You CAN go home again, but somebody else is probably living there now...

On June 19th of last year, I published my first review. Sometime in July, the first person who wasn't a acquaintance or relative of mine read it. By the time July was over, I was up to thirteen reviews and a few random rants, and the site counter was sitting at an even 800. This was beyond my wildest hopes or expectations. I've said it many times before, and I wasn't joking: I started this thing as a way to force myself to stop eating at the same half dozen restaurants over and over again. I hoped that people might stumble across it by accident and maybe try some of the places I recommended as a result, but I never really expected any kind of traffic other than my own friends and family.


Today, 114 posts and over 18,000 hits later, this thing almost seems to have a life of its own.  I never would have guessed there would be so much interest, but I'm very happy it's the case.  To mark the anniversary (more or less), I decided to go back to where it all began.  Kind of.  For that first review, I decided to kick off with something interesting and which would push my own boundaries.  I hit up a food truck that specialized in Portuguese barbecue sandwiches.  And when I say specialize, I mean that's pretty much all they made.  Some months after my visit, the truck was put on the market.  A while later, it re-opened (with a few modifications...like the nationality of the cuisine) in the same spot at the Northwest corner of Franklin and Curtis as Maria's Mexican Food...


June Urban Market

Here's the deal:  I'm not explaining the Boise Urban Market again.  If you're interested in details, check out their website, Facebook page, or my previous write-ups.  This time around, for me at least, was about revisiting favorite vendors more than it was about trying new things.  So without further ado, let's cover a few highlights.

B29 Streatery (CLOSED)

It's safe to say that I have something of an addictive personality.  Not just because I smoked for fifteen years (half of my life until I quit at age 30) either.  It manifests itself in all areas of my life.  Every once in a while for example, a movie will come out that I'll enjoy so much, I'll buy the DVD and literally watch it once a day for a week...sometimes more.  Yes I'm going somewhere with this, and the point I'm trying to make is that at the moment, I'm obsessed with the B29 Streatery food truck.



Treats and Tragedies on the road: Wong's King (Portland)

In less than two months, I will be 35 years old.  Believe it or not, I was 33 before I took my first trip to Portland as an adult.  One of the first things I did while deciding what I wanted to see and do while I was there was to try and determine who made the best dim sum in town.  The general consensus, at least so far as I was able to find, is that you'll find the best at Wong's King.



Treats and Tragedies on the road: Burgerville (Albany, OR)

Recently, it was announced that Boise will soon have a Chipotle of its very own.  This news excited me to no end because, to be frank, I like Chipotle every bit as much as I do Baja Fresh.  Shortly after, Michael Deeds took to Facebook to find out what other chain eateries we'd like to see around here.  Of course, nine out of every ten answers was In-N-Out Burger, but there were a few other names mentioned here and there, and Burgerville was one of them.


Treats and Tragedies on the road: Voodoo Doughnut (Portland)

One of the biggest issues I have with this little hobby of mine is self-control.  Not the eating part...well, maybe that as well...but what I'm referring to here is my penchant for profanity and my sense of humor.  It's no stretch to say that I edit and revise each entry at least twice to make sure it's as non-offensive as I'm capable of being.  I do this not only at the behest of my loved ones, but also because I don't want to inadvertently turn anyone off of a good place just because they might be foolish enough to make an association between something I said in a write-up that irked them and the place that the write-up was about (this is the internet after all, the gene pool can be pretty shallow in places).  However, every once in a while a situation comes along that allows for a little vulgarity by its very nature.  Therefore, I must say here that THE FOLLOWING ENTRY CONTAINS LANGUAGE AND SUBJECT MATTER THAT MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL VIEWERS.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!  And I would furthermore like to give my most sincere thanks to Voodoo Doughnut for giving me the chance to finally say that...


Murphy's Law is in effect.



My computer is doing some decidedly annoying stuff, so while I do have several write-ups to finish and post, I don't have access to all of the tools I need (the pictures, namely).  I'll be attempting a fix by the end of the week, so keep your fingers crossed.  I certainly will.  In the meantime, the most reliable source of updates will be my Facebook page.  Of course, some of the posts might be slightly incoherent, due to being typed with crossed fingers and all...