Archive for the ‘Drinks’ Category
Well we are back from a wonderful weekend in Nashville celebrating my lil’ brother’s wedding. Needless to say due to the business of all of that I apologize that this post is a little bit tardy.
Pop Culture Cuisine is officially a year old and we can hardly believe how fast time has flown! Adam and I have loved incorporating all these wonderful culinary adventures into our travels, mostly because of the great memories it has made for us. We have compiled a list of some of our favorite and not so favorite spots to share with you with links so you can read our reviews for yourself. We love food and hope to continue to share lots of great finds with you all along the way.
SIGNATURE DISH
1. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous’ “Ribs” – Memphis, TN
2. Round Rock Donuts’ “Round Rock Donut” – Round Rock, TX
3. Lucky’s Sandwich Co.’s “Stuffed Sandwich” – Chicago, IL
TASTE
1. The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
2. Louie’s – Dallas, TX
3. Twisted Root – Dallas, TX
AMBIANCE
1. The Silver Palm – Chicago, IL
2. Keller’s Drive-in – Dallas, TX
3. The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
SERVICE
1. Blue Ash Chili – Anna – Blue Ash, OH
2. Pinkberry – Christine – Orlando, FL
3. Avila’s – Dallas, TX
PRICE
1. The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
2. Keller’s Drive-in – Dallas, TX
3. Blue Ash Chili – Blue Ash, OH
OVERALL TOP 5
1. The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
2. Manny’s Delicatessen – Chicago, IL
3. Keller’s Drive-in – Dallas, TX
4. Blue Ash Chili – Blue Ash, OH
5. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous – Memphis, TN
TOP 5 BIGGEST LET DOWNS…NOT WORTH THE HYPE!
1. Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Q – Memphis, TN
2. Willie Mae’s Scotch House – New Orleans, LA
3. Acme Oyster House – New Orleans, LA
4. Drago’s Seafood – New Orleans, LA
5. Juan in a Million – Austin, TX
BEST OF THE REST…HONORABLE MENTION
Best Burger – Twisted Root – Dallas, TX
Best Pizza – Giordano’s – Chicago, IL
Best Sandwich – Lucky’s Sandwich Co. – Chicago, IL
Best BBQ – The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
Best Bar Food – J. Gilligan’s “Irish Nachos” – Arlington, TX
Best Cocktail – Pat O’Brien’s “Hurricane” – New Orleans, LA
Most Outrageous Dish – The Silver Palm’s “Three Little Pigs Sandwich” – Chicago, IL
Well it’s officially 2011 and I want to wish you all a very Happy New Years! I hope everyone had a fabulous time celebrating with friends and family and that everyone stayed safe on one of the craziest nights of the year. 2010 was a very momentous and crazy year for Adam and I, and it brought lots of great memories. PCC is coming up on a year old and really has become something we cherish as a journal of all our wonderful travels. It’s amazing the wonderful adventures we’ve had and all the new cuisine we’ve tried in the name of 
research. Hopefully, the coming year will be another year of good changes and we are looking forward to whatever those might be, as well as finding new ways to branch out with Pop Culture Cuisine.
New Years is one of those holidays that typically has a lot of hype and lots of parties & events all in the name of celebration; and everyone who knows me knows I’m a person who loves a good excuse to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate with others than with a festive drink?…of which we’ve encountered quite a few of along our travels, some famous, others just a part of the experience. Still, I wanted to share a glimpse of some of the gems we have discovered and the places we found them at throughout this past year. So with festive cheer and no further adieu, I give you the Year in Drinks for PCC…Cheers!
Pat O’Brien’s – Orlando, FL and New Orleans, LA
Drink: The Hurricane
Created during WWII with a bunch of fruit juice and rum, this drink has been their most popular drink and a favorite place for many to hit up at any of their locations. We have visited 2 locations and every time we are near one we have to stop in for at least 1 hurricane…and usually many more! 
These babies are potent, but delicious, and can be enjoyed on their beautiful patios during the day or hopping piano bars at night!
