My Favorite Food Places in Redlands

Ok...I haven't been to that many food/drink places in Redlands, but I am so happy I found these. Thank you, Kristine, for introducing me to a la minute and The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe. I'd heard of Hangar 24 for over four years and had had their beer before, but this was my first time (3/16/15) going to the brewery!

Stop #1: Picked up our Brando pizza (Website description: "Cream Cheese, Pesto Sauce, Pepperoni, Sausage, Cashews, Angel Hair Pasta, Green Onions & Mozzarella Cheese") at The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe). Sounds weird (and this is actually not the weirdest combination of ingredients they have), but it is SO DELICIOUS.

Stop #2: Hangar 24 - We took our pizza to this great brewery.

So beautiful (my friends shared this flight):

Meanwhile, I had an Alt Bier, which I have loved for awhile (Website description: "Caramel, Toasty, and Clean. This red ale is our unique version of a northern German Alt-Bier. Enjoy silky caramel smoothness, followed by toasty, bready flavors and finished with a hint of chocolate roast. These flavors all come through in the aroma and combine in a truly unique, very clean, complex, Alt-Bier."):

One of my favorite beers ever. Very easy to drink (not hoppy or bitter at all to me)

Then I had a half pint of their Chocolate Porter...and then I wished it had been a full pint. :)  I loved it and even bought a bottle at BevMo to bring home.

Website description: "Rich and decadent. This strong porter is perfect for sipping at the end of the day or to accompany full-flavored foods. The intense, roasty flavor comes from two types of chocolate malt and raw cocoa nibs. Whole vanilla beans introduced post fermentation add complexity and enhance the dessert-like qualities of this full bodied beer."

Whoa

Stop #3: Finally, we went to a la minute, another one of my favorite food places EVER (You can see my salted caramel ice cream below and more of their menu items here:

McGillan's Old Ale House: The Oldest Irish Pub in Philly

McGillan's Old Ale House
1310 Drury Street (not Drury Lane! ha)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Website here

Went to Philly last week for a conference with my buddies/classmates and Michael, an old friend from my hometown church and undergrad. We met here for a social with other grad students. The place was very busy and had delicious hush puppies with a fairly spicy salsa thing that was surprisingly sweet but also spicy--a tad bit too spicy for me (but I still recommend it!)

I still do not feel comfortable doing beer reviews. I do not have the knowledge or experience necessary to truly evaluate or even describe them. I'm surprised I even remember this was a lager. I enjoyed it and the fact that McGillan's made it.

My lager

My hush puppies with a sweet-and-spicy salsa (cannot find a menu description online)

America's Original Pumpkin Ale & Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

I don't really know if my opinion on this is valid because I'm just starting to like beer and taste different kinds, but Melissa and Mia didn't like it either (M&M are my main pumpkin friends). All I can say is that it wasn't fun to drink, it didn't taste like pumpkin at all, and none of us finished. Sad! We tried though, really. I like it a little at first, but it had a really strong flavor that I can't describe (I still need to go beer tasting so I can figure out what phrases like "really hoppy" mean so I can use them here. I have seen TV shows comparing beer flavors, but I have to try them myself to really understand.






Anyway, we thought that this Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale tasted better, although it still did not taste like pumpkin at all. Do any pumpkin-flavored beers taste like pumpkin? If not, what the heck is the point? I probably sound like such an amateur right now...and there are probably people out there who can (or at least claim to) taste the pumpkin in both of these drinks.,

Steal the Glass at Eureka Burger! - Fresno & Redlands, CA

Steal the Glass - Every Tuesday night at both Eureka locations
Buy the weekly craft beer and keep the glass!

Eureka Burger (website here)
7775 N. Palm, # 106
Fresno, CA 93711
See some of their food here.

Redlands location:
345 Pearl Ave # 130
Redlands, CA 92374-3173

San Luis Obispo location opening November 2011 (soon!!)
1141 Chorro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Last night's (Tuesday, 8/16) beer: Sierra Nevada. Kurtis, Patrick, Desiree, and I got light beers, and Michelle got a dark one, which was actually kinda good (I'm not a dark beer person). It had maple syrup in it. Weird...but good! I need to try that again. Not sure if I actually liked it or if I was just so surprised that it tasted like maple that I thought I liked it. Perception is a crazy thing.

Last week's (Tuesday, 8/9/11) beer: Firestone (went with Patrick after hearing from Dr. G. about the Steal the Glass night at the Redlands Eureka Burger):

I liked the Sierra Nevada one better than the Firestone, but I really don't know much about beer and haven't tried many kinds. I thought that the Firestone pale ale had a weirder aftertaste. Patrick preferred the Firestone though.

I love how the drinks look against the glowing yellow at the bar:

Other weekly deals:

Dinner at Pixar Studios!!

Pixar Studios
Emeryville, CA

February 2011 - When their theme was Toy Story

<< Isn't that the coolest visitor sticker?!

I went to a conference in San Francisco in February and was fortunate enough to stay in Berkeley with Steve, one of my favorite people in the world. I've blogged about him here before. Steve's buddy works at Pixar and invited a few of us to join one of their monthly employee/employee friends & family dinners and movie showings (it wasn't a Pixar film; it was Unknown) in their theater.
What an opportunity!! I was soo so excited. I still get excited thinking about it. I also kick myself for not knowing the names or faces of the Pixar stars/employers/artists/creators. Apparently the creator of Russell, the boy scout kid in Up, was walking around (not the kid who does his voice...the adult who created him!!) and I didn't even know it.



Here's a peek inside where people were eating (note the Woody to the left lol):

Here's my food and beer (they had food buffet-style with plenty of wine, beer, soda, etc.). The food was good but greeeeaasy!! Pizza, chili, fried mushrooms, fried potatoes, etc.
But who cares? You're at Pixar!

 The employees' kitchen (should have taken more pictures!! They had loads of peanut butter, jelly, bread, milk, soy milk, olive oil, cereal, etc.):

The image they use for the women's restroom (so very appropriate...although unrelated to food):

The light turns on at night!! So cool!:

 

Picture below: You're supposed to sit in that giant chair and see what it feels like to be a toy. lol!

Crepes With Constance!

(well...and MC & KTT, but "Crepes with Constance" sounds better & made a shorter title)

Constance came over a few weeks ago and showed Minh-Chau, Kurtis, y yo how she makes crepes. She's from France, so I figured she might know something we don't? Actually, since I don't know much of anything, I was bound to learn a lot anyways. So this was way fun. I'd made crepes on my own or with previous roomies twice, but I had never used beer (to thicken them). Yumm (you can't taste the beer, in case anyone's wondering...that's something I would wonder). No recipe, by the way. It was all in her head. Basically just flour, eggs, milk, beer?











So Corrie had some trouble:

There was a star on top of the Nutella: