Doughboys - Ruth's Chris Steak House with Andrew Secunda

Episode Date: May 10, 2018

Writer and actor Andrew Secunda (The Goldbergs, Curb Your Enthusiasm) joins to review a fine dining favorite from his college days: New Orleans’ own Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Andy and Mitch reminisce about the eats of upstate New York, and compete to divine another mystery drink in a new edition of the Wiger Challenge.Want more Doughboys? Check out our Patreon!: https://patreon.com/doughboysSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think of New Orleans food, a unique fusion of primarily French and West African cooking, you probably think of Creole dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, po-boys, turtle soup, and beignets. But outside of fried chicken franchise Popeyes, the biggest chain restaurant to come out of the Big Easy is actually a steakhouse. Open in 1927, in its original form, the eateries struggled for decades, being sold off repeatedly and coming to the brink of permanent closure on multiple occasions. But it finally found salvation in lasting success in 1965, when a divorced mother of

two who worked as a lab tech at Tulane University mortgaged her house to acquire the business and into the restaurant biz. This risk-taking entrepreneur, whose last name was Fertel, found success where her predecessors failed by getting hands-on with every aspect of the chophouse, even learning to butcher the steaks herself. And she gave her concept a signature by hiring a waitstaff with fellow single mothers, making it New Orleans' first restaurant with all female servers, dubbed at the time, the Broads on Broad Street.

Unfortunately, the curse of the original location returned as a fire destroyed the eatery in 1976. Perhaps a blessing in disguise as Fertel quickly found a new space nearby, with over double the seating room. The new location thrived, and Fertel's hands-on approach was evident in her decision to live the rest of her life in a house directly behind the restaurant. As its reputation continued to grow, because of its sizzling steaks, seared at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and served on 500 degree plates with a generous pat of butter on top, Fertel

reluctantly agreed to franchise, expanding first throughout Louisiana and Georgia and then across the United States. Fertel's pioneering success earned her the honorific the first lady of American restaurants, and though she died in 2002, her legacy endures as over 100 locations now operate nationwide. As to the business's unique name, contractual reasons prevented Ms. Fertel from retaining its originally incorporated title when she moved locations, so, like a rock band touring without its original lineup, she modified it by adding her own first name. This week on Doughboys, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Welcome to Doughboys, the podcast about chain restaurants. I'm Nick Weiger, alongside my co-host, the Golden State Buffet Killer, Mitchie Two Spoons Mike Mitchell. The Golden State Buffet Killer. The idea, like the Golden State Killer, except what you slay, is buffets. Golden State Killer caught. Caught? Yeah, recently.

Recently. As of this episode, we'll come out about two weeks after that news. Thomas Scott sent that insult in. If you have an insult you'd like me to use on the top of the show, roastspoonman at gmail.com. Great Scott. Great Scott? Bad Scott. Weiger.

You know, you had a Kristen at the end of this. You've got an Oscar winner's name backwards. Ooh. Wait, who? What did he do it? Kristen Scott Thomas. Oh, what the hell? The English patient.

What, what, what puzzle games are going on up in your head? You said Great Scott. I was just, Thomas Scott. Mine was just a Great Scott reference to Back to the Future. Oh, okay. You didn't understand that? I thought we were playing with a name. Golden State Killer caught, yet somehow you're still in front of me here.

Come on. He was an old man. Most of those murders happened before I was born. Michelle McNamara wrote a book about him. Yeah. Yeah. And apparently had something that had led, that plus DNA evidence collected on apps is partly how they tracked him down.

This is all context that you probably got from some news article. You don't, hopefully you're not learning this news from us. This is, we're not adding anything right now. Do you know, I think they should let him go. Oh boy. One of your more controversial stands you've taken on this show. Oh, no, lock them up. Throw them away.

Throw them away for good. Execute them for all I care. Anyways, to Mitchy Two Spoons Nation, here's a little drop. I was working in the lab late one night. When my eyes beheld an eerie sight for my monster from his slap began to rise and suddenly to my surprise, his trousers dropped right to the floor with his bottom there. He ran to the door. I said, Frankenstein, what's gotten into you?

He said, I can suck my own dick. You know, that one started going. I wasn't sure how much of this is a bit I've done on comedy, Bang Bang, the original Monster Mash. I wasn't sure if we were just going to hear all of that song. It really like made you wait for a little bit before the payoff. I mean, it made me laugh. That was from Colin O'Day.

I was kind of bummed. I was kind of bummer that you didn't play my last drop because of how long it was. Don't roast this guy who made a drop. But I managed to make a shorter drop. I think you may enjoy. Is this kind of misery type situation where his D's have been replaced with ours? Oh, you know, he's into follow up. He said, hey, I didn't proofread that email and auto correct some words.

Now I sound like an idiot. Uh, okay, that's fine. Colin O'Day at Colin, uh, Colin, uh, Oh, a scoppy is like the medical procedure call. Oh, Oh, Colin a scoppy. I got it. Colin. Oh, I see. I see what he's doing.

He's having some fun. Colin. That's it. And by the way, I want, I want, I want the golden state killer to be in jail. I shouldn't have said that. No one thought you were serious. You're not going to get roasted for that. Hey, Mitch, let's introduce our guest.

Yes. From the Goldbergs and Kirby enthusiasm and the podcast Star Trek, the next conversation, Andrew Secundez here. Hi, Andy. Hi guys. Thanks so much for being here. What's your stance on the golden state killer? I've always been hoping he doesn't get caught.

It's something I've root for from the beginning. It's not true. You really have to say that, don't you? Yeah. I don't know why you would have to say, I don't want that serial killer, not actually rooting for the serial killer to get away in 2018. You got to say it or you could be taken literally, uh, you know, my mom was out here and we were celebrating her birthday and we went, you know what, Nick, I should say this.

We went to Rustic Canyon, which Nick suggested, I don't know if you've ever been there, great restaurant. One of my favorite restaurants in LA is maybe my favorite restaurant from a fine dining standpoint. I made a great night for a great celebration with my mom. That's nice. I'm glad you had a nice time. Thanks.

Uh, anyway, uh, you're doubting it there. You're doubting his sincerity a little bit, um, and you also gave us a few spots to hit up some bars when we were out here out in Santa Monica, you're, you're part of town. Yeah. And you suggested the whitey, the place that whitey bulger love Michaels, Michaels. I said to my mom, I was like, we go to Michaels. Nick says it's good. Uh, and he, and he said that it was whitey bulger's favorite.

My mom said, no, oh, we're not going to the, oh, she had a, she had a vested interest against whitey bulger. Why do you both are lived in Quincy for real and he, you know, I'm from Quincy, were their relatives that had been, I think my mom whacked some people. She was on the other side of a whitey bulger fuse. Yeah. No, she, I don't think she likes. Mrs. Mitchell.

Cause whitey. So he lit, he was from Quincy when his reign of terror and the Irish mob was taking place and then when he was hiding from the FBI for years, he was in plain sight and then a very dense area of Santa Monica, California. That's right. And yeah, he was, he was right at the street from this very nice restaurant, Michaels, which has a bar area that he apparently frequented. And with his, with his wife, who was also in an alias and they tipped poorly was

what was repeated, which is kind of makes you are like, oh yeah, of course, he's a scummy guy. He'd do that, but I think they were also mobsters though. Aren't they like, you know, good fellas spreading the cash around. I think that is, I mean, I don't, yeah, I think that's a fallacy. Yeah. I think that might be like, like a, like a wise guy. I remember reading in one of these things that a wise guy never picks up a

check, like what, like, that is also true. Yeah. They're trying to get away without paying for things. So I mean, he was probably living off like an actual stack of money, right? Like, like, like there wasn't, didn't he have like a hole in as well with his money and that's crazy. He was fully in hiding when he was here. Oh, he so, so it's so in hiding.

He was, he was on, but he didn't turn over on anybody. That wasn't, he wasn't protected by the state. No, he was, he was on the FBI's, uh, the 10 most wanted list. Yeah, he got away. He was, he got away for, he got away for, like people thought he was gone, like gone, gone and he was up and dealt with in a movie. That's a fascinating whitey bulger hiding out in Los Angeles. Right.

It's kind of a fascinating. They, they did, and I've talked about my history with this, Nick, right? Yes. Yes. Okay. And cause, well, I don't, I grew up with someone whose father was associated with that in some way, but I don't want to bring up a specific names or anything like that.

You don't want to get whacked by your own mom. It's called spank. It still happens. Literally. But, but yeah, no, I mean, obviously that was big news back in, and, and, and, you know, the departed is kind of like a little take on it. Like, there's, there's some elements in the departed as a whitey bulger. Basically.

Yeah. And then, and then there is actually the, the black mass movie, which wasn't great. It was like less, less, the real thing was like less interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And there's a reason things are fictionalized. Um, that's like that whole thing because they, they had the, the Moby Dick was fictionalized and then they had, they made a, there was that movie that fuck, what

was that recent boat movie that was like the real story of that Moby Dick. And then it was just like, well, this isn't as interesting as it was called. Hey, there's a white whale. Yeah. Very, very just on the nose. What was it called? Whale summer. It was something, it was something strange.

It was something strange, like way, heart of the, way, heart of the ocean. Something like that. There's a harmless whale. Hey, there's a harmless whale. Yeah. That, that real story is terrifying. Yeah. A whale, the whale really came at them and right followed them supposedly.

But then also they're all, so that must have been good or did they have to fictionalize a bunch of stuff? Cause there actually wasn't that much going on. I, I just figured it was saying Moby Dick is a scary story. Yeah. I have, you know, I have a rule. Everyone born before 1800 fucking idiot. You know what I'm saying?

No, I don't. Prior to the 19th century, everyone was just more dummy Thomas Jefferson, you know, Benjamin Franklin. Sure. Come back, come to our time. I'll show you how fucking stupid you are. Are you going to show them things other than technology? Are you just going to show them TV and lord it over on probably TV.

Wally and her matrix. I'd love to see you, Mitch. I'd love to see you trying to debate Play-Doh, trying to show, show that guy. He didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. We, the people, that document is obviously a mess, right? No, that's true. It's got a lot of problems. We got a lot of problems.

