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Guilty Pleasures: Food


IronTiger

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I'm with you on the Jack in the Box tacos. I don't even want to know what that mystery meat is. I just know I have been addicted to them since their debut when I was in high school in the 60's. Great late night munchie food. 

 

 

Not sure how many people are aware of this, but Jack in the Box tacos are not unique. They are actually Monterrey style tacos, which are called Tacos Dorados. I didn't know that myself until just recently when I found a Monterrey-style Mexican restaurant in San Antonio (Rita's Enchiladas) and they had a picture of their Tacos Dorados, which are nearly identical to Jack in the Box tacos, save for presumably they have real meat in them versus some unknown mystery meat. I know I've also seen them on the menus of Mexican (not Tex Mex) restaurants in Houston, including, I believe, Hugos. But I wasn't aware what they were then as there was no picture.

 

Here is a picture of a Taco Dorado:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mmmfruit/1473857149/

 

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For me, Hickory Hollow is the nearby default go to.  However, they serve them on those damnable aluminum pizza pans, which means that cutting must be done very carefully lest one end up with a forkful of aluminum tang.  Back when Goodson's was on Gessner, I'd drive out there.  Kelly's over by Hobby is pretty tasty, too.  Ouisie's is nice, albeit a bit too foo foo a place for CFS.

 

The Voice of Experience will say, resist the impulse for chicken fried ribeye.  Sounds great in concept, in reality taking a cut that normally renders the fat out to make it tender and encasing it into an impermeable shell of deep fried batter is just too much to even taste good.  Same with the chicken fried bacon at the Rodeo (though it's fun to take a picture of to send to vegan friends in Boston or some such place).

 

Dangit, now I've got to kidnap the new people in the office who are fresh in from out of town and force feed them tomorrow.  :ph34r:

 

Perhaps I'll indulge in another guilty pleasure instead - Triple A on Airline.  nom nom nom.

 

Edit:  Triple A can't really be a guilty pleasure.  The food is too good and fresh.

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Frito pie is its own food group.  

 

And it definitely belongs among the guilty pleasures (one benchmark for which is how well it horrifies friends from foreign states).

 

It apparently horrified Anthony Bourdain enough for him to coin his memorable characterization of it as "warm crap in a bag". Oh well, even Homer nods. 

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Hickory Hollow is supposed to be a Bar-B-Que place. I've been there a number of times and I've never had the bar-b-que. I've always gotten the CFS. And most of the people I've seen eating there get CFS too. I've never heard anyone talk about their bar-b-que. Might be awful for all I know.

 

It's not bad, and is certainly better than some other places I could name. But your comment reminded me of the Barbecue Inn - I've known many people who swear they've eaten there for years and never had the barbecue. The seafood's definitely the main attraction (although not having been there in several years, I'll confess to having sticker shock when I looked at their menu online the other day and saw that the price for my favorite dish had increased significantly since my last visit). 

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Perhaps I'll indulge in another guilty pleasure instead - Triple A on Airline.  nom nom nom.

 

Edit:  Triple A can't really be a guilty pleasure.  The food is too good and fresh.

 

I firmly believe that the fresh ground cheeseburger at Triple A is the most underrated burger in Houston. Or maybe not so much underrated as unheralded - if more people knew about it, they'd be lining up for it. 

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I firmly believe that the fresh ground cheeseburger at Triple A is the most underrated burger in Houston. Or maybe not so much underrated as unheralded - if more people knew about it, they'd be lining up for it. 

 

Mmmm....burgers are another weakness of mine.  I'll have to check this out.

 

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(Y)our comment reminded me of the Barbecue Inn - I've known many people who swear they've eaten there for years and never had the barbecue. The seafood's definitely the main attraction (although not having been there in several years, I'll confess to having sticker shock when I looked at their menu online the other day and saw that the price for my favorite dish had increased significantly since my last visit). 

 

I think I've been to Barbecue Inn once... when I was a kid. But it's a hazy memory at best, so I could be wrong.

 

My mom, sister, wife and I were going to try it last month - for the fried chicken. But we had to cancel at the last minute. I've heard from several sources that they have some of the best in town.

 

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As good as Stanton's? I'm hooked on those burgers. 

 

I firmly believe that the fresh ground cheeseburger at Triple A is the most underrated burger in Houston. Or maybe not so much underrated as unheralded - if more people knew about it, they'd be lining up for it. 

 

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Mmmm....burgers are another weakness of mine.  I'll have to check this out.

