I have had my Big Bad Breakfast and my catfish dinner from Taylor’s, so now it is time to bring you  what I drove 575 miles for; Game Day at the Grove. I had always heard that tailgating was legendary in the Grove and after this past weekend, I can see why.

Let me start by explaining what the Grove is. It is a this large green space on the Ole Miss campus that transforms overnight into a tent city. Years ago people would bring their cars out onto the Grove and tailgate there, but these days there are some strict rules if you want to party on the grove. I arrived Friday and was able to capture the Grove before it was transformed.

You can’t set up your tent until 10pm on Friday night. It is a first come first served on where to place your tent.

After leaving Friday, I really had no idea what to expect the following day.

Over night a sea of red, white, and blue tents had filled the once wide open green space. On Friday I could not distinguish any traffic lanes or sense of organization to the Grove, but on Saturday morning the complete opposite existed. There were clear walking lanes between the tents. Anything that was not between spray painted lanes was fair game to be occupied by a tent. I arrived to the grove around 8:45 in the morning. Even though it was 5 hours prior to kickoff there were plenty of people already setting up their tents.

Tailgating in the Grove is not just a simple tailgate. Tents in the Grove are equipped with all the comforts of home. Most have TVs hooked up to Direct TV with a dozen or so lawn chairs surrounding them. There are large picnic tables decorated with fresh flowers and beautiful table settings. This wins the award for the coolest tent that I came across.

The building is a replica of the Lyceum ( a famous building on the Ole Miss campus). This TV cabinet is not only beautiful, but incredibly practical. Other than the obvious of watching 4 separate games at once, those pillars each contain 3 gallons of your choice of beverage. I thought this was incredibly creative!

A tent would not be complete without food! The food at Ole Miss is not your typical tailgating fare.

There are no open flames, gasoline, or propane allowed in the Grove. This eliminates the option of cooking burgers, brats, hot dogs or any other grilled item that you would normally find at a tailgate. What most people end up doing is getting their food catered or making it at home and bringing it to the tailgate. If you go the catered route, you can pick it up right at the game.

Whether home made or catered,I kept seeing the same food items appear in these tents. Here is what I saw.

Fruit plates, Pimento cheese sandwiches…

Chips and Salsa, Pasta Salad, Sandwiches… Watermelon…

Ole miss themed baked goods… But the most interesting thing that I tried was…

This crunchy okra. Don’t let this fool you. This okra might look normal, but it is crunchy like a potato chip. I am assuming it is somehow baked and then maybe fried? I am not sure what they did to create it,but what ever it was wow, it was awesome! You bite into it and you get this completely unexpected potato chip texture and consistency. Definitely worth a try.

Around 11 am the Grove began to take on new life.

People started flooding the Grove. This is I when I really noticed another unique aspect to the Grove. The “dress code”. The Grove is more than just a tailgate. It is a huge social event, and people dress for the occasion. I will start with the ladies fashions first.

Yes girls break out the sundresses. I have never seen this at a tailgate before…

But there are no complaints here. When wearing a dress you must have the appropriate foot wear…

Cowboy boots and  stilettos were two very common choices…

For the guys the shirts had a collar and sorority stickers on them. Around that collar there was often seen a tie…

The red and navy striped one was quite common, or you could go…

The bowtie route. Another common wardrobe choice was anything seersucker…

The Elvis guy did not get the memo about the dress code, but I will give him runner up in the best dressed category. The winner of the best dressed goes to…

The full seersucker suit, bow tie, and metallic aviators. I saw a few people wearing this, and must say I was I impressed.

About two and a half hours before kick off, I was able to take part in a very cool Ole Miss tradition. The Walk of Champions.

The Walk of Champions is a brick pathway that runs directly through the Grove. 2 and a half hours before game time the team walks down it on their way to the stadium. Here is what the walk looked like on Friday.

And now 23 hours later it looked like this.

Here is what it looked like as the team walked down lead by Coach Nutt…

After the players walked down, the crowed erupted in the Hotty Toddy cheer..

Are you ready?
Hell yes! Damn Right!
Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty
Who the hell are we, Hey!
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
OLE MISS BY DAMN!

