sure if there would be places to get food and wanted to have a snack before getting on the road. To be honest, I was not so keen on spending a precious meal on a park cafe. I wanted to reserve my stomach space and meal experience for something more interesting. Plus most park cafes serve crap! Ms. Music understood but said she needed a little snack. She ended up getting a hot turkey & cheese melt  as well as the turkey and white bean chili.   It was all delicious! They said everything was locally sourced. Even the bread was delicious! It was some sort of grainy wheat, which I love. The cost for those were about $25. Not cheap, but considering we were in NorCal, at a state park, and it's all locally sourced and organic, I thought it was reasonable enough. We indulged on an organic oat...

Latest visit: Sep 2022 (Denver - Larimer Sq.) First visit: Sep 2021 (Denver - Larimer Sq.) Well here's a place I didn't expect to revisit. But now it's brother-in-law's 50th birthday as noted below. And he too wanted to go here. So I called my banker to see if we had the funds... Of course it's only gotten more expensive. This time we were missing a nephew-in-law who had family business to attend to in Alabama. So instead of 8 of us, it was 7. And the bill was the same, and we all more or less got the same thing. On this visit, I tried the 14oz New York Strip. Like last year, I ordered it medium, and it came out medium rare. Fine with me - I expected it. Overall the food here is very good, but not exceptional - and it needs to be just that. Primary service wasn't as tight as last time. We had to beg for the bread again. The bathrooms were missing soap and the trash bin was filled with paper towels to the top. These little details should never happen at a fancy s...

First visit: Aug 2021 For our first night of our latest trip to New Mexico, we decided to mix it up a bit and go for Italian. We already knew we were going to indulge in New Mexican cuisine for a few meals, and we had the Thai restaurant (Thai Spice in ABQ) circled as well. So how about the old road trip standby of Italian? Taos is a little bit more of a resort-y town, and you can expect all sorts of restaurants to cater to the tourist crowd. The owner of Mondo Italiano comes from New York, and what better place to learn the craft than the Big Apple. Mrs. RJG and I decided to just keep it simple. A glass of wine each with spaghetti and x, where x = meatballs or sausage. Pardon the programming language. In general, these dishes are rarely cooked properly anymore. Usually the sauce is too tart, sweet, bitter, runny, thick... but not here. Perfectly cooked. The pasta was al dente and the smooth sauce had just the right amount of sweet and tart. The sausage was mild, but tasty. I don't...

Latest visit: Mar 2025 First visit: Aug 2016 We had just finished going to an estate sale in the small village of Tijeras, a beautiful wooded setting that sits just east of Albuquerque. And it's time for lunch. Let's see, we're on the east side of ABQ. Gee, where should we eat? You ask. Of course we go to Perea's. I had secretly hoped that the lunch crowd would be smaller than for breakfast. No such luck. Placed our name on the list and waited, though it was about 10 minutes this time. If you recall, last year we started to bemoan the lack of a hot temperature for our meals. Hooray, that problem was solved. While Mrs. RJG stuck with breakfast and had Huevos Rancheros, I boldly went forward with their lunch pork adovada enchiladas buried in Christmas (to the right, mine is in front,). Those are onions on top (and the red chile is behind them). The enchiladas were delicious, as were the chips and salsa we received at the opening (which were better than last visit). Perea...

First visit: Aug 2021 No road trip is going to happen without at least one visit to a Thai restaurant. That's a Mrs. RJG rule. So for this getaway, Albuquerque was chosen as the city and Thai Spice as the place. We've had good Thai food in ABQ before (Thai Cuisine II - not reviewed here), but we were looking for something a bit closer to our hotel (we stayed up north), and settled on Thai Spice based on the reviews. And those reviews were accurate. Thai Spice could be described as "bustling". A popular place, with both dine-in and to-go orders, the workers at Thai Spice were constantly on the move, and we arrived relatively early. As such, service was a bit slow, but not sure how they could have rectified that situation. The restaurant is open and spacious, and pleasant background music was provided for a serene setting despite the activity. We started with a fried shrimp appetizer. A bit on the small size, but still very good. For dinner, I ordered my usual spicy bas...

(The Cristallo Family) [Since 1962] {Bar and Lounge} Ya almost don’t need to even go in and order. You KNOW it’s gonna be epic! I did say, ‘almost’?! Strangely, this was my second choice for premium wap-chow (ed: well... he is Rude Dante...) in a town named Visalia. How could I go wrong? (Choice #1, incidentally, was closed for a remodel the entire span of my visit). Was here two times Aug-Sept 2021, and the second will have to be first. I came in seeking Penne di Maria, and it did not disappoint. But where are my manners.  You have to sit at the bar in the back. Talk to the other patrons: Skip (owns the meat market that sells them steaks, bread, etc.) Tanya and Teddy (she orders for him). But I digress… Dinner the last trip was Penne di Maria, a spicy red  sauce over penne with Italian sausage, bell peppers and (if you ask for it) extra garlic. Asked for salad with house (Italian) dressing, a couple beers and an old vine Zinfandel. The bread (gratis) was perfect for mopping ...

Latest visit: Sep 2022 First visit: Jan 2019 Time for our annual review. In a lot of ways one can certainly say Broken Bones is consistent. Much of what I said below applied to this visit as well. I purposely tried something new on this day, looking for that one craveable food item that makes me want to return again and again. I did not find it. In fact, this visit resulted in a -1 rating. I opted for the 2 meat platter. I chose pulled pork and pulled chicken. The latter was - I really don't like to be this way but... terrible! It was like a boiled thigh that they pulled and served on a plate. It had zero barbecue flavor, and it was tasteless. Broken Bones - hear me - the only pulling you should be doing with chicken is pulling it off the menu. It was an embarrassment. The pulled pork was better - at least it had a barbecue flavor. But it was too mushy. Miles away from Red Hot and Blue that's for sure - and they're a chain for crying out loud. I wanted to try the jalapeno t...

