Lone Locust Productions

Month: February 2006

  • The Popeye’s Song


    We stopped in this Popeye’s Fried Chicken today. It’s one of those newfangled restaurant gas station combinations. That seems like such a great idea to me. We all know how well gasoline goes with just about any kind of food, right?

    The point of this story is that, somewhere in the back, one or more of the employees were singing a song to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

    They weren’t singing loud enough for me to hear the whole song, but from what I got the final verse went something like this:


    
On the twelfth day of [blah blah] KC asked of me:
    
[blah blah blah]
    
Seven Number 7's
    
[blah blah blah]
    
For the love of god
    
[blah blah blah blah]
    
...and a Number 1 meal, spicy.

    After the big production (one guy sang all 12 verses) I heard him say he was trying for American Idol.

    Here’s a bit of advice: Don’t quit the day job at Popeye’s

    (However, if anybody happens to know the lyrics to this song, post it in the comments.)


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  • These Shoes Were Made For Stomping…


    James got his first pair of shoes today.

    He’s been standing for a while now, and even walking along (sideways) while holding onto things. In the last few days, he’s been taking a couple of unaided steps and so… here he is, stomping away and have a good old time.


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  • Pizza City


    This is two weeks in a row that I’ve eaten in a residential house converted into a pizza place. (The other review has been delayed due to a fact-checking issue and will be posted after this one.)

    Pizza City is a weird little place which is only open 5 days a week: Sun, Tue, Thr, Fri & Sat) and then only for dinner. They’re also open for lunch from Thursday to Saturday.

    Remember to consult your Magic 8 Ball to decide if they’re going to be open when you’re hungry for pizza.

    As always, when I go into these quirky little places, I’m expecting something really special. Chains and upscale fru-fru places rarely have good pizza. It’s the little mom and pop shops where I expect to find the next great pizza.

    This pizza was an extremely near miss. As I was eating it, I felt like I might really like this pizza but for one problem: the entire flavor was overwhelmed by the taste of garlic powder. (Not fresh garlic – the dry stuff.)

    Towards the center, I think I could taste the cheese some, and it wasn’t bad, but everything else was drowned out by the garlic powder.

    When you reached the outer crust, it was exactly like eating a bread stick with garlic powder stuck to it – not a garlic bread stick where the garlic had been melded into the flavor, but just bread with garlic powder poured on it.

    Service was a little slow, but the owner/manager/pizza maker was very friendly but quite busy. Apart from a delivery person he seemed to be the only one working.

    I’m going to give them a second visit in the near future because it’s possible that they just spilled too much garlic powder on the pizza. (Although, my party had two other pizzas and they all reported the exact same thing.) Besides, I need a better picture of the pizza. Apparently the garlic altered the focal properties of the air in the localized vacinity of the pizza. (Or it might be bad photography.)

    Pizza City
    4447 N 7th Ave
    Phoenix, AZ

    602.604.2489

    Cost:10″ Pepperoni, $4.36 or $0.06 per square inch
    (Note: this is one of the cheapest pizzas per square inch I’ve reviewed. It only achieved $0.06 by rounding, the actual cost was $0.055)

    Conclusion: The jury is still out, but if you really like garlic (powder) this might be the pizza for you.

    Stay tuned for a follow-up.


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  • Never ask a 3-year old to smile…


    Last weekend, I took Michelle to Encanto Park on Saturday morning.

    The idea was just to get out of the house for a while, but it was a beautiful day and the park was virtually empty. The amusement park, Enchanted Island opened up and was equally empty, so I took Michelle on the train ride.

    I hadn’t been expecting anything other play running around the park, so I hadn’t brought my camera.

    Today, we came back just for the photo op.

    Here is proof that when you ask a 3-year old to smile, the result just isn’t always you want. I don’t know what Irene’s excuse is in this picture…


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  • Stupor Bowl

    I saw on the news tonight that 85% of the televisions in America are expected to tune in to some sporting event or other on Sunday.

    Couldn’t care less, but, they had an article more near and dear to my heart. Pizza restaurants expect a massive upsweep in sales on Sunday pandering to the couch potato army. Some restaurants are expecting 300-400 pizzas sold on that day!

    They’re stocking up to make sure that they can handle the extra load.

    What does that mean to me? Sunday will be a bad day to buy a pizza. Rushed and overworked staff will be preparing substandard pizzas for and unappreciative and unwashed audience.

    Obviously Saturday will be a good day for reviewing a pizza. I wonder who it will be?

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  • Fry Bread House


    If you’re like me, the State Fair means just one thing: The Food Rides!

    The piggly wiggly fry ride, the corn dog ride, the lemonaid ride and most importantly, the indian fry bread ride.

    Once upon a time you could only get fry bread at the fair, but now there are a few places you can buy fry bread year-round. (Finally, I don’t have to go to the state fair anymore!)

    Best of the bunch is the Fry Bread House, which not only has good fry bread, but makes good red and green chile beef to top it.

    Fry Bread House
    4140 N 7th Ave
    Phoenix, AZ


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  • Da Chicago Dogs & Subs


    Da Chicago Dogs & Subs is a brand-new restaurant. Last week I drove by and noticed the “cooming soon” sign and today they were open, so it seemed a fortuitous time to try a hot dog.

    The menu is simple and straightforward. They have six kinds of dog, all featuring Vienna Beef products and a selection of 12 hot and cold subs.

    I had the Da Jumbo Dog. Da Chicago grills their dogs and, although I prefer my dogs boiled, it was a good. Vienna Beef products tend to be follproof. All their dogs are served with with fries or coleslaw (or perhaps I should say Da Fries or Da Coleslaw?) The fries were a bit undercooked.

    I think Da Chicago warrants a return, it was pretty clear that they hadn’t really gotten settled in and they had a few workflow issues with the ordering and food assembly process.

    If you’re in the area, give them a try.

    Da Chicago Dogs & Subs
    3923 E. Thomas Rd, Suite B-2
    Phoenix, AZ

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  • DiVito’s Italian Foods


    DiVito’s has been serving up food since 1973 and in some weird quirk of fate and circumstance, despite eating there since 1993, I’ve never eaten a pizza in their restaurant. (I’ve had a few take-out ones, but that doesn’t qualify for a review pizza.)

    When I eat at DiVitio’s it’s for lunch, and their “homemade” Sausage or Meatball Sicilian Sandwiches are wonderful. Made from the same materials they make their pizza, these compact, calzone-like meals are their specialty.

    During the week, they’ve also got a series of daily lunch specials (Monday’s, an antipasto salad, is pictured here) that are very reasonably priced.

    One of these days I’ll get around to reviewing their pizza.

    Recommended.

    DiVito’s Italian Foods & Catering
    5134 E. Thomas Rd.
    Phoenix, AZ



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