Jake's (North Chili) Review

My parents like to rave about Jake's in North Chili.  First they said that the steak was good, but it wasn't.  Fancy and I weren't terribly surprise since this is clearly a bar/grill.  My dad wanted to go to Jake's for his birthday dinner, so Fancy and I decided to try some pub grub.  I had their version of a hamburger "plate."  It only comes with a single burger, but it's a 1/2 pounder, so no complaints.  The macaroni salad uses tiny shell macaroni and some odd spices.  It was certainly...different.  The hot sauce was good.  The homefries were deep fried and delicious.

My dad had the fried seafood platter which consisted of a bunch of deep fried fishy favorites.  He liked it.

mom had the fried shrimp dinner which looked way better than my dad's seafood platter.  She said that everything was very tasty.

Fancy ordered the turkey club, but received a turkey melt.  She was fine with it, though.  The turkey was a step above deli meat and the sandwich was nicely toasted.  All in all, the food was at the absolute best, average.  Nothing really stood out, and I wouldn't go out of my way for it.  This okapi gives it two stars, so if you're already at the bar drinking, it wouldn't hurt to order some grub.

Famous Dave's Review

As many of you know, this okapi just had a birthday.  Okapis love deals, so I always join e-mail birthday clubs.  Normally places just send a free dessert coupon which frankly kind of sucks: if you're in a restaurant on your birthday you almost always get a free dessert if you tell your server.  A few places give a free appetizer which is a small improvement, because those places usually also sing you "Happy Birthday" and give a free dessert (except for Joe's Crab Shack).  But, the BEST places (such as Famous Dave's) give a free meal.  

So, Fancy and I headed to Famous Dave's and had us some fine BBQ.  Fancy was happy to learn that we were within the 4-6pm happy hour and draft beers (including Sam Adams Winter Brew) were only $2.  A Sam Adams drinking Fancy is a happy Fancy, and a happy fancy makes me a very happy okapi.  We decided to grab the Nachos for Two (not available at all locations), pictured above.  The menu describes the nacho toppings well: Wilbur Beans, Famous Chili, jalapeños, Rich & Sassy® and your choice of Texas Beef Brisket, Georgia Chopped Pork or Barbeque Pulled Chicken.  We picked the chopped pork and the they were goddamn awesome!

The free meal is up to a $15 value, so I could score one of their fine combo platters.  I grabbed the rib tips and chicken tenders with garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, corn, and a corn muffin ($14.99).  The chicken tenders were some of the best I've ever had.  I do not give that compliment loosely.  I've had chicken tenders at dozens of places, and these are spectacular.  The rib tips weren't too bad, and everything else was delicious.  I thought it was a little odd that they didn't offer gravy for the mashed potatoes, but they really didn't need any.  The corn muffin was sweet and fresh.  I would recommend this meal to anyone.

Fancy had a combo as well with a half chicken, beef brisket, country green beans, mac & cheese, corn, and a corn muffin.  She said everything was delicious, especially the beef brisket.  They accidentally gave her mashed potatoes instead of mac & cheese which they corrected immediately, but they let us keep both.  This folks, is an example of great customer service.  If every restaurant did these small things, they would have a lot of happy customers.

They didn't sing "Happy Birthday" or give a free dessert, but that's just fine.  I'd rather have a free plate of BBQ than a free sundae any day.  Anyway, everything was just about perfect:  the food was hot, fresh, and delicious; the waitress was efficient and friendly; and the birthday freebie was perfect.  This experience was such an improvement over my last one at this place that I told the manager how awesome it was.  Okapis are equal opportunity: if the place is particularly bad, I let someone know-I do the same if the place is particularly good.  Famous Dave's gets a full 5 stars for this visit, so if you're in Greece, get to Famous Dave's and get your BBQ!

Birthday Restaurant Battle: Monte Alban vs. Joe's Crab Shack

This okapi just celebrated a birthday and okapis goddamn LOVE birthday week.  Maybe it's because the birthday is so close to x-mas and I historically tended to get screwed on presents (which my mom still says is untrue, and when it comes to her giving me presents she is right).  Or, maybe it's because okapis like being the center of attention.  Who knows? But, the important thing is that Fancy (who gives exactly zero shits about her own birthday) plays along with my childlike birthday excitement.  This year I got to have two birthday dinners: one on my birthday with family and friends at Monte Alban, and one the day after with more family and Ewok, because she is like family and also enjoys delicious food two days in a row.  And so the battle of awesome birthday celebrations began!  

