Reviews by Eyerater

Eyerater says "The Beached Whale - A tradition of fun with your food." about The Beached Whale - Fort Myers Beach, FL

Eyerater — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:58:25 GMT

The Beached Whale sits on the edge of Estero Blvd as it traces the beach at Fort Myers Beach. It is more of a road house or sports bar than anything. Wall-to-wall wide screen TVs present every football game and other sporting events, live as they are happening. The dining room is actually a huge bar room, with wooden booths and tables (all with a view of one or more TV screen.

With a colorful history that goes back to 1949, which is narrated on the back of the menu, The Beached Whale can attest to alo tof drinking and a lot of boisterous fun. Now, I am not a fan of sports bars generally speaking. I will eat them in a pinch. But I usually prefer a real "restaurant". That said, I stopped at The Beach Whale with my wife because a friend had touted it for food (yes, I was sceptical; good food at a sports bar?) and we wanted to see Pittsburg play. We were on Fort Myers Beach anyway. So why not.

Here's the surprise. The food was really GOOD. I ordered fish tacos with fresh grilled grouper in...

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Eyerater says "Twilight Cafe - Back and better than ever." about Twilight Cafe - Sanibel, FL

Eyerater — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:28:11 GMT

Disclosure: I know Robert Parks, owner and chef at the "new" Twilight Cafe. I have known him for years, served on a Board with him and ate at his Twilight Cafe in its previous location. So I probably would not do a bad review of his new Twilight Cafe location, in any case.

Fortunately, I am not faced with that dilemma. I and three others had dinner there on a recent Friday night.

Starting with wine, the house Pinot Grigio was very acceptable. The Penfold Cabernet Shiraz was up to standard for that brand and variety.

Bread was served with an oil and spinach dip saucer. The bread was unfairly delicious. Unfair, because when you fill up with good bread your appetite won't stick around for dessert.

The menu for dinner was overrun with many fascinating choices. My missus chose a mixed baby greens salad, which she shared with me. It was quite good, combining greens, tomatoes, toasted almonds and fried goat cheese croutons in a citrus vinagrette dressing. Both interesting and filled with taste...

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Eyerater says "Scalo - Stylish Italian " about Scalo - Albuquerque, NM

Eyerater — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:47:26 GMT

Scalo sits on the corner of a drive into a small shopping area off of Central Avenue, not far from Nob Hill and the University of New Mexico campus. Traffic on Central can get busy. Since Scalo is not square on the street, however, it allows the covered patio to open onto the drive.

When approaching from the west it is easy to miss the sign. Do not be tempted to turn into the second driveway if you miss the first drive. It is one-way outbound.

We arrived too late to catch the lunch service, as they were closing to set up for dinner. We were invited to go next door to the lounge and bar. This area also has a patio. By now, however, rain was threatening so we chose to sit inside by the window. At least we could look out on the patio.

We both had quartinos of wine. Pinot grigio for Susanne. Merlot for me. A quartino is about two glasses in quantity in a small carafe. At $8.50 a quartino, the wine came in at about $4.25 a glass. That works.

To eat, Sue had a capasante, penne pasta with olive...

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Eyerater says "Il Trattoria - Pasta of more than passing interest." about Il Trattoria - Fort myers, FL

Eyerater — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:04:06 GMT

Walking in downtown Fort Myers for the Friday Art Walk of gallery openings. we passed this little restaurant, Il Trattorio. Since we didn't remember seing it there before we assumed it was new.

A glance at the menu told us that there were a number of reasonable, eg. under $17, entrees. And there was a sidewalk table open. We love to eat out where you can watch and be seen. (In fact, at least six acquaintances walked by and said "hello." What fun!)

Back to the setting, there actually were three open sidewalk tables, but one was without cover. It was raining. So we grabbed a table for two just outside the window.

First to the drinks. Susanne ordered a pinot grigio by the glass at $6.50. For me, the surprising treat was a quartino. This was our second encounter with this term. Just a week earlier we came across it in an Albuquerque restaurant, soon to be reviewed.

