Glen W. Bell - Rest in Heaven, Not Hell

This week the chain world lost one of it's great innovators, Glen W. Bell the founder of Taco Bell.

The first Taco Bell was in started in California is 1962. It now has thousands of locations in many different countries around the world.

I am pretty sure it was the first taco chain and the reason we have so many great Mexican chains to chose from today.

Taco Bell will always hold a very special place in my heart. I remember when I was in Teen Travel Camp, we would stop there for lunch or a snack before heading back after a trip. I would get a hard beef taco and cinnamon twists. It was such a delicious, fun treat.

When I went to college at BU and lived in Warren Towers, there was a Taco Bell on the first floor. I had many a meal here, usually two hard shell beef tacos. Then I learned about the wonders of burritos so I would have a beef burrito. For a college student, it was a cheap, quick meal. I loved Taco Bell because they let me alter my tacos and burritos to whatever I wanted and never fussed about it. I know there are a lot of fancy tacos and burritos on the menu like the Gordita and Nacho Crunch Burrito, but I kept it simple, kept it easy, like Greyhound!

Since living in Manhattan, I admit I don't go to Taco Bell as much as I used to. I am intrigued to go again, especially with their new drive thru diet thing going on now. It seems kinda gimmicky, but there are 7 choices, with 4 of the choices, all of them the tacos, all under 200 calories. Not terrible, but you would probably need 2 to be full.

I think in honor of the great Glen Bell I will go try some of these items in his honor.

RIP good man, you were truly an innovator.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell - iconic!

Wendy Williams Embraces the Chain - How you doin??

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to appear on the fabulous Wendy Williams show. It was a dream come true. Wendy was a very sincere person and seemed very down to earth. She acted the same when the cameras were running and when they were off.

One of the nicest things about the experience of going to the show is the fact that while you waited for the show to begin, she provided lots of Dunkin Donuts munchkins and coffee for everyone in the audience. How lovely is that? She should get them to sponsor her show the way Starbucks does Morning Joe. If I was Starbucks, I would demand Mika be removed from the show because she is so nauseating, she might make people throw up their Starbucks every morning.

New Mexian Chain Opening Soon!

I interupt your online surfing for a breaking news alert.
Nina just informed me, throught an article on NYMag.com (please note, I am in no way promoting the competitor) that there is a new mexican buritto chain opening in midtown east. It is called Oaxaca. The menu pretty much looks exactly the same as Chipotle. I guess once it opens I will go and taste it to see how it compates.
Here is the link to the article to see for yourself.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/01/tropical_twofer_oaxacan_and_po.html

Beyond that link, it was hard to find much info on the chain itself. Oaxaca is a pretty common name for Mexian joints.

Amber - Not My Color of Choice

Since it is so cold in NY, I really do not enjoy leaving my apartment except for work purposes or meeting my people for wine.

Good thing, pretty much every place in NY delivers.

In my old age, I have tried to acquire some sort of taste for sushi. No, I am not putting Tuna or Eel or some other weird thing in my delicate mouth, I eat what I have dubbed "Rori Sushi." What is that you might be asking yourself. Well it is strictly "sushi" only made with vegetables, shrimp and rice. Also, I refuse to put any form of seaweed in my mouth so I sub for some rice paper. I know, you are saying, Rori, that is not sushi and therefore you have no right to comment on sushi. I see your point and I don't usually agree with people. That being said, this is my blog, if you don't like my views, too bad. Go read some fancy food blog where people eat pork belly and bone barrow.

OK, back to the food. First mistake with my delivery, they forgot the edamame. That sucked, because I was really in the mood for it. They didn't charge me at least. I ordered a cucumber avocado roll and a shrimp avocado roll. Neither of them were very good at all. I was eating it, just to eat it, I really wasn't enjoying it. Especially the cucumber avocado roll. It was way heavy on the cucumber, should have had more avocado if you ask me. Also for some reason the thought of the shrimp was making me sick. Perhaps I should stick to shrimp tempura.

Amber also has a full menu of Asian cusine of non-sushi choices so maybe that stuff is better.

There are two locations in Manhattan, one in Murray Hill and one on the Upper East Side. The one on the Upper East Side has actually been featured on Real Housewives of NYC (Ramona and her husband dine there). How is that for a fact you don't need?

Anyway, the atmosphere here is really nice, trendy, for a not too expensive Asian place. They also have a nice drink menu too. I think I would give them another try if I was in the mood for a more upscale restaurant in the hill.

Yes, I Will Pick A Bagel

I recently discovered something life changing. The bagel delivery. I can wake up with my usual weekend hangover, rollover to find my phone and within 30 minutes have a hot delicious bagel, coffee and water (sometimes a Diet Peach Snapple too) at my fingertips. With this luxury, I see no need to leave my apartment in the winter months besides maybe to buy beaded t-shirts and statement necklaces at JCrew. SandiCheeks LOVES the bagel delivery too. Probably because it proves to her just how lazy I am and its not something you can do in Rockland.

Usually I order from Bagel and Schmear (not a chain) but yesterday for some reason they were not answering their phones. After a minor cardiac arrest, I got myself together and realized they were not the only bagel place that would deliver. In fact, if my memory serves me right (and it did) there is Pick A Bagel on 23rd st and they would probably deliver to my little palace in the hill.

I used my new computer to look up the telephone number and found some reviews. The reviews said the people that answer the phone to take your order are mean so I was a bit intimated at first. But, that was not the case at all. I even asked what kind of whole wheat bagels they had, and that, that is when I found my happiness. It was almost as good as meeting a tall pizza bagel, who likes the Yankees and wants to take me to Puerto Rico for the weekend. The lady told me they had whole wheat cinnamon raisin bagels. What? I never heard of that. Umm yes I will have that.

I was quite pleased when my delivery arrived. It came pretty fast, and the bagel was huge and tasty! The coffee was also good and made the way I like it, plus with extra sweet and lows. The only down side is that they have a minimum for delivery. No biggie though, I just order Diet Peach Snapple to get to the $10.oo mark.

There are 6 Pick a Bagels all around New York City. You can stop in and try it yourself or be a lazy lard like me and have it delivered to you.

New Year, New Computer, New Blogs

She's back!!!
Happy New Year everyone. So far I have not been good with my resolutions, but the most important one I am going to stick to. Starting blogging again girlfriend. This is a work of art, how could I ignore it for so long? I think I was just so overwhelmed all fall with the Yankees and I lost track of what was important to me. Food, chain food to be exact. I apologize and promise to blog again. I got a new computer for Hanukkah, holla, so I have no excuses. I am also stealing lots of wireless Internet, it is kinda like using a fake idea when you are under 21. Thrilling!