High Five for Five Guys

Recently I’ve been hearing a lot about Five Guys Burgers & Fries and rave reviews they've been getting.  I was curious to see if it lived up to the hype.  There have been a few in Toronto/Mississauga popping up but the one I visited was in Calgary.

All of their burgers come with double patties unless you order a junior size. I ordered the cheeseburger.  What I like is there are about 15 different condiments and toppings you can dress your burger with at no extra charge. I don’t like that there isn’t an option to make a combo. They offer two types of fries; regular and Cajun spice and work on an order and pick up system. The turn around time per order is less than 5 minutes. The neat thing is they have boxes of peanuts to keep the hungry from getting missed-meal-cramps. Drinks are refillable so they’re not just offering peanuts for you to buy more drinks.  My meal came up to about $12-$13. It’s a little pricier than your average McDonalds and Burger King but it’s worth the price.  It’s comparable to your Licks burger joint which is not very good in my opinion.

The Burger

Eventhough it is a double patty and I got half the toppings they offered, it wasn’t very hard to eat. The bun to meat ratio is on point and the patty is flavoured well without too many fillers.

(Sorry I had to take a few bites of it to show the interior. They smush the burger down)

I give this a 4 of 5 pairs.

They would get 5 from most people but unfortunately for them, I have had a burger that blows them out of the water but these guys are definitely 2^nd in my books.

Fries

I want to start off by saying they give you more than enough fries for two people. They fill a container, put it in the bag and put another scoop in the bag. I tried both types of fries; regular fresh cut and Cajun.  I found the Cajun had too much spice. If they took the amount back a notch, they would taste a lot better. The regular fries weren’t anything too special but served hot and crispy and perfect for me to dip in mayo ;) (which they don't charge extra for btw. Well at least not at the location I was at)

I give this 3 of 5 pairs

I like the option of different fries and they're good but nothing to phone home about.

Price: under $15 for entire meal

Parking: Plaza

Service: 5 mins turn around time

Menu: Burgers and fries, not much else

Ambiance: Old diner feel. Lots of seating.

I’ll definitely go back and recommend it, unless they open my favourite burger joint (Burgers Priest) closer to my house. Stay tuned for that review!

Phu’d and Travel

Spolumbo’s Delivers a Hit

On my recent trip to Calgary, I stopped by a local Stampeders sandwich shop called Spolumbo’s.  It’s an Italian sandwich shop created by 3 ex-CFL Calgary Stampeders; Tom Spoletini, Mike Palumbo and Tony Spoletini.

  

Location

Spolumbo's Fine Foods & Deli

1308 - 9 Avenue SE

Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2G 0T3

Spolumbo's is a  deli/sandwich shop that offers cold cuts and sausages to take home and dine in hot sandwiches as well.  It is a big place with tons of autographed sports memorabilia hanging on the walls.

I was told the best sandwich is the meatball sandwich so I decided to give it a go. The sandwich is about $8 and only about 6” long. You get 3 good sized meatballs with cheese and tomato sauce on a fresh baked bun.  The sauce is comparable to California sandwiches’. Good old fluffy Italian tomato sauce. That is the most important part in my opinion. The meatballs were very well flavored but the sandwich could have used more cheese. One of the guys I was with didn’t even realize there was cheese in it.

I’ll give this a 3 of 5 pairs.

It is a good sandwich but for the price and size, it doesn’t come close to California Sandwiches.

They offer a wide variety of soft drinks including bottled pop which I’m a big fan of.

Price: $10 and under

Parking: Small parking lot

Service: Quick

Menu: Lots of variety and daily specials

Ambiance: High 20’ ceilings with a sporty Calgary feel to it.  Seats around 30-40 ppl

I definitely recommend it but don’t go in there expecting California sized sandwiches. I’d like to give the other items on the menu a go. Maybe next time I'm out there....

Phu'd and Travel

Fresh Tortilla’s are the lone star

It was the birthday of a co-worker of mine and his favourite restaurant is Lonestar Texas Grill, so we took him out.

The location

156 West Drive
(Queen St. just east of 410)
Brampton, ON, L6T5P1

They’re known for their in house freshly made tortillas so how do you visit and not get their signature dish?

They start you off with nachos and salsa which is nice. You don’t have to get an appetizer this way and not to mention the nachos come warm and salsa is fluffy and not too dense.

These deserve a 3 of 5 pairs

I ordered an appetizer anyways. I ordered the ‘Texas Horseshoe of rings’. They’re just your regular onion rings but served with two different dipping sauces; Chipotle jalapeño ketchup and Ranch.

The sauces and rings were good but they need to either provide more rings or lower the price. $6.99 for ¼ of an onion battered and fried is ridiculous!

For taste I would give it 3 of 5 but because of the portion size, I’m giving it 1 of 5 pairs.

