dilatennenir gahtnd SOPE ($3) Tacos Tumbras • 1325 West 2nd Avenue You can get a sope in any Tacos Tumbras, combo, but we recommend grabbing it for a late-night weekend snack, after 9 pm. We’ll deal with this towering pile of deliciousness in descending order: juicy diced tomato, drizzled sour cream, Mexican goat cheese, lettuce and, finally, your choice of meat — I go with El Pastor, a mouth-watering mix of marinated pork, pineapple and grilled onions — all sitting on a soft, homemade corn tortilla pillow. Eat it with a fork. Savor each bite. Grieve softly when it’s gone. — DANIEL WALTERS BEER-BATTERED MAC AND CHEESE WEDGES ($7.99) JJ’s Grill • 8801 N. Indian Trail Rd. This indulgent appetizer speaks to the kid in all of us by combining some of the greatest ingestible things of all time: beer, mac and cheese and fries. Basically JJ’s has taken run-of-the-mill elbow macaroni and cheese (it tastes exactly like the Kraft stuff from the box), somehow shaped it into little triangles, dipped it in beer batter and deep fried it so the outside is crisped to perfection and the
inside is hot, cheesy and incredibly delicious. An order comes with eight of these addictive little cheese nuggets and a pile of fries. — CHEY SCOTT THE GODMOTHER ($6) Monterey Café • 9 N. Washington St. Whoever decided that foods wrapped up in tortillas should be priced cheaper than when those same items are arranged on a plate deserves some sort of award. Maybe a trophy. At Monterey Café, a downtown pizza-andeverything-else joint, they wrap up chicken, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, douse it all with a liberal smothering of Alfredo sauce and cheese and then dare you not to eat the entire thing in two minutes. It’s like a hearty salad wrapped up for your convenience. — MIKE BOOKEY THE ORIGINAL CALZONE (LITE $6.75 ) Pete’s Pizza ∙ 821 E. Sharp This mom-and-pop pizza shop takes the traditional approach. The original calzone is simple: sauce, mushrooms, olives, pepperoni, mozzarella and fresh dough made from a secret recipe. Sounds cliché but the simplicity
JJ’s mac and cheese triangles. works. The combination of ingredients has the right proportions so none of the flavors overpower each other. Also, the smaller size has the perfect ratio of dough-to-stuffing, so you leave satisfied but not swollen. Their friendly service makes for quick turnover. They appear to have the pizza biz figured out. — ERIC GAVELIN DOUBLE MEAL ($7.45) D. Lish’s Hamburgers - 1625 N. Division St. D. Lish’s is like Dick’s, except you can pay with a credit card and eat indoors, rather than
marshall E. Peterson Jr. photo
huddling in your car like a winter vagrant. Fresh-cut fries and a double cheeseburger with square patties all slathered in Thousand Island dressing and touched up with shredded lettuce. Glory and grease in a gastronomic pleasure. Wash it down with your choice of pop, all-included. Enjoy the people watching, too. I dined there recently with a couple of Servpro cleaners and table of co-eds arguing the timeline of a mutual friend’s subpoena. Take your burger with raw or cooked onions — I go in for the latter. — JOE O’SULLIVAN
YES—YOU CAN DO THE UNTHINKABLE At Washington Trust Bank we believe that the unthinkable trumps the economy. That’s why for 110 years we have remained focused on providing businesses with commercial loans and banking services to help them achieve success.
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JANUARY 24, 2013 INLANDER 35