Five Guys Burger: A Review

Yesterday, I had the distinct delight of doing lunch with @Kate_The_Great of Kate's Random Musings, whose company is always a welcome diversion in my week. We had another issue to discuss at the time, and we decided on the freshly minted Five Guys Burgers and Fries (website, twitter) that recently opened here in Clifton at 210 Calhoun Street.

I love burgers. I've said it before that, when I dine out, my eyes immediately seek out their cheeseburger because I see it as classic American cuisine and a meal that, I think, is easy to do poorly if ignored and hard to do very, very well. Five Guys does it very, very well. How they managed to maintain their semi-fast food sentiment, their diner look, and still make a delicious and juicy burger... I'll never know. But it's a definite, definite win for the owners, and for the city, I think.

Imagine this, if you will: you've heard about a chain restaurant, everyone raves about it, talks about how wonderful it is, it's lunch time in Clifton in the middle of the week, and the last few restaurants people raved about were disappointments. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, no? Wrong. We walked in -- immediately greeted by an employee who held the door for us, and walked by a sign that informed us just exactly where our potatoes were coming from that day (Driggs, Idaho) -- and were at the counter ordering our meal within three minutes. The menu was simple -- there's not much on it, dogs, burgers, brauts, drinks, and fries is about the whole of it -- so simple, in fact, that the lady who followed us in was confused enough to ask, "Are your burgers any good here? What should I order?" Seriously. You're at a freakin' burger joint.

Got my number, my drink, and waited. I will make a mild complaint that it's hard to hear over the hustle and bustle. To my count, there were no fewer than 15 employees working when we came in, and the crowd walked in shortly after. The cashier is screaming "I need two patties!" every time someone orders a burger, and then there are two guys at the end of the counter yelling your number. I got confused, but I'm sure this will all pass.

We unrolled our burgers. I got the bacon cheeseburger ($5.79) with lettuce, grilled onions, and ketchup, a side of small fries ($1.79, I believe), and a small drink ($1.39). Unfortunately, Five Guys suffers from the Penn Station syndrome: no meal deals, and kind of expensive. My whole meal was just over $10. The price was quickly forgotten. Kate and I considered each other, considered our burgers, and dove in. At first bite, it was love. The beef was exquisitely juicy and flavorful. The cheese was American, a disappointment, but the other add-ons were fresh and delicious. It was not a cheap piece of lettuce stuck on there, it was a nice hunk of iceberg piled on two patties with bacon that carried a touch of spice. The bread was soft and squishable, otherwise you would not have been able to fit my burger in my mouth.

The fries, of which you get a lot for your money, were not terribly impressive. They were fresh and thick and juicy, but I shudder now to believe that I have become so used to -- sigh -- fast food that I may never truly be able to enjoy a real fry. A tad oversalted, I felt like they could have used a touch of something to set them apart. A special spice, perhaps? Maybe just a little pepper? I had just grabbed salt (which I did not add), and I was too engrossed in my burger to go hunting for pepper, and I really didn't think about it.

Regardless, I ate every last one of the potatoes.

The set up is vaguely reminiscent of a 1950s diner. It's decorated in red and white checks. Considering the location of the line and the cashier, I was sure that the place would soon have people pouring out the door. Service was fast and efficient and pleasant, so there was nobody hanging outside waiting to get on the very hot and sticky summer afternoon. The crowd moved right through, and there did not seem to be a lack for seats. The place was full, but no one was left wandering or waiting.

Overall, I'm going back. And soon. Well, once I get paid again. I can't be eating $10+ meals every day. Perhaps just once a week. So much for my waistline.

It's an "A" -- and totally worth the hype.

Oh, and yes, we both picked up the 5chw4r7z habit of taking a picture of our food. LOL. The picture above is from my Twitter (via Twitpic). The bottom two are from Juliet's camera which I still have :-).

Farrah Fawcett Loses Her Battle with Cancer Today

It was just announced that Farrah Fawcett has lost her battle with cancer, she was 62.

She had been diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of actor Ryan O’Neal, who had been her longtime companion and was the father of her son, Redmond, born in 1985.

Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was recorded in the television documentary “Farrah’s Story.” Fawcett sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the disease with iron determination even as her body weakened.

“Her big message to people is don’t give up, no matter what they say to you, keep fighting,” her friend Alana Stewart said. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she’s seen huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son.

May she now find peace.

Juliet

Juliet's View of Tabby's Gathering on Tuesday

Hello fabulous readers! First I just want to say that I'm sorry for my late posting on our gathering at Tabby's this past Tuesday. Since then my computer has crashed and my sisters cat had to be put to sleep last night. But with that out of the way, I'm back!

