From the Archives: This Could Be Interesting ...

(This is the one that started it all! The first review!)

Originally published February 13, 2012

Today we went to El Rodeo. It's a Mexican restaurant. I picked to go there because I love Mexican food. Me, my mom and my younger brother went. When we first got in, we waited at the counter. All of us except for my younger brother Bo. He ran away. Then the waitress took us to our table.

We relaxed there. Then our appetizers came. It was chips and salsa, like all Mexican restaurants have. I usually get cheese dip but today I didn't because my mom said I couldn't. We ate the chips and salsa -- the chips were corn chips. They were fine. And the salsa tasted like a jalapeno because salsa always has tomato sauce and they put in cilantro and onions and that's what makes it really spicy. I loved the salsa.

Then our drinks came. I got a Diet Coke, that's what I usually get at restaurants. I always get that because it sounds like the best pop in the world to me. It is always fun to get pop at a restaurant.

 Me (above)

Then we ordered our food. I ordered a cheese enchilada with Mexican rice and a burrito. And my brother ordered two tacos. And my mom ordered fajitas. The correct way to spell fajitas is f-a-j-i-t-a-s. You pronounce it like this "fah-he-tah." I know it's strange that the way they spell it has a "j" in it. Just like how you spell "night". Night sounds like "n-i-t" but that really spells "nit". But the correct way to spell it is n-i-g-h-t.

 Bo, my younger brother (above)

Now I will tell you about how it tasted. When I first tried the rice, I definitely knew that I had had it before. Because I mostly order rice at Mexican restaurants. So that wasn't new. But I still liked it. It tasted hot when I first ate it because it just came out of the stove or oven. And it tasted like normal rice, except they added vegetables and more taste to it. Next, I ate my cheese enchilada. It was very good because I tasted melted cheese inside it. The sauce on it also tasted like a jalapeno. Next I ate my burrito. It was very big. And I only ate half of it. It had meat and beans in it. It tasted like beef mixed up  with beans inside.

 Cheese enchilada (above on the left corner), burrito (above in the center) and Mexican rice (above on the right corner)

And I didn't eat all of it, but I was still hungry so I asked my mom if I could have a fajita. And it had onions, green peppers, tomatoes, beans, and chicken and steak inside. Those flavors were much more tasty than the flavors that were in my main meal. Because those foods were just white and brown. And the foods in the fajita were much more colorful and that's why I liked it so much.

By the time I got done with that, my brother Bo had only ate the meat out of his taco. And he didn't eat the shell. Or the lettuce. And we decided that we'd only give him one taco from now on at restaurants. And that's it.

From the Archives: Culminating Event Lunch

Originally published March 8, 2012

Today I had my culminating event at school. I did great. A culminating event is where I share a project from the subject I was learning about with parents, grandparents and other people who come to see us. And it was about restaurants. My project was how the CNC makes chili. (CNC) is short for Central Nutrition Center. That's the place that makes all the food for my school.

After that my mom and dad and me went out to a restaurant. We went to Abelardo's Mexican food restaurant. It looked small and interesting. When I walked in, we went up to the place where they serve you their food. I picked two burritos and Mexican fried rice. And for a drink I picked some Mexican pop, Tamarindo. A tamarind is a fruit. Then I picked out a table and took the pop there. The pop tasted interesting. It tasted like dried fruit and melon. But I really didn't like it and that was OK. I ended up giving it to Keesia and she traded her lemonade with me.

 Tamarindo Mexican drink

We waited for 10 minutes or so and then we saw our food. We went over to the table where they serve the food and got it.

And then we went to the salsa bar. I picked out two kinds of salsa. Shawn got avocado salsa. It looked like gooey sauce but it was really good.

At first I ate my fried rice. It tasted really good because you know how much I like fried rice because on my first restaurant review I also got fried rice. Next I ate my humongous burrito! It was almost as big as my plate. There were two of them! I ate one of them. It tasted cheesy, meaty and salsa-y and crispy because of the tortilla. The tortillas were big! Keesia's was bigger than her plate, literally. The tortillas tasted good also.

Then it was getting pretty late and I had to get back to school fast. And I got back there just in time! The end.

Restaurant rating:  Thumbs Up!

You should go to the restaurant called Abelardo's. It is near Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa. You should try their burrito, fried rice and beans. It is great!

From the Archives: What the Heck Is That?

Originally published February 16, 2012

Today for lunch we went to the TNT Vietnamese Restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. We were just out exploring to find a new restaurant to go to. I thought the name was interesting. I thought it would be super small inside, but it actually turned out pretty big.

It had a TV on and it had people on the news that did not like Barack Obama. My mom said they are republicans and they just try to fascinate people and freak you out. It was station Fox News.