I lost count of how many time I heard this throughout the afternoon. When one person would break out “Are you ready?” I knew what I was going to hear next.

After the walk the tailgate was in full swing…

2:30 was the kickoff for the Rebels against Jacksonville State. With everyone leaving the Grove to head to the game…

That was my signal that I was done for the day, but I couldn’t leave the Grove without a picture with

Colonel Reb.

After this experience at the Grove I definitely see why it is always rated in the top of best places to tailgate lists. The Grove is a beautiful area and the Ole Miss fans are incredibly friendly and inviting. I would like to thanks everyone who let me participate in your September 4th tailgate. I realize that the Grove transforms to another level during an SEC game, and after this experience I will be back one day to see the Grove at its height.

This weekend I am headed to Madison, WI, to my alma mater and the second stop on the tour!

I can’t imagine a restaurant name more enticing than Big Bad Breakfast. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and the adjectives big and bad being used to describe it trigger my curiosity even further. Combine that with the restaurant’s logo including a pig and the fact that the founder is a James Beard winning chef, I think it is obvious to see why I had to give this place a try.

Big Bad Breakfast is located in a shopping mall on North Lamar street. It might not look like much from the outside, but once you walk inside the smells will change your mind. My only problem with BBB’s ( I am going to abbreviate Big Bad Breakfast) menu was that there were several things I wanted to order. I knew that I wanted a sandwich, so that limited my selections, or o so I thought.  It was an extremely tough decision between the Elvis (Peanut Butter, Bananas, Big Bad Breakfast Bacon, and Regular Mayonnaise griddle fried and served on White or Wheat), the  Cathead (Scratch-made buttermilk biscuit with choice of bacon, patty sausage, andouille, country ham or chicken; slice of cheddar; and grits or home fries) and the With Signs Follow (THE breakfast sandwich on white or wheat; choice of one egg; bacon, patty sausage, country ham or andouille; dressed with lettuce, tomato, and our Tabasco Mayonnaise served with grits or home fries)

The big winner was….

The With Signs Follow. I decided to go with a scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, and andouille. They cure all of their own meats, so it was tough to not get my first love of bacon, but I figured being in Mississippi  it wouldn’t hurt to spice it up and try the andouille. ( sorry I couldn’t resist the spice it up and andouille joke attempt).

This sandwich definitely lived up to the big and bad of the restaurants name. I usually eat my breakfast sandwiches on a biscuit, so toasted bread was a nice change. I ate this at about 11:30 in the morning so I was not quite in the biscuit mood. I loved the spice and heat form the Tabasco mayonnaise and andouille. How do you improve on this? Well serve it with this…

Warm buttery grits. I love grits. Grits all by themselves are bland and not that great, but when you add butter and seasonings ( there is probably some type of dairy in them as well) you create a creamy rich dish that will leave you full for hours. After this big and bad breakfast I was full until my visit to Taylor Grocery.

BBB definitely lived up to my expectations. This is the last post of what I ate while in Oxford. Tomorrow I will bring you what I discovered while tailgating at The Grove.

I have had a long time to think about this post. 158 days to be exact. That is the amount of time between my first trip to Taylor Grocery and actually getting to eat at Taylor Grocery. Earlier this year, I was in Oxford and made my first attempt at eating in Taylor. Unfortunately, I arrived to this…I showed up on a Tuesday afternoon to find Taylor Grocery closed. They used to serve lunch, but now they only serve dinner on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. I was pretty disappointed that on my initial trip I was unable to try their famous catfish. I told myself that at some point I would be back in Oxford and make a second trip to Taylor Grocery.

About 5 months later, I did. This past weekend I kicked off the tailgate tour with Ole Miss. I arrived in Oxford on Friday with the intention of eating a catfish dinner in Taylor. My second attempt was a success. I arrived hungry and left full. The building that Taylor Grocery occupies was built in the late 1800′s. It started out as a general store, changed hands several times, added a barber shop and continued to provide the folks of Taylor with the goods they needed for farming and their daily lives. In 1977, it began serving catfish. 33 years later it is doing the same. It’s current owners Lynn and Debbie have continued on this great tradition and are two of the nicest restaurant owners I have ever met.

