Chili Thai II– Windsor Colorado

February 8, 2016

Mom and I stopped in for a quick lunch on the Chinese New Year. We arrived just after noon and the place was not too full. We were seated quickly and menus were brought to our table. After a bit they came to take our drink orders I ordered a Pepsi and mom just had a water. Once our waitress was back mom ordered the Kung pao chicken ($7.25) which came with an egg roll and a cheese wonton choice of rice and choice of soup. Mom had the fried rice and egg drop soup. This time I decided to try the Szechuan Chicken ($7.25) with fried rice and hot and sour soup. I’d been here before and tried the egg drop soup and wasn’t too excited about it so I thought it try a different kind this time.

 

Shortly after this the soups arrived along with fried crunchy wontons. The soup was all right not the greatest, but I think I did like it more than the egg drop had the previous time. This hot sour soup had tofu and bamboo in it along with some red pepper flakes here and there. Before we were even done with our soups our entrées arrived on plastic trays. Once I finished my soup I started into my entrée.

 

This Szechuan Chicken had a spicy sauce with plenty of vegetables and plenty of sauce actually there was a pile of it underneath. This tasted quite good and the chicken was pretty good quality chicken and I liked all the vegetables except for maybe the red and green peppers but they were all right. The fried rice was pretty good just fried rice with egg no other vegetables or anything, but pretty good. I also like that they give you a wonton and an egg roll. There was also a squeeze bottle of sweet-and-sour sauce on the table. The wonton was good and the egg roll I thought was a very good egg roll. After I ate just about all I could eat I asked for a box. We went up to the counter and paid and were on our way. Usually you get dry rice with your leftover Chinese food, but when I ate my leftovers the next day there was so much sauce left underneath that I definitely did not have that problem.

 

Chili Thai II

http://chilithaiwindsor.com/index.php

Address: 1215 Main St, Windsor, CO 80550

 

Nordy’s BBQ – Loveland CO

2/20/2016

 For my birthday lunch this year with the godfather, I picked Nordy’s BBQ.  I have been to Nordy’s several times, but just have never gotten around to writing a review.  When we entered the restaurant at around 11:30 we were greeted right away and the godfather told them it was my birthday and asked if I get to pick a dessert, they said it’s usually a cookie with ice-cream. I’m not the biggest dessert guy but a free dessert is always nice.  So we were seated and pretty soon I ordered a pepsi and the godfather a water and then we had time to look over the menu, I had been looking at the menu all week online so I pretty much knew what I wanted, but I checked out the menu again anyways.  I did think about trying something different than I’ve had before like the brisket, but in the end I ordered the Carolina pork platter with Aunt Judy’s beans and fried okra as my two sides.  Somewhere along the line the godfather asked if the baked beans were any good, I said they were very good. The godfather ordered the smoked sausage with Aunt Judy’s beans and mac and cheese.  These platters also came with a cornbread muffin along with pickles, onions and jalapenos on the side.  After we ordered we had time to chat about sports, food and travel among other things.  But shortly thereafter our platters arrived.  

 

My pork was excellent, tender, moist and falling apart.  On the table were their 5 barbeque sauces Kansas City, Texas, Carolina mustard, Colorado wild fire and jalapeno.  And although the pork didn’t need any sauce I always like places with multiple sauces and like trying them all.  Here my favorites are the jalapeno and the Carolina mustard sauces, but they are all good.  I told the godfather that the mustard sauce was one of my favorites, so he tried it and he liked it so much that’s the only kind he used.  My sides the Aunt Judy’s beans were amazing, with plenty of meat and I think are the best beans I’ve had at any barbecue place I’ve been anywhere.  And the fried okra was alright but not too exciting.  I don’t usually like cornbread too much, but I figured I should try it and it was actually pretty good so I ate the whole muffin. 

 

The godfather very much enjoyed his smoked sausage and sides especially the Aunt Judy’s beans, which he couldn’t believe how good they were. 

  

When we were finishing up part of the staff came out singing happy birthday and delivered my free birthday dessert and as promised it was a chocolate chip cookie topped with ice-cream.  This was quite good and a perfect way to end my birthday lunch. Nordy’s has some excellent barbecue. I have had better barbecue in a few places like in Texas but not around here I haven’t.                          

  

Nordy's BBQ

Address: 4360 St Cloud Dr, Loveland, CO 80538 

Pizza Ranch Loveland Colorado

January 13, 2016

My family and I decided to visit Pizza Ranch for dinner.  Once we entered we went up to the counter and we all ordered a buffet for 9.79 and a drink for a 1.79. At Pizza Ranch they have nights for organizations to help out and get tips and part of the sales for donated to their organization. This night was a youth hockey team with the kids from the team always there to take your used plates away and get you refills on your drinks which was very nice. The salad bar was decent although it wasn’t all that big, but enough to get a pretty good salad. The potato soup I didn’t think was all that good, but it was nice and hot on a cold night.

 

The fried chicken was excellent a bit greasy but perfectly crispy and delicious. The only thing else I got off the hot food buffet was just the mashed potatoes and gravy which were good. I also tried a variety of different pizzas there was a Tuscan one that I liked and the buffalo chicken pizza was all right but overall the pizza was just okay. I didn’t make it into the desert bar. This was my second visit to Pizza Ranch and I always eat too much and neither time did I make it to the desert bar. Although the blueberry pizza looked awfully good. This place might be called Pizza Ranch, but I think their strong point is their fried chicken which I would definitely return for, but I’m not so sure if I would just for their pizza.

