Foodie Run The Slaw Dogs

It has been a while, but I was due for another food run, and I 
couldn't get The Slaw Dogs off my mind since I first learned of their 
existence a couple of months ago. If this us your first exposure to 
one if my food blogs, then I have to say that I like to eat, travel, 
and try new foods. Perfect combo for a foodie like myself with, what I 
like to refer to as, an Inner Fat Man! I know of several good spots 
out here already, and am always comin across more. This one came via 
Twitter. I followed and really enjoyed what they were talkin about, 
and decided I had to try it for myself.
Pasadena is not usually in my circle of driving, but it's not like it 
was horribly far away. After double checking the address, I zoomed off 
to pick up my fave nurse, gf, and wing-girl on this escapade, Ro, and 
we headed out in search of food. Leavin after 12 ensured we would miss 
the lunch rush, and after a nice ride on the 110fwy through scenic 
downtown, LA and its famous skyline, after riding by through South 
Pasadena, & by Old Town Pasadena, and passing up the parking lot, we 
finally arrived, & with an appetite!
Now, as we walked up I noticed that there was a pretty sweet lookin 

cupcake shop called PolkaTots across the way, but I had to resist, and 
press on. Having dodged the lunch run, there were just a handful of 
patrons inside, so we cozied up with a menu, and looked carefully over 
each item. I decided on the ABLT Dog and we shared a basket of fries & 
sweet potato fries & a couple of Cokes. We sat at a booth against the 
wall, and after a very short wait, our food arrived. Now the ABLT Dog 
is pretty much what it's described as. Avocado double Bacon Lettuce, & 
Tomato, all served on a pure beef Vienna Dog with a pickle & mayo, in 
between a warm fresh bun.
All together, that was one tasty dog! 
There's something about the flavors of BLTs that, to me, just mix so 
well on my tongue, and when added to the pure beef goodness of that 
dog, it was quite wonderful! Needless to say, with the appetites that 

we brought in, those dogs didn't stand a chance, and were gone far to 
quickly. The fries (sweet potato & regular) were a good side, but 
nothing to get excited about, I've had better.
So we thought the end of those tasty dogs were the end of the 

adventure, but the call of PolkaTots was too great, and we stopped in 
for some mini cupcakes. Ro got a pistachio cupcake cleverly named The 
Lucky Charms, and I got the Dulce de Leche aka The Dolcissimo, and 
talk about GOOD! Such flavor packed into such a small thing. Absolute 
tastyness!
I'll have to go back for another, but for now we had to get 
cross town to catch Sprinkles' offer of a free cupcake to all nurses 
for Nurses' Day. After driving, or more like ducking and dodging LA 
traffic, we arrived in Beverly Hills, just in time to get free parking 
right in front of Sprinkles! As we entered their frosted glass door 
the scents of chocolate cake and sweet frosting greeted us, and we 
hurried to the counter to place our order. I went with the lemon 
cupcake, Ro got the red velvet, and her free Nurse Cupcake was the 
chocolate marshmallow with chocolate gnache. The lemon cupcake was 
tasty, not quite as tasty as their seasonal key lime, but still tasty.

The red velvet was as good as always, but that chocolate marshmallow 
was a surprise and a half! It had a nice choco/cocoa flavor mix with 
the cake and ganache, but the marshmallow was added to the CENTER of 
the cake! I was immediately reminded of a Hostess Cupcake, but on a 
whole other level! It was a perfect way to end this Food Adventure.
See ya next run!

The Original Texas BBQ King

So it was a great Monday morning that I struck out with my bro Dave in search of something he saw on a TV show. It all started with a text message that asked if I had heard of an eatery in LA called The Original Texas Barbecue King. Being the foodie that I am, he was surprised that I had not yet made the journey there, but I decided to remedy that, so off we went in search of The BBQ King's famous 1lb burger.
As we rolled we talked the usual shop, family, friends, and of course food, and he described to me the technique that was used to cook this great burger. Each one is prepared fresh by hand, and cooked on the second rack of the grill under the ribs and such to absorb a little extra flavor as it cooks. The thought of it was driving me insane, and had I not been recovering from my skateboard injuries (blog for another time), I would have got out and pushed Dave's truck so we could get there faster!
As we exited the freeway on that overcast morn, we kept our eyes peeled for the spot. We soon pulled up in front of the kings "castle" nestled between a shoe repair store and ironically, a place that sold barbecue grills. Had we not been paying attention, we would have passed right by it!

As we got out and walked up, the place looked a bit dark which gave us a bit of a pause, but the siren call of the burger urged us forward. As we entered the place, it looked as though we were the first customers of the day. The big screen TV called out the day's news as we took a loong look at the menu.
We eventually decided on getting two combos, the 1lb burger combo, and a bbq tri tip sandwich combo that we were going to split. Each combo came with a choice of side and a soda. Dave got cornbread, and I got the mac n cheese. We were advised that the order was going to take some extra time due to the burger being freshly handmade, which neither of us had a problem with, and we took a seat in the sparse dining area across from a mural the let each visitor know that "The BBQ King Loves America."

The News ended, then the daytime soaps began, and sensing this would kill our appetite, we were handed the TV remote, and we promptly tuned in to ESPN sports center, and caught up with the weekend's events.
Before we knew it, we had two gorgeous sandwiches placed in front of us. Our eyes bugged out at the sight of that 1lb beast! The huge patty came adorned with iceberg lettuce, tomato, yellow onion, dill pickle chips, and two slices of American cheese and was dressed with mayo and a spot of yellow mustard. Wanting to just taste the burger as it was served in it's pure goodness, I assembled it , cut it in half, and me and Dave made the switch. On first bite, I was met with juicy and tender beef, that had a hint of the ribs it was cooking under. It was then that I noticed the combination of all the other "accessories", and how they all danced so deliciously together in my mouth.


Dave had started on the tri tip, and suggested that I take a bite. The tri tip came slathered in the King's special bbq sauce that tasted like it was a molasses based, sweet and smoky complete with tiny onion slivers. The meat itself was tender for the most part, and flavorful.
Although I did admire what I saw, my mind was already racing with ideas on how to personalize it. First, since I'm not a fan of it, I'd replace the American cheese slices with colby jack slices, or at the very least, cheddar. The yellow onions, I'd replace with red. Sauce wise, there are so many options. The addition of ketchup, spicy brown mustard, a good teriyaki, or even the King's very own sauce that was on the tri tip can enhance and transform this wonderful creation.
On the downside for me was the macaroni and cheese. It had the right color, a nice yellow orange. The right look, elbow macaroni with a layer of baked cheese, but the taste was off some how. It seemed kind of powdery, and not totally fresh. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the mac n cheese I've had before (Ronic and Sadie), but this time, I think not. It was just a case of #MacNCheeseFail.

All in all, this was a good trip. It has been a
couple of weeks since we were there, but I can still taste that juicy one pound goodness! There is a lot on the menu still to try, so Texas BBQ King, I WILL be back!