RITA'S ICE

Where: Rita's Ice, 1283 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen 

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Birthday Cake Milkshake and Key Lime Ice with Chocolate Custard

What It Cost: $4.26 (we had a coupon)

What We Thought:

Who doesn't love ice cream, right? Well maybe lactose-intolerant people, but anyway...we decided to try Rita's, and I was pretty excited because there was a frozen custard place near my home in Washington that was super good -- the custard was basically creamier, heavier, more delicious ice cream! I got the birthday cake milkshake. The flavor was really delicious - and really tasted like birthday cake! This treat would definitely be good for those of you who are sprinkle fanatics. Towards the bottom quarter of the shake though, it seemed like it was more sprinkle than ice cream, which was not quite as delicious.

Owen got an Italian Ice + Custard mix, choosing key lime ice + chocolate custard, inspired by the chocolate covered key lime pies we had in Key West a couple of years ago. It was kind of good - the lime was a little too tart and the chocolate not rich enough, but still fun to combine your own choices. Personally, I wouldn't go for the ice again - it was just like an overpriced slushie, but the custard was pretty delicious. I wish they had more custard flavor options!

What You Should Do: If you happen to be wandering around near BYU campus one day and it's still hot outside, this place is a fun deviation from the norm, and is worth a trip or two!

Read other reviews here:

UVRMC HOSPITAL CAFE

Where: UVRMC Hospital Cafe (aka River Rock Cafe), 1034 N 500 W, Provo (make sure to go to the one on the third level, East tower!) 

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen & Yvonne

Number of Visits: 5

What We Ordered: Cinnamon Roll Pancake, Breakfast Bagel Sandwich, PB&J Pancake, & more

What It Cost: $1.25 for a HUGE pancake!!!!!!!

What We Thought: 

So, I did a rotation at Utah Valley Regional, and I gotta admit, this cafeteria was the best lesson I learned from the whole experience (just kidding Mindi!!)

But seriously, there is no other place where you will find such a delicious and creative breakfast for so cheap! These hospital people are keeping it secret, but anyone can eat there, I promise! And it's So SO SO so SOsO good! My favorite thing is definitely the pancakes. The guy who cooks them is sometimes a little slow, but it is soooo worth the wait. And at $1.25, you can beat the price! Every time I got a pancake, I got a little thing of fresh fruit for $2, and it was the most amazing breakfast! Of course, I couldn't ever finish the pancakes because they were HUMONGOUS! I really should have taken a picture of one of them next to a fork or something so you could get a size comparison, but just imagine a full dinner plate. Yeah. That's how big they are. Up above is the cinnamon roll pancake, which yeah, tastes just like a cinnamon roll. And it rocks. The first pancake I ever tried there was the cinnamon apple pancake with caramel pecan syrup, and eating it made it impossible to pay attention in that "Antibiotic Use in Neonates" lecture I was supposed to be listening to...

My friend tried the bagel sandwich, and reported that it was excellent. But I really think I'm going to stick to the pancakes here. Lunch choices were never as exciting - breakfast is really the star here.

The PB&J pancake. Complete with happiness. SO GOOD. Another day, I tried a Carrot Cake Pancake with Cream Cheese Syrup, and I've heard rumors of the legendary Oreo Pancake. The only problem is they rotate their schedule, so you don't know what special pancake they will have that day unless you call ahead. But trust me, it's worth the effort.

What You Should Do: Call them and see when they are having that apple cinnamon pancake. It will change your life, I promise! Be warned though - they don't open until after 7. I showed up one day at 6:30 before my rotation and was exceptionally sad. And if you're a normal sane person, you can probably order one pancake to share :)

SODALICIOUS

Where: Sodalicious, 30 W 300 N, Provo (in the barber shop)

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Kim, Daniel, Kelsey, Jessica, etc.

Number of Visits: At least 7...

What We Ordered: Various sodas, rice krispy treat, sugar cookie

What It Cost: ~$5

What We Thought: 

OH MY GOSH HOW HAVE I NOT POSTED ABOUT THIS PLACE YET.

Sodalicious is...happiness. It's life. It's what makes everything better.

