- Joined
- May 11, 2010
- Messages
- 20,558
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
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Snorting his way across the USA
Backdrop...
The cervezas are flowing. Carolina just showed up with another basket of tortilla chips and a couple more stoneware dishes of that habanero salsa that is soooooo good. Miguel is in the back deep frying the carnitas chimichangas which will be topped with some melted cheese and chilis. By the way that stoneware dish looks suspiciously like an ash tray. I'm not exactly sure what the four half cylindrical indents on the lip are for, in the context of a salsa dish. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is an ashtray. I saw the same ones sitting on the tables outside in the smoking section. Whatever, as long as they don't all go in the same dishwasher. Then again the salsa does have an odd aftertaste reminiscent of Kool filtered's.
Stop, just stop. These chips are addictive, but don't fill up on chips. Never fill up on chips. Wait for dinner, and if you're still hungry, then by all means have more chips. Plus, the salsa, that is going to go GREAT on the chimis.
Fast forward. I don't think today, in California, you can even find restaurants with smoking areas anymore. Maybe you can. It's been a long time since I've seen one. But, an odd trend has been popping up all over the place. There is a chain, called Wing Stop, which sells, predictably, wings. And onion rings and some other kinds of appetizers too. But that's it. Just appetizers. No "Food" with a capital F, just appetizers. They have one a block away from the house. Now they are putting another one in next to the gym, which is two blocks from the house. Two specialty oddball appetizer chains a block away from each other, and the only fast food within a five mile radius is a single McDonald's.
Here's the thing. I'm not anti-appetizer. I just generally don't eat them, as I prefer to hold out for the "real" food. Steaks. Ribs. Hamburgers. I mean don't get me wrong, you throw some ribs out there as an appetizer, I'll be all over those bad boys. And it's not like I don't like wings. Sure, I'll chow down on those. And yeah, if I'm having a few drinks at the bar, a plate of shared appetizers is welcome. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going Hitlarian on appetizers.
I simply don't understand the whole concept of having a place (which I believe is strictly an order and pick up venue, I can't imagine they have inside seating but I don't know, I've never been in one) that only, solely, serves appetizers. I don't get it. I mean obviously it's a successful venue and enough people patronize the chain that they are expanding, but, I still don't get it.
Let's say I'm hosting, say a Superbowl party. There will be appetizers yes. But there's also going to be pizza, beer, burgers, ribs, tri-tip, whatever, but it's going to be real food. I'll pick up the appetizers when I get the meat and the pizza and the sides. I'm not going to make a separate stop at a wing place to get wings. I can get them at Costco and nuke them or warm them up or whatever. Conversely, let's say I'm picking up something for lunch. Or dinner. And I want to eat light. The last thing I want is appetizers. I want real food. Maybe just one or two burgers.
One night of drinking with the business associates really irked me. Well it irked a couple of us. The plan was to have drinks and order some dinner. We went to some upscale yuppy dance club which had drinks and a menu, but it turned out they didn't actually do dinner service, just appetizers. They just kept ordering plates of appetizers. No thank you, I'm holding out for dinner. More appetizers. No dinner. I'm starved. We're stuffed. Bye, see you guys tomorrow. Yeah. Don and I headed over to the seafood place and stuffed ourselves with shrimp, grilled salmon and oysters. And more scotch. And damn straight it went on the expense report.
What's the fascination with these wing joints? I'm not dissing them or the people that use them, I just don't get it. They seem to be a place that can only partially fulfill a mission, and not even the main one.
The cervezas are flowing. Carolina just showed up with another basket of tortilla chips and a couple more stoneware dishes of that habanero salsa that is soooooo good. Miguel is in the back deep frying the carnitas chimichangas which will be topped with some melted cheese and chilis. By the way that stoneware dish looks suspiciously like an ash tray. I'm not exactly sure what the four half cylindrical indents on the lip are for, in the context of a salsa dish. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is an ashtray. I saw the same ones sitting on the tables outside in the smoking section. Whatever, as long as they don't all go in the same dishwasher. Then again the salsa does have an odd aftertaste reminiscent of Kool filtered's.
Stop, just stop. These chips are addictive, but don't fill up on chips. Never fill up on chips. Wait for dinner, and if you're still hungry, then by all means have more chips. Plus, the salsa, that is going to go GREAT on the chimis.
Fast forward. I don't think today, in California, you can even find restaurants with smoking areas anymore. Maybe you can. It's been a long time since I've seen one. But, an odd trend has been popping up all over the place. There is a chain, called Wing Stop, which sells, predictably, wings. And onion rings and some other kinds of appetizers too. But that's it. Just appetizers. No "Food" with a capital F, just appetizers. They have one a block away from the house. Now they are putting another one in next to the gym, which is two blocks from the house. Two specialty oddball appetizer chains a block away from each other, and the only fast food within a five mile radius is a single McDonald's.
Here's the thing. I'm not anti-appetizer. I just generally don't eat them, as I prefer to hold out for the "real" food. Steaks. Ribs. Hamburgers. I mean don't get me wrong, you throw some ribs out there as an appetizer, I'll be all over those bad boys. And it's not like I don't like wings. Sure, I'll chow down on those. And yeah, if I'm having a few drinks at the bar, a plate of shared appetizers is welcome. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going Hitlarian on appetizers.
I simply don't understand the whole concept of having a place (which I believe is strictly an order and pick up venue, I can't imagine they have inside seating but I don't know, I've never been in one) that only, solely, serves appetizers. I don't get it. I mean obviously it's a successful venue and enough people patronize the chain that they are expanding, but, I still don't get it.
Let's say I'm hosting, say a Superbowl party. There will be appetizers yes. But there's also going to be pizza, beer, burgers, ribs, tri-tip, whatever, but it's going to be real food. I'll pick up the appetizers when I get the meat and the pizza and the sides. I'm not going to make a separate stop at a wing place to get wings. I can get them at Costco and nuke them or warm them up or whatever. Conversely, let's say I'm picking up something for lunch. Or dinner. And I want to eat light. The last thing I want is appetizers. I want real food. Maybe just one or two burgers.
One night of drinking with the business associates really irked me. Well it irked a couple of us. The plan was to have drinks and order some dinner. We went to some upscale yuppy dance club which had drinks and a menu, but it turned out they didn't actually do dinner service, just appetizers. They just kept ordering plates of appetizers. No thank you, I'm holding out for dinner. More appetizers. No dinner. I'm starved. We're stuffed. Bye, see you guys tomorrow. Yeah. Don and I headed over to the seafood place and stuffed ourselves with shrimp, grilled salmon and oysters. And more scotch. And damn straight it went on the expense report.
What's the fascination with these wing joints? I'm not dissing them or the people that use them, I just don't get it. They seem to be a place that can only partially fulfill a mission, and not even the main one.