Dining for our Unexpected Trip...July 27, 2019 through August 4, 2019

tyandskyesmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Dining Anyone???

We has the Deluxe Dining again...YAY!

There are 4 of us...Me (mom) 48 years old and a lover of the Deluxe Dining Plan, Cary (step dad) 45 year old lover of doing what he wants when he wants but generally just follows along, Tyler (son) 20 years old and loved steak as much as possible, and Skyler (daughter) 15 year old semi-picky eater.

ADRs were remarkably easy to get and I could have gotten the hard ones even...Ohana for dinner (which we don't like), Cinderella's, Be Our Guest for dinner (eh), etc...if I had wanted to.

So here's the important stuff...

Planet Hollywood 7-27-19 @ 8:15pm (cancelled the day before we left)

T-Rex 7-28-19 @ 11:00am

Sci-Fi 7-29-19 @ 11:00am 3
Cape May Cafe 7-29-19 @ 5:50pm 4

Crystal Palace 7-30-19 @ 8:10am' 4
California Grill 7-30-19 @ 5:00pm 6

Akershus 7-31-19 @ 8:10am 4
Via Napoli 7-31-19 @ 2:00pm 3
Coral Reef 7-31-19 @ 8:55pm 3

Tuskerhouse 8-1-19 @ 10:30am 4
Yak &Yeti 8-1-19 @ 8:30pm 3

Garden Grill 8-2-19 @ 8:10am 4
Mama Melrose 8-2-19 @ 1:45pm 4
Narcoossees 8-2-19 @ 8:45pm 6

House of Blues 8-3-19 @ 11:00am

All of these are places and meals we have done before but most of them have been a while.

Planet Hollywood may get scrapped because while it was a good meal, it was an expensive one if you're not on a dining plan, and at that time we will not be. So, it still may get cancelled in lieu of better options and more flexibility.

Even at 20 and 15 the kids still ask for T-Rex every time. We have Rainforest Cafes around here so we never go to them in Orlando but T- Rex is a different story!

As you can see by the numbers to the right, we do not intend to use four or eight credits at all meals.

Like at Sci-Fi, Skye usually does not want any of the entrees so she will get the wings appetizer and share anything else she does want and the rest of us will order for the rest of the credits. She loves the venue and if she does not feel full, there are snack credits to use up. And then, like at California Grill, her favorite is the Kid's Mac & Cheese...so she will get that and we'll pay out of pocket for it. She will share the other things we all order too. So she has never left hungry. She and I usually share a lot. Deluxe Dining is a lot of food!

House of Blues is new for us...I reserved through Open Table because the Disney site did not have any times listed for the Bayou Brunch. I have never used Open Table before. Skye went to the House of Blues with choir when they were on a weekend trip to Downtown Chicago and she said it was fun. So hopefully this one is the same before we head home. This will be out of pocket too!
 
Hi following along on another dining report.

There are 4 of us...Me (mom) 48 years old and a lover of the Deluxe Dining Plan, Cary (step dad) 45 year old lover of doing what he wants when he wants but generally just follows along, Tyler (son) 20 years old and loved steak as much as possible, and Skyler (daughter) 15 year old semi-picky eater.

I can't believe how old your children are now. Have I been reading dining reports for that many years? lol
 


Wolfgang Puck Express


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We had decided what we wanted by the sign outside while we were waiting.


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We all went to order, grab out pops, and sat at our favorite table here!

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Lemonade, Diet Coke, Coke, and Coke.

The waitress brought us table ware and condiments...they have plastic straws here...LOVE IT!

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I had the
Belgian Waffles

seasonal fresh Fruit, Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream

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Skye was going to share with me. This was ok. It was not very hot. It could have used more whopped cream and fruit really. But the flavor was good and we enjoyed it enough!

Skyler ordered the
Classic Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon or Sausage, Crispy Potatoes, Sourdough or Whole-Grain Toast

With sausage and sourdough toast. She picked the chives off of the eggs before eating them but otherwise she ate almost all of this! The potatoes are really good, they just need salt. The toast was not hot and the butter was cold so it was not the best combination bit some if it did get eaten.

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Tyler ordered the
Classic Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon or Sausage, Crispy Potatoes, Sourdough or Whole-Grain Toast

...with Bacon, Sourdough toast, and extra eggs instead of the potatoes. His eggs were steaming hot but his bacon was ice cold so the waitress took it back and bought him new bacon. It was quite a bit of bacon compared to Skye's two sausages but it was crispy and hot so he wasn't sharing! He did not even mind the chives on his eggs.

