I've eaten at the one in Fort Worth near Magnolia a couple of times. I've had the deluxe chicken sandwich and the Nashville hot sandwich. The Nashville hot sandwich was really good and the deluxe sandwich was alright. It might be a little better than Chick-fil-A, but the quality is pretty inconsistent. On my visits, the deluxe sandwich didn't have the sauce it was supposed to and they dang near overcooked the fried pickles. The portions on the sides are huge. I'm not one to leave food behind and I couldn't finish either meal. I'll give it another try sooner or later.

Tahini has been my favorite condiment lately if you call it that. It all started with a recipe for sweet potato chick pea buddha bowl I thought sounded interesting. It basically was a bowl with roasted chick peas, sweet potatoes, broccoli, onion, and sliced avocado with a dollop of hummus added and tahini drizzled all up over it. Speaking of hummus, I still haven't perfected a good home made hummus recipe but I've got a great baba ganoush one. Which dip do you prefer? I like baba ganoush, but hummus is up there too. Last night I roasted some acorn squash and stuffed some roasted brussel sprouts in the hollowed out center and do you know what I poured all over it to finish it off? yep, it was tahini. Stuff is goodern'a mug and a nice fall flavor.

Friday afternoons the guys out in the shop like to cook out. They are big hunting types too. One of them killed a couple of raccoons on a squirrel hunt and was smoking them for lunch. Have you ever heard of eating raccoons? It actually smelled pretty good, I forget the wood he used. I was squeamish to try it, but didn't want to look like some city boy pussy so I did. It was surprisingly good, kind of similar to pulled pork. They also had sweet potatoes wrapped in foil cooked down in the coals. Those were good too.

Cledus?

Have I mentioned the awesome lunch choices at Newer Better Workplace? They got a cafeteria-type thingy here with all types of scrumptious choices for yer grumblin' belly. Like they can make you a fresh sammich with all the fixins, or throw a nice piece of salmon on the grill for you. You can get fish or veggie tacos at the taqueria stand. There's a Chinese guy who'll make you some fresh sushi. And believe it or not there's a salad bar, but I think only the hot HR chicks are allowed to eat from it. Today I opted for a simple cup of soup cuz I need to keep an eye on my figure. It was kale and quinoa soup, and before you go thinkin' that's some fancy French shit, it's not. Those ingredients are built right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. I got about halfway thru the cup before I wondered what the hell I was eatin'--always a good sign--but I finished it and it was de-lish, which is short for delicious. Quinoa is an interesting oat in that it's tiny and gets easily stuck in your teeth, but it's fun to dig 'em out because they're the kinda food that pops when you apply pressure with your teeth (also known as chewing.)

We also have a place in our building that exchanges food for money. Ours is dying due to lack of traffic. They've closed 2 of the 6 stations in the last 3 months. Most of us work from home more often than not. We also have a lot of Indians, most of whom bring their lunch a lot. The microwave area is usually potent from their heated up meals. Today, I had a chicken salad sammich and tomato soup. Btw, I work from home T-W-F. I haven't decided if I'm going to the "cafeteria" on Thursday yet. Does anyone have any funny Indian stories?

A few jobs ago there was an Indian guy named Ushit. It's more a funny name than a funny story.

Dot Indian or Woo hoo Indians, because I have both.

.

I don't know. Cuss words are fun. Tell it again and let's see if it's funny.

No Indians at my work place, but one of my departments has a kid from Africa that's Muslim and he repeatedly eats pepperoni on pizza and insists that it's not pork.

Oh yea. They speak english funny.

On mother's day about 4 years ago my wife and I went to lunch at this Indian restaurant called Mughlai over by the Galleria and yes, they offer a buffet. Anyhoo, I whipped into the parking space too quickly, overturning to the left and sideswiping the maroon mini van parked next to spot I had aimed for. I'm pretty sure if memory serves it was a Chrysler. Nevertheless, my careless and reckless actions as it pertained to the operation of my motor vehicle left a dent in their sliding side door in addition to a silver paint smear. You have to understand, the car I was driving was silver. That's how come there was a silver paint smear on the minivan. Is this clear? I feel terrible just recalling this day. After parking and surveying the scene, I realized there were no witnesses. I was at the proverbial fork in the road. This was a true test of character. My sacred honor at stake, I left a note with my name and contact info on it, and hoped that what appeared to be the threat of rain would come to fruition and render my confession unreadable. We high tailed it outta there and went to Tara in Los Calinas. The rain never came. Not long after getting there I received a phone call from the minivan owner. He was really cool about it and when we got off of the phone he wished me a happy mother's day. I was like oh yeah, you too, man. Not long after that my insurance company called and verified everything. That dude wasted no time filing that claim. For the sake of wrapping this story up in a nice bow, the Insurance person that called was Indian.

