Entertainment

Where Not to Find a Hot Dog in Madera

RESTAURANT REVIEW - When they closed the AMPM on Hwy99 at Avenue 12 many of us lost one of the cheapest places in Madera County to buy gas. I was real happy when AMPM opened on Avenue 17 at Hwy99 last year. When I found out they had fresh hot dogs with an ample selection of toppings and condiments I was over the moon.

I no longer minded paying the .35 cent fee for using my ATM to get gas because there was finally a place near Madera for a good hot dog. In Madera I can buy eighteen different types of tacos, fourteen different versions of a hamburger but there is no place that sells a decent hot dog. Why is it that in Madera a good hot dog is impossible to find?

Di Cicco's Italian Restaurant

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Took my family into Dicicco's for my step-son's birthday Sunday night. Tammy was our waitress and she did a great job of making us feel at home. The food and service was great as it always has been for us when ever we come in. All three of my kids had shrimp salads and shared a pizza. I got some of that pizza when we got home and it was good.

I had a rib-eye steak and a plate of pasta. Tammy had the steak sauce in her apron when she delivered my steak so I didn't have to wait to jump into my food. My fiancé ordered the Scarface which has mushrooms. Yuck for me but I hate mushrooms. She said it was great and took her leftovers to work with her today.

Steak n Shake in Las Vegas - Good Food, Bad Service

RESTAURANT REVIEW - My girlfriend and I had been planning a trip to Las Vegas for CES2012 for the last few months and went through the Internet to find interesting places to eat. We found the site for the South Point Casino and saw a link for the Steak n Shake. It looked interesting and we made plans to make that one of our destinations for a meal.

After a long day at the Consumer Electronics Show we got to South Point which is on the Las Vegas Strip but a ways from the main casinos (Luxor, MGM, etc). It was a nice looking casino with many choices for dining. When we got to the Steak n Shake there were about three couples ahead of us waiting for tables on a very long couch near the entrance.

Round Table Pizza - Best Chain Pizza in Madera

RESTAURANT REVIEW - I have been a fan of Round Table Pizza for years. Of all the chain pizza places Round Table is by far the best. However, I have not been a fan of the local franchisee or his wife. It's a personal thing that does not need to be explored in this review but it would be hypocritical of me not to acknowledge that there have been problems between us in the past.

There is an old joke that says "Pizza is like sex, when its good it is really good and when it's bad it's still pretty good". I feel that was about nearly all the pizza locations in Madera (except Dicicco's which is just too greasy). Even a hot Little Caesar's Pizza is better that a salad with a side of broccoli. What Round Table, Me n Eds and the new Premiere Pizza have going for it is that it is still good for breakfast, cold right out of the refrigerator.

Mountain Mike's in Madera

RESTAURANT REVIEW - When I worked in Merced ions ago I used to eat at Mountain Mike's all the time. I have always preferred a brick oven pizza like Me n Ed's, Straw Hat or Downtown Pizza Cafe in Madera. Mountain Mike's is one of the only conveyor ovens pizza's I like. Round Table in Madera and all the Pizza Hut's use conveyor ovens. The toppings on Mountain Mike's pizzas were extremely fresh and tasty. I will probably be back to this place quite often.

Now I know they are working out the kinks of just opening but there are a few things they need to work on. We went in for the lunch buffet and we had a hard time getting to the buffet. Every thing was shoved into a corner; salad, pizza and soda. A table was in the way of getting your food in a smooth flow. In fact the people who were sitting at that table moved because other customers were right on top of them the whole time they sat there.

Players Smoked BBQ

I kept hearing about this new BBQ place in town opened by some guys I went to school with and thought I would give it a try. My daughter and I checked the place out today; Players Smoked BBQ next to GBS on Howard Road in Madera.

The menu offers meat combos and sandwiches. There are also full dinners you can take home with you. My daughter ordered the tri-tip sandwich and I ordered the three meat combo (hot link, tri-tip, pulled pork and two sides with garlic bread). Of course they have ribs too but we didn't order those today.

Cravings Wood Grill - Best Hot Dog in Fresno

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Had to take mom into the Clovis KP for an appointment. So while she handled the stuff at Kaiser I took my girls out for lunch. I wanted hot dogs and let my smart phone find a near by hot dog place. Cravings Wood Grill popped up a couple blocks away. I had no idea about this place but thought we'd give it a try.

Walking in I thought this must be a new franchise concept. They had hot dogs, hamburgers and other sandwiches. I wanted a hot dogs but when I saw they had pastrami burgers, that is what I picked. My youngest daughter had a corndog and my oldest a grilled chicken sandwich.