A look back: Mongolian Grill

Mongolian Grill is a rather scary place. Imagine if you shoved a chinese buffet together with a place that serves excellent grilled spiced meats and made it all available for one low price. If you guess that you'd eat way too much and contemplate throwing up on the ride back, then you'd be right.

Essentially, that is the way a meal at Mongolian Grill works. We don't eat hardly anything for a while. We drive the 20 something minute drive over. We eat a giant bowl of meat, noodles and vegetables that get cooked in front of you. Then we eat a wide variety of delicious Chinese buffet items such as bacon-wrapped crab, cheese sticks and pudding. Then we quickly head home and think about throwing up the entire way.

Despite this vicious cycle that you get put in by joining a trip to Mongolian Grill, we all do it willingly each time we head out there. Gathering a bowl of meat, noodles and veggies together and handing it to some man to cook it in front of you is a quite satisfying experience. It's the modern man's equivilent of being a hunter/gatherer. Then you stare at this meat being whirled around this strange circular grill while your desire to jump the bar and kill the man so you can get the meats he is wrongly keeping from you grow. Finally, you go back and feast on your kill, devouring every little spiced and soft piece of the bowl.

It's an experience not to be missed, if only because once you finish the bowl you'll find yourself inexplicably getting up and getting more food from the bar because you just can't resist it. Bacon-wrapped crab is not a treat to be missed. Then you finish off the meal with a fortune cookie, which provides ample chance to insult one another. Mine was - "You are a straightforward and honest person." Everyone concluded my career in politics was over before it started.

EDIT: Gavin fights like a little girl and it was necessary to whip him upside the head to teach him a lesson. Just to clear the record.

DOUBLE EDIT: Justin fights like a little girl and it was necessary to fight fire with fire, so to speak.

The tour's recommended foods

Justin
Pork, Chicken, Beef, Zucchini, Onions, 3 kinds of spices (all in one bowl)
Bacon-wrapped crab
Sushi
Pudding (the perfect end to a heart killing meal)

Gavin
Mongolian Grill - Add raw meat, vegetables, and sauces. Don't forget to cook before ingesting.
Honey Bread - Ancient Chinese recipe.

Russ
Mongolian Grill - Beef, Dark Meat Chicken, Pork, Zuchinni, Snow Peas, Broccoli, Bamboo Chutes, Water Chestnuts, and those little baby corn things. Scheszuan Sauce and Garlic. Then cook it (or have the circle walking guy do it).
Those Chinese Donut Things - A staple at all chinese buffets, but good everywhere you go.

A look back: Boudreaux's

To start off, Boudreaux's is not for the faint of heart. It's a cajun-themed place and as such, to truly enjoy the food you must enjoy what is spicey. The soups, the sandwiches, the meals - most of them are quite spicey, yet also quite delicious. Assuming you're looking for such an experience, Boudreaux's is the place for you. We came a little bit late to the game for Boudreaux's, not discovering it until this year. But Gavin and I insisted it be added to the tour based on our experience there.

Going to Boudreaux's, you have to know what they're famous for. The first thing is Po Boy sandwiches, basically these wonderful baguette creations that are loaded up with your choice of meat and some cajun mayeaux, of which I am quite partial to. Some other notable dishes are their blackened burger and chicken meals, which are seared with a brilliant array of cajun spices, and also their gator bites. The gator bites are mainly there to provide a talking point, as if you didn't know better you could be eating chicken fingers. Once again, dip them in the cajun mayeaux, you won't be disappointed.

The second aspect of Boudreaux's that is great to try is their collection of beers from Belgium, which are often discounted depending on the night you go. Grab yourself a large amount of these things for you and your friends and drink up. I'm quite partial to the Corsendonk Brown myself.

Boudreaux's is a little different than most places around Blacksburg, but I've found it can fill that little niche for something spicy that we often get a craving for.

