Showing posts with label Do It For the Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Do It For the Food. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

Do It For The Doughnuts: Voodoo Doughnut

On our quick weekend trip to Portland, I had one objective: to visit Voodoo Doughnut.  Luckily, one of their  locations was right by our hotel, detailed here. It was the first thing we did Saturday morning. At 9 am, the line was short, maybe 10 or 15 people. A few hours later, the line look like this:



The store is small inside, maybe room for 10 people. Due to the small amount of people allowed in the store, the time you have to make a decision is short. Above the registers is a large board with tons of options:


I decided to order a Voodoo Dozen, which is 12 doughnuts picked by the worker.


Yes, I got a dozen doughnuts, not the group got a dozen. I wanted to try as many doughnuts as possible. 


Now, my thoughts on each of the doughnuts that I ate. My first doughnut was the Dirt Doughnut, which is a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Oreos! It was tasty and a great opening number.


My second choice was confusing. Miami Vice Berry, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting, blue raspberry power and pink sprinkles. I did not not like it, but I did not like it either. It was blah.


Number Three: Arnold Palmer, a plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and lemonade/ice tea dust on top. It tasted so so good. The doughnut tasted just like the drink. Definitely get this one . . .


Choice Four: Neapolitan Chocolate cake doughnut with vanilla frosting, strawberry dust and three marshmallows. This was an ok doughnut. Nothing to write home about . . .


Choice Five: Grape Ape, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting, grape dust and lavender sprinkles. This doughnut tasted like grape cough medicine. Super gross! One bite and I spit it out . . .



Choice Six: The Loop, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Fruit Loops. Very yummy...I could not wait for the picture to be taken before I dove in.


Choice Seven: Sprinkle, plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. This was one the simplest doughnut that I had, but I love sprinkles. When I worked at Dunkin Donuts, I use to eat sprinkles handful by handful. This doughnut did not disappoint.


Number 8: Mexican Hot Chocolate, a chocolate cake doughnut dusted in cinnamon sugar and cayenne pepper. I did not check to see what this doughnut was before eating it, well that lead to a big surprise. My mouth was on fire...


Doughnut 9: Marshall Matters, plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and mini M & M's. Do you see the number of M&M's on this doughnut? It was soooooo...goood!


Doughnut 10: Portland Cream, a raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream. Topped with chocolate and two eyeballs, representing the vision of our great city. This is a Boston Creame, on the East Coast. By #10, I was having a hard time keeping them down.



Doughnut 11: Bacon Maple Bar, a raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and bacon to top! This was the best doughnut hands down. I talked about this doughnut for days afterwards. So, good it gets more than one picture:





Final doughnut #12: No Name, raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting, rice krispies and peanut butter. This doughnut was weird tasting. It had so many things going on that my senses were on overload. It could have been the sugar rush . . .



And for those of you wondering, no I did not eat all of them. I had a few bites of each, scarfed down others and spite out one. Here is the doughnut graveyard!


A list of all the Voodoo doughnuts can be found here. The cost of my dozen was just under $12. You can pick and choose the doughnuts; instead of the random pickings. Doughnuts cost somewhere between $1 -$2.50 each. Very affordable! If Voodoo Doughnut was in Washington, DC, each doughnut would cost $4.00 each and there still would be a line around the corner.

DO IT FOR THE DOUGHNUTS!!!!



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Monday, March 25, 2013

Biscuits and BBQ: Do It For the Food Chapel Hill, NC Edition

A few weeks ago if you followed us on Twitter you might have noticed our...well JD's...consumption of a level of Voodoo doughnuts in Portland that would make Mayor Bloomberg faint. As the sugar coursed through our body we decided that it would be a great idea to start a new feature when we travel...not just reviews of the hotels or nice international flights we take, but the food that we eat.

JD and I are both foodies and are always interested in going for the best local options that new cities have to offer. You can get a real sense of the culture of a city by the local restaurants that are around and the ones that all of the locals go to. JD often plays a game when traveling that involved only going to restaurants and bars that are recommended by workers at other restaurants and bars. This way you get to the place that the people who work in the business want to sit down for a meal at. So...we bring you the first edition of...#DoItForTheFood.

Our first city is Chapel Hill, NC. As I posted on Friday I was on my own in Chapel Hill while Kelsey was busy trying to decide where she would be going to grad school next year. I knew that Chapel Hill had a great reputation for food...and the prospect of biscuits and BBQ had me salivating and I let my nose guide me to the perfect foodie day in Chapel Hill.

Starting off I walked from the University of North Carolina campus to the start of the town of Carrboro, NC. It ended up being about a 20-30 minute walk, but it was beautiful out and I needed to stretch my legs and stay active so it was well worth it. After walking for a bit I stumbled upon Jessee's Coffee and Bar and the prospect of a good cup of coffee drew me in. The small shop has about 10 tables and a big bar that you can sit at. They roast their own Espresso and Coffee and it was clear that the latte I had was fresh and the espresso roast was amazing. I also ordered an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich on a fresh made biscuit that I could have had at least 10 more of. The biscuit was warm and flaky and the egg, bacon and cheese cures whatever ails you as always. I also sampled the coffee offerings at The Looking Glass Cafe in Carrboro and it was very good if you need another option.

After walking over 5 miles and not realizing that the local buses were free I had worked up quite an appetite for lunch so I used my nose and eyes to find the restaurant along Franklin Street in Chapel Hill that seemed to have the most people in it still at 1:00 pm and ended up choosing Spanky's Restaurant & Bar . Spanky's has been a Chapel Hill institution since 1977 and their menu was inspired by local ingredients and their beer menu featured almost exclusively local brews. I sat at the bar for lunch and the service was great and all of the staff members were wonderful. I went for the BBQ sandwich (of course) which was bbq pork with a spicy NC style vinegar based sauce and topped with slaw. Now I'm a Kansas City BBQ purist and refuse to recognize that their might be a better kind of BBQ...but I gotta say...this was absolutely amazing Q. The pork was beautifully smoked and the sauce was spicy but full of flavor. I would have ordered another, but I had to save room for more biscuits the next day. ;)

After meeting up with Kelsey and wandering around Chapel Hill for a bit it was time for dinner and we wanted to have a drink along with dinner so we opted to go for the local Carolina Brewery Brewpub and Restaurant. On the drink front Kelsey went for the Sky Blue Golden Ale which was a Kolsch style ale. I went for the Copperline Amber Ale which is my favorite Red Ale with just a bit of hopps and a slight bitter aftertaste. For food we both went with the burger which was well seasoned and delicious so it really hit the spot.

Hopefully this will be a decent guide for those that are visiting Chapel Hill and looking for some options of where to eat. If you live in the area or used to live in the area and I missed out on some places, or your disagree...let me know...because I want to know where you would go so I can go there when we go back!

Now I just want biscuits and BBQ....
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