Nicolitalia Pizzeria (but not for the pizza!)

Where: Nicolitalia Pizzeria, 2295 N University Pkwy, Provo (across the street from the dollar theater)

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Devynne, Abby (Devynne's former roommate)

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Trip 1: 10 piece hot wings, The Stallion pizza. Trip 2: 10 piece hot wings, Margherita pizza, & Strada di Roma pizza

What It Cost: Trip 1: $22.07, Trip 2: 20.45 (we had a coupon for a free margherita pizza with purchase of other pizza)

What We Thought: 

My goodness. This photo can hardly do justice to the glorious flavor of these wings. They are perfect. They are spicy. They are juicy. They are just the right amount of greasy and messy. They are heaven on earth. Order them, and you'll never go back to any other type of wings. When Owen and I started eating these our first time, we ate them in complete silence, trying to partake of that delicious flavor as fast as we could without any distraction. Then we just looked at each other and said, "Wow." No other words can describe this amazingness. 

Also, I promise this is the last post you'll hear about wings for a while! I know you think I'm obsessed with them and that's all I eat (only 90% true), but I couldn't resist sharing these with you! You must know of their wonderfulness!

Needless to say, our hopes were pretty high when our pizza arrived.

We should have just stuck with the wings. 

We ordered the Stallion pizza -- Spinach, Mozzarella, "Gah-lic," Pepperoni, and Steak. Notice how I didn't say any type of sauce? Well, it didn't come with sauce. That was weird. And dry. And it was that day where I learned the difference between garlic and gah-lic (the terminology they use at Nicolitalia, since they're from Boston I guess?) Garlic is an herb that I love cooking with and using to enhance the flavor of many meals. It is awesome and I really enjoy the smell and taste. Gah-lic on the other hand, is a huge chunk of highly aromatic and robust garlic clove that clears your sinuses completely with the first bite and completely overpowers any other flavors that may be lurking on your pizza. Stay away from the gah-lic! All I could taste on this pizza was the gah-lic, and I'm pretty sure I will be safe from vampires for the rest of my life thanks to this dining experience. 

We went back another time with my sister and her roommate, mostly to get the wings, but also because we had a coupon and thought maybe we had missed out on something. We hadn't. Their margherita pizza was only so-so (go to Pizzeria 712 instead!), and the sauce on both of the pizzas was very flavorless. 

What You Should Do: Go right now -- but only for the wings!!! Stay away from the pizza and dangerous gah-lic and just be glad that this joint got one menu item right. Oh so right. 

Texas Roadhouse

Where: Texas Roadhouse, 1265 S State Street, Orem (right west of University Mall, follow the smell of meat...)


Who Went: Chelsey & Owen, for Owen's birthday


Number of Visits: 1


What We Ordered: Raspberry Smoothie, Hot Wings, Medium Rare Sirloin Steak, "Fall Off the Bone" Ribs


What It Cost: $35.00* (with tip)


What We Thought: 

I don't know what the deal is with Texas Roadhouse, but the lines there are insane -- longer than the wait for Toy Story Mania at Disney California Adventure, I swear. They are always SUPER busy, and like Outback Steakhouse, usually full of some pretty manly (hairy) men, which is always interesting.

When we finally got a seat (I hear you can make reservations now, which you must make if you want to go here at a normal hour!), we started chowing down on some peanuts they had there since we were so starving. We got some of their "famous" Texas Roadhouse rolls and honey butter -- Owen thought the honey butter was weird, and I thought the rolls were only so-so. I really think that their secret is to make you wait for at least an hour so that by the time you get any food, you think it is the most wonderful thing in the whole world because you've been starving (similar technique seen at Cheesecake Factory).

