_______________________________

I guess I could be called spoiled, or I might just be lucky, but growing up in Eau Claire, WI had an advantage.  The advantage I’m talking about is Taco John’s! At any given time, I was 15 minutes from any of the three Taco John’s Eau Claire has. One is on Water Street on the UW-EC campus; the next one is near the high school on the south side of town and one in Oakwood Mall.  Even when I moved to Minnesota, I have lived 15 min away

When did I fall in love Taco John’s is beyond me? What I know I was younger than 10 years of age and I’m not complaining.  I mean, what else is better than their super nachos? Oh yeah, they have Pepsi products and Pepsi makes Mtn Dew!  And yes, I eat at Taco Bell. Sometimes I can’t get to a Taco John’s, but they also have Mtn Dew.

One of the earliest memories of having Taco John’s was at the mall. I remember my mom had something going on in the food court area, 10am hit, I was hungry, my sister and I were given two dollars. I remember this because the tacos we ordered were 95 cents each, plus 10 cents in tax and the total comes to two bucks! Maybe there was some gimmick that made me want it all the time.

My favorite item on the menu, other than the Mtn Dew, would be their super nachos. You can’t go wrong with crispy chips covered in ground beef, refried beans, guacamole, tomatoes, shredded cheese and melted cheese. Oh, and I can’t forget the olives.

I wish I could tell you where exactly I had the best super nachos in a long time, but I know it’s on the just east of the Minnesota/South Dakota border, maybe two or three exits before you reach the border on the way to Sioux Falls, SD. The location of this Taco John’s is about a mile off the highway, but it’s worth it.

This Taco John’s was old school! The inside maybe fit 30 people if they squeezed in to all of the seats, the food/kitchen area was maybe double the size of my apartment kitchen, but best of all old school things, they wrote the order down on tickets and hung them up to make. What I didn’t expect was they loaded me up not once, but twice. Once on the way to SD, once on the way back.

But to finish this post off, I can’t for the life of me remember what their sales pitch was, but in 2002/2003, I swear they had something called “The Taco Challenge.” My friends and I never quite figured out what this challenge was, but we were in Eau Claire on a Friday night. We asked what the challenge was and they didn’t know either, even with a sign on the wall.

Well, we made our own taco challenge that night. We each ordered their Six and A Pound meal. That included six hard or soft-shell tacos and a pound of Taco John’s signature Potato Oles. All we would be able to drink is one medium beverage of our choice, but no refills and we had to eat the tacos and as many Oles in 30-45 min. It was good fun that night!

I still want another taco challenge and it will happen someday… someday! I think I’ll have to take a trip to Sioux Falls and visit Frosty for this challenge!

I’ve been eating sushi (or sooshi fish  (video below)) for almost seven years and I see no signs of not eating it anytime soon. IT happened during a huge winter storm, which fell on a Friday night  March/April of 2002.  I went to hang out with one of my best friends and ex-roommate, Bonnie/Rain, because we didn’t have any indy pro-wrestling gigs that weekend. We were too lazy to cook, or didn’t know how to cook, and took a trip over to Byerly’s, an expensive grocery store.

It was after the in-store sushi chefs had left, but their remaining sushi caught my eye. No idea what kind I had, but I picked up some to try and also gross out Bonnie because she hates fish of any kind. I must have liked IT, because I’m still eating sushi today.

I don’t know when I started eating sushi on a regular basis. IT could have been later that year once I moved in, or IT could have been when I started my current job in 2003. Regardless of when it was, I was pretty much hooked, just like those fish, so the pun was intended.  I knew there were sushi restaurants around me, but I was too nervous to try anything better than grocery stores.

Don’t get me wrong, Byerly’s sushi is decent, but IT’s the fast food version of sushi. Before I mention the few sushi joints I’ve eaten at, a funny story about getting sushi from Byerly’s.  I try and eat sushi every other week while at work. Other than I like eating IT, I love grossing out my co-workers who hate raw fish or fish in general.

There was a Friday I needed to leave work early and picked up sushi earlier in the day. This prepared sushi meal was one I had never seen before. Included in my sushi container was an octopus tentacle. YES, full, not sliced and placed on the sushi itself octopus tentacle. Before I swallowed that thing down, and I wish I had picture of this, but I had it sticking out my mouth like IT was my tongue. Trust me IT was funny, but I paid the price on the way to Wisconsin. Before you ask, no, I didn’t throw up.  When eating it I could feel the suckers in my throat as I swallowed it, but that wasn’t the gross part to me. The gross part was having my stomach feel like a science experiment with vegetable oil and water. My stomach was the 2-liter container for that experiment.

I’ve also gotten my friends hooked (is there any other way to say it without a pun?) on sushi. Where I have gotten most of them hooked would be Ichiban: Minneapolis. Ichiban’s is known for their all you can eat sushi (for an hour).  They have these cool little boats that go around in the circle and the sushi chefs are in the middle of the oval seating area. The chefs are always making crab cake appetizers, seaweed salad, edamame, sushi rolls, tempura and sashimi. They ask if you would like any rolls/sashimi if you do not see them floating around. The chefs engage in conversation, are funny and you can watch them make your food upside down, due to the mirrors on the ceiling above them.

One other great thing about eating at Ichiban with me at their all you can eat sushi fish is watching me eat for that hour. I tend to go overboard, trying everything, never stopping to breath other than to drink water and count how many plates I’ve put away. My eyes bug out of my head, I start to get chipmunk cheeks as I see something come around on the cool boat that I need, or want, to try.

And now, for a video of Brandon Dicamillo of CKY/Viva La Bam trying to get people to come to Kooma in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for their lunch time special and the place “where kids eat free…!”