That title should be read a la Winston delivering the last line of "Ghostbusters."
Winston -- my homeboy.
I do love this blog. I'm SOOO bloody busy right now, but I force myself to find the time to pop-in and get things a-rollin'! Happy to do so, too!
I'm thinking pizza, but things could change in a heartbeat. If I go pizza, should I JUST do pizza, or complement it with something else? Salad?
Kids, tell me something...
...WFL?!?!?
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21 comments:
Pizza and salad sounds magical. I'm suddenly taken back to my mom's pizza - the dough was a little sweet and very light; homemade sauce with pepperoni, olives and mushrooms. With salad on the side. Wow. I hadn't thought of that in ages.
Funny what being solid food deprived does to a girl.
Day 2 and counting. Just took my first sip of lemony/mapley/cayenne-y goodness.
I rarely do pizza for lunch, unless it's a work lunch at Bertucci's. If I had to do it I would get a slice and a salad.
Speaking of salad I am thinking of hitting a salad bar today, or if I get a burst of energy I may walk a few blocks and try the reuben at this deli that I have heard good things about. Apparently they make their own corned beef.
Nothing quite like good corned beef.
Black or green olives Ethics?
My favorite pizza experience of all time was from a Place called Luigi's in Stamford, CT (there was a Mario's down the street, I always thought they were in cahoots to amuse me).
Anyway, I was in my early teens and a few buddies and I ordered three large pies with suasage, mushroom, onion and garlic. We bought a case of ginger ale and returned to my father's house for a Godfather movie marathon.
Good times...
I bet a shit sandwich (I trust everyone gets that one) would sound good to you about now, eh, ethics?
Without going into too much detail, how's the cleansing going for you?
I used to live a block away from Bell's pizza in Ann Arbor. Not very good, but very cheap. At probably the poorest and hugriest I've ever been in my life, my roommate and I scrounged enough up to buy a case of old style longnecks, pack of camels, and a large cheese pizza from Bells. Kev took a slice and bit into one of those plastic bread bag holder things. We had eaten about half of the pizza and planned to save the rest for food for the forseeable future. We called Bell's and told them what happened. We said it was no big deal and we just wanted to let them know. They sent us a whole 'nuther large cheese. Best pizza experience ever.
Black olives at home, jo. It was beautiful. I took her recipe box last time I was there; when this fast business is over, I may have to see if I can recreate it.
Where are you going that makes their own corned beef? Why don't I know about it?
Ethics, apparently it's the deli across from Cosi at 18th and K. Mrs. Josephus' brother was a fan.
Jo - when did you get a "Mrs. Josephus" and why the hell wasn't I invited? I've been on Nuptial Tour - Summer '05; I certainly could've squeezed y'all in.
Dude - there is no Cosi on 18th and K...
As for whether or not a shit sandwich sounds good - not yet. The first three days are a bitch, then it's all downhill. As luck would have it though, work is killing me and so the hate and vitriol is really seeing me through.
However, you'll all benefit from hearing about my weird cravings over the next week or so. Jo - didn't I once advise you to get a combo italian sub WITH chicken salad, while on the fast?
The deli is at 19th & K.
"Josephus" may be different from the man you know in the non blog world Ethics...
Post-fast, I'm going to have to check out this deli, along with that sausage and olive joint I showed you earlier, jo.
I can't keep track of all your comic book superhero alter egos, though.
And I like to pretend I'm a professional athlete...oy.
Dipso: “How long will it take to get an individual sausage if I get it with black olives”
Giordanos Lady: “Thirty-five minutes.”
Dipso: “Just a sausage, then.”
Giordanos Lady: “That will be $6.01.”
Dipso: “Six-o-ONE?”
Giordanos Lady: “Yeah.”
Dipso looks at floor around his feet. Under counter ledge. Hands Giordanos Lady a ten.
Giordanos Lady goes to register, returns $3.99 to Dipso.
Dipso drops four pennies on floor and leaves quietly.
Dipso seethes at his desk. / The pie is good.
Dipso,
I hate that Giordano's woman.
By the way I still haven't eaten. My boss tricked me into thinking she wanted to have lunch together. She lied.
Your "boss" Jo, or The Supreme Mistress of the Fortress of Solitude? Hey, does Jo work with Wonder Woman? Can you ask her if I can borrow her outfit for Halloween this year?
Ethics I gonna let you borrow something else pretty soon.
I'm not afraid of you. Besides, this "Josephus" character might have lots of untold goodies I'd just be dying to borrow. Do his toys work in the world outside the blog-o-verse?
Apropos of nothing, today I get to legitimately use a Sharpie in the course of my work. This improves my day ten-fold.
Reuben good.
Ethics bad.
A jaw-dropping burger gap in Chicago
How McDonald's, hot dogs have kept top takeout burgers out of the city
By Jeremy Mullman
September 05, 2005
When Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker thinks of his native California, it's not the weather he longs for, it's the hamburgers. Since arriving in Chicago two years ago, Mr. Baker has found little to satisfy his craving for the high-quality, quick-serve burgers sold about everywhere else in the country.
