El Maguey. Yep, that's it.

Editor's Note (11/09): I recently stopped at El Maguey and was thoroughly disappointed in the quality of the food. Maybe it was a fluke, but the original post is no longer accurate.

The title of this post is supposed to reflect the experience at el Maguey - simple and straightforward.
I've stopped at el Maguey on N. Dixie many a time over the past few years. For the most part, delicious. One or two things I've tried there, were a little eh, but I felt comfortable enough telling them and they either fixed it or offered something else.
I decided to review it because this was my first stop now that they're under new management and changed up the menu a bit.
It remained the most authentic and tasty Mexican food I've had outside of Downriver and Detroit. But understand, it's not fancy.
I stopped in the other day for lunch. A lunch combo with rice, beans, salsa and whatever you choose as the main entree is about $5-7 and completely worth it. There are also different ala carte menu items that are fairly cheap so you can cobble together your own combo pretty reasonably.
Anyway, on to the food. I got a burrito combo that came with three burritos and rice and beans. I got two filled with chicken and one with chunky beef.
The chicken burritos were perfectly seasoned, a little moist, and the perfect size - like an extra fat cigar, or roughly the size of a popsicle. The chunky beef burrito, yum! Perfectly tender and tasty in a light gravy. I like mine with cheese and jalapenos - the perfect blend.
The refried beans were refried beans. Good flavor, a little liquidy though. The rice, well, could use a little work; it's a little bland, but when I mix in the side of salsa - perfect.
On my next visit, I plan on sampling one of the tortas - Mexican sandwich (one of my weaknesses) - since they recently added them to the menu.

Summary: Flavor: Good, simple Mexican food. Lots of cheese. Similar to comfort food. Prices: Reasonable. Check the back of the menu for the lunch specials or the daily specials. It costs about $4-7 per person when taking away and about $6-10 per person when eating in. Ambiance/service: Wow. In a thought: yellow counter tops. Not sure how to describe it, but you can entertain yourself with the pictures that show something like an old bandito with dancing Aztecs inside of the picture that you really have to stare at to notice (like optical illusions). Location: 1096 N. Dixie Hwy. in Monroe (right off of exit 15 on I-75)
Website: None that I could find.

Don't ba-other with Barada

Okay, so that title is a little of a stretch, but seriously folks, don't waste the time, money or the excitement over Barada Mediterranean Cuisine.
With a wicked craving for Middle Eastern food, we both found the restaurant independently, checked out the menu online and decided to spend our limited cash there. The prices on the menu online were totally reasonable - not so in person. They were at least twice as much in the restaurant. But, whatev, we said. If it's good, we can handle it.
I'm addicted to fried kibbe from a place we call Gas Station Kabob in Downriver Michigan (review coming soon). So we ordered one to compare. It was literally one. Every place I've ever gotten kibbe, there are at least a few, and with the price tag, this was not worth it. It was bland, not really crunchy. In a word: Ehh.
My guy got a ground lamb/sausage dish that the waitress kept saying was "different" and when she recommended the cheese with it and he agreed, she totally patted herself on the back and commented "I should be in sales" without a hint of sarcasm.
When it came, it was essentially a middle-eastern quesadilla. Meat stuffed into a dried out pita with tons of cheese. The green beans, which lovey just loves, were canned - still tasted tin-y and had no seasoning whatsoever, with chopped canned tomatoes. Yuck. Serious disappointment.
I got some simple chicken dish, I believe it was supposed to be the shwarma with rice. The chicken was grilled nicely, but honestly, it didn't stand out. It was a chicken breast with mushy, oily rice. I felt like it was a meal I would have gotten at Chili's or any variation there of.
On top of the food, the servers kept bickering about 4 feet away from us about how many tables each had had or not had during their shift thus far. Ours was complaining that she was not going to make any money. One way to assure a lousy tip - talk about the lousy tip you just know you're going to get. (In our defense we always tip at least 20 percent - usually more like 30 percent.) I felt like a hungry wallet, sitting and waiting to be satiated and then violated.
On the plus side my gimlet and the hon's gin and tonic were quite strong. We should have gone with his urge to book it after the appetizer to hit up some pita hut. It was an expensive lesson to learn. Don't make the same mistake.
Special note to server lady: People can hear you. I know you can complain about shit if you need to. Just don't do it while your patrons are seated right there. That's what the kitchen is for. I will never go back to this place, to give the food a second chance, because of you. Other server lady, don't try to get us to commiserate with you against our server.