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Cary ordered the
Classic Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon or Sausage, Crispy Potatoes, Sourdough or Whole-Grain Toast

...with sausage and sourdough toast. He liked it all.

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Both Skye and Cary shared their potatoes with me and they were really good. Skye shared my waffle and there was plenty for everyone! Our waitress brought us refills a couple of times but otherwise we did not need her. THe place filled up by the time we were leaving in about 20 minutes.

Our total was $67.21 and it was all very good and worth the trip! I don't know if I'd go out of my way to eat breakfast here bit if in the area at the time, it would definitely be an option!

OOP TOTAL $67.21

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $67.21
 


Frontera Cocina

Our first stop was Frontera Cocina. We walked around the back near the bridge and there is a take out window there. Cary, Tyler and I got three tacos to taste.

We were able to grab a table with a few chairs to eat at. There are only a few tables back there but walking and eating tacos do not mix.

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Tyler and I got Beef Barbacoa Tacos and Cary got a Green Chili Chicken Taco. They all came together in the same tray and with one container of sauce. There were all really good. We agreed the beef was more tender and was our favorite but the chicken has more seasoning and flavor. We all (well except Skye because her extent of Mexican is Cheese Empanadas and Quesadillas) decided we'd like to eat here (inside) some day! It was 4:26pm and our total was $11.19...not too bad for a snack!

OOP TOTAL $78.40

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $78.40
 
Morimoto Asia Street Food

We came across Morimoto Asia Street Food. I have made and cancelled ADRs here many times. I am always afraid he kids will not find anything to eat here and be disappointed...although I have heard it is very neat inside! So we decided to stop at the Street Food counter.

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There are not many tables over here. There are more than at Frontera though! We all decided what we wanted and the kids and I sat while Cary waited in line...and there was a line!

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Skyler got the
Popping Boba Tea

Organic Green Tea with Citrus and Ginko or Pekoe Black Tea with choice of Boba Flavors

But it was Kiwi flavored with Mango bobas...I think. They also has a Strawberry one too...nit sure that the ones on the menu online were actually options.

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It was really well balanced and not too sweet. She was happy she did not go with her old standby - strawberry. There were a ton of bobas in there too!

We ordered three other things.

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I loved the way they were all boxed up in cute little boxes.

Cary's choice was the
Shrimp Tempura Roll

Lettuce and Cucumber

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It was a different kind of presentation and we were surprised it did not fall apart when eating it. It was really good and fresh too! The kids wont eat sushi so Cary ate most of this but I did have a couple of bites...since I had my own choice!

Tyler ordered the
Morimoto Baby Ribs (3 pcs)

Pork Ribs, Cilantro and Hoisin Sweet Chili Glaze

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He loved them! Skyler did too! I had one little taste and they were fall off the bone tender. Tyler would have loved 4 more orders! So I guess I can make that ADR inside now...Tyler was my biggest worry about that!

I chose the Bao Bun that is no longer on the menu that I see on Disney's web site or AllEars. I believe it was filled with chicken but I am really bad at taking pictures of menus...guess I gotta work on that!

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It was again, really good! Mostly bun but it was really soft and with the filling it was really flavorful. I added some hot sauce at one point and that made it even better!

We were all very pleased with our food here and all of us agreed that we should try the restaurant some time. We would return here in the future...there are also a lot of other things on the menu we would like to try. It also appears that the menu changed often because the Bao Buns are no longer on it and there is an Orange Alligator on it that wasn't when we were there on the AllEars menu that claims to have been updated in July 2019 ans we were there in July 2019 so...

Anyway, we were there at 4:51pm and our order was $31.95 and worth every penny!

OOP TOTAL $110.35

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $110.35
 
Earl of Sandwich

At about 7:45pm we decided we needed dinner. We wanted to try the Polite Pig but when we were by there it was crazy crowded (we learned the hard way that we need to do lunch right after it opens or wait in a huge line). We decided to try Earl of Sandwich. Tyler and I had been there right after it opened once but we hadn't been back since. Not because there was a problem or anything, just that it never fit into our plans. It was really a long line to order but I had heard that it moves quickly so the kids decided what they wanted and Cary and I waited in line while they stalked a table. It was really humid outside so we wanted a table inside but they were all full. They found a table outside but were keeping an eye on the inside tables too. We placed our order and moved on down to the next stop to order our drinks and get our drink cups. We were given a buzzer and sent to wait for our food with everyone else. As we were walking over, there was a large table with two teen girls sitting there so we asked if we could join them. As it so happened, they were getting ready to leave so we lucked out. Cary flagged the kids down and the came inside. It is a pretty open shop so it was not super cool in there but it was better than outside.

