Stage 14: Nerv

At Justin's suggestion, we moved the final stage from Kabuki to Nerv. Nerv is a chic little restaurant in Blacksburg (one of the primary reasons to make it last, we wanted to end in Blacksburg). The food is also the most expensive on the tour. Allegedly, it was also the most delicious.



This did indeed prove to be the case, as Joe, Justin, and I all the Chesapeake Fillet and Crabcake thingy. Served in some sort of reduced wine sauce, it was fantastic.



Megan got a lobster with raviolli and scallops. It was so much food that everyone had a little bit.



Gavin got beef stroganoff (not very photogenic) which he liked alot. Mario downed a 16oz prime rib that looked very very tasty.



The service was impeccable, the waiter even offered to take the final picture for us before I could ask him to. The final event of the Tour of Blacksburg 2005 was defineatly the best. I couldn't have asked for better food or better company.

Day of Rest

Today was a day of rest, though, we can't go completely without practice, so we took a quick hop by The Boston Beanery for a bite before the evenings festivities (video games and poker).

Stage 13: Mike's Grill

To Mike's Grill we go for Mike's Famous Burgers. They have good calzones and pizza (so I've heard), but they aren't Mike's Famous Calzones or Mike's Famous Pizzas. Burgers are why you go to Mike's.



Burgers like these. According to a recent Collegiate Times article, they are served upside down because there is more bread on the top of the bun, more bread sops up more juice, and thus more flavor is retained. The meat for the burgers is ground on site by one of the two owners. A secret bend of spices is added. One of the two owners also cooks every burger. Mike's closes when neither of them are around to cook the burgers. Either way, when you are looking for the best burger in Blacksburg, Mike's is the place to go.



It would appear that Mario ate some of the bun, breaking his diet, but there is no evidence in this photo that it is actually him. He gets away on a technicality.

Stage 12: Backstreet's Pizza & Restaurant

The second italian place on the tour is also the most delicious. Backstreet's serves awesome stromboli and deep dish pizza. It is always more food than one person can handle, so we just take part back home with us.



This is one of the huge strombolis that Justin and I ordered.



Gavin got an entire deep dish pizza to himself and then ate half a slice.



Is this Mario facing the temptation of getting off his diet?

A look back: Kabuki

Kabuki is one of the more fancy places on our tour. As such, it's a place we often visit for birthdays or other special occasions, and not just because we want some good food. If you're just looking for this style food and not necessarily a nice dinner out, I highly recommend Kobe, a 'fast food' version of Kabuki that is a good deal cheaper. Yet, for the tour we intended to only visit the best of the best, so Kabuki it is.

Dinner at Kabuki is a full experience. You pay a price depending on the type of meat you desire and then with that comes a great deal of courses and entertainment. We begin with a bowl of miso soup and then continue on to a salad of your choice. At this point, you might also grab yourselves an order of sushi, which I highly recommend if you are a sushi fan. After you finish your soup, salad and sushi, then the real entertainment begins.

This is when the trained chef pull up his cart full of meat and spices and turns on the grill. As you can view in the pictures below, all of the cooking happens right there in front of you. A word of warning, at this point you recieve the two small bowls of the sauce that you use for dipping your food. A ginger sauce and one other darker sauce I can't recall. Pay attention when the chef tells you what sauce goes for what types of meat. Between the sauce selection, chopstick use and the upcoming shrimp catching, it's easy to get embarassed at a Kabuki dinner, so it's best to stay on the top of your game the whole time.

The chef then begins cooking the various foods that you will be eating this evening. We've got onions and some sort of green vegetable cooked up with sesame and soy sauce. There's also a shrimp appetizer for all at this point. Then, at last, the chef begins cooking the meats you selected. Filet, shrimp, scallops or chicken, it's all quite delicious. Cooked to your preference and tossed on your plate.

Finally, we end with some leeks - which I dislike quite a great deal but ask for anyway - and the chef attempts to toss shrimp into your mouths. Catching the shrimp is quite an honor, and most of us have perfected our shrimp catching technique. Open your mouth wide, lean back a little and dive inward to catch the shrimp. It's really a game of reflexes and mouth-eye coordination. I suggest practicing at home with some food to make sure your succeed.

Throughout all of this cooking, the chef will continously toss bad jokes at you with reckless abandon. Regardless of whether you've heard the jokes a thousand times, it is your obligation to laugh at them. It's like a tip, you have to give them laughs no matter how bad it was.

In the end, Kabuki is an excellent place to visit with a group of your friends if you're looking for good food and entertainment. We've visited there with family and friends on numerous occasions, and for those in Blacksburg who haven't been there yet, be sure to use the next birthday or holiday as an excuse to get some Kabuki.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
Mikado Meal (Filet Mignon and Shrimp)
Hokie Rolls Sushi (It's not really sushi since they use chicken, but it's still good)
Ginger Dressing Salad (Completes the experience)

Stage 11: Kabuki

Ah, yes, Kabuki, the second foray out of Blacksburg. Kabuki is one of those Japanese Teppanyaki grill type places. Of all restaurants of that style that I have eaten at, Kabuki is my favorite.



