Straight Up Pizza

Sunday seems to have a special feel to it; maybe it's the church thing, the long lunches, or the deep breath before the start of the work week. For whatever reason it seems to be the slower day of the weekend. This past Sunday, before running a friend and I talked about where we want to eat after running. It's sort of a treat to indulge after a good run. She mentioned to me that she had a leaning towards pizza. She asked if Village Pizza was open and I told her that it was. I like Village Pizza, but we had been there a few times before. I then asked here if she had been to a few other pizza places that were new to town and Straight Up Pizza came up in the discussion and won in the Sunday post run battle. I have eaten Straight Up Pizza a few times, but I had not set foot inside that building since it was Woody's Sports Cafe which was late 2008. The first time I ate Straight Up Pizza I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It's great that despite having the same space it did not carry on the legacy of Woody's. We rolled in about 1 PM on Sunday and there was one family eating when we arrived. The decor of the place remained unchanged from the Woody's days, but Woody's was pretty nice on the inside or like I wrote before "an upscale Weck's." We decided the large combo with a salad was the way to go. This combo was a good sampling of the menu at Straight Up Pizza. The large combo we ordered came with a large three topping pizza, a dozen wings, and a two liter of soda. Since we were going to eat there we opted for the two large sodas. We ordered a spinach salad to go along with the meal. The wings we ordered were the BBQ, Habanero, & Chipotle flavors. The BBQ were nothing to write home about, but the Habanero and Chipotle were really tasty and the texture of the wings were great. They were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The three topping pizza we got was green chile, sausage and peperoni. The sum of all the parts makes a good pizza. Straight up was good, but not great. I would give Straight Up Pizza a rating of two and a half out of five stars.

http://straightuppizza.com/

Pho Bac

While I was in Dallas, I had a hankering for some Vietnamese food. One of my friends was keen on this idea and the other not so much, but he was a willing participant in the search of killer Vietnamese cuisine. I think he wanted to eat some familiar American breakfast. It seems that we are one of the only countries that eats a different set of things for breakfast than our other meals. Don't get me wrong, I love bacon, hash browns and pancakes, but we do do things different in the US.

Dallas is a much larger market and has a large Vietnamese population so I wanted to see what the city had to offer. I did some research and chowhound.com recommended Pho Bac in Richardson. When we walked in there were some things that would indicate the "safeness" of the quality of the food. We saw two large flat screen TVs which is an indicator of a Vietnamese or Asian restaurant. The other indicator of how good the food may be was all of the Vietnamese people. The place was fairly large and could probably accommodate at least a hundred people. The place was clean and all the tables matched. We were promptly seated. The server was quick and polite, but not memorable by any means. Which is both good and bad, but he was adequate. I thought it was interesting that the menu had pictures of the food and it was a pretty stripped down menu for a Vietnamese joint.

Pho broth had a lot of anise spice and sugar. The broth was good but not great. The egg rolls we ordered came out soggy and greasy. I think the cause of this was the oil in the fryer not being hot enough. The contents of the egg roll were standard for a Vietnamese egg roll, but these were a bit fatter that what I am used to. The spring rolls were bad. One of the pieces of shrimp was not cleaned well enough and had some black stuff remaining on it. The bulk of the contents was the vermicelli. The sauce that it was served with was a brown peanut sauce that I forgot or failed to try. My brunch companion loved it though. He asked if I knew how to make the stuff and my answer was it couldn't be that hard, so I will be chasing down a recipe in the near future and consulting some five feet tall Vietnamese women that I know. I did have a chance to try the grilled beef on the Bun dish. The meat was grilled well and the taste was good, but not great. I would give Pho Bac two and a half stars out of five.

North Main BBQ

I love food shows. I often schedule my gym trips according to what is on TLC, Discovery Travel, or Food Network. I know it's probably not the best way to pick your workout time, but you have to enjoy your gym time. Recently food network had a BBQ special on the Best Thing I Ever Ate. Some of the dishes were a little off beat like BBQ shrimp while others were pretty common like the BBQ combo from the Salt Lick in Austin. The Salt Lick is supposed to be one of the greatest places for BBQ enthusiast. I plan to go soon. North Main BBQ's brisket was the best thing that Ted Allen ate. The show from what I recall focused more on the dish and not the whole experience of dining at the establishment. It's also mentioned in the book America's Best BBQ for their ribs. America's Best BBQ is one of my favorite BBQ books. This book show recipes, tells stories, gives rankings, business advice, and so much more. So if this place get's so much press they must be doing something right.