All those, all those S's look like F's. That's a big issue. Is that, is that a quote from a Stan Freeberg album? Is it? No, I'm really showing my antiquated taste. It led to, you know, who being in power. Oh boy. You're talking about me.

Bill Clinton. I thought you were going to go. Yeah, a philanderer. Well, Bill, you know, you were famously remained in office because they couldn't find the two thirds threshold necessary for, to remove you from office in the US Senate. Yeah. You know, I was always walking around with the two thirds, or if you know what I mean, oh my God.

All right, time for me to go. Bye everyone. Okay. Bye. He's leaving now. Is Bill Clinton a recurring character on this podcast? Yeah. He sometimes just sort of swings by Mitch's place.

It's very odd. Mitch, did you just miss Bill Clinton? Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, you ran to get a soda. Probably moved into Whitey's place, that fucking crook. Hey, don't talk about me that way. Whoa, Whitey Bolger.

I live in Santa Monica. You're just being jailed. What the fuck? You could never catch me. I used to eat at the antennas. I'm so sure that, that he did. I'm sure he went to the antennas around then. Yeah, it would have been.

Yeah, for sure. Have you guys ever been to the antennas? I've never been there. Yeah. I went there with a bunch of our friends, Nick. He decided not to go. Yeah, I didn't feel like going. Oh, it's right near me.

Yeah. It's, uh, it's, yeah, it's definitely like, gives you the vibe. I, I, I truly want to know your, your, your, your, hold off. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, I, I want to know your thought on this because I just want to, I want to say this beforehand because like it is such an LA, like they're like, Oh, you're going to love it. It's like, it's like the red and white tablecloth sort of East coast Italian

place and you, and you lived in New York. Right. And so you know the, and I would live on these coastline. You know, these kind of Italian restaurants and stuff. And how do you think that compares to what Dantana's is? Uh, I think it's a really good rendition of it. I think it is, it does have a, a feeling of purity in that way of I grew up in, in Manhattan.

So I went to a lot of those places growing up, which I think have really changed over time, but, uh, but yeah, I think it has that vibe of old school kind of, it's very, um, uh, intimate, which is unusual for, for LA places and, um, kind of tight squeeze in there and that kind of almost familial kind of feeling and a little bit grimy, um, and like the booth kind of torn up and everything, but, uh, but yeah, I think it's a really good, effective vibe. And I think the, I guess we're going to probably, we're most likely going to get into talking about stakes, but, uh, it, the food, some of it is really great.

Some of it is, is, is, uh, accurate to a lot of, uh, Italian places from old school, New York, because it's like, they'll give you a side of a spaghetti and marinara and you'll be like, Ooh, this is exciting. And it's like, no, this, this spaghetti is just sort of the most basic spaghetti. It's not like, this is great spaghetti with a really solid steak. It's spaghetti with a solid steak. Yeah. And it feels like spaghetti that was like put in a strainer for like

mere moments and then put it like, it feels very wet and, and kind of like, it's, it's fine. I feel like it is a good version of that, but then also I feel like you can get better places like that on the, on the East coast in, in New York, obviously, and, and, and, and everywhere in Boston. I'm not, I'm just saying like there are better places and there are places that are more authentic than that. Oh, sure.

Yeah. Yeah. It's an imitation. Everything in this 10 is, you know, an imitation by people who are from the East coast that, um, Well, not everything. No, everything. Yeah.

Not the Mexican food. No, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't mean, I didn't mean globally. Every time that is, that is a fair adjustment to my statement. The ocean.

You know, we got the ocean over there. They just tried to recreate that over here. That's a Mitch opinion. Well, I do have the opinion. Really? You do think that the Atlantic Ocean is better than the Pacific Ocean. I think the Atlantic Ocean is better than the Pacific Ocean, but I don't think, I don't think some man transported the Atlantic Ocean over and named it

the Pacific Ocean. No, I know you don't literally think that God, you like the Atlantic Ocean more than Pacific Ocean because here's the thing with the Pacific Ocean. It's amazing. First of all, Wager has been waiting around in that shit. So I don't. Second of all, uh, it's cold. It's too cold.

You think it would be like the Pacific Ocean? Honestly, because of the, uh, what's, what's it called? I was going to say jet streams, which is incorrect. The, the way that the water flows, it comes down from the, the north. Okay. The, uh, what, what is that? The, what is it? What am I looking for here, Wager?

I don't know. I don't know what you're, what term you're looking for. Uh, whatever. The, the, the water flow might be jet stream, uh, the flows down from the north. Then the Atlanta stream, the Atlanta stream. And then, and then in, and the Atlantic ocean, it comes up from the south. So the water is warmer. Like in, in a fascinating.

So I, so I always thought that like in the ocean currents, is that what you're looking for and also, you know, I think jet stream is wind apparently. I think, I think, yeah, jet stream is wind. So I think, I think for real that the, the, the, the temperatures are actually pretty close, but then on the East coast, when it's the summertime, it's like very hot and humid and you go in the water, it's great. And here you don't, you don't have as much as that humidity. It just feels colder.

It's a big, scary ocean. I thought it'd be more tropical is what I'm saying. But they, I mean, it's a, it's a big ocean, oceans are ocean size. Like there's like, you can't, like you're characterizing what you're doing is you're weighing your specific experience in like the, the coast on Boston versus like in California. Why are you mad that I like the Atlantic ocean? I'm not mad.

I just feel like it's, it's just a bizarre opinion because there's, the ocean is like, there's so many places you can have as entry points, you know? Let me take you to the Atlantic ocean. I've been in the Atlantic ocean. What are you, what were you doing in there? Did you dislike it? It's fine. What were you doing in the water?

I was, I went to, I've been to Orlando, Florida. Actually, it's Orlando near the ocean. I don't know if it is. I don't think it is. All right. Then I've been to the Cayman Islands. M.R. Engineer is, is shaking your head.

So Orlando is apparently landlocked, but the, but I've been, then I've been to the Cayman Islands, which I'm pretty sure is in the Atlantic. And I went to, they won the ocean there. What were you running away from when you're in the Cayman Islands? Come on. This wasn't a whitey bulger situation. I was there on a family vacation. I was eight years old.

I got a place you can stay at. Oh boy. That is, that he, it is funny. I think he is a very old man and he's, what, 90 years old or whatever. He's alive. Yeah. Yeah. He got captured alive.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I don't know what he's up to. I guess he's, I don't know if there's trials still ongoing. I don't know what's going on now. Um, you went to the Cayman Islands when you were eight. Look, please don't come after me. The whitey bulger.

The, the, the Pacific is cold and pop and you just kind of like run right into it. They're not, there's very beautiful coastal areas and, and California and stuff. I just, I like, I prefer the Atlantic ocean. That's all. Let, but just to narrow the field, you are, you, are you saying you, you would say that, that, uh, say the East coast, you know, Boston, New York area, just to narrow it is better than the Los Angeles because of the warmth.

Because specifically I like how the East coast is warmer. Like the warmth of the water, I see, to me, all ocean water is equally freezing. Yeah. I'm a baby, but, uh, it is definitely, I used to, there, another opinion on the show is that I, I, I dislike sharks in which they would be wiped out, which I don't really wish sharks to be wiped out, but, uh, you know, there'd be no shark, but yeah, be de-teethed would be nice. Um, uh, the sharks be rounded up.

I think they could still eat fish if they didn't have any teeth. How hard is that? They, they'd still catch them in similar ways. I don't know them all. Anyways, uh, the, I can't believe that I used to swim freely in the, in the, in the Atlantic ocean where you grew, you grew up in, in New York. Yes. And we, and my, my parents had a house on Fire Island too.

Oh, okay. But let's, let's talk about, cause he, cause let's talk about growing up on Manhattan specifically because it's, it, what is that, what I know of Manhattan and I've only been as a, as, as an adult is that it's kind of like, obviously as a unique sort of food scene. Uh, but like our chain restaurants, like are the fast food chains or were they when you were growing up as present? Like could you find just like a Wendy's or a pizza hut where, where, where, where

a lot of these places, uh, not present in, in, in that, in that part of New York. Um, they were, um, I have certain holes in my knowledge of chain restaurants from when I was growing up. There were some, I'm trying to remember when white castle was booted out of, or it just didn't seem to be present at all, except in the outer boroughs. Oh, interesting. Um, but I have certain holes in my knowledge because my mother would dig in a position on certain chains based on one bed experience or, um, and I think

Kentucky fried chicken at some point had a scare worth. I don't know what was urban legend or it was reality where a rat was found in the, uh, in the, somebody's bucket and she was like, that's it. It's off the menu. We're never going to Kentucky fried chicken again. I don't remember ever going since I was a child. And so it's hard for me to remember. And I know Wendy's was not on when, when was Wendy's, uh, started.

Wendy's has been around since the fifties, I believe it's probably would've been around and I, we never went to Wendy's. We would go to, I think we were a Burger King family over McDonald's family. And then I think I changed into more of a McDonald's prefer. Um, it's got to be a better way to say that word. Um, no, I think prefer is correct. I like that. Uh, prefer right.

Um, so yeah, it's, uh, there's, it's, it's hard for me to evaluate looking back on my, on my upbringing. Yeah. I know we went to, I was thinking about this because of our steak experience, uh, beef steak, Charlie's. Okay. Which no longer exists. Um, um, so there were things like that, but also we weren't, we weren't a

family that would really, um, I assume my parents will never hear this. Um, we weren't a family that would really spend a lot to go to fancy places. Sure. So there were, uh, certain that we would, we would sort of go to mid-level restaurants, probably like beef steak, Charlie's, and not as often go to a franchise restaurants. Yeah. I mean, that, that was, that sounds similar in terms of just, just, uh, and I'll

tell you this about my dad, my dad is very cheap. And so we would always, when we went out to eat, which was rare, it was never, like we never went to like a fancy schmancy place. It was always like, you know, honestly, like it might be like a Chili's, like tier thing that might be like a place to go out to get dinner. Right. Sort of pretending to be a real restaurant, but it's really not. Yeah.

Exactly. Was your dad a wise guy? My dad, you said he was cheap. My dad was not a wise guy. I knew him back in the day. Why do you that's untrue? My father was a college professor. Oh, so he was disgusting vermin.