The chef's are always entertaining. They make horrible puns and set 'volcanoes' of onions on fire.



The most entertaining thing is when they flip shrimp into the mouths of customers. It was quite tough to photograph.



Mario did get hit in the face with one though.



They also overcharge for things like a slice of birthday cake with a photo. If you ever want to pay 3 bucks for a cheap polaroid photo, come to one of these type of restaurants. Otherwise, bring your own camera.

A look back: Souvlaki's

Souvlaki's is probably for me personally one of the places that holds the most memories. The people there know my name and are able to get my order for me without asking. It's kinda like Cheers, only with gyros instead of beer.

My history at Souvlaki's stems back to the summer I spent down here in Blacksburg. I worked at the bookstore selling computers to freshmen, and thus had very little time to take for lunch. As a result, I had to go somewhere nearby that was cheap, good, and not horribly unhealthy. I eventually settled on Souvlaki's as my regular meal location. While some of the other restaraunts in Blacksburg may know my name, the staff at Souvlaki's without a doubt know me best. I'm going to have to say goodbye to them this summer. I'll fight back the tears. In addition, Souvlaki's is also the place where I personally had my first legal drink, a single bottle of beer before my Public Speaking class.

Well, enough of my personal Souvlaki's history, lets move on to the food there. As you can see in the pictures below, Souvlaki's contains a cone of spiced lamb and beef meat that is somehow the most delicious meat that I have ever tasted. If you are going there, you owe it yourself to get that meat, whether on a Philly Cheese Steak or on a Gyros plate or Gyros pita. I recommend the Gyros pita, as their pitas also are quite good. They then add on a strange cucumber sauce and lettuce and wrap it all up. A word of warning, as their shirts say, peel it back, don't unwrap. Otherwise, you will be laughed at.

Beyond the spiced meats, Souvlaki's is also a good place to get a normal sub, as they toast the sub up just right. If you have a fear of the spiced meat, a turkey sub is a good stand-in. A pita with cheese is also required for any meal.

The final thing that few people know about Souvlaki's is that they have very good prices on pitchers of beer. A pitcher of Amber-Boch for 5.50? Can't beat that deal.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
Gyros (Wrapped up in a pita and incredible)
Philly Cheese Steak (The spiced lamb meat melted together with cheese)
Turkey Sub (Toasted to perfection)
Pita with cheese
Beer (As mentioned above, pitchers are well-priced)

Stage 10: Souvlaki's

Mmmmmm. Delicious Greek food.



Souvlaki's makes its own gyro meat which is the staple of most of what they serve. The cone of meat thing is what keeps it not rotting I think, but for all I know it could make it tastetastic too.



We all got the famous cheese steak sandwiches (with gyro meat instead of steak), except Justin, who got an actual gyro. They also have good mozarella cheese pitas to hold you over while the food is cooking.



Souvlaki's is also home to the football graveyard. Every year they put headstones over a sand grave up for each team VT football beats. This year, we would have been undefeated if not for some horrible officiating and poor kicking.



The last three games of the year were some of the most fun to go to / watch on TV. The Maryland game was a fantastic ass whooping.

A look back: PK's

PK's is a place that serves a dual purpose to us. It first functions as a place to get good cheap pizza. It second functions as a bar to drink pitcher upon pitcher of beer at. It excels in both of these functions.

As stated in the post below, the proper time to go to PK's for pizza is on a Thursday from 5-Midnight. Grab a bunch of pizzas, then pray the coin makes them free. Be sure to debate amongst the group beforehand whether you will share in whatever profits you happen to get from free pizzas or laugh at those who do not get a free pizza. I recommend sharing the profits, but the thrill of getting your entire meal free is enticing.

In terms of its bar capabilities, PK's has a few good deals going on at all times. They've got dollar Miller high lifes which Joe and I enjoy having with our pizza, and then they have cheap pitchers of beer, as do most places downtown. It's always unknown when PK's transforms from 'restaurant' to 'bar', but it takes place at some point during the night. PK's is normally not the place we start drinking, but it's often the place we end up drinking. Our normal drinking course when we go downtown runs Hokie House -> Underground -> PK's. Not sure why PK's is our final destination, but it seems to happen that way.

So whether you want possibly free pizza or cheap beer and pool, PK's is there for you downtown. Oh, and get feta on pizza. It sounds disgusting, but it's incredibly good.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
Pizza (Feta and Pepperoni is my favorite combo)
Beer (Pitchers and dollar High Lifes)

Stage 9: PK's

Thursday's at PK's are Tijauna Toss Thursday's, meaning, they flip a coin for each 16" pizza you buy and if it is heads, you get it free. Due to Cinco de Drinko activities, it was rather calm for a Thursday night. Gavin, Justin, Joe, and I had a pretty good dinner. Joe and Justin got a 16" pepperoni and feta pizza and Gavin and I split a 16" pepperoni and mushroom.



Half way through dinner, Justin got a phone call. This was Joe's reaction to the conversation, which went something like this:

Justin: "Hello"
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "Ok."
Caller: "..."
Justin: "bye"



As Justin said earlier, the Tour's repuation is preceeding us. In addition to winning one of the free pizza's, Gavin and my sodas were not included on the bill. Sweet.