I go to Monte Alban (Irondequoit) every year because their birthday celebration is the best I've seen.  This okapi loves it when the staff comes over singing, clapping, and giving me free dessert.  At Monte Alban they do these things, but also put a (real, and damn heavy) sombrero on my head and place whipped cream from the complimentary fried ice cream on my nose.  Last year they also put it on my cheeks, but this year they spoon fed me my first bite of ice cream after only putting some on my nose.  Hey, I'll take either one, because they are both goddamn AWESOME ways to celebrate my birthday!  I ended up giving the fried ice cream to my dad because I really wanted the Xango: cheesecake filling inside a flour tortilla deep fried and served with ice cream (pictured at the top of this post).  And you know what?  They made mine into a smiley face because Monte Alban rocks at making okapis feel special on their birthdays!

And then the next day we went to Joe's Crab Shack.  As you may recall, I gave it 4 stars back in September mainly because of the atmosphere.  So, when I got an email for a free birthday appetizer, I thought it would be amazing.  Unfortunately, it was anything but.  They no longer scream "I've got crabs!!" when they come out of the kitchen or open your steampot for you saying: "Get ready for your face shot!!"  They now "warn" people two minutes before the music comes on for the waitstaff to start dancing.  This takes away the flash mob vibe and leaves the whole thing a little empty and sad.  The waitress asked if we wanted any desserts and when we said "no," she said "just the singing, huh?"  I thought that this was odd.  It was even worse when they showed up with maracas and little hats for us to wear.  Mexican themed?  Oh, goddamn it.  There is no way they can beat Monte Alban.  So it was that they had us (there were two birthdays at our table) stand up and shake the maracas while they sang.  They didn't give us dessert.  Not a sundae or a shot of pudding or even a goddamn crab shaped cookie.  Nothing.  

Now, I know some of you are saying "But, they gave you a free appetizer!" and you're right.  However, Red Robin gives a free birthday burger WITH endless fries (which I am totally getting this week) and still gives a free ice cream when they sing Happy Birthday.  Just saying.  Joe's Crab Shack let me way down, and Monte Alban is the clear winner.  Also, now you know where to take a poor unsuspecting friend or loved one for the maximum in birthday excitement!  For birthday celebrations Monte Alban gets 5 stars.

Agnes the Tiger Puppy on a Treadmill

So, Agnes was our foster puppy, but now is our forever puppy.  She was too awesome to give up.  Anyway, we were visiting friends last week and gave her a whirl on their treadmill.  She goddamn loved it, so now we are getting her one for xmas.  See how happy she is?  I wish I liked running that much...

My Name is Killer Okapi and I am a Buffalo Bills Fan.

Sigh.  Lately by beloved Buffalo Bills have been on a losing streak.  Some of you reading this rolled your eyes and made a snide comment because in your world the Bills always have been and always will be losers.  I know this because some of you can't help but tell me how you feel about the Bills every time that you see me wearing something with the charging buffalo on it.

This happens to me a lot since I am almost always wearing Bills stuff, because Western NY is split neatly into two piles: 1) I goddamn LOVE the Bills!! and 2) I goddamn wish the Bills and everyone who likes them would go die.  The second group of people consists of: fans of other teams (so their hatred for me and my team is completely understandable), past fans of the Bills who have given up (Buffalo has not experienced success in so long that all of the fence sitters and bandwagon fans have jumped ship), and people who do not like, understand, or watch football (they really piss this okapi off because they ALWAYS talk shit about the Bills (even when we win) in this condescending voice that makes me want to tear out their throat and beat them to death with it.)

Okay, so back to my original point: we are on a losing streak.  I mean, it's really bad.  You see that awesome guy up there?  Yeah, that's Fred Jackson, my favorite player, and "the heart of the team."  He got injured and everything went to hell.  To be fair, it was on its way down, but Fred was our miracle maker.  

