Yep, Johnny Utah’s, located near Rockefeller Center, does indeed have a mechanical bull. Excited out of my boots I rode the bull before any of my meal arrived, the first time in my life mind you. I don’t know if it’s in my genes or whatever, but I feel I may have missed my calling. I rode that bull like a champ. Squeeze with your thighs and flop with the bull. If I had a mustache maybe I’d consider a full-on career change.
During my time as a restaurant reviewer, I have never seen an eatery designed this cool. Johnny Utah’s was originally an old bank. They kept the marble floor, different lock boxes, and many gadget throughout the joint still linger. The coolest part kept is the vault. It is completely intact and still bomb proof. Instead of heaps of money, the giant door now swings open to a private dining room. The walls are completely donned with the original lock boxes. So cool.
Ah yes, then there’s the food. Sure the place looks good, but how’s the eats? As usual, I have to try the nachos from every single place I go to. Here Johnny Utah’s refers to this plate as the Rattle Snake Nachos.
It consists of short rib chili on a bed of chips with three cheeses, jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and black olives. Of all the nachos I’ve eaten thus far in New York, this one is served, in it’s natural state, as one of the spiciest. Bonus points! It also happens to have to biggest amounts of toppings per chips ration that I’ve seen yet. More bonus points! One hell of a filler.
The Monster Burger and Fries killed.
It’s a half a pound beef grilled with a choice of toppings with seasoned fries. Wow, I can see why the call it “Monster”. This beast of a sandwich oozes with taste and bites with ferocity of a grizzly bear. Flavor packed meat kicked into gear with some of the best tasting fries making an all-together awesome meal.
We got into a great conversation with the owner about how they are adding a bar area to the venue as well as roughly 70 more items to an already amazing menu. So excited about his new dishes, he brought out a few of the yet to be released appetizers just for us. First was the Chicken Quesadilla. Great marinated chicken, cheese blend, and jalapenos. This was to die for. The second teaser was the Fish Tacos. Legit corn tortillas with fish, lime, onions, tomato, and cilantro. To be honest, I’m not really a fish eater, but this was damn good. If I wasn’t so full at this point after my original meal, I’d probably even eat a few of these. I can’t thank the owner enough for doing such a cool thing.
Near the beginning of March Johnny Utah’s menu and renovations will be complete. I HIGHLY recommend stopping by. Say hi for me and ride the bull. I dare ya.
Johnny Utah’s
25 West 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
Prices: Rattlesnake Nachos $14, Monster Burger $11, Hushpuppies $9
Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-1am, Sat 4pm-2am
Access: B,D,F,V Trains To Rockefeller Center; E,V Trains To 53rd Street; N,R,W Trains To 49th Street
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Yo, dis place be havin great nachos, right? They call it da Nacho Treche and be havin beans, cheeses, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalepenos, olives, and homemade green chile n stuff.
Me n my crew loved dis plate. Dat green chile was mad hot and mixed in wit everythin else so well. It was bangin. Lots and lots of toppings yo. Spicy too, word.
At F-13 (dats what I callz it) what do ya get? Well of course, da Florencia 13 Burrito son!
It’s be havin homemade green chile, beans, and a slow simmered beef. And yo, check it, it uhh…….*cough* cough*. Sorry, i feel dumber just trying to type that way. We’re back to normal now. Florencia 13 offers what is known as “Wet”. And getting this “Wet” means oven baking and topping with homemade sauce and melted cheese. You’d be crazy not to add something as awesome as that. Big fat burrito with lots of meat. Tons of gooey cheese and delicious spicy sauce combos for a great burrito.
The tacos are small, but overflowing with toppings.
Granted the tomato, cilantro, and onion was great, but the authentic corn tortilla and delicious meats brought this all together. Fresh and crispy were the two words constantly running through my head in each bite.
Florencia 13 is a teeny tiny place. It fills up really quick. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to go to this place on a Friday or Saturday night. Try going on a weekday, you’ll enjoy.
Don’t forget to add me on twitter @HurleyGraham. See where we’ll be dining next and up to the second thoughts on the food.
