In the very near future we may have a traveling correspondent bringing you restaurant reviews from around the world (mostly just North Dakota though), but I thought until then I would tide you over with some review for a couple joints I ate at while traveling over the last few weeks.

Tony Packo’s – Toledo, Ohio: I’m sure a lot of people reading this have ties to Toledo, but you’re feelings mean nothing to me, so I’m gonna just say it: Toldeo is a freakin’ dump. Hell, even John Denver though the place sucked. That being said, Tony Packo’s restaurant is worth the visit. They specialize in hot dogs (they are actually more like sausages), chili and stuffed cabbage. The place was made popular on M.A.S.H. by Toledo native Jamie Farr and just about every celebrity and politician since then has stopped in for a dog.

Campus Polleyes – Bowling Green, Ohio: Normally the food you enjoyed in college lacks distinction years later when all of the alcohol has left your system, but this is not true for Campus Polleyes. They have a unique offering that I honestly can not believe isn’t on every pizzeria menu across the country: stuffed breadsticks. These huge breadsticks are stuffed with the pizza toppings of your choosing, brushed with garlic butter and served with your choice of dipping sauces. So simple, yet so delicious. My favorite combo: chicken, mushroom and cheese with ranch dipping sauce.

Myles Pizza – Bowling Green, Ohio: Their pizza crust is horrific, just maybe a step above actual cardboard. Just maybe. Yet, I would easily place their pizza in my all time top 5. How is that possible you ask? A spicy tomato sauce that absolutely blows away any that I’ve ever had and it doesn’t hurt that they put about 3 pounds of cheese on a small pizza. A nice feature they have is that if you want to pick one up, they can partially bake it for you, so you can finish it at home.

Rusty Bucket – Northville, Michigan: Neat little sports bar/pub atmosphere, a whole mess of beer and some seriously tasty food. They have this sandwich called the “Italian Torpedo” that is out of this world. It consists of a slab of Italian sausage topped with cappicola, salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, peppers and Italian dressing. Go figure, I try the place in Michigan to find out it’s a chain from Columbus. Oh, and look, they have a location in Solon.

Zingerman’s Deli – Ann Arbor, Michigan: While exploring Ann Arbor a local vendor told us that we must visit Zingerman’s before we leave, I could kiss that woman. This place is unbelievable. It’s a deli, bread bakery, cheese shop, coffee shop, pastry bakery and chocolatier all rolled into one store. We were there on a Saturday and the place was jam packed with people looking to get a sandwich from the deli and I can vouch that their Reuben is worth every minute you have to wait for it. If it’s food or related to food there is a good place these guys sell it. I would have loved to have had a whole day there, but luckily they have an online catalog where you can order a number of their products.

For years friends and family have asked my wife and I to go to Mama Roberto’s in Mentor and for years I’ve politely declined. Ok, maybe saying “That place sucks ass” isn’t necessarily polite, but I didn’t like the place so there was no use hiding it. When I would come home from college my parents would always get it to go and I always thought that it was pretty weak Italian food.

But that all changed yesterday when my wife talked me into Mama Roberto’s for lunch. She said the calzones were delicious and I was inclined to believe the girl. Plus there is an added benefit to a calzone that you regular folk may not know, but this bit of wisdom has been passed down through generations of fat men: Calzones are always preferable to pizzas. They’ve both got all the same ingredients, but if you eat a whole pizza you are fat pig. If you eat a whole calzone, you’re just hungry. It’s all about perception people.

I perceive the calzones at Mama Roberto’s to be absolutely delicious (See how I did that there). I opted for the sausage and kalamata olive calzone and it couldn’t have been better. They make their own sausage, so you can forget about those little rabbit turds that everyone else uses. Also unlike most other calzones they use ricotta in theirs which I didn’t think would be the greatest idea, but I must say it added a very nice flavor and texture.

A calzone will set you back about $10, but even my big ass couldn’t eat the whole thing at one sitting. I also too must mention the service. It’s a mom and pop shop and they really treat you like family from the moment you step in the door. I like that. I think you will too. Give Mama Roberto’s a shot.

Mama Roberto’s
8658 Mentor Avenue
Mentor, OH 44060-6140
(440) 205-8890

The knife winner was lucky 33. And that was Liz.

Congratulations Liz, I’ll be contacting you for your address shortly.

Thanks to everyone that entered.

Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, you can still leave a comment on this post, to win these knives.

My favorite knife company, New West Knifeworks, has sent me a set of their gorgeous steak knives to give away to you, my faithful and loving readers. These knives are, to be frank, the shit. They retail for $59 each and might be the highest quality knives you ever touch. The Japanese steel blades have an extremely high carbon level which allows them to take (and keep) a much finer edge than even the best cutlery. And you can see how beautiful those handles are.

This is going to be a winner takes all event. You get both knives with the protective leather sheaths.

How do you win?  Just leave a comment in the comments section. The contest will last from now until 1/29/10 at 5:00.

You may begin….

