Archive for Wings
Scotty’s Landing – Coconut Grove, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve never been to a marina much less walked through one. Scotty’s Landing is located right next to Grove Key Marina in Coconut Grove. Nelson is a big fan of this place and suggested we meet up for some lunch here.Somehow Nelson tricks me into sitting where he wants and I end up with a view of this tree.
While I was kidding about that, you can actually have a nice view of the water while there.
To start with we order the Hot Wings and some Nachos. The wings actually arrive first and we dig in.
They are served with two packets of blue cheese and celery sticks. Nelson being the gentleman that he believes he is hands me my packet. And then I realize why he’s so courteous. The packet is all covered in buffalo sauce while his is clean. I return the favor and smear buffalo sauce on his while he’s answering a phone call (there’s nothing like behaving like a child with your friends). The wings have a nice buffalo sauce (not too hot) with a slight taste of garlic.
The nachos were your standard stuff topped with nacho cheese, chili, jalapenos and black olives. For our actual meal we both order the Triple Cheeseburger (triple cheese not triple beef)
and I also order a Chili Dog for good measure. The Triple Cheeseburger while good wasn’t going to set your heart on fire. It was served with dinner fries which I love.
The Chili Dog was also pretty good and I liked the hot dog better than the chili topping. Sure, Scotty’s Landing doesn’t have the best burger in town but if you’re looking for a place to relax, drink some ice cold beer and catch up with some friends then you’ve found the place.
Scotty’s Landing
3381 Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove, FL
305-854-2626
Xtreme Eatery formerly known as Heart Stoppers Sports Grill – Delray Beach, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsThe front of their menu says “Over consumption of our food will definitely lead to obesity, at which point you should consult a physician before starting an exercise program.” At least they’re upfront about it. Heart Stoppers Sports Grill has a hospital theme (hospital gear everywhere, waitresses dressed as scantily clad nurses). Yes, we’ve seen something similar before but there are a whole bunch of clever ideas throughout which I really liked. I was with my friend Erik D. and we ordered a few appetizers or as their menu refers to them, Artery Cloggers. We had the Chili Chest Pain Fries (love this name), Sweet Potato Fries (with a marshmallow dipping sauce) and Brewzed and Battered Onion Rings. The fries were crispy, the chili was tasty and we both liked them. Erik D. isn’t a big fan of chili and he was digging them.
The Sweet Potato Fries were fresh cut. I’m not a fan of the sweet potato but Erik loved them.
The Onion Rings were great as was the dipping sauce (some mayo mix with spice).
I forgot to mention the Chili Chest Pain Fries and the Brewzed and Battered Onion Rings were served in bed pans.
So, what else did we get? We decided to share (a word not often heard in this blog) The Heart Attacker 1/2 pound Burger and The 1/2 lb. Ripper (a big time 14 inch long dog, Hebrew National by the way).
The main reason I don’t like to share is the need to negotiate toppings. It went rather smoothly this time. We agreed upon mayo, cheddar cheese, bacon and an egg. We ordered The Ripper naked because we couldn’t come to an agreement. I just remembered we had also ordered 10 “Killer Wings“. The Flatliner Wings were tasty and had some good heat. All the toppings on the Heart Attacker including the bun (which was lightly toasted with a little bit of butter) were spot on.
It was good, better than good and I look forward to trying their Triple A (1/2 lb stuffed with cheese). I forgot to mention that there are 30 toppings that can be added to your burger at no extra charge. The Ripper was probably the best thing I had and I only added mustard to it. Finally when our bill came we were surprised to be given a first aid box until we looked inside.
I found eating at Heart Stoppers an enjoyable experience.
Heart Stoppers Sports Grill
1100 Linton Blvd, Delray Beach, FL
561-276-5554
Taurus – Coconut Grove, Florida
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Taurus
My original intent was not to eat at Taurus. Since the original plan didn’t pan out I drove by Taurus to make sure it was open after what happened last time. It was and we (my wife Marcela and I) were lucky enough to find a parking meter right near by. You can also valet park right in front of the Taurus. It’s not very big but it does have a very welcoming feel to it. It also has an outside seating area in case you need to be seen.
The menu is very limited and written on a chalk board. There are only burgers, wings and pizza available.

