pi day at tony's pizza

someone told me one time that if you're trying a new pizza place, get the cheese pizza. i have no idea who told me this, but i did it tonight. i mean, i kind of knew it would be good because:

i've heard several people i know recommend it.

it's been the same family running it for like 40 years. or, maybe some new people bought it a few years back from the original but it's still the same.

it's currently running at 4.5 stars on yelp with 54 reviews.

the place for tonight's pizza, pi day edition:

tony's pizza.

located in a sorta beat up strip mall, tony's is a walk in and order or phone ahead take out pizza place. there are like three tables so maybe you can eat there? they are also cash only, which can be a pain if you let it. since i knew that, i stopped at the atm & got some cash. when i placed the order they said 20 minutes, i arrived about then and they were slicing and boxing it up. oh yeah, i ordered a medium cheese and a large pepperoni. i don't remember them quoting me a price on the phone, but on yelp there were pictures of the menu so i had an idea of what it would cost. this may be my main point of contention with tony's pizza - the pictures were accurate, they are of the menu's on the counter. however, the prices don't match up. according to the menu, my order should have been $25.50 + tax. it was $29.50. uh, what? if tax is 9.75%, that means the pizzas were $26.88. i'm fine with price increases, but adjust your menu. i didn't make a big deal about it, but i can see how it could get under someone's skin if they brought it up and didn't get a good explanation. (now that i think about it, if you're a cash only business, you need to do a better job letting people know the cost at time of order, or having accurate prices online.

now to the pizza!

the pizza is a thinish crust, and it seemed to have brushed olive oil on the crust. they remind me of mike's pizzeria, or maybe diciccos in style in contrast to a me n eds, pacifica or round table. both pizzas needed to be cut a little more cleanly, but that's no biggie, and not uncommon. the cheese pizza was pretty darn good. nice balance of cheese, sauce & crust. i added some red pepper flakes on my second piece, but in hindsight it was better just on its own. as for the pepperoni, you would think that the pepperoni would be better, since it's a cheese pizza with one ingredient. but, it just seemed okay. it was good, but not great. i would be more likely to have the cheese pizza again.

overall, i would order food from there again, and a lot of reviews say to get the calzone, and i really like those, so that may be in my future. however, i'm far more likely to call mikes or pacifica for my next pizza.

 

 

fri poutine - a dinner review

we tried out FRI Poutinerie the other night before a movie.  shoot, we even chose to go the theater in clovis just to try this place out.  a couple of friends joined us, so we had several opinions of the place.

overall, everyone liked the food.  the fries were good, the gravy good, the curds good.  i had the smoked meat, and enjoyed it.  the service was decent, and the prices were fine.  i would go back and eat there again if i was in the area, but so far i'm not inspired to go out of my way for it.

things that could be a little better: 
- the amount of curds in an order compared to fries & gravy.  we had 2 of the regular size, 1 of the big size and the amount of curds varied among the 3 orders, and seemed lacking.
- drinks.  get some fountains.  bottled sodas and waters don't really cut it.
- food to table service - maybe it was just our guy working that night, but we were a party of 4, and they didn't remember who ordered what, and had one order wrong completely.  the place had a few other customers, but that shouldn't have overwhelmed anyone.

Grizzly City Pizza and Pub - dinner review

After seeing a few friends post photos from here, and the article in the paper, we finally made some time to check out Grizzly City Pizza.  We went after 6 to avoid paying for parking, but I wouldn't let that stop me from going any other time.  It was a Friday night, and they had a pretty decent crowd, with most tables full.

For dinner, we chose to order the Spinach & Artichoke mozzarella sticks and did the build your own pizza option - although we were super basic and just had pepperoni.  I'll check out one of the specialty options on another trip.  Both items were pretty good tasting.  Honestly, the pizza looked better than anything you'll get at most Me & Ed's in town.  We were pretty happy with the taste as well.  The crust was sort of bread-y, but in a good way.  It was in between a thin crust and the average crust pizza.  Good taste, not too chewy.  The cheese was a good blend, pepperoni normal, but yes, like most pepperoni pizzas it was a bit greasy.  Whatever.  The mozzarella sticks were pretty nice.  I liked the variation of them being spinach & artichoke. That really balanced out the flavor, and kept it from getting all solid and gross like mozzarella sticks can get when they cool off a bit.

The place has a few drawbacks, and I would guess some of it has to do with them being fairly new.  It took a half hour for the pizza to come out, which seems a bit long.  Also, the mozzarella sticks came out at the same time and I would have loved to have them before, as an appetizer.  Last thing, it was quiet in there - no music or anything.  There was a tv on, and it wasn't super loud, which was nice, but it could have used a little atmosphere noise.  None of these complaints were that major to us, but I could see how some people could really get bent out of shape, especially the wait.

