Dining Out For Life is a charity event benefiting the Northeast Florida AIDS Network which provides comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and advocacy services and programs to our area. This years Dining Out For Life event happens on Thursday, April 24th. On that day, if you go to any of the participating restaurants (which we have listed below) proceeds will go to benefit people with AIDS.
(Submitted by Robin)
BREAKING NEWS!!!! FCCJ Kent Campus has JUST BEEN EVACUATED due to a bomb threat. We will have more information as it comes in!
As you guys already know, we tried out Cafe 331 (331 W Forsyth St.) Wednesday night before the ArtWalk and we had a wonderful time. First of all, we must say that we were really mesmerized when we walked into the place. It was freaking HUGE!!!!
We chugged a few more beers and then decided to order some sandwiches, so we went inside and placed our orders (you can either order at the deli counter or with the bartender).
Jason and Emily both had the BLT.
Robin had the Patty Melt.
He said it was awesome (and it looked it, cheese oozing out of the grilled bread....) and he finished every last crumb.
Mark had the Grilled Ham & Cheese
Joe(y) had the Turkey Club.
As you guys know, Joe(y) is a man of few words and just said that it was "good". It was pretty much your basic club, so its pretty hard to really mess one up.
Patrick had the Fish & Chips.
Last, but not least, Junior Staff Member PJ had some Onion Rings...
Unlike everything else, which was amazing, PJ said that the onion rings, "taste like sh*t!"...but he's a kid so who really cared what the eff he thought about them anyway. We all had a taste and thought they were just fine.
Owners Milton and Judith were very gracious hosts and took care of everything we needed. Milton also informed us that they are going to try out a Mediterranean night sometime in the future featuring Greek/Arabic foods and music. We will definitely check that out.
HOPA!!!! At the end of our meal Milton bought us all a round of Ouzo and we did a traditional Greek toast.
A few of the Jacksonville Confidential staff members joined up at Metro Diner (3302 Hendricks Ave.) yesterday, Sunday March 2nd, for breakfast/brunch. Unfortunately only half of our group made it because the other half had a previous engagement. Anyway, here's our review...
Metro Diner was, expectedly, packed when we arrived for breakfast, but our wait time for 6 people was just under 10 minutes. We were shuffled to the very back of the tightly packed eatery and immediately helped by our adorable server, whose name we totally forgot to get.
We had a choice of either the Breakfast Menu or the Lunch Menu. Jason, Robin, Mark, and Patrick all chose items off the breakfast menu and Emily chose a lunch item.
Jason and Patrick both had the Huevos Rancheros - Your choice of eggs served on top of fried tortilla shells, black beans, onions peppers and chorizo sausage topped with melted cheese, salsa, sour cream and jalepenos. They were fantastic and "new" to the menu.
Mark had the Eggs Benedict - Two poached eggs and Canadian bacon served on an English muffin, topped with creamy hollandaise sauce, complete with hash browns. He enjoyed every single bite.
Emily had the Meatloaf Plate - Our famous meatloaf with mashed garlic red skinned potatoes, gravy & veggies, and fresh bread. It looked really good, but she didn't even eat half of it and said it was just "okay".
Overall it was a really nice experience, the seating, service, and delivery were super fast and the employees were all awesome. We will be back some day!
Update: Just wanted to say that this place is like Beach Road Chicken awesome...okay? get it?!
Jason, Robin, and Mark checked out the new Mitchell's Fish Market at the Town Center (5099 Big Island Dr.) on Saturday, it was pretty darn good.
Our server Hayley started us off with some Iced Teas and Bread. One thing we totally dig is that they brew the iced tea fresh for your table and give you a carafe on the side with the extra. Many kudos for that grand idea.
For their entree's, Robin and Mark both ordered the special of the day, Pasta Louise ($12.95), penne pasta with shrimp, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, and fresh spinach. It was absolutely delicious. Mark mentioned that he specifically liked how they laid the fresh spinach on top and allowed it to wilt slowly with the heat of the finished dish instead of cooking it at the same time. The portion was pretty generous too.
Robin sent us this rather lengthy article from Globe Media that talks about the Doomsday Vault. This week, the vault will be receiving its first 100 million seeds (out of approximately 2.25 billion expected) to store in case of a global catastrophe: The article was a little too long and detailed for us to just cut and paste the entire thing, so Click Here to read the full story. One of our staff members, who will remain anonymous, suggested that he had some seeds to contribute to the cause....we stopped him mid sentence and requested that he say no more..."The underground, bombproof shelter, financed by the Norwegian government and located in the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean, is designed to safeguard the genetic diversity of the plants backing the world's food supply, in case political instability, nuclear war or climatic upheaval over the centuries wipes out key seed varieties from their countries of origin.
The vault has the capacity to hold a hoard of about 2.25 billion seeds, enough to preserve every important agricultural crop on Earth. But it will inter for safekeeping today an initial shipment of 100 million seeds from 268,000 varieties of wheat, barley, lentils and other crops, the beginning of a genetic trove that could come in handy for future generations."