Taurus Menu
We decide to order the 10 oz. Burger w/Cheddar Cheese, a Pepperoni Pizza and Wings to share. The wings were crispy and good but do not come tossed in sauce.

Wings
Instead the hot sauce, blue cheese and celery are served on the side (and no extra charge for them is a plus). While my wife really liked the pizza I didn’t love it but thought it was just ok.

Pepperoni Pizza
So after re-reading Blind Mind’s post about the Taurus I realized how much he really liked the fries. Once I tasted a fry I couldn’t stop. There is truffle oil on the fries. If you’ve never eaten fries topped with truffle oil then you’re missing one of life’s great treasures.

Mr. Beautiful
The burger was cooked perfectly and tasted great but Marcela made one mistake on this day. She decided to go to the restroom and leave a piece of her half of the burger. It was just looking at me.

Well Hello There!
It was asking to be eaten, so I did. She didn’t even realize it which was perfect until she realized I ate all the leftover fries too. That’s what I get for getting greedy.
Taurus won BurgerBeast.Com’s 2010 Burgie Award for “Best Fries”
Taurus
3540 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL
305-444-1723
Whoa…I felt like Keanu Reeves after this one. What started out as a trek for Fred and Jarce to check out Knaus Berry Farm ended with all of us stuffed. We went back to our homes and regrouped to watch (or play in Jarce’s case) The Burger Beast Softball get shellacked. But let’s start from the beginning. I receive a text from Fred at 10AM asking if we’re still going to go check out the Mexican Market. I, of course have no clue what Mexican Market he’s talking about. He meant Knaus Berry Farm, which are not Mexican but Dunkers (German baptists which are often confused for Amish). I call up Jarce and he doesn’t answer. I hang up and he’s returning my call. So the plan is: I first pick up Jarce and Luis (roommates in a Bert & Ernie sort of way, just kidding) and then pick up Fred at his friend’s barbershop. We originally considered going to Coral Castle first, but for $9.75 I don’t think so. As we’re arriving at Knaus Berry Farm there’s one thing on our mind, we’re all starving. Problem. The line at Knaus Berry Farm is ridiculously long. Over 30 people in line to buy fresh baked goods. Honestly, we don’t want cinnamon rolls that bad. Group meeting and we’re on our way to Cracker Barrel. We pass a Keg South on the way there, hmm… We call up John and he’s a go to meet us there. This is probably the only time I’ve been to a Cracker Barrel and have been seated right away. As we’re looking over the menus (breakfast and lunch) I suggest we try hitting up Keg South right after. I am met with absolutely no resistance. John will only be joining us for the Cracker Barrel leg of this as he needs to get back to work. Everyone places their order. BB=Bacon Cheeseburger w/Hash Brown Casserole, John=Bacon Cheeseburger w/Hash Brown Casserole,
Jarce=Couple Eggs with Sausage, Hash Brown Casserole & French Toast,
Luis=Couple Eggs with Bacon & French Toast
and Fred=Egg Sandwich w/Hash Brown Casserole & Meatloaf Sandwich.
While waiting for our meal, Fred and Jarce play one of those little games with pegs (I have no clue what the name is). They also bust on John who is not here yet. Fred (who is absolutely horrible at games) and Jarce both claim that they left one peg. I’m not buying it. So for your amusement and mine, I asked Jarce to try it again on camera. Before you watch it, I want you to know that he said anyone who leaves three pegs is of average intelligence. John had just arrived at this point so you will hear all of us making comments.
Keg South has three locations: Kendall, Pinecrest and Homestead. They are all independently owned and operated. There are differences in their menus but they all have a Keg Burger. I used to vouch for the Kendall location but Pinecrest is really the way to go. Their wings are way better too. This brings us to Keg South Homestead, which I needed to try to complete the triangle. First thing’s first, Jarce runs to the restroom while Luis is falling asleep. Meanwhile Fred and I are looking over the menu. Once Jarce returns we make the decision to order some appetizers and one burger for the four of us to try. Our waitress is quite the character. In all my years of eating at restaurants, I’ve never had to negotiate for what I wanted to eat. Every time I asked for something she tried to change my mind by suggesting something else. I was actually on the verge of believing there might be a hidden camera somewhere. We decide to order the Onions Petals, Chili Cheese Fries and some wings. You have the option of grilled or fried. 10 fried and 10 grilled. She suggests we order the sauces on the side. Sounds like a good idea. Fred was leaning toward the Honey Apple and Jarce/BB want the Mt. St. Helens. Luis is cool with whatever we choose as long as he gets blue cheese although he doesn’t like the really hot stuff. Too bad for him , huh? Jarce orders a pitcher of Heineken.