Mariano’s – Dallas, TX
Drink: “The Frozen Margarita”
You may remember Mariano’s from our review earlier this year, but being the originator of the frozen margarita, it’s hard to not include them again in this drinks feature. Sweet and tangy like any good margarita should be, this one definitely was tasty and stood out in our minds as one of the better ones we have ever had. We are now glad to say we’ve tried the first ever created (more than once) and can from now on compare it to our hometown Hacienda margaritas.
The Pump Room – Chicago, IL
Drink: Cosmopolitan, Chocolate Martini, and White Russian
We lucked out on on my birthday trip a couple weeks ago that our hotel was attached to the famous Pump Room. Popularized by many celebrities of yester-year like Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack friends, this spot still has the old time feel of a great crooner bar. We were glad we could enjoy a couple of cocktails their throughout the weekend. Great atmosphere and really well made drinks.
Tujague’s – New Orleans, LA
Drink: Shock Top, Abita Brand Beers
One of the oldest bars in the whole USA, this New Orleans’ landmark in the French Quarter is a must stop if you are into history, old bars, or just want to take a break and cool off. On both of our trips to N’awlins we have enjoyed grabbing a beer and hearing some of the fun stories the bartender (who has been there all most as long as the bar and has become a New Orleans standard) has to tell. Although I am sure you can get any New Orleans staple drink you want, we opted for a nice cold beer on a nice hot day, and it was a welcome withdraw.
Cheers – Boston, MA
Drink: Blue Moon
I am pretty sure everyone out there is familiar with good ol’ Cheers….yes, that sitcom bar from the 80’s with Sam Malone and NORM! And if you didn’t know that the show was based off a bar in Boston, you must have been living under a rock or you are REALLY young. Nonetheless, I was lucky enough this past May to be able to pay a visit to the original location in Beacon Hill with my best friend Emily. I probably could have been adventurous and tried a real Bostonian beer, but already knowing I don’t like Sam Adams, I stuck to something I know and love…Blue Moon! It was fun to be in the atmosphere, although now pretty touristy, but still fun to look around and see all the old memorabilia. However, be forewarned, this place is nothing like the “Hollywood” set bar that we all know from the TV show….it’s MUCH smaller. So you may be in for a shock.
Epcot Food and Wine Festival – Orlando, FL
Drink: Leffe
This next spot I will go into way more depth in a future post, but since drink was one of the components of the whole event, I wanted to touch on in briefly. Each year, Epcot and Vanity Fair put on an International Food and Wine festival throughout the park where culinary dishes and drinks from around the world are matched and can be purchased. Although we opted not to drink at most of the stops, when we saw an old favorite being featured in Belgium, we knew a small taste was in order. It was deliciously refreshing on that hot day.
Jasper’s – Plano, TX
Drink: Jasper’s Triple Chocolate Martini
Jasper’s is another restaurant we have already given our glowing review too, but this martini was so OUTSANDING I still compare every chocolate martini to it and often dream about it. Ok…not literally about the dreaming part, but ladies (and gentlemen too I suppose ) this drink is purely sinful! Not only is it chocolately, it is also creamy and extremely rich. They are sweet and probably a million calories, but who cares…this is what a sweet martini should taste like!
The Walnut Room – Chicago, IL
Drink: Poinsettia
We had the pleasure of dining at the the famous Walnut Room inside Macy’s during my birthday weekend. The food and experience are another whole post in and of themselves, but again with drinks being the theme, I must share my beautiful festive poinsettia that I REALLY enjoyed. The perfect blend of champagne and cranberry juice, it is a drink I am certainly going to be making in years to come, and it was a perfect cap to a perfect birthday weekend.
Anheuser Busch Brewery – St. Louis, MO
Drink: Shock Top, Michelob Brands
Growing up in St. Louis I was unfortunately never of an age where I could enjoy touring a landmark that was so close to home. I was glad Adam and I were able to visit the brewery on a trip a few years back and really see the whole process at work. He and I are Bud people in preference, but it was this trip where I first got to try a Shock Top for the first time and it has quickly become one of my favorite beers. In fact, since that time, I’ve been seeing it in bars more and more. We had a great time learning about the history, the beer making process, and most of all enjoying some brews.
