eating in san francisco -- day 1

well, we landed in san francisco today and as usual, we started eating. we went to a place called bristol farms for lunch and each got an amazing panini, mike got a salami one and I got a london broil one, they were both great and a good value. we also got some cookies that were really good as well. for dinner we went to chinatown and I have no idea the name of the place we ate it, but it was authentic and great!

the square bar

so, last night, we tried a new restaurant in waco, the square bar.  it is next to olive branch, where we went for lunch the other day.  everything in the restaurant was square, from the menus to the tables to the plates.

since I had already had dinner, I went for dessert, but the choice was tough, they had so many desserts on their menu that sounded good.  I eventually decided on the bananas foster cheesecake and it was a good choice.  the cheesecake was rich and creamy and the bananas foster topping was perfect.

mike went for the beef wellington sliders, since he h
ad not had dinner yet.  they sounded really good on the menu, but left something to be desired when actually eating them.  they were freshly baked croissants with a really good sauce and sliced roast beef.  they were good, but they would have been even better with a better quality meat.

the end is here -- eating in vegas, day 5

I think that there is a gelato shop on every corner in vegas, but we never got around to having any. so, this morning when I went down with michael for breakfast at cafe gelato in the hotel, I decided to have some strawberry gelato for breakfast (those of you who know me, know that ice cream for breakfast is not a rare thing). I also got chocolate croissant thinking that I would eat it for a mid morning snack (mike ended up eating it on the plane this afternoon). mike got a slice
quiche lorraine and he said it was very good; light and fluffy.

since our flight today left at 3:20, we decided to get to the airport early and just eat lunch at the airport. bad idea!! the layout of the vegas airport is really weird and there were not a lot of options by our gate. we decided on this pub for drinks and to split a sandwich. I wanted a strawberry daiquiri and a turkey sandwich, both of which they were out of. so, I had a pretty decent margarita on the rocks and we split and not very good ham sandwich. luckily, I had some salt and vinegar chips in my bag, so it wasn't an entirely wasted meal.

now we are on the road back to waco, mike just stopped and got me a coke and fried apple pie from whatburger (I'm so glad to be back in texas!!), so all in all, it wasn't an awful food day, but no where near as good as the last few days have been.

does it get any better than this? -- eating in Vegas, day 3

a few weeks back, we saw a show about vegas eating on the food network and they showcased the buffets at the belliago. since michael is such a big breakfast fan, we decided to have the breakfast buffet at belliago this morning. it was wonderful and overwhelming all at the same time. the food was all very fresh and I liked it because it gave me a chance to try some new things without being tied down to one item for my whole meal. our favorites by far were the eggs benedict and eggs florentine. I have no idea how they keep their hollandaise sauce so smooth, but it was great.

since we had such a big and late breakfast, we were going to skip lunch, but then michael had a long break in the early afternoon, so he brought me sandwich sliders from café gelato at belliago out to the pool for lunch. on the tray was a roast beef sandwich with horseradish, a chicken sandwich with chiplote mayo, a ham sandwich with sweet mustard, and a sampling of pickled veggies. the sandwiches were great and really fresh. I didn't try the pickled veggies, but mike said they were really good.

for dinner that night, we went to margaritaville. while we were waiting for our table, we had just their standard margarita and it was really good (in fact, we each got one more as we left for roadies). once we were seated, michael got some blue crab and corn chowder and I got a small salad. mike was very impressed with the flavor of the chowder. we split coconut shrimp for dinner and it came with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. I had never thought of putting mashed potatoes with fried shrimp, but they complemented each other nicely.

once we made it back to the bellagio, we decided to check out jean phillipe's for dessert. we had been there the last time we were in vegas just to see the chocolate waterfall, but we wanted to go back to sample some of their treats. we walked around looking at all the had to offer, but nothing really called to us until we saw that they had dessert crepes that they were making right before our eyes. michael settled on a nutella crepe and I went for a bananas foster crepe. we took them back up to our room and devoured them. they were everything we hoped they would be, the crepes were light and crispy and the fillings were delicious with just the right amount of whipped cream to add a touch of sweetness. hopefully I will get a chance to try more before we leave vegas.

sometimes the food gods smile on me -- eating in Vegas, day 1

some people plan out what they want to see when they travel, but we plan out where we want to eat. so expect some great posts these next few days. here is what we had today:

driving to the airport, we stopped at geriks in west (a small czech community just north of waco). we have not had good luck lately at the kolache bakery we usually go to in west, so we decided to try geriks (it was recommended to me by a co-worker who lives in west). they had a crowd already at about 7 am (which is always a good sign). I was very glad to see their large variety of kolaches and everything looked very good. mike and I both got sausage kolaches and while they weren't the best we have ever had, they were the best we've found in west. I also had an apricot roll which was out of this world. so, all in all, a good stop and we will definitely be stopping there again.

we got to the bellagio and realized that it was about 3 pm texas time and we had not really had anything to eat since breakfast from geriks. we wanted something quick to eat before we headed out to see the sites. we decided to try snacks, one of the restaurants here in the bellagio, and I am really glad we did. we split a cheeseburger and cheese fries and the were both really good. we may have just been really hungry, but the food was amazing!

after lunch and unpacking, we headed out to the forum shops for some shopping. we decided on planet hollywood for dinner (mike had never eaten there and he NEEDED to try their captain crunch chicken), since we had a late dinner, we decided to just get a couple of appetizers and drinks. I had already decided on the captain crunch chicken, but to my surprise, I also saw zucchini chips on their appetizer menu. the captain crunch chicken was not as good as I remembered (jax's in houston is still better) and the dipping sauce that came with it was not sweet enough for me, but, the zucchini chips made up for all of that, they were amazing. they were thinly sliced and fried and served with a lemon aioli. the only way the zucchini chips could have been better was if they had parmesan on them and a horseradish dipping sauce. but for a meal of two of my favorite things that I didn't have to cook, dinner was really great!

once we got back from our shopping, we treated ourselves to the chocolate treats that we got from ethels in the las vegas airport. I had two chocolate covered strawberries and they were really good, my only complaint is that the chocolate was too soft for my taste, but they had great flavor.

well, that's just day one, keep checking back, like I said, we have some great meals planned out while we are here!!