Viva, Las Vegas

Greetings, Readers!

Of all of the places I've visited over the past few years of working on this blog, one of the closest and most notable places that I've missed has been Las Vegas.

Years ago I had an interesting experience in Vegas while stuck in town after missing my connecting flight back to Los Angeles. It's a time I laugh about, but has no place here in a food blog as something terrible happened.

I ate at McDonalds.

I know, I know! But I was stuck in a terrible motel off of the Strip and needed something to eat while waiting for my flight in the morning. Forgive me!

This time around though, the visit was much better. Joining me were a number of friends for bachelor weekend and for Saturday lunch we headed to a place on the strip called Twin Peaks.

In the same vein as Hooters, I'm sure you can now figure out why the place is called Twin Peaks, this place serves up a lot of 'man-food' which amounts to hearty pub-style sandwiches and dishes.

Wanted to kick the day off with a full stomach, I went for the Hangover Burger, a thick all-beef patty topped with a fried egg, American cheese, bacon, red onions, mayo, lettuce and tomatoes. This burger may scream out breakfast to you, but really it's a great sandwich for any time of day. As I've said in some previous burger posts, I've become a huge fan of fried eggs on top of a burger. The change in flavor as well as texture is a welcome addition to the burger.

Topping this off with the fresh flavors of crisp lettuce, tomatoes and red onions was a nice contrast to the meaty patty, thick cut bacon and the the greasy fried egg. All combined though with the thick burger bun, this is definitely a sandwich that can fill you up or get you back into fighting shape after a night of drinking in Vegas.

My main complain here is the American cheese. We really need to have to move past this cheese as an option on a standout sandwich. It's nearly flavorless compared to many of its dairy brethren. A cheddar cheese would have worked much better here and provided an added flavor that would have been much appreciated.

Overall, this time my experience was significantly better in Vegas than last. I have this burger and plenty of friends to thank for that.

Until next week, Readers...


The Hangover Burger
**** Stars
Twin Peaks
3717 Las Vegas Blvd.
Ste. 285
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Turning Up The Heat With Some BBQ

Greetings, Readers!

Hopefully you all had an excellent Labor Day weekend of pool parties, relaxing, and barbecues.

And maybe a little less heat and humidity than us here in Los Angeles.

It's a rare day indeed when escaping north to Santa Clarita means a break from the stifling heat that was in LA, but this past weekend I went to meet with my friend Justin for a day of comic booking and sandwiching in his hometown.

With the Labor Day holiday in mind, we headed to Rattler's Bar B Cue, a local restaurant with a deep love of good, home-cooked barbecue food.

Everything on the menu looked appealing and I even originally thought I would order a plate of Tri Tip instead of a sandwich, but I finally settled on a good ol' BBQ standard: a Pulled Pork Sandwich.

The thin strands of pork were so incredibly tender and juicy that every bite just melted in your mouth. The barbecue sauce added was exceptionally flavorful with contributions of smoky and tangy flavors. You can tell good barbecue when there is a wide range of flavors attacking your taste buds. Hidden beneath the smoky and tangy flavors, there were light sensations of sweet and spice as well. All blended together for an excellent experience..

Every table is also equipped with a jar of more barbecue sauce that can be used to douse anything you want. In my case, the Fire Fries were covered in the sauce, as well as my sandwich halves.

Let's be honest with ourselves: you can really never have enough barbecue flavoring, right?

I also ordered the sandwich Southern Style, which included a helping of sweet cole slaw on top of the piled-high pulled pork. The crunchy and sweet slaw contrasted well with the tender and smoky pork to create a wonderful experience of competing flavors. I'm sure the sandwich tastes well enough without it, but the addition of cole slaw makes it top notch.

While the French bread roll isn't anything to write home about, it did stay together well until the end, and was an excellent tool to soak up more of the table-side barbecue sauce.

The Fire Fries also come as advertised. I had imagined some spice would accompany this side because of the name, but I was fairly surprised by how much heat each fry provided. If you plan on eating the entire side, I recommend that you be someone who truly enjoys some heat.

Overall, my experience at Rattler's was an incredibly enjoyable one. The meal was top notch BBQ, and the delicious table side garlic rolls and drinks in mason jars added to the enjoyment of the meal.

So that was my Labor Day sandwiching adventure with delicious barbecue. What sandwiches did you have at barbecues this holiday weekend?

Until next week, Readers...


Pulled Pork Sandwich
**** Stars
Rattler's Bar B Cue
26495 Golden Valley Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91351
http://www.rattlersbbq.com