Format update

OK - looks like they fixed the theme finally. Let's see if it holds.

All Valley Cafe ~ Alamosa, Colorado

First visit: Jun 2022

Mrs. RJG and I enjoyed a nice morning run along the Rio Grande River and the Cattails Golf Course. Type into your phone "State Ave River Trail Access" if looking for a pleasant walk or run. After yesterday's dinner debacle, Mrs. RJG was ready to devour a big breakfast. Checking the reviews nearby, All Valley Cafe looked to be a safe bet.

And it was. Once again, I settled on my staple all meat breakfast burrito. We had the option of red or green chili. Or both, so naturally I went with that. As with the others on this trip, the green chile is whiter and thicker than I'm used to. But not near as starchy as San Luis Valley's version. It was closer to what I had at Jan's in Buena Vista. Packed a nice little punch too. The red was more of a Texas blend - on the thicker side. I don't want to disparage it too much, but Wolf Brand did come to mind. The burrito was loaded with bacon, sausage, and ham. Perhaps too much potato - and it was more like a baked potato verse the usual fried variety. Mrs. RJG had the Huevos Rancheros with the same chili mix. This time she ate it all, though again the chile wasn't a big hit. I guess this is how they make green chile in the south central part of Colorado. Way different than Pueblo, Colorado Springs, or Denver (and they're all different from each other). And miles from the New Mexico variety. Overall the RJG recommends, but I wish I had more time to sample the other places in town for comparison.

6/29/22 (new entry)

San Luis Valley Brewing ~ Alamosa, Colorado

First visit: Jun 2022

As noted on the Jan's Restaurant (Buena Vista) review, the end destination of this trip was to go to Crestone. The town itself sits right at the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It's exactly what I thought it would be - something of a hippie enclave. It looks more like a commune than an Old West town. It's current fame is that apparently it's a vortex/energy area for those looking for spiritual enlightenment. And there's a large amount interfaith entities represented here. Mrs. RJG and I didn't get the vibe I guess, but after walking most of the town and environs, we did stop in for a beer at a new brewery that hasn't yet started brewing their own beers (T Road) and enjoyed a couple of beers from nearby Three Barrel Brewing (hey - 6 uses of beer and brew in the same sentence - wow!). Maybe after our first beer we became a little more spiritual....

We knew Crestone wasn't going to be our hospitality stop so we continued down south to Alamosa. For dinner I had circled San Luis Brewing. Local brewpubs are usually a destination for me, and Mrs. RJG agreed and off we went.

After enjoying a couple of beers (cataloged in the Bier Reise), I ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich with a side of green chili. I found this to be a nice variation of the classic recipe, with a crispy chicken patty, ham slice, and Swiss cheese on a tasted buttery roll. The green chili was entirely white and way too starchy. However I found it to be flavorful with a nice kick. It seemed like I was eating clam chowder. Weird but good.

But Mrs. RJG... sigh. Oh boy, this particular evening did not go well at all. She couldn't figure out what to eat, and when an order of the Philly Cheesesteak walked by she stated that looked good. And she also went for the green chili. As soon as the food arrived, she made a huge frown and said "I'm full". And refused to eat any of it. Ay-yi-yi. She wouldn't trade with me either - it was going to be that kind of night. I already described the chili, but she had 2 bites and said "yuck". The Philly Cheesesteak is definitely not standard. It's not chopped and grilled but rather they use slabs of what seem like gyro meat (or roast beef more likely) with cheese, and the hoagie roll wasn't toasted. It came out a bit wet. I ended up eating that sandwich too. I thought it was good! Haha - I probably didn't help my cause much by saying that. So there you have it - one thumbs up - one HUGE thumbs down. 

I also like the setting - the restaurant itself is cavernous and there's streetside cafe seating as well. Probably won't be going back anytime soon though.

6/28/22 (new entry)

Jan's Restaurant ~ Buena Vista, Colorado

First visit: Jun 2022

It was time for Mrs. RJG and I to take a much needed quick road trip to the mountains. We haven't spent a night in the interior of Colorado since before the pandemic. The purpose of this trip was to visit Crestone, which sits on the other side of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range from Westcliffe. As noted recently, Westcliffe is a favorite destination of ours. As the crow flies, it would be a very easy jaunt to Crestone. However, there a few 14,000 foot mountains to get in the way. It must have been quite a sight for those wagon trains heading west in the 1800s to behold. And I'm sure terrifying. As such one has to go around the range - and that's what we did. One way is via US 24 and the others are US 50 and US 160. We usually go through via US 50, so we mixed it up a bit this time. By going US 24, it allows us to visit one of our favorite stops: Buena Vista.

We arrived for a late breakfast / early lunch, and after reviewing a handful of places, Jan's seemed like an obvious choice. The current name and owners go back to 1991, but the building itself has housed restaurants since the 1940s. For certain, my Dad would have made this his go-to stop if Buena Vista was in his territory. It's a large place with 2 distinct dining areas.

