BUFFALO WILD WINGS

Where: Buffalo Wilds Wings, 92 N 1200 E, American Fork

Who Went: Owen and Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Huckleberry Lemonade, Triple Threat Nachos, 15-piece wings with Hot Sauce and Honey BBQ

What It Cost: $38.32 (including tip)

What We Thought: 

Okay, a bit of a disclaimer: I went into Buffalo Wild Wings having the lowest of low expectations for the food and service and everything.

Another disclaimer: I love March Madness. A lot. #favoritetimeoftheyear

So, like crazy people, we decided to go to this restaurant on a Saturday night around 7:30 during March Madness season. Obviously, I was expecting like a 2 hour wait or something, so when the hostess told me it would be 30 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised. We took our little pager with us to Walgreens across the street, bought some nail polish, sat in our car for a bit, and then were buzzed in. 30 minutes on a Saturday night during one of the most popular sports seasons? Not too bad in my opinion.

We started out with nachos that were actually supposed to be a meal I am pretty sure -- don't judge. These were called the triple threat nachos -- on one side, it was regular taco nachos, in the middle, there was buffalo chicken and blue cheese nachos, and the opposite side was nachos with pulled pork. Woof. These were seriously intense! The flavors probably went from our least favorite to most -- the pulled pork was actually pretty good, and the regular tacos were only meh. But altogether, and pretty great thing to snack on while watching the game! The cheese was definitely your typical nacho cheese (as opposed to like, you know, real cheese), but it was a pretty fun, and definitely a good value. We put a regular sized ketchup bottle in the background as a size comparison for you!!

Okay, okay, now onto the real business -- da WINGZ. When we started the meal, we told them that we had never been there before, and they offered to bring out a little sampler of the different wing sauces, that we could sample with french fries. Fun! And a great way to try out some of their more unique flavor choices :) We are boring, so we went with regular hot wings and honey BBQ. And um yeah, they were pretty dang good. Not Nicolitalia's good, but definitely at least Winger's good, and good enough that I would go there again! The 15 piece wings was PLENTY and I felt like it was a pretty decent value for the price - we definitely took some home (dinner tonight?) A lot of people have complained about the service at this location, but we must have had really great luck - we were checked on plenty of times, our food came out quickly, and our server even asked if we wanted another refill of the lemonade to go on our way out!

What You Should Do: Since I love March Madness, and they had all three games going at the same time (plus a Nadal tennis match -- bonus!!), I had a great time at Buffalo Wild Wings. It is a lot of fun to go for a big game, since people realllly get into the game, and they have more screens than I've ever seen, so you definitely won't miss a thing haha. The food is not amazing, but it is pretty good, decently priced, and wings are just delicious, okay? If you don't have somewhere to watch the games this week, you should definitely give BWW a try!

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ASAHI

Where: Asahi Japanese Restaurant, 1470 N State Street, Orem (don't blink, or else you'll miss it!)

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Lyvia, Charles

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Honeymoon Roll, Vegas Roll, Calamari, Scallop Nigiri, Spicy Tuna Roll, other various rolls

What It Cost: $45.30 for four people

What We Thought:

Sushi. On a budget. In Utah County.

Normally, these words would make me go running in the opposite direction...

But last year on Valentines Day night, somehow the stars magically aligned, and even though we didn't have a reservation anywhere (on Valentines Day! In Utah!) we miraculously stumbled on what surely is one of Utah County's hidden restaurant gems.

You'll have to forgive me again for the lackluster photos -- they really do not do this food justice, but the unlucky combination of dim lighting + dead battery on my good camera resulted in these subpar camera phone photos. But I can't hold off any longer on Asahi!

First off, this place is very reasonably priced. They have a cool, relaxed atmosphere, and a terrible location (very hard to see from busy State Street in Orem), which makes it so you don't really need a reservation, even on one of the busiest nights to eat out in the year. Their staff is incredibly friendly and fast, and its just a very inviting place to relax and enjoy some high quality sushi.

Now, I grew up hating fish during my entire childhood, so the world of seafood is still in its fledgling stages for me -- meaning I hate it when any type of fish tastes fishy or in any way not fresh. I'm very sensitive to it and am totally picky. I don't know how they do it or where they get their fish from, but Asahi's sushi and nigiri are incredible! I even liked the raw scallops (not pictured). This is pretty amazing. Their sushi chefs are fun to watch, and prepare beautiful dishes that are also fun to eat! The calamari above was good -- I've had better before, but if you're with someone who is new to calamari, it might be a good first taste, since they tasted basically like really good onion rings with a super tasty sauce. The calamari was sliced a little thin for me, but like I said, maybe good for someone who's hesitant to try it.

I'm not going to go into each roll, except to say they were all incredible delicious, and I wasn't disappointed with any of them! I know it is kind of lame of me, but I love a good Vegas roll (hardly sushi, I know, but its fried and delicious, so whatever), and they definitely make a scrumptious one. My favorite roll is kind of unique -- the Honeymoon roll. It has smoked salmon and jalapeño and a little sliver of mango in there. It is SO good! I've never had fruit in sushi before, and it is awesome!

My cruddy phone camera cannot capture the awesomeness of the little roe on top of this roll -- if you don't think too much about what it is, they are super fun to eat :) Like little popping surprises in your mouth while you are enjoying the delicious flavors of the sushi roll. Highly recommended.

What You Should Do: I never thought I would recommend a sushi place in Utah (where does the fish come from?!!??!), but Asahi in Orem is definitely a great location to check out. They make quality products at very reasonable prices. To curb that sushi craving, there is no better place! ALSO, Monday through Thursday after 7 (I think) is happy hour, where you can get rolls at half price. Its pretty amazing. Normally I feel like sushi is always a huge splurge, but at Asahi, I can get sushi I actually like for prices that I definitely like!

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LEATHERBY'S FAMILY CREAMERY

Where: Leatherby's Family Creamery, 1872 W 5400 S, Taylorsville

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Amy's Hot Fudge Brownie with Mint Cookie Ice Cream and Jill's Cookie Concoction 

What It Cost: $15.46

What We Thought: 

Let's just start with the pictures...

I need to make a disclaimer -- we only came for the ice cream, and didn't try any of the other food. So this review is ONLY ABOUT THE ICE CREAM.

And wow, the ice cream! I mean, just looking at the photos above is enough to get me salivating all over again. The restaurant is a very vintage, retro style ice cream parlor, with unflattering lighting and pretty crammed seating, but the staff is so friendly, that you totally feel comfortable and ready for a good time. I can totally see this place as being the awesome reward for scoring a home run in your baseball game as a kid or something - it just makes you feel good. Well, until you eat WAY too much ice cream...!

These ice cream sundaes, though a little pricey, are amazingly over-the-top, gorgeous, and a LOT of ice cream! It is such a fun treat, and the ice cream is all homemade :) Owen thought his mint cookie ice cream was a little too intense -- the flavor was super rich, especially considering how much ice cream they served! I love both of my flavors -- one was a classic cookies and cream, which was super smooth and delicious, and the other was peanut butter ice cream with caramel and cookie dough! Talk about indulgent! The cookie with my sundae was surprisingly soft and tasted SO good, and wow, the hot fudge. If I hadn't been in a total ice cream coma after our experience, I would have bought a bunch of this to take home! What an amazing and scrumptious treat!

What You Should Do: We went here for Owen's birthday, and it was the perfect place to go for a special occasion treat! The ice cream was super delicious, the presentation amazing, and the brownie/hot fudge/cookies were incredibly good as well. The only recommendation I have (besides, obviously, you should go!) is the first time, you might want to share! Neither Owen nor I could even make it through half of our sundaes, so if you can agree on a flavor, you may want to save the money :)