Coca-Cola Life...Will it come to the US?

Not sure if it will come to the US, but while I was visiting South America last month, I got a chance to try Coke's new product, Coca-Cola Life.  They are testing this product in Argentina and Chile with some major advertisements on TV, billboards and the side of trucks all around.  It is being promoted as a lighter alternative to regular Coke, as it has less than half the calories.  However, those that drink Diet Coke know that there are no calories in the diet version.  So - not an alternative to Diet Coke - but to regular Classic Coke and maybe Coke Zero?

I was intrigued by it's green can and how it might taste in comparison to Classic Coke and/or Diet Coke (Coke Light for those outside of the US).  My first impression was it tasted a little like regular Classic Coke with some subtle but distinguishable difference in the sweetener taste.  It is supposedly a similar formula to regular Coke, which is very different than the formula for Diet Coke.  I don't drink soda that often, but with all the Coke choices, I prefer Diet Coke over everything else - so when/if Coca-Cola Life comes to the US, I probably will not switch over to it.

Would you try Coca-Cola Life?

Something's a Bru-ing!

Here's a local spot in Santa Monica, California, that you probably haven't heard of.  We were lucky to have some local friends in town introduce us to Bru's Wiffle, a small waffle house located away from the popular Santa Monica Pier area.  I wasn't sure what to expect of the place, but when I looked it up on Yelp!, the reviews were positive with a 4 star ranking.

We met our friends on a Sunday morning for brunch to find the place pretty full of people.  Luckily, we only waited a few minutes to have a table open up for us to sit down inside.  As expected, the Wiffle menu consisted of mainly waffle dishes - from original concoctions like the banana split waffle or pina colada waffle to several variations of chicken and waffles.  I opted for "Dwight's Special" - a belgian waffle topped with two pieces of boneless, skinless crispy chicken.

"Dwight's Special"

The Original Hot Dog on a Stick

With summer over, it's a good time as any to reflect on summertime favorites - hot dogs and lemonade.  Well, not just any hot dog - and certainly not just any lemonade.  Prominent mainly on the Left Coast and in the western part of the US is Hot Dog on a Stick.  You know, that mall food court staple with a simple menu of mainly dogs on a stick and different flavored lemonades.  Growing up in SoCal, I remember when everything on the menu was just a $1 including tax.  Now, you're probably going to find them closer to around $3 or so.

If you're not familiar with Hot Dog on a Stick - as many on the East Coast may not have seen it before - it's been around since the 1940s and known for its original recipes for freshly squeezed lemonade and sizzling hot dogs dipped in an original batter served on a stick (for those that travel Route 66, you know you don't call them "corn dogs"!).  There are now more 100 locations with many located in malls and easily spotted by the unique red, white, blue and yellow uniforms that their servers wear.

Original Location: Santa Monica, CA

During a summer trip this year to Santa Monica, California, we actually bumped into the original Hot Dog on Stick - located right below the famous Santa Monica Pier on the nearby ocean front walkway, just in front of the volleyball courts.  The stand was small - just big enough for a few workers to churn out some fresh, sweet lemonade and dip those yummy hot dogs on a stick.  Same simple menu as all other locations and tasted just as refreshing as I've always enjoyed it.  This original stand actually had the name, "Hot Dog Stick" - not sure why "on a" was dropped, but it gives it a unique look with the name and red painted wood panelling.

Solvang, Danish Capital of the US

I never heard of Solvang until a few years ago when a few relatives visited the place.  Since then, I have heard it come up in conversations and even saw it on an episode of the TV show, Psych.  If you've never been there, it's considered the "Danish capital of the US."

While staying in the Santa Barbara area, we drove up through the scenic mountains of Route 154 to spend a good portion of the day in Solvang.  It's a quaint little town with Danish-inspired village structures and windmills along the local blocks along with the old Spanish Mission Santa Ines, one of several California Missions that can be found up and down the coast.

Danish Aebleskiver

While browsing several shops around town, we stopped for brunch in Solvang Restaurant, where we chowed on some typical breakfast foods - pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage - supposedly prepared in a Danish style but not too unique to take note.  The main dish to try though is of course, their famous Danish Aebleskiver, traditional Danish pancakes that are shaped into a ball generally with apple slices inside and topped with powdered sugar and jam.  Ours had a raspberry jam on top - and was a delicious compliment to our brunch.  These were definitely worth trying, and many were lining up outside the restaurant to just order some Aebleskiver.  You certainly should not leave without at least picking up a few.

Bakeries around town offered several things to try - from cookies to pastries to cakes to chocolates.  We picked up a bucket of Danish cookies at The Solvang Bakery for ourselves and for some family members.  If you've every gotten one of those Danish cookie tins for Christmas - don't be turned away!  I expected the cookies to be like the ones in those tins I grew up with, but they were far from it.  These cookies were better - melt in your mouth and tastier than anything that came in one of those tins.  I recommend picking up a bucket to bring home.

The walk around town was easy and you can probably spend a few hours here and be satisfied.  Along with a tour of the Mission, we were probably there a good 5-6 hours, but I'm sure most can stop here for 2-3 hours as a drive through to another destination.  But if you love food (like we do), then be prepared as you can easily gain some pounds walking around town and trying all the goodies to eat!

Pin Stops Ranking: 3 Pins

3 pins easy for Solvang.  This place lived up to what I heard about it and was definitely worth checking out for a few hours.  Getting to gobble up some of the goodies around town certainly helped, too! :)

For more on my Pinstop Rankings, check out this post.

Past Rankings - Frank Pepe's, Brooklyn Bridge, Rock Hall

Since I added my official Pinstops Rankings after my first few posts, I thought I'd go back and let you know how I would rank my visits to those places I wrote about.  To read the original posts for these places, click on the title names of each.


