Sacred Lands

as seen from the Shellmound / 40th Street Bridge..

These lands belong(ed) to the Ohlone people... now there's warehouses, railways, and a mall..

Shiba Ramen

Shiba Ramen was still soft opening its location in the Emeryville Public Market as we stopped in on a rainy Friday night.

By the time we showed up they were down to only a couple servings of ramen and sides. We were able to get an order of Miso Ramen and an order of gyoza and their Shiba Wings..





the gyoza was gyoza.. very lightly fried and tasty but you know, it's gyoza.. serving was perfect for sharing.

now for the most amazing thing we had.. the Shiba Wings:

What you can't tell from the photo is the light honey sprinkled goodness.. and when you bite into the wings, OMGz the juiciness! So good.. I was suggesting we get a couple order of these whenever possible just to take home.

As it was they closed while we were eating as they had sold out of EVERYTHING! (not surprising!)

Of homes and blogs.. and Berkeley.

We've been officially house hunting since late January. We were looking in Emeryville (there's no homes for sale in Emeryville for our price range), all over Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond Annex, and Berkeley. We came close to finding a place on San Pablo a couple times (in North Oakland and Albany respectively), as well a lovely condo in Temescal. We even saw a most amazing craftsman beyond Eastmont (that's in Oakland) with original 'keyhole' archways and built-ins that I fell in love with, but the neighborhood and commute was something I'd rather not think about.. but my mind always turns to Berkeley.

When we originally lived in Berkeley I used to imagine my happiness as a "big" house in North Berkeley, with a well-worn & loved porch to read the paper on Sundays, drinking coffee and nibbling a day old bagel from Saul's, relaxing with my shoes off (because that's what I do) and hearing the birds singing in the trees and the occasional car driving up the street. Then we moved to SoCal and while I absolutely LOVED living in the Historic Core (4th & Main DTLA) and everything that I had there, it wasn't Berkeley.

I can't tell you what I love about Berkeley. I can tell you what I tried to verbalize with my brother-in-law once a few years ago before we came back home, but even then I couldn't say what it was I loved about Berkeley. It was a feeling. A sense of being..

When I got off work I would stand outside on Shattuck and I feel the fog misting through the air. It wasn't Ketchikan rain, it was like someone was spraying your face from 10 miles away with some sort of Evian mist.. It was cool and clean and fresh.. and the wind would come up and blow the hair from your face. When the sun shone, it glittered like firelight off the buildings and glass. When the leaves fell, it was like Autumn in Indiana.. one of the few things I miss about living in Indiana. The sidewalks outside our apartment on Grant would be scattered with pine needles and and leaves and the crunch of Fall. I lived in my sandals. If I wore shoes at all it would be my worn out (hole worn in the soles) docksiders. Sweaters. You have to love a place where you can wear sweaters in the summer. I love sweaters.. It's like you're wearing a hug all day. I guess that's what I feel about Berkeley.. and still do. Some un-imaginable happiness is wrapping itself around my heart, it greets me when I step closer to downtown, and stays with me, like a fading light as I make my way back to Oakland.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I love about Oakland.. I love my local cafe and the galleries and the love and heart that my neighbors are putting into their community. I love that I am close to so many good things, despite not being so close to school and things and people I care about. I like that our loft is huge and airy and full of history despite a general lack of appreciation of old buildings here in Emeryville. I love many of my great neighbors who embody the sorts of things that I appreciated and miss so much from my time living in Downtown L.A. The connections and the support I had in LA are so missed here, so when we were able to find a place with history and community of people that look out for each other.. Not the same as Old Bank District at all, but close.. and very OK!

Finding a place in Berkeley should have been impossible, as we'd sized ourselves out of our price-point, (our place at OBD was 1400sq ft. and our current place is about 1200sq.) We even considered finding a small place to rent for a year while we scrounged up enough extra for a down-payment on a place that was be-fitting our size issue.. but after looking at a few apartments and realizing we'd still have to down-size, (and store all our excess furniture) I actually looked at what was out there that was under our size minimum, and managed to find a few places to check out!

As of right now, we do have a place. It'll be a long wait (for me) before we move into it, but when it happens I imagine all sorts of new experiences and new adventures will be awaiting me.. and I imagine I won't be blogging all that much about Emeryville, (if I did all that much anyway). I don't expect it would be all about Berkeley though either.. although the focus would change, of course.

