Fifteen times thicker than New York style, and twenty times Neapolitan, Chicago deep-dish stuffed-crust made me understand why pizzas are called pies. We tried two different places; the famous Giordano’s, and Exchequer. Giordano’s took longer to bake, nearly an hour, but it was worth it. Each slice was more of a cohesive unit, the cheese not slidding off as much as the slice from the Exchequer, which required the assistance of a fork. I don’t think stuffed crust was the right name for either of them. Both pizzas were really a thin crust, covered in an inch and a half of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, sealed in with another layer of crust, then topped with more sauce and cheese. They were by far the heaviest things I’d ever eaten in my life, with not an air pocket or light ingredient to be found.
Although both were good, Giordano’s was undeniably better, living up to and surpassing its reputation. I’ve decided that Chicago pizza is the equal of New York style, just very different. All pizzas styles are created equal, but all pizzas are not, as the horrid pizza I was forced to consume in South Dakota showed me. Seriously, it was so bad, we didn’t even take back the leftovers to eat for breakfast.

Additional Note on Breakfast Pizza
I’ve decided that New York pizza and bad replicas of it should have their leftovers be eaten cold the next morning, and Chicago and Neapolitan should be reheated. For Neapolitan, use a toaster oven, and for Chicago, heat in a microwave until the inside is the temperature you want, then finish off in a toaster oven to restore the crispiness of the crust. Or if you’re really patient, which I am most certainly not in the mornings, simply heat it in an oven until it reaches the desired temperature.

At first we thought Velvet Taco was an odd name. It became clearer when we went inside and found that they served tacos and red velvet cake. We didn’t try the cake, but we’ll have more opportunities, as I’m sure that we’ll be returning.

The chicken tikka taco was superb. Also, very fun to say. The chicken was good, but for me, the rice made it stand out. A lot of people think rice doesn’t have much of a taste, but when I first bit into this, it was all I tasted.

I did not like the Cuban pig. The taste of the meat was overpowering, and not in a good way. It blocked out all the other flavors, leaving the taco both boring and aggressive. 

The Annatto shredded pork, on the other hand, was the best taco I’ve ever had. Admittedly, I’ve never been to a fusion taqueria before, but it was still to die for. Grilled pineapple balanced with pickled onion, and the pork…. Oh, the pork. I do not have words that can accurately describe the pork, but I will try. Succulent and tender, sweet and tangy. If ambrosia were a meat, it would be this.

And for a taqueria, they had surprisingly delicious tater tots. The base tots were the same preprocessed ones you find in bowling alleys or school cafeterias, but the cheese, bacon, and avocado crema really made them pop. A fried egg on top kept it warm, as well as adding its own flavor.

We weren’t planning on desert, but when we spotted a gelato stand in Mariano square across the street, we couldn’t resist. We shared a scoop of white chocolate raspberry, and another scoop of toasted almond coconut fudge. The flavors complemented each other well, with just the right mix of fruit, nuts, and chocolate. In one spectacular bite, I got a raspberry, an almond, and bits of fudge and white chocolate. They really need to make a raspberry almond fudge flavor.

If you’re ever in Chicago, go to Velvet Taco at 1110 North State Street. Seriously, just go there.

The first thing I noticed when I bit into a Just Like New York pastrami sandwich from Cecil’s Deli in Saint Paul was the textures. The soft, freshly-baked roll contrasted nicely with the crunchiness of the carrots and lettuce in the coleslaw. Poppy and sesame seeds rolled off the sandwich into my mouth, cracking in my teeth as I bit down. The pastrami was stringy enough so that with each bite, it pulled some of the coleslaw out, spilling over my hands in a not wholly unpleasant way. Not wholly unpleasant because I got to lick it off. The meat was richly flavored, with pepper, mustard seed, and other spices I couldn’t identify.

All in all, a fantastic sandwich. 5 out of 5. Good job, Cecil. And goodnight.

After eating canned soup for two nights previously, the Grant’s Village Restaurant near our campsite in Yellowstone was a welcome treat. When I walked in and saw a sign saying that the night’s special was elk chili, I immediately knew what I was going to get. It turns out, I made a great choice. Unlike Campbell’s, the chili was not too thin, nor was it gloppy. It was advertised as having “just enough cayenne pepper to heat up a cool fall evening,” and they were right. I didn’t even notice the spice until I paused for a second to let it sink in. It was enough to make me reach for my water, but after a minute it didn’t even bother me. If no one had told me that it was made of elk, I don’t think I would have even realized that it wasn’t beef. But because I was paying attention, I could tell that the meat was slightly more tangy.

The bowl was large enough that I couldn’t finish it, and kept some for lunch the next day. It was still good, although the beans became a bit rubbery. The warmth obviously fades, but the heat doesn’t.

This chili was fantastic, especially compared to Skyline.