The tour's meal recommendations

Justin
Blackened Bleu Burger (Seared with spices and topped with bleu cheese and mayeaux)
Gumbo Ya-Ya (Andouille sausage and chicken make this spicy soup excellent)
Corsendonk Brown Beer (As stated above, this is one of the few times I'll go for more expensive beer, but it's worth it)

Gavin
Alligator Bites - Spicy and vaguely chicken-like. For all I know they could be chicken nuggets with cajun spices, but still damn good.
Gumbo Ya-Ya - Excellent pre-dinner for those who enjoy a little meat in their soup... no innuendo intended.
Crawdad Po-Boy - I think the picture above says it all... delicious

Russ
Alligator Bites - Tastes just like chicken, a novelty, but good none-the-less.
Crawfish Po' Boy - Only thing i've had there, but quite good.

A look back: The Cellar

Ah, what can I say about The Cellar. Not very much actually. Last night was the first night I've actually eaten there, though I have been in there several times for drinking related events.

However, the Cellar will remain famous to me for two reasons. First, apparently this place has been around forever. This is the place my Dad used to go every week for a pizza and a pitcher of beer when he attended Tech thirty something years ago. They paid 2 bucks for this wonderful deal. We paid 12 bucks, but it's still a good deal. How much things change and how much they stay the same.

The other claim to fame for the Cellar is that it remains the favored drinking location of one Brad Kelley, Philosophy Student/Professor extrodinare. Brad's one of those guys who decided he loved being at college and therefore never left. He vows never to get married, he drinks all of the week, and he refuses to have classes before noon. In sum, if you ever have a chance to take a class with this guy, jump on it, you won't regret the easy A coupled with wonderful entertainment from a guy who knows what he's talking about. Plus, you might get a free pitcher of beer.

Speaking of beer. Last night we ordered three pitchers of beer. We were charged for one pitcher of beer. So I have come to the conclusion that the cellar and its serving staff are the best in the world.

The Tour's recommended Cellar meals

Justin
Feta Calzone (With the topping of your choice - enormous and delicious)
Cellar Meatballs (When they aren't dropped in my beer)
Beer (By the pitcher, three for the price of one!)

Russ
Chicken Combo Pizza - Choose two toppings. (Mushrooms and Pepperoni was good)
Newcastle and Woodchuck On tap and taste-tastic

Gavin
Spaghetti and Mac Daddy Meatballs (bigger than your fist and delicious to the core)
Garlic Bread (as anti-Atkins as they come)
Newcastle Dark Ale (i have a new-found respect for the British... limey bastards)

A look back: B-dubs

Ah, Buffalo Wild Wings, inexplicably shortened to BW3's and affectionally called B-Dubs by those 'in the know.' Land of the happy hour that lasts from noon to nine. Land of the wings that can make you cry if you're man enough to order them - an interesting irony to be sure. But most importantly, it is the land of 'the game.'

Our memories of BW3's are less from the food than from the entertainment. While it is true that buffalo wings are delicious, the wings always stand a distant second to what's on the TV screens. At most times, we are focused on one of the various trivia games that are up and running. If you're entering BW3's for the first time, grab one of the little computers that look like a speak-n-spell and begin the march up the Player's Plus ladder to become one of the elite.

Unfortunately, at most times these trivia games do not test your knowledge of trivia. Science, history, geography or literature - the category does not matter. These games are a test of your ability to successfully guess at questions on which you have perhaps a vague idea of what they are talking about. Despite this, at one point Bryan cheated by changing Mario's answer at the last second to knock him out of the lead. Mario still hasn't forgiven him, I'm sure. We take it very seriously. The winners are lauded for their cunning and ability. The losers are chided for their stupidity. At BW3's, the trivia game ranks your worth as a human being.

The other facet of BW3's numerous TVs are the many sporting events that we have watched there over the years. However, after watching us lose in Basketball and in the Sugar Bowl in the last year, I have come to the conclusion that B-dubs is a cursed place that only brings shame on the Hokie nation. So unless an exorcism is performed, I cannot reccommend watching Hokie sporting events there.

