Jai "Hikin' to a thousand" J.'s Profile

It was clean (for the most part) - the aisles to the left when you first walked in looked as though shelf-straightening and stocking stopped full on though.  o_O  There were a lot of Asian goodies to be found: Japanese coffee cakes, mochi, ramune, &  Korean staples such as kimchi (of course) and bbq sauce for kalbi (if you prefer a shortcut as opposed to making from scratch).

The prices were average-ish and the one item I was happy to see was pre-sliced pork belly.  Those suckers are hard to slice - even when you let the slab get cold - so on that note, pre-sliced was a good thing for me.

Also, I just wanted to say it was interesting to see the cashier carry a baby on her back while she worked.  Just sayin...

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I've bought a few pieces from Tiffany's before but one transaction in particular really stood out.  During the holidays, I didn't have time to stop at the store so I ordered via online.  I had been procrastinating and requested to have the gift sent as soon as possible.  When I checked the shipment receipts, I saw that the pieces were going to be sent seperately - thus possibly alerting receiving family member of what they would be receiving as a whole.  Compounded with the fact that said family member would probably not get their gift until after Christmas.  Oops!  I called Tiffany's main number and was met with a really sweet (not to mention CALM) voice on the other end.  I blurted out my dilemma and he said, "Ok.  Let me check on a couple of things here.  Do you mind if I put you on hold?"  I agreed and after a few minutes, he came back on the line.  "This is what we're going to do.  Just so said family member doesn't have to receive their gift late/after the holidays, we're going to overnight everything all at once.  So once the engraving is complete on one piece, we'll include the other, ship it all together and they should have their gift no later than the 23rd.  And everything wil be complimentary.  Does that work for you?"  Does it??!?  Hell yes it does!  Now he did add that the pieces wouldn't be put together but that we could take it to our local Tiffany's and they'd be more than happy to solder it for us.  Honey, that was the least of my problems.  ;)

They absolutely loved their gift and I was so happy.  The first opportunity we had, we took it to this location and the ladies were outstanding.  Really professional and gave us some additional items to go with the pieces which just added to the experience.

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So I'm a little ticked off that my phone battery died as soon as I started taking pics of this place.  I managed to get one of the house special (but I'll explain that special in a minute) and I'll upload here in a few.  ANYHOO...

I managed to get out of work early yesterday cause the BOSS SAID SO!  Thank goodness, too, because I really didn't wanna fake being sick.  J/k  I called a friend of mine up and we decided to go Christmas shopping together but chose to go to Boerne for dinner.  I had seen the huge billboard up before and saw nothing but a sea of pick up trucks when I did, so I figured *something* was up and it was my sign that I should try them.

As soon as we walked in, a guy in a red shirt, blue jeans, trucker hat and sunglasses was talking to a huge group in front of us.  Since he was explaining the menu, we figured we'd evesdrop and see what was happenin'.  When he was done, my partner in crime and I continued trying to figure out what we were gonna order.  I had my heart set on a steak.  Just then, that same dude approached us and asked us if we'd ever been at Boo Dawg's before.  When we said no, he said, "Well then, welcome to Boo Dawg's!  And I'm the owner - Boo Dawg (Mike, actually)!"  :)

He told us how the menu is completely a la carte.  His words: "I got tired of trying to figure out who was on a diet and who required this or that and what have you.  So I decided to make the whole menu a la carte!"  Totally not what we were expecting (a la carte); however, good call.  I can definitely see his point of view.  He continued to run down what he had and the differences between the regular burger and the Boo Dawg burger.  The regular burger was just a flat patty, pre-made and ready to cook whereas the Boo Dawg burger was made when ordered and hand pressed.  Hmmm....

Now, I already had my heart set on a steak and I think he caught that so he went right on to explain the steaks.  Okay, pretty standard... rib eyes and what have you.  But then he asked, "So how do you like your steak?"  I replied, "It wouldn't be right to have it any other way than medium rare!"  He gave me a huge smile and a thumbs up!  He then walked over to this pan he had sitting by the register.  They were two pans (one set inside another full of ice) and had cuts of meat wrapped in saran wrap and placed inside the top pan.  Boo Dawg said, "These are the Boo Dawg steaks."  Well, hot diggity!  What's a Boo Dawg steak??!?

A Boo Dawg steak is the house special and is end part of a ribeye.  Now I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to meats but the guy said 'ribeye' and I was hooked.  That's all I really needed to hear.  He explained the cooking process - which I can't recall by detail but this guy definitely knew a lot about cooking - so  he wasn't just someone who owned the place and didn't have a clue.  Oh, he had a CLUE!  He had more than a clue as a matter of fact.  He suggested that we could share the steak and also suggested that since we both like ours medium rare to order it rare because even though the cut his huge (we forgot to ask but by guessing we figured it was somewhere around 20 oz - if not more), it comes on one of those cast iron skillet-y things like you've seen fajitas served on...?  And YES, I said "Skillet-y".  I created a new word.  But seriously, he said since it comes on that, the meat will eventually heat to medium rare and it did!!

Alright, enough of my long-winded review.  Just go by there.  The steak fries: awesome seasoning.  The green beans: top notch!!  Seating: plenty.  Beers: a-plenty!  Owner and employees: ROCK!!!

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I'm so sorry Earl Abel's but since you've been at your new location, you've lost your flair.  The location and the servers you boasted at the old Broadway place were a great reason why I enjoyed coming here.  At least you still have yummy desserts.  I just don't like the new place.  You definitely deserve better than that.

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Wow.  I mean seriously.  WOW.  I had *NO* friggin' clue that they had an IHOP Express in the food court!  One of my girlfriends needed an abortion and she didn't want to wait too long until she could start hittin' the clubs again so I recommended the A-plex.  I told her, "Come on.  Let's go super early.  I'll grab something to eat in the food court while you get 'your thing' taken care of and by the time dinner hits, you should be good to go!"  And off we went!!  I thought I'd have to wait until lunch to get something to eat (you know how sometimes food court restaurants don't usually open until lunch) but they actually had an IHOP Express.  I mean, breakfast is the most important meal of the day so why deny me that if my friend was the one who got herself knocked up with a kid she didn't want??!?  

Thanks, guys.  You really came through for me.

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