Yes, you read that correctly. There's a two-day event called Bean Fest, that takes place in Mountain View, Arkansas every October. It's free, and about 40,000 people up to eat up a boatload of beans and cornbread, and listen to bluegrass music. Then, there's the outhouse races! I couldn't make this stuff up!
Well, we decided to head over there this year, because we all like beans, even our dogs. It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive from NWA, through the Ozarks, so we didn't get there till about noon on Saturday. We lucked into some free parking, in this really nice lady's yard. But by the time we got to the square, most of the beans were gone. They still have regular fair food, and arts and crafts though. And a nice fudge place across from the square.
The dogs really enjoyed the festival! Buster is a complete ham, and he kept stopping so people could pet him and hopefully feed him their food. We were a little concerned about Sadie, because she's never been to anything like this before, but she did well. If it got too crowded she'd hang back and let Buster get all the attention.
It was a long drive, there and back, but it was a great festival. And the drive is absolutely beautiful, especially at this time of year. There were a number of dogs at the festival, which is something I really love about NWA. That's one reason we decided to take the dogs with us this time. Anyway, I highly recommend Bean Fest. Be sure to pick up a T-Shirt too! I went to Bean Fest and I got gassed!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Steak and Shake
Frank has been eying Steak and Shake for a while, so we finally dropped by. I was impressed! They are a chain, and I was expecting another version of McDonald's. Nope! They have a sit down area inside, which is an actual restaurant. The servers wear white shirts with bow-ties, and aprons. And the decor is a little retro looking. I had a cheeseburger with fries (around $3.50) and $1 sweet tea, and Frank had the Bacon and Blue cheese burger, with fries and a shake.
The burger patties are 100% beef, and small and square shaped. You can get whatever you want on them. I had a thick slice of tomato, thick onion slice, and big piece of lettuce that stuck out the side of my burger. The fries are small, like the potato sticks that you buy in cans, but fresh and hot. The tea is made with real sugar and is very large. Frank said his burger "was really good. And there was plenty of blue cheese."
The shakes deserve their own paragraph, because they are amazing! The last time I had a good milk shake was at a Tastee Freez, circa 1994. I don't know what that soft stuff is that comes out of machines at McDonald's and other places, but it ain't ice cream and they don't make good milk shakes. Steak and Shake uses premium ice cream and milk, and you can taste the difference. Frank's shake was so good that I had to order one too. (Frank loved his shake, but swears that Braum's is actually better!) They have specialty shakes too, like Butter Pecan or Caramel Apple.
Overall, I thought Stake and Shake was really good. I prefer their burger patties to Braums, but Frank likes Braum's better. But he still says that Stake and Shake is good. They are way better than fast food places. We've eaten at both of the ones in our area, and the service was fast and polite at both, even during a dinner rush. I'd give them at least 4 out of 5 stars, maybe 4 1/2. They also have all of their ingredients listed online, and happy hour for drinks AND shakes is 2-4 pm and 2-4 am.
The burger patties are 100% beef, and small and square shaped. You can get whatever you want on them. I had a thick slice of tomato, thick onion slice, and big piece of lettuce that stuck out the side of my burger. The fries are small, like the potato sticks that you buy in cans, but fresh and hot. The tea is made with real sugar and is very large. Frank said his burger "was really good. And there was plenty of blue cheese."
The shakes deserve their own paragraph, because they are amazing! The last time I had a good milk shake was at a Tastee Freez, circa 1994. I don't know what that soft stuff is that comes out of machines at McDonald's and other places, but it ain't ice cream and they don't make good milk shakes. Steak and Shake uses premium ice cream and milk, and you can taste the difference. Frank's shake was so good that I had to order one too. (Frank loved his shake, but swears that Braum's is actually better!) They have specialty shakes too, like Butter Pecan or Caramel Apple.
Overall, I thought Stake and Shake was really good. I prefer their burger patties to Braums, but Frank likes Braum's better. But he still says that Stake and Shake is good. They are way better than fast food places. We've eaten at both of the ones in our area, and the service was fast and polite at both, even during a dinner rush. I'd give them at least 4 out of 5 stars, maybe 4 1/2. They also have all of their ingredients listed online, and happy hour for drinks AND shakes is 2-4 pm and 2-4 am.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
TG is still great!
A few weeks ago, Frank and I went back to Taqueria Guanajuato and I am happy to say that it is still really really good. I had the same dish as last time, but this time Frank had some kind of pork enchiladas. He said they were "very good."
Friday, August 6, 2010
I'm still here II
Yes, I'm still here. We've had some money issues, so we haven't been eating out much. Things are going better now, though, so hopefully I'll have some restaurant reviews for you in a few weeks.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I'm still here
I'm hoping to have some more restaurant reviews for you soon. I've also starting posting my blog reviews at UrbanSpoon.com
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Taqueria Guanajuato
This is a new restaurant on Wedington Avenue (by Rupple). If you've heard me talk about the Philippino restaurant and grocery in the strip mall, well, it's gone. There's now a Mexican restaurant, grocery, and hairdressers there instead.
