BBQ from Bobby-Q

The whole reason Mike and I went to Phoenix in the first place was to watch the Giants in Spring Training. We were afraid of a rain, which actually ended up cancelling our game but giving us a win :) It was our first time going and I was very excited to be so close to my favorite baseball team, close enough that they could hear me cheering them on (double smile). Like I said we the ended up getting rained out so we left early - after staying in the rain with all of the other hardcore fans!

Close to our seats :)

Waiting in the rain

With all of extra time, we decided to explore Phoenix a little bit. We drove around and went downtown but we must have been subconsciously saving our appetites for dinner after the food experience we had our first night in town because we didn't eat. I'm soo glad we didn't. Once again the magic we found was located right by our hotel across from Pappadeaux. It's funny how that worked. Anyway, we looked up the reviews (Mike does this even though whenever I suggest somewhere he thanks me - this time wasn't any different). With the rain, Mike suggested just ordering a pizza. What?? Muahahaha! No way! Here it is....

You can't beat "World Famous"

Being from California I can't claim I've eaten authentic BBQ. I know what I have eaten was DELICIOUS but how authentic it is not something I claim to know. What I'm trying to say is you give me meat in BBQ sauce and I'm going to eat it, and 9 times out of 10 I'm going to love it. This restaurant proves my point. Bobby-Q gave us enormous portions and the food was insanely good. This time Mike's baked potato wasn't ready in time so he got a complimentary side of coleslaw. Double score.

Please don't be alarmed, this is the full rack. And please don't be alarmed, this was all mine. It was a lot more food than I realized but I was hungry and I got a pretty good size doggy bag... that I also enjoyed. the meat was juice and literally fell of the bone (my mouth is watering). The shoestring fries were nice and crispy and perfect with the really flavorful sauce on the ribs. It didn't feel like you were eating another meal with the fries. The mac and cheese was another story. Honestly I could have done without it because it was so rich. I would choose it with a half rack because it was still phenomena, but not with the full. This meal is the second reason we'll be going back to Bobby-Q if we're ever in Phoenix again.

Pappadeaux - Phoenix, AZ

Being on the road from San Diego to Phoenix was like nothing I've ever seen before. California is big a state and as you drive through it you see all of the different scenery. That's one of the best things about living in California, the beach, mountains, snow, forests, and deserts are within hours of each other. The one thing I had never seen before, though, was the desert. I'm talking cactus, sand, and HEAT!! Mike and I planned our trip in late spring so, luckily for us, the desert was a warm 80 degrees.

We passed right by the Mexican border, through El Centro and then Yuma. We arrived at our hotel a little ahead of schedule and saw that it was in HORRIBLE condition (I swear I'm not exaggerating). We went to a nearby Starbucks to use the WiFi and look for another hotel. THANK GOODNESS WE DID!! Not only because we had a place to stay, but because we found the BEST restaurant close by. It was dinner time at this point and we were really glad we had found somewhere safe to sleep (thank you Days Inn) and were ready to eat anything. On the way to the first hotel I saw a big restaurant called Pappadeaux and took notice but our hotel wasn't in the same neighborhood so I didn't bring it up. But since now we were just around the corner I told him I had seen this place that looked like it could be good, we looked it up on Yelp and saw the good reviews - done!

I'm always down for a place with "Seafood" in the title and it helped we were both starving and in a celebratory mood. We saw that alligator and frog legs were on the appetizers list, and since we were on vacation, we decided to give the alligator a shot.

We're really lucky it was so good because I've tried alligator since then and it doesn't always have to be so "crunchy" - but more on that food experience later. The appetizer came with delicious shoestring fries and a Creole dipping sauce.

I also ordered the fried shrimp with mashed potatoes because they didn't have any more baked potatoes ready at the time (they ended up giving me a complimentary baked potato later). Everything was perfectly seasoned the potatoes were creamy. Mike got a 16 oz. beef rib-eye, served with broccoli and mashed potatoes.

 

 We left so full we could barely move. We'll definitely be going back there the next time we're in Phoenix!