Archive for Wings
Krispy Krunchy Chicken sets up shop in Pompano Beach, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsThis wasn’t the exit I was supposed to take and to make matters worse I didn’t realize I was continuing down a road with very few “U-turn” friendly spots. On my way back to the expressway I caught some cartoony font out of the corner of my eye, something about chicken. Again, I found myself having to turn the car around to take a closer look.
BBQ Wings
Krispy Krunchy Chicken is a stand alone little fast food Cajun Chicken restaurant with a drive thru. Turns out there are a few other locations in South Florida from what I gather online but with over 600 spots in 25 states they’re far from a little chain.
Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue in Downtown Miami, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsYou just can’t trust the GPS on your phone. I’ve been wanting to buy one for use exclusively in my car (where else would I use it?) and it would have come in handy today. I get lost in Downtown easily but luckily Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue was easy to find after my disastrous attempt to drive down a one way road thanks to my GPS.
I walked in and could smell the BBQ goodness in the air. I felt right at home as this isn’t one of those trendy pretentious places trying to pass themselves as a barbecue joint. While I don’t consider myself a BBQ expert I do consider myself an “experto” at spotting a fake.
Sparky's Wings
I was kinda torn as to which of the appetizers to go for but the Wings and Corn Nuggets ended up being my choices. I wanted to try the Hush Puppies also but I figured there’s always next time if I dig this place. The Wings were awesomely smokey and delicious but those Corn Nuggets. Damn those guys! The Corn Nuggets are breaded cream of corn deep fried. They’re served with a side of ranch for dipping but it’s really not necessary. Wow.
Sparky's Corn Nuggets
Corn Nuggets Up Close
My wife Marcela orders Tyler’s Pressed Sandwich (Brisket, Pulled Pork, Sauteed Onions, American Cheese & BBQ Sauce) while I go for the obvious choice of the half pound Angus Beef Burger w/American Cheese. The sandwiches are served with Waffle Fries (interesting) and Coleslaw (not my cup of tea). There are a bunch of sauces at the table, six to be exact. Sparky’s BBQ Sauce was my favorite of the 6 but the one labeled “Magma” is sure to guarantee a bad time for the person who doesn’t realize the serious heat they’re about to take on.
1/2 Pound Angus Burger
I liked Tyler’s Pressed Sandwich but I wish we had just decided to have the Brisket or the Pulled Pork individually. I’m not trying to dissuade you from having this I just think since it was our first time here we should have tried out the goods solo. Now, as for the burger…..well I was kinda speechless. It was so good, since the smokey taste permeated the patty. It had 2 slices of American Cheese and nothing else on it. I barely touched the waffle fries. I was mesmerized by it so much so that I ordered a second one.
Cornbread & Mac'n Cheese
Mac'n Cheese
The Mac’n Cheese and Cornbread were both fresh and solid. Good stuff and the Cornbread ended up being my guinea pig for the sauces I mentioned before. Also try the Apple Wood and Hickory Smoked Boneless Chicken Thigh, it’s killer.
Sparky's Chalkboard
Burger numero dos arrives and I don’t even remember eating it but I know I did. And I’d suggest you do the same. When you go save me a seat!
Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue
204 Northeast 1st Street
Miami, FL 33131
305-377-2877
164 St. Burgers & Beers – North Miami Beach, Florida
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164 St. Burgers & Beers is not some over top extravagant looking Burger Joint, it has a much more back to basics approach which is much like their food. The “Twisted” Mozzarella sticks caught my eye. It seems that they’re all out of “Twisted” sticks, whatever they were, only regular sticks available. No thanks. My attention turns to the wings and I order them Spicy BBQ.
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| Spicy BBQ Wings |
There were 8 wings in the order and they’re served with sour cream. I liked the wings but they were neither spicy or BBQ. There was some taste that I couldn’t place. While eating the last few wings , I was trying to figure out exactly what was in the sauce. I’m still stumped. I ordered my 1/2 lb. Burger with Cheddar Cheese and nothing else, Provolone and Swiss were the other 2 cheese options. My disappointment with the burger had nothing to do with the meat but everything to do with the choice of bread. The bread used (regular store bought burger bun) was not adequate for a 1/2 pound burger.