Drink: Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon
Although the wine brand and restaurant name are just a happy accident, the wine was every bit as enjoyable as the meal itself. We gave our rave reviews of the restaurant this year and one of the great features was the great atmosphere, especially where we enjoyed a few drinks after our meal. I highly recommend this bar (and the tiny Matchbox next door) for a sort of a little unknown jewel for a night out in Chicago.
Drink: Pink Lemonade
Unfortunately I can’t remember or find the name of this drink I ordered at the Hula Hut, but suffice it to say, it was their version of a pink lemonade with a kick. It was very sweet and refreshing from what I remember, but also tasted too much like juice so it went down way to easy.
Drink: Lindeman’s Framboise
This was a spot in Dallas that we were so happy to stumble upon when we lived there. Louie’s not only had great food, but their ambiance truly made us feel at home as former Chicagoans. Because it was Valentine’s Day that weekend, I was looking for a little something special to drink so I was very happy to discover they have one of my all time favorite items on their menu…Lindemans’ Framboise. Although they are super sweet, I love the berry flavor and how they a just a fun change up from a typical beer.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed our brief recap of some of the wonderful beverages we enjoyed in 2010. I’m sure there were others along the way, but these were certainly the most tasty, most famous, or most memorable. I am going to forgo a traditional review of each, but know this…each of these drinks stood out to me or Adam either because of the drink themselves, the experience that went along with them, or both. We truly love every minute of our culinary adventures and the life journal that Pop Culture Cuisine has become for us. I hope you all continue to follow our crazy foodie adventures each week…and hey…maybe tell a friend or two. So “For Auld Lang Syne”…HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Two weekends ago we had to privilege of taking a little weekend get-away to visit some great friends of ours, Dario and Jaclyn, at their home in downtown Austin. Admittedly, this trip had an ulterior motive, in that we wanted to spend time with them, but we also knew we could easily squeeze in 3 – 4 PCC-worthy restaurants during the trip. ;) In fact, I don’t think Adam and I can go anywhere anymore without thinking about what fun and famous restaurant we’re going to try on the trip. I know…it’s a disease! 🙂
Well on this trip, the first place on our list was the Hula Hut, an old favorite of Adam’s he would always try to squeeze in when passing through Austin during his work travels. We were recently watching an old episode of Travel Channel’s "Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels" and were pleasantly surprised to see that she visited Hula Hut during her trip; and because we knew we were heading to Austin in the near future and Adam is a big fan, we thought it only appropriate to add it to the Pop Culture Cuisine menu.
Now if you are from the Austin or Dallas areas, you are sure to be familiar with Chuy’s, the uber – popular chain of tex-mex joints scattered throughout both cities. Well…Chuy’s owners (Mike Young , John Zapp and Andy Norton) also created the extremely popular Hula Hut in 1993. Located on beautiful Lake Austin, they decided this joint needed a jolt of life, rather than another typical tex-mex place that are scattered around every corner in the state. So why not mix it up a bit and pretend we are in the tropics? Thus, Hula Hut and the term “Mexonesian” was born. Yes I said it…“Mexonesian,” or in other words a fusion of Mexican favorites with a Polynesian/island flair, complete with palm trees, grass hutch tops, and tiki torches. In other words, it feels as if you stepped off onto a tropical island when you step inside.
Hula Hut is a massive establishment, but one that is packed to the gills on a Friday or Saturday night, especially when the weather is nice. Patrons love to be able to sit outside on the two back patios and watch the sun set over the lake while enjoying a drink. Also, free chips…and you know how much people love those! 🙂 Dario and Jaclyn arrived shortly before us and were able to put our name in for an outdoor table. In the meantime we were lucky enough to score an outside table by the bar and enjoy that same scene I described earlier. Unfortunately, right after placing our drink order, we realized our waitress was “feelin’ a little good” and was likely not going to be of much service. Yes…she was drunk!, but we didn’t let that ruin the evening, and by the time we were seated, it had all become quite comical. If fact, when asked if she was ok, she openly admitted how "wasted" she was from other patrons buying her shots, and we all had to laugh and tip our hats at her candor. 🙂
After being seated, I decided to order one of their fun lemonade type drinks as a fun start to the evening…
It was cool and refreshing and not too sweet, but as drinks like this go, because it was so smooth, it could be very easy to drink far too many. ;) So, I just had the one and that was good enough for me!