Time to order the burger. The 1/2 Keg Burger with Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Mayo is what we want to order but he have some who disagrees. The waitress is insistent we order a different burger. The burger she is trying to push on us has bacon, cheddar cheese, bbq sauce and onion pedals. Guess what? I don’t want that burger. I repeat to her that we want the 1/2 Keg Burger with Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Mayo. She repeats it back to me, “A 1/2 pound Keg Burger with only Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Mayo”.
“Do you want lettuce?”: No.
“Do you want tomatos?”: No.
“Do you want onions?” No.
“Do you want ketchup and mustard?”: No.
“So you want a 1/2 pound Keg Burger with only Cheddar Cheese, Bacon and Mayonaisse?”: Yes.
Honestly, it was surreal. Unbelievable even. The Chili Cheese Fries arrive.The fries were covered in Sour Cream, Jalapenos, Onions, Cheese sauce and Chili (with beans unfortunately). This was the best thing was had, hands down. The wings arrive and take a wild guess? The sauce is on them.
Fred calls our waitress over and asks why the sauce is on the wings and Luis reminds her about the blue cheese. Something she actually suggested to us. The waitress tells him I asked for them that way. Lol…I decide at that moment to cease all interactions with her. The Onion Pedals arrive and they’re just your stand onion appetizer stuff.
The wings, well they suck. They have an odd taste. The sauces on them (just like I ordered, lol) are good. We realize if we grab the Honey Apple wings and dip them in the Mt. St. Helens sauce it makes a better sauce. It still won’t save the flavor of the wing. Plus, it doesn’t stop Fred from eating them.
2. This doesn’t look like the “Keg Burger” I’m used to.
One bite and I’m right. Average tasting burger at best but the guys seem to disagree:
Famous Burgers? Best Wings in the World? What place are they talking about? And Luis never got his blue cheeese.
Next Stop? Knaus Berry Farm and then later, The Burger Beast Softball Team’s 2nd Game. But that’s for the next post.
Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant – Coral Gables, Florida
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Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant has been around forever. I remember my parents bringing me here as a kid for ice cream after dinner. Now, I’ve never really been a big ice cream fan but every once in a while I’ll have the urge to eat some. Marcela on the other hand is an “Ice Cream Deviant”. No ice cream is safe in our house. Jarce and I originally wanted to eat at a new Five Guys location that had just opened but when we drove by, that place was ridiculously packed. We were less than one block away from Swensen’s. It had been a while since I had eaten at Swensen’s. As a matter of fact, Marcela and my obsession for Frank’s Red Hot Sauce can be attributed to Swensen’s. It was here that we fell in love with the hot sauce they were using. The waitress told us it was Frank’s Red Hot. We had never heard of it but now we can’t live without it (alright, so that’s a bit of a stretch) . Alright, getting back to the story at hand. Swensen’s now has some new burgers on the menu. Jarce orders the BBQ Burger (he’s a big time BBQ sauce ho) and I decide to try the Horseradish Burger. We also order their appetizer platter. One thing I’ve never understood about some restaurants and their “appetizer platters” is the weird quantities of food.
This platter had 4 Chicken Wings, 3 Mozzarella Sticks, 2 Chicken Tenders and 5 Onion Rings. I felt as if we were playing Fantasy Baseball, we’re trading items with each other. “Ok, I’ll eat the Onion Rings and you’ll have more Chicken Wings.” Everything on the platter was pretty standard stuff with the exception of the wings. The wings were nice and crispy and of course they were served with Frank’s Red Hot. Jarce loved his BBQ Burger. It had a couple of onion rings,bacon, cheddar cheese and was topped with BBQ sauce.
He was so in love with the BBQ sauce that at one point he was using it as lip gloss (I was kidding, just in case someone believes that).
The Horseradish burger had Monterey Jack Cheese & scallions. Their homemade Horseradish sauce was a pleasant surprise. I’ve had burgers here before and they didn’t taste like that. The burger was better than an ice cream place has any business selling. We didn’t make it to dessert but then again, Marcela wasn’t with us this time.
Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant
1586 S Dixie Highway, Coral Gables, FL
305-661-7658
The Filling Station & Garage Bar – Downtown Miami, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t know my way around Downtown Miami very well which is where The Filling Station is located. I’m also bad at following the directions of the GPS, it seems to take too long to respond (I can just hear that voice in my head “calculating route”). Between my sense of direction and usage of a GPS, I was pretty happy that my friend and I were able to locate The Filling Station without much hassle the first time we visited.

