Category: Food Opinion

Food Opinion

Saltgrass Steak House

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Salt Grass – The Original Texas Steakhouse

This blog post should solely say, go for the Brussel sprouts and stay for everything else.  The end.

However, we did not go for the Brussel sprouts, we went for the steak and was pleasantly surprised by how delightful the Brussel sprouts were.  Yes, delightful.  As an adult I have been attempting to overcome my childhood trauma of being made to sit at the table for hours until my Brussel sprouts were finished.  Salt Grass’ Brussel sprouts have made me fall in love with their potential. Salty, sweet, crispy with bits of real bacon encrusted throughout. Just yum.

Ok, the reason we graced Salt Grass’ doors in the first place was the reputation of their steaks. I am a steak eater, but not a thick-meat eater.  I know, does that even make sense?  Probably not, but it is the complicatedness that I am.  My husband prefers his steak medium-well and I prefer mine well-done, so we comprised on having the steak cooked well-done.  Ha-ha. The chefs cooked our ribeye steak to perfection without it being dried out, grilled nicely and it was super flavorful.  They do not hold out on the seasonings, which makes their steaks suburb.

Now, let’s talk about the jumbo jalapeños stuffed with shrimp and jack cheese.  Fried to a golden brown. Served with ranch dressing.  That is Salt Grass’ description, no need to be altered.  For the folks that may be steered away from the fact that they are technically jalapenos, but they are not spicy, at all.  We ordered 3 and ordered 3 more, they were THAT good.  Just get them, and just get the order of 6 at the beginning.  Don’t play yourself.

Salt Grass earns a solid 9/10, and they could earn a perfect score if they would add a location in our home city, Phoenix, Arizona.  Checkout one of 80 locations across the United States, Salt Grass, we need you! (total for our meal was $83, and that include a very delicious cocktail-not pictured)

Location visited:

Saltgrass Steak House
4601 City Lake Blvd W.
Fort Worth, TX 76132

Dining Out, Food Opinion

Best Chicken Wings in Phoenix

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We are always on the hunt for the best chicken wing, because there is always a best to be found, right?

I noticed someone posted a question in a group I follow, and she said… “I’m new to the Phoenix area.  Where can I find the best chicken wings?”  I almost did not scroll through the comments, but because I am who I am I had to, even though I felt confident with the wing choices in my area.

I see the usual places repeatedly, but as I kept scrolling through the comments, I kept seeing Valley Wings.

“Valley Wings has the best wings and sauce.” 

“Valley Wings is always fresh.” 

“Definitely try Valley Wings.”

Valley Wings (Buffalo and Honey Hot Flavors)

I leave the comments and add Valley Wings to my phone’s notepad page, “Restaurants to Try.”

Chicken Alfredo Fries

My husband literally says the next day, “I want some wings.” I said, “all these people kept saying Valley Wings is the best.”  He was skeptical, so we had to check them out.

We ordered from the car.  Waited the 15 minutes they said it would take to complete our 20-wing order of 10 Honey Hot, 10 Buffalo and Chicken Alfredo Fries.

My husband went inside to pick-up our order.  We were going to drive home and eat, but we peeked into the box and mad the quick decision to eat in the car.

We debated Valley Wings against all our previous favorites, and my husband is staying true to his, but he says Valley Wings is a top contender.  I am all in with Valley Wings, they are THAT good!

Location visited:

Valley Wings
15414 N. 19th Avenue, C
Phoenix, AZ 85023

Dining Out, Food Opinion

Bruster’s Real Ice-Cream

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You can never fail with a trip to the ice cream shop! Well, if they’re lactose intolerant, you can but Bruster’s Fresh even has non-dairy treats like Freezes.⁣
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Even when it’s raining, like it is in Phoenix today, eat ice-cream and talk about how cold you are. Who does that? I do.

Bruster’s Real Ice-Cream in the Arrowhead area is a quick and easy ice cream stand with walk-up ordering and benches for outdoor seating. You know what I say, everything tastes better when you eat it outside. You can even grab your ice cream to-go thru the drive-thru, if you’re on the go.

Bruster’s Real Ice-Cream

Rich, creamy and lots of flavors to choose from! They even let you sample if you can’t decide what you should go with.⁣

Grab your kiddos and even your fur babies. Free ice cream to children under 40” and doggie sundaes for your non-human friends.
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What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor. Here I have Rocky Road on the bottom and Cookies ‘N Cream on the top. (Sugar-free options are also available.)⁣
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FUN FACT: I DO NOT eat chocolate ice-cream, but I eat Rocky Road.