We picked our table out. I set my hat on the chair beside me. We got our menu. It was bizarre because one of the meals had organs and heart and tongue and stomach in it! I did not pick that. There were two pages of drinks on the menu. I ordered Fresh Iced Lemonade. Keesia ordered Fresh Lime Tea. I didn't get my regular drink today because I wanted to get an adventurous drink instead of a rot-your-teeth drink.

Our drinks came. I tasted mine. It was the best lemonade I have ever tasted because it had a whole bunch of sugar in it! Keesia thought her drink was awesome too.

For appetizers, I picked Vietnamese egg rolls -- sauce, vegetables and meat were in the eggrolls. I've had them before so I remember the taste. It wasn't anything new. The sauce was good -- it was sweet, spicy and it had raw carrots in it. It was also sticky.

For lunch I ordered combination fried rice. And Keesia ordered something that had something else. Mine tasted like normal fried rice except it had a lot of seafood in it. It had scallops, squid, crab and shrimp. It also had pork, beef and chicken. It also had peas and carrots. It tasted like white rice except it was fried, which added more taste to it. It was a very colorful plate. The crab meat had pink stripes on it. I thought that was interesting.

Keesia's plate was also colorful. I advertised to try out the soup. When I tried it, I wasn't that big of a fan of it so I gave it back to Keesia. I didn't like it because I felt like it had vinegar and salt in it. And it wasn't a colorful dish. It was green and brown, not very colorful. I also tried Keesia's egg pie. I loved it! It had lots of egg in it. I liked it because it was different colors and the flavors were good. 

I was not able to eat all of mine because there was too much. We asked the waitress if we could have a box to put the rice in. And that's all.

Restaurant Rating: Thumbs Up

You should go to the TNT Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. It has some very bizarre foods, like one dish has organs and heart and stomach and tongue in it! I thought the food was great, especially the drink.

From the Archives: Just Add an "A" to American

Originally published February 17, 2012

Today we went to Americana. I went there for a fieldtrip one time. I learned that the cooler was gigantic. They keep big products in the cooler. They had a Justin Bieber sign to keep you company when you are having a bad day. The building used to be an old cars dealership. This is a kid-friendly restaurant because they handed out magic sketchers to kids when you get there.

Our seats were upstairs. I wanted to be upstairs because I thought it was interesting up there. I picked out my drink -- it was Diet Coke. I didn't try something new this time, just my old drink.

I tried my drink, it was good. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger. When it came, it was gigantic! The reason it was gigantic is so you get filled up. It had onion rings, cheese, bacon, hamburger and I did not like the chopped tomatoes on the bottom. I smooshed it down so I could eat it. I took a bite. It was good. I took more and more bites. It was awesome.

 It tasted like a normal cheeseburger except it had bacon. The cheese was white -- it tasted like normal cheese. It was a better than a cheeseburger at McDonald's because it was much gooder. My side was grilled pineapple. I had a giant knife to cut it. I thought the pineapple was good. The reason it wasn't like normal pineapple is because it was grilled. I picked that side instead of french fries because it was healthier and gooder. Then I got full and we went home. And that's all.

Restaurant Ratings: Thumbs Up!

You should definitely go to Americana. It's in Des Moines, Iowa, by Central Campus (my school). They hand out magic sketchers when kids come. The food is much healthier and more delicious than other restaurants like it. See you next time!

Burger 'Apopcalypse'

Zombie Burger is a restaurant. It is nothing like Smash Burger, even though Smash Burger is a local place. So is Zombie Burger. Zombie Burger is maybe my favorite restaurant. It's probably my dad's favorite restaurant. It's located in Des Moines on Grand Avenue in the East Village.


Zombie Burger looks like zombies infested it a million times! There is zombie stuff everywhere and there is even a picture with barricades over the walls with zombies.

The first time I went to Zombie Burger I got a burger called Planet Terror and I got fried pickles for the appetizer. Plant Terror is a burger that has barbecue sauce, bacon, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and ranch. It tasted good. I liked it because it had ranch and bacon, and a lot of other things I liked. But I didn't eat it all. It sounded the best.

They name the burgers zombie-friendly names. That's cool. It's cool because it's a zombie restaurant and no other burgers are named liked that. Plus, they also have outer space names, like Project Nemesis or something like that.

I've been there three times, I think, and gotten take-out two times. I try a new burger every time. The other time I've got the Zombie Burger, the same name as the restaurant. It has American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and zombie sauce. And I got the fried pickles for appetizers. Fried pickles are big pickles they cut lengthwise and dip in breading and fry. They taste awesome!