Al's Pizza (1620 Margaret Street) was totally the perfect place to kick-off the perfect night. There were about 16 of us in attendance and though Al's does not take reservations the staff was more than helpful setting up a large table for us. We had to wait a little while for the dining room to clear out, so we sat at the bar and had a few drinks to warm us up.
We were seated and promptly helped by our FANTASTIC server Lindsey. Heres what we had....
We totally give Al's a 10 out of 10 stars for hosting us last night. All of the food was magnificent, reasonably priced, and served super-fast by the most awesome server EVER!!! Thanks again to Lindsey for really taking care of us and ensuring that we had a spectacular time. WE WILL BE BACK!First to arrive at the table were the salads and appetizers (Italian Sausage & Peppers and Cheese Garlic Bread). The house balsamic dressing is delicious and both of the appetizers were tasty as well. We quickly devoured our first course and as soon as our plates were taken our entrees arrived. Emily, Rusty, and David all had slices of pizza pie and all agreed that they were wonderful. The slices were pretty big too! Emily had a little trouble eating 2 slices and ended up just picking all of the toppings off of her second one. Joe(y) and Amber both had a Chicken Caesar Salad. Joe(y) said his Chicken Caesar was "really good and was a substantial portion." Amber agreed saying, "one of the best caesar salads I have ever had, the tomato makes it!". Yeah, she added tomato. Jason had the Spaghetti & Meatballs and cleaned his plate, so you know it was awesome.
Robin had the Eggplant Parmigiana and was very pleased. He did mention that the eggplant was a little soggy, but the taste was spot on and the sogginess wasn't enough to taint the dish.
Linda had the Chicken Parmigiana and mentioned that she orders it quite often and loves it.
Mark had the Baked Ziti. His opinion, "Tasty".
Last, but certainly not least, Becky had the Chicken Fingers and YES we all ragged on her for it, but she said she gets them quite often and they are her favorites. They actually did look quite good.
Robin sent this over to us and its pretty neat. Find Your Spot is an online quiz that helps you determine the perfect place for you to live. The quiz is a tad lengthy, so make sure you have a bit of free time. Also, at the end it requires you to include your personal information (name, address, etc.) and also tries to sell you some crap. You can just click through all that to finally get your answers. Here are The Editor's results...
This review may be a little different than most of the others we've done because we have been to Burrito Gallery (21 E Adams St.) many, many times. So, although it may not have a "fresh" perspective, the review will be based on a culmination of visits with the main focus on our meal last night. This is a good thing. We showed up at Burrito around 5:30PM and it turned out to be perfect timing. There was a small line (that always moves quickly) and plenty of empty tables (but not for long). So we all ordered and the food was delivered super fast, as always.
Heres the breakdown....
Jason had the Yellow Curry Chicken Burrito and said, "It was pretty good; the yellow curry had a really good flavor, but honestly I usually get the Ginger Teriyaki Tofu Burrito and find it to be much tastier."Robin had the Curry Walnut Chicken Salad Wrap and was a bit disappointed, claiming , "Too much lettuce and tomato, barely any chicken. The flavor was good, but the lettuce didn't seem to have been dried and it was wet inside. I was expecting more of a chicken salad not a salad with chicken on it. Also there were about 3 walnuts and no golden raisins."
Another Robyn had the Avocado-Tuna Salad and she said it was GREAT! and totally cleaned her plate.
Emily had one measly Steak Taco (and a TON of sour cream) that couldn't have possibly filled her up, but she did say it was delicious and she always gets the same thing, so we'll take her word for it. It did look good.
Mark had the Tuna Salad Wrap, his most favorite item on the menu. Always good and always sprout free! Lastly, Joe(y) had the Chicken Tacos....."They were awesome, I usually get the chicken buritto, but these were much better."
As you can see from the menu posted above, the prices are incredibly reasonable. Burrito Gallery has a comfortable atmosphere and they change their art frequently. The place does get a bit loud, but we usually go during the ArtWalks so the place is, as you would expect, packed. They've also got a bar in the back and an outside "urban" patio past that.
So, finally, there's our quick review of Burrito Gallery. If you haven't been, you should really try it out...enjoy Downtown!
Robin sent this video to us a few days ago and we are finally getting around to posting it, sorry this took so long. Check out this art installation by ImprovEverywhere (the same peeps who sent 100 shirtless regular guys into Abercrombie & Fitch). This one is pretty awesome, they got about 200 people to stand completely still for 5 minutes in the middle of Grand Central Station in NY. The reactions of the passers-by are pretty cool. Check it.
This is totally ingenious, YouTube user WeAreActualSize posted this awesome mash-up of "Friends" and "Superfriends" using a scene from Friends episode 412 with Wonder Woman and Robin (yes the BOY wonder) as Monica and Rachel and Batman, Flash, and Superman as Joey, Chandler and Ross (all respectively).
Just watch!