Summary:
Flavor: Forget it. Remember those fake store fronts in fake old West towns - if they had a flavor it would have been this. (Looked like it should taste good, but blown over in one gust)
Prices: Um, we paid $60 for 2 meals and 2 drinks (as in one each). Had this been good, or the service had been remarkable, that would have been reasonable. It wasn't.
Ambiance/service: Ridiculous. Once the "big spenders" came in, we no longer existed. Kept hearing the servers complain about each other and bickering about tables.
Location: 5215 Monroe St. in Toledo, Ohio
Website: Menu can be found at http://www.allmenus.com/menus/60130/Barada-Mediterranean-Cuisine

Follow your instincts, not your cravings at Mugsy's

I'll keep this brief.
Mugsy's - don't get Mexican food at a place that is not a Mexican place. The tacos were 75 cents so I figured, why not. They were about that good, too.
My dining companion had enchiladas. They were essentially little flour tortillas filled with unmelted cheese drizzled with a small amount of sauce. Blech.
My summary of Mugsy's is this: of the multiple times I've been there, it's been hit and miss. The fish and chips I had there last year were fantastic. Everything else has been a little bit or a lot of bit disappointing.
Go and booze it up. If you must eat, sigh, I suppose it will taste better then anyway.

Fino's is just Fine-o with me

I didn't know what to expect walking into Fino's Family Dining in Monroe. It was the classic set up. I had driven by, it looked diner-ish and fairly standard. But what would its many-paged menu yield?
Essentially everything. There was the Italian section, the soups and sammies, the 'Mexican' section, the Greek/grilled meats, diner, breakfast joint, so on and so forth. I would probably stay away from the ethnic sections, except for the Greek and Polish offerings.
I've actually been to this place twice now. The first time I ordered a chicken kabob with rice. The chicken hunks were moist and had a good blend of spices, the serving was gigantic, and the rice was not dry. (Ewww... moist... I hate that word.) When I asked for the gyro sauce or something similar, they brought me ranch dressing, but that aside it was pretty good.
Here's the kicker though. On Sundays, Fino's has traditional Polish fare. Lovely globs of comfort food, prepared with care. Pierogies, potato pancakes, roasted meats, cabbage rolls and kraut. Fantastic.
While there, I also tried the fish and chips, the hot turkey sandwich, the chicken and dumplings and an omelet. Everything was pretty good. The fish and chips were a little bready and there was a little too much dark meat with the turkey, but just picky complaints.
If what you're seeking is a hug from the inside out, in the form of gravy, go to Fino's. On a Sunday. If you're looking for lighter foods, you can probably find something (like the soup) but you'd be missing out on some real comfort food.

Summary:
Flavor: Everything we had was flavorful and well seasoned, if not exactly pretty to look at. The soup especially stood out - though a little black peppery.
Prices: Reasonable. The chicken kabob was a great deal of food for the price tag. Actually, everything was.
Ambiance/service: Friendly servers, the kind you know have been there for awhile and have seen everything one could possible see in that kind of scenario.
Location: 881 S Monroe St in Monroe
Contact: (734) 457-1156

You know what they say about pizza and sex

Even when it's bad - it's good.

But I didn't have to fall back on the maxim after dining on Giuseppe's Pizza in Monroe.
We ordered a medium pizza - which they said was large anywhere else - with cheese, tomatoes and basil. When we asked if the basil was fresh, they said yes, but what we got was little flecks of dried. While it's probably true it was fresh - it was no fresh, green leafy basil. Maybe that's just too much to ask for in this neck o' the woods.

That aside, the sauce was perfect - not too sweet, nice and tomato-y, but also well flavored. The cheese was not some weird cheese conglomerate that some pizza places (ahem, dominoes) tries to pass off as cheese. It was a mix of Italian cheeses, melted nicely and bubbling in some spots. The crust, oh my, it was perfect. Crunchy, but not burnt or overbrowned. The crusts were chewy with a little crisp and tasted like good bread.

We also ordered a pizza with olives and ham, nice and briny and salty. Again, the sauce was nice, the cheese not too gooey and the crust, ah the crust. When we bit in it made the word crust an Onomatopeia (I have no idea how to spell that, but it means a word that is spelled and spoken exactly how the action sounds like caw or buzz or thwap.)

The spicy chicken wings were delicious. They were a nice size - but not that scary big size where you wonder what kind of chicken could have possible possessed them. Instead of describing the flavor I will tell you this: Chefy had eaten almost all of them by the time we pulled into the driveway and was upset when I told him to save at least two for me. I generally don't go for chicken wings, but loved these.

