Sushi Wabi

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star


Restaurant: Sushi Wabi
Location: 842 W. Randolph St.


I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Two years ago you couldn’t pay me to eat sushi, and I’ll do pretty much anything for money. Slowly, over time, I’ve grown to be OK with sushi. It’s not the kind of thing I’m gonna seek out, but if others are going there, then I’d be OK eating with everyone else. Well, the other night, I was absolutely craving sushi. I’m not kidding. It’s all I wanted to eat. It’s never happened before. I guess I’m all growsed up.

To satisfy my craving my wife suggested we go to Sushi Wabi, which I had never been to before. I was craving the House Crunch at Bob San, or the White Dragon at Coast, but I thought trying someplace new was a good idea.

I love going out to eat, and that’s one of the reasons I love Chicago, because there are so many places to go in so many different parts of the city. That doesn’t mean I get to them all, but I still like having the option. Now, I only need a few things to make me happy when I go out to eat. First, I like a decent atmosphere. Whether it’s the design of the restaurant or just the people eating there, atmosphere is important. Second, I need good service. And really, good service is almost more important than the food itself. I’m happy going to a place where the service is great and the food just so-so. If eating out is about the experience, good service is the most important part of the experience. For example, the one time I went to Mas, the service was so bad I’m not sure I ever want to go back, even though their food was really good. That’s how important service is to me. And lastly, the food is important. That’s it. That is the triangle of happiness for me.

I liked the atmosphere at Sushi Wabi. It’s in the West Loop on Randolph, and I like that area to begin with. Plus, the place is pretty small, giving it this really intimate, exclusive feel. When you’re sitting in there you kind of feel like you’re someone important, or that the paparazzi is waiting to snap your photo outside. My one complaint is that the DJ is spinning the music a little loud, so you end up shouting across the table to talk to someone.

The service was great. Really, almost every place I go has good service. And good service is easy to achieve. Just be friendly, stop by often enough to take my order when I’m ready, and bring my food sooner rather than later. And if you do simple things like fill up my water before it’s empty or bring me another drink (when it’s free refills) without me asking, then I love you. It’s really not hard. Our server was friendly, gave recommendations, and stopped by often. Of course some people hate when a server is always at your table asking if everything is OK, but to me, that’s better than never coming by and me having to flag him or her down. Unless your server takes a seat and starts eating with you, the more you see him, the better.

And lastly, the food at Sushi Wabi was good. We started with the gyu-negima, which were scallions rolled with thin slices of meat cooked in a sweet soy garlic sauce. It was amazing. But then again, it had everything I like – onions (scallions), meat, and garlic. I recommend you order it if you go.

For the main eats, we got the Spicy Tuna, the Godzilla, and the Dragon. The spicy tuna was pretty good. It had a nice kick to it at the end. I think the most popular sushi at the place had to be the Godzilla. It looked like every table had an order of it. The thing was pretty huge, which is where I’m assuming the name comes from. And I can see why it’s popular. It was pretty tasty. It was kind of sweet, with a hint of spiciness to it. But, to me, it wasn’t the best of the bunch. I’d have to say the Dragon was my favorite. It had a lot more flavor than the Godzilla (which in comparison was just a little bland), and had a little more kick to it. It was a good balance between spice and sweet. My only complaint is that it was smaller than the Godzilla. I wanted more.

I will say that this was the first time in my life that I actually got full off of sushi. It was just two of us, and the three rolls and the appetizer were more than enough to fill you up. The Dragon and the Godzilla were pretty generous in size, and enough to satisfy even me. If I went back, I’m pretty sure I’d order the exact same thing. That’s gotta be a good sign.

Oh, and just so you don’t have sticker shock, Sushi Wabi is a little on the pricey side. An appetizer, three rolls, and two glasses of wine cost us more than seventy dollars. You may think that’s a lot, you may not, but I thought it was a tad high. Even without the wine it would have been over fifty bucks, which to me, for sushi, seems just a little much.

But, Sushi Wabi did a good job of satisfying my sushi craving, though I’ll still take Bob San or Coast over it. Final rating - fist bump.