On my recent excursion out of the state, to the city of Dallas, I had the opportunity to eat at North Main BBQ in Euless, TX. I know what you're thinking, where the heck is Euless, TX? It's three miles away from DFW Airport. It's a suburb, but I wouldn't have known that I left Dallas unless I looked up and saw a sign. This place is pretty modest. The sign is pictured below. The parking lot was small and full of cars. The full parking lot was a good sign. We got there fairly late for dinner, about 8 PM. I thought that it was weird that this place is only open Friday through Sunday with odd hours. You may want to check before you go. When we walk in the decor is very dated. The posters are fresh as can be from the eighties. An example of this would be the Miller Beer poster with the girl with the big hair. The walls are made of brick that remind me of my elementary school's gym, painted cinder blocks walls. The tables are covered with picnic style checked plastic. The place is a dive.

When we went there a staff of about a dozen or so folks were working away. There were two or three guys serving the food, two cash register staff, and a few others who were milling around the restaurant performing various task. At North Main, you are presented with two options sandwich or all you can eat. The sandwich comes with one side and goes for about six dollars. The all you can eat runs about twelve dollars. From all the press this place has gotten, I had to try both the ribs and the brisket, so I got the all you can eat. I failed to read the signs and understand how the system of the restaurant works so I ran around with the wrong colored plate. If you grab a white plate it's all you can eat and the black plate is the sandwich. You're only presented with two options for beverages, sweet tea or water. Anything else you want, you have to bring. I'm thankful I knew this information and brought some beers from Texas, "when in Rome" or in this case when in Texas. We had Ziegen Bock and St. Arnold Fancy Lawn Mower, which is a German style Kolsh. The Ziegen Bock complemented the BBQ more than the Fancy Lawn Mower did. After the friendly staff got me lined out and my friend paid the cash register lady, I understood the system. So if you go, first decide all you can eat or sandwich, then grab the black plate for a sandwich or white plate for all you can eat. Then you work your way down the food line. Some of the items are placed on a plate for you while others are self serve. For main dishes they had spare ribs, beef brisket, sausage, pulled pork, chopped beef, and chicken breast. The side dishes could have been better, but they were the standard offerings of beans, coleslaw, and potato salad. I did try the beans and coleslaw. They were pretty good, but nothing exceptional. The beans were overcooked and were not holding their shape too well. The ribs have won many accolades and awards over the years, but I think that Kansas City BBQ society may have ruined me forever, with their standard definitions of what good BBQ is. The taste of the ribs were great, but they were very tender and I pulled more meat than what I had bitten into. The brisket was amazing. It was not too tender or to tough. The flavor was very good. I've heard that brisket has an short time span of cook time where it is the perfect texture, to long and it is too soft and too short and you're eating leather. When I pulled the the brisket the meat strands pulled apart with the right amount of effort and did not shred. I thought it was cool that this place served chopped beef. Brisket is a real challenge to make well and they do it very well. The sausage, chopped beef and pulled pork were OK, but the chicken breast was as good as the brisket. I have had smoked chicken breast before, but the ones I have had were pretty dry. This smoked chicken breast was tender, moist, and great smoked flavor.

The staff was very hospitable and accommodating to my barrage of questions. I asked one of the staff to see their smokers and they were enthused to show me the six smokers. I know six huge smokers for one operation is nuts, but they must make a lot of meat. One of the six smokers is pictured to the left. I did get a look at the wood pile which was uniformly cut hickory blocks. There was a lot of wood out there. I know commercial most places use natural gas to cook their meat, but I was surprised to see a propane tank on the side of their commercial sized smoker. I would think that a natural gas line would have been a more cost effective, but maybe they move these unit around a lot or something. The staff member that took me on the tour also showed me their travel rig which was hooked up to a pretty nice RV. The travel rig is shaped like an armadillo. The picture of the rig is to the right.

