Regular Joe's Guide

Well how's that for synchronicity? I just mentioned Din Tai Fung in San Diego on Mr. Music's last review. We were in the area for one of our Official Niece's Grand Wedding as you may recall (May 2022). We all stayed at the Omni Resort in Carlsbad. And here comes Mr. Music with a restaurant in... Carlsbad! Too funny. OK Mr. Music - tells us more. Have to admit this looks more in my comfort zone than "Chinese Sauerkraut Fish Soup" Hooo. --- Barrio is a cute little spot nestled in the center of the shopping district in Carlsbad, CA. This retail grid spans for blocks in all directions and has plenty of shops, restaurants, bars and breweries. At the western edge is the ocean with several beautiful beaches and lined with hotels. To the east are the Carlsbad flower fields, our ultimate destination.  Lady Music and I popped in for a little bite before wandering the flower fields and all its attractions. The small dining area is cute and simple. We were greeted by a coup...

You may recall in my review for Din Tai Fung in San Diego last year I wrote the following: "To be honest, dumplings aren't really my area of expertise, so I would have wished that Mr. Music was with me so he could tell the difference between Din Tai Fung and one of the many dives he has frequented in various Asian neighborhoods." Well, this isn't dumplings but it does give you an idea of how deep Mr. Music goes to find quality Asian food.  Another interesting tidbit about B2J is that they are a national chain. But not one that looks to have any kind of economy of scale. They have 5 locations: One in the Seattle area; one in the New York City suburbs of New Jersey; another in western Maryland; one in Houston; and this location in Plano near DFW. OK Mr. Music, what do you have for us today? --- When Mr. Grizzly told me he wanted to take me to a place that only serves spicy sauerkraut fish soup and it would blow my mind: I thought sauerkraut? and fish? Yeah, I had some r...

Closed: May 2024 Latest visit: Mar 2023 First visit: Aug 2021 About a mile south of Bingo Burger lies Red Swing Brewhouse. And like Bingo, this is only my second time to Red Swing. Well sort of. Red Swing sits in the original Fieldhouse/FH location, and opened in March of 2021 after waiting out the pandemic. We'd been here twice when it was still FH (now operating only out of their eastern Powers locale). Apparently this location was a porn theater before FH took over in 2014. Oh my. The location on south Tejon is fast becoming a hipster area just south of downtown. Red Swing has updated the location nicely, and added more lighting and booths for a comfortable setting. And there's free parking in the back, which is important, since this part of the Springs has meters going 7x24. Food trucks apparently stop by frequently as well. The few beers I've tried have been excellent. Yet another great brewery here in Colorado Springs. 8/8/21; 3/26/23 (new entry)

Alrighty Mr. Music is getting that engine cranked. He promises more! What did his next adventure bring? --- Oh boy, I love pizza! And I love checking out all these variations! New York style, Neapolitan, Chicago, St. Louis and now I'm discovering Detroit Style. Today a couple disc golf friends and I tried Motor City Pizza in Lewisville, TX. Honestly, I had low expectations, but still wanted to try it. I say that because in the past I've had pizza that had very thick crust and although I'll happily eat it, it isn't my dream pizza and I was worried this Detroit pizza would be the same. But it was not! The crust IS thickish, but not too thick. Oh, but it is light with a nice chew; it reminded me of a fluffy focaccia with a crisp crunchy bottom and edges. The cheese was the first layer. A nice generous layer of very stretchy, tasty mozzarella that oozed over the edge and got crispy with the edge of the crust. Toppings nestled atop the cheese sunk down into the gooeyness....

Latest visit: Mar 2023 First visit: Jun 2021 This was only my second visit to Mash Mechanix, but I'm quickly warming up to it as a favorite. Their beers are uniformly excellent. This is one of the newer breweries in Colorado Springs, recently established in 2020. Wonderful large space with lots of indoor and outdoor seating. The inside is set in a renovated space built in 1905. Free parking in the back. Walk in, head to the large bar, and order off the (also large) computer screens. Plenty of inhouse selection that rotates often. There's free popcorn made fresh from a machine onsite. On this visit, they had a chicken sandwich truck which I didn't try. I'm sure they have others that rotate in and out. 6/15/21; 3/19/23 (new entry)

O'Hare airport (Terminals 1, 3, & 5) First visit: Mar 2023 Well of course there isn't a Greenville to Colorado Springs direct flight. In fact most require two stops, but United has a one stop option through Chicago, which is by far the quickest as well. You'll recall we were just here back in November. You'll also recall me lamenting the lack of dinner options, other than the great Publican Tavern. But for breakfast/lunch, that opens up all sorts of opportunities. Not far from my departing gate is Tortas Frontera. If you're a foodie of any sort, the name Rick Bayless is likely to come up quickly. He popularized Mexican cooking in a genre - and era - when it was still relatively unknown. Frontera is his most famous brand name. Tortas Frontera is his walk up option that only exists at O'Hare airport (I think they were once also in downtown) in 3 different terminals. Tortas are the main offering but they have other sandwich plates (like a Cubano!). And a pretty...

First visit: Mar 2023 The next day was the finale of our main event, once again in another city. That ended in the early afternoon, and once again Jimmy John's provided the main lunch course. Though, as is typical of these kind of events, plenty of snacks were available as well. From there our large work group dispersed, and most headed home. That's because they all lived on the east coast. The RJG was the only one coming from the west, and remote Colorado Springs at that. It's a 9 hour flight (including connections), so I needed to wait until the very early morning hours on Friday. But it gave me a free afternoon, which allowed me to catch up on all the work I'd missed due to being completely focused on this one pursuit. And now it's dinner time. Where to go? How about next door to the hotel?  Nose Dive is yet another craft tavern, though they go with the more formal "gastropub", which to me means one extra $ sign. As I get older, I'm beginning to rea...

First visit: Mar 2023 The first day of our work trip was sequestered in the hotel conference rooms. While the work was productive, the food and drink were a total nightmare. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all 100% buffet Marriott food. And water to drink (or similar). Zero alcohol and 3 meals of Marriott food is my idea of what hell must be like (especially if hell had Bruce Springsteen playing in the background the whole time). I think I would have let us out for dinner, but I wasn't in charge. Went to bed at 7:30 and slept till 6 the next day. All work and no play makes the RJG a dull boy. But at least I slept great! The next day was the main event in another adjoining city. Lunch was catered by Jimmy John's which is one of the few mega-chains I can tolerate. Much better than Marriott food! Upon return, we broke into groups for dinner. I pretty much knew that the RJG's style of dining wasn't going to be top of mind, so I had mentally prepared for the modern and the...

First visit: Mar 2023 The rest of the day was just as pretty as the morning. I visited a few record shops with the most success coming in Greenville itself, which was my final destination. The work hotel was designated to be the Westin Poinsett, a wonderful historical lodging establishment from the 1920s that was left for ruin in the 1980s before some redevelopers came along and spruced it up. Now it's part of the upscale Westin chain. As noted about the Palmer House in Chicago, the RJG loves old hotels and this one has all those nooks and crannies that make them special. It's also conveniently located in downtown Greenville, and there's plenty of dining and drinking options within walking distance. The RJG has a long history in Greenville. This is where my grandparents on my Dad's side retired (from New York City). And I visited 3 times from 1969 to 1972 as a little boy, before my step-grandfather passed away in 1974. I didn't know he was a "step" though ...

First visit: Mar 2023 It's Monday morning and I have the day to myself. My plan was to start with a mid morning breakfast and then hit the shops again, starting in Athens, working my way to Anderson, South Carolina, and ultimately to my final destination of Greenville. Unfortunately many places are closed on Monday, but that's the time I'm here so I'll make the best of it. It was a stunningly beautiful morning drive from Buckhead, with clear blue skies. Love the gigantic pine trees everywhere. I always feel much freedom when I can be out and about on vacation on a Monday morning. There's just something special about that scenario. So what's for breakfast? When you're in the South, you just have to visit a place with a name like Dicky Doo's Diner. And any establishment that sports as its logo a happy pig in an apron, the RJG is there! Especially one that has a grammatical mistake lol. It's a cozy little quick service restaurant that shares a building ...

Latest visit: Apr 2024 First visit: Mar 2023 As noted, I'm back in Atlanta. I meekly suggested Industry Tavern as a casual first get together. My boss took me up on it. Everything worked out splendidly. We started with appetizers - a crab dip with bread, and loaded nachos that included drizzled sour cream and jalapenos. All good, though I lightly sampled them as I knew what was for dinner. I went for the chicken parm again, though it was different than what you see below. Instead of spaghetti it was linguini, and only one slice of cheese this time, though it was melted more thoroughly. Otherwise, it was as great as I remember. The beer list is a bit static, as I would have expected more of a brewery rotation. Still managed to find three new beers, all from breweries I've tried. Only one from Georgia though. All the same, Industry Tavern will remain a regular stop if I'm in this part of Atlanta again. ---original 3/12/23 review Onto the next business trip, which was in Green...

The Venetian First visit: Mar 2023 The next evening they had carved out a half block of places to eat and party at. I probably should have planned my meal better this night, though I was eating at about 30% capacity since I couldn't get my morning run in (not an option at these resorts). My dinner ended up being finger food at the Brooklyn Bowl. I didn't feel that was the appropriate setup for an RJG review. Good times though. Bowled one game, and enjoyed two local craft beers (harder to find than you would think!) with nice conversation, and there was a local cover band too. On Thursday, the conference ends in the late afternoon and I had a late flight back to the Springs. We're fortunate to have a direct flight late like that, even though I wasn't home until 1:30 in the morning. There were no planned dinners, and I already knew from last year when Mrs. RJG and I attended one of our Official Niece's wedding, there's not a lot of options at the airport. I didn...

The Venetian Resort First visit: Feb 2023 Back in Lost Wages for the first time since 2012! (not counting the airport of course). That last trip was for a conference when I was at AT&T. I had been to Vegas a few times prior, always for the same thing: Industry or company conferences. This one is the latter. Only one time did Mrs. RJG and I visit Vegas on our own - for my 36th birthday - a long time ago. At some point I would like to explore the city itself, try the local restaurants, and look for records while I'm at it. The real  Las Vegas. But that's not possible to fit into these events.  Mrs. RJG and I aren't for gambling at all, and we can take or leave the shows, so Vegas isn't on our destination map. The Venetian is one of the more opulent resorts here, and I want to absorb it all. I'm fortunate to work for a company with deep pockets, and the suite I have is beautiful. And I have a rooftop view - meaning I have a view of many parking garage rooftops lol....