He would kill somebody as soon as he would look at him. Giving white a little bit of a list for some reason. My dad is pretty good. Why do you impression it is, it is not that sounds like my dad did because I was going to say he was a wise guy. Oh, he was a wise guy, a PhD in chemistry. And I was going to say how to add something of a peripheral connection to the underworld, because as a chemistry professor, he knew guys who ended up

cooking meth for profit. Wow. And one of them, I think one guy died in a boat explosion and another guy was arrested and like, it's actually my dad's first boss at, I think maybe the, maybe Fresno State University was arrested as for like running a meth lab and like went to prison. And my dad later in a weird situation had to be friending the lawyer who prosecuted him.

Oh, very strange. So a real life Walter White. Yeah, that was like that had a basis in reality, because just like in the, in the world of, in the world of chemistry, it's like they want people with that sort of know-how and they can give you a huge six-figure payment to set up a lab and walk away. Wow. Yeah.

So it's real. Yeah, it's real. That, I assume you don't know this, but the boat explosion was thought to be a murder or a cooking explosion. Oh boy. I don't know. I thought it was a murder, but I don't remember. Oh yeah.

Oh, that's a good question. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think they were cooking on the boat. That seems impractical. Wouldn't that be the place? Like, you know, a lot of the RV. Oh, I guess so.

But then, you know, you've got to deal with the logistics of getting all those chemicals loaded onto the boat and all that equipment. Guys, let's start working on a breaking bad spec. Now is the time, right? Breaking bad at sea. What a boring, it would be a boring show, wouldn't it? And then I go, they already have a breaking bad spinoff. Well, yeah.

Better call saw. But it's not about, it's not about meth yet. It's not about meth yet. Yeah. I think everyone's excited for the meth. Oh, wait, or is it about meth? Have you guys, have you guys been watching it? Yes, I have, Bob.

I've watched it. I have been watching it. Mitch, your breaking bad at sea spec would just devolve every episode and do a debate over the Atlantic Ocean. I don't want to blow too much. There's definitely drugs in it. And I assume it's, it must be meth. Yeah.

Yeah. I've watched a couple of seasons. I can, I need to catch up a little bit. I mean, there is a drug in it. That addictive Cinnabon sauce. Oh my God. Another reason for Bob to not come on the show. We've never asked him, have you never asked him?

We never asked him Hanford or it was either Hanford or Tim Calpakis mentioned what my podcast was to him before. It was like, oh, it's like a show about fast food and chain restaurants. And Bob was like, no, that's terrible. He's like, I don't want that's bad. I don't like the idea of that. I don't know. I, we, we had to have them on to find out.

Yeah. I mean, he's correct. It is a bad idea. Also has Bob, has Bob Odin Kirkham been spending some time with Bill Clinton? Yeah, we'd like to hang out together where we do. He plays a nice sax for me. Bill, you're a huge Mr. Show fan, aren't you?

That's right. Story of Everest is very fun. Boy, you have an eclectic, alt-comedy sensibility that I did not expect. Not enough TNA, if you know what I mean. Oh, no, Bill, calm down. This is not appropriate in 2018. It's really, really fresh air. So, uh, so from Manhattan, I know you went to, you and Mitch have something in common.

You're also someone who went to Ithaca for college. What was that like? You're going from, you know, like you're in the, the, the most bustling city in America and then you go, you go up to upstate New York. What does that transition like culturally and what else is that transition like from a culinary perspective? Um, it was definitely, uh, I had to drive. I had to sort of really, I kind of learned to drive, but I never had any reason

to really learn to drive. So I needed to, to do that in my 1973 Dodge Dart. It's a hike kind of three and a half, four hours up to Ithaca. Yeah. It was like four and a half hours, um, of which my 1973 Dodge Dart, uh, died on a, on a handful of occasions on the drive there and back. Um, the cold was shocking, um, which I adjusted to after the first, uh, I was about to say season, which I guess would be appropriate, but I think I'm thinking

TV season, which is sad for me. Um, and, uh, food wise, uh, there was, uh, and you don't remember if there was the Mano's diner in your era. I think it, I think it was there a long time. Yeah. Um, which I didn't go to too often. That was our place. Yeah.

Um, uh, but we definitely had pizza hut because I know we would get it for the sketch show we did on over cable access, the nothing special. Um, I didn't come up with a name. Um, and I'm trying to think what else, uh, they had definitely, you know, there was the, the basics. Yeah. You didn't know shortstop deli, but there was like, it was like, uh, like the Ithaca bakery, like where they had the bagels and stuff.

Yeah. Sure. That was great. There's, yeah, there's, there's, there's some good food up there. There's apple fest. Did you remember apple fest? That came in the fall time. Yeah.

Uh, not just, is it a, it's not a festival. It's a, it's a restaurant. No, it's a festival. Oh, it's an actual festival. And there's some good food downtown. And then there's, was there a beef ester? Did all just my Ithaca friends make that up? Like as a joke, I don't know, wings over Ithaca didn't exist at that point.

The truth is I didn't really get into appreciating food, which is odd. Because I'm a total glutton now until after college, I think, and, um, uh, I don't want to rush us into that thing, but probably one of the first moments of, of that, because I had only gone to places that were sort of mid-range, you know, um, did you go to John Thomas steakhouse? That was there, I believe, when you were there. No, that was like one of the fancy, that was like a fancier graduation eat dinner place that I went to a few times.

That was great. Yeah. My parents also, I wonder a pre-internet, how much, how would you find out what, where the good places pre-internet, I mean, that's, that's a great point. You just have to hear say, right? We should know we had, that was part of our lives. I'll tell you what I do. You find the fattest kid on campus and you ask him, I don't think that's the

craziest idea. I think that so in most cases, this would be me. I remember there was me and me and my friend were in a supermarket and there was, and there was a guy that we didn't know that well, who was heavier. And I was like getting some cookies and he was like, no, no, no. You want these and you picked out the Sal Salido cookies and I was like, these are amazing. God damn it.

That guy really was all a bad name by knowing the correct cookies. He should lie about it. Yeah. I don't know. He did. He did a good deed. A Wegmans is my guess. Wegmans.

There we go. We've got one. Which made pizza too, right? Yeah. I think they make it. They'll make everything. They make, they, they, because it's a giant pizza wasn't that great there. Yeah.

There was one other pizza place that I'm trying to remember that was a main chain and it wasn't, we had pizza hut. I'm trying to remember what are the big ones? Domino's, Papa John's. We had Domino's. I remember Domino's and that being really, that's where I built up a taste for Domino's was, but you, because I think it was the most easily delivered.

You're eating pure garbage and including like the Ithaca dining. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. Nothing healthy at all. Just bowls and bowls of sugar cereal and. Yeah. Right.

This is from the dining halls. Yeah. But let's, let's talk about pizza specifically for one second because as someone from Manhattan and then it sounds like you're, you're, you're, you're eating some chain pizza, maybe, maybe, uh, you know, in your college years, like what, like what are your pizza prejudices and biases and preferences? I mean, are you something of a, it seems like you're not particularly elitist about it.

Well, that is a fascinating point. Um, because I definitely even now would be, it's like, oh, there's Domino's here and I will really be into it and I want to have it. Um, but I grew up with, you know, raised pizza and the classic great pizzas. So, um, and I maintain, uh, DeFara's pizza in, uh, South Brooklyn, if you guys haven't been, is I maintain the greatest pizza in the world. And I've been to Naples and had pizza there. I believe it's the greatest in the world.

Right. And it's being made by, um, um, I don't remember his name, but he's, he's, uh, been making each pizza himself for 60 years and is, is there. So get there fast guys. It's a long line. Right. It's a pain in the ass. It's very far, but it's to me a hundred percent worth it.

Anyway, uh, so yeah, coming from New York, I think it definitely was different. And I can only assume it was kind of a prison mentality of like, there's pizza here. I don't care what the pizza is and then it built in my head a taste for it. And I think with pizza hut also, I wonder, do you guys know if they changed the formula at a certain point? Because I remember back then there was a crispiness, like an oil filled crispiness to the crust that was unlike anything else I'd had. And I feel like I've had it recently and it's not quite the same.

So I don't know if they made it healthier at some point. This is a crazy thing that we talk about on this podcast of like, which it's, it's such a weird thing because they were still chains when we had them, when we were kids or whatever. But Nick and I always point out the difference like between having dominoes in night, say 1989 or something, as opposed to now where there, there was a huge I mean, there was, and maybe it's, maybe it's also the time that the food was blander back then or whatever.

And maybe if we had it now, we'd be like, Oh, this was still not good. But it felt less like our palettes were different. In fact, then. Yes. I was like, also that could be a factor in it. But it felt less processed. It felt more kind of pizza like, and I like dominoes and I, and I like pizza hut. But now also, aren't there like a million different versions that they have

the thin crust and they have all these different things. So I've kind of been trying to zero in on what the same pizzas and that era was from dominoes. I think that there, there's like a classic crust that the, but they have like the garlic flavoring on the crust that a lot of people don't like. Some people do like it there. They have a handmade or hand-tossed pan or something that is very similar to what the pizza hut one used to be like.

And I, you know, I don't know with, with pizza hut, what the deal is anymore. If they still do have a pan pizza, but that was the one that you're talking about that had kind of like the crispy edges and the, and the, the oil kind of, the oil kind of in the crust and, and yeah, I think it was the basic one. I don't know how many choices it was. Yeah. And, and it was cooked in like, in those like big black pan. It was like a pizza pan.

Right. It was, oh, I don't know, I'll say this, see how it floats. It feels almost like it was a little bit of a deep dish quality. You know, it wasn't a deep dish pizza. Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. Um, and I really, I really longed for it that, that, and it's, I'm sure it was

super, it was like dripping with oil when you picked it up, but I really missed that taste. Why, why don't we ever do it? We, we, we've talked about this for three years. We've never really done a deep dive on the changes to both of those places over the last three, we should do it. Well, it's, I mean, it'd be a lot of work. That's, that's a big strike against it.