Since it was his birthday, we decided to get Owen a frozen raspberry lemonade. It was pretty good and very large, which was good since it was so pricey. Then we got hot wings since we looove hot wings, and they were your typical, not too spicy buffalo wings. Good amount of wing sauce, decent dipping sauce, not too dry -- but nothing that blows your mind. I got the "Fall off the Bone" babyback ribs with mashed potatoes. First off -- the potatoes were so loaded with sour cream and butter and FAT FAT FAT that you really couldn't tell that there was any potato in there, so order vegetables or something on the side! The ribs lived up to their name I guess -- they did fall off the bone, but since they were so overcooked (slow roasted for forever apparently), they were SUPER dry. The barbecue sauce they tried to coat it with did little to hide the dryness of the ribs, and I was pretty disappointed.

Owen ordered his steak medium rare. When we got it, and he cut into the steak, it was completely cooked and brown all the way through. This my friends is not medium rare. We told our server this problem, and she brought the cook out there to talk to us. The chef told us about how most people in Provo don't know how to order steak correctly, and they always complain about it being too raw, even though they ordered the meat that way. He was super nice though and cooked up another steak for Owen, and we got it on the house! Bottom line is...Texas Roadhouse = not such great food, but really good customer service.

It was also fun because I told the server that it was Owen's birthday, and she made him get up on this little horse mount and shout "Yee-Haw!" while others sang and danced around him. This was mostly for my enjoyment, and I very much enjoyed it. Plus we got a free birthday ice cream. Never a bad thing.

What You Should Do: Go if you have to. But I would recommend taking a little drive and going up to the Texas Roadhouse in Lehi -- I have heard from many that this more well-established site has much better food than our Orem version. And, learn how to order a steak and be sure to inform your server that you actually know what you're talking about, and you really do want that steak medium rare.

image source 

Sweet Tooth Fairy

Where: Sweet Tooth Fairy, 1227 S University Avenue, Provo (across the street from Provo Towncenter Mall)

Who Went: Owen & Chelsey

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcake & Raspberry Lemonade Cupcake

What It Cost: $5.02

What We Thought:

Oh the popular cupcake. How fun and cute and perfectly sized. Just enough sugary happiness for one. That was my mentality when I coerced Owen into taking me to The Sweet Tooth Fairy after a particularly excruciating midterm.

When we got to the cupcake shop, there was no one inside. We waited around in the awkwardly silent shop for a few minutes until the girl running the register finally came through the back door...oh sorry to interrupt, were you eating cupcakes back there? She kind of pouted while we looked at the different cupcake options...I guess it was like 8:30 but come on lady. A little customer service would have been nice. We made our choices as quickly as we could and then decided to get them to-go because we felt awkward just eating our two cupcakes alone in that shop. The individual carrying cases for the cupcakes were hands-down the best part of the whole cupcake experience.

The cupcakes were average -- a little dry and not really that creative. My raspberry cupcake was chewy and not moist at all, though I did like the tartness of the lemon frosting and the fact that you could actually see raspberry seeds in the cupcake itself. Plus, let's be honest - I like pink. Owen's was your typical pumpkin chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting. The only problem with this was that they were also average size -- three bites and they were gone. More than 80 cents a bite? I don't know if it's worth it.

What You Should Do: Give it a try. You'll probably get a more friendly typical bubbly-cupcake-selling-BYU-girl than I did, and that really would have helped the experience. Personally, I'm more of a Cocoa Bean cupcake fan, but if you happen to be craving a sweet treat and you have lots of cash and you're near the Provo Towncenter Mall, then go and try it. I think I may go back and try some of their macarons or cookies -- I hear the black & white cookie is pretty darn awesome.

 

Awful Waffle

Read restaurant update (5/22/2012) here

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Where: Awful Waffle, 815 N 700 E, Provo (just kitty corner from JDawgs)

Who Went: Owen & Chelsey, then Chelsey, Monica, & Devynne

Number of Visits: 2

What We Ordered: Trip 1: 2 Belgian waffles, one with kiwis, blueberries, whipped cream & syrup, the other with strawberries, Oreos, Nutella, and whipped cream. Trip 2: 1 crepe with "European Specaloos," bananas, & cream cheese frosting, and one waffle with strawberries, caramel, and whipped cream

What It Cost: $10.75 & $10.62

What We Thought: 


I feel like Belgian waffles and crepes are the new "hot thing," maybe "the new cupcake" or frozen yogurt if you will. Every time I blink a new crepe shop pops up, and of course we feel like we should try it. Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner (or lunch) (or midday snack...)?

