Smashburger (Yale/I-10)

Well, it's probably been over a year now since Smashburger has opened.  I missed the Yelp grand opening party.  I'll be honest, I probably won't be visiting all that much, but hey, it's always good to try new things, even if fast food, once in a while.

I know it's weird going to a joint like this and asking for recommendations, but that's exactly what I did.  Yeah I did.  I ended up getting the Baja Chicken and the Avocado Club on Sandwich, smash burger fries and a salted caramel milkshake.  Both sandwiches were good, I preferred the Baja because it had a nice little kick.  The fries were good, but so oily.  But, what else do you expect at a fast food restaurant.  The salted caramel milk shake...wow....wow...no really, it was a real wower.  Soooo good!  So tasty!  I may come back for that, for sure. 

Staff was great, place was clean, and I thought they had fairly healthy choices for a non fast food eater.  Please try the salted caramel.  If you have to pick one thing, forget the main meal, get a salted caramel milk shake!!!

Araya Chocolates (River Oaks)

It's cute, but not a big selection and I found the staff not very helpful or friendly, so I'm not so sure about the chocolates.  I sampled one dark chocolate covered almond, and purchased a little container for my mom for mother's day.  The others I wasn't sure since I wasn't about to buy a whole container or package without trying them and the lady that helped wasn't very helpful.  Definitely not quite the experience I had in Paris.  I probably won't be visiting this place again anytime soon.

Michael's Cookie Jar (West U)

This is a visit a long time in the works...3 years later, here I'm am!  I was pretty excited since I've had a taste of MCJ, since some of the cafes I frequent carry or used to carry MCJ's products.  The shop is in the back behind the Joanne's on Weslayan, which you have to drive through to get to it.  Oddly, on arriving it looks pretty empty.  They really don't have as much as I thought.  It's a really small shop, which is mostly the kitchen.  I ordered 4 cookies, chocolate chip, toffee, sugar, snicker doodle, sand tart, and a ginger bread man.  I thought they were all good but pretty average cookies, nothing really special.  The cookies I have previously tried from cafes that carry or used to carry MCJ were better than what they offered at the store, I thought.  Antidote used to and Black Hole still carry their products, if you would like try to their product before making a trip to the store.

The Popcorn Bar

I was given a bag of popcorn (Oreos' flavored) from the Popcorn Bar as a gift and since I had recently used the Poparazzi Popcorn for my wedding favors, I definitely wanted to make a visit and compare.  By the way, the Oreos' flavored popcorn is really good.  

On finally making a visit, I did some sampling.  I found PB was a lot more flexible about sampling than Poparazzi.  Poparazzi asked me to make an appointment for sampling, which I thought was unnecessary.  She probably thought I was going to be excessive in my sampling.  I guess, I can understand that.  At PB, I think I tried 7 flavors and ended up sticking with the Oreos and I got it in mini size.  It's just so good!  Denyse got the Jalapeño Cheddar which was really good as well.  Cameran, who is 9, initially didn't want any, but later when I forced her to try one, she couldn't stop eating it.  On the other flavors, I thought were all pretty good.  The buffalo and ranch, salt and vinegar, and others were tasty and had nice flavors.  However, I didn't like their Chicago mix as much as I do at other places.

PB also has candies and tins for gifting.  They're located off 59 near Buffalo Speedway, a much better location than the other gourmet popcorn shops.  It's a fun place to visit, but for me, I must restrict my visits and practice self control!  But when I am feeling not so controlled...I'll probably be hitting up the Popcorn Bar again!