Knowing what a quartino is helped me make my decision. It's actually a small carafe containing about two glasses of wine. At $6,...

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Eyerater says "Santa Fe's Inn of the Governors - good food and ambience" about Inn of the Governors - Santa Fe, NM

Eyerater — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:23:17 GMT

Santa Fe has so many good to great restaurants. It's easy to have favorites and keep going back to them.

We are more adventurous, looking for new experiences.

So, stopped at Inn of the Governors ad we walked by. We were seated in the covered outdoor lanai promtly. In fact, immediately. We were, however, employing our usual late lunch strategy.

After a round of reasonable wines by the glass, our order arrived.

Sue had grilled salmon in a caesar salad. I surprised her by ordering the grilled salmon enchilada. I never eat salmon. For some reason, the "grilled" part got my attention.

In the end, my salmon enchilada was excellent.

Sue said here salmon salad also was excellent.

And the service was excellent too, as was the venue, relaxing on the lanai. With one strategic mistake that didn't affect us, but surprised me.

The manager shut down the lanai at about 3:30, put a sign on the door and directed people to sit in the bar, even while we still were eating on the lanai.

Perhaps the manager had...

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Eyerater says "Southwest Airlines - Where is the LUV?" about Southwest Airlines

Eyerater — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:40:30 GMT

Mostly, I don't fly Southwest Airlines, primarily because they didn't have a good schedule to my airport. I did fly Southwest once before, after driving three hours to an airport they served. It was to save money.

That's why I flew this time as well, plus an effective brand presentation that convinced me to give them a try.

First problem was learning, at the airport, that seats were not reserved. I guess regular Southwest flyers know about, maybe even like it. But I'm used to having a seat reserved for me. That gives me some control over where I sit and who I sit with.

Instead, I got a place in line. I wondered who assigned the place in line, when and by what standard. My wife and I ended up among the last folks on the plane. Guess where our seats were.

Upon boarding the plane I asked one of the attendants when they went to non-reserved seating. His answer? "Thirty-eight years ago" That came off to me as a "Duh-uh, hey stupid" answer. I don't think the question justified that attitude....

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Eyerater says "Milagro - A Delight at the end of an alley" about Milagro - Santa Fe, NM

Eyerater — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:51:39 GMT

It was Santa Fe at Indian Market, easily the busiest, most crowed time of year.

As we searched for a place to have a late lunch, and were turned away from several reataurants by the lines waiting to get in.

As we walked down San Francisco Street toward a restaurant we were pretty sure would not be crowded, we stumbled across Milagro. It was at the end of an alleyway. Romantic Latins might call it a courtyard. Nevertheless, if they had not had a sandwich board on the street we would never have suspected there was a restaurant back there.

Entering Milagro we found ourselves in a bar reception room. There were a half-dozen people waiting to get into the dining room, but they were being seated quickly. The bartender offered to serve us in the bar section. As we saw the short line at the hostess station moving into the dining room, we declined.

In the dining room, an atrium, we were led to a table on a second floor balcony overlooking the ground floor. It is a very pleasant room and the service...

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Eyerater says "Lamplighter Inn - Surprisingly good" about Lamplighter Inn - Santa Fe, NM

Eyerater — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:19:39 GMT

when we scheduled a trip to Santa Fe at Indian Market time we wondered if we would ifnd any room for less than $200 a night, if at all.

To our surprise, we found the Lamplighter Inn on Cerrillos Road , across the road from a shopping mall next to St. Michaels Drive.

The motel had a swimming pool in an enclosed shelter, a game room and a breakfast room that served a free continental breakfast.

Our room had a single queen bed, a fridge and the basin separated from the toilet and tub/shower.

It faced on the back of the building, away from Cerrillos and was on the second floor, at the end of the building. So we had no noise to contend with.

Wireless internet and cable TV were in the room.

A touch we appreciated, although others might not, the background music in the breakfast room was classical. Soothing and easy to take.

