Sasquatch Brewing Company - Portland, OR

It was my luck that I happen to pick a great summer day to visit the Sasquatch Brewing Company.  I was able to sit outside and enjoy the evening while sipping some really great Pacific Northwest craft beer.

Sasquatch Brewing was not a triple-D restaurant but, it reminded me of one.  Like so many triple-D joints, Sasquatch was a neighborhood restaurant.  There were lots of kids there during the dinner hour.  People were walking up in flip-flops and riding up on bicycles.  There were probably six bikes locked up as they leaned against the rail.  I was glad to be outside with the traffic because it was relatively quiet compared to the noisy kids inside.

I started with a pretzel with syrup and mustard.  The pretzel was very nice fresh baked bread.  The yeasty bread pairs very nicely with the beer.  The mustard had a really nice texture and smell thanks to the maple syrup.  I had never heard of such a combination but, it really worked.  I'm surprised that I found this in Oregon and not Maine but, whatever...

I tried their Hairy Knuckle Stout.  You can check out my Untappd.com review of that beer here.  I also tried their DB Cooper copper ale.  I'm not sure why I didn't review it on untappd but, I didn't.  Both beers were really very good.

I ordered the quinoa hash for my main course.  I'm not sure what I was expecting.  I've had quinoa before and it was very unimpressive even if it is really healthy.  This was actually really excellent.  It had a thin tomato sauce and some other bits of vegetables mixed in.  I figured that it was one of those foo-foo meals where you want to go out for a burger an hour later.   Surprisingly, I was not hungry at all after the quinoa, pretzel and a couple of beers.

Sasquatch was not a triple-D restaurant so, in the rating we take points off for not fitting the diner, drive-inn or dive criteria even though I do not mean to reflect anything negative about the place at all.   Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening and I highly recommend this restaurant.  My rating nonetheless was 8.9; still very respectable even for a restaurant fitting the criteria.



6440 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97239
Phone:(503) 402-1999
http://sasquatchbrewery.com

Aunt Carrie's - Narragansett, RI

Aunt Carries is a family oriented, Rhode Island,  sea side restaurant. It is a neighborhood place that has been around since 1920.  Not surprisingly, they specialize in sea food.

Point Judith is on the western side of Narragansett Bay where it opens out onto Rhode Island Sound and the Long Island Sound.  It's the town where you catch the ferry to Block Island.

They have adirondack chairs outside for waiting that look over the water where you can see the Point Judith Lighthouse.

Service was good.  It was fast, friendly and efficient.

I had the combo special which was a clam chowder and clam fritters.  When you order the chowder, they will ask "white, red or clear."  The white is traditional cream based New England clam chowder. The red is what I've always known as Manhattan clam chowder. The clear is what they add cream to to make the New England style or tomato to to make the Manhattan clam chowder. I had the clear because I had never heard of such a thing.

The clear chowder was really good.   I would describe it more as a fishy soup rather than a hearty chowder.  It is probably healthier but, I would still order the New England clam chowder if I go back again.

What distinguished Aunt Carries for me were the clam fritters. The fritters were just deep fried bread dough with some clam juice added. It doesn't sound good but it tasted really good. There were even a few bits of shell in there to remind you that you are really at the beach.

Across the street was Aunt Carrie's ice cream shop.  I didn't try it but, people seemed to be enjoying themselves there.

We enjoyed it overall.  It was worth the drive down from Boston.  I would rate Aunt Carrie's 8.6 on my ddd review scale.

1240 Ocean Rd
Narragansett, RI 02882
(401) 783-7930
http://www.auntcarriesri.com

Stone Brewing Bistro & Gardens Liberty Station - San Diego, CA

The Stone Brewery at Liberty Station next to the San Diego airport is just a great upscale bier garden.  The Stone Brewery is famous in the craft beer community as a really great brewery that is well on its way to going big-time nationally and internationally mostly because of a couple of its high-dollar ales that you find in most grocery stores on the top shelf of the beer cooler.  Their "Arrogant Bastard" is a favorite of mine as is their IPA.  I'd say that it is one of the best breweries in the US.