 

 

 

 

 

Address: 3451 Mountain Lion Dr, Loveland, CO 80537

 

Phone:(970) 619-8787

 

Website: http://www.pizzaranch.com/menus/Loveland

 

 

Dickey's Barbecue Pit - Fort Collins Colorado

January 12, 2016


A friend and I met up for lunch around 12:30. We were greeted immediately then went up to the rather high counter and checked out the menu. My friend decided to get the rib plate with waffle fries and another side which I don’t remember what it was. I ordered the one meat plate ($11) with chopped brisket along with the jalapeno beans and fried okra for my sides. We continued down the counter to where you pay and we both paid for our meals and drinks and were told the waffle fries and okra would be out soon. By the time we filled our drinks and got barbecue sauce our fries and okra arrived.

The plates were completed with a roll and some pickles and onions. I thought the brisket was all right but not the greatest although after going to Texas and having brisket down there I’m rather spoiled. The jalapeno beans were pretty good and the fried okra was just excellent and the best around here. It was perfectly crispy and plenty salty. My friend seemed to enjoy his plate very much. I think Dickey's Barbecue Pit does decent barbecue and pretty good for around here.  I still think you can get better barbecue even around here unless you just want fried okra and then definitely go here.

2721 S College Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80525

2015 Year in review

2015 was a very successful year for Let’s do lunch Northern Colorado.  It started with an enchilada inside a burrito at Palomino restaurant.

 

After that I found great burgers at Choice city butcher and Smashburger before crowning Big Al’s as my burger bracket champion.

 

 

I also had another great burrito at Doug’s day diner.

 

 

And I finished the year with Diners Drive-ins and Dives week where I visited The Lodge Sasquatch and Restaurant 415 which were both featured on Diners Drive-ins and Dives.

  

2015 was a great year for Let’s do lunch Northern Colorado but I’m hoping for an even better 2016.

Tres Margaritas - Fort Collins CO

November 23, 2015

Tres Margaritas has been in Ft. Collins for years and recently moved into were Castillion’s Mexican Restaurant used to be. I had been to the previous location a time or two.

 

  
My dad and I stopped in for lunch at around 12:30 on a Monday and the place was not very full.  We were seated quickly and brought chips and salsa quickly. 

 

 The chips were okay and the salsa was alright.  We also had our drink orders taken, we both ordered cokes.  These came in cups complete with a CSU Ram logo.

 

 

Eventually we ordered I just decided to get one of the lunch combos which was a beef taco and a cheese enchilada and dad ordered a beef chimichanga. Both of these came with rice and beans. I really didn’t think any of my food was all that good. The taco was just a taco but the meat was mixed with some kind of sauce which I didn’t care for at all. The cheese enchilada was really quite bland and the sauce didn’t help much either. The rice and beans wasn’t too exciting either. Dad wasn’t so excited about his chimichanga either. I really did not like Tres Margaritas too much and there are plenty of other Mexican restaurants around that I would much rather go to.

4010 S College Ave
Fort Collins, CO 80525

 

DDD Week: RESTAURANT 415 PART 2 – Fort Collins CO

On my second trip to restaurant 415 my dad joined me for lunch. It’s not exactly his type of place probably, but he decided to join me anyways. We got there around 1 o’clock we weren’t able to park very close so we had to walk a bit to get here. The place was pretty full but we were seated immediately at the only open table. While we’re there even more people kept coming in. It did seem like we had to wait a bit before our waitress arrived to take our drink orders but the place was pretty busy. When she was there to take our drink orders we both ordered cokes. In a few minutes she was back and we were ready to order. I decided to order the when pigs fly ($11) which was chicken and waffles. Dad got the bacon mac & cheese ($8.10) and we got a Mozzarella Fritti ($11) to share. I had never had chicken and waffles before but a friend recommended it here and it seems like it should be a good thing. After we ordered we waited for a while, but not an outrageous amount of time and our food arrived.

I wasn’t exactly sure why was called when pigs fly, although I should’ve since the menu said bacon time 100% real maple syrup, but I found out as soon as I got to the maple syrup and figured out there were pieces of bacon in it. This made the maple syrup even better than maple syrup already is. I thought this was real good on the waffle which was orange infused and very good. The fried chicken I was expecting pieces of fried chicken with bones but these were just fried chicken strips which is all right to do just different than I expected. These chicken strips were all right but seemed a little dry and the breading seemed extra salty in some places, but mostly tasted pretty good. Even though the chicken was a bit dry the maple syrup helped that out quite a bit. Overall I thought this was really quite good but could have been a little bit better.

 

The Mozzarella Fritti was basically like mozzarella sticks but they were square.  The plate came with four of them and was served with marinara. These were also pretty good and better than most mozzarella stick type things and the marinara was pretty good as well but seemed like there was kind of too much basil on top for me anyways. Dad’s mac & cheese was covered in a ton of bacon which he thought was really good and the mac & cheese under it was really good too. Dad said it was the best bacon mac & cheese he’s ever had.

 Although the menu here is a bit different there is a lot of good stuff in there including chicken and waffles and bacon mac & cheese as well as plenty of other things. If my dad was rating the restaurant he would say would say a five for the bacon Mac and cheese but a combination of all things I ate in my two trips I would give it four stars.

 

  

RESTAURANT 415

415 S Mason St Fort Collins, CO 80524