The waffles were different than what I was expecting. They were pretty dense, and quite chewy. The toppings were fresh and delicious, but not cheap. If I was going to go again, I would bring my own syrup (since it is not worth the add-on 50 cent price, and they are very skimpy with the syrup), and I would bring my own milk since they charge $1.50 for a tiny cup, when a whole gallon of milk practically costs $1.50.

With this waffle, I made the mistake of thinking that the melted Nutella would sub in for the syrup. Not so. It was very dry and difficult to eat since I only had 4 oz. of milk to wash it down. At least it was filling since it was so dense!

The crepes were alright - I wasn't too impressed by the fancy Specaloos spread that they get imported from Europe. It is a spread with the consistency of peanut butter that is made from Biscoff cookies, and they even sell it at places like Macey's and Winco now! The overall combination that I ordered was way too sweet, even for me, but it was my own fault for choosing such a saccharine combination of flavors. I wish they had flavor suggestions or something so that crepe rookies like myself won't make the same mistake.

What You Should Do: Go if you have to. And if you're hungry and have brought your own form of liquid to wash everything down. And if you bring your own real plate. They serve the waffles on styrofoam plates and I have really weird feelings about cutting into styrofoam for some reason. But what you should really do is learn how to make your own crepes - they aren't too hard, and future dates/spouses will be impressed by your skill (I like to add a little vanilla and cinnamon to them - as do the owners of the Awful Waffle). Oh, and go to Winco and buy your own Biscoff spread - it's all the rage these days.

Two Jack's Pizza

One thing you will also learn about me as this blog progresses is that among my various food obsessions, I have a certain passion for hot wings. Now this will probably degrade your opinion of my culinary expertise, but are you really going to tell me that hot wings do not taste good? I'm not here to talk about what restaurant has the most trendy dishes or adheres closest to the most current food philosophy. I'm here to talk about food that tastes good. And hot wings just happen to be one of those things (usually).

Where: Two Jack's Pizza, 80 W Center Street, Provo (just a little west of ComedySportz)

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Two 8 in pizzas -- one Hawaiian and one sausage with fresh (I mean, not cooked) tomatoes, 1 side of cheesesticks, 2 sodas (it was a combo special meal), 5 piece hot wings

What It Cost: $17.22

What We Thought: 

They recently opened, and to keep up our pizza fanatic title, we knew we had to check out Two Jack's on Center. The overall service was decent for a smallish pizza joint (though the cashier was really confused when I asked for fresh tomatoes on my pizza instead of cooked..."Oh, you mean uncooked?" Yes...) but we were a little disappointed in the number of options. Pretty much all of the pizzas are design-your-own, and they don't have any fun flavor combinations for you to try. The only two "specials" are just pizzas with different sauce -- one BBQ and one alfredo, both with just chicken and mozzarella. Not that special if you ask me.

Even though it looked like there were only two people in the kitchen, our food came pretty quickly and was hot. The cheesesticks were delectable, but can you really go wrong with cheese, bread and garlic? I don't think so.

My pizza, with the sausage and tomato was decent. The marinara sauce was richly flavored and well balanced by the cheese. I think the only reason I sort of enjoyed the one piece I was able to eat was because I just picked a good topping combination.

Owen on the other hand was much more disappointed. The good news was that they put plenty of pineapple on...the bad news was that it just didn't tasted that great. Meh meh meh all around.

I really hoped that the wings would make up for it, just like they did at Nicolitalia's for me, but when we got them, all I could think was, "Wow. Dry." They tasted better than they look, but were very much fried, pretty heavy, and lacking exciting sauce. 

What You Should Do: Go if you have to. The pizza was only mediocre, but if you get invited to go there on an awkward date or something, you won't have to worry about hair in your food or throwing up mid-meal or anything. Probably. The only thing that was remotely interesting about this pizza joint was the other restaurant guests.

