Smokey Jon's BBQ

From Best BBQ in America

2310 Packers Ave, Madison, WI 53704

As a southerner, I miss good BBQ.  I mean, legit, elbows on the table, need a roll of paper towels, sweet tea, good sides, great meat, and amazing sauce BBQ.  Outside of Chicago, there is very little left to be desired for a recent Midwesterner transplant like me.  I have come to expect mediocrity and lack of taste, and I have settled on the fact that unless I am in the big city, BBQ will just be mediocre at best for the time being.  

That is until I went to Madison and found Smokey Jon's all thanks to my Wisconsin greasy foodie role model, mentor, and hero Peter Luck.

In a non-descript industrial park, on the outskirts of the perfect balance of hippie commune, co-op loving, liberal epicenter and frat boy, conservative, beer, cheese, and brat loving town known as Madison lies an incredible BBQ find.  In Madison , a culinary paradise of organic, grass-fed, vegan, ethnic, food cart, is a true southern BBQ mecca.  Smokey Jon's quenches every ounce of great BBQ experience I come to expect from my trips home to the south.  The portions are outstanding, the meat is amazing, the sauce is out of this world, and the sides are phenomenal.  I have been back twice now, both times with Mr. Luck per my diva demands, not requests, and have not been disappointed in any, way, shape or form.

POINTS EAST PUB

BEST WINGS IN AMERICA

1501 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI 53202

What they say: "Points East Pub is "built on the wing." They are famous for one thing and one thing only, their chicken wings, and they do them well. These wings are sauced and then put through the grill to get a perfected smokey flavor."-Thrillist


This tiny sports bar boasts some of the biggest, boldest, and most baddass wings on the planet! Unlike your traditional wing that is fried, Points East chargrills their wings, a tactic and method that I have grown to love. They are still hot and not soggy by the time they get to your plate, which is a risk you take with fried wings. Order food at the bar, grab a seat, and wait your turn. The kitchen is the size of a broom closet (new kitchen under construction), but what they lack in floor space, they make up for in taste and quality. The wings are worth the wait. Drenched in sauce and then cooked. It takes what is "traditional" about wings with frying and then drenching (tossing in sauce) and asks "whats so great about tradition. TRADITION BE DAMNED" and sauces then GRILLS to perfection.

North End Caffe

From Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

3421 N Highland Ave Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Let's begin with the location. One block from the beach. Just off the greatest walking path in America that extends along a majority of LA's beaches. Beach babes and bros pass every minute with their wet suits and surf boards in their convertibles and open air Jeeps. Paradise

And then there is the food. Amazing menu spanning brunch, lunch, dinner, American, Asian, Italian. Amazing sandwiches with amazing fries. Amazing concoctions and creations on outstanding bread with outstanding toppings and sauces. This is a must stop place for lunch if you are in the area, and given how amazing Manhattan Beach is, you should be in the area.

Benji's Deli

From Man Vs. Food Nation and #33 on 101 More Places to Chowdown

Milwaukee

4156 North Oakland Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53211

Many people say Milwaukee is in the shadow of Chicago, second rate to Chicago, red-headed step child to Chicago.

"If you want a good (insert food here)" But I must say, Milwaukee hold's its own culinary-wise for the most part.

And when it comes to midwest delis, this place is beyond good, its pretty great. IN FACT, I would say after Shapiro's in Indy this is for sure up there. Better than almost any deli in Chicago except the two suburban staples Once Upon A (Insert word here) and Kaufman's"

There are two main delis in town, Jake's and Benji's and everyone likes one or the other, not both. "Jake's is old school" The classic food feud. The best kind of feud in my opinion. 

Jake's is one of these delis that set up shop in the early days in the Jewish neighborhood and has stayed put even if the Jewish population hasn't. "Oh Jakes, thank g-d its only open for lunch because it's in the ghetto" says everyone local Milwaukeean (is that what the locals are called?).  Bud Selig is rumored to have eaten there everyday...still does apparantly.

Benji's, on the other hand, moved with the times and the customers to the burbs and it is quite wonderful. My wife (the new(est) rabbi in town tried to meet there for dinner and given the amount of congregants who had joined us for dinner by the end, we called it "oneg". 

This place is classic, great deli. Casual, fun, menu that could be confused for a college text book. Portions that are the photo of gluttony in the dictionary. I got the Hear O' Israel. "a half-pound sandwich featuring our hand-carved corn beef, pastrami, salami, pepper beef, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and 1000 isle dressing, all piled high on rye. whew!".  Outstanding.


If you want a quiet, casual, no frills, giant meal to quench your appetite or warm your soul, Benji's is legit!

Jake Melnick's Cornertap

From Hot and Spicy Paradise

41 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611



This place is a great sports bar with great food. It ranks up there with Barney's in terms of the food matching the atmosphere for a bar (Barney's) 

Wings at this place are outstanding and inventive. The Poncho wings are grilled with garlic and cayenne. I love a traditional fried and dipped wing then dipped in ranch, especially with a good sauce, especially right out of the fryer, but I find that they grow soggy quickly. The char-grilled wing is quickly growing on me and the Poncho wing is some of the finest I have ever had (also check out Points East Pub in Milwaukee). They are known for their ghost pepper wings, but that's beyond my pay grade.

