Category: Food

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Nonna’s Cucina at General Duffy’s Watering Hole

Italian Comfort Cuisine Foodtruck in Redmond Oregon

Nonna’s Cucina offers authentic Italian food made from scratch that uses as many locally sourced and organic ingredients as possible. We offer both vegan and gluten free menu options. “Many of the recipes are from over three generations of my family; my Italian grandmother taught me our famous meatball recipe”. – Ashley Dolinar – Chef and Owner.

Well here we are out and about thrifting for books again and needing a bite to eat in Redmond, and after a successful trip to That Guy’s Bistro at General Duffy’s Watering Hole, we’re back with a new truck! Nonna’s Cucina!

The Truck

After looking at the menu we instantly keyed in on splitting the Chicken 🐓 Pesto Sandwich 🥪 & fries.

The menu
Chicken 🐓 Pesto Sandwich 🥪

Lunch: Chicken 🐓 Pesto Sandwich 🥪$16-Popular sandwich with chicken 🐓 , house-made pesto, fontina cheese 🧀 , fresh basil 🌿, fresh tomato 🍅 , and balsamic glaze on a Pandura roll 🥖 from the Village Baker. Served with your choice of fries 🍟, garlic fries 🧄 🍟, or a side salad 🥗.

Chicken 🐓 Pesto Sandwich 🥪 & garlic fries 🧄 🍟

We went with the garlic fries on their recommendation & I have to say, this sandwich was delicious & the fries were crispy & flavorful. The bread, like at Sunriver Brewing Co, was hard, but it worked well with the wet textures of the sandwich and sauce, it had a crunch to it, not chewy like Sunriver Brewing Co.. The cheese melted nicely keeping things mostly intact, and the balsamic glaze was an absolute game changer to my taste buds.

The garlic fries weren’t too over powering and packed with flavor and crisp, a nice side to the soft sandwich filling. You really get a good sized meal to share, as you can see we couldn’t finish, but that’s not a reflection on the quality of food, more so on the amount of coffee & beer we had prior & during. $16 is a little on the steep end for a one person meal, but if everything comes in this size a portion, a split meal comes at a nice price of $8 per person.

We are inside General Duffy’s Watering Hole & grabbed a beverage, I opted for another light Pilsner, the Ninkasi Pilsner. I can’t say this was a good pairing with the sandwich and fries, the tart crispness didn’t pair well, afterthoughts would lead me to go with a dark beer to pair here. You can see my full beer review on Untappd.

Ninkasi Pilsner

So the verdict is, grab a friend, split a meal and get a beer and enjoy another great offering at General Duffy’s Watering Hole, a great place to kill time in a layover at RDM.

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Village Bar and Grill

Located in the heart of The Village at Sunriver. Village Bar & Grill has been serving great food & drinks for over 40 years!

Vbag as they like to call themselves is a staple eatery in Sunriver that aims to meet your needs with an array of food options, drinks, and indoor/outdoor seating.

We were on our way down to Sunriver again on the hunt to fill up our Amazon Bookstore at ResellerRex, and narrowed our search for chicken tenders or burgers down to two spots, here and Big Belly Burgers & Brew, and we came here for the chicken tenders that actually turns out to be a photo of fish and chips 🤦🏻‍♂️, but oh well, we’re here let’s see what they got.

Now the menu, like Sunriver Brewing Co. is just a little small for my liking in a place like this, again, no chicken tenders (although looking at the table next to us, it looks like they are on the kids menu), and we were looking for smaller plates, or something to share, as thrifting on a full stomach is not ideal. The menu again does not flow well with options, and is pricier than a local would really like to pay. I settled on the Hazey BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of fries (other options are coleslaw or cottage cheese). Fresh Haze (Deschutes Brewery IPA) braised pork with our house BBQ sauce, fried onion straws, and pepper jack cheese.

Now I usually don’t do this, but I’m starting with the fries 🍟 . These were the best fries I think I have ever had. They were a great temperature, crispy, seasoned, and flavorful. I had some malt vinegar on them & a side of ranch and that was all I needed. Best fries 🍟 in C.O so far! As for the pulled pork 🐖 sandwich 🥪, I was a little hesitant with the pepper jack combo with the pork, but I’ll tell you that small amount of heat paired with the crispy fried onion straws really elevated this sandwich to another level.

I really like this sandwich at $15 instead of $17, but I guess inflation is something we can’t really get around. On to the beer 🍺.

Beer: Three Creeks Brewing Mexican Lager $x

This thing was clean and crisp with a lime wedge to balance it out. A solid Mexican lager with a kick. Check out my review on Untappd.

