Refresh, Refresh: Back to Food Blogging

Has it really been two full months since I last posted it? It hasn't been two months of hunger, I promise, that's kept me from the blog. Rather it's been all the things that keeps one too silent -- work, namely, but also a bit too much fun in the downtime. I will again resolve (and usually fail a bit) to get back to work here! I have also, since we last talked, acquired a new camera and a new computer (because the old ones were stolen), and both of these shiny new objects have made me more mobile and more excited about traveling around in Eugene and checking out fun food. So, a menu. I'll get back to this, and I promise to cover, shortly, the following places -- with pictures, with tastes, with, perhaps, chimes in from friends. If anyone has any additional suggestions right now, I'm absolutely open to them -- and this is not an exhaustive list, just the items that I know I can and will cover soon, because I have been there recently and have something to say.

• The Vintage -- Brunch
• The Divine Cupcake
• Three Forks Wok & Grill
• Studio One, with particular attention to eggs benedict!
• Ciao Pizza

Also, C and I have been throwing around ideas for the following, and would love to have input from anyone:

• Best places to take visitors (the quintessential Eugene places AND the try-to-impress places)
• Best Eggs Benedict (we're on a mission)
• Best Struggling Restaurants

Thoughts? Comments? Helloooo? I'm sorry for the slowness. We'll soon return you to your regularly scheduled tastiness.

Now, for something disgusting: Worst Foods in America, in Eugene

Yahoo! has released a list of the "Worst Foods in America, 2010" today. It's a list of the most unhealthy things you can eat at a chain restaurant. I thought it'd be fun to see which of these is available in Eugene. First, the list:

1. PF Chang's Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo (served with beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp): 1,820 calories/84 g of fat/7,692 mg sodium.
   This is certainly available in Eugene (and even for online ordering!), but... you know, why would you get this, when I'm fairly certain you could burn through 2,000 calories by ordering some similar combination platter at Ocean Sky and racking up at least 2,000 extra sodium "points"? (It would also be cheaper).
   


2. Baja Fresh Charbroiled Steak Nachos: 2,120 calories/118g fat/2,990 mg sodium.
   Available in Eugene! I guess the point of this list is that things only make it on here if they're new in 2010, so it's perhaps useless to point out that any number of Taco Bell entries could take this one down in a (sluggish, cholesterol-choked) heartbeat. Then again, this does somewhat throw a cramp into my consideration of nachos as "not really a meal" and therefore "lighter." I still believe that throwing some cranberry salsa on top would make this into a health food.


3. Uno Chicago Grill's Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza (individual size): 2,310 calories/165 g fat/4,920 mg sodium
   Not available in Eugene, but they must have something comparable at BJ's. Also -- holy cow, 165 g of fat, really? Why not throw some deep-fried bacon on top and just get it over with?


4. IHOP Big Country Breakfast with Chicken Fried Steak and Country Gravy: 2,440 calories/145 g fat/5,520 mg sodium
   Available in Eugene. Yes, but: let me ask you, do those calories really matter at the times in our lives (4 a.m., finals week, post-bar, during a relative's Riverbend surgery) that we find ourselves camped out at IHOP? I think not. No one goes to IHOP for health food, or even for particularly creative tastes. If they wanted tasty fattening breakfast, Addi's is just down the street, and if you ask nicely, they'll make you a chicken-fried-steak skillet that puts this piddlin' little platter of drunk food to shame. Then again, you can only go to Addi's during regular hours (5 a.m. to 2 p.m.), so...


5. Cheesecake Factory's Bistro Shrimp Pasta: 2,730 calories/78g fat/919 mg sodium
   Not available in Eugene, unless they sell it frozen at Safeway or something. I'd say there's a reasonable alternative to this to be found at The Olive Garden: all the chain taste, half the price, and their little cheese-filled sacchetti things must carry most of the wallop that this pasta does. Plus, free breadsticks! Dipped in fry oil and sodium. YUM.

There's more to this list -- a whole 20-item slide show, in fact, where some guy tells you what to eat instead of each of these items. (Example: Eat the Double Stack with Bacon at Wendy's instead of the Triple Baconator). The entire list raises a few important questions:

1). Does Blimpie still exist?

2). Do people really eat Domino's breadbowl pasta line?

2.5) Seriously? Why?

3). Does anyone want to go to Addi's Diner with me, stat?

Closings, openings, etc.

• As announced via Cara Eddo's Facebook page and Web site, Eddo Burger has closed for good. If you're looking for a cute airstream trailer from which to make your (and my) dream of veggie burger tastiness come true, you should definitely keep an eye on Craig's list, where it is apparently listed.

• Fina Taqueria on Willamette has closed, and with its departure, the best chips in town have left the scene.  The West brothers have shuttered the concept of Fina, preferring to focus on Mucho Gusto and Dickie Jo's. Can't those places have the awesome chips, too? C'mon.