The staff suggest that I go introduce myself to Don, the owner of North Main BBQ. I did take that opportunity and he was very friendly and willing to answer my questions. He explained to me that the smoked chicken breast was so tender and moist due to the rotation that the smokers provide. I know there's more to it, but it was cool to hear that he credited good tools. I can't recall how we got on the topic, but it was the reasonable price point that is available at his restaurant. They offer a limited menu that is very basic. I am still amazed that they can get enough volume through there for a low cost on being open three days a week. North Main BBQ is doing something right.

North Main BBQ is a total dive, but it has a lot of charm. I like that I was able to bring my own beverage. The trophies and banners are always a good sign of great BBQ. I like how the focus here is the meat. The sides and sauce were OK, but the meat was the main attraction. I would give North Main BBQ four stars out of five.

http://www.northmainbbq.com/

Porky's Pride Real Pit BBQ

Porky's Pride Real Pit BBQ jumped into the ring of Albuquerque BBQ joints a few years ago. When they first opened I went with my mom to their location on Juan Tabo and Candelaria. I was surprised that they opened in the spot that used to be occupied for years by a smoky bar. The place was not well put together in the Juan Tabo location. It was like eating in a garage with an odd stage or platform. I heard they opened another location shortly after the Juan Tabo location opened. At the time, I thought this was too ambitious for a new BBQ joint to open two locations. It was too ambitious and they now have one location. On my first visit to Porky's, I asked the server about the wood that they used and she got a little apprehensive of my asking. I have no interest in opening a BBQ joint. I just wanted to know what kind of wood was flavoring the meat. I was not too impressed by my initial visit to Porky's my food was cold and the service was bad.

Fast forward a few years and a new location. They opened a location or moved to 4th street from their second location that they opened elsewhere on 4th street. It's much nicer and more organized than the Juan Tabo location. The place is fairly modest and they have two beer taps that I saw. They carried Heineken and some kind of domestic beer that I cannot recall. Their wood pile is in the right stacked on pallets. I thought that it was interesting that they bought wood from a company, Gourmet Wood, out of Ft. Worth Texas. They do have an entertaining phone number though, 888-GET-WOOD. I would imagine that getting wood shipped from Texas in that quantity would cost a fair amount of money. The pile is pictured on the right. I've heard from many BBQ experts that you can tell a lot about a BBQ joint by their pile of wood. Bob Gibson a BBQ legend said you can tell a lot about a place by the ash pile. I've mentioned this before in other post about wood/ash piles. So the wood pile here is hickory and mesquite wood. Mesquite tends to burn hotter than other woods and tends to be very strong smoke flavor. I thought that Porky's was pretty cool that they had a serve yourself drink station.

I tend to order the combination platter at BBQ joints so I have the opportunity to sample their offerings. I ordered the ribs, brisket, and sausage combination with fries and beans. I don't really like beans but good beans are a litmus for a good BBQ joint. They had good beans that were made with a few different types of beans. The fries were great. They were crispy and not too salty. The portions were pretty generous for a $13 combination plate. I was bothered by what was described as brisket. I did get brisket portion of the cow, but this was what I would have called chopped beef, not brisket. I do like Porky's because they are one of the few places in our market that make rib tips. The ribs were a good flavor, but they were overdone and fell off bone. The sausage was what I think was just kielbasa that was smoked for a short time. The Texas toast was OK in flavor, but bad in texture. I thought it was a bit too soggy for my taste. My order is pictured on the left.

The server this time around was much more pleasant. She was friendly and I had a chance to meet the cook too. The menu at Porky's is pretty extensive; they carry New Mexican food, burgers, steaks, and BBQ. This may be a strength to cater to the taste of many individuals, but I think this is an Achilles, restaurants seem to sacrifice quality and freshness if the menu is too large. Yes Porky's is a lot better than my first visit. I may have caught them on a bad day. The food is OK and the service and staff are friendly. I would give Porky's a rating of two stars out of five.

http://porkyspride.com/

Five Star Burgers

Five Star burgers opened a few days after a chain from the east coast called Five guys opened up in Albuquerque. The similar names and the proximity to each other caused some confusion with my group, but it was avoided with a phone call. Five Star occupies the location that used to be occupied by Nothing But Noodles in the shopping center in the northeast corner of Wyoming and Academy. I have yet to eat at Five Guys, but as I've been told it's fast food. Five Star is a higher end burger. The decor of the place is upscale and they do have out door dining. On the north side of the restaurant is a bar with TVs hanging above the bar. The place is clean and tasteful. From what I was able to observe only beer and wine was available at the bar. We opted to sit out on the patio due to the nice weather. The tables are small and it's tough to seat four adults, but one of us was not eating so it worked out after moving the small table around.