As every time we move, I need to come up with a new name for this blog. I hate that the default url is my name.. but this is my main blog. One day we will no longer be on "the edge of E*ville"and instead will be living within proper distance of the city limits of a place I love very much, and the reason my heart was aching to return back to the Bay Area. I don't know what I should call this blog at that point... "Meeko on Main" worked when I was in the OBD, but I won't be moving to any Main Street... and "Meeko's Crumbs"(ramblings and meanderings) worked when we lived in Anaheim and South Park area of DTLA because I was constantly walking and meandering all over DTLA.. and finding my blogging feet.

School and things have kept me busy all this semester and I don't expect things will slow down all that much especially as I'm trying to find a niche regarding my love of history,community, architecture, books, writing, food, and a tad of photography. Unlike DTLA, I haven't found the magical blogging fairy that compelled me to attend a blogger meetup at an online friend's 100th Rate-A-Restaurant.. the day I decided I thought blogging was the neatest freaking idea ever.

I sometimes wonder (and think) that blogging is over, as is newsprint, then I see that other people are doing it still, and doing it well. Magic doesn't happen in the same ways every time, so I leave myself open to possibilities and the positive, good-natured beauty that is out there in the universe. I will be changing the name of the blog eventually.. to what, I don't know, and how often I'll post.. I don't know.. or what I'll write about, again, I don't know.. but if you're adventurous.. it could be anything. or nothing at all. Hopefully it won't really be about me, though. These personal posts are draining..

..And, I have a paper due tomorrow so I need to clear my head and focus. Oh, it's written.. it's just got too much of me in it. ;)

City Storage Emeryville

Things keeping me busy the past month or so, so I haven't been out and about, but out of town. Today upon returning from a quick venture out in the world for lunch, I got a closer look at the deconstruction of the former "National Upholstering Company" building at 40th and Adeline. I'm not overly familiar with Emeryville and admit to not knowing how the mostly abandoned warehouse-like structure was originally used. The spouse and I had guessed it was a bakery warehouse, but honestly had no clue. I liked it though, despite the over-grown ivy and occasional homeless camp that sprouted up in warmer weather. I had hoped something more would become of the place, but I perhaps selfishly hoped it would be more housing.. not storage.

Storage is what it will be! It seems City Storage, a company with locations in San Francisco had purchased the location a couple years ago and finally got through all the hoops of conditional use and planning approvals. We first noticed demolition of the interior this last Saturday, though it could have been earlier.. (as mentioned, we've been out of town).





According to the August 2013 progress report from the City of Emeryville Building and Planning Newsletter dated 1 September, 2013:

"City Storage: This proposal involves the conversion of an existing 32,291 square foot brick 
building at the northeast corner of 40th and Adeline Streets to 57,600 square feet of self‐
storage. 

The applicant would retain the existing brick facades and locate all parking and storage 
units inside the building. The proposal includes a single residential unit for the on-site manager and a small retail space at the corner as accessory uses. 

A second story of storage units and extensive landscaping work along Adeline is proposed. 
The Planning Commission approved the project on October 27, 2011, and approved a one‐year extension on January 24, 2013." (page 7)


One might wonder if Emeryville really needs more storage,(there's at least two other companies: Public Storage on Christie and ExtraSpace on Hollis) but as a renter in the E*ville Triangle area, I can tell you storage is hard to come by and expensive. Many of the apartments and lofts being built up in our area are small and costly, and often lack the space to store anything as simple as a bicycle or other off-season gear and equipment. While we're lucky we have a large enough unit now, if we wanted to move, we'd have to find a place to store a good portion of our furniture. I'm not sure where we'd keep our bikes, as leaving them locked up outside in our fine community is asking for trouble and inviting theft. While we're on the 'Edge of E*ville' we're more accurately on the Edge of Oakland when it comes to crime.

Día de los Muertos E*Ville Style

The Day of the Dead, or "Dia De Los Muertos" is celebrated from Halloween through the 2nd of November.. the Day of the Dead. Like All Saints' Day is celebrated in New Orleans, (and other places), it is a day of remembrance of family and friends who have died.



While seemingly not as big a celebration as other cities, Emeryville has its own Day of the Dead celebrations represented. Local Bakery Arizmendi recently celebrated the day of the Dead several days early on October 27th with music, food, chalk art and dancing & prayers in and around the San Pablo Avenue Bakery.

Arizmendi is usually closed early on Mondays, so it seems it's also the best opportunity to have a celebration! Delicious (and free!) food was provided for all who came to take part in the festivities. There was live Music and dancing, sidewalk chalk art and sugar skull decorating for the kids.. and the food.. The food was amazing..