• The Broadway downtown closed its doors... but reopened them at the Oakway Center, which is fast becoming the hub for, hm, things I like to eat before I spend too much money at Borders. (Also, please ignore the information on The Broadway's web site, and The Broadway's name itself, as the restaurant really is no longer located on Broadway).
  

• Sabai, a restaurant promising Pacific-Rim-meets-Pacific-Northwest cuisine, will open at the Oakway Center next month. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the space that doomed Uva. Here's hoping for more lighting. (Also, Thai at Oakway would complete me).

• Red Lobster is nearly complete near Valley River Center. Word on the "grand opening" is sometime in February, though every time I pass by, I'm sure it's already serving people.
  

• Jimmy John's has opened its doors in Springfield. For those not familiar, get thee to that little corner of Gateway street where the good Starbucks huddles beside the forgotten Cafe Yumm. Or -- order online for delivery!

• Brewed Awakenings on Willakenzie is now the evening home of Seoul Sushi, which offers karaoke (I believe on its big-screen TV) on select evenings and coupons just about everywhere. This isn't the leap that it seems; the place has been home to Korean food during the day for some time now.
  
  

The Burrito Chain Wars, Part III: Qdoba is Cheesy (cheesy goodness)

There are two major differences between Qdoba and its closest competitor, Chipotle: cheese sauce and breakfast. Qdoba offers both; Chipotle offers neither. This may not be a point in Qdoba's favor, if you're some kind of chain burrito purist (and if you are: WTF?), but for me, it's often the winning move in an otherwise even chess match.

Part of my affection for Qdoba comes from one simple fact: I've eaten a lot of it, and I've paid almost nothing for it. Just over two years ago, I entered one of those drop-your-name-in-a-fishbowl contests at Qdoba and, soon after, won a year's worth of free burritos. That's 52 free burritos, credited to one of their Qdoba loyalty cards. C and I have eaten out on that card ever since -- not every week, clearly, but often enough.

Qdoba was always my second choice before I got The Free Burrito card. However, with that in hand, I've felt free to try more things -- and among these things, I've found some I really enjoy. Take, for instance, Qdoba's "Mexican Gumbo." Set aside the ridiculousness of the name and focus on what this is: rice and beans with a tomato-broth soup poured over, with cheese, crispy chip bits, salsa, and sour cream. It's the best burrito-like bowl that I have ever had, and on a mildly cool day, it's pretty much the perfect lunch. Pair it with an order of chips and cheese dip -- there's almost always a coupon for a free serving of this in those Student Coupon books they hand out at the bookstore every start of term -- and you've got a perfectly over-satisfying meal that's made for you in less than five minutes and costs about $8.

Yes, this is a place that serves nacho cheese sauce. Why not? The authenticity that any chain burrito restaurant aspires to is only a very commercialized, American version of fast Mexican cuisine, anyway, and, well, Americans love their processed cheese. Qdoba goes two better, making a "three cheese queso" (I know, that's "three cheese cheese," but this is the level of cultural knowledge we're dealing with). What are those three cheeses? I have no idea, nor do I particularly care. They make an orange sauce that's absolutely pleasing on chips and, better than that, makes a welcome, tangy addition to one of their signature burritos: The Queso Burrito. That one, which is cheese sauce and meat of choice, is neighbors to another Qdoba signature, the Ancho Chile BBQ Burrito, a dish that C is generally pleased with. "It's a nice smokey tangy barbecue sauce that goes over pork well for that kind of thing," he says. "It's something I can eat fairly often."

That kind of describes everything at Qdoba: nothing will burn you, or overexcite you, or bring you to some kind of burrito epiphany, but it's good. It's fine. None of the food at Qdoba is particularly challenging. It's plain chain burrito fare: meats, sauces, rice, two kinds of beans (both vegetarian), four kinds of salsa, and a few special features like the queso, the bbq sauce, the soup, and, hey! Breakfast.

Breakfast has been the main way I've experienced Qdoba for the last year. It is, to my knowledge, the only of the three chains in town that even bothers with the breakfast burrito. You have only a few choices: 10" or 13" flour tortilla? (10 for me; 13 for C). Egg, spiced potatoes, and cheese? (Yes). Meat? (No for me; sausage for C). Salsa? (Depends on the day). Coffee? It's Allan Bros. (No thanks -- coffee + burrito = disaster).

You can get a breakfast quesadilla with eggs and cheese, too, or substitute shredded chicken for the sausage, but these are your options. Breakfast burritos are served until noon on weekends, which is absolutely perfect (when does McDonald's stop serving? 10:30? That's practically dawn). Matched to a Coke product of your choice and scarfed down while sitting at a could-be-ripped-from-Chipotle wooden bench seat over a shiny metal table, it's exactly the breakfast one needs before wandering to the bookstore for a re-up on homework materials.