A look back: Five Guys

Ah, Five Guys. This was a place originally founded back near DC, but it has since migrated throughout this state and others due to how delicious their burgers are. It's name comes from the fact that five brothers were offered the chance to either go to college or found a restaurant with their parents money. Luckily for us, they decided to found a restaurant.

This place only makes three things - burgers, hot dogs, and fries. But it needs make no more. The burgers are enormous, one reason our carb-phobic friend Mario appreciates going there, and you can choose any amount of toppings to toss down on that thing. You can't truly appreciate these burgers unless you load them up with toppings - they basically smash the toppings in there with your patties, somehow strap a bun on there, and then wrap it up in tin foil so none of the flavor escapes. I, for example, get grilled onions, mushrooms, bacon, cheese, lettuce, ketchup and mayo on my burger. It just makes the meal.

The second element of Five Guys are the giant pile of fries they give you with each meal. You recieve your burger in a big paper bag, and they fill up that bag the rest of the way with fries. Just about every time I've gone there we've brought fries home for a snack, because they give us just too damn much. Add in the fact that these fries are themselves another delicious Five Guys creation and it just completes the meal.

How do they make their fries and burgers so delicious? I have no clue. Fresh ingredients? Addictive drugs? Special cooking techniques? Honestly, I don't really care. I'm just going to enjoy the food while until a doctor tells me I shouldn't. Which leads me to my only warning. This food never even approaches healthy. Mario eats it on his 'diet', but anyone else who enjoys eating healthy should avoid this place at all costs. Luckily, most of us don't really care about 'healthy' foods.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
Bacon Cheeseburger (fully loaded)
Fries

Stage 8: Five Guys (Burgers and Fries)

Cheap stop number 2: Five Guys. We eat here alot. They have good burgers, wonderful fries, and tastey hotdogs.



I had a picture of mario eating his bun free low-carb burger, but it was too dusgusting to put up. Patrick and his ball-and-chain happened to stop by though. So here is Patrick, making a guest appearance on the tour.

A look back: El Rodeo

Have you ever been to a cheap Mexican restaurant? Then you've been to El Rodeo. I swear, they must have a Mexican restaurant factory somewhere in America that just ships them out with some prepackaged Mexican sounding name. Of the three Mexican places around Tech, they all have the same menu and essentially the same food. For Mexican places, there are two things that set them apart from one another. The quality of their free tortilla chips and the quality of their margaritas.

Luckily for El Rodeo, they win on both these counts. Their chips and salsa are good, to the point where we end up finishing a few baskets off before the food gets there, forcing us to gorge oursleves to finish the food we've ordered. The endless debate between salted and unsalted always continues, but we are united behind the chips themselves.

The El Rodeo margaritas are also quite good, as you can see from the pictures. One word of warning, get your margarita jumbo, salted and unfrozen. Apparently they assume you want a frozen margarita, and attempting to drink a jumbo frozen margarita is like trying to drink a big gulp full of very cold slurpee in ten minutes. The pictures below show how painful the exercise becomes. I think my core temperature dropped about 10 degrees over the course of the drink.

I think the reason that El Rodeo's margaritas are so good is that at one point they had the reputation of being the place where they didn't check IDs. It has changed its ways as of recently, I'm guessing due to prosecution, but the good margaritas haven't changed.

On the plus side, I think the reputation of the Tour is preceeding us. Much like at The Cellar where we recieved free beer, El Rodeo provided my jumbo margarita free of charge. We should do this more often. I'm trying to encourage Russ to pretend he's from the Collegiate Times with his giant camera so we can get entire meals free. We'll see how that goes.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
A Number One (Two enchiladas, rice and a taco)
A Number Five (Two enchiladas, rice and beans)
Jumbo Margarita (Limey and delicious - NOT FROZEN)
Chips and Salsa (Too much)

Gavin
Uno Numero Uno - Ditto
Fried Ice Cream - I know it's just vanilla ice cream with rice crispies on top. But let me live the lie, damnit!

Russ
3 Soft Tacos - Simple, safe (kinda, dont ask whats in the meat).
Chips and Salsa - I could eat that all night.

Stage 7: El Rodeo

Or El Rod's in the popular vernacular. One of a few mexican places in blacksburg. They all have the same menu, so we just went to the usual one.



The staff here are quite friendly and thought the tour was a good idea.



This place is best known for its huge jumbo margarita's. Justin has killed these before, so no idea why this was such a daunting task.



He complained about the cold the whole time.



But finally conquered.

A look back: Double Dragon

I've never been to Double Dragon. I never plan to go. Take out Chinese just isn't my thing. Someone else should really 'look back' on this one.

The tour's recommended meals

Justin
Eat somewhere else (Seriously)

Russ
General Tso's Chicken - Justin has no idea what he is talking about. It is the only spicy General Tso's in town.

Gavin
Chicken Lo Mein - I agree Justin is full of it. Chicken lo mein for $5? Sign me up!