Fried pickles 

Recently, we went to Zombie Burger and I got the best burger I've had so far. It was called the Fulci. You say that: ful-chee. I don't know what Fulci means. "Dad, what does Fulci mean?" My dad says Fulci is the last name of an Italian zombie movie director. Strange, isn't it?

The Fulci tastes awesome!! It was the best one I've had because it has a mix of flavors and tastes so good. It has prosciutto, which is like Italian bacon; brie -- it's a strange cheese that tastes good if it's melted, I think that's a good flavor. It has caramelized raw onions, which I think I remember tasting and it was pretty good. And it had truffle mayo. That's just mayo with truffles, and it tastes good. I asked my mom and truffles are mushrooms that are in the ground and they use pigs to sniff them out and you have to pay $100 to get them because they're rare. And some people make it into mayo!

We always get the fry basket. Their fries are fresh, and fresher is better. Not like some McDonald's fries. They serve a hot sauce with their fries and it tastes good. Last time we also got fried cheese curds and fried brussels sprouts with some strange-tasting mayo. Well, it tasted fine. And some hot sauce that was awesome! Between the fries, fried brussels sprouts, the crispy fried pickles and fried cheese curds, my favorite is probably the fried brussels sprouts because they taste SO good in each of the sauces!

French fries basket

Fried Brussels Sprouts

Fried Cheese Curds

I like the zombie art in the restaurant. It's cool. In the front of the restaurant they have a whole bunch of zombie pictures from different movies. One is "Toy Gory" which is supposed to be like the movie "Toy Story." There's another one called, "Bleak to the Future" and it's from "Back to the Future" movie. Anyways, my favorite one is Toy Gory because all the toy characters are there but they're all super bloody and gross looking!

Final Thoughts: This restaurant is awesome! You should go there anytime you have a chance, and try anything you want! I'll suggest one thing to try: the fried brussels sprouts. Next time I'll probably try The Boomstick -- it sounds good because my dad had it and it was like fried chili on it! And that tasted good. Make sure to go to Zombie Burger and read my next review. And leave message soon. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Photos from previous Zombie Burger adventures:

  First visit to Zombie Burger, January 2012

 The Boomstick burger

Dead Moines burger

From the Archives: Indian Foods Are Interesting

Originally published February 15, 2012

Today for lunch I went to India Palace restaurant in Ames, Iowa. When we first opened the door, something odd stood before us. It had stairs that leaded down, underground, and that's where the cafe was. (Can I tell them a tip?) Let's say if a police officer was wanting to go to a restaurant and he picked India Palace, he would have to look for the door. He wouldn't be able to walk through the glass. If he walked through the glass he would get cut up a lot and he would also fall down the stairs. Ow! Painful, I know.

So, we went to our table. It was me, my dad Shawn, my grandpa Dwayne, my grandma Belinda and my uncle Brian. I ordered Diet Coke. It's strange that I order it at every restaurant. But I really like it. Well, I got a plate at the cafe and I picked out my stuff for my meal. It was a buffet. First, I got white rice and then I picked seven dishes for my meal.

I picked Navrttan Korma, that means peas and carrots. I thought it was kind of good. It had potatoes. I don't think potatoes are good. Except for these ones because they had sauce on them. Next I ate Alu Gobhi, that means cauliflower. The sauce on the cauliflower was good because it was hot sauce. Then I ate Alu Chatt, that's like salsa with garbanzo beans. It was OK. Next was Mint Chutney -- it looked green, gooey and slimy. But when I tasted it, it tasted good -- sour, peppery and a tiny bit of spice was in it.

Next I ate the Papudum. That's a chip -- it didn't taste good to me. It was salty. The reason I didn't like it was because it tastes like an almond. I don't like almonds. Next I ate the rice -- it was delicious! I've had it before and it is awesome. It was white rice. Next I ate the Pakora -- it's spinach chips fried. I loved them! They were crunchy, a little sweet with a vegetable taste. Next I ate the Zucchini. It was spicy and I also didn't like it. But it's still good that I tried it. Next I ate the Naan -- the Naan is a bread that looked like a quesadilla. Except there was no cheese inside of it, instead there was bread inside of it. It tasted great! It was a dull white.

Next I ate one bite of my dessert because I was almost full. It was rice pudding. It tasted sweet. It was slimy. It tasted creamy with noodles in it. It was good. Then I stood up and put my coat on and Shawn asked me if I was ready to go and I said yes. So we went. And that's all.

Restaurant Rating: Thumbs Up!

You should go to the India Palace restaurant sometime because you can make your own meal. It is in Ames, Iowa. I hope you had fun reading it. See you soon on my next restaurant adventure!

