This matchup finalizes the Final Four, as a classy Italian joint that is supremely underrated (aka Villa Nova) squares off against Gumbo House, a down home southern joint in my neck of the woods. Who wins this vaunted matchup? Check it below.
Villa Nova: This hidden restaurant off International and Arctic stays fairly busy thanks to a few simple truths: great food and great service. While other places may get more rep, Villa Nova goes back to the basics and just makes their meals a great value by loading up on food, giving you a diverse menu to choose from (my favorites: their spinach side, the Tournedos Bolognese entree, the Minestrone, and their calamari), and gives you service that is genuine, friendly and fast. It's like "The Secret" from Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball...it's a simple recipe for success yet a lot of restaurants choose to avoid it.
However, I must note: my most recent experience was not an exceptional one. It was fairly tasty but mitigated my strong feelings from early rounds.
Gumbo House: As I recently said, this place quickly went from a spot I passed often and contemplated eating at to being one of my go-to lunch spots. It even earned the vaunted "birthday restaurant" spot in 2009, which in itself is a hell of a thing. They do it with friendly service, delicious and varied food, a quaint setup, good prices, and awesome proximity to me. It's one of my favorite places in town and definitely one of the most vastly underrated ones, even if it is pretty damn bad for you.
But why must something so bad for me be so damn good. C'est la vie...you only live once. Might as well make the most of it.
The Showdown: Gumbo House...Villa Nova...two restaurants that subscribe to the secret of good restauranteering (made up word?) manage to face off for the last spot in the Final Four. While they're both incredible, the winner has to be the one that is more consistent and the one that I've most recently had great experiences. That means Gumbo House takes it in a close one, winning me over with their metronome like gloriousness.
General Bracket #2 Winner: Gumbo House
Showing posts with label Villa Nova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Villa Nova. Show all posts
General Bracket #2 (Round 2): (1) Lucky Wishbone vs. (4) Villa Nova PLUS (6) Tommy's Burger Stop vs. (2) Gumbo House
Today's matchups pits two of my long time favorites against each other (Lucky Wishbone and Villa Nova) while two recent favorites in Tommy's Burger Stop and Gumbo House square off in a throwdown of deliciousness. The real tourney may be resting but I'm not. This is the last matchup before the Elite 8! Let's see who moves on.
Matchup #1
Lucky Wishbone: Lucky Wishbone is a phenomenal performer and has been for a long time, but is it a restaurant that peaked early in the tournament and may not have anything left for their round two matchup (sort of like Pitt getting beat by Xavier)? Well, it is a premium lunch and dinner spot still just because of the tried and true fried chicken, burgers, fries and milkshake combination. Yet, earlier in my life a week would rarely pass by without me eating there. Now? I go months without it. I'm not sure if their recipe has diminished or perhaps my tastes have moved on a bit, but I don't love it as much as I used to.
Villa Nova: This place was looking like an absolute sure shot for the Final Four until a recent performance. While Villa Nova has long excelled in secrecy due to its exceptional blend of tasty food, decent prices (for what you get), and great atmosphere and service, my experience this past weekend was perhaps...less of quality than I'm used to.
Two of the staples that I'm used to loving in my experience (the Minestrone and the Calamari) were less flavorful and more generic than I was used to (or perhaps just remembered), and this was a damper on the equation. Still, the entree of Tournedos Bolegnese was superb and my friend Joanne really enjoyed her Veal entree. That is without mentioning absolutely phenomenal service (including the waitress bringing us a special garlic topping for our bread). It was a bit up and down, but to be fair, I had eaten lunch late in the day and that may have affected it.
The Showdown: In the tourney, all it takes is one bad experience for a good team to get knocked out in the tourney. Villa Nova is not that team, as they are still a very strong contender even with the recent mediocre experience. Lucky Wishbone is still very good and holds a very special place in my heart, but I genuinely think Villa Nova is just a better place to eat. At least Villa Nova made it out of the second round iny my tourney.
Matchup #2
Tommy's Burger Stop: There's a lot of credibility to be thrown towards a place that has the best burger in town in my book. I mean, I'm a burger guy. I love them in any way: Aloha Burgers, Bacon Burgers, double pattie, triple pattie, hell, I even love the Garbage Grinder in Cooper Landing (it's loaded with ham, bacon, a fried egg and all kinds of other stuff). Burger me and I'm a happy man.
