Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Feb 2025 First visit: Apr 2018 Back for the first time since last year's update. Yep just once a year these days. And this was also the first time I've been here solo. Mrs. RJG had remembered that she didn't like it last time and told me that she wasn't interested in going back. Good to know because Quijote's is on my looking-for-inventory route. So on this cold but sunny Thursday near lunchtime, I was starving and a smothered burrito sounded great. It had snowed earlier in the morning but was beginning to warm up. I changed my order slightly deciding to go with a ground beef burrito, which includes rice and beans inside the flour tortilla (see to your right). As is my custom I tried the chili first and it was hot, spicy, and delicious as always. Once I mixed it with the beef, the flavor profile was different. I think I prefer the eggs and bacon, so I'll go back to that next time. Quijote's is a charter member of the Colorado Springs RJG Rotati...

Latest visit: Sep 2025 (Flying Horse) First visit: Summer 1994 (Downtown) ---9/22/25 We finally made it to Josh & Johns for our annual visit. Not that the person working there could be bothered to care. Her nose was deep into her phone. Eventually she noticed there were two customers standing, anxiously awaiting some ice cream awesomeness. Slowly she wanders to the counter. And just stands there looking at us. Not "Hi, welcome to Josh & Johns, what can I get for you today?". Nope - just a blank stare. Hurry up so I can get back to my phone apps. She dutifully filled our order with no chance of getting an extra. Weighed it to ensure we got the least possible. She did the needful, as my Indian friends say. Why are restaurants in business if they don't want customers? The ice cream was delicious as always. Pity that the owners can't find a single employee who knows what customer service means. Maybe we don't go back. Alden's Ice Cream at Sprouts is pretty...

Latest visit: Jan 2021 (Denver, CO) First visit: Apr 1994 (Albuquerque, NM) Any regular reader of the RJG (as if such a specimen exists) will note what huge fans of New Mexican food we are. Unfortunately rare is the place that matches the goodness we find in ABQ and Santa Fe. All things considered, Little Anita's is to date the best we've found in Colorado. When you ask for Christmas they don't look at you funny, so there's that. On this visit I was very pleased with the charbroiled chicken inside my burrito. Oh I didn't mention I ordered a burrito? Well, duhhh! But of course the money here has to be placed on the smothered chile(s). The green was super, sliced and diced green chiles and very spicy. Sort of Horseman's Haven style but not quite that hot. No I'm not going to link to it - you have to know these places! OK, it's in Santa Fe... I usually do green first and red second, as the latter tends to be more flavorful. The texture was perfect - yes, ve...

Last visit: Jan 2021 First visit: Dec 2018 Those who have followed the RJG know that we're always game for a good bowl of pho. Vietnamese food, on average, is generally more consistent than other food types. Rare is the time that a Vietnamese restaurant gets a thumbs down from us. Unless the broth is too salty - or not salty enough - it's generally going to hit the spot. And Pho House definitely knows what they're doing in the kitchen. We like to start out with the pork egg rolls which are crunchy and delicious, some of the best Vietnamese egg rolls we've ever had. A small bowl will yield 36 ounces of soup and that's plenty for me. I like the meatball pho and the vermicelli noodles are perfectly cooked and sit on the stomach well. Mrs. RJG goes for the veggie pho bowl that also comes with tofu, that she enjoys. Usually she devours all the fixins that comes with it, though I may sneak a jalapeno or two away. When thinking of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants, I...

Latest visit: Apr 2025 (Voyager) First visit: Dec 2019 (Rockrimmon) ---4/15/25 A little bit later than usual for a our first visit of the year but all went well. We had the same order as last year and it was delicious. Didn't see the spicy green this time and I think they did raise the prices some. Not sure they had a choice. Can't be cheap renting in this shopping center. ---2/15/24 Out first visit to Zapata for the year was nothing but a success. We ordered to-go seven tacos, a mix of pollo asado and carne asada. Everything was perfect. They've also added a super spicy green sauce to their repertoire. Absolutely delicious, maybe the best one yet! Zapata has even kept their prices in check. They remain the best taco shop in Colorado Springs, at least of the ones the RJG has been to. ---3/5/23 After the mediocre visit to Brakeman's, Mrs. RJG and I decided on a tried and true classic: Zapata. We ordered exactly what we always do when together (three pollo asado tacos and...

Latest visit: Dec 2024 (South Academy) First visit: Aug 2011 (Denver: S. Colorado Blvd.) ---12/9/24 (S. Academy) Happy New Year everyone! We enter our 18th year of the RJG! Hard to believe. And now we have our first entry of the year. It's a bit of a cheat, since technically I went two weeks ago, but close enough to get us started for 2025. I happened to be thrifting down south, so I went to our original Colorado Springs location versus the one closer to our house (Voyager). They've made some changes since I was last here a couple of years back. Gone is full service and you now order at the counter, like you do at our local store. It makes way more sense for a place like this. And they've opened a bar area. That's a bit odd, but maybe there was some demand for it. The taps are macro only, so I can't see craft beer lovers heading here. As for the sandwich, I went back to my standard Green Chile Philly, and it was excellent as always. Chewy bread, super hot temperatur...

After a two year break, time to take away the Closed sign, and get back to posting. As was the case before, it's likely to be more high level Zagat style than anything more substantial. Last year seemed like a good time to restart the engine here, but of course the pandemic wiped that completely off the map. We're still in its grasp, and we would fully expect it to be in and out of our lives for some time. Let's just hope that the restaurants can stay open and get some kind of reasonable capacity limits. Our governor (Colorado) has done a pretty good job at keeping things open compared to many states (especially the Democrat governors, of which he is one of). But he has been (strangely) hard on the restaurant and bar industry - pitting the blame of any spike on these institutions, and there's not much data to support that. Unfortunate. As such, the RJG reintroduced himself to the fast food drive-through window. It was as if I was 23 again. We're still living in Colo...