My Favorite Food

[thekremlin]

The competition will be fierce.

There can only be one.

Couldn't figure out how to size this sensibly. Sorry.

[Ugly Bastard]

LOL you have too much time on your hands but kinda cool...

[DJ FC]

I could really go for a Chicago dog. Damnit.

[ninjaface]

Hmm.. maybe I'll go to Portillo's today.

[ninjaface]

Also, fuck your shitty bracket. Use this one.

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*Edit: went back and darkened a few lines

[Beebs]

Drinks aren't food.

I'm getting in early for a deep run by Churrascaria.

[f3lix]

Harold's Chicken should be a lock in the Final Four, if it makes it that far. Pure drunk/high food.

[thekremlin]

BOSTON DIVISION:

#1: Dad's Deep-Dish Pizza
This was years before I moved to Chicago, so by the time I actually had Giardano's, Lou Malnati's, I was unimpressed. Dad did it best. The thing had three crusts. The bottom crust curled around the edge of the pan, and was dusted with corn flour. On top of that, a layer of italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, basil tomato sauce. Another crust. The next layer was pepperoni, more sauce, and mozzerella cheese... A lot of cheese. Another crust, and a final layer of sauce and assorted toppings. You didn't pick it up; fork and knife were completely necessary. Leftovers would last all week.

#8: Dim Sum, Imperial Palace, Boston Chinatown
Jews have a special relationship with chinatown. It might be the New York thing. It might be a nothing-else-is-open-on-Christmas thing. The second floor was full of Jews and, of course, Chinese. Waiters would roll around carts full of dim sum plates... spare ribs, taro cakes, shrimp dumplings, gluttonous rice, scallion pancakes... it would keep coming. They served dessert, but we always skipped it to pick up pastries from chinese-bakery.

WINNER: Dad's Deep-Dish Pizza. Imperial Palace is good, but hey, it got a tough seed.

[DJ FC]

[thekremlin]

BOSTON DIVISION:

"Once again, the sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor!"

#3: Roast Beef from Bill and Bob's, Woburn
When I think back on high school parties, in addition to red solo cups, cops showing to bust up parties, and Kegs purchased from Buy-Rite, I think about breakfast, sometime around noon, at Bill and Bob's. This was the type of place that was probably actually owned by a guy named Bill and a guy named Bob, except they probably went by Billy and Bobby. They had a drive-through, but we always ate in. Instinct tells the hungry and hungover to go for the super-beef. It's not the right move. The optimal beef-to-toppings ratio is the smallest sandwich, the Jr. Beef, so it's better to go with two of those. The topping options are obscenely varied: BBQ Sauce, Hot Sauce, Horseradish, Cheese, Pickles, Onions, Mayo, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato... Best to ask for the works, but hold the mayo, we're not savages. Fries on the side, or maybe a pizza puff, and lemonade to drink.

#6: The Pastrami King
For a lot of people, going to New York City is an exciting trip, a chance to see the sights, maybe catch a Mets or a Rangers game. For my sister and I, and let's be honest, our parents too, it was a four-hour drive just so spend an even-more-boring weekend in an apartment in Queens, or a suburb in Long Island, or in temple, since there was usually a wedding or Bar Mitzvah or High Holiday involved. The concession, though, and I've long suspected the only reason my dad even agreed to make the trip, was a stop at the Original Pastrami King on the way home. Everyone talks about Katz's, Zagat's, but we until ownership changed, Pastrami King was the place. To order, it was either Pastrami or Corn Beef, on an onion roll or rye, and then the sides. Kniches, Matzoh Ball Soup, Deli Salads.... oh, the deli salads. To drink, they had a full range of Dr. Brown's Soda. These days, his Cherry Soda and Cream Soda are commonplace, but my dreams are filled with green cans of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray. I have since contacted A&W, who owns Dr. Brown's, and they told me Cel-Ray has been discontinued. It's the way of the world: one day, we stopped by Pastrami King to find the decor had all been updated. It was under new management. Cautiously, we ordered, and the food was not the same. Everything changes, rarely for the better.

WINNER: Sweet Jesus, this was hard. Things in life shouldn't be this hard. But PASTRAMI KING gets the narrow win. Both places have sandwiches that can't be beat, but the Deli Sides beat out fries and pizza puffs, and just thinking about Cel-Ray put me in a deep pit of nostalgia. Throw in the fact that old-school delis like Pastrami King are disappearing one by one, and this becomes a feel-good victory.

[Beebs]

Iberico does look fucking good.

[THEINCREDIBLEdork]

Where are the matza balls?

[Mr. Blonde]

I've really been digging cottage cheese lately. Large curds. I eat about 1/4 of the container every night I get home from work. It's a good snack.

[DJ FC]

Reps for anybody who registers and posts the full image

The Search for America's Best Hot Dog - Every Day with Rachael Ray

[Ugly Bastard]

I'll have them.

[thekremlin]

Bitch ripped me off.