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We got one large drink...there are refills and we were sitting right by the machines so this worked out great for Cary and Tyler.

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We sat there a long time waiting...Cary finally went up to ask about our order when it looked like people who ordered before and after us were being called and our order was just getting done.

I ordered a Frose...frozen Rose Wine...now I am not usually a drinker so take my reviews with a grain of salt but it was good...nice and cold wine. Skyler ordered a Frozen Strawberry Lemonade but they gave us a Frozen Lemonade instead so when Cary went back to get what we ordered they gave him the right one and told him to keep the other one.

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The lemonade went to Tyler then and he said it was very tart. He later added Sprite to it and it was better. Skyler loved the Strawberry one!

Our food came all bagged up in these cute bags!


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And wrapped in this cool foil...

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The kids decided to share a couple of things. First was the Kid's Pizza Bread.

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They both liked this pizza second best of the three things they shared. It did smell good and you could tell it was just made. It is made on the same bread that the sandwiches are made on and there was plenty of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on there.

Next they had the order of Six Wings...and this was their #1! They both loved them. They said there was a lot of meat on those little wings and the flavor was really good...spicy but not too hot.

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And lastly they had the Kid's Grilled Cheese. They both liked this but it was their third choice of favorites. It was good but very basic. It is more like a hamburger bun that it is on and it is on the smaller side but it was a decent grilled cheese.

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Cary ordered the Cannonballs...which was a special. He gave part of this to Tyler and this was Tyler's true #1 of the meal. They both said it was really good. The meatballs were good and there was sauce ans cheese but it was not too messy. The bread was not hard on the outside, so it did not make the balls fall off the sandwich.

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I had the
Holiday Turkey

Turkey, Cornbread Stuffing, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce and Mayonnaise

And it was super good! I had never had one but i have heard a lot about how much people loved it. I have even tried to make one with Thanksgiving leftovers but it was never something all that great. This one though, was great! No one else would try it. It is on the sweet side with the cranberry sauce and all but it was so good! I was only able to eat half of it and took the rest home with us (I ate it for breakfast the next day!).

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There is very rarely a counter service place that we all are extremely pleased with but The Earl did it! We all loved everything we had. We had a lot of food. It did not cost a fortune. And we all said we'd be willing to go back again, in fact Tyler even mentioned it the next day.

They had condiments, pop, plastic straws, and napkins out on the counter for your needs. So while it took a whole to get our food, it was worth it. I did kind of wish the sandwiches came with a side but I think I'd rather have the cheaper prices than the higher costs for food you don't necessarily need...they did have quite a few sides and desserts to choose from if you wanted them.

Our total here was $58.18...and i do believe we will be back!

OOP TOTAL $168.53

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $168.53
 
Starbucks

We were only getting talls because we were not on the dining plan yet but I had promised Skye Starbucks everyday. They had all kinds of fun stuff at this Starbucks!

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(and who writes out those boards??? I cannot even write in a straight line let alone that neatly in all those different fonts!)

Skyler got the Eleven's Elixer...

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...which was Pink Drink with Blueberry Juice.

I had the Space Ranger (which is a vanilla bean frappachino creme with blueberry topping) and Cary got the Reach For The Sky Frappachino (which is a caramel ribbon crunch frappachino with java chips).


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There was a really long line and a longer wait at the other end but you expect that from Starbucks. They were all good but Tyler and I liked mine the best. Cary likes a more coffee taste so he liked his best. Skye could have gone with hers or mine. The blueberry addition was really good in both. Unfortunately, Starbucks uses paper straws so we had to grab two for each of us because they got gross real quickly.

All in all, Starbucks is what it is but the play on the names was super cute and they are always refreshing! It was 9:55pm when we were there and our bill was $18.96.

OOP TOTAL $187.49

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $187.49
 
Sprinkles

We arrived at our destination and there was a small line for us and little bit larger on to get into the store!