Latest visit: Oct 2024 First visit: Jul 2021 (Colorado Springs - closed) At one point Border Burger Bar was a small chain with two locations in the Colorado Springs area and one in El Paso, Texas. The latter is still open with the name Phred's prepended to it. There's no common website anymore either. So we'll presume they are now independently owned and operated. I had been wanting to revisit Border Bar for a couple of years now, but as noted above, the Academy location closed not too long after opening, another victim of the pandemic. And we never go to Manitou Springs anymore, primarily because of the parking situation. There was a time not long ago where you'd drive down, park anywhere you can, and hit the shops and restaurants. But now you have to pay everywhere in the city except the far outskirts. And I hate paying for parking, especially when it was once free. In any case, I ended up in Manitou for an estate sale that took me about two hours to go through. When ...

Latest visit: May 2024 First visit: Oct 2009 Founded: 2009 As with Leon Gessi, it's time to get in an annual review of an old favorite. On this Friday, I had some morning meetings, and then decided to do the thriftin' rounds for my "break" before having to come back in the afternoon for more meetings. As I headed south, lunch time had arrived (around 11:00) and I was nearby. I knew what I wanted - The Italian Stallion. I was slightly disappointed on this visit because the bread wasn't very hot, which came as a surprise considering the below update. But otherwise I was satisfied. I'm not usually in this area during lunchtime, so it'll probably be another year before I get back. But I'm sticking with my "new usual". On the plus side, the little restaurant was very crowded, filled with white and blue collar workers. That's a good sign. ---7/29/23 update OK, we're late for our annual review to a building I used to frequent weekly almost 3...

Latest visit: Jul 2021 (Colorado Springs - Austin Bluffs) First visit: 1983 (Lubbock, Texas) Not proud to admit that Wienerschnitzel at one time made up a good portion of my daily bread. Especially after I left campus and lived in an efficiency apartment at the end of my college tenure (1987). When they opened up in the DFW area, Mrs. RJG, The RJG's official Mom, and myself gave it a try (2004) and it was as I remembered it. Good. Not great.  I was watching them convert this quirky building (not sure what its original function was, but it last served as a cigarette store - see below photo (courtesy of the Gazette)) - as I drove by on my weekly visits to a nearby thrift shop. When they opened, they had the In-N-Out effect, and there were (I think unexpected) long lines along Austin Bluffs, that got them in hot (dog) water with the city. The novelty has already worn off. With In-N-Out, even though they've been open since late November, the lines are still incredibly long. Once t...

Latest visit: May 2024 First visit: Jul 2021 Founded: 2010 I really had no intention of revisiting Daniel's. I didn't consider them a "rotation" restaurant, and my first experience was good, but not great. It was lunchtime and I decided to try my recent "Pollo Asado" test. And look what popped up? It just so happens I was at an estate sale all of two minutes from Daniel's. As I read the below, it appears I wanted to try their tacos con salsa, and guess what I did? I went for three tacos: Grilled Chicken (they were careful not to call it pollo asado - more on this later); Grilled Steak (not carne asada); and Ground Beef. Received two salsas in small containers, one mild green, and the other a hotter red. Just as with Erickberto's last week, I passed on the guac and pico de gallo and made sure to have lettuce and cheese for the first two options. The older Hispanic gentleman (probably my age lol) running the counter is super nice. A few minutes later, ...

Latest visit: May 2024 (Dublin @ Barnes) First visit: Jun 2021 (Dublin @ Barnes) HQ: Denver, CO (founded: 2016) Locations: 14 (+4). Colorado: 8 all in the Denver / Boulder metro except this one here in the Springs. Arizona: 3 (+2) all in the Phoenix area. Texas: 3 (+2) all in the DFW area. None in Tarrant County. Closest would be Carrollton (a former RJG homestead). Back for my 3rd visit in four years. I am now spending more time on the Powers corridor, so that's why you're seeing more eastern Colorado Springs entries. On this visit I knuckled in my usual Nashville Hot chicken sandwich (stayed with "hot"), tater tots, and a regular soda. It still doesn't like my credit card (too advanced apparently) so I used my debit card this time. $15 later I await my meal. They ask for a tip. I do all the work and they want a tip. It's so ridiculous. Soon they'll ask we clean the bathrooms before leaving... Anyway, the large television screen told me my order would be ...

Latest visit: Jul 2025 First visit: Jun 2021 ---7/16/25 update As promised, I'm taking the unusual step of writing a second review for the year. This is because they comped me a full combo meal as noted below. So I tried their Sombrero burger which comes with a fried egg and green chili. They also allowed me to try their red chili with some homemade chips. The latter chili is very hot and you feel it immediately on the tongue. Good stuff. The green chili is more of a chunky salsa, and is also flavorful, though of medium spice. The egg was a bit messy and Mrs. RJG would have been grossed out had she been with me. I don't mind though :-) The hamburger was very good, though I'll stick with the taco burgers going forward. Today the restaurant was empty, but the kitchen was still hot and active. I'm very happy they gave me a free meal. I'll be certain to come back next year, if not sooner. ---3/5/25 update I'm back at Felipe's 109 for the first time in two years....