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| 1/2 lb. Angus Burger w/ Cheddar Cheese |
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| Oh meat, how I love thee… |
The burger was nice and juicy but the bun was disintegrating right before my eyes. I can’t imagine how bad it must fall apart if you add lettuce, tomato and onions to the mix. The selection of toppings were odd also, no American Cheese or Bacon is available, strange. I did enjoy my burger but I’m hoping for a burger bun overhaul and while we’re at it, some American Cheese couldn’t hurt either.
164 St. Burgers & Beers
Facebook: 164th Burgers & Beers
Twitter: 164StBurgers
1550 NE 164th St, North Miami Beach, FL
305-948-0228
Harrison’s Sports Grill – West Miami, Florida
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I drive down 57th Avenue between Coral Way and 8th Street a few times a week. Harrison’s replaced a restaurant that had seen better days and looked worn out for years now. Harrison’s color scheme is the same as the Hurricanes which means we know who their target audience is. It’s not too far from the UM campus which makes sense. The starters include Jalapeno Poppers, SWern Eggrolls, Mozz Sticks and Loaded Nachos but on both trips there I had the wings.
The Wings are flash fried and then grilled, very reminiscent of Sports Grill (who are hailed as Best Wings by about 90% of Miami). The first time, I tried Dante’s Inferno which were really not that hot. The wings themselves are a near masterpiece of flavor. A few days later when I returned, we ordered the BBQ wings which drowned out the great taste of the wing itself with a really delicious BBQ sauce. Both are winners in my book.
Harrison’s Hot Dog appears to be about a 1/4 all beef dog, served on a toasted, lightly buttered dog bun. Options? You can go either Chili, Cheese, Kraut or Chili Cheese. I tried the Chili Cheese Dog and I didn’t dig the chili at all. On the 2nd go around, I had the Cheese Dog which was great. It’s sliced in half and slightly crispy from the grill.The cheese is nacho cheese type sauce.
Before we get to the burger you should know that there’s a Philly Cheese Steak & Chicken Philly on the menu that I didn’t get to try, that’s for you Cheesesteak-o-holics. As per the menu, the Harrison’s 1/2 lb. Burger is half a pound & seemed quite larger to me. I had the burger with Swiss Cheese but if you so desire you can add Mushrooms, Jalapeños, Bacon or even an extra patty.
The burgers are served with potato chips, fries will run you about 3 bucks more. The fries are of the crinkle cut frozen variety and not worth the $2.95. When I had the burger with American Cheese and Bacon I liked it a whole bunch more. It’s a good burger and much better than the one served at Duffy’s right down the street. I liked Harrison’s and I’ll be back to try out their Philly(s) very soon.
Harrison’s Sports Grill
1674 SW Red Road, West Miami
305-262-5517
O’ Sheehan’s on the Norwegian EPIC Cruise
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O’Sheehan’s is located on the Norwegian ship the EPIC. It’s open 24 hours and has a neighborhood tavern feel to it. All the food served here falls in the comfort food category aka my favorite zone. There is no cost for eating here. While you might associate that it’s free with the likelihood that it’s horrible, you’d be wrong. I ate here multiple times and food the food pretty good. Let’s run down the different dishes I had over the 7 or so times I ate here. The hot wings were not the best or biggest wings I’ve had but they did the job nicely. What the wings lacked, the sauce on them made up for . The sauce was just plain awesome, not much heat but I’m thinking some blue cheese was worked into it. I ended up ordering a side of the hot sauce to dip my fries in a a few visits later.
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| Buffalo Wings |
The Chicken Tenders and Mozzarella Sticks were of the packaged warehouse chain variety, now that doesn’t make them horrible, just passable. Hey, at least the Honey Mustard was pretty tasty.