While we continued to chat, I took some time to peruse the menu, since I was the only one of us who had never eaten here. Unfortunately, while we were waiting that hour or so, I had managed to eat my weight in chips and salsa and was no longer all that hungry. Therefore, I decided I would order an appetizer and then take bites of Adam’s dish, which turned out to be ginormous! So, I ordered a stuffed avocado that sounded tasty and Adam got his standard Roasted Chicken Pipeline Enchilada.
*I want to take a brief moment right now and mention that I can’t find the stuffed avocado on their online menu, nor must I have read the menu that closely. Being that it is an appetizer, what I am about to show you, I totally did not expect…
I read "fried" somewhere in the description, but I guess I didn’t fully grasp that the entire thing was literally fried! Oh well, it still looked darn good and I dug right in; and that was about as far as I got…one bite in. I must have missed the part in the item description that mentioned some ingredient that literally lit my mouth on fire on the first bite (that’s cause it wasn’t there!!! L). I know I have mentioned before that I am a major wimp when it comes to spicy foods, and this was not just spicy…it was downright hot! So hot in fact that I didn’t really eat any more bites past that. If feel that if something has this much kick, the menu ought to say something…you know…for wimps like me. What…am I just supposed to know that it is fireball avocado without any mention on the menu about it? Perhaps it is a new type of avocado from South America that I’d yet to experience. I mean, it’s possible…right? 😉 Well, let’s just say that it was a good think for those chips and salsa, or it might have ruined my overall experience. But, Adam’s dish was so big and one of the Hula Hut’s most popular items, that having some of it completely made up for my dish’s failure…
I mean let’s be real…this is the enchilada mother-load! It could give birth to like 5 normal enchiladas! Truthfully, I think we should just call it what it really is…a burrito. J Needless to say, Adam could not finish the whole plate and I was able to get in a few bites, which were great. It is a huge corn tortilla stuffed with chicken and cheese and then topped with a cheesy sauce that has a nice zing (a NICE zing…not a light your mouth on fire zing!). It’s a simple dish, but prepared well and with flavors that go very well together. Adam felt it was not as “awesome” as he had remembered, but we chalked that up to the fact that we now live in Dallas and he has had similar dishes since living here, where as when he used to visit the Hula Hut it was a very unique dish to him. Still, nostalgia aside, he thought it was just ok, although he admitted it did hit the spot and he managed to put a nice dent into that pipeline (and Dario ordered the same thing and must have really liked it, because he completely finished his…way to go Dario!).
Hula Hut is a fun, hopping, joint that fits in an area that loves to be unique, laid back, and eccentric. I mentioned above that it is very popular around Austin, especially on peak nights, so it would be wise to get there early or plan to wait. In truth, waiting can be a nice time to enjoy the boats coming in, watching the sun set, and sharing drinks and conversation with friends. Still, if that is not your style, be prepared, because it is not a quick ‘in-and-out’ sort of place. As I alluded to above, the ambiance is really fun and festive. One could say that they really took the Island and Polynesian theme and ran with it. But, it truly complements the laid-back atmosphere, and as they say “Undeniably different…undeniably Austin!”
Our service (once we were seated for dinner) was excellent (good job Leon)! We rarely had to wait on anything, including our food; and given how busy they were, I thought they did a fantastic job. As far as a signature dish for Hula Hut…I’d say they don’t really have one in particular, but their pipeline enchiladas and tubular tacos, aside from being unique in their naming, seemed to be the most popular and most ordered items. As far as taste goes, although it may not have lived up to the expectations (and memories), I enjoyed everything I tried, and even think that had my avocado not been so spicy, it would have been delicious. In short…the food was all prepared well, quickly, and hit the spot, not to mention that their prices are very reasonable, as well, ranging from $7 – $15 for most of their typical dishes, which for the amount of food they give you, I think is a good deal. Overall, we truly enjoyed our experience at the Hula Hut, but would likely only return in the future to take in the scenery and grab a few cocktails with friends; and with that, I give the Hula Hut 3 1/2 Little Piggies.
