Waffle House
Hundreds of locations in the US
106 W Terra Lane (Location visited)
O’Fallon, MO
It was my last day in Jefferson City and had to drive to St. Louis to catch my flight back to Canada. Since I was not sure of how light/heavy the traffic would be, I chose to leave relatively early (as early as 6:00 a.m.). I could have had breakfast at the hotel (which was “free”); however, you get what you pay for. Well, it was not bad; it was not good either… Anyway, this post is not about the hotel’s “free” continental breakfast but Waffle House, as the name suggests, a restaurant where waffle is the supposedly the main item. Between Jefferson City and St. Louis I think I saw at least 4 locations. But, every time there was a sign telling me one was coming, I missed that exit (and I was driving on the rightmost lane the whole time!). Fortunately (?), when I was close to St. Louis, traffic was starting to get heavy and, well, finally took the correct exit, hehehehe.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Chain Restaurant,
Jefferson City
Bandana’s Bar-B-Q
Several locations in the MidWest US
2336 Missouri Boulevard (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO
Last week, when I wrote about “local” dishes, I mentioned about St Louis style pizza. Today’s post is about the other “local” specialty, in this case, barbecue. I won’t delve into the hundred of different forms, variations and what not. Rather, I will take what I was served and go from there. However, there goes the question: since it is supposed to be a “local” specialty, which restaurant? Since I had only one shot, I had to choose “carefully”… Ha! I was driving around without really a clue of where to go (but somehow I knew I was going in the “correct” direction), when I ended up in Bandana’s BBQ.
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Jefferson City
Hardee’s
Multiple locations in the world
3601 Country Club Drive (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO
When I was around 12 or 13 years old, a Hardee’s opened in Panama. Of course, like any new restaurant, it created some hype and a lot of people flocked there in the first couple of weeks. I was able to tag along with a neighbour, since he was taking his family there, and I still remember their burgers loaded with some “strange”, crunchy ingredient in it. That ingredient is bacon. While I am used to eating pork rind (not to mention the crispy skin of a Chinese roast pork), it would be my first time eating bacon. I won’t say I really liked it (too heavy) but that left me an impression. Unfortunately, the Hardee’s did not last, as their burgers were priced higher than MickeyD’s and, after a while, their hype faded. Fast forward not long ago. While in the US, I was looking for something quick to eat when I recalled seeing a Hardee’s nearby and that gave me a chance to remember those memories…
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Tagged as:
Burgers,
Chain Restaurant,
Jefferson City
Arris Pizza
5 Locations in Missouri, plus a location in Oklahoma
115 W High Street (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO
Since I have been travelling “a lot” in the last six months (compared to the last 5 or so years), every time I stop at a new city, I ask the locals for something unique of the region. When I was in Baltimore, I went for crab cakes; in Merrillville, due to its proximity to Chicago, deep dish pizza; in Philadelphia, cheese steak; and so on.
When I was in Jefferson City, I asked my usual question and, at first, they were bewildered. In a way, they couldn’t think of something “local”. And I won’t blame them, some places with such a massive influx of people, it becomes a melting pot and no cuisine becomes “dominant”. And I can easily relate that, since there is no such thing as a “local” dish in Vancouver. Oddly, when I asked for a restaurant location (at that point “anything works”), I was able to find one of the regional “specialties”. And that is the subject of today’s post, Arris’ Pizza
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Tagged as:
Greek,
Italian,
Jefferson City,
Pizza
Sbarro
Several locations around the world
3600 Country Club Drive (Location visited)
Jefferson City, MO
On my first day in Jefferson City (my final destination after my crazy trip and overlay through Denver), I faced the same old dilemma. Where to go for lunch? The problem with my work location is that, aside from being in the middle of nowhere (not literally but close), anything nearby required driving. In fact, my second day there, I was taken out out to a Mexican restaurant (which won’t be blogged because I did not bring my camera, not to mention it would be odd trying to explain why I was taking pictures of the food) and, just to get there, a 10 or so minutes drive in highway was required.
Anyway, target #1 was a nearby mall, which was next to the hotel I was staying at. For some odd reason, this mall, Capital Mall, barely had anything in the food court. Hungry, running out of time, I settled on the first thing that was not available locally – Sbarro.
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Tagged as:
Chain Restaurant,
Italian,
Jefferson City