Guys, I'm going to do it. Okay. No matter what the time, spend it. But I mean, yeah, it's a lot of work for, for me, it's not going to be you, you said it's a lot of work. I'm already checked out my man. By the way, um, when my, Matt Meyer on the, on the Star Trek podcast, he casually said, Oh, I'm going to be a dough boys.

I'm like, what, what do you mean you're going to be a dough boys? I was already talking to them about being on dough boys. What happened to my invite? And, and he said, did you talk to Nick? And I was like, no, but to be fair, I, I, I did, I got you on here. I, I, I did it on my own. I could do some stuff on my own. You, I, I'm a Mitch booking and I appreciate it.

You know what, Weigar, once you had that fire lit under you, you got, you got the job done, shut the fuck up. And this, this episode, I'll light a fucking real fire under you. Cook you up nice. Wait, what were you going to say? I was going to say this, the, just a quirk of scheduling this, your episode will actually be out before Myra's episode. Recorded it, Myra.

Don't even listen to Myra's episode. I know that hurts you guys, but I don't care. Hey, I'm, I'm cool with that. There's a Weigar booking. All right. So, so you guys mentioned the, the, that, that the, the changing overtime. I'm not specifically sure about Pizza Hut because Pizza Hut didn't have the Domino's thing where Domino's completely like made a big marketing

push out of, we're changing the way we make our pizza. But one thing kind of almost with apologies in some way, it was, they were like, that was very, it was weird, but apparently very successful. Um, but contrary to Coca-Cola, which made a big push and then everybody turned on them. So it's interesting, the distinction. Yeah. Well, I think that the issue is that, that people didn't have like a fear

loyalty to that Domino's as it existed. Um, but for us, so they, they had, there are two sauce options. And I forget which the default is, but I have the Domino's Pizza Tracker open now. And I think the default is the robust inspired tomato sauce, but if you want something closer to the original sauce, if you swap it out for the Hardy marinara, I believe that will get you closer to the original Domino's Pizza. That's the one, the one slide hack.

As far as crust goes, I'm not quite sure. I mean, some people have said the Brooklyn style, uh, uh, crust. I just closed the, the menu and put up my show nuts again. Um, but the, uh, I think the, the Brooklyn style crust we've had some success with, although I'm not sure how clear, how close to the original Domino's recipe that was. Yeah. Um, yeah.

Yeah. I, I, I that was one of, maybe that it, maybe that is, maybe that is the closest that I can't, I can't, the thing, the issue I have is I don't remember when I was seven years old. I don't remember that Domino. I remember liking it. Yeah. You need a time machine really.

Cause you did like, it's, it's going to be the, that's the first step. Right. We'll get a time machine. Um, but yeah. They use their time machine. Well, but it's kind of like, like, let adult wager around seven year olds me.

Little Mitch, which one, which pizza, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go back in time, tip off whitey, tell them that it gets caught in Santa Monica. Oh boy. Help them out. I appreciate that. But that's a lie. I'll never catch me.

I got all my buddy hidden in his wall. He's all whitey. So this week's chain, pretty far, far afield from chain pizza. The steak world and, and Ruth's Chris steak houses, you know, we haven't covered a lot of steak houses on the pod. We haven't covered a lot of high end fine dining chains on the pod just cause there are fewer of them. And also they, there is the price point issue.

And, and, um, but the, uh, this one is a big one. And, and why did you want to discuss this, this chain, Andy? Well, I do, uh, love higher, I don't know if I'd say higher, how would describe this, a higher end steak house, a higher end franchise steak house. Um, it's like a fine dining concept. It's an, it's, it's, you know, it's, there are fancier restaurants, but in, in a chain, in chain form, this is, I feel like about as nice as it gets. And I really feel like it, it touches something inside me.

I think because of the upbringing I was talking about, we're looking back on it. And I don't think I had much of a palette. I think I enjoyed the experience of going out with my family, you know, until the inevitable giant, uh, public argument would start. Um, but, uh, but, uh, I remember going to Ruth Chris and I think it may have been my, because it was after college and I went with Terry, Jen, fellow, uh, at the college graduate. And, uh, I think he had, he crashed with, uh, me and my parents

cause it was right after college. Um, and then to reward to as sort of a nice gesture, he took, uh, me out. And so we were figuring out where to go. And I think he may have sort of tracked down Ruth Chris. And, uh, it was sort of my first adult going out to a really legitimately nice place steak and, um, just the, the experience of them bringing out this really nice, uh, um, steak on a sizzling, you know, sizzling with butter and everything.

And it was just magical to me. And I think it was one of my first experiences, um, at that age of being like, this is a whole other level of food that I'm experiencing. Yeah. Um, and so I think it really sticks with me. So were you, this is, this is, this is just after college. So this is, uh, you know, this, this is a little while ago. Did you notice like we're talking about the differences over time is, is

this restaurant kind of frozen in time in your memory or has anything changed as far as you can tell? It's a really interesting question in regards to the palette changes. Also, because it doesn't, it doesn't have the magical quality, uh, like when, when we were there, it doesn't, the, the steak, as good as I think a lot of the stakes there are, it doesn't have the magical quality that I experienced in that first thing, which I think was just shocking. It was that a steak could be that good.

And then it was so fancy. And, um, and I don't think we experienced this last night. You definitely experienced this at master's, but I remember there being, uh, a little Weasley guy in a suit who was there with just one of the most breathtaking, like, you know, just, uh, uh, shapely, uh, ladies that I'd ever seen in my life, I don't know what their relationship is, the koala can be on the day. Go back to all like, uh, said that he wanted to date with Beyonce.

So maybe this is what that was. And he's a little really, he's a, yeah, he's a weasel man. We love him. Uh, uh, that's, that's very funny. And he took the day to Ruth's Chris. I think that's, that's a, I don't know. I don't know what their relationship was. I'm not, I'm not in a position to judge.

I feel like I've seen a lot of those kinds of pairings at master's, which is probably my perpetually favorite steak place. A weasel, a weasel, a guy in a classic babe, like a, like a Roger and Jessica rabbit sort of, yes, exactly. That would be inspiring to me as a, as a boy, exactly. And I think, yeah, as a young man, I was like, this is amazing. Miracles can happen here. Um, uh, not looking deeper at the actual relationship.

Um, so yeah, I think just the whole experience was, did I, I forgot what your question was. Uh, we were, I was just talking about how it compared versus your memory. So I, I think looking at, uh, last night's experience, it was, it was not as magical in terms of the taste. And I remember even the cream spinach being amazing. And I think the cream spinach was very solid last night, but it feels like it's just a step down from that.

And I don't know if that's my change or that it's more franchise. So there's, there's less quality control or what. Is this, let's, let's, let's talk more generally, like about, uh, fine dining is like a steakhouse is that what your idea of like, Oh, I want to have a nice meal or, or what, what is your like ideal? Like, Oh, this is a great place. I'm going to spend some money going out to eat. It's funny because that question is funny because it has changed.

I think I'm like, and, and, and it is this weird thing to see, like, like kind of higher end steak, like a steakhouse, not be as much of the fancier thing is, I mean, it still is fancy, but then even like I was saying, I brought my mom to that restaurant that you recommended, Weiger, which is kind of like even a farm to table type of play. Like it's a, it's a, it's a strange, like hip restaurant that's, that's very fancy. But last night it felt like when we were in Ruth's Chris, at least to me, it felt like, uh, like, uh, it felt kind of older, old school.

It felt dated or something. It's sure in some ways. And I, I'm like you two were my first, it was probably John Thomas is like one of my introductions to like fine dining. Where I was like, Oh wow, this steakhouse and it's fancy and they, they clean up your crumbs, which I, I had before I had, they, the crumbs fell off of me onto the table when we walked in. I need that all the time.

Yeah. I need that constantly. Uh, I should buy a crumb cleaner, but anyways, that's besides the point. That would be amazing if you self cleaned the crumb. No, I got it. I got it. Uh, but that, that, that, that, I, I, I 100% agree with you that that was my idea of, of fine dining them, but it's, it's, it's moved.

Don't you think? Yeah. I mean, I think it's just, it's just different than it used to be. I mean, like you mentioned, farm to table is a big thing. The idea of like fresh produce and seasonal ingredients is a big part. I think, I think, I think generally, like, like, you know, certainly integrating a different kinds of cuisine is like a big thing. Like fusion is, has informed a lot of, uh, fine dining concepts.

Um, but also it's, it's, it's a kind of like, like, like less of the, like, I also like kind of the white table cloth, you know, sort of guys brushing the crumbs off your table is also like a different, there is also like a little bit more of a casualness, I feel like, in, in terms of how these restaurants, not in terms of how service and atmosphere is these days. So on that note, I think I do, there is a part of me that really think I appreciate the rat pack Dean Martin's Sinatra, like the vibe that they go for with varying degrees of success at a lot of these steak houses.

And I really love the concept of it, even though in a lot of places it plays out in a very douchey fashion, I love the, the, uh, the ultimate ideal of it. Um, so I really appreciate it. Um, and I enjoy it. I do, I mean, I, I'm a, you know, I love to stuff my face. So like lower rent places, franchises, whatever. I don't, I don't, as long as the food is great, I don't care, but this

definitely holds a certain, a certain, uh, special place in my heart. This kind of place and a steak will never go out of style. It was the other thing is everyone will want a steak dinner at some point. And the simplicity of that, that it isn't like, I, I love so many of these fusion places, farm to table places. And I'm just like, oh, that was amazing. And they've taken it up another level with their hipster ethic of, you know, specificity and good ingredients and everything, but the cleanness

of your cream spinach, you know, shrimp cocktail, great steak. I really like, yeah. No, that, and, and, and also the other, the other side of this too, is that these, we, we, and we're nervous, Nick and I were nervous of, uh, and I think you too, but especially from doing the podcast of this is, it is a higher end thing. And this is a special occasion place for, for many people. I mean, it's, it's insanely expensive.

Yes. I do also want to, uh, I want to take the hit on that. I, I think I did, I pressured them into it because of my own proclivities myself. So that you should not blame them for, I think it's one of the, I think it's one of the smartest things you can do if you come on Doughboys to say, Tim Cowback has went to Morton's state, state house and, and I think it's, I think it's a great call to do it.