The beer garden is pretty big.  It is probably an acre and a half outdoors and probably 4,000 s.f. indoors.  It is really beautiful inside and out.  The outdoors area is what I consider to be desert landscaping with crushed stone walkways, lots of desert grasses, waterfalls and koi ponds.  One waterfall is build into a bar.  The tables are all covered by umbrellas to protect people from the SoCal sun. 

The indoors area had a huge beer selection on tap.  Some of the beer is produced on-site and some is brewed at their Point Loma and Escondido locations.  When you first walk in there is a seating area with big glass windows that look in on the brew house.  They were not brewing while I was there.  Unfortunately, they only do brewery tours at their Escondido location.

As far has the beer goes, I had tried two.  You can read my Untappd.com beer reviews on the Sacred Druid here and my review of the Ron Pattinson/ChuckAlek/Stone Liberty Station Colonel Sykes East India Porter here.

The food was every bit as good as beer even if it is not necessarily the focus of this establishment.  I had the chicken schnitzel with spaetzle.  It was as good or better than you would get at any good German restaurant.

The service was really excellent.  The greeter dude actually gave me the big tour of their location before before I had to make the decision of where to sit.  My waiter was equally attentive and knowledgeable about the beer and food.

As awesome as the Stone Brewery is, it is not a triple-D location.  It is also not a diner, drive-in or dive in any way, shape or form.  So, huge points for location, food and drinks.  Points off just for not fitting the triple-D criteria, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  I would rate the Stone Brewery a 9.0.

2816 Historic Decatur Rd #116‎
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 269-2100 ext. 2000
http://www.stonelibertystation.com

Sammy's Food Service and Deli - New Orleans, LA

Sammy's was a neighborhood restaurant that served their food cafeteria style. It was a pretty nice place but definitely fit the category somewhere between diner and dive.

Service was good if not a bit slow.  They must not make your meal until you order.  I'm not sure if that is not just a laid back NOLA thing because the patrons didn't seem to be in any big rush either.  People were hanging out at their tables forever.

I saw what looked like a Flintstones brontosaurus rib being carried by my table.  I asked one of the people working there.  She said it was a short rib order and seemed to get excited about how good it was.  I believe her.  I'm going to try that next time if they still have it.

They seemed to have a lot of specials.  I ordered the ultimate roast beef po' boy special with  a side of cornbread dressing.  The roast beef was more like roast beef and gravy plus some kind of creamy onion sauce.  No sense in over-thinking it.  It was a really good, calorie intensive sandwich.  I'm writing this as I'm skipping dinner to try and keep my daily caloric intake for the day to a four-digit number.  I got it "dressed" which means with lettuce, tomato and pickle.  Only I ordered it without pickles.  You can see from the photo that someone was clearly messing with me because they put the Godzilla of pickles on my plate anyway.  The po' boy bread was average.

The cornbread dressing was what you would expect if you grew up in the south.  (I didn't) It was kind of like Thanksgiving dressing only with the cornbread base instead of a bread base.  There were some trace cajun flavors in there as well but, I couldn't quite put my finger on them.  It was nice and moist, too.  The Texas cornbread salad they call it is usually pretty dry.  I like the moist version much better.

I'm guessing that they're known for their fried chicken. I'd say 80% of the other patrons including the skinny people were eating the fried chicken.

Overall, I'd say that Sammy's was good.  I'd rate it an 8.3.

Sammy's Food Service and Deli
3000 Elysian Fields Ave
New Orleans, LA 70122
504 947-0675

The Cove - San Antonio, TX

The Cove in San Antonio,  TX was kind of a cool tree hugger, healthy food restaurant with a really great tap beer selection both indoors and out.  It seemed more like an Austin restaurant than San Antonio to me.