As a fan I still get excited for every game, I still read my favorite Bills blog daily,  and every Monday I still wear my Stevie Johnson jersey.  When we win people like to chat with me excitedly about the game, but when we lose it can get pretty ugly.  I have been asked countless times how I can still wear my jersey after we lose (repeatedly) and I always say "I'm a fan whether we win or lose."  This is true, so I have it rough enough right now between our depleted roster, six game losing streak, and the way that our quarterback, Fitz, looks like a man getting ready to die in the gladiator pit even BEFORE he starts playing on game day; so if you "hate" the Bills only because it's fun or you think it's some kind of badge of honor to hate your local NFL team, stop telling me about it.  I don't care.  I'm not going to agree with you, I'm not going to give up on our team, and I'm sure as shit not going to stop wearing my jersey after game day.

Campi's Review

Fancy and I were watching the Rochester Man Vs Food  episode and I was reminded of Campi's, so we went with Mrs. Harley and had some fine grub.  This is the regular size eggplant sub and Mrs. Harley said it was fantastic.

The mozzarella sticks are perfectly fried.  I know this seems odd, but cheese sticks are so easy to screw up: over cook and all the cheese falls out, under cook and it's gross/stringy. 

Campi's is famous for their steak bomber (which is much larger than this), but Fancy took down the regular size steak bomber with peppers, mushrooms, and cheese.  She said it was one of the best steak subs she has had (away from home, because Fancy's homemade steak subs kick ass).

We snagged a large fries and the portion did not disappoint.  They were crisp, golden brown, and delightfully tasty.

I ordered the 1/2 pound cheeseburger and it was totally tasty.  They molded the burger lengthwise and slapped it on a sub roll. The condiments were evenly distributed and created a consistent taste experience.

This is the inside.  Don't you want to go eat it right now? I do, it was goddamn good.  Campi's got a 4.5 overall.  It was delicious and not too expensive.  Also, the lady working the counter was the nicest lady who worked at a burger place ever.  Seriously, you want some delicious hot subs, burgers, or BOMBERS??  Get to Campi's.

Foster Wonder-Puppy

Many of you know that Fancy and I lost a canine family member a couple of weeks ago.  Fancy has been missing having a large fuzzy dog in the house, so she decided we could be foster parents.  That fine looking pooch up there is Lady and she was scheduled to be euthanized tomorrow.  She's only 5 months old.  Just a few hours ago she jumped all over people and didn't know how to sit.  Guess what she learned today?? Both important doggy manners!

She learns super fast and she is super sweet.  She doesn't even really bother the cats.  Funniest part? The Captain lifted his lip and growled at her.  Why is that funny?  Here is the short list of what Captain is afraid of:

• paper
• doors
• rabbits
• wind
• rain 
• coughing
• people sitting/standing up
• football
• books
• being touched

Where Things Are Most Likely To Attack Me (Part Quatre)

I told all of you that if I disappeared on a Monday or Wednesday that this is where it would most likely happen because the killer would probably be sitting here.  See?  This picture was taken on a Monday.

And, just like you see in the movies the killer appeared closer as I tried to escape.  

Happy Halloween!!

Goodbye, Girl.

Every morning when Fancy wakes up, Stella wakes up too and leads the charge downstairs.  As a watch mastiff she has to make sure it's safe.  Her run down the stairs lets the little furless dogs know it's time to get up and they begin to yap happily in their crate.  

When Fancy and I leave in the morning, we leave it to Stella to guard the house with her loyal sidekick, Pig.  Everyday Stella greets us happily when we return home and barks loudly whenever a stranger approaches our home.  Before I put the little dogs into their crate at night, Stella runs into the room to make sure it's safe for them.  She loves nothing more than protecting her family.

She has several nicknames including Big-a-One, Masffius, Biggius Mastiffus, Stella-Bag-O-Doughnuts, and Black Beauty.  The Big-a-One loves all of our pets, even the kitties.  In fact, she's the first one greeted by our kitty, Steve, when he walks in the house.

I have my own special "big dumb dog" voice for her and we joke about her calling animal control to complain.  "Hewwo, animal control??  This is Stewwa, again.  I'm calling because I think I might be abused??  These humans, see, they won't let me on the couch.  Oh, and they won't give me any people food.  So?? Am I abused??"  