Frank Pepe's Pizza - New Haven, Connecticut
Pin Stops Ranking: 4 Pins

I have to say that Frank's exceeded my expectations.  I'm actually biased as I really love NY-style pizza over all others (still do).  I walked into this place thinking there's no way pizza from Connecticut would even compare - but I admit this was pretty darn good.  If I was in the area again, I definitely would have to consider stopping here again to eat.




Brooklyn Bridge - New York, New York
Pin Stops Ranking: 3 Pins

For daily exercise or nice views of the city, the Brooklyn Bridge was pretty cool.  I recommend taking your time crossing this bridge and really soaking in the scenery.  I'm sure many people take this walk for granted but if I lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan, this would be a great walk to commute everyday - except in November thru March. ;)




Giant Free Stamp - Cleveland, Ohio
Pin Stops Ranking: 1 Pin

Let's face it - it's kind of interesting to see, but it's just a landmark in a lonely park of downtown Cleveland.  On it's own, you can't justify driving out to see it, but when combined with the Rock Hall or other places around town, it's a quick "Pinstop" to check it out in person.  This giant stamp is really only for the diehard Pinstopper who just has to see everything.




Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland, Ohio
Pin Stops Ranking: 4 Pins

One of the more unique museums around - and definitely for the music lover.  There are several other Hall of Fames in the area, but this place (along with the Pro Football Hall of Fame) are clearly the biggest and best.  The building architecture is very unique, and the inside is filled with hours of reading, films, music and memorabilia.  You can easily spend all day here enjoying remnants of your favorite artists from several music eras.


So what do you think?  If you've been to these places, do you agree with my rankings?  Let me know in the comments below.  As always, thanks for reading!

Anchor Bar, Birthplace of Buffalo Wings

Writing about the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, was inspired by my friend, Edmundo, who recently checked this place out.  I had to remember back to when we stopped in this place on a drive between Jersey and Toronto.

If you haven't heard of this place, it's a little restaurant on the corner of Main Street and North Street in the city of Buffalo, and its claim to fame is as the birthplace of that bar food favorite, buffalo wings!  At the time of our visit, the Yelp! reviews were pretty favorable though supposedly many locals did not consider them the best wings in town.  But with the history behind this place, it's a must-stop for foodies like us.

According to legend back in 1964, Teressa Bellisimo created the dish for her son and friends that arrived at the bar one evening.  She had to whip up something quick, so she deep fried chicken wings, which were usually thrown out or reserved for stock, and then added some secret hot sauce.  The wings were a hit and the rest was history.

Our stop here was on a Tuesday night in mid-August for dinner.  The place was lively and crowded, but the wait time was only around 15 minutes to get seated.  The inside was decorated with news articles and reviews of the Anchor Bar through the years with simple tables and seating in a dining area.  We ordered 50 wings for dinner (there were 5 of us) and went to work on chowing down.  The sauce was tasty and delicious - very good wings and meaty enough to satisfy.  I have had wings at many places, and I'd probably rank Anchor Bar somewhere in the middle/upper half.  It wasn't the best wings I've ever had, but they were enjoyable and worth eating.

Here's a Tip: Make sure you get the hot flavored wings - that sauce is based on the original buffalo wing sauce.  One of the waitresses told me that if you get the mild wings, then they will just add butter to dilute the hot sauce.

Pin Stops Ranking: 3 Pins

An enjoyable meal with one of my favorite comfort bar foods - this place is worth a meal stop if you're a wings fan.  The extra nostalgia of being the originator helps give this place an edge as well.  I'm okay with it not being the #1 wings I have ever eaten - it didn't need to be as there will always be someone who comes along and improves upon the first pioneer.  I'm just glad the original still holds up well today. 

For more on my Pinstop Rankings, check out this post.

Pin Stop at Pepe's

Line outside for Saturday lunch

If you've ever stopped by New Haven, Connecticut, you may have heard of "Frank Pepe."  This little pizzeria in the Wooster Square neighborhood has been around over 85 years and has become a local institution for its original tomato pies baked in a coal fired oven.  On a trip up to Boston, I stopped here to not surprisingly find a lunch line out the door on a Saturday.  After about a half hour wait, we snagged a booth and was able to order a sausage pie along with some white birch soda from Connecticut-based Foxon Park.  Supposedly, Pepe's white clam pizza (fresh clams, olive oil, garlic and oregano) is his specialty, but my lunch company were not the adventurous types, so we stuck with something more familiar.

The Pepe's atmosphere was simple - the booths were pretty standard, and the walls were decorated with a few pictures and articles on Frank Pepe, who established the place in 1925. Really, there wasn't much

to the decor.  However, as you walk in, you can't miss the opportunity to see them slide the pizzas right into the coal fired ovens using a long pizza paddle designed to shove the pizza deep into the oven.  They leave this area wide open for customers to salivate over watching them bake their pies to perfection (or perhaps imperfection as I'll explain in a moment).  I have heard stories that people claim the oven has been used so long that it now brings in extra flavor to the pizzas.

Now, I love New York-style pizza, and I'm a big fan of places like Grimaldi's, but I found this pizza to be different.  It came out thick, misshapen and burnt in spots.  It wasn't perfectly rounded or evenly symmetrical, and it wasn't thin and crunchy or over-the-top cheesy.  However, it was extremely delicious!  The imperfections gave this pie lots of character without any fancy presentation - what the locals call, "real pizza."  The sausage was hearty and the slices were generous.  It definitely hit the spot, leaving the four of us at our table very satisfied. As one of the oldest pizzerias in the country, it's certainly worth a stop for a meal if you get a chance to drop by this side of CT.