The Filling Station Sign - You can't miss it
Originally the Filling Station was much smaller but over the course of the last couple of years they’ve expanded hence the addition of the name, Garage Bar. Luckily, its expansion has not hurt 2 of the many things I love about it, its character (Filling Station theme) and service.

Howard's Big Mack Truck
One of the first things I noticed here was the walls with pictures of customers who had ordered Howard’s Big Mack Truck. The burger is a really great Double Cheddar Burger topped with Onion Rings so it could be difficult for some of you light eaters. What’s weird is that it wasn’t only pics of people who had eaten it but also those who only ordered the burger. I guess that’s a different way to do things! Order that burger and I guess you’re guaranteed to get your picture on the wall (I’m not too sure if they’re still doing this but I am up on the wall).
As a matter of fact, if you do go, look for our picture. Even though my friend suggested against it, I ordered the tater tots covered in cheese, bacon and jalapenos (which were good) plus an order of buffalo flavored wings to start with. The wings, what can I say are on point. I awarded them with Best Wings for 2010 at my annual Burgie Awards.

Burgie Award Winning Buffalo Wings
There’s also a whole slew of Burgers & Sandwiches with catchy names to order from. Two of my favorites are Steve’s “Respect” Mobile (Burger topped with Pulled Pork, Cheddar, Jerk BBQ Sauce) and Bev’s Benz (Chicken Sandwich with Fried Mozzarella & Marinara served on Garlic Bread).

Steve's "Respect" Mobile

Bev's Benz
If those weren’t enough there’s Hot Dogs, Phillys and even dare I say the dreaded “S” word, Salads. You can’t go wrong hitting up the Filling Station, trust me I know. And now to get your hunger pangs a goin’, here are some more pictures:

Chili Mac - A Daily Special I had one time

Hog

Malibu Bleu
Is there any dessert? Well, you can get some fresh baked cookies. I guess that counts, doesn’t it?