The menu is eclectic as you would expect. I went with a beef burrito smothered in green. The chili is a bit whiter and thicker than I'm used to, and wasn't very appealing to the eye. However once I started to wolf it down, I found myself enjoying the slightly sweet and spicy gravy. The spiced ground beef was also tangy and excellent - beyond the norm. It also comes with rice and refried beans. The beans were very thick, but once again I enjoyed the flavor more than I thought. Rice was great too. Mrs. RJG had a cheeseburger and fries. She enjoyed her meal - they actually made it well done and it was perfectly cooked. Passing her test isn't easy anymore. Worth going to. We've now been to 3 eateries in Buena Vista: Jan's, K's Dairy Delite, and Eddyline Brewery. All very good, though we haven't written about the latter 2 here in the RJG. The K's visit goes back to 2002...

6/8/22 (new entry)

(thanks to Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce for photo)

Paravicini's Italian Bistro ~ Colorado Springs, Colorado

Last visit: Jun 2022

First visit: Aug 2018

This was only the RJG's second visit to Paravicini's, the first with Mrs. RJG a few months after moving back to Colorado Springs. We had noticed it on our semi annual trips here, but never ventured in until then. We thought it was pretty good, but wanted a chance to return. Almost 4 years have gone by, and now that moment has finally happened.

Joining me for lunch on this day was the Tampa Pound, as it's been a couple of months since our last outing at The Public House. Needed to catch him up on my latest new job situation, and I asked him to choose a place. Perfect, I've been wanting go back!

He had real work to do in the afternoon, so he had a flavored tea of some sort. I went for the craft beer menu (since I'm still an unemployed bum - for 2 more weeks anyway), which is pretty limited. Stuck with one of my favorite Colorado Springs beers - Bristol's Laughing Lab, a Scottish Ale, a style no one else makes anymore. They brought out a very nice large piece of Italian seasoned bread. We each doctored up our plate with oil, vinegar, and pepper. Good start! For lunch, I went with my staple Chicken Parm. Comes with penne and a red sauce. And I added a Caesar salad. On the plus side, the salad was very good with an excellent dressing, and the parm was crisped perfectly. On the downside, the penne was a tad overcooked, the sauce is kind of bland, and the worst of it is that it wasn't hot. While the parm was at the right temperature, the pasta was warm. Big no-no in the RJG world. The Tampa Pound had a vegetarian rigatoni dish (Rigatoni Carmella as I see from their online menu). He ate about half of it and did not ask for a box. Said it was good, and I do know he's a light eater, so it's hard to say if his meal was a hit or miss. 

Unfortunately this experience mirrors our last visit 4 years ago. Fear to say, this isn't the best Italian restaurant in town. Which is really a pity, because the location is perfect. Sits in Old Colorado City, and it's an authentically old building that has been renovated. Great ambience. Maybe I'll try it again for lunch, and stick with a Italian sausage sandwich or something similar.

8/26/18; 6/22/22 (new entry)

Texas Roadhouse ~ national chain : Monument, Colorado

First visit: Jun 2022 (Monument, CO)

It was time to celebrate the RJG's new job, and for this event we had Mrs. RJG, her official mom - and my official mom. So with two ladies in their 80s, that means Early Bird Special! My official mom had been wanting to go here for some time, so now we had the perfect excuse. My comment on the Rating is pretty much all you need to know, unless you've never been to a steakhouse before. The roots of Texas Roadhouse are actually in Colorado, and the founder started with a restaurant known as the Buckhead Mountain Grill. He dropped out of that and started Texas Roadhouse. So clearly he moved his theme from Colorado to Texas. Hey, he's going in the opposite direction of the RJG!

As for the food, each of us had a small sirloin, as either the feature of the meal or as part of a combo. Mrs. RJG likes hers well-done as you all know. Finally she got a completely futzed out - no juice steak. It was dry she complained. Yea, how about that? For the rest of us, we settled on Medium and were happy with the flavor and seasonings. Mine was probably a bit more medium rare, but that's fine with me. I got the combo that included a slab of BBQ chicken. The chicken was a bit steroid-y and had that unnatural crunch to it. And the sauce was way too sweet, so I wouldn't recommend getting this. I also had the seasoned rice - a bit too moist but very good all the same. And the final combo item for me was the Texas Red Chili. Very much a steakhouse chili, beefy, with a tangy sauce. I liked it. Not sure what everyone else had as sides, beyond the "veggies", which no one said was very good. Might want to avoid those as well.

Look - it's a chain steakhouse off of an interstate, so don't expect too much. It's for the unadventurous tourists (and my Mom lol) who spent all day at the Bass Pro and didn't know where to eat afterwards. Arriving early did offer us a cheaper dinner, and compared to just about everyone else these days, it was almost reasonable. Not sure if I'll ever go back, but wouldn't complain if I did. 

This is another chain who doesn't want you to know where their locations are beyond your local address. According to Wikipedia they have over 600 locations internationally. There are 3 here in the Springs and at least 6 in the Denver area. Just out of curiosity I put our old NE Tarrant address, and there's 3 in that region (Northlake, north Fort Worth, and Bedford).

6/22/22 (new entry)