Future of fast food?
Burger Kings very first Whopper Bar opened in Universal CityWalk in Orlando today. They have plans for 6 more this year in places like Munich, Los Angeles, New York and Singapore. They predict they could eventually open as many as 500 of these kind of locations around the globe in everywhere from stadiums to cruise ships.
Would you rather have it your way at their bar instead of their typical restaurant?Labels: Food
Move over Stevie, Spike is here
While I was an undergrad student at Northeastern University, I have been known to frequent a pizza place called Little Stevie's located at 1114 Boylston Street. This restaurant opened in 1968 and for a post 21 year old college student it didn't get any better than this place - Open Till 3, Huge Slices of Pizza [think a 1/4 of a typical pie] and it was really cheap at $1.25 per slice. I can't tell you how many late nights I would end up there picking up my post-barfest/pre-bedtime slice. I have only been to Stevie's during the daytime once and I found out on that trip the pizza actually wasn't that good and to this day I haven't been back.
Well don't despair, the neighborhood has another option.
Spike's Junkyard Dogs located at 1076 Boylston Street is a newer establishment that looks to take a bite out of Stevie's late night business. I wandered into Spike's Saturday night around 1 am for some food to feed that inner hunger that you know you should ignore but the idea of something fried and salty is just too enticing. Can't tell you how good a chili dog and french fries are at that hour of the morning. The place was packed with co-eds whom all seemed to have recently left a local watering hole which is about what you would expect at the hour of the morning in Boston.
So if your in the city and looking for something quick [and pretty tasty] I say check 'em out. And if you think you can consume 6 or more in one sitting, you can get your face up on the wall of fame. Yum.
Labels: Food
Hamburger: The Beginnings
Recently there has been increased tension between the states of Connecticut and Texas over the birthplace of the hamburger. Louis' Lunch of New Haven, Connecticut claims to have invented the hamburger when they invented the quick businessman's meal which consisted of a broiled beef patty between two pieces of white toast for a busy office worker in 1900. McDonald's historians have researched the problem and claim the inventor was an unknown food vendor at the St. Louis Fair in 1904." This food vendor is most likely Fletcher Davis (1864-1941), also known as "Old Dave" or "Uncle Fletch". Fletcher operated a café at 115 Tyler Street on the north side of the courthouse square in Athens, Texas in the late 1880s.
Two other locations are staking some claim to the origin's of the modern hamburger. Hamburg, New York, also claims credit for the invention of the hamburger. This village celebrates a "Burgerfest" every summer, held to mark the anniversary of the hamburger's creation at the Erie County Fair in 1885 by the Menches brothers. The other claim comes from Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin. In 1885, he tried selling fried meatballs at the Outagamie County fair, but customers found them hard to eat while walking around the fair, so Nagreen flattened it and made it into a sandwich he called the "hamburger".
The word "Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, Germany when it was common to put a piece of roast pork into a roll, called Rundstück warm. The origin of the modern hamburger is theorized to be based on the meatscraps, similar to modern ground beef that were served on a Brötchen - a round bun-shaped piece of bread. It is said that German immigrants then took the Hamburger to the United States, where the bun was added, creating the modern Hamburger.
If one was to base the description of a hamburger on ground beef on a bun, as the German's did, then maybe the invention of the modern bun could be the true origin of our beloved hamburger. The hamburger bun is said to have been invented in 1916 by Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, who went on to co-found White Castle in 1921.
Well to who ever invented the hamburger, I say thank you [and don't forget the French Fries whose history is about as clear as the hamburger].
Labels: Food
