Little Italy Offers Limo Pickup

Has anyone else out there in Blog Land noticed the older, white limo parked outside Little Italy at South 14th and Winters Freeway?

We did a little investigating for this here Dining Out blog, and found that $95 dollars will get you and your date a ride to the restaurant, dinner, and a ride home.

Do you think it's a deal?

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Abilene Gets New Mediterranean Joint

Abilene will soon be home to a new Mediterranean restaurant called "Middle East."

It is located on South 14th Street, right near our studios. It's in that shopping center next to Little Caesar's and Card & Party Factory.

The owner, who recently moved to Abilene from Iraq, will offer traditional Mediterranean cuisine, including felafels and hummus.

The owner says he's hoping to open in the next 4 to 5 days.

The Middle East restaurant will be open seven days a week from 9 am until 10 at night.

Top Rock Band Endorses Abilene Restaurant

Four-piece rock band Papa Roach has sold more than 10 million copies of it music worldwide. When the group visited Abilene for a concert Friday, members could obviously have gone anywhere...or requested anything. So what did they dine on? La Popular.

Papa Roach guitarist Jerry Horton posted the following message on his Twitter page:

"La Popular Bakery & Cafe in Abilene. Some of the best Mexican food!"

Not a bad endorsement, huh? I'm guessing Horton has had some of the best Mexican food in the country.

If you're interested, you can get all sorts of behind-the-scene details on the Papa Roach concert and trip to the Big Country from the band, crew, etc. by searching "abilene" on Twitter.

The picture you see with this blog entry was a twitterpic posted from the sound check earlier in the day Friday.

Free Whataburgers on Tuesday

What-a-deal!

Anyone who comes dressed in orange to any Big Country Whataburger will get a free Whataburger. Free. Just the way you like it.

There are a couple catches. You must wear an orange piece of clothing. Hats and accessories don't count, a press release from the company specified. You also have to be a dine-in customer. No blazing through the drive through in your jail jumpsuit.

"Orange Night Out" is part of a new company initiative called "Whataburger Serves," geared at helping customers, employees and their families. In fact, employees' family members got to eat for half price on Sunday.

Orange you glad I read through all my press releases?

Check this out, too! Great coupons from your favorite Abilene restaurants -- sit down and fast food included. http://www.discountabilene.com/Restaurants.html.

Luigi's Replaced after 5 Months...

Out with the tomato sauce, in with the sour cream.

Luigi's In-and-Out, a five-month-old pizza joint with wings and a drive-thru option, has shut down.

The old nail salon building at 3280 South 14th was remodeled and opened in June as Luigi's. The restaurant offered tasty yet inexpensive pizza, but less atmosphere than a church cafeteria. I only went there once, but my husband got Luigi's pizza to go at least once a month.

We've discovered that it's being turned into a place called Little Joe's Fajitas. The new owners applied for a certificate of occupancy last Thursday.

We'll see how this one does!

Cypress Street Brewery Open for Business

The wife and I had a chance to stop by Cypress Street Station on Halloween before "The Shining" played at Paramount. To our surprise, the Cypress Street Brewery was already open for business. They listed three brews on the menu: a blonde or pilsner, wheat, and boch-style.

When we lived in Fort Worth, Laura and I were fortunate enough to visit the Rahr Brewery for Saturday tastings. The Rahr crew has brewed numerous award-winning beers, and that made us more adventurous in always trying new beers, so we like to think we're "experts." What we discovered at Cypress wasn't amazing. It definitely wasn't bad either.

We ordered a beer flight that showcases their three brews and a fourth which was a combination of the dark and wheat beers. Each glass was probably 3 ounces and the flight ran $4.50: comprable to the price of a single beer. Here were our thoughts:
　
Pilsner: a little hoppy with a slightly bitter after taste. It seems like the flavor is okay but needs refining.

Wheat: I hate wheat beer, so I was ready for this to be bad...and it really wasn't. It tasted like a richer version of some other wheat beers I've had. I've had bad wheat beers with unpleasant aftertastes and this was not one of them.

Boch/Dark: not a lot of taste but what it has is good. This brew has some chocolate tones and was a little bitter in aftertaste.

Mixture (random fourth beer): not bad, not great. It didn't have the bitterness of some of the other beers.

Bottom line: I like having this new option in Abilene. I don't think I could drink this beer on a regular basis, but it's definitely worth the ocassional visit. If you'd like to check it out for yourself, I'd recommend the wheat or mixture.

Cypress also offers some unique beers you won't find anywhere else in town (except for H&H). My favorite choice is the Dog Fish IPA brew...talk about a hops party in your mouth!

Salad Bar Battle

When I have that "it's a salad day" feeling, three great salad bars in Abilene come to mind.

Jason's Deli, Zoo Kini's and United Supermarket on S.14th.

After filling up today at Zoo Kini's I decided to do a little comparison. But that's hard, because all three serve very different lunchtime purposes.

1. Jason's – I have to say, my best tasting salads come from Jason's because I love their dressing, the spinach and field greens are always fresh, and they have a huge variety of crunchy toppings, raisin/nut trail mix being my favorite. My taste buds are definitely most satisfied after a trip to Jason's. Breads, crackers, puddings, etc. are included in the price. However, it's often extremely crowded, and fighting a salad bar crowd is never fun. It's also extremely cold in there. Which makes me reluctant to award bonus points for free ice cream! $6.99, all you can eat.

2. Zoo Kini's – I can get the most full at the Zoo Kini's salad bar. There's a great selection of veggies that aren't necessarily just salad toppings, and you get a large variety of fruit to choose from. Try the red grapes with a bleu cheese crumble for a healthy dessert that's to die for! Bread is not included in the price (unless I'm totally missing something) but being able to make as many trips as you want, and get great service, means I always leave happy and satisfied. Of course, you don't have to tip at Jason's... oh well. $6.99, all you can eat.

3. United – Here you pay per ounce, which is handy, but can add up fast. I always get this to go, since it's not far from my office and is a much healthier "quick grab" than fast food. It also has fruit, but only one choice. It's also difficult to compartmentalize your food here. The to-go boxes aren't sectioned, so you get cottage cheese on your lettuce, ranch on your melon... You get the picture. This salad bar has the smallest selection, but I'm loyal to it because it's always fresh, tasty, and super convenient! $4.99/pound.


Please let me know which other salad bars I can try out in town!