Skyline Chili

One of my favorite foods when traveling to the Dayton, Ohio area is Skyline Chili. It isn't the usual chili that you would think of, it is "Cincinnati-style" chili, which doesn't usually have beans in it, but is beef and a mixture of special spices (I think there is a hint of cinnamon in there). They serve the chili as "Ways", a 3-Way being chili on top of spaghetti noodles, and a huge heap of shredded cheddar cheese on top. A 4-Way adds either diced onions or red beans. A 5-Way adds both onions and beans. They also serve the chili on top of "coneys" (small hot dogs). They add seasonal "extreme" cheese, which is habienero cheese, with quite a "kick", that I love. I usually get a regular 3-Way and a chili-cheese coney, both with "extreme" cheese if available. It is very tasty. I would recommend taking them up on the offer for a bib, as the sauce tends to get on your shirt as you eat, even if you're careful.

Skyline is based out of Cincinnati, and can be found in maybe a 100-mile radius out from there. I have heard that you can purchase Skyline chili in a can at King Soopers/ Krogers, but haven't really looked. I'm sure it isn't quite the same as the restaurant, but it's worth a try. Don't judge until you've had it at the restaurant though. I give this taste a full 5 stars!
Web Site: http://skylinechili.com/

Marion's Piazza

Dayton, Ohio is home of another of my favorite pizza restaurants called Marion's Piazza. I have been to two of the eight locations around Dayton: Centerville and Beavercreek. Both were the same, with a nice "old Italian courtyard" atmosphere, and great pizza. Almost every time I go, I get their "Super Cheese" pizza, which includes pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions, green peppers, and "mounds of cheese". One of the unique things about Marion's is their sausage, which is more finely crumbled than usual. Their sauce is on the sweet side, and they mound their toppings from edge to edge, which I love. I can't really explain why the pizza is so good, but the picture below says it all for me.

This restaurant is a local favorite for many people, and is a popular gathering place for sports teams, families, etc. Marion's has a couple of drawbacks in my opinion, though. First, it is cash only. No credit/debit cards, or checks. The prices are a bit on the high side, a small Super Cheese being around $13. Also it is so popular, that sometimes it takes a long time to get food or to find a place to sit. I suppose that is a good testament to their quality. They do claim to have been voted Dayton's best pizza, but a few places claim the same thing. This is definitely in my top five, and a must-have when I go to Dayton. I give this pizza a solid four stars.
Web Site: http://www.marionspiazza.com/

Donato's Pizza

I know it has been a while since I posted. My travels have taken me to places recently where no blog-worthy food is available. Fortunately this week, I have a real treat! My travels have taken me back to Dayton, Ohio, where my bio explains I moved from two years ago. I didn't have many pictures from my favorite food in the Dayton area, but am here all this week. I am trying to hit all my absolute favorite places while I am here.

Yesterday for lunch I chose Donato's Pizza. This pizza chain started in Columbus, Ohio in the 1960's. It seems to be localized to Ohio, and is quite unique. This is one of my favorite Dayton area pizzas, mainly because of its "edge to edge" topping philosophy. When I'm in the mood, I like deep dish as well, but most of the time I don't prefer a lot of crust, and like my toppings more. This is the case with Donato's. They also have a couple of unique flavors that I love. Their "Founder's Favorite" is my favorite, being a total meat pizza but with the addition of banana peppers, which really add a nice taste to the sausage, ham, bacon, and pepperoni. My other favorite is just a cheese pizza. There is something special about the seasoning they add to their cheese pizza, and they use provolone cheese, which gives it a different taste than the usual mozzarella.

If you find yourself thinking about edge-to-edge toppings pizza when you are in Ohio, give Donato's a try. I would put it in my top 5 favorite pizzas.
Web Site: www.donatos.com

 

