Mike's Daily Lockup

The Day After...

That's life...

Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens

Sometimes a weekend just doesn't go as planned. There might be hiccups, cancellations, or you simply just have to get some work done, but in this case when life gives you lemons..... make beer.

So this weekend's "salvage operation" involved a late Saturday afternoon drive down to the Stone Brewery in Escondido, California. The weather was perfect for beer (even when the weather is not perfect, it's always a good time for beer) the World Bistro is located indoors with great outside patio seating and even an outside bar. If you go on a day like we did, the bistro will even roll up their giant glass doors to open up the indoor dinning area to the warm San Diego County air.

So first, since this is about a brewery, let's talk about beer. The Bistro has 32 different types of beer on tap (among them are beers from Port, The Bruery, and 21st Amendment), with each Stone brew featured as well. The first beer of the day was a Stone Arrogant Bastard. This one is my personal favorite as it is an American Strong Ale. The second beer was a Stone Ruination which is an Imperial/Double IPA. And the third, and final beer of the day, was one from Bootleggers (located in Fullerton, California) called Black Strap Porter which had an almost black licorice type flavor to it. 

With the beer poured, let's talk about food. I'm a big fan of Mac 'n Cheese and I have had all kinds from the amazing dish served at Haven Gastropub in Orange, California to the cheesy goodness of Beecher's Mac 'n Cheese in Seattle, Washington, to the Hollywood styling of Mac 'N Cheese at Delphine's at the W Hollywood. So for the record, I can be considered to be a "Mac 'N Cheese Connoisseur." Pictured below is Stone's Beer Mac 'n Cheese made with Stone's Smoked Porter and served with smoked porter sausage from San Marcos' T&H Prime Meats and Sausage. On one of my previous visits this item was listed as a main course, but for some reason has been moved to the appetizer section. Luckily, I was able to request it as a main course and after you try it, you may want to request that they put it back. Yes, it really is that good.

Now, that's really good Beer Mac 'n Cheese...

Blog posted here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Just not the same without fresh soda bread...

Oh the wonders of the Internet

When I blog I have a set of rules:
1. Don't blog about work
2. Don't blog about things considered "off the record" and situations where I'm trusted with confidential information
3. If it makes my Grandmother blush, it doesn't even go near my blog

But tonight, I'm going to suspend rule number 1. It seems a promotion that was e-mailed to a select few got out of hand. Apparently this "Special Deal" originated on the East Coast on Friday and before I knew it, people were walking in with them by Saturday Afternoon on the West Coast. Since no one was in the corporate office the official response wasn't released until Monday. By Tuesday an update was finally sent out and the press finally covered it.

All it took for this to occur was: One E-mail

Somewhere I hear the sound of a pink slip...

The Counter

While out in the wild that is Los Angeles, I found The Counter, the Burger joint which has been spreading around the blogs after some guy decided to stuff his face with everything on the menu.

If you thought I'm going to do the same thing, you're nuts! But I think I did come pretty close with my Beef, Pepper Jack, Grilled Onions, Bean and Corn Salsa, Tomatoes, and Spicy jalapeno sauce burger on an English Muffin. And all chased down with sweet-potato fries.

I pretty much had to roll home and run an extra mile at the gym!
(This does fall under Orange County, as the web site list an Orange County Location as "Coming Soon!")

Dr. Pepper in a Drink, Cool!

I just got this off of LAist, Dr. Pepper is my favorite soda and now it can have an adult twist. Of course the Dr. Pepper flank steak I had in London is one of the weirdest foods I have ever had.