Come for the wings, stay for the trivia, leave at halftime in anger during sporting events. Good old BW3's.

The tour's recommended BW3's meals

Justin
Wings, Legs, Boneless Wings (Mild and Hot - if you're man enough to cry in front of your friends that is)
Chicken Wrapper (Comes with your choice of wing sauce as well as chips and salsa)
Cheese Fries (Because chicken is too damn healthy)
Beer (23 ounces are 75 cents off at Happy Hour)

Gavin
Boneless Wings w/ Teriyaki/Spicy Garlic sauce (best way to describe them are chicken nuggets on crack and twice as addictive)
Cheese Fries (every time I visit this place, my cholesterol and IQ swap a point)
Woodchuck on tap (so how much wood could a woodchuck chuck? go to hell)

Mario (Low Carb)
Legs - they're just half a dollar on Wednesdays and you can easily fit 10-12 in you.
A warm glass of...- CHILL THE FUCK OUT.

Russ
Boneless Wings - Medium, Hot, Sweet BBQ, Hot BBQ
50 Cent Legs - Medium, Sweet BBQ. Get extras and take them home, they are cheap.
Newcastle Brown Ale - On tap and delicious.

A look back: Macado's

Well well, the journey begins... without me. Yes, I was incommunicado last night so I missed the beginning of the tour, but I'll be back tonight. Despite missing tonight's event, I still wanted to take this opportunity to recount some memories and random thoughts about Macado's. Hopefully this will continue for each of our stops.

Probably everyone's got a Macado's type place no matter where you are. They serve good sandwiches, have great drink specials and have an obscene amount of goofy shit on the walls. So how has Macado's become a mainstay of our diet over the years? Well there's this dip. A delicious cheesy dip. While some of us argue for black bean and others for salsa, we are all in agreement that the cheese dips are a necessary component of a sucessful Macado's meal. From the times where Bryan attempted to claim the entire hard cheese topping of the dip, to the times where we have had two people alone split the dip, to today where Mario eats the dip with a spoon as an attempt to stay on a low carb diet, the cheese dips have been an everpresent part of our college career.

The second claim to fame that Macado's has is that it has become the location where half of us turned 21 and had our first legal drink. On my 21st birthday, I walked in with a giant sign around my neck that had '21' on it, which quickly had balloons tied to it until it floated upwards and attempted to choke me. We've had birthdays where people have ran the gamut on drink specials, trying every strange drink they have on sale that night, to the simpler birthdays, where Joe and I split three pitchers of beer. Either way, Macado's has been a great place for us to celebrate the big old two-one.

(Russ): Macado's is also one of the best places to grab lunch before a football game, we've never had problems being seated, even with huge groups.

The tour's recommended Macado's meals

Justin
Black Bean Cheese Dip
Dietrich's Delight - Bacon, Turkey, Ham, Cheese on a Toasted Bagel
Buffalo Wings (25 cents each on Monday!)
Beer (a lot)

Russ
Salsa Con Queso (Justin's Spanish ain't up to par)
The Johnee Dee - Grilled Chicken, Pepperoni, and Provolone on a Toasted Bagel
Chicken Parmesan Wrap - Grilled Chicken Strips, Provolone, and Lettuce in a Wrap (I get it without the parmesan pepper dressing, but others seem to like it with)

Gavin
Black Bean Cheese Dip... Con Queso
Big Daddy - double portion of sliced steak, grilled portobello mushrooms, mayo and onions with melted Swiss and American cheese (one word, delicious)
Johnee Dee (ditto)

Mario (Low Carb)
Chili - comes with chips that you probably shouldn't eat.
Broccoli n' Cheese - good starter, don't eat the bread.
Chicken Caesar Salad - big enough for dinner, supplement with a soup.

More to come..