 

 

Be sure to specify "fresh ground cheeseburger" when you order. It's actually listed separately from the "regular" cheeseburger on the menu, and costs a little more. 

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I think I've been to Barbecue Inn once... when I was a kid. But it's a hazy memory at best, so I could be wrong.

 

My mom, sister, wife and I were going to try it last month - for the fried chicken. But we had to cancel at the last minute. I've heard from several sources that they have some of the best in town.

 

The fried chicken is outstanding. My wife thought it was the best she'd ever had in town, but she didn't arrive in Houston until the late 80s and never got to eat at the Wind Swept Inn. 

 

Don't go when you're pressed for time, as you'll need to allow 20-30 minutes prep time for the chicken (I think this is mentioned on the menu, and the waitress will definitely remind anyone that orders it as well). 

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The fried chicken is outstanding. My wife thought it was the best she'd ever had in town, but she didn't arrive in Houston until the late 80s and never got to eat at the Wind Swept Inn. 

 

Don't go when you're pressed for time, as you'll need to allow 20-30 minutes prep time for the chicken (I think this is mentioned on the menu, and the waitress will definitely remind anyone that orders it as well). 

 

I have an old postcard of the Windswept.  I'll post this weekend.

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The fried chicken is outstanding. My wife thought it was the best she'd ever had in town, but she didn't arrive in Houston until the late 80s and never got to eat at the Wind Swept Inn. 

 

 

I've never went to the Wind Swept Inn even though I grew up in the area. Not sure why my parents never took us there.

 

I was looking over an old Aldine High yearbook the other day from 1970 and there was an ad for the Wind Swept Inn in the back. Incredibly the owners, whose names were listed, had the last name as ours. Maybe they were relatives? LOL! Maybe we could have gotten free food! Or maybe my parents knew the owners were relatives and purposefully stayed away? Family feud?

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My guilty pleasures include burgers from Big Burger V, apple pies from Whataburger, and Wendy's Frosty. Make mine a large.

We're talking about all of the old time northside icons like Triple A, Barbecue Inn, and the old Windswept Inn, but another old, old northside establishment is my "go to" for guilty pleasures.

The Flying Saucer Pie Company on Crosstimbers. I grew up with this place, even after moving from The Heights up to the northside of the Belt can't keep me away from the homemade goodness of the Flying Saucer. Once a month, I head down there to indulge in a fresh coconut cream pie (my favorite) or a rich, syrupy pecan pie (wife's favorite) that we polish off in the course of a couple of days. In my humble little opinion, no one can match the pies coming out of this place.

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The Flying Saucer Pie Company on Crosstimbers. I grew up with this place, even after moving from The Heights up to the northside of the Belt can't keep me away from the homemade goodness of the Flying Saucer. Once a month, I head down there to indulge in a fresh coconut cream pie (my favorite) or a rich, syrupy pecan pie (wife's favorite) that we polish off in the course of a couple of days. In my humble little opinion, no one can match the pies coming out of this place.

 

Flying Saucer is definitely the gold standard for pies in Houston. The thousands of folks who line up around the block every Thanksgiving would no doubt agree. Make mine a chocolate cream. 

 

Purpledevil, did you (or any other Aldine HAIFers) ever frequent Frosty Travelers on Airline at Raymac? 

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Purpledevil, did you (or any other Aldine HAIFers) ever frequent Frosty Travelers on Airline at Raymac? 

 

It's been nearly 30 years since I've eaten at Frosty Travelers, but I do remember the chicken fried steak sandwich was pretty good.

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Heck yeah, mkultra! Frosty Traveler is still there, where Aldine Mail dead ends into Airline. The sign for the Frosty Traveler fell down years ago (I think rust took it down), but it's still there serving burgers, ice cream, and such in the same location. I'll swing down Airline next time I'm that way, and snap a pic of the old girl.

Since we're going up and down Airline, what about Sam's BBQ, where Hungry Farmer #2 is now? The younger crowd has no idea, this thing was one small dining area, with a service line in front, and that's it. No take out area, no large dining room, it was just a hole in the wall. Some of the best BBQ to have ever been served in the City of Houston. Hungry Farmer is ok, but it can't compare to the original.

Sam's (or at least the namesake) had a location up here on Veterans Memorial, but we tried it a couple of months after we moved up here, and it was nothing like the original on Airline. Mr. Sam would've been spinning in his grave had he seen the mess we did. I guess it was a franchised one, because it just closed a couple of years ago. There was also a Sam's "Express" on Little York, next to the Tobacco Barn. I believe that's a Burger King now.