The porch at Taylor Grocery is a great place to sit and relax pre or post meal. There is an interesting mix of visitors like myself, Ole Miss alums in town for the game, and Taylor residents. Taylor opens at 5pm and I was there right as it opened. I had heard the line can get pretty long on Ole Miss football weekends, so I better arrive early. ( On a side note the line never looked too long, so don’t let that be a discouragement to try Taylor Grocery for the first time).

Inside the restaurant it is part museum, part restaurant. The walls are lined with the pictures of  Taylor High School’s senior classes from decades past. The walls, table cloths and pretty much any surface that you can write on bears the signatures of previous patrons. I was told that when Jimmy Buffet dined here he left a poem written on a wall. I couldn’t find it and it might be covered up by now.

If there is a common theme in this restaurant I would have to go with Ole Miss football. There are license plates on the wall from other states with Ole Miss reference. I had to show the Wisconsin one ( for those of you new to the blog I am a Wisconsin Alum). Everyone loves the Rebels here and it is a common tradition for people to dine at Taylor Grocery the Friday Night before a game. I am not one to break tradition, so dining at Taylor seems like an integral part of my Ole Miss tailgating experience. Also I think Taylor is a pretty cool name for a city.

The brown cardboard sign is my favorite artifact on the walls. Taylor Grocery is usually open on Sunday night’s, but not when former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning is playing in the Super Bowl. I love how Eli’s signature is on the sign as well.

Now to the reason I was here. The catfish. There are other options on the menu if you are not a fan of catfish, but in my opinion when in Taylor, catfish is the only option. I went with the whole catfish dinner. You can order fried or blackened, I went the fried route.

I do not order catfish often, but it is hard for me to imagine it getting better than this. The fish was served still on the bone, but the fillet seemed to peel right off. The fish was tender, juicy and had this almost buttery taste to it. It seemed to melt in your mouth. The fried cornmeal coating was seasoned perfectly and provided a nice crispy texture to each bite.

I was given two fish with my order, but I am sure I could have eaten many more.

The fish came with hushpuppies and your choice of two sides. I went with the brown rice and fried okra. These are two decisions I would gladly repeat. I was full after this meal, but there was one dessert item that I had to try.

Warm chocolate cobbler with vanilla ice cream. So what is chocolate cobbler you ask? Well I had no idea either, so I had to investigate. The best way to describe it is a cross between chocolate pudding and a brownie. On the edges it had the texture of a brownie, while in the center there was more of a chocolate pudding consistency. Served warm with vanilla ice cream. Wow amazing.

After my meal, I had a little porch time, talking with Lynn, Debbie and a few other Taylor residents.  My second trip to Taylor, MS, was a huge success. The 158 day wait was definitely worth it. I now understand why eating here is an integral part of the Ole Miss football experience. After the meal, I was full and ready for Saturday’s tailgate. If you want to check out Taylor Grocery for your self, just head down Old Taylor Road in Oxford until it dead ends. Make a left and you will see the building. It is about 15 minutes away from Oxford, but definitely worth the trip.

Later this week I will bring you what I discovered while tailgating in the Grove. On Friday, I am headed up to Madison,WI, for the second stop on the tailgate tour. Have a great end to your Labor Day weekend!

After a few days in Vegas, Brett and I finally arrived in California! Are final destination was Pasadena, but we decided to make a slight detour and visit my  old home of Santa Barbara. On our way to Santa Barbara we had to stop at Brett’s favorite California restaurant, and what I think is one of the coolest sea food restaurants in the world ( yes not just the country but the world).

If you can’t tell from the picture, I am talking about Neptune’s Net. Neptune’s is located in Malibu on Highway 1 aka the Pacific Coast Highway or the PCH for short.

Pretty awesome view! Where else can you go surf cross 2 lanes of traffic and eat some great seafood! ( I am sure there are other places where you can do this, this was just a rhetorical question). Usually you can see the ocean clearly,  but that day the marine layer was pretty heavy. In the summer, Southern California’s coast can have a very dense and think marine fog layer in the mornings. This can last until the afternoon, but it usually burns off by mid day.  Enough with the location now onto the food.