Recognize we're going to cover the cost of the meal. So, you know, don't pick Arby's. Yeah, I wasn't a picker picker. I was secretly hoping that I wasn't, oh, by the way, you never gave me the money for the, uh, valet. Oh shit. We got to pay you for that. Sorry.

Uh, but when I went in, I was thinking, I'm willing, like this is it. I, I'm always looking for people who will, who are willing to kind of pay for that kind of meal so that I have an excuse to do it myself. Yeah. So I was just, I was happy to pay for it. So it was an extra boon that at the end of it. Oh yeah. Also, I don't know that that would have eaten in my usual, you know, let's

get that, let's get that too. I know that's too many sides. I don't care if I'd known that you guys were picking up the tab. I probably would have been a little more dignified. Oh yeah. Oh, that's, that's, that's, you know what, we did a pretty good job. But before we get into, before we get into it, yes, we, we should, cause, so I just want to talk about some of you, some more of your, your history.

Cause you worked at Conan for a long time. I know this is dorky, but I want to bring up a thing that, that I, that I, that you wrote the line in the, the triumph, uh, short, they went to Star Wars that, which one of these buttons calls your mom to pick you up. Right. Which was very, which is one of the funniest memories in my head of any comedy thing. Uh, and I've, I've, I've talked about this a bit on the show before with Nick,

but I always, I am 30 Rock was a very fascinating place to me. What, what, what was it like in there? You're, you're in New York city and you're, and at this point you're, you're probably, you, you like your, have moved towards eating more fine dining at this point, but in there, like what was dinner like in, in like working at Conan at that point, would you just get like, was it just trash a lot of the time? Or would you get kind of nicer food or what, what's your memories of that? You're looking at me like a weirdo.

I'm not looking at you like a weirdo. Okay. All right. You just, you're, you're just daring. I think there's just my default front and default face. Oh, I don't like it. It's very, um, it's very interesting, uh, because in at Goldbergs, we kind of have food brought in and it's sort of a buffet line for lunch.

Right. And, uh, at late night, you had to fend for yourself for, uh, for lunch. You'd go down to the cafeteria, uh, like a bunch of animals. And, uh, and then if invariably we would be staying late, so they would order out food and, and, uh, and that was like, you would circle stuff. And, and, um, and pretty much my memory is it was pretty great offerings. It was like great local barbecue places from Times Square. And, um, it was pretty high grade.

Um, did you want me to dig out the names of the place? Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's, that's, that's looking for some Times Square barbecue wrecks from the late 90s. Yeah. I mean, I can't remember the name of the place that was, it was pretty good. It was, you, you said you would go to, you would go to the restaurant for, you would go to like the NBC, like the commissary for lunch, basically.

Yes. Oh, interesting. Okay. I would see all the, all the bright lights, Matt Lauer on one side and, and Al Roker on the other. Charlie Rose, Graven, Misalpha plate, Tom Brokaw, all the legends, all the great men, all the great now fallen heroes. Uh, yeah, I think that's a fascinating, I mean, I, I, I, I'm sorry Nick.

Is there anyone you, what do you, Nick is, Nick is, Nick is, Nick is, Nick is giving me a look like this is not giving you any sort of look. You're, you're in, this is a naturally critical look. I don't agree with him. Your resting face is one of judgment and critique. I think that's interesting stuff. It is interesting. I think it's fine.

It's good to get this insight. I wasn't eyeing you critically. I was looking at you normally. Well, at this point, uh, uh, uh, uh, a young man working in, in TV, would you, were, did you have any favorite places in, in the city that you would go to? Oh, good question. Um, I know every once in a while, I want, I like to treat myself to Sardis, which was my, my father was a, a press agent, uh, in the, in the late

sixties in New York. So that was sort of this great thing of, you know, connection to, to the past and all the Broadway people that would be in there. Um, uh, by that point, I think I did, you know, I did actually love Ruth Chris cause it was such a consistently good steak meal. Oh, so there's one in the city that you would go to. What the, sorry. There's a Ruth's Chris in, in New York City.

Oh yeah. That was the one that I went to was the one probably around Time Square was the first one that I went. Can we start first thing? Well, yeah, why not? I just smell, did you smell smoke or something? I want, I want to make sure that. Gaseous.

Yeah. Do you smell that too? I don't smell it. All right. Well, we'll, we'll take a break while Mitch investigates this mystery smell. We'll be right back with more dough boys. Welcome back to dough boys. We took a break to investigate the mystery smell.

We still don't know quite the source. A candle was burning earlier. Perhaps I just burned this way down. A candle was burning for a couple hours. Okay. So maybe that was what it was. Yeah. We, we, I thought it was a little more plasticky smelling.

So I got very, I got very nervous quickly. Yeah. Hey, I jumped right to action. Nick, you're going to give me credit. I lit a stroller on side, just outside. I'm fired right outside the door. That could have, that, that smells exactly. Nick, is that one of the trash lit it on fire?

Is that what a, what a melting stroller would smell like? Come on. What? Because I think I've encountered before. Yeah. No, everything, everything seems to be okay. I checked on the cats. They were fine.

Okay. I think it's going to be fine. If they, if we have any sort of other emergency, we always interrupt the podcast and you can stand up and go see what's going on. A legendary, if we died while recording, if we'd like passed out and died while recording. I want it to happen. It would be interesting.

It would be, I feel like people would want to get their hands on the recording of this, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, you know what? If we end up, this end up ends up being the episode where we die of smoke inhalation during recording.

We won't know it, but you guys can take to social media and acknowledge that with the hashtag carbon monox died. It's going to light on fire. Yeah. Do you know my, my, my Nana's was it brother or was it her uncle? I think maybe it was her uncle died in the coconut grow fire, uh, which is, was, was way back. Was that like a nightclub or something?

What was that? It was, yeah. It was basically like kind of like a, like a nightclub bar in Quincy. I shut that fire. Whitey. Whitey possibly was a lie. I realized I have three other voices that are all exactly the same as when you pulled it now that I look back on it, the coconut grow fire.

When it was, uh, was a premier nightclub in the thirties and forties in Boston, Massachusetts post prohibition. And then, but the crazy thing about this, without looking too much into it is that the, the, the, I won't, so it happened on in 1942, the year my dad was born. Whoa. Oh, so my Nana was like, maybe it was just her brother, but, um, so basically it was the reason that, you know, how there's like revolving doors. Yeah.

The reason that there's doors with like swinging doors at swing, like regular doors next to them is because of that fire. They got stuck and people were, they got stuck and people like, and bodies piled up on like, and then it was only the revolving door. That's so grim. That's like something you'd see an apocalypse in an apocalyptic movie. Yeah. Yeah.

And then also set in a club. Apocalyptic movie set in a club. Right. And then, uh, when they went in, like there was like crazy things. It was like, there was a BC game and there would have been more people in there, except the BC lost or something. But the crazy in college is that, okay, but the crazy thing about it is that like when they like went to find people, people were like frozen in place because

like there was like a ton of things that were like, went wrong. Like the, because like the stuff in the, the things that caught on fire, like the drapes are like, they were toxic. So like people like died and frozen, like froze, like the way they were sitting basically. And then there was, there was like a blast of flame kind of. It was like the toxins just like killed people instantly or something like that. They inhaled it.

And they like, why would they be still standing or just like sitting, sitting? Oh yeah. I don't, I don't know what the deal is, but it was also like, like the floor, like right above the club, there was a carbonite factory and the kind of leak down when they were, they were frozen in place. Yeah, you could fact check this. I mean, I'm probably wrong on some of this, but, but then also it was like the sort of thing where like they went to the, where the exits, they were like

emergency exits and they went to where the exits were. And it was like a door that opened up into like brick. Like it was like a fake emergency. So it was like a terrible, terrible fire. Yeah. That's like triangle shirt waste factory territory. Boy. So just so you know, a lot of my doors are like that too.

Mitch, that's a problem. I know. What is your reaction when you're like, Oh, I found my way out. You open the door and it's a brick wall. It's a brick wall. I know. That's got to give you a real feeling of like, fuck everything. You're to die in such a loony tune fashion.

Yeah. That's such a, that's, it's insane. But yeah, that's how my, I think my, my grandma's brother died. It's awful. Oh, grizzly to your family. Thank you. That's, we're still upset about it. You seem pretty broken up about this relative.

You can maybe remember who it was. So we're at Ruth's Chris. We went to the Beverly Hills location. I only one revolving door in that location. Um, and I got, I grabbed my seat at a bar and no one was, no one was late. I don't, and Mitch, I know you're sensitive about that. I'm not accusing anyone of being late. We all arrived within the window of the reservation that you set,

which was very nice of you. So thank you for taking care of that. The Boston Celtics were playing the 76ers. Right. The Celtics beat the 76ers in game one. And then we went to the, the restaurant afterwards. Um, so I was sitting at the bar. I got myself a cocktail.

I got the French Quarter 75, which is botanist gin, St. Germain, elderflower liqueur, Lamarca prosecco and lemon served in a champagne flute, refreshingly citrusy. I found a sweeter than other. I've had French 75. It's cocktail I've had before. This was like a little bit of a sweeter version of it. Do you work for the people who make the menu refreshingly citrusy?

Is that what you said? That was my characterization. It's not on the menu. No, it's not. I'm not reading the menu description. That's how I, I know I'm shocked. Jesus. Sorry.

I'm sorry for liking something. Well, I'm sorry for saving your ass. I'm with such judgment, Nick, saving my ass. What are you talking about? I blew out that candle. I searched for a fire. You didn't say, what are you talking about? You set that fire so you could be a hero.

I save your ass every episode. Not true. Um, so, uh, yeah, I, not, not too boozy, light, a nice little, uh, aperitif, a nice little thing to get it started. Um, and then, uh, and Andy arrived when I got, when I got in you were a pretty shit face, Andy arrived and, and, and then Mitch arrived. Shortly thereafter and he had some, you were the last one there and, uh, I actually didn't know what the dynamic is in terms of who's late.