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| Tenders w/sauces & Mozz Sticks w/sauce |
The burger was a better than average affair. The bacon was good and the shoestring fries were ok. Actually, order the chips instead of the fries because they’re the thicker cut fries and not chips at all.
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| Cheeseburger topped with Applewood Smoked Bacon |
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| The heavenly Chicken Sandwich |
My favorite dish at O’Sheehan’s turned out to be their chicken sandwich. The sandwich was a grilled chicken breast on a toasted buttery bun and topped with a slightly spicy mayo-esc sauce that was great. After having had the burger the 1st two times, and having the chicken the 3rd time, I became a chicken convert. I would highly suggest this as your go to sandwich on the EPIC.
Burger King – San Miguel – Cozumel, Mexico
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While walking around what is the tourist trap area of Cozumel, I came across this Burger King. I had no intentions to order anything but once I took a look at the menu and saw the “Cheesy Whopper”, I knew there was no way I was leaving empty handed. My father was with me and mentioned that he wanted Jalapeno Poppers. Poppers….wait, what else is there here to try? And so began my downward spiral into a massive order.
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| Cheesy Whopper and some Family King Meal in Mexican Pesos |
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| Cheesecake Bites, I decided against these |
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| The Wings I couldn’t say no to |
In the picture on their counter the “Alitas” aka Wings look roasted but they’re actually fried with hot sauce drizzled on top of them. They were your run of the mill wings with a nothing special hot sauce on them. The wings are also available topped with BBQ sauce but some blue cheese might have been a nice gesture.
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| Burger King’s Alitas |
The Jalapeno Poppers came 4 to an order. Burger King carried these in late 2000 and I found myself ordering them back then. They’re not too shabby, just like what you’d expect them to taste (please keep all thoughts to yourself).
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| Jalapeno Poppers |
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| Getting inside a Popper |
Next up was the Papas Fundidas which were fries topped with cheese sauce, bacon bits and Jalapenos. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t place the taste of the cheese but what was worse were the bacon bits. The bacon bits were Bac-O’s which I think are pretty gross.
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| Papas Fundidas |
The Cheesy Whopper is a Whopper topped with a breaded cheese patty. I ordered a single Whopper but I wonder if I had order the double would they have placed the cheese in-between them. I asked for no lettuce or tomato thinking it would come plain but it came with mayo and ketchup. The Whopper didn’t have that much of that BK grill taste while it still retained somehow it’s Burger King taste somehow. The cheese itself reminded me of Cheesy Tots they were selling until recently. I like the concept and hope we’ll be seeing it in the US soon and maybe even on the chicken sandwich.
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| Cheesy Whopper |
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| Cheesy Whopper oozing its insides |
And just when you think I couldn’t have possibly ordered anything else, I did. The Burger King deep fried Apple Pie, something that has not been on their menu since the 1980′s. It looks just like the McDonald’s version which can still be found if you really look but the taste is different. Burger King’s fried Apple Pie is closer to a funnel cake and less of an apple taste.
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| Burger King’s Deep Fried Apple Pie |
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| Apple Pie money shot |
It was cool to try some fast food in Cozumel but I regret driving by the McDonald’s and not stopping, who knows what can be found there.
Mad For Chicken – New York, New York
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ER Gagit was right. He told me that once I ate at Mad For Chicken I would never want to eat fried chicken anywhere else. Mad For Chicken serves Korean Fried Chicken and has a few locations in New York as well one in Washington D.C. As we were walking around we couldn’t find the place.
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| Mad For Chicken in The New York Times |
It turns out there are no signs where Mad For Chicken is located unless of course you look up. It’s located on a second floor in a nondescript building. We used the stairs (which were so narrow I thought I was practicing for the high wire act in the circus) to get to the actual restaurant. I had read up on Mad For Chicken via their website about how they use fresh, never frozen natural chicken and that their cooking method reduces the amount of fat in the chicken. My first thought was, I hope it doesn’t affect the flavor. Once we were seated we ordered the Parmesan French Fries as well as the Mexican Corn.