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Why would you go inside when you can get CUPCAKES FROM AN ATM??? I know, I know...because there are more options inside but still, it's a cupcake from an ATM!!!

So we finally got to the front of the line and made our choices
.

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Cary got the Salted Caramel, Skyler got Strawberry, Tyler got a Chocolate Marshmallow, and I got Banana Dark Chocolate.

We grabbed them from the machine and headed towards the car. We were going to try them at home.

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You cannot really tell but there is a bit of banana in there right under the frosting! MMMM, this one was probably my favorite...although the chocolate did not take like dark chocolate...it almost tasted more like German Chocolate frosting. It was also a banana cake, which you probably already guessed by the color.

Cary's good, I mean it's a cupcake after all! But it was probably my least favorite.

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It was kind of plain and did not have an overly caramel flavor. But it was very salty...like as if you just salted your dinner salty. It was just a plain caramel cake with caramel frosting but none of it was overly caramel.

Tyler's was like a Ho-ho...and was my second favorite.

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Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting but not the fluffy kind of frosting...with marshmallow in the middle. THis one tasted more like dark chocolate than mind but it wasn't...it was just a rich chocolate cake...a nice glass of ice cold milk would have made this one perfect!

Skyler's was my third favorite.

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It was a light strawberry cake with a heavier sweet strawberry frosting. It was very good...and I would choose it it's just that it wasn't as unique as Tyler's and mine.

All of them were good and I would not turn any of them down. I would like to make it into the store someday and try some other options as you are limited in choices at the ATM. But the ATM is fun. I hear we have a Sprinkles in Downtown Chicago but we don't get Downtown very often so we have not been there. We were there about 10:15pm ish ans we paid $23.44 for four cupcakes...we could have bought multiple cake mixes, cupcake papers, frosting, and decorations for that amount but these are awesome cupcakes and very fun..so we will pay it again!

OOP TOTAL $210.93

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $210.93
 
Last edited:
T-Rex

So we were kinda running late, which would become our theme for this trip! We drove over, luckily there was basically no traffic, and parked in the Lime garage. We quickly made our way around to lunch and arrived right at 11am.

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Ever since this first opened here and the kids were little, this has been one of the ones they ask for every time. We don't make it here all the time but we do periodically and this seemed like the perfect fit.

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We were taken right in past a pretty long line of people and led to our table. I just love it in here so there's going to be a lot of pictures...be warned!

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There were maybe five tables seated when we walked in but it got more and more crowded as we were there.


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We were seated in the ice cave! We have been in here before and we really like it in there!

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We were seated up against the cave wall. Our waiter came over pretty quick and we placed our drink orders....diet for me, coke for Tyler and Cary, and lemonade for Skye.

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After we placed our orders I went for a walk and they all called me a tourist.

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...to be continued...
 
...continued...

So our orders were placed, we got refills on our drinks and soon our appetizers arrived. For appetizers we ordered the
Mozzarella Sticks



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They were hot and fresh and gooey and cooked all the way through so all of the cheese was melted inside rather than at a lot of places where the middle seems still hard. We also ordered the
Pepperoni Flatbread


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...and this was a really good flatbread! The crust was thin and cooked all the way to the middle. It was crispy but not hard. It was hot and melty and the pepperoni was a bit spicy but not overpoweringly so. We all agreed this was a great appetizer!

We were finished with our appetizers just minutes before our entrees came out.

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Cary and I decided to share the
Colosso Beef Nachos for Two

Monterey Jack, cheddar cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, green onions, sour cream

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Thi

These were HUGE and really good! There was enough of all the toppings..you know like at some places all the toppings were plopped in the middle? Well, these weren't like that! There was toppings over the whole plate and even between the layers. It was so good and filling and I think we even left some on the plate!

Tyler ordered the
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Zesty marinated fried chicken breast, buffalo sauce, blue cheese crumbles, Texas Toast served with seasoned fries

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He had them leave off the blue cheese crumbles though. He really liked this and it was a very big sandwich too! He said it had a great flavor but it was not too hot where you had to take a breath between bites. The fries were hot and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. He ate about three quarters of it and took the other quarter back with us... I ate it that night and it really was very good!