And I, and in the, with Myra, I am always late. So I tried to be on time, but then I also got, uh, obsessive about the parking spot. Yes. The parking, you didn't get a ticket by the way, right? I did not get a ticket. He parked in a 20 minute spot, which I saw and I didn't take because I doubted myself. I parked in the 20 minute spot, but I did. I had to investigate to see if it was okay.

And it's at 11 minutes on the meter. So I just put in the 11 minutes, no ticket. It was good. A tricky area that Beverly Hills. This is tough, tough parking. We're right in there. This is on Beverly Boulevard right there. Beverly Hills sucks.

What a shitty city. I hate it. It's just like, it's so like, uh, like this is, this is one of the, like, like the city-wide they have an ordinance for no overnight street parking, which is just like it's so, it's so restrictive towards people who don't have like a, like a reserve parking space or a driveway or just need to leave their car. Somewhere because they, yeah, they don't want people like in their latering. Yeah, exactly.

And it is just like this, this cloistered sort of like where ultra rich people and then people who like to pretend like they're ultra rich leave. Yeah. And so like it's, it's, it's kind of a dreadful city that you never want to venture into unless you can't avoid it. Like when I'm enjoying my exorbitantly priced steak, I like free parking on the street. I think anyone who like, like when they're like, Oh, like, uh, like Rodeo drive is, I think anytime you glamor like fancy shopping, yeah, that sucks.

Yeah. That's terrible. Yeah. I don't have to shop. Period. I have the three shirts I wear as you know. On that note, I wasn't sure what to wear when I actually spent a good deal of time looking at my wardrobe because I was almost certain you would as, as expected

wear a Pat's cap and a t-shirt. You dress it up a little bit, Mitch wearing an open button down shirt. You also weirdly, Mitch, you didn't have a baseball cap, which I'd never seen before. No, we did have a baseball cap. I, I had it, you know, I took it off when I got in the restaurant. Yeah, you took it off. That's right. That's what it was though.

Oh yeah, I see. Gotcha. I, with dinner, I took the hat off. And then Nick, I wasn't sure, I knew you would wear a button down shirt in my head, but I also envisioned that maybe you would wear a sport coat. I did not. Is that, is that atypical for you or did I just to make that up in my head? I mean, I, you were wearing a sport coat.

I was, because I like when I go to a, a steak place to feel and also I had a plaid shirt on, so I wasn't going crazy, but I like to feel a little bit like I'm, like I'm in the rat pack. I expected you to come dressed as a full minion. I have sport coats, but I was, I was, I just sort of wore like a, a zip up pull-over sweater that was like, oh, this is, this is like kind of a midpoint between. This is like nice enough. Cause yeah, I know that I know, I know it's like also in a touristy, I know tourists

will go there, so it wasn't going to be like people like dressed to the nines. It is definitely, it has that quality of a franchisee kind of, like you can dress however you want there. But then we, so we, we got some, I got, they gave us, gave me some bread at the bar, which I had transferred over to the table, which we care, it was a whole fascinating move. You guys, you guys weren't too happy about it cause you wanted fresh bread. She was like, hey, we'll get you some fresh bread.

And you go, no, that's fine. And we, Andy and I wanted some fresh bread, but I had like, I had this, the, they gave me like a whole loaf of bread for myself while I was waiting. I had like one piece of it. It was just sitting there with a full thing. First of all, why did you get yourself a loaf of bread? I didn't add, they just gave it to me. They just put it in front of me with the, and I couldn't have waited to order

your drink, you fucking Alki. You could have waited two minutes to order your fucking drink for God's sake. I was there. It's Mr. Weigher. Get him his bread. Two minutes. You were there early.

Anyways, moving on, we won't get into time. So for you, it was more of guilt that you had not eaten the bread. I was like, I don't want this bread to go to waste. And then we get, so that's definitely a very different ethics than I would have, which is we're spending a fortune there. So right, she brings the bread over and she says, ah, too bad. I would have eaten this bread if you had left, if you said you didn't want it. So you took it away from the poor girl who was going to eat the bread.

I didn't realize that was going to, that was what was going on there. I didn't realize this was something she was going to scavenge. Yes, I know. I learned my lesson. I should have just gotten the new bread because the bread wouldn't have gone to waste because this employee would have taken it home. So I feel bad about that, but I wanted to acknowledge that was what happened. Also, by the way, they probably throw up bread every night at this place.

I know they obviously throw out bread every night. There's so much food wasted in America that I didn't want to contribute to the problem. I agree with you. Did you know what? You should eat in that whole fucking loaf of bread yourself. I'm going to speedy to loaf of bread while I'm sitting at the bar. So this here was an interesting dynamic too. We had white napkins and she offered to switch us out for black napkins. I loved this.

I loved it too. I was like, I don't even know why this happened, but we said yes, of course. And they did it and it was why would they ever have white napkins? I don't know. Why would they ever have white tablecloths? I don't know. It's the it's the most obvious, brilliant. I guess the white tablecloths is to show how clean everything is. Yeah. But yeah, when you wipe your face, you're immediately going to get dirty.

Why do you want that? Saucy napkin. Yeah. Why do you want that evidence? I agree with that. Yeah. It's also like it's it's like a cool move that you have the you have the white napkins and you have the option like right away like, ooh, do I want to switch it up? I was going to say no.

Yeah, to sound all white girl like, because I didn't want her to do something else. And then she she kind of well, everyone else was excited by it. And so she seemed very willing to to get us black napkins. And this place is it is it is a fancy place. I know this it's it is like we said before, it's going to be this is a special occasion place for a lot of people who listen to the podcast. But but it is weird because it is it is a chain. Right. And it is a place that exists in a lot of areas.

It's also a weird place to go on a random Monday night. Yes. At like eight forty five p.m. And you know that obviously it is a place that I think probably is, you know, gets most of its business on the weekends, I would guess. And around, you know, special occasion times, your your proms and what have you is when it has a lot of people in there. And Andy is showing our engineer something on his phone. She's giving the OK sign.

I'm not sure what's going on here. Sorry, I was trying to not inflict the same thing I do on our podcast, which is constantly asking about my mic. Oh, I said I feel like you guys sound very present and clear. And this may be my ability on a mic. And I feel like I sound echoey and like I'm not on mic. You sound great. OK, great. Yeah, I think it might just be what's going on in your cans.

Oh, yeah, maybe just the cans. I saw and he asked if he could move to a chair further away from me. Come on. Can you switch places? She went, OK, and then did move. But it was a pretty empty restaurant. It was empty. And so we closed the place.

We did. We also, there seemed to be some sort of event in the back. There seemed to be a birthday or something. Oh, was there? Oh, that might have been. There are a bunch of people in the other room. There's there's going to do dining rooms there. And so our main server, Alex, kind of took it from there. And Alex did a very nice job. Great. You did a great job.

Very, very nice. He was OK. I have some I have some questions about Alex. I think, generally speaking, yes, he did a fine job. Yes. So we started off with some. Oh, do you guys want to talk about your drinks real quick before I get in the apps? I got a hurricane, which is kind of a a rum based fruity drink, which I enjoyed. It was good. It was like a it you know what this I'll say.

This is the big difference is like you could taste the rum and like if say if you got this this drink at Chili's, it would taste it would taste so sugared out. You know, it is a sugary sweet drink, but like you could actually taste the rum. It was more well balanced than probably what you would get at at at a Chili's or something. Oh, Mitch, are you reading that off the menu description? Is that an impression of me?

That's what you sound like you doof. I sound fucking deep voice and sexy. Is that Bill Clinton, Nick? I can neither confer nor deny that's Bill Clinton. Well, that's my bit. It's my now, baby. Where's Monica? I was in Mr. Show.

I had a ginger coconut lemon drop. Oh, yes, I was trying to, you know, for the show really, right? Not your normal drink. No, and that had Kettle One vodka, coconut vodka, ginger liqueur, housemade ginger infused syrup, lemon juice and candied ginger. How much ginger there was in that? Yeah, and it was very tasty.

It had sugar around the rim and not my usual drink because I usually try and keep it clean. And then I did get a vodka martini later with just regular olives. And I was at the Blue Tree. It's very tasty. It was very, very, very normal, what I expected and hoped for. You don't like blue cheese olives, is what you're saying? I feel like blue cheese olives is too much for a drink.

I will say, though, have you guys done, I always pronounce it wrong, lorries, lorries, lorries. We have not done a lorries, no. We love them. Please let me know. You're going to go to another insanely high place. You know, please invite me. We're both big fans of lorries. I love them.

I really enjoy it. And one of the things that, to me, was a revelation there is they have a drink. I don't remember what it's called, where it's vodka and then the olives stuffed with lorries steak. Whoa, lorries roast beef. And I was like, this is going to be weird. And I think also there's a little bit of horseradish in those olives.

Okay, same. And it's amazing. It's one of the greatest things I've ever had. Yeah, lorries. Here's what I'll say. And there's a couple of things I have to say about Ruth's Chris. One, the name is strange. Ruth's Chris.

Yeah, the etymology of it, as I mentioned in my intro, is that the owner had bought the restaurant. It was called Chris Steakhouse. Her name was Ruth Fertel. She bought it and she named it Ruth's Chris. And she had to do that for legal reasons, like she couldn't keep the original business name. Very strange.

Yeah, it is strange. But it is expensive. And lorries, which is an expensive restaurant, I think you couldn't probably get out of there or maybe spending less. But I will say this. Oh, can you? I used to poor shopper there.

I think if you do the roast beef dinner, even the biggest cut, which is $60, that includes your sides and your salad, they give you quite a bit with that. But I mean, also too, at your average lorries visit, this was, I think, an excessive Ruth's Chris visit. Because we've got two apps. And by the way, I was going to say.

We've got four sides. We've got two desserts. Alex kind of upsold us. Standard for me. Alex kind of upsold us, too, on what to get. But besides that. He sure did. Didn't he, Mitch?

But I thought he was good. You're a hero, Alex. I am still on the Alex bandwagon. I thought he did his job. I liked Alex, too. I want to start off by saying the bread was great and the butter is good. Even if it was Nick's recycled bread that we had to eat.

