Howard Eatz

Chili’s Riverview Location in Mesa, AZ I have always liked Chili’s.  What’s not to like, you can get unlimited chips and salsa and order Country Fried Steak, Hamburger, Pasta or even Fajitas.    I love the chips and salsa here.  The chips are super crispy, firm and large.  The salsa has a little kick and great flavor.     I got the Ranchero Chicken Tacos.  Comes with 3, Mexican rice & black beans. Rice was flavorless.  Tasted just like plain rice.  The black beans tasted normal, for black beans.   Looking at these tacos there is a lot going on there.  When I would make a healthy ice cream Sunday, I would add bananas sugar free whip cream, sugar free chocolate syrup to try to hide the fact that the healthy ice cream itself tasted like crap.  I feel like we have little of that going on here with all the toppings in the Ranchero Chicken Tacos.  The chicken is not dry...

Crumbl Cookie Review 01/18/22 week of  Jan 17-22   PEANUT BUTTER FT. REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUP Our signature peanut butter cookie topped with melty peanut butter chips and chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  This one the cookie was pretty peanut buttery and I liked it.  The reese’s toppings were great.   8/10   The Copycat recipe I feel tasted better than the actual crumbl. The Copycat was thinner and easier to eat chew and better texture.  Copycat recipe is from @Chahinex_tbt  https://lifestyleofafoodie.com/crumbl-peanut-butter-reeses-cookies/#recipe-link .     9/10   ROCKY ROAD A dark chocolate cookie stuffed with gooey marshmallow filling then covered in semi-sweet chocolate chips and almonds. It was very chocolaty.  The middle with the marshmallow was the best part.  If I could recreate this for myself I would have smaller marshmallows spread all around that would cook inside the cookies...

Taco Boy’s On Rural North of Apache Blvd. 1015 S. Rural Rd, Tempe, AZ   My cousin Kelsee Recommended this one.  Thanks Kelsee! They have a location in Phoenix and the Tempe location is a newer one.  Great place, great atmosphere and busy.  Opens  at 10am  and people are outside waiting.   Everything for the most part just comes with meat on the tortilla and you can dress it how you please from their salsa bar, cilantro, onions, sauces, cabbage and so on.  I really liked that aspect of it.   The tortillas are not made in house.  They are made by a vendor, but made fresh daily.  The cashier, not sure who he is was very friendly with me asking him about the tortillas.  Not all the taco shops have been as friendly, they sometimes take great offense to being asked if they make them in house.  Taco Boy’s has some class.   I will work on asking it, as smoothly and nicely as ...

Unos Tacos Y Birria Mesa Stapley & US 60  Mesa, AZ 1859 S. Stapley Dr  106, Mesa, AZ 85204   I have been hearing what a deal Unos Tacos is for a while now, maybe 6 months or so.  How they had opened a location in Mesa, so it was not just their location in Phoenix.  Also I had put it off, for a bit.  We went on a  Saturday night .     Queso Birria Taco Review:  Appearance = 1.8 / 2  – Looked fantastic & crispy looking Tortilla = 1.7 / 2  – It was crispy, good texture and what I want from a Birria taco. Meat / filling = 1.6 / 2  – The meat was not as flavorful as other Birrias. Sauce = 1.7 / 2  – Consome added the flavor that made it good.  Not as good without the Consome. Value = 1.6 / 2  $3.75 + $1.75 Consome= $5.50  – Paying extra for the Consome adds up.  Don’t skimp out here, it makes a huge difference with the consome.   Total Score 8.4...

Family Night Crumbl Cookie Review 01/10/22 🌀 CINNAMON SWIRL A vanilla sugar cookie topped with a thin layer of cinnamon sugar and a thick swirl of cream cheese frosting. Seemed to be a favorite, for everyone.  Taste just like a cinnamon roll, correction like a very good cinnamon roll.  All the flavors went together.  I give it a 8/10   🍫 FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE A chilled twist on a warm favorite! A cocoa cookie covered in swirls of hot chocolate mousse and topped with soft mini marshmallows.  Everyone seemed to like it, but it was not a favorite.  Tasted just like the name.  Very Chocolatey.   If Hot Chocolate is your jam, get this one.  I give it 6/10   🍓 NEAPOLITAN An ode to a classic flavor of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Chocolate and vanilla cookies stacked together and topped with a tart strawberry frosting. Jack liked it.  No one else did.  The strawberry and chocolate together, just did not work. ...

Tacos Chiwas On Main St, East of Country Club 127 West Main St, Mesa, AZ   They have locations in Phoenix, Mesa & Chandler. I have heard good things, but have put it off for a while.  That was a mistake.    Gordita – Deshebrada Roja – Red Shredded Beef, potatoes & Beans Review:  Appearance = 1.6 / 2  – It was not what I was expecting, but it looked ok Tortilla = 1.6 / 2  – The tortilla/bread was pretty good.  Not what I was thinking.  It seemed very fresh and could have been eaten without the filling, that is how good it was.   Meat / filling = 1.5 / 2  – Red beef, potatoes & beans with the red sauce that everything seemed to be mixed in.  It had good flavor. Sauce = 1.6 / 2  – The red sauce reminded me or red sauce that is on beef in a tamale or even red enchilada sauce.  It was a good combination.  I did not add any taco sauce to this.  Value = 1.6 ...

Biscuit Tacos Turned out so good.  I bought these taco molds from Amazon, seem to work pretty good.  Had a disaster with frying wonton wrappers, but that is a different story.   Take some buttermilk biscuits add flour and roll them out and thin as you can.  I would recommend rolled all of the ones you are going to cook at once.  I noticed the 2 I saved for later were harder to work with being out of the fridge and opened.   I put the rolled out biscuits in the taco molds.  I can imagine that you could use a wad of foil or something to make these.  I used the airfryer, for speed and I like how it cooks bread.  I cooked at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or so turning it 3 times. It may take longer depending on your airfyer or oven.   I made Pepper Gravy from Walmart or Sams.  It is pretty cheap and easy to make.  Don’t make gravy from scratch too much, because of this mix. I...

The Taco Spot – Chandler Location 698 E. Chandler BLVD, Chandler, AZ  Birria Taco Review Appearance = 1.8 / 2  – It looked perfect.  Looked crispy. Tortilla = 1.9 / 2  – Corn Tortilla which they make in house, is perfection.  It is not out of a bag bought from a vender.  It comes from the kitchen.   It was crispy as I have begun to expect a Birria taco to be.   Meat / filling = 1.8 / 2  – Beef Birria was great.  The cheese is sliced, so it was a little bit different that I was use to.  It was still good, different can be a good thing.   Sauce = 1.8 / 2  – I did not use the hot sauce on this one.  Such good flavor I did not need to.  The Consome was pretty good, I was bummed about the sauce being $1.29 extra.  The more I have thought about it, this taco is $3.79 and most other Birria tacos are $4.50-$5:50 that come with Consome.  So this m...

Burrito Express – Alma School & University Dr. 450 N Alma School, Mesa, AZ  I have not been here in 6 years or so.  I use to enjoy burritos here, the service got to where you would call in your order and go pickup it and still wait an hour.  So I stopped going, the burritos were good.  Just did not have the time or patience.  I heard from a friend they have a new manager and this location is running smoothly.  There are several other locations in the valley of Burrito Express.  I saw they had tacos and I wanted to try them.   Soft Beef Taco Review:  Appearance = 0 / 2  – I did not think it was the soft taco, it looked like a crispy taco.  All of the meat was dumped out, because it was on top or something.  It came as a empty shell with the filling on the side.  I walked with the bag from the counter to the table inside the restaurant.  So no, I did not shake ...