Shane "KeenerGuy" K.'s Profile

Burger places are a dime a dozen.  Lately the trend has been towards the build your own burger craze - I think that Fudruckers actually started this if you want to go old school.

Slater's 50/50 is a gourmet version of  the "build your own burger" empire.  Think of a local version of The Counter.  

Their specialty is a burger that is half hamburger and half bacon.  You got it bacon in the burger.  Oh sweet holy mother of PORK FAT.  You've got to get yourself one of these burgers.  You can pick from a multitude of breads, sauces and toppings.  One day, I'll do the math on just how many choices this offers, until then I'll just keep eating them.

Their fries were off the hook, but I wasn't that impress with the deep fried onion straws.  Also, their kids mac 'n cheese was good.  Our son ate a good amount of it.

They have a great beer selection and an open kitchen.  It's got a good vibe to it and was definitely busy.

Get in there and try this place, but have a decent amount in the bank.  It was $40 for 2 adults and one toddler.

I don't know if it is the Disney effect or just that they are that good, but the Downtown Disney AMC Theaters rocked.  My wife and I went there to see Angels & Demons the other night and truly enjoyed it.  The theater was very clean and had comfortable seating.

Prices for movies and concessions were a bit high.  We paid $11 per person to get into the movies and a large soda was $4.75.  Ouch!

One hint and a great benefit of going to the movies here: they let you bring in your outside food and beverage.  We had just bought carmel kettle corn from Downtown Disney and weren't about to give it up.  Luckily for us and our stomaches we could bring it in with us.  This alone is worth the 4th star for this place.

This would be a great place for a family stay at if they are visiting the park.  We stayed here overnight as a part of our Date Night because we saw a late movie at the AMC Theater in Downtown Disney.  It is one of the largest Fairfield Inn's I have seen and definitely focuses on families going to the two theme parks.

They have a Seattle's Best Coffee shop and a Pizza Hut Express on the 3rd floor.  They have an ok size pool area.  Parking can be a challenge.  When we got back from our movie at 1 am, we had to drive around and finally ended up parking in front of the Millie's Restaurant in the same parking lot.  I never would have imagined this.

The place is Disney without being officially Disney with great artwork and Disney movies in your room.  The rooms are a good size and have small refrigerators, but the bathroom vanities are a bit low.

Overall a great value and super location.  We plan on coming back here with our two year old for a staycation later this summer.

I've always heard that many restaurants, candy shops and popcorn places had air vents pointed street side to attract you in to their place of business with the fantastic scents produced from within.  In the case of the Kettle Corn Hut in Downtown Disney, they must have huge blowers going because you can smell this stuff the moment you pull in to the parking lot.

Swallow your tongue good is the way we like to describe it.  The lines can be long.  Sunday night we waited for 30 minutes before it was our turn to get a big bag of their signature carmel kettle corn.  Why does it take so long?  Because they make it one batch at a time and bag it fresh for you.  Knowing how good it is, I wouldn't want it any other way!  They can get about 2 1/2 large bags of the carmel kettle corn out of each popping.  And a lot of people are waiting in line for 2 bags because it is soo GOOD!

How do you describe it?

My wife says it is the perfect balance of smooth buttery flavor, the sweet carmely goodness and a touch of salt.  I say buy a bag and try it for yourself.  No buy 2 bags because the first won't make it home!  It is too good to be true, but it is.

Jen and I had both hear of the Anaheim White House, but hadn't gotten around to trying it until we saw coupons for them on http://Restaurant.com.  With deals like $25 off of a bill of $35 or more, we couldn't pass it up.

Jen had been preparing a Date Night for us and it started off here.  You wouldn't expect to find this great restaurant in this historic home, but don't let looks or location deceive you.  The whole place is very elegant, fun and comfortable.  White linens with white chair covers all highlighted with gold accents.  It almost goes overboard, but not to the point of gaudy.  Service was impeccable.  We never wanted for anything or felt rushed.  We loved that we were seated in a room by ourselves - although by the time we left it had filled up.

Food was amazing.  We started off with squash blossoms stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto.  These were excellent and filled with flavor.  For entrees, Jen had the Sea Bass Versace and I had the Calamari Cartier.  The sea bass came sealed in a parchment envelope where it had steamed in a saffron and seafood infusion.  The portion of fish was very good size.  My calamari was stuffed with crab.  The calamari was tender and flavored perfectly.  We ordered a side of their famous white chocolate mashed potatoes and the asparagus.  The white chocolate mashed potatoes were a bit much on their own, but when mixed with the plain mashed potatoes we got with our order they were great - although nothing I would go out of my way to order in the future.  The asparagus was cooked perfectly for me - al dente.

They are known for their Grand Marnier Souffle, but we opted out of dessert since we were going to the movies.

The prices were a bit on the high side, but the experience and the quality of the food well justified it.  They have a lot of larger tables that would be perfect for a special family occasion.  Parking is deceptive.  It looks like valet only, but you can actually park on your own and save $4.