Monk's Pub

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: Monk’s Pub
Location: 205 W. Lake St.


When I was living in St. Louis, finding a great burger was easy. In fact, finding a great burger was so easy there were debates about where the best burgers were. Some say Dooley’s downtown, a great excuse to get away from your desk and go eat lunch. Others would argue the Fatted Calf in Clayton. Or you could check out O’Connell’s Pub next to The Hill. Or head across the river to Fast Eddie’s Bon-Air. Or run into Chuck Berry while chowing on a great burger at Blueberry Hill. There are those who swear by the thin-cut burgers and ice-cold root beer at Carl’s Drive In. If you live near Dogtown you might argue that Seamus McDaniel’s grills the best burger. If you’re watching your weight you might suggest that the buffalo burgers at Trainwreck are the best red meat eats in town. The point is you had a ton of places to choose from. No matter where you were in the city, you had a great burger available. And no matter which one you claimed to be your favorite, you were right. Because they’re all great.

But I haven’t found the same options here in Chicago. Maybe because the heart attacks of choice here are stuffed pizza and hot dogs (one day I’m going to stuff a pizza with a hot dog). Maybe I just haven’t found those great burger places yet here in the city. A friend of mine (Denny) and I were talking one day and trying to decide what the best burgers in Chicago were, and we were both speechless. Neither of us could think of a great, memorable burger that we would go out of our way for. Sure, we’d had decent burgers, but nothing that would make us get on the phone one day and say, “I need a (insert burger joint name here) burger. I’m jonesin’ for one.” Then again, if I ever use the term jonesin’, I would hope my friend would immediately hang up on me. Anyway, we were throwing out some names, like The Billy Goat (more of an institution than a great burger), Under 55 (a great place for lunch in the Loop), InnJoy (tons of spices in their burger), and so on. But nothing that made our mouth water. Nothing that compared to the burger joints in St. Louis.

Quick tangent. One of the great things about St. Louis burgers is the tradition of putting a scoop of cheddar on your burger. Not a slice of cheddar cheese, but a scoop of real cheddar. Unreal. Placed on a hot burger, it melts slightly at the bottom but not at the top. I’m not even sure how to describe it, but if you make it to St. Louis and happen to be at a place that does it (Dooley’s, Fatted Calf, O’Connell’s), get it. And just for the record, if pressed, I would say that Fatted Calf is my favorite burger joint. But like I said, they are all so good there isn’t a wrong answer.

So, Denny and I decided that over the next year or so we would actually go on a quest to find the best burger places in the city. And I mean burger joint. Shortly after having this discussion I saw some article about the best burgers in Chicago, but they were all nice restaurants like Gibson’s and Rosebud and Naha’s and Wollensky’s Grill. I don’t count those. I’m talking about a joint. A place you don’t need a reservation. A place that you can sit in for hours and relax and not feel pressured to leave. And once we found some great burger joints, I would then rank them and write about them.

Well, I finally found a great burger joint here in the city. Monk’s Pub. I headed over there the other day for lunch with some co-workers. Actually, we didn’t really head over there; we kind of stumbled upon it. But I’m glad I did.

Channel 2 claims they’re the best burgers in the city. And if Channel 2 says it, then it must be true.

The best part about Monk’s is you have several burger choices. It’s not the standard hamburger or cheeseburger. They have like 20 different burger choices or something. I went with the jalapeño burger. Not sure what I was expecting, but it was just sliced jalapeños on top of my cheeseburger, not that I’m not complaining.

The burger was big like the Sunday paper and juicy like People Magazine. And perfectly cooked. I always have mine medium rare, and there was the perfect amount of juice/blood/grease to lightly soak the bun. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a burger this good. And on top of that, you have the choice between regular fries and “Cajun” fries. Here is my tip of the week – get the Cajun fries. They’re just curly fries, like the good kind you get at Arby’s. It was the perfect compliment to a great burger.

So, if you work in the city, or live near the Loop, and you’re looking for a good burger to sink your canines into, head to Monk’s Pub. You won’t be disappointed. And if you are, then I hate you.