Neptune’s Net is known for their fresh seafood. The question is to steam or to fry?  Neptune’s does both with one side of the restaurant dedicated to each. I went to the grilled side, while Brett visited the steamed. Neptune’s is known for their New England Clam chowder, so naturally I had to get a cup. The chowder was quite tasty. Large chunks of potatoes and clam in a savory and creamy soup. After a long surfing session in the cold pacific this would be exactly what you need to warm up. Plus it is right across the street!

For my main entree I went with Neptune’s Fish tacos topped with pineapple slaw, avocado, cilantro and cream sauce.

After the first bite, I was asking “Taylor, why did you leave California ?”. I had forgotten how amazing the combination of fresh fish and fresh California avocado are! There is nothing like a California Avocado when in California. The Avocados you find in North Carolina fail in comparison. It is really hard to explain unless you have tried it. Fish tacos across from the Pacific Ocean, I could not think a a more perfect first meal in California. The only way to fully understand this experience is to come out to Cali and try it for yourself.

Now onto the steamed side.

Brett went with his favorite. 1lb of King Crab Legs.

Those are some big claws! Watching Brett eat these was quite the process.

Brett was quite a pro at taking apart the claws.

After wrestling the meat out of the crab, a little dip into clarified butter is necessary before eating!

About 25 minutes later, this is all that was left. Don’t like King Crab? no problem, Neptune’s also has Dungeness crab, oysters, shrimp, and clams!

Bottom line is that if you are a seafood fan, or just food fan in general, you have to make a trip to Neptune’s Net. Since 1958 it has been serving awesome fresh seafood with an amazing view! The atmosphere is unlike any other restaurant I have ever seen. It is not just eating a meal it is an experience in itself.

Next stop for Brett and I on our western road trip is my old home of Santa Barbara!  Look for those posts sporadically over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I am headed to Oxford,MS. Saturday I will be at the Grove on the Campus of Ole Miss for the first stop in the tailgate tour! Next week I will be bringing you what I find while in Oxford! Have a great Labor Day weekend.

After spending the night in Salt Lake City, Brett and I drove to Las Vegas! This was my second trip to Las Vegas this year. I went at the end of March for my old roommate’s bachelor party. That is all you will hear about that trip, but while there, I had the intention of finding a non chain restaurant to shoot. With no luck back in the spring, this July trip was going to be different. I was going to find something I write a post about.

Brett and I were incredibly excited to find frozen custard! What is Frozen custard you ask? Well let me make this clear… IT IS NOT ICE CREAM. It is so much more. I first experienced frozen custard when I was going to school in Madison. Wow, did it open new doors. So why is frozen custard different than ice cream? Well the differences lie in the ingredients and the process used to make it. The biggest difference is in the ingredients. According to the FDA Code of regulations Title 21, Chapter 1, Subpart B, Section 135.110

“Except in the case of frozen custard, ice cream contains less than 1.4 percent egg yolk solids by weight of the food, exclusive of the weight of any bulky flavoring ingredients used. Frozen custard shall contain 1.4 percent egg yolk solids by weight of the finished food”

So legally when you add 1.4 percent egg yolks you are now dealing with a frozen custard! Also during the overrun process of making ice cream (air being added to the ingredient to increase the volume) only 20% air is added to custard while ice cream can have as much as 100% added. The less air, the denser the final product.

So really custard in not the same as ice cream at all. The best way to see the differences is to try for yourself! Ok enough lecturing, time for the pictures.

To arrive at our custard, Brett and I had to travel to the end of the strip. Past the Stratosphere ( the tower with aweosme rides on top, I suggest riding them at night) we found Luv It Frozen Custard. For almost 4o years,  Luv It has been serving some pretty amazing frozen custard. I use the term frozen loosely. It was 103 degres outside when Brett and I got our custard. Nothing stayed frozen for long.

As you can see I was not the only one who was in the mood for custard that afternoon. To be able to take pictures and eat custard, Brett and I went one at a time. Brett decided to go with the Luv it Special.