Overall the food was good if not a little under seasoned, the deck atmosphere was nice except there was some event going on that day where an annoying noise happened most of our meal, but of no fault of Vbag, but beware The Village is usually packed with people and activities. They were “understaffed” with two servers, but they had 4 different food runners, so I’m not sure why the server thought they were so understaffed, but alas I just review, I don’t manage. I’d rexamend this as a stop if you are in Sunriver for sure.

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Bangers and Brews Eastside

Gourmet sausages with an Argentinian Flair

After a long day of hunting books and thrifts, we decided to have a nice sit down dinner at Bangers & Brews Eastside. We’ve been wanting to check out one of the sausage places in town & decided a trip to the Eastside location was a great place to start.

You start out at a cafeteria style line ordering first & then choosing a place to sit.

Menu
Drink list

There is inside seating,

and a split patio seating shared with Hablo Tacos.

The Hablo side

Winter set up with heaters, and open air flow in the summer.

You can order the traditional 1X2X1 or off the specials menu, and lastly have sides.

After ordering we took our beverages out to the patio and found a table, and old whisky barrel with a new top & high bar stools and we were set.

I opted to get the Reuben’s Lager which was a solid lager option from a Seattle brewery. Besides on tap, there was a cooler as well stocked with alternative drinks & fountain sodas as well.

Reuben’s Lager

We opened up with the 12” Pretzel and cheese for an appetizer, but before we received that we were brought out some warm bread and chimichurri. honestly the bread fell apart easily, and was not easy to dip in the sauce. And this will be the last complaint you’ll hear from me.

Weak bread

A warm buttery pretzel with a nice hot creamy cheese sauce with a good salt to pretzel ratio. A good opening once we got passed the bread fiasco.

I went with a (1) Elk/Pork Brat (2) Caramelized Onions & Sauerkraut (1) and Chimichurri. There is also an option to go bundles which I did choosing to have mine on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Elk/Pork Brat

The chimichurri is nice with a cilantro kick, gravy is semi sweet & pairs well with the slightly gamey sausage, carmelized onions are a little under cooked and gives a nice texture difference to the sausage and potatoes. The sauerkraut portion is a little lacking but flavorful & melds well with the rest of the components.

Overall I’m impressed with both the price point & amount of food provided in the portion. I think this place is great (I ended up taking my dad to the Westside location a few weeks later. Smaller venue, longer wait times, go to the Eastside.) and am excited to try out some other combos & sausages. 💯 Rexamend this as a go to while in town!

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Pine Marten Pizza at The Bite Tumalo

Wood fired pizza is what caught our noses today in Tumalo at The Bite. We are on our way to Sisters to go Thrifting and needed a little bite and a beer to hold us over on the drive so we hit up the Bite.

After scanning the menu here on a 91 degree day the Pear & Prosciutto pizza stood out as something light & right for this afternoon.

The crust was A light, buttery, and crisp crust topped with thinly sliced prosciutto, pear chunks which were solid and sweet. The basil compliments on the back end nicely and it’s topped with a sweet balsamic glaze that really rounds out a nice pie.

For our beverages I went with the Van Henion Kolsch which I had a taster glass at Bend Brewfest and was excited to have a nice cold pint. It compliments well as it’s nice and light with a full malty flavor, perfect for a hot summer day and a pizza pie for lunch.

@socialmediaridesharerex opted for a cider.

What can I say, this was a successful adventure on our way thrifting, and I know I haven’t posted as much as I once was, but with Fjord being wrecked, Mitsu in the shop for repairs, I’ve been focusing a lot on my book selling business, where I’ve had a chance to visit many Thrift Stores in the area & will start posting them soon!

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Ski Inn Taphouse Hotel 2: chips & queso and a brew

So after my first foray into thrifting in Sisters, I had to come back the very next day and finish what I started as they closed the store on us yesterday before we even got 25% through their inventory. I knew I had to get there with enough time, and after filling up my box with books & having 30% of the store left to source, sweating on a 92 degree day, I knew I needed to seek shelter, AC, and provisions.

My familiarity with Ski Inn from our last trip

& the 2 blocks walking distance made this an easy although unsettling choice. As I had driven by a few hours prior & the place was absolutely jammed packed, and as I walked up I could tell by the fact that every table sat un-bussed and empty, they were short handed and in need of a reprise. There were only 2 other people there post lunch rush, and so I made it easy on them with just an appetizer and a brew.

Chili con Queso -Fresh fried chips, and our house. chili con queso $8

OMG! Look at the size of those chips!!!!!!

Gigantic Chips!

The queso was spicy, but not a tongue burner, just enough heat to pair nicely with a few brews, obviously filling with the chips the size of your hands, I thought I’d run out of dip before finishing the chips, but paced myself nicely at the end and had just enough to finish.