Since the name is Taqueria Guanajuato, I'm assuming they're from the Mexican state of Guanajuato (see mandatory Wikipedia article).
TG is a bare bones type of place. It's L-shaped, with tables in the short part and booths in the long part. The walls are brightly painted, but they didn't have a whole lot of decorations up. The booths are basic and seemed a little small. There were two girls working as servers when we arrived. One was definitely a teenager, the other more college-aged, and she had English as a second language.
We sat down, and they brought out salsa and chips. The salsa was nice and fresh tasting, and there was hot and mild, although hot wasn't that hot. The chips were really really good! They're thin and crispy, no salt. Yummy! I had ice tea, of course, but ordered unsweet. It was alright. Not the best, but definitely drinkable.
Once our food arrived, we realized that this was an actual Mexican restaurant, not a Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex restaurant. Yay! I had a combo plate: 1 steak taco, 1 pork tamale, rice, and beans. Without cheese of course. My mom had the same, but with cheese. I was impressed by the steak taco. It was small pieces of beef, on 2 small corn tortillas (4"), lightly oiled and heated. There were onions and cilantro on top, and I squeezed lime juice on it. It was delicious! My mom had cheese on hers, and Frank said it looked like actual queso fresco, not Monterrey Jack. The beans and rice were a little plain, and a little small, but I mixed them together and they were good too. No salad on the plate. The pork tamale was a regular shredded pork tamale, with red sauce, in a corn husk rapper. It didn't look like a lot of food, but it was filling and it was only $5!
Frank had the Cubana torta, which appeared to be one of those pressed Cuban sandwiches, but wasn't. The bread was just thin (and raised) but it wasn't pressed. It had pork, cheese, and ham on it, as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. There was also some kind of sauce. The sandwich was oval, about 4" x 8". Frank said it was "all kinds of good." I think this is his new favorite nearby place to eat.
The menu is pretty interesting. Most items on the menu are a la carte. They have different categories: tacos, burritos, sopes, tortas, quesadillas, gorditas, and huaraches. Under each category they have the same basic meats: grilled steak, beef head, beef tongue, spicy sausage, marinated pork, ham/bacon/beef/cheese/pineapple, pork intestines, pork stomach, chicken, and pork. They have specials every weekday, and menudo on the weekends. They're open from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week. They also have some specials, some breakfast food, a kids menu and ceviche.
Overall, we really liked it. If you want some kind of fancy place with margaritas, this isn't the place for you. But if you want good food, for pretty cheap nowadays, give Taqueria Guanajuato a try.
Since the name is Taqueria Guanajuato, I'm assuming they're from the Mexican state of Guanajuato (see mandatory Wikipedia article).
TG is a bare bones type of place. It's L-shaped, with tables in the short part and booths in the long part. The walls are brightly painted, but they didn't have a whole lot of decorations up. The booths are basic and seemed a little small. There were two girls working as servers when we arrived. One was definitely a teenager, the other more college-aged, and she had English as a second language.
We sat down, and they brought out salsa and chips. The salsa was nice and fresh tasting, and there was hot and mild, although hot wasn't that hot. The chips were really really good! They're thin and crispy, no salt. Yummy! I had ice tea, of course, but ordered unsweet. It was alright. Not the best, but definitely drinkable.
Once our food arrived, we realized that this was an actual Mexican restaurant, not a Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex restaurant. Yay! I had a combo plate: 1 steak taco, 1 pork tamale, rice, and beans. Without cheese of course. My mom had the same, but with cheese. I was impressed by the steak taco. It was small pieces of beef, on 2 small corn tortillas (4"), lightly oiled and heated. There were onions and cilantro on top, and I squeezed lime juice on it. It was delicious! My mom had cheese on hers, and Frank said it looked like actual queso fresco, not Monterrey Jack. The beans and rice were a little plain, and a little small, but I mixed them together and they were good too. No salad on the plate. The pork tamale was a regular shredded pork tamale, with red sauce, in a corn husk rapper. It didn't look like a lot of food, but it was filling and it was only $5!
Frank had the Cubana torta, which appeared to be one of those pressed Cuban sandwiches, but wasn't. The bread was just thin (and raised) but it wasn't pressed. It had pork, cheese, and ham on it, as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. There was also some kind of sauce. The sandwich was oval, about 4" x 8". Frank said it was "all kinds of good." I think this is his new favorite nearby place to eat.
The menu is pretty interesting. Most items on the menu are a la carte. They have different categories: tacos, burritos, sopes, tortas, quesadillas, gorditas, and huaraches. Under each category they have the same basic meats: grilled steak, beef head, beef tongue, spicy sausage, marinated pork, ham/bacon/beef/cheese/pineapple, pork intestines, pork stomach, chicken, and pork. They have specials every weekday, and menudo on the weekends. They're open from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week. They also have some specials, some breakfast food, a kids menu and ceviche.
Overall, we really liked it. If you want some kind of fancy place with margaritas, this isn't the place for you. But if you want good food, for pretty cheap nowadays, give Taqueria Guanajuato a try.
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