Tulip City Dispatch

 While we couldn't actually phone in the order (that side of the restaurant was closed for a private event), we did eat at the OG Russ' Restaurant at the corner of 8th and Chicago Drive in Holland!  Spittin' distance from Holland's Energy Park , sharing a parking lot with West Michigan Cycle Shop , and just a few blocks away from (potentially?) the oldest building in Holland , I'd actually like to offer Russ' Classic Double Cheeseburger as a late entry into The Best Burger In Holland debate. Founded in 1934 (meaning, 2024 is their 90th year in business), J. Russel Bouws bought Doc's Diner at the corner of 8th and Chicago Drive in Holland.  The original building(s) were torn down, and a new shop was built in the 80s or 90s.  There are pictures of the original sandwich/ice cream shack in the current restaurant, as well as pictures from slightly later when they went to a diner/drive-in format.  They also have locations in Holland at 210 River Ave on the north ...

 Fricano's Too ( 174 S River Ave, Holland, MI 49423-2848) just off the beaten path in Downtown Holland boasts pizza that, according to a former boss of mine, was the best in North America.  There was a firm I worked for in Zeeland that was owned by a conglomerate out of Italy - whenever the head honchos would come stateside for various meetings or whatever, they'd ALWAYS cater in lunch from American Char in Drenthe , and they'd wine and dine the department heads at Fricano's Too.  They always said it was the most authentic pizza they'd ever had in the States. I, personally, dig the old-school vibe...the paper wrapped pizza served on cardboard reminds me SO much of being a youngster and getting pizza while Dad was playing hockey or whatever.  It's a little basic, the "gimmick" is how simplistic the pizza is, or how there isn't any gimmicks at all.  They got an honorable mention in my Best Pizza In Holland article back in 2020 . Earlier this year,...

  Use this information how you see fit.  If you take a Burger King Double Stacker and pull the patties apart, they fit perfectly on top of a Burger King Long Chicken sandwich.  Pictured above, there's a Double Stacker on top of a Mexican Chicken Sandwich. It's a sodium bomb, which left me feeling swollen and sluggish.  For the remainder of the day, I smelled  greasy.  Between the cheese and spice of the Mexican Chicken, and the savory bacon of the Double Stacker, the flavors were...uh...interesting.  I wonder if there would be a way to modify the Chicken Sandwich to make it work better with the Double Stacker sandwich.  The overall experience was something that would've been cool when I was 17 or 18, but...man, eating this at 35 was a poor decision.

  Right away, opening the bottle, I'm hit with an aroma that reminds me of childhood; Play Doh and grocery store bulk candy.  As I take a sip and roll it around in my mouth, I'm hit with a heavy sweetness - similar to Pepsi Vanilla, but with a cloying nature...and as I drink it, I still  get that Play Doh aroma on the nose.  As I've continued to drink and the beverage has warmed up a bit, the cola flavor has subsided and the Peep flavor has become more prominent - little science content:  The carbonation in a soda actually tricks your brain into thinking it's got a very slightly bitter taste...that's why sparkling water tastes  different than still water; that's why Nitro Pepsi (and nitro beers) taste different than their carbonated counterpart.  So, as this bottle of Pepsi x Peeps (Peepsi from here on out) warms up and gets flat, the flavor is going to change. Pepsi has often played with flavors - so this Peepsi is nothing new in the grand scheme of t...

  Hey, it's pretty decent!  Hot and fresh, so it was a delight to eat...much better than the cold, slightly stale Big Mozz burger I had at Sheetz when I was out east.  Seriously, a burger like this must be served piping hot for maximum enjoyment, and the Wendy's on South Washington in Holland delivered!  The giant lump of mozzarella was a bit weird - I did expect something more like individual sticks, but whatever.  The sauce was a touch more creamy than I expected - it was something more like a Franco/American or Chef Boyardee sauce than a real, handmade Italian sauce, but c'mon, it's freakin' Wendys...temper your expectations.  It's a fast-food burger drivethru for cryin' out loud. It was a unique enough menu item that I was interested in trying it.  I'd definitely order it again!

