Category: Restaurant Review

Lake & Irving Restaurant is the creation of Chris and Erica Ikeda.  Chris started his career in the foodservice industry at the tender age of fourteen.  His original job was to buss tables and wash dishes.  By the age of fifteen, he was a prep cook and moved up from there.

Christ attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where he entered their entrepreneurship program.  After graduation, he attended The Culinary Institute of America in New York, one of the premier cooking schools in the world.

After a few years working and traveling to Japan with his brother, Chris moved to Hawaii where he really caught the food bug.  He loved Asian cuisine and was fascinated how he was able to use the fresh tropical fruits, products and seafood to combine into a sumptuous meal.  He spent the morning fishing for Ahu and Tako then took it to the restaurant to prepare original meals.

Chris met Erica while she was vacationing in Hawaii.   She caught the island bug and moved to Hawaii to bartend for several years before marrying Chris.  After the birth of their first child, Erica and Chris moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to raise their family and open Lake & Irving Restaurant located at 1513 W. Lake Street.

The restaurant has been in business for over five years and is thriving in the Minneapolis metropolitan area.  They have over five hundred online reviews that give them over a four and one-half start rating.

Winters are long in Minneapolis, Minnesota and that gave The Bachelor Farmer restaurant crew a challenge to serve up the best food available for the season.  They are known for their grilled venison and pickled strawberries.

Executive Chef Jonathan Gans got his start in Seattle, Washington before putting down roots in Minneapolis.  Emily marks is the Pastry Chef who has a passion for creating desserts that are mind blowing.  Together they work with local farmers to bring in the freshest ingredients possible.

The Bachelor Farmer has a warm inviting atmosphere located at 50 North 2^nd Avenue.  Their loyal following has garnered them over seven hundred positive posts on the internet giving them a strong four-point-six-star rating.

Smack Shack was originally a food truck that specialized in serving lobster rolls in downtown Minneapolis.  Its popularity grew when the City of Minneapolis opened up more areas where food trucks could park in 2011.

Minneapolis, Minnesota is known for its harsh winters, so the food trucks could only serve in the summer months.  Owner, Josh Thoma, formed a relationship with 1029 Bar to take over their kitchen and serve his wonderful lobster rolls during the winter months.

They kicked off the opening of the kitchen with a lobster boil in January of 2011.  By November 2011, Diners, Drive-Ins and Drives showed up to film a segment of 1029 Bar and the food truck.

Once the episode was aired, the popularity of the place took off even more!  They eventually moved Smack Shack to a brick and mortar restaurant in the North Loop of Minneapolis. 

They have over two thousand posts on the world wide web that rave about their lobster boils and lobster rolls.

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I don’t know about you, but I just love a good hamburger.  I love them so much I have a strange hobby of reviewing burger places I find online in different cities.  The city I picked today is Wichita, KS.

Fizz Burgers & Bottles is located on E. 37^th Street N. in Wichita which was opened in November 2010 by Pat, Dave and Scott Bergeson.  They give you a choice of a quarter pound burger or a half pound burger which is double ground for a sumptuous tender taste.  From there, you can either take one of the pre-built choices or build your own.  For those of you who do not care for beef, you can order a chicken or pork sandwich.

Locally owned, Fizz Burgers & Bottles, knows there are burger joints on every corner in Wichita.  They like to think they are one of the stand out burger joints.  Using only the freshest ingredients, they make everything from scratch (except the ketchup) event the pickles!  I do have to mention the pickles because they get these from one store in town that purportedly has the best cucumbers in the whole city.

Not only are they known for their burgers they also have one desert and that is their famous Cake Truffle.  No wonder there are over four hundred positive posts on the web to give them over a four-star rating.

Bomb Burger on South Clifton Avenue is also a family owned business that started as a little bar in 1951 that served a great burger.  Changing hands several times, it was finally purchased in 1985 by Paul Rickard.  Paul did not want to chance change a thing and keep it the local hang out it was.  Paul’s son, Chris, worked his way through college in the kitchen earning a degree as a Physician Assistant.

Sadly, Paul passed away in his sleep in 1997.  By then Chris was tired of working with sick people so he took over Bomb Burger.  Chris upgraded Bomb Burger from a decent burger to a premier burger that makes is the destination of anybody who is a burger fan.  Gobble it down with an ice-cold beer and you will experience the best burger you have ever had.