Guest Blog Post about German Chocolate Funnel Cake

You should read my blog on Two Chicks from the Sticks blog about my German Chocolate Funnel Cake Review. You can go to their blog here: http://twochicksfromthesticks.com/blogs/.

Today I ate at Hickory Parks in Ames. Then we went to Reiman Gardens to see the big Legos and lots of plants.

Iowa State Fair, Part 2

I am continuing my Iowa State Fair review from yesterday. Today you're going to see lots of fun things you can do at the fair and lots of good foods.

 This is after I ate the ice cream. We went to a big place with all these tractors and stuff. Here's me in the wheel relaxing like a cool dude. 

 This is me by a storm chaser truck. It looks like an old fashioned car but it's kind of a new car. It's for chasing tornadoes and stuff. But not floods. It would get flipped over by the water and then the people inside would have drowned because it's so heavy and they would have put the keys somewhere and the doors would be locked so they couldn't get out in time. That would be scary. I got this book from the library it was called "Worse Case Scenarios" and one was if you get caught in a tornado outside on your bike and it's about to form, then get in a ditch or someplace. But if it's raining, then there could be a danger of flash floods, which are floods that come with very little warning and do very big destruction. Then you have to make yourself as little of a target as you can be if you are in that situation. 

 Here's me in the quilt room looking at a cool quilt that has Santa Claus on it. My brother was being a dummy so he ran headfirst and hit his mouth on the bars because he's a little dummy. He's clumsy. 

 This is a picture of five brothers that all died on the same ship when it got sunk. 

 Here's me in the Pella Plaza with my cousin Kael. You get to go in a place with a lot of rocks and there's water spraying up everywhere. And it's really fun. But all these stupid kids were sitting on the main sprayer which was making it shut off all the time. 

Then we got dried off and went to a park. This is me on the giant climbing thing. And on one part when I was climbing I was like hanging from my hands and I didn't want to fall. And it was like worse case scenario, I didn't want to fall in the lava!

 That's not me! (Mother's note: yes it is!) No it's not! 

 This is me playing an awesome game in the science place at the Ag Building. I should maybe go there more often. I hope they have what they have there right now again next year. The science place was about nature and stuff. My favorite game was where you had corn, wheat, strawberries, a cow and some chickens. And you had to match up what kind of food they make. And it's pretty fun.

 This is me and my cousin trying to eat a stone ice cream cone. But I didn't bite it because all my teeth would fall out. There was lots of ice cream cones that we saw. They did not all look the same.

 This is me getting some fresh french fries. And they taste better than McDonald's french fries because they're fresh. Don't you think fresh things are better?

 This is by the Giant Slide. I am eating a watermelon cup from Beattie's. I like them because they have watermelon in them. It's a nice thing to get because it's a fruit and it's good. It's not made with salt in it, like other crazy french fry people do.

 This is the food that I picked for the guest blog. You'll have to guess what it is! We'll let you know when you can read about it on the Two Chicks from the Sticks site.

 I am eating a delicious kebab with chicken, potatoes (which I did not eat), peppers and onions. I ate everything but the potato. I gave one pepper to my mom and one onion to my grandma. I gave my potato to my cousin and he traded it for a pepper. 

 I was over by the toy place and I saw all these cool toy things. But I was most interested in the guns and stuff, because you know what kind of boy I am. We were over there because we were about to leave and my grandma was letting us pick out one thing. Which is very, very nice. She even got a whole pack of stuff for Bo because he wanted it. It was $12, which was the limit. But it could be $15, too, because that's how much my thing cost. I got a gun that makes sounds and it has a targeting light and it has these realistic sounds. And I couldn't figure out how to work it, and when we got to my house, the minute I stepped out of the car, I cocked it and the cocking thing snapped. And I said, "uh oh." And then I tried to fix it and I did fix it and I said, "well that was easy."

 Then we went to a Pella place and got bologna on a stick. And it was really delicious and we really liked to eat it but then my mom dropped it on the ground and we couldn't eat it anymore. 

 So then we went over to a corn dog place and I was like, "OK, I'll get a corn dog. But I'm not sure if I will eat it all." But I ordered one because I was hungry and it was the only one I ordered during the day. Kael is more of a corn dog fan than me. I got it and I took a bite and it was too hot. A while later I took another bite with the bread and the hotdog inside and it tasted better and it wasn't that hot because it had the bread on it too.

Soon I got it finished because I really liked it. This was my last bite. 

Final thoughts: Please check out the state fair but don't go to the world's smallest horse thing because that's probably just a prank. And don't fall and cut open your knee, like I did, at the very beginning. It was like my first step at the fair. And then at the very end of the day my cousin fell and did the same. Just don't get hurt. OK, that's all.