Skyler ordered the
Fish-N-Chips

English-style with seasoned fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce

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With a side of
Raptor Rice


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I was surprised at how large the portion of fish was! Two large pieces with a light batter and it was not greasy at all. The chips were basically steak fries and soft to bite. The rice was ok. It is a huge side though and we all kind of picked off of it a little. It was basically wild rice with a little bit of seasoning.

On the way out I snapped a couple more pictures...

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We were there until about 12:15pm. Our bill was $109.91 and we forgot that I believe they do a Disney VIsa discount for lunch AND we had a coupon in the little book we were given at the hotel...completely forgot!

OOP TOTAL $320.84

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $320.84
 
4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck

After our trip through The Void we were near something I really wanted to try...

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We found a table with three chairs near the ledge and sat while Cary went 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck to order.

I wanted to try the awesome looking
Taco Cone

choice of filling, Shredded Lettuce, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo, Queso, Cilantro, Jalapeño and a Lime Wedge

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I got it with Brisket Barbacoa. I was so excited for this after seeing pictures. Well, it was disappointing...very flavorless. Maybe it is the way the cone requires to to be made and eaten...maybe it would have been better as a bowl because it would have been easier to get everything together but it really did nothing for me and I ended up throwing half of it away...and THAT is not like me!

Tyler wanted tacos and Cary ordered him the
Tacos (3)

choice of filling with Guasacaca, Crème Fraiche, Pico de Gallo, Salsa Verde, Queso Fresco and Cilantro in a Tortilla with a Lime and Jalapeño

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He ordered them with just cheese but the came with more than just cheese, as you can see. He got the Grilled Tri Tip Steak and it was very fatty. In fact one of them, the whole if the meat was connected fat...he pulled it out and had nothing left in the taco. He scraped off one of the other ones but he was not thrilled with the taco or the meat on his either. Cary ate one and agreed.

So I am hoping this was just an off day for the truck because the concept of a taco cone is very fun. And we have had things there in the past and it has not been this bad. At this point there are so many other great places to eat at DIsney Springs, I don't think it will get our business anymore but you just never know...it is tacos after all, and everything is USUALLY better in a tortilla.

They do not issue paper receipts here and had to send it to Cary in a text message, which was weird.

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So as you can see our total was $25.54 for food we threw away more than half of and it was 2:42pm at this time.

OOP TOTAL $346.38

DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $346.38
 
Last edited:
B.B. Wolf's Sausage Company

By this time we were getting a little hungry. SO we headed to another place I wanted to try. I know, it seems like we keep doing things I want to do. Well, that's because no one listens when i start talking about trips so I make all the decisions. BUT, I make MOST of them based upon what I know at least most of us will like...sometimes there's no pleasing everyone all at the same time!

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We came upon our next stop and we all decided what we wanted...B.B. Wolf's Sausage Company! We found a table and Cary went to order. It took a bit to get our food but that was because they were preparing it as it was ordered.

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The kids decided to share the
All-Beef Quarter-Pound Plain Hot Dog

served with Chips

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Of course, Tyler got the larger "half" of the dog but Skye scammed on the chips. The loved it...it was a good, hot, fresh hot dog on a bun that was heavy enough to handle the larger hotdog.

Cary and I decided to split the
Three Little Pigs

three mini versions of our Specialty Dogs: Pastrami Reuben Dog, Hawaiian Island Dog and Texas Chili-Cheese Dog served with Chips

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As you can see, the menu online says it includes chips...the menu on the building does not...and we did not get any.

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Hawaiian Island Dog.

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Pastrami Ruben Dog.

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Texas Chili Cheese Dog.

WOW! Now these were better than I expected and made up for my bad Taco Cone from earlier. The dogs are huge and the toppings were so unique and tasty! My favorite was the Ruben, which is odd because I am not a lover of the taste of sauerkraut...love the smell but not the taste. But on this dog, it was great. It was not super strong in flavor so maybe that's why i loved it. Cary's favorite was the chili dog...which I kind of expected. It was very good. It was a meaty chili and the Frito gave it a good crunch. The the Hawaiian one was super good, don't get me wrong. It's just that we each had our favorites. All of them were good...we both enjoyed them all...we just had our favorites and it worked out well that they were different ones!

We also ordered 2 sprites.

We all left relatively full and happy with our meal. It was 5:20pm and we paid $42.01. We would eat here again in the future!

OOP TOTAL $388.39
DDDP TOTAL $0.00
OVERALL TOTAL $388.39
 

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