Onto the lone, supposed star of the show, the fajitas. I’ll start by saying that I ordered a single portion but a lunch portion came.  It also took about 30 mins.  There was nothing special about the filling or condiments that came with the dish but they one thing that sets them apart from the rest is the fresh tortilla’s they offer. Price on this was $10.99. 

I’ll give these 3 of 5 pairs. 

They could eventually get to a 5 if they work on their sides and filling.  The fajitas are best compared to Hedo Turkoglu for the Raptors; excited about the idea but does not live up to the hype. Sorry B, I know you love this place.

Price: Most dishes under $20

Parking: Plaza

Service: Slow! Waitress wasn’t bad but the kitchen was not up to speed.

Menu: Southern  

Ambiance: ‘Texas’ ranch style 

Will I go back? Likely not this location unless its another Birthday celebration

Phu'd and Travel

Hands Up for The Galway Arms

Today I'm blogging about one of my favorite Irish pubs in Toronto, The Galway Arms. Located in Etobicoke at 840 The Queensway, between Royal York Rd and Islington Ave. Click on the link to see the full menu and info for the bar.

It’s not the prettiest place but the food is delicious and it’s a fun loving environment. All the waitress’ are from Ireland and super friendly. They always have sports matches on whether it be Baseball, Hockey, Soccer or Rugby.  Apparently they have live music Friday nights but I haven’t been yet.  They also have a variety of Irish beer so my wife likes to get Smithwicks ($6).

Onto the food. Excuse my photos today as the bar is pretty dark.

Since it’s a bit chilly today we started off with the potato & leek soup. I’m new to the potato and leek soup game but I really enjoy it. The combination of the potato and crispy leek was good on a chilly night. It also comes with soda bread which I’m not a huge fan of my wife seems to like. The cost of this soup is $4.25

This gets 4 of 5 chopsticks           

Next, the wings: I’m a big fan of their wings and in my opinion they have one of the best wings in the city. I know that’s a bold statement but I guess you just need to try it for yourselves. Lucky for me, Monday nights are wing nights. 50 cents each wing and no need to be forced buy a drink or limited to only dine in. You can even take your left over wings to go.  They are the perfect size; not too small that it isn’t worth the work and not too big that they are dry. They have the traditional sauces; mild, medium, hot, suicide, honey garlic and my favorite, texas gold (a mixture of honey garlic and mild). Today I went with half texas gold and half hot. The hot isn’t as hot as I expected but still had a kick to it and still good. My favorite never fails me. They were delicious today!

For the taste, size and especially price I have to give these 5 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

We also got the ‘shepherd’s pie’ ($9.95). I usually don’t get shepherd’s pie at restaurants but since we tried it the first time, we keep coming back for it.  What’s good about this pie is the meat is good juicy chunky ground meat and seasoned very well. The pie is also topped with gravy which is a nice touch. You have the choice of salad or fries on the side. I usually opt for the fries and order a side of curry sauce to dip ($1.95). Yes, I said curry sauce and yes; I said dip my fries in it. I’m not sure how much curry is in Ireland but these guys make a mean curry sauce. 

Since this is a favorite of mine, I’m also giving it 5 of 5 pairs of chopsticks.

Price: Well priced. Most dishes are under $15

Parking: Meter parking but free after 6pm

Service: Slower than normal. Keep in mind it’s a friendly neighborhood bar where regulars frequent and chat with the staff

Menu: Lots of variety and daily specials

Ambiance: It’s a pub, nothing fancy but cozy

Olive Garden Going Tuscan

On my latest trip to the US we went back to our old stomping grounds, The Olive Garden. Now I usually order ‘The Taste of Italy’ but we decided to order something different this time. They started opening their new ‘Tuscan’ style restaurants which apparently have a few different items on their menu.   

We went to a newly built on in the town of Williamsville (Buffalo).  

7700 Transit Road

Williamsville, NY, United States

We got the ‘Chianti Braised Short Ribs’ and ‘Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara’.   If you don’t know The Olive Garden, you get bottomless bowls of soup or salad and unlimited breadsticks. Their breadsticks get saltier every visit but the salt is just on the surface so you can easily remove. 

The soups I tried are the:

‘Pasta e Fagioli’ - White and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta

 ‘Chicken & Gnocchi’ - A creamy soup with roasted chicken, gnocchi and spinach.

 ‘Zuppa Toscana’ – a semi creamy soup with sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens.

 (sorry no pictures)

The Pasta e Fagioli is a tomato based soup and basically your minestrone. Nothing too special here but a good hearty soup.   

3 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

Chicken & gnocchi sounds and should be delicious but they are cheap with their chicken and their gnocchi is weak and they need to dip into a recipe from nonna (or my good friend Gino’s mom’s recipe).   