Is it the best burger in the city? I doubt it. But, it’s the best I’ve found so far. So I’m giving it a chest bump.

The Disney Wonder

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: The Disney Wonder – part of the Disney Cruise Line
Location: The Open Seas


A new report says that 23.1 percent of the U.S. population is considered obese. Well, 98.3 percent of the Disney Cruise population is considered obese (myself included). Honestly, I’m amazed the boat was able to float. Everywhere you looked there were fat people, with their fat kids, eating fat food, getting fatter. It was depressing.

At the breakfast buffet one morning I saw a kid who had an entire plate of bacon. Not a side of bacon, not a dinner roll size plate of bacon, but a giant plate piled with bacon. And it wasn’t the only thing he was eating. He was also grabbing some waffles, some eggs, two scoops of lard, and, of course, a Coke. That was the thing that most amazed me. Every kid on this cruise was downing soda. At all times of the day. At one point I was expecting to see kids drizzling Coke on their pancakes, and dipping their fries in Mr. Pibb, and using Cherry Coke instead of milk for their cereal. It was unreal. And parents didn’t care. And it wasn’t like these were healthy kids and this cruise was the time when their parents let them live a little. These were overweight kids with parents helping them die a little sooner. It was just sad.

I know cruises and resorts and vacations are the times when people don’t really stick to a diet, and they try to get their money’s worth at the buffet, and I’m the same way. But these were fat kids who just continued to get fatter. I know you’re not supposed to call kids fat, or point fingers, or whatever. But it’s just unhealthy. When I was a kid, I don’t remember there being that many overweight kids. And those who were, well, they were athletic. They played sports and were active, they just happened to be bigger. But these kids, the only exercise they seemed to get was when they walked from the ice cream line to the soda machine. This cruise could have used a crash cart every 20 feet just in case of emergency (joke used with permission of Pettit Inc.).

And while I’m ranting, I also have a problem with parents who look for any excuse to just stop being parents. This cruise was like the world’s biggest excuse for them. They just let their kids run around, scream, throw trash, whatever. It’s like they thought Mickey and Minnie would be looking after them the whole time. And even if some creep in a costume wasn’t playing babysitter, we were on a boat. So parents figured, “We’re in the middle of an ocean. Where are the kids going to go? And how much trouble can they really get into?” And really, I shouldn’t complain. This is a cruise made for kids, and I’m glad they were able to have fun. But it would be nice for a parent to step up at some point and say “no” or “Hey, Charlie, please don’t do that” or “Steve, are you sure you need seven Cokes with your two burgers, pizza, and cheese fries?” Again, America has become a place where everyone gets blamed for everything, except for parents. Fast food and soft drink companies get blamed for child obesity, yet someone is buying the kids the food. And video games and movies are getting blamed for violence, but someone is letting kids play and watch this stuff. Can we please start blaming parents? What happened to the good old days when you had to sneak behind your parents back to eat bad food, look at porn, play video games, and watch R rated movies. What is this world coming to?

My soapbox just broke under my excessive holiday weight, so I’ll get on to the food review.

I was riding the open seas on the Disney Wonder, part of the Disney Cruise Line. Nice ship. Just huge. Like my johnson. Otherwise known as the Octagon. Anyway, the ship was 10 levels, had five restaurants, a couple of fast food places, a gym, a basketball court, two theaters, a computer lab, and tons of kids activities. It was like a floating resort.

The way dinner works on one of these things is that you are assigned a restaurant for dinner every night. You show up at the same time, just at a different place. You eat dinner with the same people every night, which for me were my in-laws. I ate at three different restaurants for dinner, Triton’s, Palo, and Parrot Cay. Let’s start with Triton’s.

I started with the fried Camembert, or something French like that. Basically it’s fried cheese. But, this isn’t like a mozzarella cheese. It was this super soft ball of goodness. It was almost like fried mayonnaise. It was easily the best part of dinner.