This is the best pizza I have had in the Monroe area thus far. It's a good thing we're outside of their delivery area.

Summary:
Flavor: Deliciouso! Good ratio of sauce to cheese to topping. Tasty buffalo wings.
Prices: I don't understand why pizza is so expensive. Anyway, pretty reasonable. In and out for $20-25 for two people with tons of leftovers.
Ambiance/service: Clean, guys behind a counter, friendly owner guy. Not a dine-in place.
Location: 14731 S. Telelgraph Rd. in Monroe.
Website: http://www.giuseppe-pizza.com

I hate myself for loving you...

Chipotle. Chih-pote-lay.

It's true. I do love you Chipotle. I've tried not to. But you're just so reliably well flavored and fresh. I got hooked on Chipotle in Minnesota, but worked it into my overall taco/taqueria rotation. Hit up Paneda for some of the harder-to-find fixings, grab Chipotle before catching my bus... I could offset my corporate/chain restaurant guilt by frequenting the others. But now, I don't really have that option unless I want to drive an excessive distance.

Sure I make it to El Maguey as much as possible, but their hours are not as lenient and their food a tad more pricey. I also make the trek to Downriver every now and then to find myself in line at the taco joint I can never remember the name of.

But I'm here to talk about Chipotle and since they've recently opened one in Toledo, my love has been rekindled.

For those new to the concept here's a briefer: you have essentially three different options. You can order a burrito, tacos or a burrito bowl/salad. The meat options are grilled chicken, barbacoa - a shredded beef cooked with some spices, grilled steak, carnitas - a roasted, shredded pork with some spices or vegetarian.
Last time I ordered the crunchy tacos - you get four if you order crunchy, three if you order soft. I got two filled with barbacoa and two with chicken.

Then there are the salsas. There's mild which is essentially a pico de gallo, medium which is green, hot and a medium corn-poblano option. I got the pico, the hot and the corn salsa to shake it up a bit.
Additionally there is guacamole, sour cream, cheese and lettuce.

The crunch of the shells just adds something. The meat was juicy and flavorful, but not overwhelming. The salsas each pitched in a different tang. It was a mound of crunchy deliciousness.

Chefy got a burrito bowl, which consists of rice, beans of your choice - black or pinto, meat, and toppings. He ate it with the salt-lime tortilla chips. This is a big eater. He could not finish.
For both of our meals it was under $12.

Of course the lime bin was empty and I had to ask twice for sour cream on the side, it was still a positive overall experience.

But I do have to say that my old Minnesotan Chipotles had a leg up on the Toledo version. I'm not sure why - though service had something to do with it - it just seemed a little less than expected. But for most people, I say make the venture with your hearts and mouths wide open.
Try it out, see if you like it. If you do, you'll be back. You'll see. If you don't, consider yourself lucky - because in my belly rests a feed-me-Seymour ache for their particular blend of goodness.

Summary:
Flavor: Yum! Mix and match to find different levels of flavor and heat.
Prices: Be still my heart. Change from a $20? why, thank you.
Ambiance/service: A little too shiny and music pumpy, but overall energetic. A little loud.
Location: Multiple places across the U.S. I visited Toledo's Westgate at 3305 W Central Ave
Website: http://www.chipotle.com

The lustful gardener

I just finished reading The $64 Tomato, a book about a man and his growing obsession with gardening. First off, I bought the book for the main cooking man in my life, but I ended up reading it before him. I should explain here that Chefy is mildly obsessed with his little kitchen garden which is what prompted me to get the book.

It was a perfect summery read. I just kept imagining that first bite into a tomato, the one that's still sun warm, with the texture of the goopy insides adding to the experience rather than detracting from it.
The writer, William Alexander, was conversational, sometimes a little cliched, but mostly entertaining. Aside from his somewhat awkward references to making love in an animalistic way to his wife Anne, (it just seemed like he was trying too hard...) it was a nice read.
This is the perfect book for anyone overtaken in thoughts and actions by the backyard garden. As the bookseller said to me when I told her it was a gift for a similarly consumed person, "It probably won't help - but at least it will make him know he's not alone."
And, it includes recipes at the end of the book, which I greatly appreciated. You can see them here.
Enjoy!