It wasn't quite lunch time yet but my tum-tum was already growling, so I had a small handful of Blue Diamond almonds to tide me over. They were a little stale because I bought them 3-4 weeks ago and I'm reaching the bottom of the tin. Do you say tin or can? I say tin because you sound smarter when you use British terms. I also have a box of Nutri-Grain bars. They're cherry flavored. I have protein bars too, but they're only for when I go work out right after work. Oh, and of course I have some Ice Breakers mints for freshening up after lunch. What snacks do you keep at your desk?

Caramel M&Ms (pronounced car-uh-mul). Those things are like crack.

Sometimes white chocolate M&Ms. And Tic Tacs. I hate having bad breath.

Edited to add: Nature's Bakery fig bars.

I say "care-uh-mul"

I say "car-mull" sundae and "care-uh-mel" frappacino. I don't know why.

one hundo

Years ago on one of these forums, someone was talking about Cookie Butter they got at Trader Joe's. It sounded good and I filed that info away, but last weekend I finally went to a Trader Joe's and there was Cookie Butter right there on the shelf. I bought some. I also bought olive oil. And potatoes. Later when we got home, I cracked open the jar of Cookie Butter, and grabbed a fork. You might think a spoon would be better, or maybe even a spreading knife, but a fork was closest to where I was standing. It was plastic. I got a forkful of Cookie Butter and HO-LEE-SHEEEIT!!. That's like food of the gods right there. It tastes like a cookie, but in peanut butter form. Unbelievable. Apparently you can also buy this shit at Kroger.

My late to the party delicacy is avocado toast. I love this combo. I particularly love it when there is an added bonus of sliced boiled egg arranged on top of the avocado spread.

What kind of cookie does it taste like? I'm still trying to lose weight but I like being fat too much.

Olive oil is dirt cheap at Trader Joe's. That's the only place we buy it. I like the cocoa/cookie butter swirl and the crunchy cookie butter. We don't buy it very often, but it's good on bananas and graham crackers.

The one we got tastes kinda like gingerbread.

Had lunch from a place called the Crawdad Hole. It looks a little like a shack and a little like a juke joint like you'd see in the Mississippi Delta. It's a divey little place in all the best ways. They were only doing take out today, since today is a day that falls in these uncertain times. Everything on their menu is a boiled platter or by the pound except for the things that are not like gumbo, tamales, and turkey necks. I had the Who Dat platter/spicey which was 1 lb boiled shrimp. It also comes with boiled taters and corn. I got extra taters and extra corn. I had to ixnay the melted butter so I asked for extra cocktail sauce. It was delicious, such a treat this time of year. We picked up a Florida watermelon yesterday at the farmer's market and had it for dessert. It didn't disappoint. I've gotten good at picking out watermelons.

Taco Ocho: there are a lot of taco places in town. This is one of them. It was very good. I went to the one in Richardson. It is off of Campbell just East of Central. I had 2 tacos and it came with white rice and Black beans. I also ordered guacamole which is a popular dip made from avocados. I had an unsweet peach ice tea that was refreshing and tasty.

Twist: i thought i might have seen Tit there but my memories of him are fuzzy and i was < 40% sure. This dude looked to be with his wife so i did not approach. This dude also had fabulous hair.



1/2

Dude, I had lunch today at Taco Ocho with my wife, and I still have fabulous hair. I shit you not. I had the taco plate with the jalapeño pork and beef colorado tacos. They are damn good. We need to eat there together sometime. Well, technically we did eat there together, but we should do it while we're both aware.

for real.

We went to Memphis for a long weekend and tried some of their local BBQ. We first went to the Central BBQ that Diello recommended. We didn't go to the same locale he went to. We found one a little over a mile from where we were staying and we didn't want to fight the inner city crowds after we already went down there, got exhausted, and went back to the house again. It's hot there like it is here, but also humid like a mug. Central BBQ is pretty fuckin' awesome. It's a small place with a line out the door. I won't offend Fruitdog by suggesting it's better than any of the meats he's ever had, but it was an excellent slab of ribs. Yes, I got half dry/half wet. I preferred the dry. I would also prefer wetnaps at the table after eating the wet ribs.