For dinner I got the beef tenderloin. Just OK. Not that juicy. No real flavor. Basically it was just calories to fill me up. Don’t get me wrong, I ate all of it, and even thought about ordering more, but I wasn’t happy about it. And for dessert I went with the Apple Tart with cinnamon ice cream. Now, the tart was basically a cold apple pie, and it was OK. But the ice cream – so good. And my wife got the soufflé, which was amazing. It was a like a pancake filled with chocolate. If it was my dinner, I would have been happy.

TRITON’S – High-five. Nothing special here.


Next up was the adult-only dinner at PALO. I was hoping that meant it was a topless restaurant, but really it was just a sanctuary where parents could get away from their kids, and I could get away from other people’s kids. It was the nicest dinner of the trip, even costing an extra ten bucks per person.

I started off with the fried calamari. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if it’s fried, you’re going to be pretty hard pressed to disappoint me. This was no exception. Not the best I’ve ever had, but it was fried, and that’s a good thing. Next, they brought out some prosciutto and melon. What a great combo. The spicy, salty flavor of the prosciutto complemented by the sweetness of melon. And because the fruit was extra good, it was just a very satisfying co-appetizer.

And really, we had three appetizers. Next was the prosciutto pizza. I don’t know why I never thought of this before. I love proscioutto, and I love pizza, so combining the two was a no-brainer. And it was really good pizza. I also got a salad, but who cares.

For dinner I went with the pasta. Not sure why, since there was Filet on the menu, but I was just in the mood for some pasta. And I was pretty happy with my choice. It was a rigatoni in a spicy red sauce, with some big-ass shrimp mixed in. Honestly, it was super satisfying. I’m glad I got it. The knock on it was that it really wasn’t that different from pasta I’ve made at home. It wasn’t like it had this unique flavor or sauce or anything. I’m pretty sure I’ve made the exact same dish at home. Ingredient for ingredient. But, it was still good.

Everyone else at the table got the Filet. And I’m glad I didn’t. Granted, it was HUGE, which is nice, but it was overcooked and dry. Filet has never been my favorite cut of meat, but still. Don’t serve it unless you’re going to cook it right. And everyone at the table had the same comment, so I know I’m not crazy.

But dessert, oh sweet dessert. Chocolate soufflé. Almost chocolate creamed in my pants. It was AMAZING. And UNREAL. And AMAZING. So happy. Again, if I could have ordered the soufflé as my soup before dinner, this would have been the best dinner of my life.

PALO – Fist bump with a manly ass slap. Would have been higher, but points off since the main course was the least satisfying part of the meal.

On the last night we were treated to Parrot Cay, the Caribbean themed restaurant on the boat. I treated myself to chicken wings that were dipped in a sweet barbeque sauce. Blah. Next, I decided to go for the fruit salad. Awesome. In fact, the fruit throughout the trip was fantastic. Probably the best fruit I’ve ever eaten. Everything was ripe and juicy and sweet and filling. One day for lunch all I ate was fruit. That’s saying something. So, this fruit salad was no exception. And it was dripped with honey. Just fantastic.

For dinner I went with the grouper. They had prime rib, which looked (and tasted) much better, but I wanted to get a fish at least once on this trip. And the grouper was just OK. Would I get it again? No. Did I scrape my tongue with my fork? No. So, just very average. But, it was served with mashed potatoes. Or so I thought. It was actually a cauliflower puree. No joke. Something like cauliflower and virgin olive oil. Looked just like mashed potatoes. As I was eating them, I even made a comment about how good I thought the potatoes were, that they had this great, unique flavor. Then I was told it was cauliflower. I almost jumped off the boat. Who knew? I would have NEVER ordered something like that, but now that I’ve been bamboozled, I’ll be sure to do it again.

And dessert was a great Sundae. Really tasty.

PARROT CAY – HIGH FIVE

Now, lunch and breakfast worked a little different. For the most part you would just head to Beach Blanket Buffet and chow down. Sure, I think Parrot Cay would serve you a sit down lunch, but who cares. There was an all you can eat buffet, and a ship full of people who can eat all things.

