Heritage Eats

20160529:
The waffle fries from Heritage Eats were overly seasoned and necessarily needed the sauce in order to be edible.*

Menu Description:
Cajun Waffle Fries with Boom Sauce Take a trip to Boom Town! $6

*With that being said, all the reviews on Yelp for the waffle fries which I looked through on 20160703 were positive.

[20160703 Edit]

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Heritage Eats

Relevant Links:
Heritage Eats Website
Heritage Eats - Napa, CA (Yelp.com)

Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ

20160528:
Getting some lunch in before the festival starts, I decided to get the Beer Can Chicken Sandwich from Bounty Hunter.

Menu Description:
Smoked Beer Can Chicken Sandwich $14 Pulled beer can chicken, Alabama White BBQ sauce topped with cole slaw

The meat was slightly spicy and definitely tasty. Unfortunately, when some of the chicken fell out, the bread-to-chicken ratio was off - too much bread! As such, it was absolutely necessary to scoop the chicken up and put it back into the sandwich.

Website Description:
Beer Can Chicken Stacker $15 Our famous beer can chicken, Pulled by hand and mixed with our Alabama White “Q” Sauce, B&B pickles, topped with cole slaw and Red Onions. Yummy!

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Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ

Relevant Links:
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ Website
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ - Napa, CA (Yelp.com)
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ (Facebook Page)

Savourie Streets

20160528:
These four ribs were better than I expected them to be; however, it's questionable if they're worth $19. Of course, there's the music festival mark-up to consider.

In any case, I loved the tenderness and thought most portions would be tasty even without the barbecue sauce.

Menu Description:
4 Piece Babyback Ribs w/ Asian Slaw Babyback Ribs on bed of Tangy Asian Slaw 19*

*Assuming the slaw is priceless, each rib comes out to be $4.75. Note that the 3 Piece costs $17 - $5.66 per rib. For a rough estimate of the mark-up, a full rack of pork ribs from The Smoking Ribs is listed as $30. At 13 ribs, this is approximately $2.31 per rib.

Internet Information: (BottleRock Website)
SAVOURIE STREETS GRILL
Savourie Streets American Comfort Grill offering BBQ Baby Back Ribs or Boneless Rib Sandwiches, Both served with Asian Slaw.

[20160702 Edit]

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Savourie Streets

Relevant Links:
Savourie Streets Website
Savourie Streets Food Truck (Yelp.com)
Savourie Streets Truck (Twitter.com)

Pizzeria Tra Vigne

Pizzeria Tra Vigne

Relevant Links:
Pizzeria Tra Vigne Website
Pizzeria Tra Vigne - Saint Helena, CA (Yelp.com)

20160527:
Taking a short break from all the BottleRock festival music, I decided on getting a pizza from the Pizzeria Tra Vigne stand. With only three pizzas* to choose from, I go with the only option that has meat: Ducati.

Menu Description:
DUCATI mozzarella, marinara, capicola, mushrooms, spicy italian sausage and sun-dried tomatoes

Overall, with the exception of some burnt crust here and there, I liked the taste of the pizza. While certain foods taste better with a bit of char, there's no upside to burnt bread.

*There was the Margherita (cheese), the Funghi (mushrooms), and the Ducati (spicy Italian sausage). Their restaurant website lists six specialty pizzas. The three not at the festival would be the Positano (shrimp), Vespa (chicken apple sausage), and Broccolino (broccoli rapini)

[20160701]

Torchy's Tacos

20160519:
After a shopping sprint at Sam's Club (about eight hundred dollars worth of food), we had three hungry shoppers and so we Yelped several locations and ultimately chose to go to Torchy's Tacos.

After taking a quick glance through the menu, I decided to get a green chile pork taco and a baja shrimp taco.

Baja Shrimp (left) and Green Chile Pork (right)

Menu Description:
Baja Shrimp hand-battered fried shrimp with cooked cabbage slaw topped with pickled jalapenos & onions, queso fresco, cilantro & a wedge of lime. served with chipotle sauce on your choice of tortilla.

Starting with the shrimp taco first, I was a bit surprised to find the shrimp was battered, which is also to say I didn't read the descriptions carefully. Of course, it was delicious, and I have no regrets in regards to ordering it.

Menu Description:
Green Chile Pork slow-roasted pork carnitas simmered with green chiles and topped with queso fresco, cilantro, onions, & a wedge of lime.

Green Chile Pork (left) and Unknown (right)

After finishing the shrimp taco I moved onto the pork taco and - because it tasted more flavorful - I liked it even more than the first taco.

To share, we also had an order of Green Chile Queso & Chips. The dip was amazing.