In the heat of the night

Chefy just brought home some deliciousness that was perfect for this hottest of hot summer nights. Corn chowder with fresh-from-the-garden cherry peppers and zucchini.
Then there was orzo. The little rice-like pasta was fresh with orange tomatoes and a variety of vegetables, rehydrated cherries and feta.
It was perfect for the weather and for using our newly sprouted bounty from the gutter garden.
So if you're looking for something to make, try this. (not his recipe, but similar)
I made this a few weeks ago also. But I omitted the honey and the red wine vinegar and just used some torn up fresh basil, olive oil and lemon juice. I also added some frozen peas at the end, which was a great little punch.

The Eye of the Tiger

It's mildly greeeaaatt.
The Tiger Lebanese Bakery in Toledo, Ohio (not Spain...) is tasty, but.
I'm a little torn on this for a few reasons. The food was good, some of it was great, but the presentation and the microwaved quality was less than superb.
Let me start again.
The Tiger Lebanese Bakery is a store with a deli counter filled with delicious looking Middle-Eastern food and a front dining area. The shelves are stocked with some pretty hard to find (and I'm not sure what to do with) goods like dried whole lemons. A great resource for any Middle Eastern ingredients, though admittedly I didn't spend a whole lot of time checking out the shelves. It's by no means a grocery store, but does have some variety.

Now, the food. A large deli case offers a wide array of food. With either of the combos - 1. Pick 4 side items for $5.99; 2. Any sandwich plus two sides for $5.99 it ends up being a lot of food.
The selections range from lentil rice, spinach rice, rice pilaf to fatoush and hommos to kabobs and any kind of hand held pie you can imagine.
I've been a few times now and the things that are good seem consistently good, but that also goes for the things that are bad.
I ordered a spicy chicken tawook sandwich (hunks of chicken cooked on a skewer, wrapped in a pita) with a side order of rice pilaf with peas and almonds and a kibbe (ground lamb and pine nuts coated in ground bulgur and then fried).
The chicken was perfect as far as tenderness and spice level went. However, since anything you order that you want hot has to be microwaved, that kind of ruins it. The chicken hunks were still cold in the middle while the rest of the chicken was hot. The rice was a little dry, the kibbe was a little mushy, instead of the crunchiness others have when freshly prepared.
Chefy ordered the four side items special. There was some miscommunication though, which brought me secret delight since it's usually me doing the babbling. The seemingly 13-year old boy who was doing the serving did not seem to really be paying attention and was grabbing errantly at pies Mr. Chefman did not request.
In the end, he received a vegetable pie, a kibbe also, cooked greenbeans with tomatoes and baba ganoush. The greenbeans were fantastic - well flavored, but not overpowering. The kibbe again was a little soggy, not a good quality in a kibbe. The pie was a little flimsy on the outside but tasty. He also ended up with some kind of egg and tomato filled pie, that neither one of us was impressed with.
Overall I guess I would definitely recommend going to the Tiger Bakery, but it might be better to bring home and take care of a little better yourself (such as sauteing the kibbe to make it crunchy, or heating the pies in the oven to avoid sog.)

Summary:
Flavor: Greeatttt, sort of.
Prices: Arms and legs are still intact. $5.99 will get you a meal and a snack.
Ambiance/service: Nicely decorated and full of interesting things/the young boy was less than enthusiastic (as one might expect) and got some of the order wrong.
Location: Two places. This one was at 6710 W. Central Avenue, Toledo OH.
Website: http://www.tigerbakery.com/

Benny's - like a visit to your friends' relatives

Ah Benny's. I'm not sure who you are or where you came from (some say Albania) but I dig your Swiss steak.
This is one of those restaurants where you get pretty much exactly what you expect. The swiss steak, on special for under $7 was tender, plentiful and came with vegetables your grandma would push on a weekly visit (that is to say slightly overcooked, but oddly comforting).
The potatoes, whipped into a frenzy seemed like flakes at first, but upon further investigation proved to have telltale homemade lumps (love it!) throughout. The gravy was delicious.
My dining companion, none other than Chefy, had a gyro, which albeit loaded a little excessively with onions was pretty much perfect. The meat was not dry, the sauce was tasty and the pita was warmed and flexible.
Benny's was kind of like a visit to a friend's relatives' house. The server was awesomely friendly. An older woman who told a couple of anecdotes of what she would do when her kids ("they're old all of a sudden...") would bring home possible mates.
The menu was varied and affordable. Keep in mind, it was not gourmet, but tucked into this strip mall with clouds painted on the drop ceiling it was pretty damn good.

Summary:
Flavor: Expected, "good"
Prices: If this little piggy can afford it, so can you.
Ambiance/service: Old folksie/charming.
Location: 15239 S Dixie Hwy. Monroe, MI