When going to Bomb Burger, keep in mind they are open Tuesday through Saturday with hours open ten to four.  But, don’t get there at four because the grill shuts down twenty minutes before four.  But you have to admit it is worth working with their hours in order to experience a three-quarter pound eighty-one percent lean Kansas Angus Beef.  Be sure to support them in the internet and contribute to their over two hundred positive reviews.

Bionic Burger was the dream child of Steve and Lloyd Majors.  Their first recollection of a great hamburger was when they would take a family trip to Kansas to visit their Aunt Ruby.  She had a burger and fries stand that was sought out by everyone within a hundred-mile radius.  As they grew up, they wondered why there was not a great burger place in Wichita so in 1977, with the help of their Aunt Ruby, they brought her burgers to the city.

Bionic Burger has four locations in Wichita and one in Haysville.  Their burgers are made with one hundred percent fresh US Beef that is made up with trimmings of T-Bone, sirloin and strip steak.  This makes their burgers more like steakburger than a hamburger.  Their French fries are fresh-cut with some of the peeling left to show they are authentic.

With over three hundred comments on the web, you can be sure you will get one of the best burgers in Wichita.

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I have never been to Fort Worth, Texas but my husband has.  He went there for a conference with a business associate.  He stayed in downtown and thought it was clean with very little homeless.  He loved the area down by the river.  He fell in love with the barbecue places he visited and looks forward to going back.

One of the nicknames for Fort Worth, Texas is Cowtown.  This is due to the millions of head of cattle that were driven north to market.  This caused Fort Worth to become the center for cattle drives and launched a huge ranching industry.

The Woodshed Smokehouse was one of the barbecue places he dined.  It is located right on the banks of the Trinity River and is a popular destination to both locals and tourists.

This is the perfect place for their Chef, Tim Love.  He has a passion about roasting, slow cooking and grilling.  He has daily specials of fish, cabrito, lamb, pork, beef, wild game and vegetables which are all cooked over a variety of fires and wood sources.

Aware of emission set off by the wood burning, Woodshed Smokehouse uses strategically placed fans throughout the restaurant instead of using an air conditioner.  An air conditioner is known to consume almost twenty-five percent of a restaurants yearly electrical bill while releasing refrigerant emissions into the ozone.  In addition to the fans, there is a canopy of trees shading the outdoor area that keep it cool in the hot summer days.

Their atmosphere is what brings people back.  They have live music almost every day throughout the month.  Their patio was recently features in MSN’s Top 30 Patios in America.  They use three smokers, two wood grills and two rotisseries and a variety of woods when cooking so you can imagine the smell as you wait for your meal.  They have over fourteen hundred Google reviews and that puts them above four stars.

Travis and Emma Heim, of Heim Barbecue, grew up in Fort Worth, TX.  Travis started his passion for smoking meat when he was thirteen years old on his grandfather’s old smoker, it wasn’t good, but it started him down the road to wanting to learn how to make the best brisket ever.

Travis started dating Emma in high school and they both attended college in East Texas.  Travis and his roommates would venture out to every barbecue place that was out of the way to indulge in some of the best barbecue they could find.  On the weekends, Travis would smoke meat and share with his friends and family.

Travis and Emma got married right out of college and moved back to Fort Worth.  Travis continued his love for smoking and barbecue even starting dinners at their home for a friend’s home that became the T & E MEATclub.  Word spread quickly and these “pop-up” dinners became very famous.

Eventually Travis and Emma purchased a food truck and started selling barbecue on the weekends to make extra money.  They were approached by some investors and opened Heim Barbecue restaurant in a 1921 built property on Magnolia Avenue.

It is amazing to think they have over seventeen hundred reviews on the web that give them over four stars for a restaurant that has been open for a little over a year.

Smokey’s Barbecue considers itself Cowtown’s best barbecue using true to Texas style barbecue.  With their hickory wood fired slow smoked meats they will surly please even the pickiest eater.  They serve their Smoked Turkey Breast on Thursdays and Fridays all year long.  They also serve their Pulled Pork on Thursdays and Fridays as well.