They gave us new bread. And they gave us new bread. They gave us new bread, which was great. And then I believe I take responsibility for having requested another bread after that, because we finished that bread. And that was, he, Alex, to his credit said, that's very hot. And I believe I picked it up no less than three times

in two minutes. Like I couldn't stop picking it up like an animal. Just like, I have to get to the bread. Ow, I got to get to the bread. Ow! Like was so hot. All within the span of, yeah, I think a minute. Yeah.

It was cartoonishly hot. Like it really, like it sends your hand. It didn't stop me. Yeah, and I even tried to help you. I think a minute after you did it and I touched it and it still burned my hand through the napkin. It was very hot bread. You thought around it though.

You picked it up through the cloth. Oh, through the cloth that was too hot, right? It was still too hot through the cloth. That is the thing here. I like that the plates are all hot and stuff, but you might be careful because you can burn your fingers at this place. Absolutely can, yeah.

That presentation of the sizzling butter to me is mystical. I love that. Yeah, yeah. Well, let's get into the food a little bit. So our apps, we had the barbecued shrimp, which was shrimp in, in reduced white wine, butter, garlic, and spice. And we had the veal, also Bucco ravioli,

which was saffron infused pasta with sauteed baby spinach and a white wine demi-glace. I like both these apps. They're both modest portions. Like they're there, you know, for sharing, honestly for three guys sharing food. I think there were five shrimp. There were five shrimp total.

And I think there might have been six ravioli. No, I think there were five ravioli. I think there were four raviolis. Were there four? Okay. No, no, there must have been five, because you had two. I had two. You guys each had one.

And then you guys had, yeah, one and a half. Yeah. And I had one shrimp. Just be fair, just so everyone knows. You're a real gentleman at eating, because I actually listened to a little bit of the Morton's podcast, and you would have preferred the jumbo,

or the regular shrimp cocktail. Right. And you sort of let it be sort of moved to the barbecue shrimp instead. I'll defer to the table, because I think we should all get something we enjoy if I was ordering on my own. I might get something different,

but also it's like an opportunity to try something new. And I thought the barbecue shrimp was good. And I thought the Osabuco ravioli was also good. Osabuco ravioli, maybe not what I would want in terms of an appetizer, just because it's pretty heavy. It's a strange, it is a strange appetizer. And I don't normally eat veal. It was good.

Andy, you point out the sauces were very similar on both of the apps. Which was odd. Yeah, which was odd. And you know, I don't know that I think about it. In Mastros, they had a kind of a very meaty ravioli. It might have been an Osabuco too. So strange that that is a bit like an increasingly

basic thing at a steakhouse, which is like a dinner dish. It's too much, too similar to the thing you're about to have. As an entree in many ways, it's really strange. But nonetheless, we chose it. We ate the crap out of it. And I thought it was good. I like both things. With chilled seafood, with some of the chilled,

because there was a big seafood stack, and then just the regular shrimp, the cocktail shrimp cocktail. Both of those are just kind of like, they're too, I was one of the people who was against it, just because they're kind of basic to me. Because you know, it's gonna be good quality. And then I'm like, well, what is the, you know what I mean?

What's the big, what is the deal in eating this? What's the quality? I mean, if you go to a place that has good quality seafood, it's like, oh, this is good. I guess a steak is just more prepared. You know what I mean? Like it's actually prepared. I don't know.

I feel like they're doing more work. They're doing more work. They're cooking it, you know, I don't know. With chilled seafood, I know that you still have to prepare. Chris, you can make that argument at any chilled seafood place. Sure. Yeah, I just think like, I don't know. I thought something that was actually cooked and prepared

felt like a better appetizer. So I take the fall for that. I mean, it's a very, it's like, it's kind of a very simple understanding of food, if you're thinking that like, heat has to be applied in order for it to be a dish, in order for something to be prepared. It's like, is sushi not prepared?

There's like a craft behind it. Like someone has to make a dish still. I'm gonna put some- I need to grill up this sashimi for me. Yeah. I just feel like you gotta earn your money, folks. I'm gonna fucking put some heat on you after this podcast, that's my man.

You're pushing the little fire with me tonight. You gonna light me on fire? Like whatever fire you got brewing elsewhere in here that's gonna emulate us? Also, if one of you killed the other one, that would be great for the podcast. It would be, honestly. I was there just before it happened.

I would continue the podcast in jail with Whitey as my co-host. I don't need to let you get a Zoom recorder into the prison. The cafeteria food today was okay. This is a real niche audience for this prison food podcast. You have to be incarcerated

in a specific place in Nassau County. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I also wasn't very against shrimp cocktail. I would have gotten it, by the way. Jesus Christ. No, it's fine. But I'm saying you did have a statement about it, though. I did have a statement about the seafood tower

in particular. I don't know. You know how good just chilled seafood can be, right? I don't know. I'm always a little overwhelmed by the seafood tower. So I was of two minds. That's much, yeah. I was wanting to go for it while I was with you guys.

Not that I wouldn't have gone for it in any other situation, but definitely here. But then also, I kind of feel the same. I'm always sort of like, all right, this is enough with the seafood. I think the whole, like, that the seafood tower is excessive. But I think, like, I like just a shrimp cocktail.

But I understand your point, Mitch, and it's fine. Let's talk about sides a little bit. So we got four of them. We got the lobster mac and cheese, which was Alex's recommendation. We got the creamed spinach, which they say is a classic on their menu. And then we also got the sweet potato casserole,

which I think you wanted, Andy, and some classic mashed potatoes. Yeah. Which were kind of garlicky, too. They had a good amount of garlic and the mashed potatoes. And also, too, while I can mention that, because that came out with our entree, another thing that we got along with that

was the Ruth's Dipping Trio, which is there on black truffle butter, shiitake demigalase, and honey soy glaze. And he particularly recommended, Alex recommended putting the black truffle butter, sorry, on those mashed potatoes. Or in with the mac and cheese. And with the mac and cheese as well.

I will say the shiitake sauce was very good, too. I didn't like the soy honey glaze. I wasn't crazy about any of these sauces. Oh, no. I agree with Nick. Oh, I liked it. Did you try the shiitake one? I did.

I thought the shiitake one was... I agree with you that that was the best of the three, but the black truffle butter, I'm just like a little too truffly. The honey soy glaze was just too sweet and cloying for me. And the shiitake demigalase, was a decent mushroom sauce,

but I mean, I felt like spending nine bucks or however much we spent for three little dipping cups was just like, I felt like I was being upsold for not much game. I agree 100%, and I think going back to horse radish, I assume they have that as some version on a menu. I think that would have been something closer to, or a Bernese or a peppercorn or anything

that feels like it's more of a compliment, whereas it felt like these sauces were sort of fighting to the credit of the steak, what was already a really good taste in the steak, independent of the sauces, so. Yeah, for sure. I have something that I wanna announce. I think lobster mac and cheese is whack.

Mitch, we fought a second ago, but I agree with you. Oh my God. It's unnecessary. I will say that it's- I never thought I'd see this accord happen. The lobster mac accord. This is like South Korea and North Korea meeting in a demilitarized zone.

Yeah, I agree. It's a hat on a hat. The mac and cheese is decadent enough. You throw some lobster on there. The lobster gets overcooked, because it's sitting on that hot cheese, and it can sometimes be rubbery, and it's just like they're competing with each other.

Do you know where it's not worth? Is it the Fat Cat in Quincy, Massachusetts? It's the only place where I've ever liked lobster mac and cheese. What? This is just a plug for that place. It's my godfather's son, my godbrother, and it's a great restaurant, and that's the only place that does it well.

I never like it anywhere. What's the distinction of that one? It's just a good cream. It's a nice mix. I always just feel like with every other lobster mac and cheese, this lobster- It kind of- Was just sitting on top of the mac and cheese,

but go ahead over here. It kind of does- It almost feels like an impossible equation that they're trying to like. Right. It's like almost like a- What's the name of the show? The Chefs Fighting It Out and-

Oh, Topped? Topped or Topped Chef or- It was from the previous generation, whatever. Iron Chef. Not Iron Chef. The one where they send them into a restaurant and you got to figure it out, or send them into a-

This is the giant- Supermarket sweet? No, it's the bunch of chefs, and then one of them's going to win. I mean, that's pretty general. That's me. On Bravo. Top Chef, right?

Top Chef. You guys didn't say Top Chef, did you? I think you might have said Top Chef. I think I might have said Top Chef. I think you didn't. Top Chef, am I right? Rewind it. That was completely shut down.

Whatever the case, I was looking at a few jobs. It feels like a Top Chef. This is going to be so worth it at this point now. It's going to be a- It feels like a Top Chef challenge of- Make it- It's going to have mac and cheese and lobster,

but make it make sense to the palate. So, and we kind of knew that going in when we ordered it, but we were all- Not that it was bad. The mac and cheese itself was pretty good. And by the way, we've also finished that completely. Yeah, yeah. We finished almost everything, which is insane.

We had a lot of food. I got to say, personally, I was very proud of because in the rest of my life, I think people, I say that I'm a glutton and it's going to be upsetting to watch me eat. And people are like, yeah, come on. And then they watch me like eating, you know, Pop-Tart ice cream sandwiches,

followed by cookies, followed by, you know, all these things. And they usually go like, this is really upsetting. Like I really am worried about what's happening here. And I feel like I was right in line with you guys. I thought I'd be outclassed. Yeah, no, we've had a heavy, we're continuing on a heavy eating week, Nick, you and I.

You want to pig out? Come out with the dough boys. It's great. You won't make you feel patted out yourself. It's a great date with the dough boys. We won't judge you. I'll just say one more thing about the lobster mac and cheese. We were, even were a wimps, so.

Yeah. What do you mean? I'm saying last night, we kind of, we brought it more in other times. Right. I have, I had, I did wonder about that. Yeah. If it was, if it was three-quarter speed.

Let me say one more thing about the lobster mac and cheese. I think it was not actually a good mac and cheese. I think it was more like a hot macaroni salad, none of cheese, too much bechamel. Let's talk about the other sides real quick. Then we got to get into our steaks. Cream spinach, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cream spinach and the sweet potato casserole,

the standouts for me. I thought the mashed potatoes were all right. They were totally fine. I thought the mashed potatoes were good. I thought they were a little bit too liquidy. I get what you're saying. Right. I really, I liked them and they were good compliment

to the steak, but they were just almost, I don't know if it's too much butter or a little sauce. A little like runny. I'll say though that like the taste of them was good. And so for that, I gave them a pass. I know what you're saying. My issue, the sweet potato casserole. But for the record, I've had astonishingly good

mashed potatoes at Ruth Chris in the past. So yeah. Interesting. Oh, okay. Oh, interesting. That's possibly a consistency issue. The sweet potato casserole, I liked it a lot, but it felt very dessert-y today.

