In-N-Out Burger busy

I am no longer an In-N-Out Burger virgin.

When you’re a reporter within the restaurant trade industry, it’s a rare chain whose name you don’t at least recognize. So I’d heard of In-N-Out Burger for years, but it wasn’t until I read Tricia Honea’s blog post here at Uptake on the chain that I had an inkling it was a fast food favorite. After that, I read every thread on my social networks with the words In-N-Out in the title, and realized that people nearly come to blows defending the superiority of this chain over, say, Fatburger. They make scrapbook pages in honor of their meals here.

My husband didn’t have this background when he saw the big yellow arrow for the first time. He was simply curious because A) it’s fast food and B) it’s a burger and fries.

I really talked up the place, based on both my research and the fact that the drive-thru lanes were backed into the street and we had to wait for some slow grandpa to pull out of what was about to be the only free space in the parking lot. Surely this was about to be an order we’d never forget. After all, In-N-Out has 679,335 Facebook fans to Fatburger’s 12,559 followers.

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Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona

Recently my niece was talking to us about moving to Spain after she finishes college.  As she told us about her high school exchange program where she spent a month on Majorca, I started to day dream about my last visit to Barcelona. This always happens when the weather finally gets warm in San Francisco, and if we walk by the delicious smells of Contigo while out walking our dog.

Today my trip down memory lane was reminding me how much I love tapas and eating light, when the temperatures go up. One of my favorite restaurants that we stopped in while staying in Barcelona was Cal Pep.  This delicious spot was perfectly located between our hotel at the harbor and the many things we wanted to see and do, like visiting the Picasso Museum and the Palau de la Música Catalana. Read More »

A few years ago, while traveling in Mauritius, I caught an episode of “Deep Fried Paradise” on the Travel Channel.  I found myself captivated – one, that someone would create an entire television show dedicated to deep fried food – had they heard my secret wish for such a thing?  Second, that a restaurant only about 15 miles away from my U.S. home base was highlighted.

That restaurant was Goodson’s Cafe, a staple in the town of Tomball since 1950.  It’s signature chicken fried steak is called the best in Texas – and with the Travel Channel waxing poetic about it’s goodness, I was licking my lips thousands and thousands of miles away.

Now that I’m back in Texas, I figured it was time to get over to Goodson’s to try this steak for myself.  Calling something the “best in Texas” is quite a claim – could a piece of deep-fried meat live up to that kind of hoopla?  There was only one way to find out.

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The roasted eggplant and side salad at Lanesplitter in Emeryville.

My coworker Jennifer was really excited that an Oakland favorite, Lanesplitter Pizza, opened a new location close to our office in Emeryville. Of course, we had to go check it out.

There are a few Lanesplitter locations in the Oakland-Berkeley area. There are three full restaurant locations (including the new restaurant in Emeryville), and two “pit stops,” where you can grab some slices to go.

One of the many things I love about Lanesplitter is its many vegetarian and vegan options. Jennifer ordered a vegan calzone ($9.25), which is filled with a faux ricotta cheese, spinach, onions and our yummy tomato sauce. The calzone was bigger than the plate. Jennifer could only eat half of it, so for $9.25 she really got two lunches.

The vegan calzone at Lanesplitter in Emeryville.

I opted for the roasted eggplant ($9.75) with sliced eggplant baked with spinach, mushroom, onion and roasted garlic in the delicious red sauce and, of course, drowning in melted mozzarella. Served with a side salad, it was a hefty portion, but unlike Jennifer I didn’t seem to have any problem cleaning my plate. Our other coworker Paul, the meat eater of the group, got the traditional lasagna ($9.75), which he called “quite tasty” – high praise from a kind of finicky eater.

Lanesplitter is a great place for lunch. It boasts several lunch specials including the Rubber Side Down, two slices of pizza with one topping and a soda for $6.25; or the 7/10 Split, which includes two slices of pizza with one topping and a pint of beer (ranging in price from $8.25 to $9.75, depending on what kind of beer you order with it).

The Lanesplitter
3645 San Pablo Avenue
Emeryville, CA
(510) 594-9400

http://www.lanesplitterpizza.com/