These lovely ladies provided some of the live music during the celebrations..


Besides the vegetarian tamales (which I almost forgot to take a photo of my plate before devouring my tamale!) they also had: vegan or cheese tamales, mixed green salad, refried beans, rice and sweet roll pieces for dessert. Water and just the right amount of horchata was available too! (I love horchata! So it's a good thing they kept me from the supplies).


Sugar Skull decorating..


and did I mention the dancing??








Arizmendi Bakery and Pizzeria
4301 San Pablo Ave,
Emeryville, CA 94608

Brunch at Doyle Street

Not just food.. but home.. and happiness! =)


Sunday was our errand day.. What usually happens, we rent a GetAround (peer-to-peer car-sharing) for a few hours and get all our trips done in one day.. Unfortunately GetAround did not come through for us again (either the cars weren't available from the owners or people just didn't respond in the 12 hour request window), so we went with Zipcar.. What this meant was we could still get a carshare vehicle (from a company rather than a person) and we could decide where we wanted to get it.. Anyways.. The plan was to have brunch and then rent a Zipcar for our errands.. Which meant.. Doyle Street Cafe!

I can't recall the last time we had breakfast-y/ brunch at Doyle Street.. which is (as I've said several times) one of my most favorite places to have breakfast or brunch.. I love eating there.. The Joe's Special.. the Chorizo Scramble..(oh scratch that, that one's not on the menu anymore!) the Buckwheat Pancakes.. Seriously, I've always been happy with what I order, regardless..

I was craving their egg white scramble, which they don't have on the menu.. However, a nice lady had told me (I wish I remembered her name.. blonde server..) had told me on a trip after they updated their menu, that I could still get egg whites as an option with a number of their menu items.. So last time I was there I had the Florentine Omelet with egg whites.. and this time.. I had the Eggs Milan Scramble:


It was all veggies with a nice Pesto flavor that didn't need to be covered in hot sauce or anything else..

The spouse ordered Homefries Heaven (with a side order of corn bread of course!).. I was surprised he ordered this, since I knew his favorite was the Homefries Heaven at our OTHER favorite place.. Homemade Cafe (Doyle Street, Homemade, and Rudy's.. the triumvirate of breakfast goodness!) One of the things he's not crazy about is that the avocado is sliced rather than part of a guacamole... but we forget this as his plate is set in front of him..


Wait.. the Doyle Street HomeFries Heaven comes with scrambled eggs on top??? Seriously! When did that happen??

Well, I didn't take a photo but we both cleaned our plates, leaving behind the little packets of jam unopened.. one doesn't need jam on that amazingly yummy cornbread. No matter what I get at Doyle Street, I have to have the corn bread.. unless they're out.. then I'm sad. =(

Service was still good (We sat in the back section which always makes me worry we'll be forgotten) and I had nothing to worry about.. The folks at Doyle Street are super friendly, pretty consistent in service, even when they are crazy busy.. you won't be forgotten for too long.. Our server was working tables in the front and back and still managed to refill our coffee.. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's been an issue at other places. The other thing I like is that staff doesn't seem to turn over so much like it does other places.. I still get happy when I see the same guy pouring my water or the same host or hostess seat us or serve our food. It's probably the key reason that we kept coming back to have brunch there when we were living in SoCal for the eight years we were gone.. The manager then (I wish I knew what happened to him! Maybe he retired?) always remembered us, no matter how long we'd been away.. He asked "Still in LA??" and we'd sadly reply "Yes.." but he was always positive, give us a reassuring comment that we'd make it back home one day.. and at least we got to back now and again. I wish I could tell him he was right..

Spur Alley

Bike Lane!

Green stripe up 40th toward MacArthur BART.

Expectations of Security

The spouse and I lived several years in Downtown LA. It's not the safest place, and we lived "Skid Row Adjacent" for most of the years we were there. When I was out and about doing the blogging thing I walked through several areas that you'd think wouldn't be safe at night. I was very lucky maybe or despite the perceived lack of safety. I was OK. I hardly ever worried about things happening to me. I was aware of my surroundings.

Inside our own building I didn't have to worry about the drug dealers or getting robbed or anything. We were high up (5th and 6th floors respectively) We lived in "secured buildings" (number code to get in) in the Old Bank District right on Main Street. Not a fancy place at all,(no amenities), rather a friendly but sketchy area of DTLA: very "Mayberry" -like, if Mayberry had homeless people, pan-handlers, and drug-dealers. Tom Gilmore, the owner/developer does have paid security outside the main building (where Pete's Cafe and Bar is located) but that's about it. LAPD is your friend otherwise (and they are in my experience anyway). Moving on..