Location: 13th and Kincaid

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 8 a.m. to midnight; Thursday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Notes: The Qdoba loyalty card, in combination with a coupon book you can pick up at the bookstore for free, will generally supply you with a free burrito, chips, or drink every couple of visits, even if you don't win the contest that I did.

The Burrito Chain Wars, Part II: Chipotle is in your mind

Of the entries in the Burrito Chain war, Chipotle (chi-POHT-lay) is the newest in Eugene and probably the best known. Chipotle fans are, admit it, cultish about the big burritos and small tacos that can be found at every one of these fast-casual "Mexican" grills. (A quick side note: Though once a member of the McDonald's family, Chipotle has been independent since 2006). I, myself, am a Chipotle fan, someone who saw the "Coming Soon" sign in the window on Coburg two years ago and nearly spit up my coffee in glee. A Chipotle! In Eugene! It made so much sense.

Now that the chain has landed, though, I seem to want it less. This makes a certain amount of sense: the memory of Chipotle is always better than the experience of Chipotle. That's not to say the experience isn't good -- it generally is. Of the three chain burrito places in Eugene, Chipotle wins in several substantial taste categories, including spiciness (try the Barbacoa), rice (cilantro-lime-magic), and guacamole (them there are real avocados, friend). They also serve with efficient speed and surprising friendliness, and $10 will always carry you out the door with a more-than-stomach-sized burrito and a soda of your choice.

Yet I really think that most people enjoy Chipotle in the abstract as much as they enjoy actual Chipotle.

The Burrito Chain Wars, Part I: Baja Fresh

A little introduction: In this town, we have three of the major national contenders for Best Burrito Chain (Baja Fresh, Chipotle, and Qdoba). All three function on largely the same business model: feed people huge burritos at mid-sized prices with recognizable vegetables and absolutely nothing "refried," and they will want more. All three inspire rather rabid devotion from fans. All three also have substantial differences, and as someone who's a regular eater at all three establishments in Eugene, I thought I'd line them up for a three-part comparison. Why not? It's winter; it's foggy; who doesn't want a spicy burrito show-down right now?

So, to be as fair as possible, I'm doing this in alphabetical order -- and also, it turns out, starting with the chain that has the oldest presence in Eugene, Baja Fresh. This restaurant out on Coburg road is located in the tiny complex that also houses a Ben and Jerry's and a Newman's Fish Market -- and, oh yeah, it's directly across the street from a shiny new Chipotle.

That's OK. The folks who come to Baja Fresh probably want two things that Chiptole can't provide: a more familiar fast-food ordering experience, and a bit more choice.

Chicken Bonz: Fried stuff done (mostly) right

In the Great American Desert, where I hail from, the name in chicken wings is Buffalo Wild Wings, and when we moved here, it was with sadness that the first time the wings craving hit, I learned that Eugene didn't HAVE a BWW. It's not a craving that hits often, but at the start of the summer, one of the crappy Mexican fast food places on Franklin went toes up, and not long after the "Coming Soon: Chicken Bonz" sign went up.

(I admit it: we made fun of the spelling. We still don't pronounce it the way they probably want us to.)

I looked them up on the Internets and learned that this was another location for a restaurant located in Springfield, and we went that night to the original metro-area location over in Other Town to try it out.

I like it. It's really quite a bit like BWW, for those of you have been there. They seem to be a franchise, so you can do this in college towns all over the country, but most importantly, now you can do it half a block from the law school side of campus. So, what makes that so great?

First of all, the french fries are always amazing and crisp. They're the long skinny fries, pretty far removed from a slice of potato, but you didn't come here for health food, right? The chicken is available on the bone or off it, but one of the few remnants of my foray into the land of vegetarians is that I don't do meat (especially chicken) on the bone. So I've only ever had the boneless wings, but it's always been fresh and juicy, and whoever works the fryer at the Eugene location has a slightly better way with the deep fat fryer than the guys in Springfield. You can have an assortment of sauces or rubs as flavoring; I'm partial to the medium wing sauce with copious ranch dressing from the condiment bar. G has taken to mixing up honey with Melinda's hot sauce from the bar, and using that as his dip for chicken.

They have a variety of sizes, from the Small Appetite 3 pieces, fries, and a drink, to the daunting 12.95 All-you-can-eat Special. A few weeks ago, we saw a couple of Ducks football players attempting to get their money's-worth from that deal: they were still eating when we left, on basket number 4 each. (Total? A shocking 20 wings, at least...)




Hours:

Monday		11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday		11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday		11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday		11:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Friday		11:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Saturday		11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday		12:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: 1535 Franklin Blvd, Eugene, or 1815 Pioneer Pkwy E, Springfield.