Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

When you first enter Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in Town Square (Las Vegas, NV), you're greeted by a giant sign that says, "WARNING: Our Pizza is "WELL DONE." Though I get the double entendre, it was unsettling actually as my mind started to play with my tongue—I had this burnt ash from a bonfire taste in my mouth.

Forward I sat anyway.

It's brand new in Vegas, but it started out in 2002 by Anthony Bruno in Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Bruno had another restaurant prior to the apparent success of his chain of Brooklyn style pizza parlors called Anthony's Runway 84. I've looked around, seems to be a favorite Italian joint among South Floridians.

On to the food. Now, I need to tell you that I'm pretty particular with my pizza. During my tenure in New York, got to taste the best of the best (John's, Lombardi's, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, etc) and so I approached my tasting with caution, an attitude of "prove me wrong." I only say this because I've seen and tasted how good this ubiquitous round of goodness can truly be. Really it's only being fair to those artisans that take real seriousness in what they do. I take that pride with me.

The menu was pretty streamlined. Right from the get-go, it's the pizza they want you to get, smack up top their one-page bill of fare. All the other salads, chicken wings, sides and sandwiches on the bottom playing the red-headed step-children.



So I will go ahead and breeze through these. The Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad was spectacular. They put red and green peppers on top that at first glance thought it would taint the simplicity of the dish, rather gave it depth. If it wasn't my friend's salad, I would've finished it all myself.



Skip the Coal Oven Roasted Chicken Wings. The concept is good with flatbread lining the pile of roasted wings and onions—sadly it was overcooked, dry and salty. The onions seemed like they needed to be more caramelized and it was hard to eat with it falling off all over. We ordered 20 and couldn't bring ourselves to taking the leftovers home.




As a lunch special, we ordered two personal-sized pizzas. To me, the ultimate way to measure pizza (not to mention fairly) is to get a plain ol' pepperoni pizza. From here I can gauge the ingredients and technique. No time passed from the time the waitress placed it on my table that the first slice hit my face. The sauce is tangy and runny, and you can tell that it's fresh. The pepperoni and the cheese were left to be desired. Halfway through the slice, there's this inner struggle within me to want to really like it but alas, overseasoning got the best of it as it was salty. It wasn't overpowering but enough that I couldn't truly devour it without stopping and drinking liquids to wash it down.



A friend on the other side of the table ordered his with calamata olives, long hot finger peppers and I think, the Italian sausage. He on the other hand told me that it was amazing because it was great to order it with the peppers as his Italian wife's family made them from scratch. He was happy to see it on the menu...his mouth red from the heat.

I have to mention that Grimaldi's made its presence known in Vegas lately and it's been my place to go when I miss the Big Apple. Granted it's not quite the restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge, and they do have hit or miss nights. Nevertheless it has fundamentals of an amazing pie with solid ingredients, great crust and simplicity. To me it's the best in Vegas.

If we're comparing, Anthony's to me is a good attempt at best at New York style pizza. I would go there because it's convenient, nice enough environment (nostalgic photos of Marilyn Monroe and of like era—don't really get it so much), and pizzas aren't that bad. I will give them props on the end crust which is tasty, seemingly butter or good olive oil brushed on it.

I think what Anthony's succeeds in doing is making a non-offensive pie...well done.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza
6569 Las Vegas Blvd. Town Square. Suite 176
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702.361.7500

Phillips Seafood- Washington DC

Our last day in the District, we headed to a place our good friend & housesitter recommended. It is called Phillips Seafood.

This buffet has it all. There's an area with these giant kettles filled with mussels, clams, crawfish, and crab legs.


There were also various stations throughout the restaurant including your typical carving station, hot items station, and this "seafood" hot items station. The seafood one had things like jambalaya, grilled fish, and crab cakes.

The crab cakes weren't anything spectacular, but hey, they're all you can eat. We paid less here per person than what a typical crab cake dinner would cost anywhere else in the district.

It's almost an art form when eating these critters. Good thing a friend of mine used to live in NOLA. He said to take the head off and suck'em dry. That's pretty much all it takes.

They even had their own seasoning.

They give you a bucket for all your shells. Our friend told us he polished of enough seafood to fill four buckets. We only managed to put away one bucket.