For breakfast, the selection typically consisted of fruit, eggs, sausage, bacon, little Mickey waffles (chocolate and regular), cereal, bagels, toast, and omelets. No big surprises here. Everything was very blah except for the omelets, which were pretty good and really filling. The lunch buffets weren’t as good, and since the breakfast buffet wasn’t that good, well, I didn’t exactly look forward to lunch everyday. The best part of the lunch buffet was the kids’ line, and the best part of that was getting in line. The lady handing out trays said, “Sir, you’re in the kids line.” I said, “Does this line have mac and cheese, applesauce, and corn dogs?” She said, “Yes.” Then I said, “I’m in the right line.” Then I destroyed a plate of mac and cheese, a corndog, and some applesauce. And a horrendous piece of pizza. I love buffets. Love them. It’s just piles of food and you can eat as much of it as you’d like. Really, it’s the greatest invention of all time. But, this buffet was very mediocre at best.

BEACH BLANKET BUFFET – Fist bump. And it only gets that because it was all you can eat.


If you haven’t fallen asleep by now, here is the recap. Food in general was below average. Very disappointing. Highlights included the fruit, desserts, and making fun of fat people. I’m not proud of the last one.

So, Disney Wonder gets a final rating of high five.

Maiz

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: Maiz
Location: 1041 N. California

Let me ask you a couple of questions to try and get a sense of the type of person you are (my answers below):

1. If the moon were a piece of cheese, would you eat it?
2. If you could cut off a body part in order to never work again, how much flesh would you be willing to give up?
3. Chocolate, vanilla, or double chocolate?
4. NBA or NCAA Basketball?
5. Redheads, brunettes, blonds, or anything with a pulse?
6. Do you like corn?
7. Do you like corn when it’s used a bunch of different ways to prepare some kick ass Mexican food you can cram into your mouth for under $8?

Well, if you answered “yes” to the last question, then you’re going to like Maiz. If you answered “yes” to the last two questions, then you’re really going to like Maiz. You see, “maiz” is Spanish for “corn”. I think.

Doesn’t matter, this place is great. They have a surprisingly big menu, but once you spend some time with it, you realize it’s not that big and actually pretty manageable. What they do is offer what I call “headline options”. So, they have quesadillas, or Huaraches (I’m sure I blew the spelling on that one), or fajita tacos, and so on. And under each one they offer like ten filling choices. So, it’s like they have 80 things to choose from, but really, it’s like having eight things to choose from. All you have to do is decide what filling you want, then decide which “headline” you want, or vice versa.

And I’m sure Carlos (the owner) is pretty pumped up I’m describing his menu like this, but whatever. It’s how I was able to manage it, so I’m sharing the secret with you.

Now, I ordered the steak Huarache. Good choice, but not a great choice, and that was my fault. I kind of defaulted to the steak when they have like nine other great choices, like a seasoned pork or marinated chicken. So, the dish was really good, but I think with a filling that was a little more unique, it would have been great. How do I know this? Because my wife ordered the quesadilla with the marinated chicken, and it was Holy Crap good. Seriously, all this thing had was chicken and chihuahua cheese (again, my spelling is embarrassing, though I might have actually spelled that right. Sure, I could open up the dictionary right next to me, but that just shows how lazy I am.), and it was still mouthwatering. I made her switch plates halfway through. It was that good.

I think everything involves corn somehow, and usually it’s just as simple as using handmade corn tortillas. Everything is a traditional Mexican dish and very authentic. The menu even has a little story on where each dish is from. Truly great food. Oh, and the guacamole. Again, Holy Crap good. Might be the best I’ve had in the city. Maybe. And the chips were still warm, fresh out of the fryer, and covered in salt. Each one was like a little fried triangle of heaven.

I will warn you, the place is cash only, so bring money. There isn’t an ATM anywhere in sight, so if you don’t have cash, I hope you don’t have delicate hands cause you’re gonna be washing dishes. But, the menu is really well priced, and just about everything is under $8. And the place has relatively odd hours, as it’s open only from 5-10, Tuesday through Sunday.

This place is a great deal and I see myself visiting here often. A good, old-fashioned Chest Bump.