We live in Emeryville now, literally on the Oakland/ Emeryville border ("On the edge of E-Ville" right?!) where all kinds of crazy stuff is going down literally a couple blocks away from us. The Oakland border as I may have mentioned, passes through our next door neighbors apartment despite our street address being Emeryville. I guess crime doesn't pay attention to street addresses..

We just found out my super nice neighbor a couple doors down from us got a gun pointed at her head in a very bold attempted armed robbery late last night through her barred window! She's got 2 big dogs (one of them a scary looking to strangers doberman) I don't know what the heck is wrong with people!!? Does no one have any boundaries?? A few of my neighbors have decorative bars on their small windows and she says it was this and her doberman that kept them at bay enough for her to get down and call the cops. E-ville cops rock! She says they responded pretty quick. I'm so grateful and glad she's OK! It could have ended very very badly.

This getting mugged from WITHIN YOUR OWN SPACE is BS! As renters you should have reasonable expectations of safety within your own place. I guess I should be glad our cats are frightened of the fireworks last night as we closed and locked our windows by 8PM or so.. Went to bed by Midnight & the fireworks (illegal ones of course) were still going off. We live very close to Market St. (we're incredibly close to the Oakland border) which is a hotzone of muggings and armed robberies. The 4th of July is usually a time of hooligans to be out and about setting off M-80s and possible car break-ins.. It seems like it's escalating and our area (and my neighbors!) of E-ville is suffering for it.

I can't help but wonder stupid things like "If only they hadn't taken out most of the ground cover between our windows and the sidewalk?" or maybe our area of the street needs better lighting?? I don't know if anything would have discouraged these jerks from trying something as crazy as pointing a gun through my neighbor's window... but having our lush landscaping ripped out and left bare doesn't help.

I think "reasonable expectation of safety" should include NOT having some jerk point a gun at you through your window demanding your laptop. We live in a low-key but fairly nice place and pay decent rent... Like where we lived in LA, it's not a fancy building, we don't have crazy amenities and we don't have alarm systems and MOST of us don't have bars on our windows (but that doesn't seem to help much in this case) I really don't know what one or anyone can do if bars and scary barking dogs don't keep people from attempting to kill you over your things. There should be something.. You should be safe within your own space!

It's so frustrating! I've lived many years in New Orleans.. where I can't imagine the crooks ever trying anything like that.. maybe they do these days? In DTLA it seemed like things happened to people who 'asked for it' IE: not paying attention to their surroundings, flashing money or expensive accessories (ipod/cellphone theft is pretty high).. stuff like that. A guy gets stabbed in DTLA it's because he was in the middle of a drug deal that went sideways. I'm not saying crime doesn't happen to people that are aware and doing the right thing.. but it seems like it's less likely.. and the veil of security and sanctity of home is mostly intact.

Here things happen to folks outside.. down by the bus stops on Market or more recently out on the sidewalk in front of our neighboring buildings. Here we have people trying to live and be aware despite what is going on within a block or so of their home, still being victims of crime. Sanctity of home? Expectations of Security?? I'm just not sure, but something needs to change.

Poppies!

Poppies are in bloom.. As seen on 45th Street near Essex in Emeryville

Fresh Paint!

Besler Building is getting a fresh coat of paint around its windows:

Alexander and the Dyson

Our current place is a loft on the edge of Emeryville. Each unit has one of these giant boxes attached to the ceiling:

This Reznor heater is freakishly loud (imagine a 747 taking off in a small space) and so we hate using it.. I really hate using it, but the spouse will use it if he's desperate. Suffice to say, no one should be that desperate!

Fortunately Costco had one of these Dyson Hot+Cold things and with a $100 instant rebate (til Feb 1st) It was still a bit expensive but with some holiday gift cards we received from family, that helped make it a bit less painful. =)



Suffice to say Alexander likes it a LOT! He sits right next to and makes me a little nervous.. but as long as he doesn't stick his paws in or on it.. it's all good. We currently have it in our kitchen where it seems be placed in a good enough spot to warm a little of the living room area and the kitchen as a whole.. and doesn't short out the outlets.. (we originally had it plugged in near our window where it gets chilly, not realizing a good portion of our outlets were on the same circuit and tripped when I tried to use the microwave at the same time).