Vanilla custard, fresh frozen strawberries, salted pecans and a maraschino cherry on top!

As you can see, Brett enjoyed it! Luv it has a limited daily flavor selection. They by no means have a shortage to the flavors they create, but they are limited in the number of flavors they offer each day. Vanilla and chocolate are offered every day, with an additional two special flavors. For this trip, those flavors were butter pecan and peppermint. I decided to go with a peppermint waffle cone.

Brett has served as a great hand model throughout the trip ( ice cream, pizza, french fries, more ice cream ) so I think he could handle frozen custard.

The 103 degree temperature severely decreased my shooting time. I am not necessarily complaining, it allowed me to try the delicious custard sooner!  103 is not the ideal temperature to shoot ice cream in. I enjoyed the 18 degrees in Madison much more. . The custard was smooth and velvety. No signs of ice chunks found in ice cream. Silky and smooth. If you have never tried frozen custard you have to give it a try!

Salt Lake City. It is the capital of Utah and was home to the 2002 Winter Olympics. I must admit, I only found out that it was the home of the University of Utah a few hours before Brett and I arrived. I would not say Salt Lake City qualifies as a college town, but since I was there, I had to see what great college food I could find. By the way, it was also where High School Musical was filmed. ( you can see that Brett was pretty excited to have found the high school that was used )

After Brett was done with his high school musical stop, we drove onto Utah’s campus where I immediately came across this..

This is my favorite kind of restaurant to investigate. Any place that 1. was established before I was born  2. It is named after a person ( I have had great success with this at Mickies, Cisco’s come to mind)  and 3. has a pretty sweet painting on the side. I have to go check out further.

Upon walking into Big Ed’s, my heart sank to the bottom of my chest. It was my worst nightmare as a photographer. No windows, multiple colors of neon light, tungsten light,and fluorescent. This is a text book example of what not to shoot food in.  This lighting is awesome for creating an atmosphere and setting a mood, but not shooting food.  Big Ed’s had an awesome atmosphere to it. It is one of those great dive bar college restaurants. I love going to these types of places, but not shooting in them. I usually would not post something like this because the food pictures do not meet the standard that I hold myself to, but I am making an exception because what I ordered was so good.

I listened to the menu and went with the Gawd Awful.

Hash browns, 2 scrambled eggs, Chili, Cheese, Onions and Sour cream. Based upon its looks, it is pretty easy to see where its name comes from. It looks like a big mess, but wow! It taste amazing. The chili is awesome. It has that great rich burning sensation as it travels down the back of your throat. When mixed together with the eggs and hash browns, it left me finishing the plate. I can see why they are famous for it.

Big Ed’s might have gawd awful lighting, but the Gawd Awful on the menu is definitely worth a try. The University of Utah is probably most known for its recent success on the football field. Being a huge college football fan,  I had to check out their stadium and see where they play. Utah did not make it on the tailgate tour list, but 12 awesome games did. I am leaving Thursday to head down to Ole Miss for the first game of the College Tailgate Tour! I am pretty excited as to what I will find to share with you.

Over the next few months, I will continue to bring you my western and California trip, but I will also be bringing you what I discover on the Tailgate Tour. It might seem like I am jumping all over the place, well I kind of am I will be in 11 states in 12 weeks starting this week,  and was in 10 states in 10 days at the end of July/beginning of August, but don’t worry I promise whatever I bring you, it will leave you hungry.

After a fun trip to Fort Collins, Brett and continued west towards California. On this leg of the trip we drove from Fort Collins to Salt Lake City. This required travel through the entire state of Wyoming and passing through Laramie. Laramie is home to the University of Wyoming. I love visiting college towns to see how they compare to my alma mater (the University of Wisconsin) I was excited to see how this UW stood up to mine.

After looking around campus, ( there was a large T-Rex statue outside the Geology building Brett wanted to find) Brett and I decided to have lunch at a place called the Library.

Upon walking inside the Library, I noticed something I was not expecting. The restaurant was a circle. No corners here, the room was just one large circle. I don’t think I have ever been to a restaurant that had a circular dining room. The circular room definitely carried the library theme.