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Somehow Frosty Travelers escaped my attention all these years, until I ran across a mention of it last year. I took advantage of the next time I was in the neighborhood to drop in and grab a burger, but based on some of the online reviews I've seen since then (as well as Firebird65's comment about the CFS sandwich), I foresee at least a couple more visits to explore the menu further. 

 

Sam's was a longtime favorite as well. I agree that it's not quite the same since Hungry Farmer bought out Sam's heirs. The food is different from the original Hungry Farmer location on Crosstimbers, and of the two I've gotta say that I prefer the Crosstimbers location. 

 

That Veterans Memorial Sam's never could seem to get its act together. I used to eat there occasionally when I worked near Greens Crossing several years ago, and the place always seemed like it was in a constant state of disorganization. I wasn't real impressed with their portion sizes or the quality of their meat, either. Still, there wasn't exactly a surplus of halfway-decent BBQ joints in the vicinity, so I guess that's how they managed to hang on as long as they did. I hadn't realized they'd closed until a couple of months ago when I was out and about with my dad and we thought about having lunch there, only to find that it was no more. 

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I agree wholeheartedly, HF on Crosstimbers is indeed the better of the two.

I was thinking hard about what was mentioned earlier regarding the finest CFS around, and the first thought that popped into my mind was Dirty's on Durham. The problem, of course, is there is no Dirty's on Durham anymore.

Hughie's Tavern on West 18th is pretty good, if you're looking for a new one to try out.

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Heck yeah, mkultra! Frosty Traveler is still there, where Aldine Mail dead ends into Airline. The sign for the Frosty Traveler fell down years ago (I think rust took it down), but it's still there serving burgers, ice cream, and such in the same location. I'll swing down Airline next time I'm that way, and snap a pic of the old girl.

Since we're going up and down Airline, what about Sam's BBQ, where Hungry Farmer #2 is now? The younger crowd has no idea, this thing was one small dining area, with a service line in front, and that's it. No take out area, no large dining room, it was just a hole in the wall. Some of the best BBQ to have ever been served in the City of Houston. Hungry Farmer is ok, but it can't compare to the original.

Sam's (or at least the namesake) had a location up here on Veterans Memorial, but we tried it a couple of months after we moved up here, and it was nothing like the original on Airline. Mr. Sam would've been spinning in his grave had he seen the mess we did. I guess it was a franchised one, because it just closed a couple of years ago. There was also a Sam's "Express" on Little York, next to the Tobacco Barn. I believe that's a Burger King now.

 

I am attaching a Frosty Traveller's pic from about 2007. The sign is still up in this photo. It's pretty lo-res, so I'm not sure how clear it will be. I lifted it off a pdf as I no longer have the original.

 

As for Sam's BBQ, I guess I must be the only person on the northside who didn't care for the place. Don't get me wrong, I've sure had worse, but it just wasn't as great as people made it out to be. The brisket was OK. The sausage was nothing to write home about. The ribs were certainly edible, but nothing more. The sauce was gawdawful... too sweet by many miles. Yuck. I mean, I would eat there if my friends wanted to go (and they loved the place) or if my dad handed me money and said to go pick up some BBQ. But I never went their by myself. My dad made better BBQ and I told him so. But that takes work and at times it's just easier to get someone else to do the cooking. 

post-2454-0-24493900-1408484014_thumb.jp

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Eating a whole thing of Nutella by itself. I can eat Nutella with a spoon all day long. Extremely unhealthy, but it's amazing :3

The other is eating raw cookie dough.

I go through a jar of crunchy Peter Pan all by myself, weekly. I've loved peanut butter since I was a little kid.

Never tried Nutella. I assumed it had a chocolate, nutty taste based on color. Is that fairly accurate, Luminare?

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I go through a jar of crunchy Peter Pan all by myself, weekly. I've loved peanut butter since I was a little kid.

Never tried Nutella. I assumed it had a chocolate, nutty taste based on color. Is that fairly accurate, Luminare?

 

Nutella reminds me of these:

tumblr_lzs4q4vxxh1r43dlbo1_400.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Eating a whole thing of Nutella by itself. I can eat Nutella with a spoon all day long. Extremely unhealthy, but it's amazing :3

 

The other is eating raw cookie dough.

 

Have you seen those huge, industrial-size jars of Nutella at Costco? I believe they're available as a 2-pak.

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