Meanwhile, on the Other End of Colorado...

Thousands were camping out on the curbs of Colorado Boulevard on the afternoon of New Year's Eve, staking out a viewing spot for the Rose Parade. I live just minutes south of the area, and it is always fascinating to drive down this street in the weeks leading up to the parade, with bleachers set up in parking lots and parkways, and that stripe that the floats follow going down the middle. However, just a little bit to the west of there, across the suicide bridge, lies Eagle Rock.

On Saturday, after a trip to Fry's, we went past Tommy Burgers in Eagle Rock for lunch. About a block away is a fairly new restaurant, Oinkster. I had heard of it, and seen it before, but had never been there. Sunday, while the preparations for the Rose Parade were underway, we went to check this place out. Having seen it the day before, it had stuck in my head. There were several classic rods in the parking lot, a '32 highboy, a duce coupe, a 30's pickup, and as we ate on the patio a '53 Chevy panel truck and a '63 Falcon ragtop came through. The shakes were one of the things that had been touted, so we got several of those. Belgian fries with roasted garlic aioli dipping sauce were also on the menu. I don't know what classifies them as Belgian, but they are slightly larger than most, and the salt was coarser than what usually comes on fries. Very tasty, tasted very fresh, like the ones you get from In-N-Out. The sauce... I've never tasted anything like it!!! This is what fries have been waiting for!!! The boy and I both ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which was indescribably tasty. My wife got the veggie burger (lower in calories and fat) and it was quite good, too.

Their slogan is "Slow fast food", whatever that means. They do give you a number and bring the food out to you, but it didn't seem to take much longer than what it takes at Carls Jr. Pricey, though. The shakes alone are nearly as much as a combo meal at many of the "faster" fast food places. After we paid up and went to the patio to await our food, I said "Hope you enjoy this, it will probably be the last time we come here." I could have gone to a real restaurant for right around the same amount. However, after the food arrived and we got to eating, the consensus was that we'd probably be back, at least once more!!!