Menu Description:
Green Chile Queso & Chips Torchy's homemade chips with delicious green chile queso topped off with guacamole, queso fresco, cilantro & diablo hot sauce

[20160531]

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Torchy's Tacos

Green Chile Queso & Chips

Relevant Links:
Torchy's Tacos Website
Torchy's Tacos - San Marcos, TX (Yelp.com)

Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine

Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine

Relevant Links:
Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine Website
Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine - El Cerrito, CA (Yelp.com)

20160510:
I don't remember why I was in the area, but in the end I chose Banana Leaf Thai Cuisine over all the other restaurants nearby.

After looking through the menu,* I decided to get the pad see ew with chicken. However, just before handing the menu back to the waiter, I realized that duck was also an option, and quickly changed my meat choice from chicken to duck. 5:35PM PT

When the dish arrived, I was surprised to find that the noodles were closer to being rectangular pieces (almost like lasagna) as opposed to long strands (like fettuccine). While that in itself tasted delicious, the duck meat was also a treat. In particular, I liked the inclusion of the skin which had a nice, chewy texture.

Overall, the majority of the duck meat cuts were soft and flavorful. Furthermore, the dish was not salty and yet well-flavored.

In any case, I wouldn't want to oversell the experience, but the duck was absolutely delicious, hands down.

Comparing a small sample of the two available sauces (Thai chile vs. Sriracha), I found myself liking the Thai chile more than the Sriracha. Between the two, the Sriracha is more mild and has more of a tangy flavor.

For dessert, I ordered the dessert combo: coconut ice cream, mango, and sticky rice.

The sticky rice was warm, and was served with a milk-based sauce which had a bit of salt which complemented the sweetness of the rice.

The entire combo was a bit too much for just me. Also, the thinly sliced mango did not seem to pair as well with the sticky rice as I had imagined it would.

That, however, might have been because the sticky rice wasn't anything special.

As such, from a quantity and taste standpoint, if I were to order dessert here again, I would definitely get the coconut ice cream just by itself. 6:27PM PT

*Regarding their menu, I liked how they underlined potential food allergens like peanuts.

Banh Mi Che Cali

I've had sandwiches from here a countless number of times - often serving as a packed lunch for a road trip or day at the beach with my family.

(20160430)

20160503:
Historically I would get the Dac Biet Thit Cha, but recently I've been trying the Thit Cha Gio Thu (on a baguette). From my understanding, the amount of meat stays about the same (from #1 to #2), but there are three kinds of meat (in the #2) instead of two (in the #1).

Menu Description:
#1. Dac Biet Thit Cha | Ham & Meat loaf | Jamon Blanco y Jamon de Puerco

Overall, my focus when eating the baguette sandwich first goes towards the meat, even though there aren't that many slices. Afterwards, my attention would shift to the pickled vegetables (carrots and daikon) and jalapenos which add flavor and dimension to the sandwich.

#2 and Cafe Sua Da (Vietnamese iced coffee) (20160503)

I used to take the jalapenos out, but have been eating them more frequently. In general, they add an interesting taste to food. With that being said, I intend to reduce my intake of spices soon. 1:54PM PT

Menu Description:
#2. Thit Cha Gio Thu | Ham, Meat loaf & Head cheese | Jamon Blanco, Jamon y Queso de Puerco

[20160709 Edit]

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20161220:
Today my dad bought me a Vietnamese sandwich from here with eggs. Getting the sandwich with fried eggs is among one of my favorite meals.

(20161220)

[20170105 Quick Edit]

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Banh Mi Che Cali*
*Banh Mi & Che Cali Bakery

Relevant Links:
Banh Mi Che Cali - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)

The Iron Press

The Iron Press

Half of the Draft Beer Selection

Relevant Links:
The Iron Press Website
The Iron Press - Costa Mesa, CA (Yelp.com)

20160501:
Looking to get some coffee, my friend and I inadvertently found an entire area we never knew about. While going to The Iron Press and getting beer wasn't the first thing that crossed my mind, the various food choices and wide beer selection was quite appealing. Then, after a little deliberation, we decided to go to The Iron Press.

Circle of Life

Once seated at the bar, we both wanted to get a flight of beer and so we went ahead and choose a total of eight beers to split among the both of us. Furthermore, since my friend had yet to eat, we also split a Circle of Life and a half an order of tater tots (though I wasn't hungry and let him eat most of the tots).

Tater Tots

1. Beer Flight Colors.
2. Beer Flight. 5:54PM PT

Menu Description:
The Fried Chicken buttermilk fried chicken, spicy slaw on a jalapeno cheddar waffle, with a side of jalapeno maple syrup
Circle of Life the fried chicken with a pan fried egg

Half of  a Circle of Life

3. This meal, on account of the jalapeno, had a nice kick. The coleslaw also contributed to the flavor profile. I did not, however, focus so much on the egg. In the end, it was pretty good. 6:03PM PT.

4. Beer Flight.

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