Yes that guy is wearing a raccoon tail. There was like a whole...clan of them. The only memorable feature about this place. 

Sammy's Cafe

One reason I really wanted to start this blog is because I am tired of reviewers always agreeing with what's popular. What kind of food critic just agrees with what everyone's saying on Urbanspoon or something else? Some restaurants are popular because they are actually good. But there are a few restaurants that are popular for no good reason at all -- they are just trendy and receive a lot of hype, but are either overpriced, or have poor service, or just aren't worth it. And I want to warn you about these ones so you don't get your hopes dashed like I did! Here is one of those hope-dashing experiences...

Where: Sammy's Cafe, 27 N 100 W, Provo (just off of Center street, between Univ Ave and Freedom)

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Raspberry Cheesecake Shake, Sweet Potato Fries, The Promo Burger, El Paso "Burger" (WARNING: They sneak chicken burgers in there on the menu and you may not even notice it, just like me, and you will be very sad when what you ordered is not actually a burger, but a sissy sandwich instead)

What It Cost: $19.50

What We Thought: 

Let me just say that I was really excited to try this place. BYU students are crazy about a few restaurants -- J Dawg's, Cafe Rio, The Pie (even though it's in SLC...), and Sammy's is one of those few. We went on a pretty warm day in the summer, which was the first of our mistakes. The tiny place was PACKED -- even the crappy picnic tables they set up outside were full, and it was way hot in there. I'm pretty sure that the place would not pass general health code standards because while we were waiting for our food, we noticed fruit flies cruising lazily from the garbage can (which was open and right next to where we were supposedly going to eat) to the kitchen and to the restaurant guests. Not very appetizing.

We started out with a Raspberry Cheesecake shake, since they are "famous" for their pie shakes. What an underwhelming experience. The only thing different between this shake and something you might pick up from McDonald's is the price. There was no evidence that this beverage once was a pie, and it was super runny and overall disappointing for the $4.29 price tag. We slurped it up in 15 seconds and then proceeded to wait in the fly corner for another 15 minutes until some more food was ready.

Then we got our fries, which I fully blame for Owen's hatred of sweet potato fries (fortunately, this was recently remedied by Guru's...more on that later!). These were too thin, too crunchy, and too flavorless. The fry sauce was okay, nothing special but not gag-inducing, but Owen refused to eat any more of the fries, much to my great sadness. I am a huge sweet potato fry lover, and this was Owen's first time having them. Bummer.

Owen ordered "The Promo" burger, which was pretty much your basic bacon cheeseburger. Meh. Everything tasted fresh at least, but nothing blew my mind. The burger itself was a little overdone and dry, but it was alright. And it was served with sweet pickles -- when will restaurants learn that EVERYONE PREFERS DILL? Sorry, personal vendetta there...

And I got El Paso burger. Like I mentioned previously, I had a blonde moment and didn't realize this was a chicken burger, so I was pretty put out when it arrived. For a chicken burger it was fairly decent I guess -- the avocado mash on it compensated for the lack of flavor in the chicken, and I really wish I could have tasted that pepperjack cheese I paid for. 

What You Should Do: Go if you have to. It's not BAD really, it's just not that great. Just because you throw the word "Famous" in front of your restaurant's advertising campaign doesn't make you have good food, I'm sorry. I think people just go there for the hole-in-the-wall, I-went-there-before-anyone-knew-about-it appeal, and sometimes people just think food tastes better if it's more expensive. If you want a pie shake that actually tastes like it contains pie, drive down the road to The Malt Shoppe instead and order the Jumble Berry Pie shake. Nothing else on their menu is really that spectacular, but the Jumble Berry Pie shake is a diamond in the rough my friends. 

