Happy New Year!!! I want to take this time to glimpse back at some memorable GrubGrade-worthy moments from 2010. Not really a recap of everything covered on GrubGrade, but a a year in review with pictures and a few words of memorable grub I’ve come across. Lists are fun. In no particular order…
1.) The Spinach Artichoke Dip at Julliano’s in Laytonsville, Maryland. Here’s what I had to say:
…some of the best Spinach Artichoke Dip ($7.00) I’ve had in a while. I think I deserve the right to know my spinach artichoke dip because I seem to order it at every restaurant that has it on their appetizer/starter menu. A lot of restaurants serve their dip with chips. Julliano’s served up their dip with small toasted and buttered slices of Italian bread sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I would eat this toast alone for sure but of course there is the dip. This was fresh stuff and not overly cheesy. A delicious blend of spinach and diced artichoke hearts served hot and garnished with a little shaved Parmesan. Wow this stuff was good.
2.) The 14″ sub called “Danny’s Favorite” at Wegman’s. Genoa salami, capicola, spicy ham, provolone, sweet peppers, onions, lettuce, tomato and a light brush of mayo on a soft sub roll. $7.99 and built for 2… or one Ryan. I love Wegman’s and I’m happy my town is putting the finishing touches on one of our own. Spring 2011 
3.) Tim Horton’s Bagel Breakfast Sandwiches… you make me want to move north. No Tim Horton’s in Maryland, but a little traveling to the north and west will have me back for breakfast once again. It’s not usual to find lettuce and tomato on a breakfast sandwich, but it works.
4.) Yuck, that time back in February when we got like 3 feet of snow in northwest Maryland was pretty miserable. During this “Blizzard of 2010″, I made myself a quesadilla and it was glorious for some reason. I think being stranded for a few days without many grubbing options made me delirious and in fact this homemade quesadilla was most likely just super mediocre.
…and how’s this for procrastination? Yup, that’s my car. 
5.) “The Mess” sandwich from Towne Deli in Staten Island, New York. One of the most miserable, rainy-weather weekends to take a road trip with my buddy Mitch, was capped off with a stellar sandwich. A flooded Starland Ballroom and a canceled Cursive/Alkaline Trio show, but on day 3… $8.25 well spent.
The Mess consists of salami, cappicola, mortadella, turkey, roast beef, peppered ham, provolone, lettuce, tomato, oil, vinegar & spices. This massive sandwich seemed to be over a foot long and completely stuffed with the Boar’s Head Brand. The bread was fantastic too. Yeah it’s called The Mess but the bread contained this beast easily. Quality stuff.
6.) Ugh, that time one of my favorite new grub spots closed down. I just so happened to visit Caballo Viejo on their last day, I had no idea until I got there. It had been a good 6 weeks since my last visit and I had no idea this upstart Latin grill was close to shutting down. It’s a shame, they had amazing Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken and some of the best guacamole around. What took over this space? A Jerry’s Subs and Pizza Like we need another in this town? A town of like 100 pizza joints? I’m shaking my fist to the heavens and asking… Why!?
7.) Ah yes, that time I schooled those punk kids at Mr. Yogato and taught them a thing or two about 8-bit gaming.
What’s better than a creamy frozen yogurt topped with fresh blackberries? How about some nostalgia thrown at me in the form of a Nintendo Entertainment System. Mr. Yogato, in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, might be my new favorite spot. Sure the area is littered with bars and restaurants but none of these places can match the simple, charming qualities of Mr. Yogato.
8.) Meeting Jerry from Ben & Jerry’s… Coming face to face with the VERMONSTER… and creating my own Ben & Jerry’s flavor which I named “Dark Side of the Fudgy Moon”. Vermont was a fun time.
That's me side by side with ice cream icon Jerry Greenfield!
With help from Wiki: The Vermonster can only be found in the “Scoop Shop” in the Ben & Jerry’s factory. Ingredients: 20 scoops of ice cream, 1 fudge brownie, 4 bananas, 3 cookies. 4 toppings (sprinkles, M&M’s, graham crackers etc.) (customers choice), 4 ladles of hot fudge, whipped cream, marshmallows. Nutritional information: 14,000 calories 500 grams of fat Price: varies, about $35.00
My creation... Dark Side of the Fudgy Moon: Vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate covered almonds, dark chocolate pieces and a chocolate fudge swirl
9.) 6 different types of ketchup at Ketchup. The food here really isn’t worth the price, but it was cool to get 6 choices of ketchup for my fries. Gimmicky yes, but still memorable. I’d like to see a place called Salsa and have a ton of salsa choices for your chips…. now that would be cool.
10.) Best. Day. Ever… encountering the coolest dude and staring in awe at his socks, and then finding out that the Wawa down the street has like every kind of Black Forest gummi. June 24th 2010 was a good day indeed.
11.) The GrubGrade mention in Woman’s World was kinda funny. Made mom proud. Gotta start somewhere. Now I’m craving an ice cream sandwich.
12.) Encountering this beauty at the 4th of July barbecue. Looked too good to eat… but we definitely ate it.
13.) Leaving half of this pizza behind because my mind was on the Spoon/Arcade Fire concert happening in the next hour. That was the first time I could remember ever forgetting my “take-home” box. It was some good pizza too.
There’s a first time for everything and last night I left 4 slices of Grilled Barbecued Pizza from The Tomato Palace in a take-home box at the table.
14.) Friscos Grilled Wings ($7.95) are way hot even when you opt for “mild”. The description says “mildly spicy”… yeah right. I’m a big fan of aka Friscos, but I wish they had a hot sauce that was milder than mild.
…No frying here… These are twelve of the plumpest, juiciest wings and drums you have ever seen. They are mildly spicy and served with our creamy WICKED WOLF dipping sauce.
15.) The “Made from Scratch” Hardee’s Biscuit. Freshly baked daily, and I could tell. I love biscuits and I really love Hardee’s biscuits. Oh and 2010 was the first I ever had one.
16.) Sliders at MUSE in Cleveland. Just look at that plate of mini burgers! I’m actually getting angry looking at them because I want some now, but all I have is a picture to taunt me.
17.) My Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich Creations. My favorite review post of 2010 was the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich. I’d like to have a poster-sized replica of the picture below.
18.) The day I discovered Michele’s Pumpkin Spice Granola… The “Pumpkin Spice” variety is available all year and goes so well with vanilla Greek yogurt. Michele’s Granola is based in Maryland and distributes to a small handful of neighboring states. I recommend you find some!
19.) McRib is Back! Aaaaannd, it’s meh, nothing special. But it made a brief nationwide return, and that was pretty newsworthy. I got excited for it for some reason… I bought into the hype I guess. I reviewed the McRib and will probably give it another taste in 2020.
20.) And finally, finding this old picture of me and seeing where my obsessions all began… Have a good 2011 everyone and thanks for reading GrubGrade!