Also, one time was subbing for a Sunday School class at Temple Isiah in LA. Taking attendance. Jake Melnick. I say "you know there is a bar in Chicago named Jake Melnicks". Kid says "That place is named after me".

Ian's Pizza

Milwaukee,

From "Late Night Paradise"

2035 E North Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202

What they say: "Mac N' Cheese Pizza (20-inch dough topped with local mozzarella, boiled elbow macaroni noodles, and homemadecrème fraiche, along with shredded Wisconsin cheddar cheese); Barbecue Brisket & Tater Tots Pizza (topped with local mozzarella, disk-shaped tater tots, and 18-hour smoked beef brisket, drizzled with homemade barbecue sauce)"


Take a moment and think about this answer. What does the perfect pizza look like to you? What would be on it? No two people may have the same answer, nor should they, thats the beauty of food and the beauty of places like Ian's pizza. Pizza comes in many shapes, styles and sizes. Square, round, deep, thin, red sauce, white sauce, clams, veggies, cheese in the crust, hot dog in the crust. But Ian's pizza pushes what the "expectation" of how pizza is supposed to look and taste. to the maximum deliciosuness. Mac n Cheese, steak and fries, kung pao chicken, the options are endless and unexpected. Take a moment now and think about what the perfect pizza would look like to you. Thanks to Ian's, the possibilities and options destroy the barrier of what we know to be "traditional" with pizza making and open up a whole new universe of options.

What would your perfect pizza look and taste like?  It may be Ian's next great concoction.

The Best Restaurant in Nashville and Thus the Best Southern Food (aka Meat and Three) in Nashville

ARNOLDS

605 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203

"Here's the deal Arnolds is the best there is. Plain and simple. The open in the morning and  piss excellence."-Ricky Bobby

When it comes to culinary experiences, Nashville is quickly becoming a cannot miss stop for gastronomic greatness.  In a city of James Beard award winners and new talent from NYC, LA, and Chicago coming to get in on the boom known as Nashville.  In a city of foams, amuse bouches, and pre-fixe menus, one restaurant stands alone as the best in Nashville, and it is a cafeteria near downtown with no windows, long tables, and even longer lines...and its only open for lunch,. Arnold's Country Kitchen is the best southern food in Nashville and the best restaurant in the city according to me and many nationally acclaimed magazines.

In Nashville, we do whats called the meat and three. I will let Wikipedia explain without paying the $3 donation.

"A meat and three restaurant is a restaurant in which the customer picks one meat from a daily selection of 3–6 choices (such as fried chicken, country ham, beef, country-fried steak, meatloaf, or pork chop and three side dishes from a list that may include up to a dozen other options (usually vegetables, potatoes, corn, green or lima beans,but also other selections such as gelatin, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti).

A meat-and-three meal is often served with cornbread and sweet tea.[Meat and three is popular throughout the country, but its roots can be traced to Tennessee and its capital of Nashville.The phrase has been described as implying "glorious vittles served with utmost informality." It is also associated with soul food.[3]

The article goes on to say: 

Meat and three has been mentioned in connection with the increasing incidence of diabetes in the Southern population, with one expert saying:

"There's a real misconception in the South about what constitutes a healthy diet. People aren't lining up at the salad bar during lunch hour; they're opting for the 'meat and three and sweet tea' at the corner cafeteria. And that's not good; those cafeteria vegetables aren't really healthy when they're cooked with half a ham hock and butter.

Sounds like a gastronomic journey of greatness to me!

Mary Mac's Tea Room

Atlanta

224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308

From Soul Food Paradise

What they say: "Georgia Peach Cobbler" (fresh peaches smothered in homemade brown sugar, nutmeg & cinnamon cobbler sauce topped with a candied crust served a la mode), "Southern Special" (3 entrees including meatloaf, chicken & dumplings, roast pork, country fried steak, roasted turkey, and baked or fried chicken and 3 sides including fried green tomatoes, sweet potato soufflé and tomato pie)

Listen, the short and long of it is, I am a Southern boy by birth, by heart, by soul, and by belly. American (food) by choice, Southern (food) by the grace of g-d. You can take the boy out of the South, but you cant take the South out of the boy. However, you can take the southern food out of the boy by taking the boy out of the south.

I appreciate southern soul food, and love when it is done right.

Southern food is at its best when it is made at its core, its name sake, in the south. You wouldn't get waffles at pancake pantry or pancakes at waffle house, so why would you get Southern food not in the South.

Mary Mac's Tea Room is the perfect evidence of why Southern food excels to perfection when it is served below the Mason-Dixon line. Some of the finest soul food around. Everything is battered, fried, sugared, and creamed. Sweet tea. And it is all done so to greatness. Mary Mac's Tearoom is the epitome of Southern Soul food and a landmark and epicenter as well. Where recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. Where recipes don't come with measurements, but with a "dash", "pinch", "splash", or "dip".

Come on down to Mary Mac's Tea Room you hear!