I've also heard their poboys and their philly cheesesteaks are good, but I cannot corroborate that with my own sentiment. I've just never had one. Still, the burger is perhaps enough, even if the service is pretty much standoffish but semi-fast and the sides are not perfect in any way.
Gumbo House: Service with a smile, a really nice mix of southern foods (poboys, gumbo, jambalaya, catfish and red beans), beer (BEER!), and a great and entertaining location make this place a personal favorite. Really, when I recount my experiences there, perhaps the only real negatives tie into the fact that people are sometimes jerks in the winter and leave the door open for way too long. Outside of that, it comes up roses for this quaint and delicious joint.
The Showdown: As much as I love my burgers, Gumbo House is just top to bottom a better establishment. I've never had a bad experience there and the people who run it are just outstanding. Plus, the food is awesome. For my birthday last year, my celebratory lunch took place here. That's how you know it's good. So it's Villa Nova vs. Gumbo House to decide this bracket!
Matchup #1
Lucky Wishbone: Lucky Wishbone is a phenomenal performer and has been for a long time, but is it a restaurant that peaked early in the tournament and may not have anything left for their round two matchup (sort of like Pitt getting beat by Xavier)? Well, it is a premium lunch and dinner spot still just because of the tried and true fried chicken, burgers, fries and milkshake combination. Yet, earlier in my life a week would rarely pass by without me eating there. Now? I go months without it. I'm not sure if their recipe has diminished or perhaps my tastes have moved on a bit, but I don't love it as much as I used to.
Villa Nova: This place was looking like an absolute sure shot for the Final Four until a recent performance. While Villa Nova has long excelled in secrecy due to its exceptional blend of tasty food, decent prices (for what you get), and great atmosphere and service, my experience this past weekend was perhaps...less of quality than I'm used to.
Two of the staples that I'm used to loving in my experience (the Minestrone and the Calamari) were less flavorful and more generic than I was used to (or perhaps just remembered), and this was a damper on the equation. Still, the entree of Tournedos Bolegnese was superb and my friend Joanne really enjoyed her Veal entree. That is without mentioning absolutely phenomenal service (including the waitress bringing us a special garlic topping for our bread). It was a bit up and down, but to be fair, I had eaten lunch late in the day and that may have affected it.
The Showdown: In the tourney, all it takes is one bad experience for a good team to get knocked out in the tourney. Villa Nova is not that team, as they are still a very strong contender even with the recent mediocre experience. Lucky Wishbone is still very good and holds a very special place in my heart, but I genuinely think Villa Nova is just a better place to eat. At least Villa Nova made it out of the second round iny my tourney.
Matchup #2
Tommy's Burger Stop: There's a lot of credibility to be thrown towards a place that has the best burger in town in my book. I mean, I'm a burger guy. I love them in any way: Aloha Burgers, Bacon Burgers, double pattie, triple pattie, hell, I even love the Garbage Grinder in Cooper Landing (it's loaded with ham, bacon, a fried egg and all kinds of other stuff). Burger me and I'm a happy man.
I've also heard their poboys and their philly cheesesteaks are good, but I cannot corroborate that with my own sentiment. I've just never had one. Still, the burger is perhaps enough, even if the service is pretty much standoffish but semi-fast and the sides are not perfect in any way.
Gumbo House: Service with a smile, a really nice mix of southern foods (poboys, gumbo, jambalaya, catfish and red beans), beer (BEER!), and a great and entertaining location make this place a personal favorite. Really, when I recount my experiences there, perhaps the only real negatives tie into the fact that people are sometimes jerks in the winter and leave the door open for way too long. Outside of that, it comes up roses for this quaint and delicious joint.
The Showdown: As much as I love my burgers, Gumbo House is just top to bottom a better establishment. I've never had a bad experience there and the people who run it are just outstanding. Plus, the food is awesome. For my birthday last year, my celebratory lunch took place here. That's how you know it's good. So it's Villa Nova vs. Gumbo House to decide this bracket!
General Bracket #2: (4) Villa Nova vs. (5) New Cauldron
This matchup is about as disparate as two you can get. You have Villa Nova, an Italian restaurant ideal for big group togethers or dates, and then you have New Cauldron, a forgotten restaurant that is uniformly awesome and oddly charming. Two restaurants that are easily forgotten in the mix of restaurants across the city, and two that should never be forgotten.