Double-double er. . .  Double Take.  Oh can you say In-n-Out knock off.  Yes I can, but I like E-Z Takeout Burger just the same.  It's the only good small burger joint in our area.  Everything else is chain food.

There were no lines, the service was fast.  The Double Take combo (yes a double-double) Wild style was super tasty.  I agree with the comments that their burgers are a bit small.  However, they burst with flavor and I didn't miss the extra size because what I had was so good.

Their fries were hot and plentiful, but no match for those from In-n-Out.  My wife had a boysenberry shake that was very good.

They don't have seating.  The place is a drive through with a walk up window.

So next time, save yourself the line and time and get to E-Z Takeout Burger on the double.

Oh my you are in a treat if you dine here!

This is a family favorite place to eat.  It's fun to sit around one of their big tables with the lazy susan in the middle and think of all the good food that you are going to fill it with.

As usual their food did NOT disappoint.  Their appetizer platter was a big hit with cream cheese crab ball goodness, let-us eat lettuce wraps, spicy "not-so short on flavor" short ribs, edamame, and salt and pepper shrimpies.  Our 22 month old son, Aaron, LOVED their egg drop soup.  He ate a whole bowl on his own.  I would drive there every day to get this soup if we knew he would eat it!  For dinner, we had honey walnut shrimpt (great as always), Panda beef (crispy goodness), sweet and sour pork (wow-lightly breaded and tasty) and cashew chicken.  A hint for those of you trying to eat a bit healthier and diabetics: you can get brown rice, just ask for it.  For those who like iced tea - the iced tea is passion fruit flavored.

Service was AWESOMELY good.  Our server, James, started strong and ended just as good.  It always helps when your server plays with the children at your table - and James was a master at this.  Our drinks were never empty.  He was a wonderful.

I can't believe that I haven't written a review of this place yet.  I may not live in Salt Lake now, but I'll never forget The Pie.  I learned of this college institution while at West High School.

Its located half a block off of the University of Utah campus and on the weekends, you can barely get into this popular hang out.

They have pizza, zappis or calzones, subs, salads and a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

What I want to talk about today is their excellent pizza.  Normally you go out for two people and would get a small or medium pizza.  When we hit the Pie, we go with a large group whether it be family or friends.  So we always order the jumbo wagonwheel size pizza.  The thing is like 2 feet across.  It is so big and loaded with toppings that they cut it into squares not the wedge slices everyone is familiar with.  They load their pizza with toppings and you can get toppings that you wouldn't get at  your neighborhood pizzeria.  Think linguica sausage, shrip, sun dried tomato and even more.  The outside edges are easy to eat by hand, but most people end up using a knife and fork .  One of the behemouths can feed 8 to 10 people no problem - unless they are linemen on the U Football team.

They have a great college atmosphere and you will literally see writing on the walls.  There has to be 20 layers or more of writing on the walls.  This is one of their signatures.  People will go in time and time again to try and find what they wrote and add more to the history.

JUST GO!  ENJOY!  HAVE FUN!

The style and ambiance make  you want to love this restaurant.  However, we are wishing we hadn't gone there now.

They have to have the WORST chile rellenos we have ever had.  There wasn't much cheese in them.  The outside coating was very soggy and flavorless.  Even worse was the very bitter pepper.  My wife had to spit it out it was soo bad.

Our food came out luke warm like it had been sitting on the counter for a while.

The best things about this place. . . the papas fritas (french fries) were most excellent.  They were large steak fries that were cooked to get them crisp and hot.  Their guacamole was good and the appetizer portion was very generous.  And they had good iced tea.

Not planning on coming back to this place any time soon.

THERE IS NO BETTER MEXICAN - ANYWHERE PERIOD!

Ok now that  you know this, you can't miss a chance to eat at this all-star restaurant in Salt Lake City.  I am a native of the city, but now live in California.  Every time someone I know goes there I recommend Red Iguana and it has yet to disappoint.  The neighborhood it is in and the restaurant structure aren't much to write home about.  But when you see lines forming outside of the building in the dead of winter, you know that this is the place to be.

Let me tell you the food is - TO DIE FOR!  They have a huge menu with something for everyone.  If you like the safety of a chicken taco or cheese enchilada it's here.  If you are more daring you can try one of their moles (special Mexican sauces made with everything from pistachios and pepitas to chocolate and pumpkin).  The depth of flavor in the moles is WOW.

My favorite dish on the menu - chilaquiles.  Fried corn tortilla strips smoothered in a red sauce with chorizo and egg.  There is enough food for two on this one dish.  Jen, my wife, always goes for one of the combo plates.  Why?  Well she isn't from Utah and hasn't had the chance to eat there as much as I, and doesn't want to miss any of their great flavors.  Also, you have to get their quacamole!  It is chunky and oh so tasty

Next time you are in Salt Lake, just do it and go to the Red Iguana.