Who cooked this "ish"

Mel’s Drive-In is a classic diner well known for its food, throw back atmosphere, and the Hollywood Museum (Highland Avenue). Walking in it reminded me of the 2009 movie Legion (dusty looking). I heard about Mel’s from friends, and by watching food shows on TV.   They have a lot on their menu, check it out at http://www.melsdrive-in.com/menu.html.

I’ve heard plenty of good things about the burgers at Mel’s so we started off with the all grass  fed delivered fresh daily ground chuck sliders with fries. Those things were delicious; they had grilled onions and that sweet brioche bread. Next, I had the meatloaf sandwich on sourdough and more delicious fries. I was most definitely stuffed, but I really wanted a dessert.  I could not decide, the milkshake or the double cream cheesecake…..I passed. They also have various homemade pies that I observed being served at other tables.

Typical diner style booths, but most of them have a .25 cent mini jukebox that plays rock, disco, and soul music. Service was cool, and the food was great for a diner. Thankfully, they are open 24/7, and you can order breakfast all day long. Although there are many great things to love about this place, there are a couple of negative things too; the expensive ass parking (after the first hour prices go up every 15 minutes) and the sliders are damn good, but they are $3 per slider.  Over all it was a great experience. Out of all the diners I have been to, this may be in the top 3. 

Overall rating: 8 out of 10

Donuts, donuts, donuts, Nashville has two popular donut trucks that people love. I have tried both Loco Donut and Doughworks. Hopefully, Krispy Kreme will get a truck soon, but I seriously doubt it.

Both were at Friedman’s Army Navy store off of 21st avenue (not at the same time). First was doughworks, I saw their deliciously  decorated truck, and ran towards it. Looked over the menu and everything seemed like a winner, and the aroma was very pleasing. Forgive me, I don’t remember the name, but it looked good but it did not taste good.For the price of that one donut, I could have demolished 3 or 4 krispy kreme donuts (that hot light on glaze).???

Next was Loco donuts. The black and neon green truck was not appealing; however, thank goodness I caught them just before closing. The mini donuts did the job. I loved the menu variety and the lady gave me a breakdown of the snickers with home-made nugget (diabetic shock). I ate every damn one, and wanted more.

So Loco Donuts handed Doughworks a Floyd Mayweather ass whooping when it all comes down. The service from doughworks was friendly, but slower. We follow them both on twitter, and hopefully we will be able to try both again. If I were to pass them both, I would run straight to Loco Donuts.

Doughworks Overall rating: 5 out of 10   

Locco Donuts  Overall rating: 9 out of 10

Walking into this nice structure that displayed rich classy old Mexico put a smile on my face to see a different type of Mexican style restaurant.The female employees were dressed in character wearing traditional Mexican dresses. They have an upstairs as well as down stairs including a nice patio area for outdoor dining.

We were a group of about 14 the drinks from the bar looked colorful and refreshing, the chips and salsa had a lot of flavor. The original El Cholo was established in 1923 so many of the menu items have dates beside them to tell when they were introduced to the restaurant. I ordered combination 1 which was a cheese enchilada, and a beef taco accompanied with beans and rice. The food was not great but it pleasured my hunger; however, no one at the table seemed to jump for joy over the food.

Poo Poo Platter

El Cholo has a great atmosphere, but the food this time under performed, and so did the service. They are known to have some of the best margaritas (coconut is a favorite), so they may need to make the food with the same ingredients. Everyone also raves about the green corn tamales that can be ordered online. Locals say they can’t imagine the town without El Cholo’s but it is what it is another gringo style Mexican restaurant.

Overall rating: 3.6 out of 10

Canters is an old family owned Jewish deli/ restaurant and bakery in LA that opened in 1931. Walking in this place is a little dark, but that can be overlooked once you see the bakery. On the left are all the pastries, cookies, and cakes that looked damn good. To the right is the deli which makes a mean ass sandwich.

We had breakfast and lunch at the same time. Waffles, turkey bacon, coleslaw, a pastrami sandwich, and a Hollywood (triple decker with pastrami, turkey, cheese, and russian dressing). Everything was good, but the waffle was just ok. We also ordered a large amount of baked goods (black & white cookies). The menu is filled with a variety of options to keep you going since they are open 24/7.

A good experience overall, the only thing I didn’t like was the awful pickles. Canter’s has a friendly staff, and good service from start to finish (deli, bakery, and restaurant) . This place has ton of history and gives you a ton of meat on the sandwiches. The prices were reasonable for what you get, and even though I have had better in Nyc I will go back. They also get extra points for free parking.

Overall rating: 7.3 out of 10

Downtown Murfreesboro is an Italian restaurant called Marina’s on the Square, people in that town swear the food there is fantastically good. Yeah, I went and the aroma walking in was grand, but the decor was tacky (theater production set). I was seated right away during lunch, and ready to chow down.

The prices on the menu were very reasonable, and they offer daily lunch specials. The menu is typical sub-par “Italian”. I ordered the Italian wedding soup and this was surely MMMMM……not good cause it was Campbell’s soup (can’t fool the kid). I also had to wait on my spoon for the soup; thankfully the soup was still hot. Marina’s offers bread to the guest that is enjoyably warm. I ordered the ravioli lunch special, and there was nothing special about it. The sauce was cold, and tasted ok, but there was shredded mozzarella cheese on top and it was not melted. Finally, I had a cheese pizza and it was satisfying and the crust tasted like some good garlic bread.

Italian wedding soup

Ravioli Special

Murfreesboro, Murfreesboro, Murfreesboro, you will have to learn what great food is. I know your town is filled with chain restaurants, and college kids but the food has to be better. The service was great other than waiting on the spoon for my soup. The food on the other hand was not pleasing. Marina’s has a lot of potential, and so does a monkey driving a car.

Overall rating: 4.6 out of 10

 

Devastated: Cause (someone) severe and overwhelming shock or grief

The word above is the feeling I had after my meal at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. As I walked through the door, I saw chipped paint, greasy floors, and raggedy plants as the décor. You can smell the food as it is being cooked, and served; however, the food smelled better than it tasted.

I use to dream of waffles, but this was a nightmare.

The menu has plenty of comfort food on it including items such as greens, grits, yams, (fresh out the can), mac and cheese, and more. I ordered a waffle, chicken sausage, yams, and mac and cheese. I also ordered lemonade which was the best part of the meal. The sausage was like rubber, I could bounce it off the wall. I was highly disappointed with the waffle, and I never thought I would say this, but waffle house has a better waffle (damn). The yams were straight out of the can sprinkled with a little cheap perfume. The mac and cheese looked and tasted like some oily mushy ass hash brown casserole.

I paid $23 for this and a lemonade.

This place here killed my dreams. I can’t believe that I walked for 15 minutes to eat this garbage. So much hype surrounds this place, and I don’t know why. I will tell you Gladys Knight & Ron’s Chicken and Waffles are 100 times better.

Overall rating: 2.4 out of 10