Pizzeria 712

Since it's not really in the budget to go back to all of these places and try the food again, many of these posts are going to be written in retrospect. You may be thinking, "How on earth can you remember how every restaurant was?" But as I was compiling my list of places we've been, I was able to remember all but one of the dishes we ate at each of the 75 restaurants I wrote down. Let's just say that food makes a serious impression on me. So although some of these reviews may be from a while ago (maybe even back to our dating years...), they will all be an honest and accurate report of our dining experiences.


Where: Pizzeria 712, 320 S. State St. #185  Orem, UT 84058 (When coming from BYU, go down State Street, go past the Scera theater, and it will be on your left back in thing that looks like an apartment complex. Kind of difficult to find, but definitely worth it! They have a big white sign out there now too that is a little helpful)


Who Went: Chelsey & Owen


Number of Visits: 1


What We Ordered: Owen: Roasted Red Potato Galette with Lemon Parsley & Creme Fraiche. Then we shared a pizza with the following toppings: house-made sausage, fennel, caramelized onions, garlic, fresh mozzarella, and their house tomato sauce


What It Cost: $24


What We Thought: 

As you will soon be able to tell as the blog progresses, Owen and I are kind of pizza fanatics. We went through this phase where we decided to try out every pizza place in the Provo/Orem area...and we did. When we were in this phase, Pizzeria 712 was the newest, hippest pizza place around. It's kind of back in the corner, hard to find, and very full of trendy individuals. They follow the Alice Waters philosophy of food -- cooking simply with the best and freshest ingredients to show the potential of the food itself. This mentality was clearly displayed in our meal that evening. 

We weren't super hungry, so we decided that instead of getting two pizzas we would just get one + an appetizer. Good choice. The pizzas are big enough for one person to probably eat 3/4 and take a quarter home, if you are quite ravenous. We started out with the Red Potato Galette, which was Owen's choice. Unfortunately, we realized once we received our dish that all we did was basically order a over-glorified baked potato. The flavor was nice, but come on, it's pretty hard to mess up on a baked potato. I'll make this one at home for an eighth of the price instead. 

Then we received some pita bread and hummus. Yay -- more bread to go with our order of bread (pizza). We recommend this if you are going on an all-carb diet á la Mean Girls...Anyway, it was a nice little touch, especially since I'm a huge hummus fan, so we enjoyed it. 

Then we received our pizza. Though it looks a little messy, I have to admit that Pizzeria 712 lived up to their goals -- it all tasted very fresh. The tomato sauce actually still tasted like tomatoes (usually not the case with many pizzas...), the housemade sausage was quite savory, and I loved the fresh mozzarella. Good quality cheese is one of the ways to this woman's heart. The wood oven crust was just right -- infused with a smoky flavor and not too dense. It was a little burnt for my taste (as noted by that big black spot) and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the lack of fennel taste. For those who are unfamiliar with fennel, it is a highly aromatic herb that tastes like mild black licorice (similar to anise). And I love it. So naturally I wanted more of it, but for those who don't know what fennel is, it probably was just the right amount. 

What You Should Do: GO! It has a fun, stylish atmosphere, and the dishes are all reasonably priced considering the freshness and flavor of the ingredients they use. Plus you sound cool talking about how you "dined at Pizzeria 712 last night." Totally worth it. 

Mama Chus

This Thursday, Owen was going to have to work late, so I decided to call up my friend Sidney and see if she wanted to go out to dinner. I browsed the internet for places I haven't been to yet in the Provo/Orem area (the number of places is quickly dwindling), and made a short list. As I was doing this, I came to the sharp realization that...I've eaten at a lot of places near BYU.

Trying out new restaurants is one of our favorite things to do as a married couple, and there are a TON of restaurants in the Utah Valley area. The only thing that is hard about trying new places is that sometimes it's hard to know what you're getting yourself into. A meal at a restaurant is a very personal thing. There are so many factors that go into a pleasurable dining experience: the ambience of the restaurant, the attention of the staff, the freshness, quality and flavor of the food, how you feel while eating, how you feel after you eat the meal.