Okay, it really is a little shack on the side of a barber shop that serves soda with mix-in flavor choices. And they come up with the best combos. It's kind of bad actually. I never even really liked soda before coming here. And now, I lie in bed at night thinking about the Boy Scout (rootbeer + toasted marshmallow + half & half). I've tried so many different flavors here, and have only been disappointed once (different people have different tastes, of course). I can't remember all of the clever names they have for everything, but it is a really wonderful treat for $2. We've found the best way to maintain balance and ensure beverage success is something like: sweet soda + slightly acidic fruit + something creamy. For example, Coke + raspberry + coconut or Dr. Pepper + cranberry + half & half. Oh yeah. Don't knock it until you've tried it!

As far as the other food -- the popcorn is your typical movie theater style (meh), the rice krispy had potential, but was sadly stale, and sugar cookie is the best I've ever had.

What You Should Do: GO ON TWO PUNCH TUESDAYS. 1. Get a punch card 2. Get some soda. 3. Drink 4. Repeat (5. Bring me some?)

Read other reviews here: 

HUHOT MONGOLIAN GRILL

Where: HuHot Mongolian Grill, 693 N 920 E, Spanish Fork

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen 

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: 2 Dinner Buffets (one with sweet & sour soup, the other with Asian salad)

What It Cost: $36.78

What We Thought: 

Continuing on the Asian theme from last week, we decided to make a visit to HuHot Mongolian Grill in Spanish Fork. After trying Mongo's Stir Fry in Provo (I can't find my pictures anywhere!!! We loved it, but it might be closed? Let us know if you know anything about this!!), we were pretty excited. Excited enough to make a trip all the way down to Spanish Fork, after all :) 

I was put off from the start of the visit by the service - I am that annoying customer who always asks to be sat next to a window (hey! It was really dark in the restaurant, and I am taking pictures for all of you here!), and for some reason they refused to seat us at one of the several empty tables that were near windows. They claimed something about having to keep a rotation or something, and assured me that those tables were being used or reserved, but two of them stayed empty during our whole stay. It's a little thing, I know, but it really was only in their benefit (photo-wise). Oh well.

We ordered the dinner buffet, since that was really the only option for dinner. You have to get the full, all-you-can-eat buffet choice, and there are no cheaper options for people who aren't really in the mood to eat a ton, which was a bummer. I started out with the Asian salad, and to be honest, it looked so bleh that I didn't even really eat it. The dressing was weak (thus, dry salad), the raw broccoli was gross, and really - who is going to eat a salad when they can get as many noodles as they want? Don't fill up on this. Plus the whole package of ramen noodles on top was rather deterring.

Owen got the sweet and sour soup, which was alright. Pretty brothy and mild. Not good, but not bad.

Then we got in line to make our noodle stir fry. They have three types of noodles, various meats (pork, beef, chicken, even tofu!), an assortment of vegetables, and a whole lot of sauces. The sauces are really the highlight here, and for those of you who are easily intimidated, they have sample "recipes" where you can combine various sauces for more interesting flavor profiles. 

So you load up everything onto a plate, and then get in line to have it fried for you on the Mongolian grill. Somehow, all of those foods magically cook at the same rates, and they mix, chop and fry it all up for you right then and there. This part is pretty fun, and though you can tell they are dying of sweat and exhaustion, the fry cooks put on a little show, throwing knives and such around. I hope they are getting paid a lot! 

After waiting in two, possibly three, lines, you can finally eat your food! It's really hard to comment on the flavors of the food here, since it's your own fault if you put together a bad plate of stir fry! It's really up to you to make a good combo of meat, vegetables, and sauces. The ingredients on their own were all fresh and mostly well-cooked (broccoli and potatoes turned out a little raw, so be warned), and it's a great place for picky eaters! The only bummer was both Owen and I were totally full after one round.

We went back because we felt like we had to "get our money's worth," and $18 for one plate of stir fry really did not seem worthwhile. But we ending up totally stuffing our faces (and stomachs), and regretting it afterwards.

What You Should Do: If you're in the mood, you better come very hungry. Or if you're like a football player or something, this place may be good for you. If you are a regular person who generally only eats one plate of food per meal, you may be disappointed by high costs. We loved Mongo's because they had different size options (small, large, or all-you-can-eat) with better prices, and if HuHot went this route, we would totally be down with it. But for how much normally eat, we both thought it was too expensive. Plus they forgot our rice (not that we would have eaten it...)

Read other reviews here: