Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Sep 2024 First visit: Jan 2020 As if to repeat my Pueblo experience from a year ago, I also took Mrs. RJG to Reservoir Brewing for the first time since our initial visit together. No dramatic shootings on this occasion (see below), but today was the Pueblo Chile Festival which curtailed some of our plans (they closed parts of downtown). We weren't excited about the festival itself, having been to plenty of similar over the years.  In any case, Pueblo West is a peaceful diversion from the Steel City. On this visit, in addition to two excellent beers, we tried their chips and salsas. And added Pueblo Chile's for an "extra kick". He told us they were "medium" heat. Probably a little spicier than that, but a hotter variety would have been welcomed. All the same, the chips were great (perhaps made locally?) and the salsa had a nice sweet tomato taste. The chiles were an awesome addition. Overall we enjoyed a great outing. And then we made the hour j...

Latest visit: Jun 2025 (Northern Ave.) First visit: Nov 2023 (Northern Ave.) Founded: 1952 ---6/6/25 update As promised below, I couldn't resist the temptation to try the pasta. I went for a half order as experience tells me a full order would be too much. In this case, I could have gone for the whole enchilada (so to speak). It comes with a salad which is essentially iceberg lettuce in a Tupperware bowl with chopped tomatoes on top. I removed the latter. This is an old fashioned Italian salad. They serve the Italian dressing in a plastic cup and you can douse as you like. I dumped the whole thing. It's one of the best dressings I've had in years! Only Mrs. RJG and myself make a better one. It's a vinaigrette, guessing heavy on the garlic and pepper.  As for the pasta, I liked it quite a bit. I suspect they make their noodles, something Mrs. RJG wouldn't be keen on. It wasn't really al dente, but it was cooked properly. The sauce was slightly sweet, another old-...

Latest visit: Feb 2024 First visit: Nov 2023 Like with Mission BBQ, it was time to introduce Mrs. RJG to one of my favorite discoveries of last year. She loves the New York Deli Southside in Santa Fe, so she is certain to like East Coast Restaurant as well. And that theorem proved true. She had the Spanish Scrambler with sausage, chile, eggs, and potato. This time I went with the Syracuse sandwich, which includes pastrami, corned beef, and salami, along with Swiss cheese on rye. Stayed with the fries, and this time I did get the kosher pickle. I wonder if they just forgot last time? What kind of Jewish deli doesn't include a pickle? Oh, and it was excellent too. The sandwich was really stacked with meat this time. Much more so than when I just had the pastrami, and it was only a buck more. Imagine a Schlotzky's deluxe - with double that size! Holy Moly did I get stuffed. Service was extra friendly on this visit. In order to use a coupon we needed to buy something else, so we go...

First visit: Nov 2023 (Colorado Springs - Interquest) Locations: ~325 based on 2021 data. There are three in Colorado (one in Aurora, the other two in the Springs area). I seem to recall one locale in NE Tarrant, but there's plenty more now. I remember that it was a big deal when Houston based Shipley came to the DFW area while we lived there. I've never been a donut guy, so I didn't actively pursue going to one. Well, now they're here too, like many Texas chains that followed us (haha). They're located right next to Bonchon and I thought maybe we should try it too? So it's Saturday morning, and I asked Mrs. RJG if she'd like a kolache and a donut? She said sure, so off I went. I don't think I've willingly paid for a donut since the 1980s (seriously). Called the insurance company to make sure my premiums were up to date...  Reasonably active crowd on this morning, but I was able to order right away. Ordered two kolaches with sausage (one with jalapen...

First visit: Nov 2023 (Colorado Springs) Locations: ~114 in the US. Colorado has 5 (Denver has 4 and this one Springs locale). NE Tarrant has zero but there's a few in the DFW area. They're now based in Dallas though they started in Korea (strangely they don't appear to exist there anymore, but plenty of stores in the Philippines and Thailand). The latest rage in the fried chicken category comes from Korea, and Bonchon appears to be the marquee name in this space. I've never had Korean fried chicken before and since they opened up near us in "mega chain valley", I thought I'd give it a try. I was a bit confused upon walking in, as I just presumed it was a fast food restaurant. But nope - it's a sit down place despite the obvious QSR setup. No problem, at least I can leave a tip that makes sense. I went straight to the heart of the matter and ordered four drumsticks and a side. It's their lunch special, and at 13 bucks it's not such a bad deal (...

Latest visit: Nov 2023 First visit: Aug 2018 And we now reach our final Colorado Springs brewery for the RJG to document (well, there's Father & Sons which seems more like a distillery with one beer on tap, but I need to try it anyway). It was a two year project. There are a couple more breweries nearby in Woodland Park and Manitou Springs that I still need to revisit, but for the city proper, Atrevida is the last one for the RJG to cover off on. It wasn't the original plan, but it seems every time I was in the area it was either too late, or they inexplicable closed, or had some special event going. They were the first brewery we went to during the pandemic, thinking we'd get crowlers to help support them while still enjoying local beers. Big mistake, as the beers went flat quickly. They didn't know how to do it. Oh well, at least we helped them financially.  As you can imagine, the food truck El Chapin does not offer alcohol, and I wanted at least one beer before ...

food truck Latest visit: Nov 2023 First visit: Nov 2021 As with Dr. Taco, our first encounter with El Chapin was their catering of the Colorado Springs Record Show. Mrs. RJG was helping me with the tables and ran outside to get us some tacos. We both thought they were delicious, but a little messy given the circumstances of handling records and customers (Dr. Taco is much better for this considering his fried chicken and fish). Even though they tasted great, I didn't feel I had a grasp on what their offering is. I never laid eyes on the truck itself since Mrs. RJG took care of the lunch for us. We vowed to visit him for a dedicated lunch or dinner.  And that day finally happened, as we were seeking dinner on this relatively warm Thursday night. Bizarrely, as with Cogstone, my entire El Chapin experience has occurred during the first two weeks of November. El Chapin can be considered a "permanent" food truck, that is to say their location is mostly static. In fact they hav...

Latest visit: Aug 2025 First visit: Nov 2018 Founded: 2015 ---8/23/25 update It was Saturday night, and Mrs. RJG was up for a pizza. Let's go to Cogstone, as we hadn't been this year. There was a lively group gathering there, but they left not long after we arrived (was it something we said? lol). As for beers, they did have a hazy IPA this time so that set the mood properly. The pizza wasn't as crispy as we have become accustomed to from Cogstone, which resulted in a bit of a disappointment. However we each took half of our pizzas home, and enjoyed it the next night properly heated up and crisped on Mrs. RJG's famous comal (why does Google not recognize this word?). Later on, Mrs. RJG admitted that we should probably tell them how we like it rather than trust they will do it that way each time. Wise advice. We'll be back next year. ---7/5/24 update A couple of nights ago I asked Mrs. RJG if she wanted to out for dinner Friday night, something we rarely do anymore. ...