Fourleaf Chopped Salads

I have been meaning to review this place for a while, but didn't have any photos until today. I guess you can know that a place is good when I eat my food before taking pictures!
I don't consider myself a big salad buff, but a friend turned me on to Fourleaf about a year ago, and it has become one of my favorite lunch spots when I am home at the office. It is a salad restaurant, where the salad chefs make your salad to order for you. There is a base menu with many different pre-determined recipes for great salads, such as Buffalo Chicken, BBQ Chicken, South Western, Steakhouse, and many others. You can always get creative and build your own creation, though. The one shown in the first photo below is a romaine and spinach mix with avocado, bacon, double steak, cheddar, tomatoes, croutons, and Italian dressing. What I like best about the salads here is that they gather all the ingredients in your bowl, then dump it all out at the end on a cutting board, and chop it all up into bite size pieces, then scoop it all into a mixing bowl and add your dressing. They mix it all up so that when they put it in the serving bowl, every bite you take has dressing on it and is full of flavor. They have a great variety of ingredients and dressings, all of which that I have tried so far are delicious. They have two sizes of bowls, small and large. A small is plenty of food for just about anyone. You always get a free freshly baked bread stick with every salad.
The location itself is a bit hard to find, and not right out in the open for all to see. Word of mouth about their delicious salads and great service has caused this to be a very busy place, though. It is always busy for lunch every day, but you get your salads quickly none the less. Finding a seat is the only hard part. If you're in the Greenwood Village area of South East Denver, you must stop by and check this place out!
Location:  6840 South Dallas Way (near Arapahoe & Clinton) Greenwood Village, CO 80112
Web site: http://fourleafchoppedsalads.blogspot.com/

 

Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue

Since I was in the Kansas City area trying various BBQ restaurants, a friend suggested I try Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, that it was their favorite. I took the family for lunch, and we all split various platters so I could sample as many meats as possible. I tried their pulled pork, which I wasn't too impressed with. It wasn't very juicy or tasty by itself. I also tried the sliced turkey, which I thought was okay. It had a good flavor to it and was moist. Their brisket was better than average, though. I liked it a lot. It had a good flavor to it and was very juicy. I believe baked beans to be a staple of a BBQ meal, so I tried theirs. I wasn't too impressed. It was more like chili than BBQ beans, very thick and it lacked meat. It had a spice to it that was more like chili should have, not BBQ. The regular BBQ sauce was average, but I did like their hot BBQ sauce a lot, which they called "Night of the Living Barbecue Sauce". It had a nice kick to it and was quite tasty.
I have to say, this restaurant was not consistent to Kansas City style barbecue. It was closer to a Texas style, which I usually prefer. But this BBQ was just above average in my opinion. I probably wouldn't go again, given my other choices in the Kansas City area. It's worth trying though.The prices were average, and it was fast and friendly, a good lunch place for sure.
Web site: http://www.oklahomajoesbbq.com/

 

Smokestack BBQ

While in Kansas City, I was told by someone close to me, that their favorite BBQ was Smokestack. We decided to get some takeout from the one location left, of more than one that used to exist. We got the Roundup Platter for Two, which came with four meaty ribs, and our choice of three other smoked meats. We chose the brisket, the pork loin, and the turkey. The platter also came with beans, cole slaw, bread, pickles, and fries. It was a generous portion for a great price - about $27 for all of that.
I wasn't too impressed. It was average BBQ at best. The beans were tasty, Kansas City style sweet, but did have lots of meat in them. The brisket was above average, but the rest was pretty plain. I wasn't a big fan of the ribs. They were pretty dry and tough. We got a side of what I was told was their spicier sauce. I didn't think it had much of a kick at all, and the flavor wasn't anything extraordinary.
With all the other BBQ options in the Kansas City area, I wouldn't go here again. It's pretty good, but there are many better choices. I give it three stars, maybe two and a half.
Web site: http://www.smokestackbbq.com/

Jack Stack Barbecue

After my critique of Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City, I was told there are other really good BBQ places in the Mid West. One of those places I was told is Jack Stack Barbecue. Being in the Kansas City area for family this weekend, I decided to try this out. It was actually the second time I have had Jack Stack, but I don't remember much about the first time. We got a few large portions for carry out this time. I have to say, I was really impressed this time. Kansas City BBQ is a bit different than what I am used to, being known for its sauces being tomato and molasses based, so on the sweet side. I really liked it, though. We got brisket, which was average as far as the meat taste alone. We also got the smoked pork, which I thought was amazing! The taste of the pork alone was excellent, and it was very tender and juicy. I liked Jack Stack original sauce on the meats. It didn't have very much of a "kick" like I prefer, but it was good. The beans on the side, however, were awesome! They were sweet, but very meaty with lots of pork mixed in. I say their beans are a must-try.
As for the restaurant itself, I remember dining in the first time I went here, and it was pleasant. The prices look comparable to other BBQ places. Overall, I give this BBQ four stars, and recommend it if you're in the Kansas City area. We went to the Overland Park location, but there are three others in the area.
Web site: http://www.jackstackbbq.com/