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| Parmesan French Fries |
The Parmesan French Fries which for some reason on this occasion had no Parmesan cheese but American were great. It was served with a side of ketchup and spicy mayo. I loved the Spicy Mayo.
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| Mexican Corn |
The Mexican Corn was grilled lightly and topped with Parmesan Cheese which was strange because the fries had none, oh well. Now the chicken, I can’t put into words. When we placed the order we were told it would take approximately 30 minutes for the chicken to be ready.
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| Mad For Chicken’s Chicken |
We decided to split the order in half so that we could try both sauces (hot and soy garlic). On their site Mad For Chicken explains that their sauce base is Soy Sauce, Garlic, Onions and some fruits. Of the two sauces, the spicier one was better and you could really taste the distinct flavors. The chicken itself was so crispy on the outside it was almost like a shell. The inside was moist and delicious. We were literally almost battling to see who would get the last pieces of chicken and although I didn’t get one of the last pieces I could say that Mad For Chicken did indeed drive us crazy. We haven’t stopped talking about their chicken since.
Mad For Chicken - This location is Now Closed.
Neighborhood: Murray Hill
314 5th Ave, 2nd Fl
(between 31st St & 32nd St)
New York, NY
212-221-2222
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink – Miami, FL
Posted by: | CommentsLast year at SoBe’s Wine & Food Festival I had a taste of Michael’s Genuine’s burger. It was a longtime coming that I finally visit Michael’s Genuine. While you never really know what to expect when you check out a restaurant I’ve always heard good things about Michael’s Genuine. I was seated by the window on the inside of the resto next to another couple that was friendly (I didn’t need to mention that part but I figured, why not). I had some of MGF&D’s Crispy Hominy. I thought it was really good and I liked the seasoning a whole bunch.
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| Crispy Hominy w/ Chile & Lime |
Next up was the Harris Ranch Black Angus Burger with Vermont Cheddar Cheese and their house smoked bacon. This burger is sick (in a good way). Wow! Was all I could say to myself. On this day, they were serving the burger on a Ciabatta Bread not the normal Brioche Bun. This of course meant only 1 thing. I need to come back and try it on the Brioche Bun.
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| Harris Ranch Black Angus Burger on Ciabatta |
I concluded my meal with Hedy Goldsmith‘s (MGF&D’s Pastry Chef) Candies, Cookie’s & Confections platter. Take a good look at it. Everything there is fresh from the homemade marshmallows to the sugar cookie. I’m not a dessert expert but this is the “good stuff”.
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| Candies, Cookies & Confections Platter |
So a few days pass and I decide it’s time to come back and try out the burger again (this time on the Brioche bun). It’s also time to try the Deviled Eggs and the Chile Chicken Wings. The Deviled Eggs tasted like a delicious egg salad sandwich sans the bread.
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| Deviled Eggs |
The Wings were crispy with a sweetish glaze. Nice flavor.
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| Chile Chicken Wings w/ Creamy Cucumbers |
Since I hadn’t mentioned it yet I probably should, the service at Michael’s is exceptional. The Harris Ranch Black Angus Burger is served up next but this time with the Brioche bun ( topped with rogue creamery smoke blue cheese and bacon).
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| Harris Ranch Black Angus Burger on Brioche |
Out of the park. Honestly, this is the real deal. I loved the freshness of the burger. I loved their house smoked bacon. I loved their fries (best I’ve had in a long while). I also ordered some of their fresh doughnuts with coffee.
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| Hedy Goldmith’s Doughnuts |
I was tempted to dunk the doughnuts in the coffee but they tasted better as I inhaled them one by one. So, where do I go from here? I’m planning my trip back to Michael’s to eat their homemade Potato Chips and check out the Harris Ranch Burger again. I’m just trying to help them out with quality control.
Read the Blog: The Genuine Kitchen
Follow them on Twitter: Owner Michael Schwartz or Pastry Chef Hedy Goldmith
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink
130 N.E. 40th Street, Miami, Florida
305-573-5550