I began my meal with a side salad. This was not a good choice. It is a menu item however did not seem well planned. I got a plate of romaine lettuce and not too much more. For dressing, I got the oil and vinegar. The salad was plain. I did get the romaine lettuce because I asked for it, but the romaine was not crisp. There were tomatoes and sunflower seeds, but no cheese and I do not recall an onion on there. My party did split two orders of fries, we ordered one sweet and one normal order of fries. I thought the fries were served in a really cool way. They are served on paper inside of a chrome wire frying basket that is not used for frying, pictured to the right. The fries were pretty good. I normally don't care for sweet potato fries, but these were not too soggy in the center. They were crispy and more like regular fries. For my meal I ordered the Five Star burger which is a burger with bacon and Gorgonzola cheese. I added caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. The components of the burger were great and all together went well. My burger is pictured below. The buns, meat, veggies and toppings were all good, but this burger was not a good value. You are eating a hamburger in a nicer place, but I think that the price did not equal the food quality or the experience. I would give Five Star Burgers a rating of two and a half stars out of five.

http://www.5starburgers.com/

Cecilia's Cafe

Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives or Triple D as some call it, seems to hit a soft spot in the hearts of many Americans. My theory on this is due to Guy Fieri being personable and knowledgeable at our local greasy spoons. Recently I had the opportunity to try the last of my Triple D stops in Albuquerque, Cecilia's Cafe (CC); Guy has been to a four establishments in Albuquerque that I know of. The Discovery Travel Channel has also had CC on the show 101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down due to their 10 lb Fireman's Burrito. The sign for this beast of a burrito is pictured to the right. CC is on the corner of Silver and 6th in downtown Albuquerque. It truly is a hole in the wall, if you're not paying attention you will miss it if you blink.

The restaurant does have a lot of charm though. The restaurant has limited seating and was packed for a such a late time for breakfast. We arrived before the lunch rush and after the breakfast rush with a party of ten. A young family was kind enough to move to another table to accommodate us. To elaborate on the charm of the place the tables are mismatched, Americana memorabilia hangs everywhere, and heating the place was the wood burning stove pictured below.

The staff was very courteous, but on the slower side of things. The kitchen was quick with the order though. We sat on the other side of the counter so were were able to witness the speed of the food production. I opted for the Fireman's Burrito, but the "normal" version. This was still a beast of a burrito. This is burrito that comes with beans, egg, hash browns, and pork four ways. What is pork four ways you may ask: bacon, sausage, and two local styles of pork Carne Adovada and Chicarone. I love and hate Chicharones. Chicharones is basically fried pork rinds. There may be some arguments over this definition, but this is what I am familiar with . So these skins have some meat on them and they are a culinary delight due to the flavor and crunch, which is why I love them, but I hate them because I realize that I am eating deep fried pork fat. I did share some of my culinary marvels with my brunch companions. I'm a picky eater so I opted for the Fireman's Burrito without eggs and beans with the "Christmas" chile on top. Christmas chile is both red and green. One of my companions opted for the Fireman's Burrito as well, but kept all of the stuffing and it was quite a bit larger than mine, get your minds out of the gutter, cochinos. The chile was amazing. I read from Gil's Thrilling Website that CCs uses Chimayo red chile which I am not too familiar with, but the red chile had a real bite to it and the green chile was flavorful. My burrito is pictured to the right. Some of the other dishes that were ordered were the chicken enchiladas, breakfast burritos, blue corn pancakes, and a few other dishes that I cannot recall due to my bad memory and a large party of ten.

Cecelia's Cafe belongs on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and 101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down. I only ate half of my burrito and I was very full. The food was excellent. The staff could have been more detail oriented, but they were very friendly. The place really is a hole in the wall dive, but with charm. I would give Cecelia's Cafe a rating of three and a half stars out of five.

http://www.ceciliascafe.com/