We love getting recommendations from friends -- "You have to try this new place!" "You should definitely order the sweet potato fries!" "Stay away from anything with garlic on it!" But sometimes, it's just hard to know who to trust. Some places always get great reviews from friends because they are the "hip" place to eat (i.e. Sammy's Cafe) and there are some places that apparently everyone loves for absolutely no good reason (Diego's). I hate it when I get my hopes up really high for a great dinner out, and then the food tastes like it's out of a can of Chef Boyardee.

And I've decided that not only have I been to a lot of restaurants near BYU, but I actually have pretty good taste. Growing up, my dad was a chef, working at pretty well-known places like Salty's on Alki, Ray's Boathouse, and Beaches Restaurant & Bar, and I was used to good food. Every time we went out to a restaurant as a family, my mom (she was the harshest critic!) would tear apart the menu and find everything wrong with it. And my dad, well, he always said that he pretty much liked anything he didn't have to cook himself! Between the two, I think I developed a fairly well-rounded and accurate taste for what's good and what's not.

As I was thinking about this, I thought to myself, "You know what? I could be that friend who dishes out recommendations to others-- but the kind you could trust to tell you if a restaurant is really worth it or not." I've been to many places, like to take photos of food, and am very opinionated...so why not?

Here goes my first post about a dining experience I've had in the BYU area. I hope it is helpful and that you enjoy!

Where: Mama Chus, 1555 E 800 N Orem, UT 84097 (right at the mouth of the canyon, near the golf course, by that Subway and Texaco you always drive by)

Who Went: Chelsey (myself) and Sidney (dear chemistry/molecular biology study buddy)

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Chelsey: Carnitas Michocanas (not sure if the spelling is right on that, but they don't have a menu posted online) & tamarindo Jarritos; Sidney: pork enchilada & horchata


What It Cost: My total bill was $11.32 (Sidney's was a little less, somewhere around $9)


What We Thought:

I always hate to say that something tasted like "authentic Mexican food" because I've never been to Mexico, and I'm not Mexican myself, so what do I know? But I have been around a lot of Mexicans in a restaurant environment (where my dad worked), and I gotta say, this tasted like pretty authentic Mexican to me. When we got there, we were seated immediately (it was a Thursday night, around 6) and brought some chips & salsa. You can always tell if it's going to be good Mexican food based on the chips & salsa. The salsa was quite flavorful, and HOT HOT HOT! But I love spicy food, so I was all for that.

I ordered my dish, along with some Jarritos, because I'm a firm believe that all Mexican food tastes best with Jarritos (though I've heard Squirt is a popular favorite as well). It arrived in a reasonable amount of time and it was served with three flour tortillas on the side (not pictured). I was very glad that it came with rice and beans, because any Mexican served without rice and beans is just pathetic. Overall, I thought that the food was very flavorful and cooked almost just right (maybe a teensy bit dry). I was expecting it to come with a sort of sauce, and was a little disappointed when it didn't, but the guacamole, cream, and jalapeños that accompanied it provided just the right balance (and spice). It was also served over a corn tortilla, which was a little confusing since they gave me three flour tortillas on the side, but it was still good!

I feel a little bad because I think I pressured Sidney into getting the pork enchiladas instead of cheese, but it's just because I'm a huge fan of Mexican shredded pork. She said she would have preferred cheese, but if the pork was anything like the pork in my dish, then it would definitely be my top choice in meats. The sauce was mild and still tasty, and they were made in corn tortillas, just as they should be. Overall, good flavor but not outstanding or anything remarkable. The horchata was just right though -- great creaminess, nice consistency, and perfect overall flavor. If you've never tried horchata before, you must! It's a great accompaniment to spicy dishes. But make sure you get some good horchata or else you may be scarred for life...I recommend this place, or that at The Red Iguana. 

What Should You Do: GO! Go if you're in the mood for some down-and-dirty, not-too-expensive Mexican food. It was quick and tasty, but make sure you divide your meal up and take at least half home -- the portion sizes were huge! 

**Just as a disclaimer, this post was only super long because I felt like I needed to introduce why I was starting this blog -- most of the other posts will be more short and to the point!