Here's a little video I made of Alexander looking very content:

Shopping Cart Tree is Lit!

Sunday Dinner

Spinach and Cheese Crepes at IKEA restuarant & Cafe in Emeryville. Was a good deal for $2.99 but wasn't especially hot.. on the plus side, we didn't need silverware to eat it. ;P

After walking around the store some (and checking out the newly remodeled kitchen area.. meh.. not for us) we hit up my 'new' favorite ice cream treat, the blueberry/vanilla swirl frozen yogurt:


We'd had this originally last month.. and I'd been wanting to have it again for a few days now. Like the original vanilla, the blueberry frozen yogurt is also $1 (or like me you can have it as a swirl option).

In Our Neighborhood

found on the side of a Volkswagon along 45th Street

MEAT!

Sunday we went to go see the new Pixar film "Brave" in 3D at the Bay Street 16 AMC Theatre..



Afterwards we were pretty hungry and it's been quite some time, so we decided to hit up one of the nicer chain places for a really good burger and.. and the closest Coke Freestyle machine in our area!


I was able to order a Bison (or Buffalo) burger and had cheddar and bacon added.. Bison meat is very lean and high in protein. It's not gamey at all (I wouldn't eat it if it was, trust me!)


Sean had the ostrich burger but opted for fries with his:


The burgers come undressed because they have AMAZING fixings and condiment bars!



There's also a side where they have the mayo, ketchup, mustard and bbq sauce..

Then there's the Freestyle machine!!



The quality of the image isn't so great.. but they have a zillion options, I just have a shot of the @cokezero options.. I LOVE Cherry Zero.. raspberry is pretty good (but don't mix it with the Cherry Zero.. not so good). Sean said Cherry Vanilla Zero is pretty good.. Today we tried Orange Zero.. which, if you are a mezzo mix fan (it's orange enhanced Coca Cola, sold in Germany or available to sample at Club Cool at EPCOT and "World of Coke" locations) Orange Zero is the closet you will get currently to Mezzo Mix. I had a glass and half of it.. I'd go back for it again next time I'm at a place with a Freestyle machine.

Currently the closest Freestyle machine in Emeryville is the Wing Stop on San Pablo and the Fuddrucker's.

Fuddrucker's is a National Chain.. better than McDonalds but not near good as The Habit, but we don't have The Habit in our immediate area.

Fuddrucker's
5614 Bay Street #232
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 655-5902

Melty Yumminess in My Neighborhood

Our neighbor Greg makes these amazing spent grain chocolate chip cookies when he's not working his regular job.. I hear he takes orders and can ship.. Big Skull baking Co. I'm glad I can get them local! =)

**this post reflects my opinions and my neighbor doesn't know I posted this**

Lanesplitter

In our Berkeley days (pre-2004) had we wanted pizza we would head to Zachery's in Rockridge or on Solano.. or order delivery from North Beach Pizza. If we were on campus we'd hit up Blondie's once in a while. Here in Emeryville, our local options include Lanesplitter, Arizmendi's, Rotten City (which we've not been to yet!) and more recently, Hot Italian...



Our local Lanesplitter is where Adeline, San Pablo and W MacArthur Blvd meet. Pretty ideal location for a place called 'lanesplitter', right? Turns out that Lanesplitter is a local chain and are named for that fun motorcycle habit of "splitting lanes" when they ride through traffic giving people like me a heart attack as they zoom up on the yellow line, cutting through traffic. Then again, it could be for bowling.. either way.. there's a random pin sitting above near the bar and a dust covered motorcycle perched high above just to give you pause to consider over your drink..


The drinks are posted on the chalkboard behind the bar as well on the menu.. they have a few beers on tap... and a cider.


Two Rivers Pomegranite Cider

As for the food, you can pretty much hit the place at almost any time and there's some sort of special going on.. The first time we came here they had a "Happy Hour" special of $5 off a large pizza. This makes it only $2 more than their medium, so it's worth it.


One of the more popular pizza choices is the "HeartStopper" (bacon, gorgonzola, roasted garlic, spinach)


It's really large! (that's my pint glass being held up to compare)

Other than the size,(which you can get in small, medium and large) not sure why it's called a heart stopper. I imagine like any pizza, if you eat too much, you'll have the same clogged arteries you'd get if you ate too much of anything not healthy. I'm over-thinking it here, though.. so moving on..


