"In-N-Out, In-N-Out. That's What a Hamburger's All About."

I know when many think of fast food, the first thing that comes to mind are french fries that are fryed in re-used oil esp. at chain fast foods places...I'm not going to mention any names. However without a doubt, i can say that In-N-Out stands out amongst the crowd and has defeated tons of the fast food generalizations. Their founders had one simple plan "Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment." I can say they have exceeded their expectations. not only is their meat the freshest but the vegetables taste like they are delivered that very same day.

In-N-Out has a limited menu consisting of three different sandwiches: the hamburger, cheeseburger, "Double-Double" (double meat/double cheese), and French fries and three flavors of milkshakes. The hamburgers come with lettuce, tomato, with or without onions which can be made "animal style" (grilled) or fresh along with their infamous "spread" sauce. A major plus are vegetarians can enjoy their burgers just as much, you just have to order it "veggie style". Famous for their "spread" and excellent customer service, In-N-Out has received a variety of free endorsements from the media as well as celebrities. A perfect example, is the 1998 classic "The Big Lebowski" which contains a scene with the main characters happily enjoying their In-N-Out burgers. In-N-Out has a dedicated fanbase, and benefits highly from the positive word of mouth spread by its enthusiastic and loyal customers. In-N-Out directly uses its positive image and dedication to quality as a selling point. This is most evident in its two slogans: "Quality You Can Taste," and "Cleanliness You Can See." The references to its Southern California roots (such as the palm-tree) most likely appeal to Southern Californians and typically appeals to others outside California.

In-N-Out's high quality foods & positive image has brought on a whole new meaning to fast food.

Happy Grubbing!

Lunch In a Box - Boudin Bakery

Meet Boudin Bakery http://www.boudinbakery.com/index.cfm this is not your typical sandwich/salad shop. Boudins has been around for ages, primarily famous for their “San Francisco Sourdough French Bread”. Their boxed lunches have to be the tastiest most efficient way to eating a semi-healthy lunch (esp. if you are tired of eating the $5 footlong subways). They have a variety of breads that scream “homemade baking”. An easy to order method on their website allows you to order via the web or phone. I find ordering online much easier as everything is laid out and easy to see. Their boxed lunches offer an assortment of sandwiches, salads and sides that you can customize to your own preference. Not to mention, they have a breakfast box as well. (see examples below)

Breakfast Box
Choice of muffin or bagel & cream cheese served with seasonal whole fruit and orange juice.

Sandwich Box
Classic Sandwich Box
Your choice of sandwich, kettle chips, and fresh baked cookie.

Sandwich & Greens Box
Your choice of sandwich, mixed greens, and fresh baked cookie.

The Ultimate Sandwich Box
Served with your choice of sandwich, mixed greens, kettle chips, and fresh baked cookie.

Half Sandwich & Salad
Your choice of half sandwich & salad, and fresh baked cookie.

They offer a wide range of services: corporate gift program, catering, delivery or pick up. My workplace has used Boudins numerous times for meetings etc. and their catering service has always met our last minute needs and delivers ON TIME. My experience with Boudins has been nothing but splendid, the bread, the salads and soups are a sure hit!

Happy Grubbing!

Some Insight into Sushi & My Personal Experiance

A couple of my friends and I decided to do dinner a few nights ago, we are huge sushi lovers esp. since many of us tend to associate sushi with the low-calorie factor (plus i had a big lunch). Whether it is as healthy as sushi lovers claim, it sure tastes good and beats eating the typical stir fry with rice. For those who are interested in calorie counting and looking up the nutrition information i normally use About.com: Health: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/search.php?search_type=foods&searchpro=sushi

Before i talk about my meal, i wanted to share a quick insight into the history of sushi. The type of sushi rolls in the states are rather different than the rolls in Japan. There are a number of rolls that were created in the states to appeal more to the Westerners and Vegetarians, to name a few: the California roll, the Spider roll and the Philadelphia roll. The oldest form of sushi does not even resemble sushi today as the fish was taken out of the rice, only the fish was consumed and the rice was discarded. The contemporary version, internationally known as "sushi," was invented at the end of the Edo period, a.k.a. the beginning of the early modern period of Japan. Hanaya Yohei invented sushi and changed the preparation method by rolling both the rice and the fish together, which became an early form of fast food. Who knew sushi was considered a fast food, def. not similar to the forms of fast food we have today!

Back to my meal, we dined at "Little Tokyo" a small sushi joint in North County, San Diego. I am a huge tuna fan and almost always get the spicy tuna rolls (as a starter)... I noticed with the typical rolls you could order them spicy or not spicy, which is always nice to have that preference. I ordered mine spicy! I also ordered the Fire Roll which consists of spicy krab & cucumber topped with spicy tuna (gotta have my tuna!) The rolls were prepared perfectly and arranged on a platter with wasabi and gari (sweet pickled ginger), i always use the low sodium soy sauce (green cap on bottle) as i find the regular soy sauce (red cap on bottle) too salty. The rice was neither too sticky nor dry. And of course, i had a glass of plum wine which compliments the tuna rolls very well. The nice thing about the cut rolls is you can easily share with your friends, which allows you to get a little taste of something you might not normally try. I left the restaurant feeling full but not stuffed and rather satisfied, i guess that's the beauty of eating sushi.

The cost of the food was fairly priced, although Little Tokyo wouldn't be on the top of my 3 favorite sushi places, it is def. a place i would dine at again. I will undoubtedly be posting more blogs on my sushi insights, until than...

Happy Grubbing!