Located on East Lancaster Smokey’s Barbecue has the ability to cater on or off site from ten people up to ten thousand people!  They have sixteen hundred posts on the internet that have rated them over four stars.  The owner will even take time to respond to a post.  That is pretty impressive.

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Atlanta, GA has some great historical sites to take in the next time you visit.  You must go to the thirty-three-acre attraction at the Atlanta History Center.  The center features amazing exhibitions, 1996 Centennial Olympic Games memorabilia and the Swan House.  They even have the Margaret Mitchell House, she was the woman who wrote the epic novel Gone With the Wind.

In 1996 the Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta.  As a result, the seventy-five million Centennial Olympi8c Park was built.  Is spans twenty-one acres and was designed to be a gathering spot for residents and visitors to enjoy during the games.  Most of the building costs came from private-sector donations.

The Fernbank Museum of Natural History is like taking a trip to Jurassic Park.  The park is filled with cultural artifacts, dinosaurs, hands-on science explorations, live animals and a 4K Giant Screen Theater.  You can discover new outdoor adventures in their seventy-five-acre park with giant old-growth trees, elevated tree pods and interactive exhibits.

After a long day of exploring, you will definitely want to visit one of the Gastropub restaurants that are reviewed in this article.

The Southern Gentleman Gastropub is located in The Shops in Buckhead Atlanta.  They are proud to serve traditional Southern meals with a modern twist.  Using locally sourced meats and produce helps support local farms and ranches.

Their bar lets you discover traditional Southern cocktails.  They also have bottled libations. craft beers and a spot-on mint julep.  The décor is in the time-honored classic Southern features.  Imagine tufted camel leather booths, seersucker window treatments, white marble countertops, dramatic chandeliers, herringbone floors and vaulted ceilings.  There is even a portrait of Mark Twain that was painted by a local artist.

Owner, Chris Hadermann’s goal was to create a restaurant that was like stepping into your own home.  The Southern Gentleman truly gives you the down home Southern experience.  They believe in Southern hospitality and treat every customer like they are family.

Their chef, Danilo Q. Myers, joined The Southern Gentleman in 2014.  His started in Brooklyn then landed in Atlanta.  He was even recognized by the Zagat Atlanta as “one of the eight secret weapons behind Atlanta’s top restaurants”.  He obtained his education at Johnson & Wales University where he got his Associates Arts Degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dietary Food and Nutrition as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hotel and Restaurant Institution.

I can see why they have over a four-star rating online.

The second Gastropub restaurant I picked is The Porter Beer Bar.  Located in Little Five Points which is a funky and off-beat neighborhood that offers sidewalk vendors, vintage-clothing shops and street musicians.

Opened in September 2008, The Porter Beer Bar was the dream child of Nick Rutherford and Molly Gunn.  They have always worked in fine dining and saw this place was available for a unique restaurant and it was only two blocks away from their home!  This dining establishment features an exposed brick wall and hand-crafted wooden booths to give their guests the perfect atmosphere for gourmet pub grub.

They offer forty-four beers on draft and seven hundred different types of bottles beer.  They specialize in selling small imports and micro-brews that are not available in most local bars.  Their menu has new twists on traditional foods made with a twist.  They have an ever-changing specials page that gives their chef free reign to create such original dishes as Florida Corn Agnolotti and Painted Hills Steak Tartare.

The Atlanta Magazine has named The Porter Beer Bar the “Best New Pub” and “best Beer Haunt”.  They have also been listed by ratebeer.com among the top then beer bars in the world.  No wonder they have over one thousand three hundred reviews online with a four-point-seven rating.

Bulla Gastropub restaurant is the brain child of Carlos Centurion.  There are seven locations throughout the south east.  Coral Gables, Doral, Winter Park, Atlanta, Pampa, Plano and Charlotte.  Carlos’s vision was to create a gastrobar that are famous in Spain where Bulla was born.

Fast becoming a favorite for locals and tourists alike, the second Bulla Gastropub was opened in 2016 in downtown Doral.  Carlos and his team of restaurateurs four five more locations they wanted to open, and the rest is history.

Their Spanish Mediterranean food is complimented with hand-crafted cocktails and an array of wines.  People come back again and again and write reviews online extolling their fine menu.

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