Calling a sports bar the library is nothing new to me. There is a place called the library in both Chapel Hill and Madison ( I think there is one still in Madison, it might be gone now). Yes it is funny, as this shirt implies, to tell your parent’s you are at the library when in reality you are checking out girls instead of books. This Wyoming library does have something that I think makes it unique.

It brews its own beer! That is something I haven’t seen a library do. Naturally when I visit a brewery, I have to try a sample. I decided to try the Devil’s Tower Honey Ale. The Library describes this beer as a “light and mildly hopped ale is brewed with Pale, Carmel and Munich malts along with 3 pounds of Sundance. ” Honestly, I have not yet brewed my own beer, so I am not exactly an expert on what this all means, but I do know that the final product was delicious.

A beer was not all that I tried at The Library. I also had one of the more interesting burgers I have come across. I ordered the Grilled Cheese Burger. As you can see this burger’s name is a pretty good description of what is in it. The burger is sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches. The bottom bun is made with wheat bread and cheddar, while the top bun uses provolone. I decided to add a little ketchup to mine. Grilled cheese sandwiches as buns is something that I had heard of being done before, but this was the first time I had tried it. My verdict…  I like grilled cheese and I like burgers so the combining the two tasted as good as I had anticipated. This is a very basic version of a grilled cheese burger. In a later post I will share with you how to greatly improve this combination.

Next stop Salt lake city and the University of Utah.

After eating at CooperSmith’s, Beau Jo’s, Butter Cream and Walrus the night before, Brett and I still had one more meal to eat at before leaving Fort Collins. The only way to start a day is with a great breakfast right? That was our logic. For this meal our friend, and current Colorado State Student, Emily joined us. With her being a local, the decision of where to eat was in her hands.

Her place of choice…. Rainbow. Rainbow is this little house right off College Street (the main drag where all the restaurants I have eaten at so far are). It is directly across the street from the University and over the last 38 years has served up some pretty amazing food. With three diners at this meal this means 3 entrees. First up, Emily’s “Fabulous Fruit Crepe”

A crepe filled with fresh fruit and vanilla yoghurt. Sprinkled with homemade granola and topped with whipped cream. Mmm Looks delicious.Next up, Brett’s….

Banana Rum French Toast. French toast topped with grilled bananas, butter rum sauce, whipped cream and walnuts!

Mmm look at those bananas, walnuts and french toast! Brett was definitely happy with this decision. And now for my meal.

Looks messy, but usually the messiest breakfast dishes are the best! Remember the scrambler in Madison? Incredibly messy, but incredibly delicious.

Mmmm. Santa Fe Eggs. An open faced quesadilla with two eggs, avocado, onions, tomatoes, olives, green chilies, and lettuce. Topped with salsa. Very messy to eat, but like the scrambler. Amazing. I love Mexican food and I love breakfast, so naturally Mexican food for breakfast I find quite amazing.

Well thanks to Brett and Emily for dining with me, and letting me take pictures of their food before they started eating. Emily definitely made a good decision in suggesting Rainbow. Perfect fuel for Brett and I to head to Salt Lake City.

Next up what I discovered in Wyoming!

I am a huge fan of ice cream, but I am also a huge fan of cupcakes. So what is one to do when discovering both in Fort Collins? Easy, I decided to visit both.

After eating at Beau Jo’s and CooperSmith’s, Brett and I were quite full. Our stomach’s might have been full, but our eating in Fort Collins was not yet complete. I had planned to get some ice cream, but upon walking past Butter Cream Cupcakery, well you can guess what happened. I am a sucker for cupcakes. (You might remember past cupcakes in Boulder, Austin, Austin again, Knoxville, Chapel Hill, and Columbia) So naturally upon seeing Butter Cream, I had to investigate.

Every time I go to a new cupcake place, I like to try a different flavor. The winner this trip was the Peanut Butter Cookie.

