Hot Dog Economics

I went to Doggy Style over the weekend when I had a hot dog craving.  I ordered one Dirty South, which is a chili cheese dog and one Doggyzilla which is a bratwurst with Asian toppings of seaweed, wasabi mayo, cole slaw and teriyaki sauce.  The two hot dogs and one can of soda was over $14.00.  The hot dogs were tasty, but the Dirty South didn't have a lot of chili and the dog was overwhelmed with too much bun.

For about the same price of $14, I could have purchased four chili cheese dogs (with more chili) from Der Wienerschnitzel down the street along Park.  Each of their chili cheese dog is $3.25, a bargain in comparison.

I will have to say that Doggy Style must improve their products if they are going to compete with other establishments who have much lower prices and serves about the same quality of food.

American Oak

Barceluna basically rebranded itself to the new name of American Oak.  It just re-opened not too long ago. I am not sure if Alamedans have caught on yet.  The new tag line of the restaurant is a Whiskey Bar with Rad Food specializing in wood oven pizzas.  I know that great pizzas can be produced from the wood oven because I use to buy pizzas all the time from Lucien when he owned Luciano's.   I am sure East End Pizza Co. is watching and waiting.

Poutine

I love poutine.  Poutine is a fancy French Canadian word for french fries with cheese curds and gravy on top.  The caveat is that the gravy must be a beef based brown gravy.  Americans have picked up on this Canadian dish and is now selling it in different places around the bay area.  My first notice of poutine was at the Salt House in San Francisco.  Their version was a little too heavy on the salt for me (hence the name of the restaurant).  However, I was blown away when I saw it on the menu board at Scolari's.  Initially they called it fries with cheese and gravy and somewhere down the line they picked up the Canadian term and now use it.
Scolari's does a decent job on the poutine even though they technically don't use the cheese curds.

The Cafe Jolie Experience

The former Tillie's diner had a face lift inside and out and it's now a beautiful space.  The outdoor seating along Santa Clara is great for sunny days.  The interiors have complimentary light blue and cocoa colors with a French inspiration decorum.  There are plenty of delicious baked items to select from and it's difficult to not order all of them such as the croissants, cakes, cheesecakes, and beignets. Yummy!

Cafe Jolie has been extremely busy and lines are out the door.  I couldn't even get in during a week day lunch  period.  Thank goodness the business owners brought there ideas and inspirations to the West End because the area certainly needed it.

New Hamburger in Town

I ate a really delicious hamburger at a restaurant in Alameda that I didn't think could or would put a burger on their menu.  Can you guess what place I am referring to?   The answer is Pappo.  The meat was cooked medium rare and it was juicy.  The meat had a lot of flavor and you didn't need all of the toppings such as cheese, bacon, or guacamole because the meat was tasty all on its own.

Watch out Scolari's because Pappo is gaining on your territory in the burger realm.  Another positive for Pappo is that eating in their establishment is much more comfortable compared to eating at Scolari's or Lucky 13.

A New Trend in Restaurants ... Becoming an Investor

With a weak stock market (not including tech stocks), the housing market still depressed, CA bonds are too risky, what is a person to do?  Why not become an investor in a restaurant...

A friend of mine, his father decided to become a lifetime member of a local brewery.  The guy paid $500 which gets him free beer on certain occasions, he always gets a table, never has to wait in line, and membership allows him generous discounts on food items.  Little did the restaurant know that my friend's Dad is originally from Bavaria and can drink beer like water.   He is definitely getting his value from the investment.

Daniel Patterson, owner of Coi, Plum, Plum Bar and Haven.  Daniel is banking on customers paying $500 upfront to become seat holders of Haven Restaurant.  Seat holders will get 20% discounts on food for parties up to four people for the life of the customer or restaurant, whichever ends first.  Seat holders will also receive first priority on reservations and supposedly no waiting at the bar.

I've been to Haven, the space is quite nice and it's relaxing.  Even though the food can be a bit over worked with complex techniques, the $500 would be well spent.  I can see this idea taking off in the diner scene in this town, but not for high end food.

Come and Get Your Juicy Friday Meatballs

The Friday meatballs they make at Santoro's are delicious!  You have to pre-order them or get their early on Fridays because they will sell out every week.  The store has a tendency to run out during lunch time when the high school kids order meatball sandwiches for lunch. One Friday I bought the last six chicken meatballs in red sauce.  Surprisingly there was no pork, veal or beef inside.  I was skeptical at first because when you think of chicken meatballs, flavor does not come to mind.  However, these meatballs were juicy, flavorful and fluffy.  The homemade sauce from Santoro's was also fantastic.  The red sauce was rustic with chunks of tomatoes, fresh herbs and hearty flavors.  The sauce definitely added a boost to the meatballs.

Friday meatballs are a great way to kick off any weekend.