Food/Restaurants

Our Favorite Things: Chuck Wagon’s Own Zesty Coney Sauce

Leave a comment

This year my wife and I have a goal. After watching Oprah’s Final Season where she held her favorite things multiple times, my wife and I decided we want to start keeping track of our favorite things. So I am going to create a new series of posts discussing what we find over the year. I realize this steps slightly outside of the topics of this blog, but food is definitely something we enjoy, and I do not mind including praise for companies that provide great products.

This past weekend we had a pretty busy day and when we got home, we decided we all really had a taste for hot dogs that my wife had just bought from Trader Joe’s. When I started to get things ready to grill, I realized we did not have any canned hot dog chili (or buns for that matter), so I ran up to the store.

Let me preface my chili discussion by saying growing up, my mother always made Castleberry’s Hot Dog chili. It was cheap and good, and always gave hot dogs a really great flavor. My dad and I would even eat all the extra chili with some chips. So in my mind I was going to the store to buy Castleberry.

So as I went down the chili section of the grocery, I started to realize all the other available options. It just goes to show how often we actually eat hot dogs or chili. I finally decided on a brand called Chuck Wagon’s Own, made in North Canton, Ohio. (Please note if you go to their website, there is a really annoying music in the background that I can not figure out how to turn off, no matter which page you go to. Obviously no one pays attention to their website and what can quickly annoy customers.) So I decided on the Zesty Coney Sauce and figured it was worth trying. As a backup, I still bought a couple cans to have on hand of the Castleberry chili.

For a quick cost comparison, the Castleberry’s cost $0.55 for a 10 ounce can, while the Chuck Wagon’s Own cost $1.50 for a 16 ounce jar.

So I fired up the grill, diced some onions, and heated the Chuck Wagon’s coney sauce. Let me just say both my wife and I were blown away by this sauce. We are definitely converts and will not be purchasing Castleberry’s if Chuck Wagon’s is around. It has an awesome, slightly sweet flavor, with a spicy kick that comes in after a couple of seconds and no doubt is the “Zesty” part. We are not at all big fans of “hot” spiced products, and the Chuck Wagon’s coney sauce had just the right amount to give it a superb flavor.

Smokey Bones Restaurant Review

1 Comment

Tonight I surprised my family with some last minute plans. I had heard earlier in the day that Disney was promoting the new movie out this summer, Cars 2, and their tour stopped this afternoon at one of our area shopping malls. I can not even tell you the last time I stepped foot into a mall. It was definitely before I was married, I think. I could not pass up the oppurtunity tonight though to show my oldest son Lightning McQueen, Mater, and some new character, as well as various promotions for the new movie.

Overall it was a great experience, and it is always rewarding to see the reaction of our son. He is at the age where he loves the Car movie characters, so getting to see them and get his picture taken was I think enjoyable for all.

After our encounter, we headed next door to try Smokey Bones restaurant. We normally are not a big fan of chain restaurants, but it sounded good, it was getting later and our son really needed to have some dinner, and we always wanted to try it since we heard good things about the food.

It was a Monday night, and upon entering the restaurant, we were rather surprised how empty the place was and should have taken that as our first clue. After a short time, a host finally greeted us and took us to our table. After sorting through the short menu, personally, I was rather dissappointed in the selection. Keep in mind we are foodies, and we can typically always find something worth ordering. We quickly ordered an appetizer of homemade chips with assorted dips and drinks. The appetizer took around 20 minutes to arrive, which would not have been that long had it been earlier and our kids were not hungry or if the place was really busy. There was no excuse for it taking so long on this night though. In addition, we rarely saw our waiter again to get drink refills. After being there almost an hour, our dinners finally arrived. My wife had a salad and I had a brisket dinner.

The food overall was rather good, it just took way to long considering how few people were actually in the restaurant. I can not tell if they were just understaffed for the night or whether the service was really that bad. Finally at the end we took a cue and requested our check while we could. The whole check request and payment took shorter time than it took just to get napkins and silverware after receiving our food. We have not had that slow or bad of service in a really long time. My wife and I have actually been bragging a lot recently about the long string of really good servers and restaurants we have been experiencing. It is too bad, because I was rather looking forward to getting to write a raving review of Smokey Bones, or at least adding another fine eating establishment to our list of highly recommended places to dine.

2182 Brecksville Restaurant Review

1 Comment

This weekend we decided to use a Groupon we purchased a while back to a newer restaurant called 2182 Brecksville. They are located at the 8918 Brecksville Road, Brecksville, OH. Shortly after we arrived and asked the obvious question, we learned they were named 2182 because they are located at the corner of State Routes 21 and 82. As you can tell, we knew very little about this restaurant, and since we are foodies, we always enjoy trying new places.