Beer: I believe this was a Chapman Brown Ale, besides that the waitress didn’t know which Chapman Brewery it was (There’s 2) not it’s actual name. After doing some research on Untappd after the fact I believe it to be Still the One Chapman Crafted Beer (Orange County, Ca). Anyway, it was delicious, crushable, and thirst quenching malt light for a brown ale.

All in all nice friendly fast service, good food, and cold beer, worth a stop in Sisters when passing through.

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That Guy’s Bistro at General Duffy’s Watering Hole

The Truck

Wow what an experience with That Guy! Friendly smiling faces right off the bat ready to give you a great dining experience. I was impressed, then I saw their ordering sign and it all made sense.

Ordering guide
The menu

I went with the Basil Chicken Filly ($13) a marinated and grilled chicken with melted provolone, pistachio basil pesto, and spring mix lettuce with a balsamic glaze drizzle. It also had 2 slices of tomato that were not featured on the menu.

A gracious portion of food to begin with filled me right up. The flavors blended and complemented well, the only issue was there was slightly too much food for the pita to hold it’s structural integrity, but if that is your main issue, I think you’re doing just fine.

The only downside is you can not get drinks at the food carts, you’ll need to go into Duffy’s Watering Hole to quench your thirst. I was greeted by smiling faces and friendly service, so if you are looking to kill time before or after a flight at RDM, this is a close location that will treat you well!

I went with a Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale ($6) and let me tell you this is a superior cream ale and hit the spot on a nice sunny Central Oregon day.

Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale

You can find my review here on Untappd!

Overall a Rexamendation for the combo of That Guy’s Bistro & General Duffy’s Watering Hole!

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Tacos el comal

I was sitting at the airport yesterday with a grumble in my tummy. I was going to meet another Rideshare Driver, Sarge, for lunch later in the day when my ride came up in the app. 45 minutes west, ok so I’m thinking I’m going to Sisters so I won’t be back in town for another 1.5 hours so Sarge and I postponed and I picked up my fare which turned out being a couple kids going to summer camp past Hoodoo Ski Resort. Whew, what a trip.

As we passed through Sisters I knew I had to find something to eat on my way back and saw Tacos el comal’s sign on the end of a gas station and I knew it was the spot for me to try on my way back.

Looking at the menu it was a little tough figuring out what I wanted since there was so many tasty looking choices.

Menu 1
Menu 2

I finally decided on 3 Asada Tacos with verde sauce on the side.

Overhead taco shot

Let me tell you, I was hungry and was barely able to eat all 3 tacos. THEY ARE HUGE! and at that price they well should be, but 2 would have been a more manageable order.

I really enjoyed them, the meat was seasoned well, nice big pieces of lime, pico was delicious, and the verde sauce wasn’t too spicy and was flavorful.

Side profile of these tacos

I’ll defiantly be coming back, the only downside was there were no drinks for sale, so a separate transaction in the gas station was needed.

I also need to mention that the space to order really only allows for 3 people to stand and order, and was even more compacted due to the merchandisers stocking the gas station, but wasn’t that big of a deal.

I can’t wait to try out the tamales and nachos next time, so I 💯 rexamend you visit Tacos el comal if you need a fix in Sisters!

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El Sancho Burrito Shop (Aka Runaround Sue)

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What can I say about El Sancho, they are a favorite spot here in our family, they have 2 locations (*wink wink*) and a couple food carts scattered around town and serve up some tasty food, and have fun atmosphere’s at their locations.

So when we heard they were opening up a pop up shop close by, I was instructed that we were having some take out from there this weekend. Yes instructed…

Lunch: Well what do you think we got? lol.

Shrimp Fajita Burrito ($15) What can i say, it was so good apparently I couldn’t even get a bite. It also went by so fast, the camera couldn’t catch up with it.

Pork Chili Verde Burrito

Pork Chili Verde Burrito ($14) Well this is what I got, and it was pretty good, the pork wasn’t quite melt in your mouth, and it came with plain white rice, with a side of lettuce, pico, sour cream, and guac on a home made tortilla. I can’t say I was super impressed with it, it was a better value than the Skin Inn Taphouse, but not quite as flavorful. Overall though, it was a tasty burrito.

The pop up also featured a home made salsa bar, most of them were hot or spicy salsa’s, so i opted for the avocado salsa which I thought wouldn’t be on that scale, but was i wrong, it had some heat to it!

I love what El Sancho is doing with this pop up shop, unfortunately we missed the first two, but won’t miss any more going forward. I rexamend you find a location while in town, you won’t be disappointed!

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Rideshare Rex