Did I mention the dessert station. The cakes are typical of what you would find in most buffets. But, this is the first I've seen that's offered funnel cakes. They also had a mini ice cream parlor station. There was actually a guy who manned the station scooping up ice creams of your choice.


Phillips Seafood
900 Water Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 488-8515


I'm from LA Trick

Clyde's- Washington DC

Tonight we decided to have dinner in Georgetown. I saw an ad around town somewhere about this place called Clyde's and how they had crab cakes. So we went for it. We made reservations online, but when we got there, it looked like they would welcome walk-ins as well. It's definitely a casual place. You don't really have to get too dressed up. The thing about this area is that everyone seems to wear clothes straight out of the Polo Ralph Lauren and J. Crew catalogs. You see polo shirts and khakis everywhere. So, in SoCal lingo, business casual is probably the way to go.

The table water came in these cool metal pitchers.

We decided to start off with an app. This was probably the best dish we had tonight. It is called the "Crab Tower". I know, it sounds like bad news happened in your pants, but hey, I didn't name it. It is what it is. Anyway, its lump crab sitting on top of seaweed salad, and a coconut curry rice cake. It is topped with tobiko (fish roe) and avocado and drizzled with a ginger miso sauce. This thing is awesome. The crab was delicious and the Japanese components blended with it well. The rice cake wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be one of those dry styrofoam type of rice cakes in the health food aisle. It was actually rice cooked in the coconut curry and had a crisp shell around it. A very nice dish.

Then it was time for dinner.

The wife had the single crab cake served with corn, tomatoes, and potatoes. The crab cake was definitely better than our first experience yesterday at Martin's Tavern. These cakes had the nice lump crab and were not deep fried. So, there was no battered coating this time around. The only thing about this dish is that it is not very filling. It could have made for another nice appetizer.

I went with their cowboy steak. This was kind of depressing. The steak is not aged. I'm fine with that. After all, it's not really a steakhouse. But describing it as a 14 oz Bone-In Ribeye on the menu, got my hopes up. I was expecting a nice steak on a decent size rib. I got a thin steak with a bone nugget in the corner of it. It is very much like a steak you could get at places like Denny's or IHOP. Not that I'm knocking those places... I love moons over my hammy and rooti tutti fresh & fruty. Definitely don't order steaks here.


For dessert, we went with their chocolate and croissant bread pudding. This was pure buttery bliss. I've had more than my fair share of bread puddings. At this point in my life, this one is my favorite. What a great concept of using croissants for a bread pudding. Because they use croissants, the bread pudding was not as heavy and dense as your typical pudding.

Not that the bread pudding is already good enough. There's chocolate hidden at the bottom. Good stuff.

Till next time kids...
Peace Out.

Clyde's of Georgetown
3236 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-9180


I'm from LA Trick

Martin's Tavern- Washington DC

Martin's Tavern is a super old bar in Georgetown. We heard it might be a good place to try some crab cakes. We know that if we wanted some real crab cakes we'd have to head out to Maryland, but we didn't have a rental car or the time. This will have to do.



Apparently, many presidents made their way to this joint including JFK.

Also, they have had some spies come through their doors as well.

We opted for the petite crab cakes just to sample them. They did have lump crab meat which was nice. But we weren't particularly enthusiastic about them being fried. Once you get passed the fried coating, the crab was really quite tasty. You can taste a hint of mustard in them.

We also picked up their triple play which included a tuna sandwich, some fruit, and their Brunswick Stew. There's nothing really notable about the sandwich. It was a typical tuna sandwich, what more can I say?

As for the stew, I was really interested in trying it because of the description on the menu. It looked like it was something they were famous for. It was a bit underwhelming. The chicken was soft and tender, as it should since its been in the stew for hours. But, if you refer back to the description, it says "fresh garden vegetables". Hardly fresh. They're the same frozen peas and carrots (you know, the ones diced like little squares) you see in chinese fried rice. And don't give me the "fresh frozen" argument. There's fresh vegetables and there's frozen vegetables. There is no in between. So, that was definitely disappointing. One last note, the stew was kinda sweet. I'm not sure what that's all about either. When I hear stew, I imagine a hearty soup dish. Not really the case here. I would have guessed that this just came out of a can. That's enough ranting for now.