Seeing as we just had our second son less than two weeks ago, my wife was extremely excited to get out of the house and enjoy her first drink in over 9 months. Dinner and tickets to see Shrek the Musical were plans for an ideal date night. I called to make reservations to 2182 the night before, and was shocked to hear they were completely booked. We were quite disappointed to know they typically fill up with reservations at least a week in advance. It is a combination of the Groupon effect as well as they are a really small, intimate place with less than 20 tables. However, we made alternative dinner arrangement, but I decided several hours before leaving to try again just in case something opened up. To both my and the host’s surprise, they told me I was the “luckiest guy in Brecksville” as the last opening was available for 5:30 for two guests; the perfect arrangements.

We arrived right on time, as seems to be our trend lately, since it’s so difficult to get out of the house with two little ones. Luckily though, this was a date night and we had babysitters, so we did not need to carry the kids and all their luggage along too, allowing us to arrive on time. We were able to park on Brecksville Road right in front of the establishment since it was not peak time. The restaurant had a comfortable, intimate glow from candles and gorgeous chandeliers. We were ushered to our table and there were very few other people at the time.

What was a little uncomfortable was because they are so small, the tables are practically right on top of your adjacent guests. There was a quiet, gentle older man sitting next to us, waiting for his food to arrive, drinking a glass of red wine. We were quickly met by our waitress who brought glasses of water and the drink menu. I anxiously handed the menu to my wife to let her lavish in the moment. She chose a glass of Brut Prosecco sparkling wine from Gasparini. Since they did not stock my favorite drink of choice, Three Olives Cherry Vodka, I chose a Three Olives Vanilla Vodka and Ginger Ale. Seeing as I love Three Olives in general, it was a nice change and great choice.

Along with our drinks, we were brought some dinner rolls with a flavored butter spread while we looked over the menus. As we listened to the waitress review the specials, and discuss our various options, the quiet man next to us commented that the prime rib, which had arrived at his table minutes earlier, and the field green salad were great choices. After reviewing all the various options, we had the appetizer special, Seared Ahi Tuna, Wasabi Potato Salad, Miso Aioli ($11). Again, since my wife was pregnant for the previous 9 months, she was excited to get to try some “raw” fish. When the appetizer arrived shortly thereafter, there were four thin slices of tuna with a scoop of potato salad. The combined flavors and gentle textures were nicely paired.

For our first course, my wife ordered the Field Greens, Grape Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, Toasted Almonds, Roasted Garlic, Honey and Red Wine Vinaigrette ($8), and I ordered the Lobster Bisque with Sherry Cream ($9). As is tradition, my wife and I share, or at least let each other sample, our choices. The lobster bisque was good, with a very minor hint of sherry, and small chunks of real lobster. The soup was served really hot, and hit the spot. My wife’s salad was AMAZING! The ingredients were fresh, the goat cheese very creamy with a mild taste, and slivered almonds always add an excellent texture and taste. In addition, the homemade honey and red wine vinaigrette was stellar. I have to admit, the old man was right that the salad was probably the best part of the whole meal.

For our main dishes, my wife ordered the Sirloin Steak Frites, Broiled Center Cut Sirloin, Rosemary and Sea Salt Pommes Frites, Bernaise Sauce ($19), and I ordered the dinner special, Pan Roasted Fillet of Sole over Saffron Rice Pilaf, Broccolini, Lemon Butter ($25). My wife’s sirloin was a generous serving done to perfection, and the frites had an excellent flavor from the rosemary and sea salt. I was surprised to see a steak served with fries at a premium restaurant, but my wife reminded me of the places French inspiration, for which frites were acceptable. My sole was light and flakey with a very mild lemon butter sauce, over a generous serving of rice. Perhaps my favorite part of my meal though was the broccolini, which were cooked al dente.

Overall, we were really impressed with 2182 Brecksville. Service was excellent, the food was of course good, and because we were able to use our $70 Groupon (purchased for $35), and place the remaining balance on our Discover More card, earning an additional 5% this month, our total expenditure including tip was $95. Is it expensive, sure. Did we order more food than we may have because we had a gift certificate, certainly. Was is worth it?

Absolutely! Having a long over due date night, where my wife could fully enjoy herself (even though she did call in to check on the boys several times, but who is counting?), as well as seeing the awesome rendition of Shrek the Musical, made for a great evening!