  Yep.  They're here.  I tried them, so you don't have to! It's mushy, in a word.  The fries at Taco Bell are always sort of soggy and stale feeling.  The toppings are incredibly saucy - they work nicely with the structure of a plate of tortilla chips (a'la Nachos Bell Grande) or a burrito.  The texture reminds me of poutine, but the flavors are all wrong.  This dish is an exercise in futility. I don't know why I chose these off of the menu. I would not order these again. Bleh.

 I'll open by saying that if you're expecting a gourmet burger, you're probably not looking at Burger King.  There are 1,000 other places (precisely one thousand, I counted myself) to get a higher-quality burger.  But, when you require food that is fast, cheap, and easy (you are what you eat, am I right?!?!?! ) there are a myriad of options for drive-through, franchised, processed, scientifically-engineered-to-taste-good food.  Miss me with your "fast food is trash" snobbery; this review isn't for you.  See the pizza and burger reviews for quality food. There's something about the plant-based Impossible patty that enhances all the flavors around it - the smokey char of Burger King's "flame broiled" fame sticks around more than the normal beef Whopper.  The toppings don't blend with the patty flavor either, so you can distinctly pick up the flavors of the tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles, and mayonnaise.  Only the bun seemed to fade in...

 Hot dog, I'm writing a review of a product before it's officially released to the public! Whereas the normal Checkers Big Buford consists of "100% beef hamburger patties, topped with two slices of melted American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise all on a toasted bakery-style bun," the Loaded Buford seemed to swap out the lettuce and tomato for french fries and bacon. Not gonna lie - it's a bit much.  The flavors are great, everything just works.  But, it's an incredibly large sandwich.  I believe this feeling I've got after eating this is sometimes referred to as "the meat sweats." Anyway, the nice manager at Checkers said it's officially going on sale, tomorrow Saturday the 13th of February.  This location was equipped with the signage and recipe a day early, so I decided to take a little chance on it. Would I order it again? Yep.  Though, I might find a friend to share it with.

 I saw an ad on my Instagram page for a chocolate-covered Payday bar.  Jokingly, I took a screenshot, and posted it on my stories asking the question "Isn't this just a Baby Ruth?"  A friend responded by saying that no, a Baby Ruth is peanuts surrounding caramel and chocolate-flavored nougat; the chocolate-covered Payday is peanuts in caramel-flavored nougat, dipped in chocolate. Now, candy bars are made from a few common ingredients:  Chocolate, peanuts, nougat, and caramel.  Chocolate and nougat is something like a 3 Musketeers.  Chocolate, nougat, and caramel is something like a Milky Way.  All 4 makes a Snickers bar.  Chocolate and Peanuts is a Mr. Goodbar.  Chocolate and caramel is either a Caramello or a type of Milky Way.  Peanuts and caramel (no chocolate) is a Payday.  And, chocolate, peanuts, and caramel led to the confusion that took me down the road to writing this article in the first place. I did what any sane person w...

From the McDonald's website, the Travis Scott combo is as follows: Quarter Pounder®* with Cheese, plus lettuce and bacon. Medium Fries with BBQ Sauce for dipping. Ice-cold Sprite. Get all of Cactus Jack’s favorites for just $6.* $6 isn't bad in 2020 bucks at McDonald's.  I was intrigued, when I pulled up to the drive-through lane, and saw that price!  A normal QPC meal rings out at about $8, so if thriftiness is your thing, you can pick off the bacon and lettuce from the Travis Scott burger! Now, I have no idea who Travis Scott is.  I'm aware that he's some kind of pop culture personality, probably from The Internet, and in my headcanon, he's a videogame streamer.  Second guess would be a Soundcloud mumble-rapper, but I honestly have no idea.  Point is, I'm old and out of touch. First bite of the burger brought about a severe crunch - McDonald's fried the crap out of the bacon, to the point where it felt like a crunchy tortilla shell.  The lettuce was a ...