Here's a slice.. Notice how the topping just sort of stop about an inch before the crust? (and in some cases sooner) Call me picky but I like my toppings to completely cover the pizza. You're paying for the toppings right? Otherwise it's just a cheese pizza.

The crust itself was nice and chewy though.

We came back last weekend (since one of us were craving pizza and the other was happy to go along with me... er.. ahem..) While the pizza wasn't amazing (honestly I'm not a NY style pizza fan but I DO like pizza a LOT) but the service the first time was pretty good.


Sean ordered the Vegetable Lasagne:

It was pretty large and could easily have been shared if so inclined.

I ordered the 2 slice w/ drink combo:

the combo is a large one-topping pizza. I chose spinach.

As you can see this time around the toppings go all way to the crust.. This pizza was actually better than the other pizza. It seemed crispier, and the edge was just as chewy as the other pizza we'd tried.

I got the 2 slicer so Sean could have one. He in turn, let me have about half of his lasagne. I ate about half of my half and handed it back. It was good, cheesy, robust (is there another way to say 'meaty' when talking about the denseness of vegetables?), and filling. The lasagne had a nice garlic flavor to it as well. I would totally order this alone to split between the two of us.

The lasagne came with a side salad.. I had ordered one as well off the 'sides' menu:


I can't say how much dressing they actually put on the salad, but I hope it's not this much. As it was I used very little of mine and had plenty left for Sean to use so he wouldn't need to touch his dressing. The "breadstick" is that same chewy crust-like bread. Good stuff.

I think we were better off doing the combos than ordering a huge pizza. One doesn't have to stuff yourself full of pizza to leave this place full and satisfied.

I wish I could say the same about the service. It's very hit or miss.. First time (on a Tuesday) was amazing.. Manager or someone greeted us at the door, explained the menu since we'd said we'd never been here before. Our server was was a very efficient lady whose name I wish I could recall. The experience made us happy enough to come back when the mood was upon us.

This last time, goddess server was working but not in our section. Being a Saturday evening, it wasn't too crowded and they seemed to have plenty of help, but our server was distracted or just not giving a crap. It seemed like the server from the other section was picking up the slack, cleaning tables and seating people. She attempted to serve us our food but it was for the couple next to us. The busser ended up serving our food in the end.

One family had to physically get up and get our server's attention to explain they were ready to order. The couple seated next to us had to ask for their check. When he came around with it (finally) he didn't look at us or ask us if we needed anything or were ready for our check.. Sean waved the guy down finally to ask for OUR check and we were able to pay up and head out.

The pizza was definitely good enough to go back. It could be a Friday night thing, or a service anomaly (these things happen). It's one for two however you look at it.. and like Sean said, worse case, we can always order 'to go' next time. =) It's so close though, why not try it again?



Lanesplitter Pizza
3645 San Pablo Ave
Emeryville, CA 94608

Emeryville Amtrack Station

A few photos from the Emeryville station as we cut through on our way to the Peet's at the Emeryville Public Market Saturday morning:


to San Francisco


it's a plaque..


'graffiti' on the Emeryville Amtrack Station's pedestrian bridge..


clear day from the pedestrian bridge.. view to the Emeryville Public Market

Another Friday Night at Rudy's

AKA: the "I can Haz Cheeseburger" Rudy's edition..

Friday night soda run had us thinking about food.. Our neighborhood pizza and bread joint Arizmendi's was closed, and somehow we ended up here.. Rudy's (which was already a favorite, but is fast becoming one of our 'regular' places).

We started it off with the Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders:


I came in craving mac & cheese and ended up ordering a Bacon Classic with cheese, served w/ salad instead of fries:


Sean ordered a very similar burger, "The Chupacabra" which was goat cheese and bacon:


I had a Coke Zero and Sean had the "Shaken Jesse" and after we ate all that our original server (whose name I can't recall but runs the counter really great!!) had already gone off shift. Another guy, "M" was working the counter.. He kept hitting me with a new Coke Zero as we decided on dessert..

Sean went along with me and we split a slice of the Coconut Cream Pie:


Not sure why it was served with a dollop of whipped cream (we were asked if we wanted it a la mode which we declined) but who cares: it was good. The graham-y crust was sweet and crumbly and had a cinnamon-y-ness to it as well coconut. I am pretty sure there were bits of coconut in the crust.. If you don't like coconut, you won't like this but it was good! The pie itself wasn't especially coconut-y, but had a creamy, whipped texture to it. I would definitely order it again next time I've gone without a cooler pie for a while.