With Peanut butter frosting sitting on top of a peanut butter cake base I am confident to say that if you have a peanut allergy, this little cupcake would probably be your last. I love how the icing on top has the fork marks like you traditionally see on a peanut butter cookie. Overall a very pleasant surprise!But we are not done yet…

Time for some ice cream! Well for Brett to eat ice cream. We made a deal that I would eat the cupcake if he would eat the ice cream. Also an ice cream cone in the summer is next to impossible to shoot and hold at the same time. For ice cream, we decided to go to a place called Walrus. During my Fort Collins research, I came across the name and was sold. There is something intriguing about the name that I had to investigate further.

There were quite a lot of ice cream choices at Walrus, but in the end Brett decided to go with…

SMORES! Chocolate ice cream with chunks of marshmallow and graham cracker. Mmmm I tries a sample of it and must say it tasted as good as it looks. Combine that with a white chocolate dipped waffle cone and…

you have one happy customer. I love the painting of the walrus on the side of the truck! After this experience, I will definitely trust a walrus if it offered me ice cream.

That sums up what I ate on my first night in Fort Collins. All of the places I have brought you in downtown Fort Collins are in walking distance from each other. We parked once and walked everywhere. I will address Fort Collin’s downtown area in a future summary post. Tomorrow, I will bring you what we had for breakfast the next morning (our last Fort Collins meal) and then on to Wyoming, Utah, and Las Vegas!

On a side note, I am leaving to go to Ole Miss in a week for the Tailgate Tour! If you have a tailgate down there let me know! I can not wait to check it out.

Have you ever heard of Colorado style pizza? Neither had I. A trip to Beau Jo’s in downtown Fort Collins changed that for me. One of Brett’s friends recommended that we check out Beau Jo’s while in Fort Collins. We were both in the mood for pizza, so we figured why not. The red building and large red awnings, and smell of delicious pizza made Beau Jo’s a pretty easy place to locate. Beau Jo’s had both indoor and outdoor seating. The weather and light were both awesome outside (yes the lighting of a restaurant generally dictates where I sit, my friends who join me on these trips have learned that) so Brett and I chose to dine there. As we were walking outside, I saw that their salad bar was served in bathtubs. Interesting, I had never seen a bathtub salad bar before. I was definitely intrigued. When our server brought out the water glasses my intrigue grew further. They served their beverages in mason jars! In Madison and Athens I had encountered beverages in mason jars, and these were both great experiences. With Beau Jo’s being known for its Colorado style Pizza and Mountain Pies, Brett and I knew that is what we were going to order. Little did we know that ordering was much more involved than just saying I want a mountain pie.

You may be wondering what exactly  is a Mountain pie? Well Beau Jo’s describes it as “Our Mountain Pie is The Legendary Colorado Style Pizza! A thick pie topped with mountains of ingredients and our hand rolled edge. Any leftover crust can be covered with honey and eaten as a dessert!”  Beau Jo’s also offers a Prairie Pie. The Prairie Pie has thinner crust and less ingredients.

Now that you have selected your style of pie, you have to decide what size. Well by size I should clarify. At Beau Jo’s you order by weight. Anywhere from 1Lb to 5lbs. This was the first of 4 stops for the evening, so Brett and I split the 1lb. If I was only eating there, I probbbly could have finished a 1lb by myself. After your weight (size) is selected you have to decide what type of crust you want, ingredients, cheese, and herbs on top. There are thousands of combinations you can create, or you can make your own.

Beau Jo’s also offers gluten free options to its menu. I had never seen gluten free on a pizza menu before, so I thought you might find that interesting as well. Brett and I went with one of their house combinations, The Dude Ranch. This pie consisted of Ranch dressing, chicken breast slices, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, smoked bacon, Monterey jack and smoked provolone cheeses. You are looking at the 1lb version above. Here is a cross section of the delicious pie! Look at the crust! You could eat it with the pizza or you could save it for dessert! That’s right! Save your crusts, and when you are done with the pizza add honey to the crusts and you have dessert! I have dipped my pizza crust in garlic butter or ranch before, but never gone the swet route with honey. It was awesome! I think I might have found a new way to eat my pizza crusts. Honey on pizza crusts were great, but stay tuned to see what other desserts Brett and I found in Fort Collins.