Yesterday Fancy and I lost our beloved Mastiff, Stella.  She was a huge part of our lives, our family, and she will be sorely missed.  This morning the little dogs didn't know to wake up before Fancy walked into the room and our house is quiet and sad.  Although we will eventually get another big dog, we'll never replace our first gentle giant, Stella.

Friendly's Dewey Ave. Review

You may have recently heard the story of how several Friendly's Restaurants are closing (none locally :)).  So, it got me thinking about how much I dig the Friendly's near my house in Greece.  It's the best Friendly's that I've been to since my grandma used to take me to Friendly's when I was just a calf.  The thing is that Fancy isn't a big fan of Friendly's (mainly because they don't serve beer).

Anyway, she agreed to go this week and once again I goddamn loved it.  I always get the Honey BBQ Supermelt $9.99 meal.  It comes with an awesome sandwich, plenty of fries, a soda (Cherry-Coke where they add the cherry juice!!), and a Happy Ending Sundae.  Happy ending indeed...

The cheese is perfectly melted, the toast golden brown, the bacon plentiful, and the chicken nice and crunchy on the outside with a soft, tender center.  

Fancy managed to take a bite out of her Turkey Club and throw some of her fries on my plate before I could take a picture, but she says the club was very good.  She also got a $9.99 meal.

For dessert, Fancy had some peanut butter ice cream with Heath bar and I had chocolate-almond ice cream with peanut butter sauce.  Okapis goddamn love peanut butter.  This was a great meal, drink, and dessert for $10 per person.  The service was also fast and...you know...friendly.  This okapi gives the Dewey Ave. Friendly's 5 stars!  Go there, go today, eat ice cream and Supermelts...you'll be glad you did.

Meet the New Kitteh!!

Meet the newest addition to our family: Sandy! She is a 6 month old happy kitty cat. Within 20 minutes of being at the house she climbed a baby gate and hissed at the mastiff. The mastiff didn't know what the hell to do, so she ran off and Sandy made herself at home.

As you can see in this picture, she is currently help me work on homework. It's always good to have someone lend a paw.

Carmine's Review

First, I'd like to thank all of you for still coming to check out the blog. I haven't been posting as much as I would like to for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm wicked, super, unbelievably busy with law school and 2) (okay, this is really an extension of #1) I do nothing much worth talking about. So, I have only been posting once or twice a week, but stick with me, it'll pick up again. 

Anyway, back to the good stuff: Carmine's has a very nice "plate." The hot sauce is very spicy and they give a nice volume of home fries and mac salad. Their plate actually comes with mac salad, home fries, AND baked beans, but I decided on extra home fries in place of the beans. The bread that they give with the plate is one of their on-premesis baked rolls and it is delicious!

Fancy went with the roast beef sub and really liked her roll as well. Overall she gave the sub a 7 out of 10 with a Wegman's sub being a 10 and a Subway sub being a 1. There could have been more meat, but otherwise it was very tasty.

The brownie was large and moist with roughly a quarter inch of frosting and scraped white chocolate on top. We thoroughly enjoyed the brownie. Overall I would give Carmine's 4 stars. So, check 'em out y'all!

Law Library Graffiti (Part Trois)

So, there seems to be some disagreement among the law library graffiti artists about sex in the carrels. Now you can vote about it on the main page! The carrels are completely closed off from external view, BUT you can hear the person next door breath (you know, normal breathing).

Monte Alban: Irondequoit Review

Ah, the Monte Alban in Irondequoit...it is just so wonderful. I recently reviewed the Webster location and mentioned how Irondequoit is way better. So, when Fancy and I met a friend for dinner there this week I had to review it for you guys.

The fantastic salsa comes free, and I always add the (world's best) cheese dipping sauce to round out my chip enjoyment experience.

The combination platters are around eight bucks and provide plenty of food. Everything was hot, fresh, and came out of the kitchen fast.

Fancy had a burrito plate which she says was quite enjoyable. Fancy goddamn loves the giant Dos XX beers, they make our dining experience a happy one.

This is my favorite meal: the fried chicken burrito. They are served a la carte, and so goddamn delicious that they melt in your mouth. Everything was delicious and my only complaint would be the service. Although it was better than the Webster location, it still fell flat. This was odd because they usually do a great job. Overall rating: 4.5 stars! Go eat Mexican tonight...go to Irondequoit...go immediately!