Offbeat Eats

Lancaster is filled with little Mexican mom and pop places, and something about Taqueria Pepe El Toro jumped out at me when I was grabbing some items at the Home Depot across the way. So I decided to check it out. First thing I saw on the menu was Tacos Al Pastor. I always love Tacos Al Pastor. It’s my favorite type of taco, with nice seared bit of seasoned pork. Taqueria Pepe el Toro did not disappoint, these tacos were quite good, and both of the sides (rice and beans) were good quality as well.

(Closed) It’s not often that I’m tempted to write a second entry for a place, but when I reviewed The Pines Cafe in Palmdale, CA back in December, I ended my review with “I need to come back.” Indeed, several people had told me that when I got my “Loco Hominy Quicky” breakfast, I had missed two better items on the menu: the Chicken Fried Steak, and the pancakes. I’m happy to report that I’ve since been back to the Pines, multiple times (I’m in Palmdale for several weeks for business), so I’ve had a chance to much more fully explore the menu.

I’ve been craving pancakes for a number of reasons (including National Pancake Day on this upcoming Tuesday), and both of my regional favorites (Polly’s and Dana’s) are seasonal and not open until spring thaw. Several people on Chowhound recommended this place to me as a good place for pancakes, and, indeed, they were right. This is probably one of the best meal deals I’ve ever found. The breakfast included pancakes (with real maple syrup), toast, corned beef hash, home fries, bacon, and eggs.

(Closed) It seems everyone is moving to Canaan these days. It’s like it’s becoming the new Enfield. In any case, it was time for another visit to Canaan to check out the food scene. So Finn and I met up with Chris and Val to try out on of Canaan’s newer restaurants: Mom and Dad’s Family Diner, right on Route 4. Mom and Dad’s is your basic diner, with an array of pancakes, waffles, omelets, and related breakfast fare, including some fairly interesting items such as the “Hangover Special” (a poutine-like assemblage of home fries with gravy), as well are the more usual items like biscuits and gravy and CBH.

(Closed) I’ve always had a fascination for old diners. And small restaurants with very small seating areas. So when I happen across a gem like Dot’s Diner in Bisbee, Arizona, it’s obligatory that I stop in and check it out. Dot’s is an authentic Valentine Diner care, originally built in Kansas bu the Valentine Manufacturing Company in Wichita. According to the literature they’ve got as a diner, Dot’s started life as a burger diner in Los Angeles before being purchased in the mid-90s and moved to it’s current location in the Shady Dell RV Park in Bisbee in 1997, with Dot at the grill.

(Closed) Recently, the Rusty Moose restaurant in Grantham, NH closed, and after several weeks of vacancy, it has reopened as the Grantham Cafe, open for breakfast and lunch 6 days a week (closed Mondays). The owner of the cafe also owns Grantham Video down the way, so the new incarnation of this restaurant sports a Hollywood motif, with movie posters, some film reels on the wall, and most of the menu items named after movies (mine was named after McGuffin, for example).

(Closed) My friend Karla wanted to meet with us for a mid-afternoon snack while we were in Phoenix. She recommended that we get pie at Linda’s, which is at 24th and Osborn in Phoenix. It’s a little hard to find, since the only obvious name on the place is BJ’s (from the previous business name). However, it was worth our effort tracking this joint down. Despite the non-descript exterior, Linda’s has quite a good selection of homemade pies. Our group opted for Coconut Cream, Banana-Chocolate (shown here), and Cherry. Mine was the Banana-Chocolate, which was pleasantly creamy, not too banana-y, with a good substantial flaky crust and a nice chocolate flavor.

(Closed) I’ve been a pho addict for almost 15 years now. Unfortunately, living in New Hampshire, I’ve got no local pho joints, and only two that are within an hour’s drive of my home. So most any time I’m traveling to an area with good Pho shops, I try and get a pho fix. Phoenix is a particularly good area for Pho, with a large Vietnamese population. I used to have a favorite place up in Scottsdale by the Motorola plant, but it isn’t there anymore. Khai Hoan on Apache in Tempe is good as well, but wasn’t open on Christmas Eve this year, so we decided to give one of the better-reviewed places in Phoenix a try (19th Ave around Camelback has a number of Vietnamese businesses). We settled on Pho Bang due to a number of good reviews online, including two that mention that it’s John McCain’s favorite Pho joint.

For many years, Haji Baba’s in Tempe has been one of my go-to places for good Middle Eastern food in the Phoenix area. Indeed, it’s been one of the places on my hit list whenever I’m in the Phoenix area. Haji Baba’s isn’t exactly the best decorated place—it’s important to realize that the idea here is a market that sells food, and not a restaurant. As a result, the overall ambiance here is a bit lacking, it’s like eating in an office supply store. But you’re not coming here to enjoy the ambiance, you’re coming here to eat. And that’s where Haji Baba’s shines, with a solid menu of Middle Eastern delights, such as gyros, schawarma (shown here), hummus, tabouleh, grape leaves, olives, and such.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love hot dogs. I’ve made it a point to seek out iconic hot dogs at places such as Blackie’s in CT, Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit, various Chicago spots, Ted’s in Buffalo (and Arizona), as well as any number of additional places. One noticeable omission in my reviews has been Pink’s in Los Angeles. I’ve been here before, but not in many years. But, with a late night flight arrival, I had an opportunity to visit on the way out to Edwards AFB.