And the answers to my questions are as follows:

1. I know I would.
2. My left arm, but hopefully it would only take a pinky toe.
3. Double chocolate, with chocolate chips. And some chocolate sauce.
4. NBA
5. I don’t objectify women. But if I did, brunettes. Or blonds. Or redheads.
6. Yes. And porn.
7. Yes.

The Bleeding Heart Bakery

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: The Bleeding Heart Bakery
Location: 2018 W. Chicago Ave.


This recently opened bakery doesn’t just serve great baked goods, they also serve the community. From what I understand, all of the profits, of a percentage of them, or something, go toward charity. I’m not sure which ones, but I feel like it’s a local food bank or a homeless shelter or something. Next time I’m in there I’ll find out for sure and get back to you.

But, that shouldn’t really matter, because the stuff there is AWESOME. I have a slight obsession with chocolate and sweets and baked goods, so you have to really bring it for me to be 100% happy. And Bleeding Heart definitely brings it.

They have a $10 minimum to use a credit card, so instead of using the cash I had on me, I thought it was a good idea to sample a variety of items and see if I could hit that $10 mark. To do so, I got two HUGE brownies, one banana-nut brownie and one smores brownie. They were just so big and soft and gooey. Sounds like dialogue from a porn, but trust me, these things were wholesome and fantastic. I can’t remember better brownies (the smores one was the best). I also had to get a couple of giant cookies to test out. Chocolate chip cookie – not the best I’ve ever had, but really good stuff. And a peanut butter cookie for my wife. See, I don’t like PB cookies, but even I couldn’t help myself from eating half of this one.

I’m not sure if it’s legal, but if I can tax-deduct brownies come April, this place will be the greatest bakery on Earth. And even if I can’t, it’s still some of the best stuff I’ve had in a while.

They also have cakes and pies and breads and soups and some dips, so they’ve got a little bit of everything.

I highly, highly recommend it. Half handshake, half chest-bump hug.

pingpong

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star



Restaurant: pingpong
Location: 3322 N. Broadway

The great thing about Chicago is there are so many different neighborhoods, and each neighborhood has tons of great places to eat and drink. The bad thing about Chicago is that people don’t venture out of their neighborhoods enough. They stay close to home, which means they miss out on so many great places in this city.

I frequently fall victim to that, but I make an effort to get out and about as much as possible. What’s my point? Well, this review focuses on a little neighborhood joint in East Lakeview that is loved by the locals. It’s called pingpong.

pingpong features pan-Asian food. Quick story. Just the mention of ping-pong reminds me of the movie "Emmanuelle in Singapore". When I was a kid (like 7th or 8th grade), I used to go to a friends house for sleepovers, and every now and then we’d stay up late to watch Skinemax. The only movie I remember was "Emmanuelle in Singapore" and that’s because she did something with ping-pong balls I’d never seen before, and probably won’t ever see again. Unless I go to Tijuana. It was traumatizing. And enlightening. Anyway.

pingpong the restaurant. A friend lives in the area, and recommended it. The first time I went was on a Monday night. He lives nearby, and really liked the place, so I was expecting the best. I didn’t get it.

I ordered the calamari, and it was awful. Truly unenjoyable. I almost didn’t want the dinner, that’s how disappointed I was. For dinner I got the General’s Chicken (easily my favorite Chinese food dish ever. And I’m not even sure it’s authentic to China, but I’m sure my belly doesn’t care.). It’s hard to find great General’s Chicken. And this was no exception. It was for sure below average. I was unhappy. I wanted my money back, but the place is pretty reasonably priced, so there was no point.

The next day I let my friend know about my experience. He was shocked. He might have even gasped and clutched the pearls. He said there was a mistake and demanded that I go back.

Months later, I did. I ordered the exact same thing, and my second helping was much, much better. I told my friend that I was happier this time, but that I still thought the place was just “good” and not “great” or anything. He agreed. See, he liked the place because it was good food, dependable, and close to home. Whenever he need food and just wanted a place that was solid where he’d know he’d be happy, pingpong was one of those places for him. And really, that’s exactly what a neighborhood joint should be.

So, upon further review, I give pingpong a high five with a manly ass slap.