It almost has a biergarten sense about it.  The counter where you order the food is kind of small but the outdoor area is really pretty big and the indoor bar area is a fair size as well.  They have an actual vegetable garden in the outdoor seating area as well as a playground for the kids.  Smoking is allowed in the "carcinogen corner."  Pets were welcome outside, too.

There were probably 40 Army soldiers here attending some kind of classroom training when I was here for lunch.

The menu consisted of salads and lots of other healthy choices.  I ordered the seafood sampler.  It had a fish taco, a shrimp taco, and a garden salad.  Hot sauce was provided on the side.  You can really tell that the vegetables and greens were super fresh because of the way that they snapped and were full of flavor.  Very nice!

Everything is locally sourced.  They have a couple of representations to explain to you where your food was coming from.  The map went no further than the borders of the state of Texas.

There was an outdoor stage set up. This would probably be a good place to come after work or on the weekend.  I liked it.  I would rate The Cove an 8.5; worth checking out.

Magnolia Pancake Haus - San Antonio, TX

The Magnolia Pancake Haus in San Antonio was really enjoyable.  It was a very family-friendly, clean restaurant with great service and great food. The thing that made them special was that one of the owners brought back some recipes from Germany but you don't find very often in United States.

For example, I ordered the pfankuchen which is basically an apple pancake.  It is not dry like a typical American pancake. It is more like a big flat apple pie. The edges are let to caramelize slightly .  It has the consistency of a sticky bun and is about as addictive.  I'm afraid to know what the calorie count on something like this. You wouldn't want to eat one of these every week. The serving size in this case was huge. I could not finish even half of this as delicious as it was.

The orange juice was very good.  I think that it may have been fresh squeezed. The syrup came in A small metal beaker which had been heated up.  The pfankuchen was plenty sweet enough for me. I didn't think that the syrup was necessary.

Atmosphere-wise, there were a lot of young families there. If you don't like loud toddlers then this is no place for you. The location was very close to the San Antonio airport. This would be a good place to meet for breakfast before a morning flight.

I would rate the Magnolia Pancake Haus 9.1. It's well worth checking out.

Magnolia Pancake Haus
606 Embassy Oaks #100
San Antonio, TX 78216
www.magnoliapancakehaus.com

Dough Pizzaria Napolitana - San Antonio, TX

The first thing that hits you about Dough Pizzaria Napolitano is that this place smells great. It's all bread making that is going on.  It's almost like stepping into a really good bakery albeit with an italian flavor.   

I ordered a cheese appetizer. The Burrata cheese was outstanding.  It came with a pesto sauce and balsamic vinegar along with some garlic and pickled peppers.  The bread was toasted and coated with olive oil. 

Service was very good. I have my waitress plus a couple of other people checking up on me regularly.

For the main course I ordered a small "Pork Love" pizza. The menu says Sopressata salami, sausage, pancetta, speck, house pulled mozzarella, tomato sauce.  Without exaggeration, this could be some of the best pizza I've ever had. But what was also really interesting was the fact that the pizza arrived no more than three minutes after record it.

I was chatting with my waitress about it. She said the restaurant is certified to call itself Napolitana.  Part of the certification is that they have to have the correct ovens. These ovens are wood-burning and are designed to cause a draft inside so that the temperatures inside will reach 800° F. They sometimes burn as hot as 1000°. So, once the raw pizza hits the oven it's only 90 seconds away from being completely cooked. Evidently some of the cooks have to arrive

very early to get the oven started and to bring them up to temperature.
I saw one of the waiters walked by with a long particular plate of different cheeses that looked really good. My waitress said that it was a sampler plate. I would recommend anyone coming here for the first time to order the sampler plate.

This restaurant was really not a diner, drive-in or a dive.  It was really a very nice place.They had a nice seating area outside also. The location was in a decent neighborhood in North San Antonio. 

I would rate Dough Pizzeria Napoletana a 9.7.  The food and service was that good.

Dough Pizzeria Napoletana

6989 Blanco Rd 

San Antonio, TX 78216

Phone:(210) 979-6565

www.doughpizzeria.com