Martin's Tavern
1264 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-7370

I'm from LA Trick

Chinatown Garden- Washington DC

After a long day in the District, we stumbled upon Chinatown. It's a pretty small area. From what we could tell, it was about a couple blocks long. Nothing like back home. In any case, we decided to give Chinatown Garden a try.

The wife went with the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. As always, the garlic sauce was quite oily. The great thing about their preparation was two fold. First of all, they quartered the eggplant. This makes every piece more manageable to eat. Most places we go to typically prepare it halved. The second bonus was the fact that they do not over cook the eggplant. Most of the time, it comes out too soft and stringy. Chinatown Garden's version remains crisp more enjoyable.

I went with the Szechuan Style Beef Brisket Noodle Soup. I won't lie to you, the brisket is fatty. But, I knew that going in. We all know the fatty beef gives it more flavor. The noodles are typical egg noodles, and the broth has some chili to jazz it up. But, it isn't too spicy. It was a hearty soup that hit the spot.


Till next time kids...

Chinatown Garden
618 H Street, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20001
(202) 737-8887

Medaterra- Washington DC

The wife is Washington DC this week for work. I decided to meet up with her to check out the District. Since I arrived pretty late, our options for dinner were limited. Luckily, just down the street were a row of restaurants. We decided to try out Medaterra, a Mediterranean bistro. It was already 10:30pm. Luckily they were still willing to serve us.

The wife went with the hummus topped with spicy lamb. Unfortunately, they ran out of the regular hummus. They offered us the herb hummus instead. We went with it. I couldn't tell you exactly what herbs are in there. It was nothing too spectacular. But we really had no complaints either.

I've been sitting on a couple planes all day, so I was ready for a nice dinner. So, I ordered their braised lamb shank. I enjoyed how it was prepared in a very simple matter. The lamb was tender and juicy. A light fresh tomato sauce was placed over the meat along with with a side of rice. It was a great meal for under $20. The service was great considering we walked in not too long before closing time.

I'll keep you posted with more joints in and around the District during our stay out here.
Till next time... peace out.

Medaterra
2614 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008-1521
(202) 797-0400


I'm From LA Trick

WITNESS... King Taco

I've been hearing about this chain of taco shops in the SoCal Area. They are mainly in LA County. So, after attending the 2009 NBA Championship Celebration at the LA Coliseum with the LOS ANGELES LAKERS...

We found ourselves in the Long Beach location of King Taco. This is a lot like your typical taco shops. You simply go to the counter, place your order, and wait for your number to be called for pick up.

Today, I went for the Puro Carne Carne Asada Burrito. This is a great item for any taco shop menu. A burrito where you don't have to tell the counter "No beans, no rice, etc." It's just a simple burrito with some onions, cilantro, and their hot sauce (aka Salsa). Let me warn you now, the hot sauce definitely has a kick. So, use your best judgement. If you're unsure, I'd suggest getting it on the side. The burrito is great. It's not huge like most places where you feel like a lard arse after eating. It's just the right size (about the size your fists together). The meat has great flavor. The lime juice is very distinct. I won't lie to you, I can be kinda oily under that tortilla. Then again, what true taco shop doesn't have oily food?

I also ordered a couple of Tacos Al Pastor. I felt compelled to do it because I saw that they actually have the Al Pastor cooking on the spit in the mexican rotisserie thing. It looked just like the street tacos you see in Tijuana. The tacos were average for me. I remember the street tacos having more of a pineapple essence to them. Its probably because the place I went to had a pineapple at the top of the spit. King Taco had an onion on the top of their spit. The Hot Sauce (aka The Salsa) was a bit overpowering for these little gems. Next time I would probably tell them to ease up on the sauce when its going on any tacos.

All in all, not a shabby meal for under Ten Bucks. I'd definitely hit up one of their locations again. They have a pretty vast menu. I just went with my typical go to items since it was my first time at any of their establishments.

Till next time...
Peace Out.

King Taco (Keep in mind they have several locations)
1841 Long Beach Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90806
(562) 218-9118


I'm From LA Trick