Gluttony Boys (beta)

Smashburger finally opened a restaurant on the west side of the valley. This one is at the SW corner of 99th Ave and McDowell. Usually, the west side is the last to get a new restaurant, or store. This is the second store in the valley to open, the first was in Tempe.

Having heard very little about smashburger, I did not know what to expect, was it fast food, or was it going to be a sit down restaurant? Turns out it was somewhere in between. You order at the counter, then your food is delivered to you.

Now, since I am a smashburger newbie, I didn’t customize my burger…too much. I ordered the 1/2 pound (also available in 1/3lb) classic, only changing the American cheese to habanero cheese. Much better, IMNSHO.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but once you pick it up, you can tell how the restaurant got its name. It is literally a smashed burger. I would have taken another picture for you to see it better, but once I picked it up, I could not set it down. Great flavor, awesome burger. You WILL get your hands messy!

Next time, I will getting it with a fried egg!

And, this is not your typical semi-fast joint. They have BEER, and wine. The beer is available in bottles, and a frosted mug if you like. The wine comes in one of those tiny single serve bottles. For gluttonous fare, you have to have alcohol. Just ask any gluttony boy!

BTW, this is my first post using the WordPress app for Android. Although I did edit the post on my computer…

It was a cool November evening in Phoenix.  Its about darn time actually.  A couple of weeks ago,  it was still in the mid 90s.

Anyway,  some friends invited my wife and I out to Ruth’s Chris Steak House to celebrate a birthday.  I paused,  thinking to myself,  that would be very nice,  but it is on the expensive side,  when I heard,  Oh,  by the way,  we have a gift card.  Excellent,  lets go!

Now,  I wouldn’t call the fare served at Ruth’s Chris gluttonous,  but since I ate it all,  and felt like a beached whale afterword,  it’ll do.

Hey look,  they have a special going on.  There are several items on the menu that are NOT à la carte.  Definitely not the normal type of establishment we frequent.

I had the caesar salad,  and it was awesome.  Just the right amount of dressing,  and the croutons were neither too soft,  nor too hard.  Great flavor.  Now this is where some of the fancier blogs may get into a lot culinary words and such,  but hey,  the salad was good.

The main course,  at least for me,  was an 11oz Prime filet mignon.  The waiter,  is that proper?  Or is it server?  Ok,  waiter it is,  said they sear their stakes in a broiler at 1800 degrees F,  and then put them on a plate,  to bring to the table,  that is only 500 degrees F!  That is hot!  Oh,  they also put a big dollop of butter on top.

1st cut.  Wow,  I think to myself,  I could have just used a fork.  Still very hot.  Melts in mouth.  I try it again.  Same result.  Superb!  I think it is the best filet I have ever eaten.

Oops,  almost forgot the wine.  Looking at the menu,  it recommended a Shiraz to pair with the filet,  but since I didn’t know what everyone else was going to order,  I looked through the wine list.  The first item that caught my eye was a zinfandel,  but since it was priced at $245,  I decided to keep looking.  Zinfandel is one of my favorites,  so I started in that section,  when I noticed a great wine,  although it was restaurant priced,  Seghesio Zinfandel 2007,  I stopped looking.  It can be had for a fraction at your local wine store.

The waiter presented the bottle to me for inspection.  Yessir,  that is it!  He proceeded to uncork the wine,  and poured a tasting in my glass.  I then swirled it around in my glass,  and gave a hearty sniff (as if I knew what I was doing),  then tasted.  Just as good as I remembered.  He then poured for the ladies,  of course,  then got back to me.  Everyone liked the selection.  Even my wife!  WTF,  she doesn’t drink red wine.  Something strange is going on here.  Am I in some sort of alternate universe or what??  Highly recommended,  you should go get a bottle.

Don’t be fooled by the title,  this post is about food!  Or to be more realistic,  based on the size of said food,  it is about gluttony.  No health conscious eaters allowed.

I went to the NASCAR Able Body Labor 200 on Saturday, Nov 14th.  Since this is not the “big” race it was not too crowded.  The big race, most popular drivers,  and the most spectators is on Sunday,  the Checker Auto Parts 500.

Anyway,  on to the gluttony part.  If you have never been to a race at PIR,  you should know that there are a ton of things to see.  It is a great people watching event,  lots of people all decked out with gear of their favorite driver.  And tons of things eat,  not one of them healthy!  One of the more popular stops for food is just as you come in the main drag past all of the sales trailers.They only sell three items,  hamburgers,  turkey legs,  and a 15″ sausage.

So, we get in line,  which today is relatively non-existent,  to order,  and pay.  In turn we receive a toasted hot dog bun that is wider than the paper plate that it is sitting on.  Now we have to go over to the food line,  to pick up our meat.  For the sausage, it is either plain,  just thrown on the bun,  or you can get it topped with peppers and onions.  Now,  if my wife were here,  she would have had it all slathered in the peppers and onions.  I just opted for plain meat,  and then headed directly for the condiment station.

A little ketchup and mustard later,  we had to find a place to park and eat the monster.

I tell you,  it wasn’t easy.  Well,  not really.  I ate the whole darn thing in short order.  Oh,  did I mention that it only cost $9.75?  Considering beers are almost $8.00 bucks,  it was a steal.

So,  if you ever go to the race,  you *have* to get one of these sausages.  And NO sharing!