"The California burgers, man, they've got great texture and freshness, like ground sirloin," says Mr. Baker, who says he ate at California's In-N-Out Burger chain three to four times a week when he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "They don't have the same kinds of places (for quick burgers) around here."
Mr. Baker isn't the first to notice that Chicago suffers from a burger deficit — a lack of drive-throughs and burger stands serving hand-packed beef patties on fresh-baked buns. That may be difficult to believe about the city that considers itself a hot dog mecca and that is home to the world's largest burger chain. But consider that none of the nation's five fastest-growing emerging burger chains has a single store within the city limits, according to Chicago-based restaurant consultancy Technomic Inc. And a recent Chicago Tribune survey of the area's 15 best burgers tapped only one intended for takeout — from a stand in Des Plaines.
'IT'S CULTURAL'
How could this be? Some blame Oak Brook-based McDonald's Corp., the global burger juggernaut, which counts Chicago among its most saturated markets. McDonald's imposing presence here has limited the local store counts of national chains like Burger King and Wendy's and has also likely kept away smaller chains and single stands, says Technomic's Michael Allenson.
A McDonald's spokeswoman declines to comment on whether the chain's size has dissuaded other burger places from opening here.
The city's history also plays a role. Bruce Kraig, a Roosevelt University historian currently working on a book about Chicago's culinary history, says the roots of the city's burger gap can be traced to the end of World War II, when commercial cafeterias gave way to faster-service eateries. "As hamburger stands were popping up elsewhere, hot dog stands and Italian beef filled that niche here," says Mr. Kraig. "It's cultural."
And as the hot dog emerged as a Chicago icon, the market looked less attractive to would-be burger-stand proprietors. "A similar thing happened in Cincinnati with the chili stands," he says. "That sort of thing perpetuates itself, and burgers don't get a foothold."
THE OPPORTUNIST
Mr. Kraig says there's nothing in the local culture that would prevent a good burger stand, in the right location, from thriving in Chicago today.
Enter Gregg Majewski. Mr. Majewski, the former CEO of Jimmy John's Franchise Inc., plans to open a California-style burger stand in November on Adams Street just off of Michigan Avenue near the Art Institute of Chicago. The restaurant, called Patty Burger and modeled after California's In-N-Out Burger, will feature a narrow, burger-centric menu with fresh ingredients cooked to order. Mr. Majewski says buns will be baked on the premises. Burger patties will be packed by hand daily from fresh, never-frozen beef, and fetch about $3.25 apiece at the counter.
"You can't get a good (quick-service burger) in Chicago," he says.
Mr. Allenson of Technomic Inc. agrees. He notes that Patty Burger will have a jump on rapidly expanding national chains like Culver's; Fatburger; Texas-based Fuddruckers and Whataburger, and Tennessee-based Back Yard Burgers. None of those chains has a restaurant in Chicago.
"I think he's onto something," Mr. Allenson says of Mr. Majewski.
Mr. Majewski isn't likely to have Chicago's high-end, quick-serve burger market to himself for long. Culver's, a chain that's built a cult following in Wisconsin, already has 10 suburban Chicago locations and had a deal for a downtown location collapse last year, according to a spokeswoman. "We'll be in Chicago," she says. "It's just a matter of when." And a Fatburger spokesman says a company-owned franchise will be in Chicago "within a few years."
Both companies say they see Chicago as underserved by their peers in the $54-billion national burger industry.
That's a blessing to California transplant Jim Bloom, a local marketing executive who says he once washed down an In-N-Out Burger with a $100 bottle of Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon. "I paired the Silver Oak with a Double-Double, animal-style," he says, using the chain's lingo for two burgers with melted cheese, stacked on a toasted bun with a fresh clump of lettuce and grilled onion. "It was a damn good pairing."
©2005 by Crain Communications Inc.
Ethics! This wackjob who wrote an article for me called me up today to offer his wackjob suggestions for ways to improve the artwork that would accompany his article. I tried to note his changes with an ink pen, but the page was too dark and it wouldn't show. So I grabbed a sharpie and thought something along the lines of "Hey, I'm actually using a sharpie."
I've been sniffing it for the last hour and a half.
Was yours blue?
I would say that we don't have many of those places here either, with the obvious and beautiful exception of Five Guys. Come to think of it, they aren't abundant in Pittsburgh either, but then again, nothing is.
When I was in Buffalo though, I went to a burger place like the described - it was no In 'n Out, but it was damn tasty. I also had the best pizza I've ever had in my life in Buffalo.
My Sharpie is black, and I can smell it as we speak. But at home - I have a rainbow of colors, as well as some metallic ones. It's a sweet addiction. Sharpies make everything better. (Sharpies and cheese, that is)
What about the all-burrito diet, Rico?
By the way, the aforementioned best pizza I've ever had is from LaNova's in Buffalo. www.LaNova.com should you ever have the misfortune of being in the Buffalo area.
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