[thekremlin]

BOSTON DIVISION:

#4: Mom's Veal with Prosciutto
The thing about dinner at our house: Mom cooked every night, as a rule. When Dad cooked, it was the exception, and so he got to do cool things like spend all Sunday making pizza, while Mom got to make dinner every night after she got home from work for four people. So she never got to make the exciting dishes, and never got to be the star. But the veal dish stands out. It was made in one of those thick ceramic Creuset stock pots. I don't remember the first time it was served, but it was before I knew what veal was, and I thought baby cow was some sort of crazy delicacy. There was also this thick cheese that looked like the insulation inside an indoor tennis court. And celery. And prosciutto. Why do we always eat prosciutto cold? It's fucking AWESOME hot. Wrap some around asparagus and sautee it in a pan for ten minutes and you'll agree. Prosciutto outclasses bacon in my opinion, an opinion that is probably formed from this dish. For years, this was the dish served on my birthday, or even when I came home from college. If this dish were to stack up against Dad's pizza in this bracket, it would be the onset of the kremlin civil war.

#5: Chicken Parm from Dag's
D'Agastino's is an old-school Italian deli in Arlington Heights. Since I moved out of the Northeast, I've been hard-pressed to find anyplace similar, but to be honest, there were a dozen places like Dag's within a ten minute drive from my house. But Dag's was the closest, and yeah, arguably the best. Half the store was a mom and pop grocery, the other half was a glass counter which it seemed like half of my classmates worked behind at one point or the other. An Italian Sub would be a good purchase. So would pasta salad, or buffalo chicken cutlets. But the footlong chicken parm was king.

WINNER: Blood is thicker than water, and veal stock is thicker than marinara sauce. If I was home for a weekend, the chicken parm would probably be the first meal I had. But if the veal was served that night, I'd be pissed that I'd spoiled my appetite.

[angry pancake]

Is AP the only person who thinks Arthur Bryant's BBQ isn't really anything great? It's okay and all, but really has nothing over thousands and thousands of other places. There are untold places that are better just in my area --and I'm not exactly in a BBQ hot bed. Almost everybody I know --who actually knows how to BBQ, does a much better job.

Kremlin should visit Dallas at least for a weekend. Better BBQ than he's used to and better than expected jew-jitsu schools. Carlos Machado even teaches at his school on a regular basis. The women are stupid. . .and easy. Actually the natives are all pretty much stupid, most will hold you in suspicion because you are a jew and they think that's a type of liberal. I digress. But this is a formal invitation for Kremlin to visit Dallas. With all these fat fucking people, the eating must be good.

[thekremlin]

I've been to Dallas. I loved it. The BBQ was fantastic. Also one of my former coaches is teaching in the Dallas area and is having the time of his life. I hope your invitation was sincere because I am putting it in my back pocket for a rainy day.

[DJ FC]

Originally Posted by angry pancake

Is AP the only person who thinks Arthur Bryant's BBQ isn't really anything great? It's okay and all, but really has nothing over thousands and thousands of other places. There are untold places that are better just in my area --and I'm not exactly in a BBQ hot bed. Almost everybody I know --who actually knows how to BBQ, does a much better job.

Kremlin should visit Dallas at least for a weekend. Better BBQ than he's used to and better than expected jew-jitsu schools. Carlos Machado even teaches at his school on a regular basis. The women are stupid. . .and easy. Actually the natives are all pretty much stupid, most will hold you in suspicion because you are a jew and they think that's a type of liberal. I digress. But this is a formal invitation for Kremlin to visit Dallas. With all these fat fucking people, the eating must be good.

Never had Arthur Bryant's personally. Remember a chain in Dallas called Dickies. Damn I want some of that.

[angry pancake]

Sincere invitation. You can even borrow a Mercedes to get around. Crash at chateau pancake --or get a hotel like an adult (not judging). Invite extends to most nubblites. No black nubblites apply.

Dickie's BBQ also falls in the bottom of the "okay" area. There's a lot better around here. Tex-Mex is another thing that's done pretty well. But curiously, authentic mex is just now catching on and it's way behind other places.

Seriously krem, machado has daily drop ins. It's like getting a seminar for a next to nothing. Marcello is frequently at his Dallas place. If you feel like MMA training, guy mezgar and the lions den guys are here. There's a lot of legitimate black and brown around.

[Mr. Blonde]

Can we talk some more about cottage cheese, guys?

[DDTempest]

Originally Posted by angry pancake

Sincere invitation. You can even borrow a Mercedes to get around. Crash at chateau pancake --or get a hotel like an adult (not judging). Invite extends to most nubblites. No black nubblites apply.

Dickie's BBQ also falls in the bottom of the "okay" area. There's a lot better around here. Tex-Mex is another thing that's done pretty well. But curiously, authentic mex is just now catching on and it's way behind other places.

Seriously krem, machado has daily drop ins. It's like getting a seminar for a next to nothing. Marcello is frequently at his Dallas place. If you feel like MMA training, guy mezgar and the lions den guys are here. There's a lot of legitimate black and brown around.

How close are you to dinoworld?

[angry pancake]

Originally Posted by DDTempest

How close are you to dinoworld?

According to there web site, Dino World is one hour south of Dallas. I truthfully have no idea where this place is located or what it was called until I googled "dinoworld." It says it's in Glen Rose, Texas, but the best I can tell is that I think I remember seeing the exit to take to get to the road to Glen Rose and some other place off Interstate 35.

[Mr. Blonde]

yes, i know this is my first tattoo showing, don't be faggots about it. I AIN'T THAT HIGH