Tuesday night at Tabby's was certainly an evening to remember. As we all met at the Walgreens parking lot in Clifton, I was concerned that not many people would show. I became hopeful when the fellow I was car pooling was a straight ally! As we approached Tabby's, honestly I was a bit nervous. Will they be open to us? Will there be counter-protesters? Will anyone show up?

As we walked around to the front of Tabby's, there were already about thirty-forty people outside. Channel 9, Channel 12, Channel 5, Cincinnati Enquirer, City Beat and maybe even other media outlets I'm not aware of. It was a beautiful sight! Ronnie's mom and sister were also there to join us!

As we began to walk in I started to hear this noise....the customers and staff were all clapping!! I didn't know what to do! It was a total surprise. We walked around talked amongst each other and applauded Ronnie's mom and sister as they came to greet us. (I apologize for my bad video skills...I'm still beating myself up over my camera not working properly.)

I spoke with a regular customer and asked him what he thought of what was happening. He told me that he thought it was nice that we were doing this in support of Ronnie and that he doesn't mind us being there. I thought, "great!". He then went on to explain that his brother was a "flamer" and that it embarresses him. I said to him, "Isn't it better that he be himself?" He answered, "No.". So, I moved on. I then talked to J.T. Riley who is the General Manager of the super great Irish Pub and Restaurant, The Claddagh Irish Pub off Mason-Montgomery Road. J.T. was appauled by what had happened and said "he could never imagine that happening at his restauraunt." He went onto mention that The Claddagh is a gay-friendly restaurant...so get on over there!! (There is also one in Newport - ran by a lesbian I hear). Check them out!

So, all in all I think it was a very succesful event. We saw the progress they were making when we came in with applause and also the signs that were posted everywhere that read:

I hope that this will show others that we will not tolerate hate, bigotry or discrimination...and most certainly not abuse. We were all Ronnie that night. It could have been any one of us. Remember that. YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THIS HAPPENING TO YOU. So help us to continue the fight against hate! If you want to learn more about how to get involved, keep reading this blog of course, and also see http://www.impactcincinnati.com/ and www.facebook.com/impactcincinnati.

Thanks everyone for coming out! (heehee)

Here are some more pictures!!

Getting ready to leave from Clifton!

Chris being interviewed! Way to represent Chris! (Cody did too!)

Dannie and Sam...love these guys! Sorry I lost you in the crowd Sam, my bad :-)

Juliet and Cody (Aren't we cute?)

Lookin good! Hey, I've seen her before! haha

The fun table!!

Cable Joe, J.T from Claddagh and Tony! Love them!

Can Marie Osmond Change Morman Minds?

After watching Entertainment Tonight this evening, I noticed that their top story was about how Marie Osmond has a gay daughter. (Enter sarcastic tone) Oh no! Really? How in the world will the Morman church handle this? So I wanted to see if the clip was on YouTube.com and well, I came across an interview with Marie Osmond on a Morman talk radio segment. Could Marie Osmond help Mormans to understand what it REALLY means to be Christian? Take a listen:



Juliet
www.julietandjuliette.com

Haunting Memories

We all have ghosts and skeletons in our closet, right? I got rid of all mine a long time ago or so I thought.

It’s strange to me how certain people who had once been in your life can still affect you even years later. I guess maybe affect isn’t the right word, but something about them haunts you. Don’t get me wrong, these are not mushy feelings towards this person, its more like “What the hell kind of lesson was I supposed to learn from this experience?”

Basically what started this was today I came across a photo of this person. A certain online community website that sends you ”people you may know”. Random. Of course, I’m talking about an ex. Actually she was my first girlfriend. The first few months were good…really good. Then something changed and then in the blink of an eye it was not a healthy relationship by any meaning of the word. I noticed I stopped hanging out or talking to my friends, she was jealous all the time, had to know where I was at all times, controlled everything, thought I was sleeping with all my friends and the fights…one in particular I remember because it was my first Pride parade, and I was in it. Fighting and screaming (on her part) til about 5 o’clock in the morning. At one point, I thought it would turn physical. Actually, I’m amazed that it didn’t. The worst part was that her best friend was staying with us, knew what was happening and did nothing even though she saw how hysterically upset and scared I was. Needless to say, Pride was a blur that next morning since I had about two hours of sleep. Honestly, I don’t even remember what we fought about that night, but I’m sure it was over something ridiculous…it always was.