We also checked out Tom's BBQ, which my boss recommended. Guy Fieri was there once for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. You ever watch that show? It's a good show to have on when you're not watching TV. Their ribs were just ok. Nice texture and all, but very little flavor. You had to add your own sauce which again exposed a lack of wetnaps. It was still better than what you get at Red Hot & Blue. The Memphis BBQ menu also features smoked bologna. It is absolutely a lesser meat, but I'm curious about it. I should've gotten some as an extra meat side. Maybe I will when I return in another 30 years. (Twist: I'll be dead by then.)

The location you went to is likely the one I went to as well. I haven't been to the one by the Civil Rights Museum, just mentioned it because it is right there.

It's always so hard to compare BBQ across the country. Every region does something better than other regions. I am not the biggest brisket fan so I get in trouble with Texas BBQ fans when I say things like "Kansas City/Memphis/North Carolina BBQ is good." I do love me some beef rib, though. So how do I compare the pork ribs in KC or Memphis to brisket in Lockhart? They're completely different things? I don't get brisket in KC because they're famous for ribs. I've had a lot of pork ribs in Texas simply because I've gone to Texas BBQ places many more times and the best pork ribs I've ever had are from Joe's in Kansas City. But the best beef ribs I've had are from Pecan Lodge.

But just in case Fruit reads this: KC BBQ>Memphis BBQ>North Carolina BBQ>Texas BBQ

I used to say that a Texas BBQ joint wasn't worth a damn if they didn't have smoke bologna. I've loosened up on that in recent years, but bologna is still my go to if I want a sandwich instead of a meat plate.

i bet you like that up your butt

He won’t.

oh no poor fruit RIP

Ive never thought I was that much of a bbq snob. To be honest it's something I rarely eat nowadays. I usually feel terrible afterwards.

I would like to eat here tho
https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/mum-foods-austin/

There was a little forum kerfuffle awhile back between you and TW about bbq, where he said some other state's bbq was better than Texas and you shot back at him for never having been to the great places in the Hill Country, etc. Like saying some local place has the best pizza without going to New York or Chicago. So I was being the forum jerk by bringing that back up.

That being said, I have come around on brisket for the greatness it is. I've made it a few times myself (I use a Pit Barrel Cooker) and now subscribe to the Jirby-style rub: start with a coating of pepper, then a coating of kosher salt, then a coating of Lawry's. Still trying to get the blend right but it is good. I did it for New Years and pulled it off at like 11:00 a.m. and wrapped it in a towel and kept it in a cooler until 5:00. It was fantastic.

Jirby runs Goldee's BBQ in Fort Worth, which Texas Monthly ranked #1 in the state this year. It's essentially in Kennedale by the dump. He has a good Youtube channel where he goes over BBQ stuff, which is a good/strong. He has one I want to try where he shows you how to build a wood smoker for $200 with material from Home Depot.

Don't go down the injection rabbit hole. All it does is add to your cook time and radically changes the flavor, and the beefy flavor is the best part!

No beef injections. Got it!

Not in the brisket... there's a minimum 12 hour cook time so plenty of time for hot beefy ones

I like light lunches the older I get. Do you like light lunches the older you get too? I also like my lunches to be non-greasy, especially in the summertime. Today for lunch I had Thai food. It was very greasy. Do you know what else? It is very hot today as we find ourselves planted smack-dab in the middle of summertime. I am having a "milk was a bad choice" moment. Do you know what else? There is no Huy Fong chili garlic sauce to be found anymore. It would've enhanced the dish. It is one of my favorite condiments. I couldn't believe it when I recently read about several of yous guys hatred of condiments, especially as they pertain to hot dogs. The vitriol towards catsup was particularly alarming. Anyhoo, I tried several grocers in the past weeks in a search for this stuff and it is nowhere to be found. Huy Fong representatives have stated, on the internet no less, that there is a shortage of red jalepenos due to weather conditions and a megadrought that studies linked to "human-caused" climate change. This will affect all Siracha type condiments as well.

When I heard about the red pepper shortage, I checked the pantry and we got a nice big bottle of siracha in there. We're set on spice for the apocalypse.