Dan "DJ Rotten HD" H.'s Profile

Thank you Yelp for another great tip!  On this trip we were trying to eat cheap and good and after driving 10,000 miles all day this place fit the bill.  The adovada was a totally different style than what I had in NM, but tasted great all the same.  The girl at the counter was super nice and handled getting hit on by the university boys with tact and aplomb!  :D

I've been here a number of times, and it's always impressive.  Unless you're my daughter - she thought it would be bigger.  Child, there ain't no way NO WAY that you could come from my loins!

South Rim sucks, unless you happen to enjoy second hand smoke from fat European chicks.  North Rim is the place to go, but it's closed half the time.  A good compromise is to hit the viewpoints between South Rim and Desert View.

Service was great, ambiance was as charming as any of them, but my pancakes were crunchy.  Yep, crunchy.  Nope, not whole grain or nut or anything, just sinfully overcooked (burnt blueberries should usually tip off a cook to start over.)  It's pretty bad when you have to wonder if Denny's would've been a better option.

I enjoy Church's chicken but I don't get to go there a lot, so it was a stroke of luck that there was one across the street from our hotel, and it was still open, and the hotel restaurant cost a fortune incurring the ire of my wife.

But for some reason one of the guys working there kept screaming at the rest of the crew.  We couldn't tell if it was in fun or a prelude to a bloody crime scene, but either way it was annoying, so I gotta take 1 star for that.

This place has some serious annoyances.  It's about a mile from your car to your room, a significant portion of which is over cobblestones - good luck with the luggage cart.  The halls are jam packed with shit - "art", displays, alcoves stuffed with even more shit.  And every 4 inches or so there's a sign telling you what not to do - "don't take pictures of this", "don't film that", "don't bring food in the hotel" (p'shaw, as if), "don't go out this door".  I guess I'm just a "convenience/shitless halls/the rules should be the last page in the guest information book inside the room where they'll never be seen" kinda guy.  So I fully expected this place to rate about a 2 on my scale.

But we were there a couple of nights, the staff was nice, the trains rumbling by and the nostalgia behind the room names are cool, and gradually you have to submit to the undeniable charm of the place.  So there ya are.

We booked here as an alternative to Flagstaff and that worked out well for us.

I've never been a particular fan of Sonic food-wise, but it's fun to occasionally do the drive-up thing.  The only reason I'm bothering reviewing here is that the fellah who served us was exceptionally nice and attentive.  And the cherry swirly thing really hit the spot for some reason.

The gal here was super nice and helpful.  We called ahead and she gave us directions from the freeway, had our junk waiting for us when we got there, and gave us directions for getting back on our way.  I doubt the fellows at our local Radio Shack could manage to give us directions to their place from the bank across the parking lot.

Okay, you got a hot little ass...I'm gonna do you a favor:

Regardless of where you live go to Mary's & Tito's.  Order a plateful of adovada with red chile and some sopapillas.  On the side get some more adovada, with a big glass full of adovada to wash it down.  Then for dessert get another plateful of adovada and maybe a bean to round out the experience.

You're welcome.

Piccolino in a minute, but first let me share a sad tale.

So we drive to Texas and we'll be there a week, so I figure it won't be hard to shove some BBQ down my gullet at some point.  But on the way there it's X-mas eve so Rix Pit in Fort Stockton and Mesquite Wood BBQ in Iraan aren't open.  Well nuts.  And as it happens we don't have any in Kerrville either, but we're passing back through Fort Stockton on our way out so we swing by Rix.  It's January 2nd, but they're closed for New Year's.  Errr, but fuggit.  We're planning to go to Danny's Place in Carlsbad, NM the next night so I'll catch some BBQ on the tail end.  We get to Danny's Place Tuesday night at 6pm.  Closed.  Apparently.  There's no sign giving their bidness hours or anything, but the door is locked.  Goddamn it!  Week and a half in Texas (and environs) and no BBQ.  If that's not proof that the world has "moved on" then I don't know what is.

So, goddamn pissed, I drive back to Artesia where the gal at the hotel suggests Piccolino and a BBQ place in town.  Well, Mama and The Pookster want Italian so Piccolino it'was.  Pulling up it didn't look too promising.  We've been watching a lot of "Restaurant Impossible" lately and Robert Irvine would tear this place a new asshole.  

But when we got inside and got menus in hand I was tremendously impressed with the range of choices.  I went softball and got linguine with meatballs.  The sauce was a little more runny than I care for but MAN was that some tasty shit!  And the meatballs too, yummo!  This is also the only place I've been to where I could get just a cup of stracciatella soup with my meal.  Most places insist you get a big bowl which ruins your dinner but leaves you hungry a few hours later.  That's a star right there.

The only thing I didn't see was saltimbocca, but if I'd had my head probably would've exploded like in "Scanners", so it's probably for the better.

Buncha desserts too, but we just had spumoni.

I've always wanted to come here, but never got a chance to until now.  It was great taking the Pookster.  She loved hiking the caves at Pinnacles National Monument a few years back.  She got a little impatient going through the Big Room, but the guided King's Palace tour was perfect for an introduction to the geology and history of the place.  I recommend that tour highly if you got younguns.  Also be sure to stop at the exhibits along the access road before you get to the caverns themselves.  Lots of good information, views, and an Indian cave to goof around in.