Overall, I look forward to going back and think it's a nice addition to downtown.

weekend dreams burgers and grills lunch review

i posted a photo on instagram last night.  it was not food related at all, and somewhat randomly, it was liked by a place called weekend dreams burgers and grill.  this intrigued me, so i checked their profile, and then looked them up on yelp.  the photos of food looked pretty good, the reviews were positive, so i decided to check them out for lunch.

in fresno, they are the located in one of those weird, where is that spots.  west ashlan.  you look at the address, it doesn't help.  you check the map, and get a general idea, but still aren't sure.  which side of 99 is it on?  to answer that, it is west of 99.  it is in an unassuming little strip mall.

on to the food.  when i saw they had a pastrami burger on the menu, i knew i would be ordering that.  i'm a sucker for a pastrami burger i also saw they had chicken wings, so i thought i may give them a try.  the wings come in regular, spicy, and i think teriyaki.

the prices are pretty consistent with other local burger spots.  their menu is pretty big, with a lot of variety.  honestly, if they didn't have some items that are no brainers for me, i might have had trouble figuring out what to get.

the pastrami burger was very good.  the bun is pretty standard, and it comes with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato and onion.  i had mine without the onion and tomato.  i thought the burger was nicely cooked, the pastrami was good.  together it all worked well.

when i was ordering, i had to choose between the regular and spicy wings.  the counter person told me the spicy was pretty hot, but she also said she is kinda wimpy with regards to spiciness.  i figured i would give the spicy a try.  yep, they were spicy.  nose running spicy.  and while they may be more than some people can handle, i thought they were good.  the spiciness was there, but it also had a good hot wing flavor that was more than just 'oh crap, that's spicy.'

overall, i had a good experience at weekend dreams.  i would definitely go back, and i hope that as fresno grows around that area they check this spot out.

West Coast Fish N Chips

I ate here years ago, and had a rather average experience and didn't post a review.  Went back today and had very nice experience.  The facility is clean, smells nice, and the staff was very friendly.

I ordered the 2 piece fish + 4 prawns, which comes with 1 side.  For my side, I went with the fried okra.  I had a side order of pickle fries.  After an appropriate time for a chip shop, my food came out and I was pretty sure I may have ordered a bit much.  Everything tasted great - fish & prawns had a nice breading on them, not too thick, and it didn't pull away when you started to eat it either.  The fish fillets were a good size, too.  The breading on the okra was a little different, and it was also well prepared. Not super greasy, which sometimes fried okra can be.  I think my favorite part of the meal was the pickle fries.  I've had pickle chips before, and enjoyed them, so I figured this would be about the same.  These were pickle spears that were sliced down a bit to fry size.  They weren't as thin as like a shoestring fry, with a little more thickness.  The breading was similar to the fish.  Tasted great.  Still had some snap to them, and weren't all floppy like a sliced pickle can be.

My only drawback to the meal was the plastic fork.  If I was getting my order to go, fine, give me a plastic fork because I may need it, or I may have a better fork where I'm headed.  But if I'm eating there, give me a real fork.  Really, this fork struggled to cut the breaded fish - that's good on the fish, bad on the fork.

Overall, very good experience.  I'm stuffed from my meals, and I'm writing this like 2 hours later.  I'll definitely go back.

trader joe's south african style chips

i was a fresh & easy shopper. i liked quite a few of the products, they had some great prices on cheese & such, and they were a great option to grab stuff in addition to the place i buy most groceries.  but, they spread themselves to thin, and tesco sold off the franchise. my closest location closed, but there were still some open. then, almost all the locations in the valley closed.

so, i've begun to shop a little at trader joe's. the other day i saw these:

i was like, "what makes south african style chips?" and "i wonder what my family in south africa would think of these?"  so i bought them.  today, i opened them up with lunch.  they were pretty good, too.  here's how they're described:

so, theyr'e barbecue flavored then?  yeah.

lunch review - todd's cookhouse bar-b-que

i was out & about, looking for lunch in all the wrong places. and then it hit me that a new bbq place had opened in clovis. i loves the bbq so i drove over a few streets to get some.

like many local bbq places, they have a order at the counter system, with the menu on some large boards & hand held menus - worked fine, and they had enough counter help to keep it moving along. their staff was friendly and it took about 10 minutes after ordering to get my food.

i ordered the 2 item combo - brisket & sausage. it comes with 2 sides + bread. with a soda & tax it was just over $18. not terrible price, but a little more than some other local places.

the brisket was very tender, and that made me quite happy. it had a good flavor.  but what really did stand out to me was the tenderness - a lot of places fail at this. i could easily cut it with my plastic cutlery.

the sausage had a nice casing, and still had a good snap to it when i bit down. now, i have to admit that the sausage also confused me a bit. yes, it is clearly labelled as sausage, but in my head i figured it would still be a hot link or something spicy. nope, just a sausage. tasted good, but nothing special.

onto some other details: sauce - they have their own sauce, i think they call it's todd's memphis sauce or something like that. it's a sweet sauce, that has a slight kick to it. good, and they put a little on the meat itself and give you some on the side. i'm pretty sure that all of their meats are cooked without it, or with very little. i'm fine with it that idea, because a lot of times bbq places will hide their meat in too much sauce.  but what really stood out to me was what was missing from both the brisket & the sausage - any smokiness. now, i don't need or want to be overwhelmed by fake smoke flavoring, or for it to taste like i'm eating a campfire, but really, there was nothing about these meats to tell me that this meat was actually barbecued. and i also didn't see any smokers or grills outside (i could've missed it, or they could prep off site).  for example, the brisket, which was super tender, really lacked any sense it being barbecued, any smell or taste of being slow cooked on any sort of wood.

final bits - the sides. i had the hush puppies & the onion rings. both were good, and complemented the meal well enough. they had several others, and these sides probably are a little better suited to some of their other meals, but i liked them.

give it like 3/5 stars

• 1414 Clovis Ave
  Clovis, CA 93612