Breakfast included the standards: coffee, juice, cerial, bagels, muffins, toasters.

By the way, being on Cerrillos the motel has access to the Santa Fe Trails bus...

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Eyerater says "Archer Farms beverage - Refreshing but not boring" about Archer Farms - Flavored Spring Water Beverage

Eyerater — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:54:03 GMT

I hate water! Well, I don't really "hate" it, but it is boring. By the bottle it also is expensive. For what? Water.

Then I discovered Archer Farms spring water beverages at Target. Flavors include LemonRasberry, PomogranateBlackberry, Kiwiwatermelon, WildBerry and others.

They are zero calories, zero fat, 5mg of sodium, zero carbs, zero protein, zero sugar. In short, it's water. But it's flavored. That makes it something i can drink without being bored to tears, Or not drink at all because it's not worth the liquid without the flavors.

The Archr Farms flavored spring water beverage flavors are distinct but subtle. I haven't found one I don't like.

I have tried their other products and found them to be a little on the weird side - cucumber, spearmint and such. They are not much more interesting than water. I don't recommend them.

But if you like a lightly flavored, non-carbonated water, you'll probably enjoy Archer Farms flavored spring water beverage. At least as much as bottled water,...

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Eyerater says "SkyHarbor - Great promise, great disappointment" about SkyHarbor - Salt Lake City, UT

Eyerater — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:31:30 GMT

Sky Harbor, near the the Salt lake City airport, appeared to be the answer to a real need.

But it was a disappointment.

We were returning from an extended trip in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

With a flight scheduled for the next morning, we had booked a room online with AAA.

When we arrived, there was no reservation in their records.

They blamed it on AAA, although I have never had a problem with AAA travel services before.

After having us sit in the lobby while they called AAA and others to sort it out, despite the fact of my print-out of the online confirmation, they begrudgingly agreed to put us up in a unit.

(This a condo-resort with indivdual units owned by private parties but included in the rental pool.)

The unit was on the second floor, requiring each of the three of us to schlep heavy, end-of-travel bags up a flight of stairs, for final packing.

There was a pool and a fitness center, where the wireless internet was located. Not so convenient.

But - had the service been...

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Eyerater says "Howard Johnson Express - Convenience and cost are strengths" about Howard Johnson Express - Salt Lake City, UT

Eyerater — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:11:24 GMT

Howard Johnson Express is lkocat4ed down Temple Street from the LDS Temple Square.

We had an adequate and reasonable spacious room, which we shared with a teenage grand daughter.

There is a pool - important for some, such as teenage girls.

Guest laundry facilities are available.

There is a nice complimentary continental breakfast.

It is close to I-15 allowing for easy access and egress.

This is the kind of highway motel that creates little expectation and fulfills it.

But the price was a great value.

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Eyerater says "Yellowstone - Spectacle and amazement." about Yellowstone National Park

Eyerater — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:47:43 GMT

Yellowstone is legendary. As the nation's first National Park, it sets a very high standard for exploring wildlife and natural attractions.

In our case, it lived up to it.

We were on a coach tour from Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. It started about 8:00 am and ended at about 4:00 pm.

Along the way, we stopped at the West Thumb, where we saw small geysers and bubbling mud holes on the edge of massive Yellowstone Lake.

The Park Service provided walkways over the area of the hot springs, so we could see them closely without the possibilty of scalding. Park guides cautioned us to say on the walkway. Even though the ground looks firm, there are places where the crust is very thin and a foorfall could go through into a steaming hot spring.

From West Thumb, we visited Great Prismatic Spring. This is a wide pool of steaming blue water with streams of thermophiles running down to rivers and leaving vibrant colors behind.

From there, it was Firehole Spring, a park and picnic area...

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Eyerater says "A one of a kind lodge in a one of a kind destination" about Mammoth Hot Springs - Yellowstone National Park, WY

Eyerater — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:04:12 GMT

Mammoth Hot Springs is the most northerly lodging in Yellowstone National Park. It was once an an army base, a fort established to maintain order in Yellowstone in its early days.