Aroundme.com is a new website that is attempting to help validate the web’s recommendations for things like restaurants, doctors, mechanics and handymen by allowing you to connect with your friends on Facebook. If you can see the restaurants or doctors your friends are going to, you’re more likely to patronize those and that’s what this site is all about. The folks running aroundme.com have asked me to review the website from head to toe, they’re paying for this pleasure of course.

Nice Setup

Aroundme.com has a very good looking setup and have all the information you’ll ever need to find good recommendations for your area. Type in what you’re looking for and the city you need it in and the site will provide you with an ordered list of the best locations available. It will show each location on a map and you can click down a level and get the address and phone number. Also in each listing are the user reviews and a quick to read ratings section.

Another nice feature of the site is the ability to log-in with Facebook connect. I freaking hate having a 100 log-ins, so if I can log in with Facebook info, I’m all for it. Once you’re logged in you can share any of the locations with your friends on Facebook.

I also really like the fact that this isn’t just restaurant focused. There are a lot of similar websites out there that are only restaurant focused and quite frankly, how many do you need? People need to earn my trust and I often have a hard time going to a new mechanic or having someone I don’t know fix my stove, so Aroundme.com’s expansion into those service industries is welcomed by me. I’d love to see what mechanics my friends use, that would be so helpful to see who they trust.

Too New To Tell

While it appears that Aroundme.com has a lot of promise, it’s a little difficult to tell how useful it will really be considering it’s so sparsely populated. In the Cleveland area there are only a handful of reviews, so things like rankings provide little value. That being said, it has a lot of nice features that could attract a big user base, so I’d expect this to be a much more useful site as time goes on. If you’re anything like me, I’d recommend heading over there and signing up so you can share your opinions.

To give you an idea how much I liked the Anatolia Cafe, I had it on a Tuesday for the first time and I went back on Saturday of the same week. It’s that good. The Anatolia Cafe serves Turkish food which if you’ve never had it is much like the cuisine to their neighbors to the South in Greece. It’s located right near the intersection of Cedar and Lee.

My favorite thing there is the Iskender which is pieces of seasoned lamb meat (think gyro) served over the top of a bed of crispy pita chips with a tomato butter sauce, and a side of homemade yogurt. The grease from the meat softens the pita chips much like some good pulled pork will soak into bread. The yogurt cuts right through the salty richness of the dish, making for an amazing meal.

If you have time for an appetizer, I’d suggest the dip sampler. Everyone of them is excellent, although their homemade pitas are so good you could eat just about anything on them.

Skip their baklava though.  It’s not that great and way overpriced.

Anatolia Cafe
2270 Lee Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-321-4400

I needed some ingredients for carnitas that I was making, so I headed over to the Mexican grocery store on Washington St. in Painesville. Now, I’ve talked about my love of this place before, but like any old love, I’m always finding new reasons to love it even more.

So my big gringo ass walks in there looking for some limes and peppers when I see these two big pots in the middle of the store. I think nothing of them, but as I walk by I feel this heat radiating off of them.

Not seeing anyone around, I take off the lid to find this beautiful sight:

Tamales! And lots of them.

Intrigued, I opened the other pot, it too was filled with tamales, but these had green centers.

I asked the lady working the counter what exactly was in each. She came over to explain that one was pork and tomato, the other was poblano and cheese. Only $1.50 each too.

Not knowing the quality here, I picked up one of each just to try them. That was a mistake.

Surprisingly, the pork tamale was merely ok. It had a crapload of dried peppers in it and I couldn’t feel my tongue after two bites. Still good flavor though.

What’s going to have me going back next Saturday to pick up more of these where the poblano and cheese tamales. There were the best tasting tamales I’ve ever had. Bar none. And I’ve had em from the little Mexican grandma who makes them once a month. The little salty pieces of cheese cooled down the spicy poblanos, a perfect combination.

If you’re planning on making a trip for these, and I’d highly recommend that you do, do it early. From what I was told, by noon those giant pots are empty.

And you could pick up a few for me while you’re there, no?

Christmas is almost here and there is nothing like having a Christmas dinner with your family. There is also nothing like having your testicle bitten off by a guy wearing a elf costume. Needless to say, unique experiences are not always good.

So this year might be the year to get away Christmas day to enjoy a meal with the people you really care about: people you aren’t related to.  But where you can you eat out on Christmas day?  Isn’t everywhere closed?

Where in Cleveland can you eat out on Christmas day?  Let me know in the comments.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gjcharlet/

Long time readers here (a.k.a. only my Mom) may remember a post or two about Don Tequila. Well I’ve been there a couple of times recently and I thought I needed to give them some time. 

They offer a good variety of Mexican dishes at reasonable prices, and I’m always happy with what I order.  But what I really love about the place is the people that work there. Everyone is so unbelievably friendly. They make you feel like family when you eat there, and I appreciate that. They joke around with my son just to make him laugh, it’s always a fun time going to Don Tequila.

Just FYI: I know it is a franchise, with locations all over Northeastern Ohio, but I’m talking of the Mentor location here.