Location visited:
17115 N 51st Avenue
Glendale, AZ 85308

Dining Out, Food Opinion, Movies, Theater, Things-to-Do

The iPic Theater Experience

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We were chosen to try-out the iPic Theater in Scottsdale, AZ.  To be honest, I had researched iPic before and thought, whoa!  That activity is NOT in our family of six budget. As the mom who takes the kids to the movies before noon so that we only pay $5 for matinee tickets, I was ecstatic that iPic graciously extended an invitation and we were able to experience the luxuries of iPic.  Click the *link in bio* to check out what makes iPic theaters so luxurious. 

iPic provided us with a 4-admission ticket pack, so we bought pizza for the two “Littles” and dropped them off with grandma and the older boys, my husband and I headed to the theater. Upon arrival we were greeted by management and shown to our seating.  We were given menus and were told; everything is on the house.

My boys looked and asked, really?  Yes, we frequent our theater with the reclining seats, popcorn, snacks and drinks on-hand but this was different.  New plush reclining pod-seating for two.  Blankets, pillows, unlimited popcorn, a full menu + a Keto option, brought right to our seats.  I asked my husband to please check on me to make sure I didn’t fall asleep during the movie, that’s how comfortable the space was.  Let me tell you, we were there for ALL. OF. IT.

Photo Courtesy of iPic Theater

Seating was $27 per person, so $108 for the four of us. 

Here’s what we ordered from the menu:

  • Steak Quesadilla
  • Chicken Strips

Fajita Quesadilla $15 (my husband had a steak quesadilla, because he thought you can’t go wrong with steak, cheese and a flour tortilla shell)

Chicken Strips $15 (I had the chicken strips, because I’m simple)

Angus Burger Sliders $17 (both my sons had the sliders, because kids eat burgers)

Truffle Fries $12 (we shared 2 orders)

  • Truffle Fries
  • Ice Cream Sandwich

Drinks $3.50 (3 drinks, I share with my husband because I don’t drink much soda and it was free re-fills)

Toffee Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich $10 x 2 (we shared 2 between the four of us)

We also had popcorn, but remember, the cost is included in the cost of your ticket.

As you can see, the pricing is like real dining. I can say the menu was nicely done.  A little bit for everyone, from lobster rolls, salad bowls, flatbread pizza to Keto steak skewers.  Menu prices are online to view ahead of time, which is a major plus in my book.  All in all, the food was ok.  It lacked overall seasoning of the meats used. My husband ate all his quesadilla, and said he’d get it again.  I hate half of my chicken strips and took the rest home for lunch the following day. The boys didn’t eat all their food and didn’t care to take the rest with them.  We collectively gave the food a 3 ½ out 5 rating.

So, in total, our iPic theater outing was $246.50.  iPic certainly delivered what it set out to do and is worth all of what they provided, which is a luxurious movie going experience.  I’d visit iPic again, for a special occasion but when the whole family is in tow, we’ll stick to the theater up the street.

iPic.com

Location visited:
15257 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Food Opinion

Charlie Mae’s Soul Food

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If you’ve ever lived in a community where there use to not be much around, but is growing rapidly, you know it can be hard pressed to find good dine-in food.  Drive-thru restaurants seem to pop up with no problem so when you see a sign go up in your neighborhood, Charlie Mae’s Soul Food, Now Open the radar immediately goes up.  Being in a thriving community with houses going up everywhere, businesses are doing their best to keep up with the demand of the people simply wanting good food.  We went to Charlie Mae’s to see if it was going to survive in the area, by our standards.

When we arrived, we waited about 5 minutes to be seated.  The restaurant is small, seating about 25-30 people.  We were surprised to find they had a full menu, that can be found here https://charliemaesoulfood.com/.

Edward and I share most of our meals, at new places especially, because you never know if it’s going to be worth it or not.  Better to sacrifice one plate than two.  We ordered the 3 pc. fried chicken meal, that came with two sides and corn bread.  For all my sweet corn bread loving folks out there, the corn bread is sweet ya’ll.  We chose macaroni & cheese and collard greens as sides.  We waited about 20 minutes for our food, and that could have been slightly shorter, if they didn’t pack our meal to go because they thought our order was a pick-up order.  However, they quickly corrected the problem and brought our meal to the table.

The chicken was fried nice and crispy and seasoned well.  The macaroni and cheese were good but could have been cheesier because I like cheese.  I don’t eat greens, but Edward said they were flavorful.  I did taste them, because Edward makes them look so good with hot sauce and corn bread.  I could eat them, but I prefer not to.  We attempted to get peach cobbler, but they were sold out.

We always live by this when reading reviews about any place, take the review as a starting point and go from there.  Yes, Charlie Mae’s Soul Food is worth a visit!  You will not be disappointed if you get the fried chicken.  Let me know if you visit, what you ordered and what you thought.

Location visited:

6115 S. 51st Avenue, #204
Laveen, AZ 85339
Call for hours: 602-675-0865