Those who have ever lived on military base will see the signs, buildings that look like barracks and officer housing. Our lodgings were in a cabin a short walk from the main lodge builidng and the dining room. It was comfortable in a spartan fashion. One of the nicer features was a porch with chairs that invited us to sit and enjoy the compound on which the cabin faced.

It would not be fair to criticize the quality of the furnishings or the space in which they are provided. After all, this is a National Park, not a five-star resort. So, it was comfortable enough and good value for the money.

The dining room has an interesting interior design with an Art Deco tone to it. The food was unexceptional. Breakfast was a disappointment when the eggs were delivered cold to the table After a complaint to the hostess upon...

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Eyerater says "Grand Tetons - The understated National Park" about Grand Teton National Park

Eyerater — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:51:21 GMT

Grand Tetons National Park (GTNP) was the first stop in a 10-day tour of the National Parks in the West that we did with our granddaughter in July.

We almost passed up the Grand Tetons to head straight to Yellowstone. Fortunately, we didn't. We found the Grand Tetons serene and beautiful, with plenty of wildlife and stunning vistas at every turn in the road.

We stayed in a cabin at Colter Bay Village. It was our choice because three of us were traveling together and the rates told us that it was the best value. It also was the northern-most accommodations in GTNP, which promised the shortest trip into Yellowstone when our GTNP stay was over.

We stayed at Colter Bay for two nights. We had dinner at the restaurant there shortly after checking in. The staff was very helpful, allowing us to sit with a glass of wine while waiting for the restaurant to open for dinner.

We found the pleasantness of the National Park staff, made up of summer interns and retired people, to be generally exceptional....

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Eyerater says "Il Pomodoro - May have been the best steak ever" about Il Pomodoro - Fort Myers, FL

Eyerater — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:11:20 GMT

We have been driving by Il Pomodoro for months. One thing that deterred us from dining there was road construction. The other was one stop we had made earlier between lunch and dinner. Too late for lunch; too early for dinner.

Every other time, often when returning from another restaurant experieince, we would say, "Hey, we could have stopped there."

So this time, we went out with neighbors and we planned ahead.

The building in which the Il Pomodoro resides is an archetecturally interesting, attractive and colorful structure. It catches the eye.

Once inside, you pass a station where take-out orders can be picked up. Then to a hostess station. We were greeted pleasantly at both posts before being seated promptly.

The first surprise, a pleasant one, was a table card that announced a menu of specials at $9.99. That's right. A half dozen dishes for under $10, including a salad. Next was a wine list that had glasses as low as $6. Two of our party decided they wanted to split a bottle...

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Eyerater says "Doc Ford's Fort Myers Beach - maybe better than the original" about Doc Ford's Fort Myers Beach - Fort Myers Beach, FL

Eyerater — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:17:28 GMT

Fans of Doc Ford's on Sanibel now have another Doc Ford's to be excited about. This one is in the town of Fort Myers Beach. It's not the easiest place to find. But after driving next to the Fort Myers Beach bridge and making a u-turn under it, we arrive.

You can enter the restaurant from the parking area; directly into the bar, or up a ramp to the hostess and the dining room. In the dining room (which also has an inviting bar), we are seated at a table next to the large glass window with a view of the water. Shrimp boats are docked in the distance. Tables with umbrellas are visible on a lower deck.

Doc Ford’s dock is also in view. Our server tells us the dock is available for patrons arriving by boat, which may be the preferred mode of arrival.

The wine selection, while slendor, is varied, with some quality drops. An example is the Penfold’s Thomas Hyland Shiraz priced at $9.50 a glass. There also are house wines at $5.00 per glass. Susanne picks a Pinot Grigio.

We sip our wine,...

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Eyerater says "Sweet Tomatoes for Breakfast - A non-starter" about Sweet Tomatoes - Fort Myers FL - Fort Myers, FL

Eyerater — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:36:29 GMT

We have been sporadic diners at Sweet Tomatoes. For lunch and dinner, we liked it enough to go back. So, the arrival of a coupon for a free breakfast with one purchased fell on a welcome mail table.