1 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

Zuppa Toscana is my favorite of the three. The sausage isn’t the greatest of quality but the combination of the broth, potatoes and (the star of the show) the cavolo greens makes it the winner.   

4 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

‘Chianti Braised Short Ribs’ (slow cooked beef short ribs in a chianti wine sauce with portobello mushroom risotto) 

The ribs were a hit or miss. Some of the pieces were very tender and juicy while some were hard dry. The portabello risotto was good but they ruined it by topping with green beans and carrots. It’s not even close to my wife’s mushroom risotto but it’ll do.  For $16.50 including the soup and breadsticks, its definitely a good price.
3 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

‘Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara’ (chicken and shrimp with bucatini pasta in a parmesan cream sauce with pancetta bacon and roasted red peppers, baked and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs)

This guy is super creamy and oily from the bacon and cheese but very good.  The shrimp cooked well and crispy and the chicken was tender and not dry. It also helped there was a cream sauce and fat from pancetta bacon ;)  This also is $16.50 including soup and breadsticks. I will get this again.
4 of 5 pairs of chopsticks

Overall, OG is always a hit. The wait times get a little annoying at times (30-60mins) when you are very hungry.

Phu'd and Travel

Twirling Pizza?

Pizza Twirl has been open for less than a week so I thought I'd stop by.

2828 Kingsway Dr.

Oakville, ON

L6J 7M2

I ordered the house signature pizza 'The Twirl'. Its a ham, chicken, onion, mushroom and pesto sauce pizza.  They have thin crust pizza and lucky for me I'm a big fan of thin crust. We paid about $13.50 for the large pizza.  They also offer wings, hot sandwiches, twirls (I'll talk about later), and smoothies!

They were generous with their toppings and pesto sauce was a good addition. One of my favorite pizzas I've had.  

I give this pizza 4 of 5 chopsticks

They also had a good selection of hot sauces to accompany the pizza.  I am a huge fan of dipping sauces so I am hoping they put some into the rotation.

I had to figure out what these 'twirls' were all about so I ordered a meat lovers twirl.

These are basically muffin sized pizza version of a cinnamon bun.  I tried the 'meat lovers'.  I think this is a great idea. You can buy them by the half and full dozen and mix and match the many different flavours they offer.  The price point is good too at $1.77 each.  This is good option for the school kids in the area.

I give this 4 of 5 chopsticks

They also offer a wide variety of smoothies as well. I tried a Raspberry and it was full of fruit and not too thick. It is a nice touch for the health conscious customers. There were a lot of people coming in just to order them.

I give this 4 of 5 chopsticks

Price: Good. $14.50 for an XL signature pizza
Parking: Free and in a plaza
Customer Service: Excellent
Seating: 20-25 people
Ambiance: The colours (white & green) and setting give me a fresh and healthy feeling.

If you live in the area or are nearby, check it out. Try the smoothie and twirls!

Far from Epic Burgers

Now I’m not a fan of savoury & sweet but when I first heard of the Krispy Kreme cheeseburger I had to try it. To start off there was a pretty big but expected line up so since I had a few people with me (to help) I decided to try two of their burgers. They had quite a few to choose from; The doughnut cheeseburger, behemoth, chicken and waffles and the classic American smashburger. I decided on the doughnut cheeseburger and the behemoth.

The Doughnut Cheeseburger

So what is supposed to make this guy so ‘special’? They replace top and bottom bun with two Krispy Kreme doughnuts (one as top and one as bottom bun). I’m a big fan of FRESH Krispy Kreme doughnuts (who really isn’t?) but these were far from fresh. They were as hard as Coffee Time day old doughnuts. If this is your first time trying a Krispy Kreme doughnut, you’ll never have one again. I’m not sure if I would even enjoy it if they were fresh out of the fryer but it would have made my picking the burger apart eating method a lot more enjoyable. The burger itself wasn’t bad but it was your regular out of the pack frozen burger. I wouldn’t recommend it. Epic FAIL!

This gets 1/5 pairs of chopsticks and that’s only for the originality

The Behemoth Burger

This was a lot better than its talentless, more popular brother (doughnut cheeseburger). Instead of the stale hard Krispy Kreme doughnuts, this guy has a grilled cheese sandwich for a top and bottom bun. Again, a very good idea but it is lacking a good burger patty. It would have tasted a lot better with a home made burger patty. Now you may think it is too much cheese but the ratio of bread and meat to cheese was enough not to make you lactose intolerant after a single bite.

This gets 3/5 pairs of chopsticks

Phu'd and Travel

About Me

I've been getting a lot of people saying I should start a food blog because I'm always talking about my experiences with different foods and restaurants. Since I love to travel, I decided I will blog about my adventures too.

Check back soon!

Phu'd and Travel