Fresh Baked Cookies
They’re open every day for lunch and open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday but closed on Sunday. I only mention this because once upon a time there was no Dinner or Saturday service:
Mon – Thu: 11:30AM – 9:00PM
Fri – Sat: 11:30AM – 10:30PM
Go Downtown and Eat from:
The Filling Station
95 SE 2nd St, Miami, FL
786-425-1990
Quickie’s Burgers & Wings – Hollywood, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsQuickie’s Burger & Wings has 2 locations, 1 in Hollywood and the other in Pembroke Pines. The Hollywood location has a drive-thru but we won’t be using that today. The menu has everything from chicken to Mahi-Mahi sandwiches but I think we all know the burger and wings is what they’re known for (if you don’t, you will soon). While my wife Marcela orders the Quickie’s Original 1/3 pound Deluxe (meaning it brings lettuce and tomato) with cheese & bacon,
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| Quickie’s 1/2 lb. Burger with cheese & bacon |
I have the Quickie’s Original 1/2 pound with bacon and cheese (all burgers have onion strings and Quickie’s sauce) and 12 wings (6 Golden BBQ and 6 Extremely Hot) for good measure.
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| Order of half Extremely Hot and half Golden BBQ wings |
We decide on combos which includes fries and a fountain drink. Let’s talk about the wings. The wings were crispy and fried with no breading. The Extremely Hot was so freakin’ hot but the Golden BBQ sauce was pretty amazing. What’s even better is if you ask, they’ll mix both sauces for you which is what I’d suggest (although the Medium and Golden BBQ is a safer mix). The burgers were awesome. They had a great smokey flavor and the fries were good also (they had some seasoned salt on them). You’ll also be served a side of their Quickie’s sauce with your meal. Use the Quickie’s sauce to dip your fries, trust me! Other great food to order from here:
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| Sweet potato fries with cheese |
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| Quickie’s 1 lb. M.O.A.B. stuffed with cheese |
There are also weekly Burger specials which can be found their Facebook page. And once a month is their “Master The Titan” Challenge (it’s a 4 pound burger). Do you dare take the challenge? I did and I ran out of time, Thanks to Carlos Miller for this video:
I make no secret that I’m a giant fan of Quickie’s Burger & Wings. And I think if you try them, you’ll be a fan too!
Quickie’s Burgers & Wings
1000 South State Road 7, Hollywood, FL
954-981-9464
Titanic Restaurant and Brewery – Coral Gables, Florida
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been a good 5 years since I had eaten at Titanic Restaurant and Brewery. Probably around the time an old friend of mine’s band had been discovered by Sony Records when performing here. In case you were wondering, they ended up recording an album which never got released. I remember eating the Wings and Fried Mozzarella. So naturally when Nelson suggested we eat at Titanic I thought of the Mozzarella and Wings. The wings at Titanic are Nelson‘s favorite. He’s a big fan of the Sriracha sauce that the wings are tossed in.
If you’ve never tried Sriracha, it’s a hot sauce with a bit of garlic flavor and it has a bit of a slow burn. Nelson’s right, the wings were really good. The Fried Mozzarella was delicious and should somehow find it’s way onto a chicken sandwich.
I have an obsession with making everything into sandwiches. One of the cool things going on in Titanic is the Titanic Mug Club of which Nelson is a member.
There are only a limited of spots and a few open up each year allowing for new members to join. There are discounts involved and your mug is larger than the regular layman’s mug. Nelson explained to me the Freemasonry like rules for getting in but I was too busy enjoying the fried mozzarella to recall. The burger? Nelson ordered a salad on the side. It was important I mention this in the hopes someone mocks him for it. He had the Essential Burger (I don’t think anyone had any sleepless nights coming up with this name) with swiss cheese and sauteed onions.
What did little ole’ me have? The Essential Burger of course, there’s only one burger on the menu. Unlike some people I know who eat salad with their burger I got a double with cheddar.
It was good, nothing out of this world. It’s your standard bar burger. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, unless of course you order it with a salad.
Titanic Restaurant and Brewery
5813 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL
305-668-1742
Titanic Restaurant and Brewery’s Menu