Villa Nova: Villa Nova...oh how I love you. I've went here with my family, I've went here with friends, I've taken dates here...you name it. This place is a remarkably charming place that serves some of the best Italian food and steaks in town, and it has an incredible wine selection. I mean, this place is good. That's right...it deserves bolding.
Every experience I've had there has been transcendant, always standing out for one reason or another. In fact, the last time I went there was just with my mom and I could not decide what wine I wanted. Instead of just telling me about what they were, the waitress walked me through the menu, helped me whittle it down to three, then basically poured me three full glasses and said "pick your favorite and we'll go from there." She charged me for exactly zero of them. If I did that at Marx Brothers the waitress would likely accuse me of theft and I'd probably end up in jail.
The service and atmosphere are insurmountably impressive to me, reaching the peak of those categories in this competition for me. The food is excellent...in short...I love this place. If only it wasn't in the most random and sketchy location ever.
New Cauldron: This is my sneaky favorite lunch spot. My mom and I have been coming here for years, and we've went from eating pretty much entirely by ourselves when we started to eating in a packed restaurant. The difference between now and 2002 is insane, as every lunch day is now packed. It's totally worth it too, because they have some incredible food that is also often quite healthy. My favorite dish is their teriyaki chicken plate that comes with brown rice and steamed broccoli - really healthy, really tasty, and moderately priced.
They also feature one of the best Club House sandwiches I have ever eaten. Scratch that, it is the best I have ever eaten. While it should come with a complimentary replacement heart, it is epic in its deliciousness. Their salads are almost enormous and dense with all of the good things you want in them, and perhaps the most "worth it" salads you will ever find.
Not only are those positives huge, but they also have some of the most personable service ever. Our waitress doesn't give us menus, comes by and confirms our meals (we have a few rotating choices), and then she hooks us up shortly thereafter. It works like clockwork. It's pretty incredible.
The Showdown: Two restaurants with very few negatives and tons of huge positives, militant followings, and oddly poor locations. These are as close of competitors as you can get. However, here is where the difference is: there is simply more potential for delicious and more options from Villa Nova. They both do what they do about as well as anyone does in town, but when you get down to it the 'Nova comes out on top in a squeaker like this past week's West Virginia/Cincinnati game.
Villa Nova: Villa Nova...oh how I love you. I've went here with my family, I've went here with friends, I've taken dates here...you name it. This place is a remarkably charming place that serves some of the best Italian food and steaks in town, and it has an incredible wine selection. I mean, this place is good. That's right...it deserves bolding.
Every experience I've had there has been transcendant, always standing out for one reason or another. In fact, the last time I went there was just with my mom and I could not decide what wine I wanted. Instead of just telling me about what they were, the waitress walked me through the menu, helped me whittle it down to three, then basically poured me three full glasses and said "pick your favorite and we'll go from there." She charged me for exactly zero of them. If I did that at Marx Brothers the waitress would likely accuse me of theft and I'd probably end up in jail.
The service and atmosphere are insurmountably impressive to me, reaching the peak of those categories in this competition for me. The food is excellent...in short...I love this place. If only it wasn't in the most random and sketchy location ever.
New Cauldron: This is my sneaky favorite lunch spot. My mom and I have been coming here for years, and we've went from eating pretty much entirely by ourselves when we started to eating in a packed restaurant. The difference between now and 2002 is insane, as every lunch day is now packed. It's totally worth it too, because they have some incredible food that is also often quite healthy. My favorite dish is their teriyaki chicken plate that comes with brown rice and steamed broccoli - really healthy, really tasty, and moderately priced.
They also feature one of the best Club House sandwiches I have ever eaten. Scratch that, it is the best I have ever eaten. While it should come with a complimentary replacement heart, it is epic in its deliciousness. Their salads are almost enormous and dense with all of the good things you want in them, and perhaps the most "worth it" salads you will ever find.
Not only are those positives huge, but they also have some of the most personable service ever. Our waitress doesn't give us menus, comes by and confirms our meals (we have a few rotating choices), and then she hooks us up shortly thereafter. It works like clockwork. It's pretty incredible.
The Showdown: Two restaurants with very few negatives and tons of huge positives, militant followings, and oddly poor locations. These are as close of competitors as you can get. However, here is where the difference is: there is simply more potential for delicious and more options from Villa Nova. They both do what they do about as well as anyone does in town, but when you get down to it the 'Nova comes out on top in a squeaker like this past week's West Virginia/Cincinnati game.
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