The Vortex Bar & Grill

I went on my annual away game trip to Tuscaloosa, AL this past weekend only to watch the Gators get beat pretty bad. Since we were flying back south from Atlanta airport we tried to bring some life back into our deflated weekend by trying out The Vortex, a burger recommendation I received a couple of weeks back.

The guys I was with opted for The Vortex location closer to the airport in Midtown. I bring this up because apparently the other location in the Little 5 area is the original. Upon arrival, this restaurant's character starting shining through right away. The entire inside of the Bar/Restaurant was filled wall to wall with cool signs, souvenirs, antiques, and knick knacks. Not like the layout and assembly that you might find at a T.G.I.Friday's either. The closest place that I can resemble it to is one of the three Barney's Beanery locations in the L.A. area.


I scanned the menu for their burgers and found a whole page long list. You can look up some of the others on their site. I am just going to tell you about my meal: the Coronary Bypass. I was going to go for the regular burger before I scrolled my eyes to the bottom of the menu and located this beast. It came with a half pound tasty sirloin patty, topped with a fried egg, three slices of American cheese, and what looked like 6 pieces of nice bacon. The bun was a sesame seed, with lettuce, tomato, and onion presented on top. I opted for the side of fried plantains and asked them to leave the mayo in the kitchen. I'm sure this may seem a bit weird for some of you a bit farther north, but for me, this is an tasty side often available in the Miami area.

As soon as it arrived I carefully placed the condiments atop the fried bacon and then folded over the bun top in order to get to work. I grabbed for my knife, stabbed the center of the bun, and cut it in half. I stuffed the edge of burger in my mouth immediately instead of wiping the drool from my face. The burger was great. Perfectly cooked, and tasting better than every component that my eyes just ran across.


I am so happy that I followed up on the recent recommendation. The Vortex Bar & Grill is a place I'd recommend as well. It looks like a great watering hole too.

Another Nice Cruiser

It appears that Giant is still producing their Simple series of Cruisers. When I was shopping a few years back I was told these were discontinued. Apparently they are producing them again. Not only do they look sweet, they are aluminum with 3 piece cranks. You can check them out here.

Matchbox

I am the DC area for work this week and met up with a friend in the Chinatown area (not much of a town, really just an archway) for dinner at Matchbox. We went there for some pizza and I inquired about the 3.6.9 on the menu and learned that you can order 3, 6, or 9 mini burgers as an appetizer.

The picture I have is horrible as I forgot my camera. But the burgers were awesome. The presentation was really cool with a heaping of onion strings in the middle. Each of the buns was sprinkled on the top with cheese too.

Matchbox was a great spot to meet up and eat.

Theater Square Marketplace

I had eaten at Theater Square Marktetplace in Louisville, KY a few times but didn't try the burger until recently. Note that I have been sitting on this picture for a few weeks so my commentary is quite short and no longer fresh.

About all that I can report is that the burger, restaurant, presentation, and server were all quality - I do remember that much. A great burger for lunch but not a top 10 in the country or anything to drive to Kentucky for. The place is more of a nice restaurant and far from a burger stand. Quality ingredients and quality staff. Did I mention quality?




These pics are over a month old and were taken from my iPhone.

Habitat for Humanity

I recently transitioned jobs and during the time in between I was finally able to check something off of one of my 'lists'. I have wanted to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for some time but just could never fit it in. So I finally did it. I signed up online and helped work on a local house in a Habitat community off of Oakland Park Blvd West.

Here are 2 pics that were taken with my iPhone at the end of the shift.

Me and the Site Manager.

Me and the 2 guys that I worked with.

Here is a link to the local Broward County chapter if you are interested in donating your time. Habitat Broward.

Big 10 or BigTwelve?

While I was on my honeymoon a few months back some of the more prestigious NCAA football conferences attempted some major adjustments. The PAC10 ended up adding 2 teams and is planning to rename and re-brand their conference so they can finally have a conference championship like the SEC and Big 12.

What I am very curious about is the potential renaming of the BigTen and the Big 12. I bring this up because the BigTen already had 11 teams and has now added one more. So will it now become the BigTwelve? And a bit down south, the Big 12 had twelve teams and now will have 10. Will they then change to the Big 10?

Overall, the changes for the BigTen and the PAC10 should definitely help college football.

Gilbert's 17th Street Grill

Taking the recommendation of the recent Sun Sentinel Best Burger poll, we went to Gilbert’s 17th Street Grill in Ft. Lauderdale the other night for dinner. Gilbert’s is a bit different from the staple 'best burger' joints one might encounter when traveling around the country. The major differentiator here being the location's age. This is because this Gilbert’s establishment can’t be more than 5 years old; where most other burger classics have 30 years plus on this newborn.

Opening up the door and entering in you quickly realize this is a friendly establishment that probably caters to a busy business lunch crowd. When you complete your order you are given a number to post on your table so the food runners know where to drop your burger baskets off.

We arrived late, 8:30ish, marched right up to the area where the ordering line forms. We studied the menu and then went to the register to place our order. Behind the counter was Mr. Gilbert himself. We didn’t know that at the time, but his caliber of service indicated that this gentleman was probably more than just an order taker and it was confirmed later when we were waiting for our baskets and Mr. Gibert was working the room to make his guests feel more comfortable. During that time he introduced himself. I can’t remember a time in south Florida where someone delivered such premiere service.

I ordered their cheeseburger after salivating by watching the grill. I wanted one of the more deluxe burgers (bleu cheese or bacon) but figured trip #1 should be with the classic. Behind the cash register you could see these heaping burgers scattered all over the grill’s hot surface. They must roll out a sheet of angus meat about an inch thick and then use a round cutter to punch out the patties. I say this because of how loose and large the patties appeared as they were carried to the grill area. I completed my order with sweet potato fries and told the gentleman medium rare when asked about my temp.

A while later our baskets arrived. Mine was cooked pretty much perfect. The outside of my burger was charred to lock in juices. The inside had a cool, completely pink center. This perfect patty had 2 or 3 slices of American cheese tossed on top. These are the fresh kind of deli cheese slices that they probably sliced in the back themselves. Then on the other side of the open face bun was fresh lettuce and tomato. Sitting behind my burger in my basket was a handful of sweet potato fries cut in perfect strips and fried off in brand new oil. I also asked for a side of barbeque sauce to dip my fries in.

I cut my burger in half and worked through it like it was my job. The ingredients Gilbert’s uses are top notch. My cheeseburger could have used some more seasoning. I’m not sure if some salt and pepper would have done the trick or maybe some additional spices. But I knew ahead of time from the Sentinel article that they opt to keep the meat unaltered and not add anything to their Angus.

Overall, great service, good quality food, and a staple location. I’ll be back.


--Note all of these photos were taken with my iPhone. You can click on each of them for a better image.--