Florencia 13
185 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012
Prices: Nacho Trece $12, Florencia 13 Burrito $13, Suavecito Tacos $13
Hours: Mon-Thu 4pm-3am, Fri 4pm-4am, Sat 10am-4am, Sun 10am-3am
Access: A,B,C,D,E,F,V Trains To West 4th; 1 Train To Houston; 6 Train To Bleecker; B,D,F,V Trains To Broadway/Lafayette; R,W Trains To Prince Street
]]>Spiced Pepper Steak
- 1 pounds beef round sirloin steak, cut into 1/4 inch strips
- 2 tablespoons corn oil
- 1 cube beef bouillon
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 large green bell peppers, sliced
- 1 medium spanish onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Cut the sirloin steak into 1/4 inch strips and set aside
Combine soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and ginger in a bowl
Then add the crushed tomato sauce and whisk away
Set the sauce aside. This will be poured over the meat once they are placed in the crock pot.
Mix beef bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved, set aside
Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat the corn oil and season the beef strips with some pepper and brown on both sides for 2-3 minutes
immediately transfer the steak strips to the crock pot
Pour the tomato- ginger soy sauce mixture over the meat and then add the onions, green peppers, and a couple of more dashes of soy sauce
Lastly, pour the bouillon mixture and pour over the onions and peppers
Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours. During this time go run some errands, watch a movie, drink some hot cocoa, and relax!
Serve with some garlic-y brown rice! Yum 
]]>Rice To Riches’ menu consists entirely of ride pudding.
This is the true test. And to tell you the truth, I actually haven’t even eaten rice pudding in eons. I was heavily persuaded to go and decided to keep an open mind. The place itself was very welcoming. A “futuristic decor” along with funny jargons and jokes plastered to the walls, windows, and doors, was very fun.
The rice pudding has silly names such as Sex Drugs and Rocky Road, Take Me To Tiramisu, Fluent In French Toast, and a slew of others.
Not knowing what the hell some of these flavors are, you are allowed to sample many different puddings before you make your final pick.
My choice: Chocolate Chip Flirt which is basically chocolate chip rice pudding.
And can honestly say, I can scratch it off the list of things I don’t like. I’m a changed man and now very much like rice pudding now. Soo much lighter than true pudding with a twinge of a chunkiness. The chocolate was top notch. Thanks Rice To Riches for changing me into a rice pudding liker.
For one dollar more you can add a topping.
Once again, the choices have creative names such as Remedy (caramel vanilla sauce), Flourish (toasted buttery pound cake), Heart Throb (tender loving jelly), and others. To top my Chocolate Chip Flirt I chose Mischief (buttery graham cracker blanket). It indeed was buttery. It was indeed graham cracker perfection. A perfect blend to the rice pudding.
The rice pudding is served in different sized dishes from Solo (serves one) all the way to Moby (serves 10). The moby is seriously the size of a bucket. I could fit my head in this thing. That’s a lot of rice pudding! The dishes are so rad looking, one would be crazy not to wash this sucker out and use it at home to keep (I did).
I never thought I’d like rice pudding, but Rice To Riches made a believer out of me. So good.
Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @HurleyGraham
Rice To Riches
37 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
Prices: Solo $6, Epic $7.75, Moby $40, Toppings $1
Hours: Sun-Wed 11am-11pm, Thu-Sat 11am-12am
Access: 6 Train To Spring Street; R,W To Prince Street; B,D,F,V Trains To Broadway/Lafayette; J,M Trains To Bowery
]]>Caramelized Onion, Salami, Mozzarella & Gorgonzola Pizza
- 1 rustic ciabatta flatbread (I bought it from Trader Joe’s)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 2 slices salami, sliced
- fresh mozzarella, 6 chopped slices
- 2 tablespoons Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon parsley
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
In a large skillet over medium heat add a tablespoon of olive oil and saute onions until they are soft and caramelized, approximately 15-20 minutes.
Place the Ciabatta flatbread on a baking sheet and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil
Spread out the mozzarella cheese
Then add the strips of salami
Followed by the caramelized onions
Then crumble about a palmful of Gorgonzola cheese all over the pizza and lightly season with parsley
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cheese has melted
Enjoy yourself some homemade gourmet pizza!
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