After that night I knew I had to leave her, but I also knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Over the next couple of months I slowly started getting my things out of her apartment while she was at work. I remember trying to get the items to my car and hidden in my trunk as fast as I could because I had become so paranoid, that even though I knew she was at work, I was afraid she’d catch what I was doing. And I didn’t want to know what kind of explosion would happen out of that.

I remember one of our last fights. Driving in her car, fighting about who knows what. It got so bad that I was visibly upset and she was trying to kick me out of the car. We got to a football game that her nephew was playing in. I remember this part so vividly. There was a woman there who was tied to the family. It was common knowledge that her husband beat her regulary. But no one in the family did anything about it of course. I remember looking at her with this “help me” distrought look on my face. As she looked at me, it was like we spoke to each other and knew what was going on. It was then that I knew this wasn’t me and I needed to get out of this situation.

Finally, with my self confidence and self image being totally shot, somehow I got the courage to tell her it was over. And if you’ve been in a similar situation, you know what comes next. The anger, the begging you to stay, the “I’m sorry’s” and on and on and on. Nothing was working. I knew I had to lie to her to get her pissed at me enough to where it would keep her from wanting to hang on. This was a big risk for me, because even though we lived in different cities, she wasn’t really that far from me. So, I told her that I had met someone. I said nothing other than that. She flew off the deep end with that one. As expected, the threats came flying…physical harm, destruction of property, and inaudible screaming. Even at one point she got her sister in on the “we’re coming to beat the shit out of you” threats. I was terrified. I thought, “This is it. Something is really going to happen to me this time.” I had the police to my house in 10 minutes. Thankfully, she was smart enough not to come to my house. I changed my phone number and eventually moved.

So, I suppose its only natural that when I came across her photo, it sent chills. As a human being I hope that she has changed and I hope that if she is in a relationship that she treats them with respect and dignity.

That’s all I have to say about that. Thanks for listening. If you are in a relationship that makes you afraid, or in a situation that its not safe to be in, reach out to your friends and family. Tell them whats going on. You don’t have to go through it alone.

Here are some resources that can help:

LGBTQ Domestic Violence

Breaking the Silence Project

National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (1-800-799-SAFE or 1-800-787-3224 TTY))

Juliet

I'm a Quitter

I quit.

I know I'm not alone when I say...quitting smoking sucks. Yes, I have decided to stop smoking. When I think of that word, "decided", I don't feel like its something that's been decided, more like its something that I'm forcing myself to do. It is an addiction and like any addiction, typically you know you need to quit, or you should quit and some can even honestly say they WANT to quit. I wish I could be the one to say I WANT to quit. I'm quitting because I know I need to. Its been a 17 year addiction for me...I know its not going to be easy. So far, I've had headaches, moodiness and trouble concentrating. Wait...I'm like that usually anyways, so I guess it hasn't been that bad. The worst part is not thinking about it....but its all I can think about.

For the past week I've been on vacation with my beautiful girlfriend Penny and I have not had a ciggerette in 7 days. For me, this is a miracle in itself. My friends will tell you that I smoke like a freight train, lighting one after another if I'm in a place that I can do so. But, its been surprisingly easy as far as the withdrawl symptoms go. One reason, I've been with my girlfriend all week, and I don't smoke around her. She's never seen me smoke and she never will. Two, I was out of my normal routine and habit. So, as much as I want to celebrate, I know that the challenge is just beginning.

Tonight, I have the option of sitting at home and dwelling on the fact that I'm not smoking, which I know I will do or I can go hang out with a friend who smokes. Which almost all of them do. Hmm...not much of an option to keep myself away from smoking. But I'm determined to do it...not smoke that is. I thought that since there are alot of you that are trying to quit or thinking about trying to quit, I would chronicle my stop smoking experience with you. I'm hoping that this will help that sabatour in my head that wants to smoke and maybe even help some of you in letting you know that this is a struggle that millions of people deal with everyday.

I am very optimistic and have a lot of support. However, I hate to say it, but even though I don't want to let these supporters down, I know that my chances are high that I will. So, I got a game plan and strategy in place. Things I can do with my hands to keep me from smoking. Too bad my girlfriend lives in another city! Ha! But seriously...things like painting, writing, excercising, things like that. There is even a telephone support meeting tonight...1-605-475-6230 Code #4567891 at 8pm EST. I don't know how legit it is, but its worth trying. So, stay tuned...hope I'm still a non-smoker tomorrow.

Think I'll start smoking tomorrow? According to http://www.stopthesmoke.com/ I have about an 80% FAIL rate with quitting cold turkey. So much for staying positive.

Juliet