What's good about Sweet Tomatoes? Soups are great. Breads are good. Pasta is hot and tasty from that station. And the frozen yogurt machine with vanilla and chocolate over a chocolate muffin, with chocolate syrup? Ahhh...Chocolate paradise.

Of course, a major attraction for Sweet Tomatoes is that it is an all-you-can-eat buffet. This can be verfied by glancing around the booths of corpulence. But I digest.

Problem is that none of the above are traditional breakfast items. Aside from coffee and juice, the only breakfast-appropriate dishes were scambled eggs and a scambled egg and noodle dish. Unfortunately, scrambled eggs have a hot-plate half-life of about seven seconds. After that, they are limpid paste.

Update: I forgot about waffle sections and French toast sections. They offered both....

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Eyerater says "Wheat Thins Garden Veggie Flavor - Tasty and Crispy" about Kraft - Wheat Thins Toasted Chips Garden Valley Veggie

Eyerater — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:05:02 GMT

Wheat Thins Toasted Chips Garden Valley Veggie style appears to be a companion product to Ritz snacks I tried earlier.

This is a nice cross between the crispyness of potato chips and the subtle flavor of a cracker. Good for dipping. The veggie flavor compliments a veggies dip but also goes well with various cream dips.

According to the package they have "50% less fat than the leading fried potato chips." I don't know how one "proves" that.

I'll take their word for it. The taste is good and the promise of less fat is inviting. They also promise 290 mg of ALA omega-3 fatty acids per serving. Another one that is hard to prove froma tasting, and hard evaluate as important without more knowledge than I have. But I recall someone once said this is good stuff to consume, so consume it I did.

Other good facts: 8 chips are 130 calories. There's just a gram of saturated and no transfats. I doubt, however, that anyone chooses this or any other snack for its nutritional value.

So let's talk about...

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Eyerater says "Snack Factory Pretzel Crips - Everything" about The Snack Facotry - Pretzel Crisps - Garlic

Eyerater — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:43:04 GMT

I love it when a consumer products company removes the need for the consumer to make a choice.

I ran into The Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps during one of my "before dinner" shopping trips through Publix. (We should never be allowed to grocery shop before dinner. Everything looks like we should have it - and eat it before leaving the store.)

Anyway, there were several varieties. Original. Garlic. Honey Mustard & Onion. Buffalo Wing. So many choices. So little discipline.

There was also a package marked "Everything".

My superior powers of deduction led me to believe this probably was a little of "every flavor" So much easier than taking a chance on a flavor you might not like.

Okay. I know this says Garlic on the review. But it was the only one available and they owuld let met me review a product without selectin a brand from hte pull down menu. So I was stuck with hitch-hiking on "garlic".

Read on.

These pretzel crisps were something I had never had before, although I kinda like pretzels...

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Eyerater says "Ritz Toasted Chips - Pass the test for snacking." about Ritz - Toasted Chips Little Italy Garlic Mozzarella

Eyerater — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:15:02 GMT

I grabbed the Ritz Toasted Chips off my Publix snack aisle shelf largely because of the garlic and mozzarella flavor the package proclaimed. Who isn't addicted to such classic Italian flavors?

I then noticed that the chips were "naturally flavored". How refreshing to have somethat was "garlic and mozzarella-like", if you know what I mean.

Then the package description of the contents as being "40% less fat than the leading regular fried potato chips" pushed me over the edge.

Generally, I am an iconclast and skeptic when it comes to the "healthy foods" movement. I have a funny feeling that the products are more about marketing and sales than they are about health. Besides, I never felt the stuff that is supposed to be unhealthy actually is. Hey, we have been eating that stuff for decades with not bump in the mortality rates.

(Don't start me on "global warming")

So, I brought a "healthy" dose of "show me" to my first few chips.

Well, the ultimate snack test is whether you want another...

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