It is a dessert. It's a very sweet issue. I will take dessert at any course. I kind of like it as an excuse to have a little sweet treat. It also burned the fucking shit out of my mouth. Oh, it came out piping hot. It was so hot for so long.

Well, you did stick your hand in as soon as it came to the table. But it was my bread equivalent. I immediately took it way too fast. And then it was like, I let that sit on my plate for like 20 minutes and then I took a bite again and it was still so hot. Really?

It was, I mean, the plate's hour hot, but it was still so, so hot after everything else had cooled. You really have to like kind of stir that stuff up and remove that top layer a little bit to let it cool. Because everything, I mean, it's like... That top layer of that almost coffee cake like crispy, I thought that was wonderful. It was great.

It was really, really great. You know, I thought the cream spinach was good, but it didn't like blow me, it was okay. It was a good cream spinach. I liked it more than the mashed potatoes, I guess is why I kind of put it on the higher tier. What were you gonna say? No, I kind of agree.

I feel like the cream spinach, I think it's a necessity and I always get it at a steak place and I think that was one of my things. I think it's revelations once I start going to places like this. For sure. And what an amazing compliment it is to steak. But, and again, this was,

Ruth Chris was the first time I'd experienced it. So I don't know if my mind's playing tricks on me, but I believe they either do it differently there or just wasn't up to par last night with Ruth Chris general cream spinach. Boy, I wonder. Now, it felt almost a little bit too leafy and sort of thin creamy as opposed to a thick kind of like

you get a spoonful and it's sort of heaping. I wonder if we were getting some, I think I wonder if we're getting the last, exactly end of the night last batches of things. I wonder if that might have been. Here's all this being said, I didn't think that these were bad. Like I didn't think it was bad necessarily.

They were all solid. Sure. Yeah, they were all solid. So let's talk about our steaks and we really went for it here. We got the Porter house for two and we also got the Tomahawk ribeye, which had a big old bone,

like they weren't messing around. Now, my pre-research I was doing a little bit of a sting to see what they would say. So maybe it was unfair, but I... Oh, this is maybe why you don't like Alex. I think forgot about this. Yeah, I had done research on the Tomahawk steak, which is essentially the same as the bone and ribeye

except it's got an absurd Fred Flintstone giant bone in it, which was appropriate for the evening, for the ceremony of it. But they basically say you're paying a premium just for the weight of the bone. And that the way they prepare it, because it's grilled and it's not a wet preparation, you don't like, if it was a wet preparation,

then the marrow and everything would melt into the preparation and it would end up in the steak, that extra taste. But it doesn't in this case. And therefore you're paying extra for the bone when you don't need it. And I kind of asked Alex. And I think if you look at the text of what Alex said, he didn't lie to us, because I did ask him directly,

is there a taste difference between the Tomahawk and the bone and ribeye? And he said, no. But he definitely was upselling to the Tomahawk and talking about what a huge portion it is and everything. And it's like, that's true, but you're also paying for bone. Yeah. I mean, he was doing his job.

And then I pointed liar and I stood up and shouted at him in the restaurant. There was silence for a moment. Which in his defense, he handled well. I mean, he said, you caught me. Yeah. He went to the back. There was some tears in his eyes.

He did handle it well. So we, like, direct entrapment. Which I thought was good. And we almost, I was going to go, in my mind, I was like, oh, we should just do the separate steaks, which were the same thing, basically. But then I was like, why not? And he pitched this idea to us, which we ended up getting.

We get these two things for two for three men. For three, I guess. So for four. Yes, for four. This thing for four for three men. And then we get to have a little bit of everything. And here's what I would say is, because a lot of times, if you have to share something, particularly a steak,

it's cumbersome. And I actually mentioned this at the restaurant. But here, they'll carve it up for your table side and give it to you on your individual plates. And so that makes it a little bit easier. Which was great. I will say that the, I think I liked of the meat. You have the strip and the filet on the porterhouse.

And then you have the ribeye. I think that strip was maybe my favorite. The strip was very, very good. It was really good. I will say the filet was my least favorite. It was just kind of like gray. Not gray, but it just was like the least. It was good flavor, but it just kind of was not the best.

Filets can sometimes be a little indistinct, because they don't have the marbling. You know, what's interesting is I think, I don't know. I have a complicated opinion on this. First of all, I used to get filets all the time. And then when I had the bone-in filet, I was like, oh my God, this is a revelation, because it had more flavor.

And I eventually evolved to getting more rib-ized for the flavor. I feel like the ribeye definitely had superior flavor, but was too fatty last night. Whereas the filet of the porterhouse was the thing I found myself enjoying the most. Okay. But I don't know if it's an unfair thing,

because they were all on the same plate. So maybe it was benefiting from the taste and the oils and such. I thought the strip, the New York's, it's the strip and the filet. That's what you get on the porterhouse, yeah. And then the tomahawk was its own thing. Yeah, the ribeye, yeah.

The ribeye and the strip were like my two, they were both very, very good. I really enjoyed the ribeye. I mean, I like a fatty piece of meat. And also too, that had like a really good char on it. Like they really, really seared. Maybe a little, we ordered everything between medium rare and medium.

And I think that the ribeye was maybe closer, but definitely closer to medium rare, if not, right? Like I felt blessed towards medium, but that's fine. It's a thicker cut. Were you guys happy with that, how it was done or was it underdone? Everything was fine for me. I was wondering if you thought it was underdone,

because that was fine with it, but I- I always will go closer to medium. Yeah, okay. Maybe even medium plus. Right. What I know is verboten and it was amongst steak eaters, but- So was that a little too, was that a little undercooked for you? It was a little bit rare for me.

However, the good thing about having these sizzling plates is as soon as it comes, then I can just kind of almost cook it a little bit more on the plate. Yeah, it's almost, it's almost the, what's the thing, a teppanyaki sort of grill, like that hot table in front of you, with a hot plate. Yeah, I'm a medium rare guy. I think we sort of settle on a middle ground,

which is like a medium rare plus, is that what he called it? Yeah, I do medium rare now. I used to be a medium well back in the day. Oh, really? Yep, and now I've gone to medium rare. That's a huge stretch. What made you change? I think just because my dad,

like he always cooked steaks well done, because it was that old thinking, the old Mitchell Sapphire problems, of course. And so I think it was that sort of thing like you cook the fat out of it. It was kind of like what he thought that was. So, right. And then so I was so used to like a bloody steak

when I was little, I was like, you don't want to eat blood or whatever. You know, and he had always prepared the steaks like medium well to weld. You know, he ate his basically well done. And then as time went on, and I went to John Thomas for the first time, and I was like, oh, this is more flavor.

I like when it's not as, it's not cooked as long or whatever, that's when I started to change. And I don't go rare though. Like medium rare is as low as I'll go. And where do you guys stand? Cause you were saying you like a fattier cut. How far does that go for you? I mean, I would, what do you mean exactly?

Well, I guess like one of the revelations I've had as a meat eater over time is like pork belly. If it's not good, then I'm like, this is too fatty or whatever. But if it's like one of those melt in your mouth things, and I'll go, I'm like totally into it. Generally speaking, I don't want it to feel grisly in my mouth.

I want to really mostly taste the meat. And I know a lot of people really do like that fat, chewy taste. Yeah, I don't shy away from the texture. I mean, I'll take something that very fatty and something with some tendons in it. I mean, I'm not just eating like straight like lard. I mean, like, but you know.

Some people do like just the fat itself. Right. I had a little fat from that ribeye last night, and it was good, but I don't like it to be cheap. Just the fat by itself. Yeah, there was a little piece of fat that was like way more edible than I thought it would be. I'll eat the piece of fat off of a meat,

but yeah, like not like, not just like a straight bar of lard from like the grocery store. It could have been your piece. I didn't think that my piece was too fatty when I got it. I did wonder about that. He maybe he was angry at me about being at the Tomahawk interrogation. He showed us motherfuckers.

There you go. He shouldn't have tested this. Although he did ask, I misinterpreted the question. He was asking, okay, and do you want to keep the bone? And I thought it was just to the table. Like do you want to have the bone there? And I said, oh, definitely. And then he put the bone on my plate

and I felt like I dropped you guys with that experience. No, that was great. Oh, that was the right move. You get that bone. I would have knocked that bone into a glass and spilled something. For sure. I was gonna say, what's your steak number?

Hashtag, what's your steak number? Because I think we'll hear some interesting in cut. What's a good one for the cut? Hashtag, what's your steak cut? It's so obvious. That bone was comically big. It was a little bone size. Did we take a picture with the bone?

I think someone, there was a bone picture. I took a picture of the bone. I don't know if we took a picture of us like holding the bone like it's a big fish. You took a picture of a bone. Like I was snapping a dick pic. I'm covertly under the table. Here's my tomahawk.

Kept seeing lights going off from under the table. There's a thunderstorm under there. Then we finished it off with a little dessert. We had the white chocolate bread pudding, which is, did we get a choice of sauces? Because on the menu online, it said we got a choice of sauces. I think that would have gone better with the chocolate sauce.

And we didn't get it. They just gave us a default sauce. He was really punishing me through the whole meal. Oh, wait a minute, because it was a white chocolate sauce. We just got one sauce, but I think maybe it varies different locations, but on the menu online,

it says there are four different sauces you can get. And then the chocolate duo, which was chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse, and then they had some berries on top. It was basically like a chocolate mold, like a lava cake. I actually really appreciated that, particularly when I then added an ice cream order

to the mess, but... I thought that was a great add-on. You got us three scoops of, I think Hagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. They should have all a mode like this. That was strange that they didn't just include it, but they also had a weird, I think it was on the chocolate thing.

Yeah, they had a thing that looked like it was a bowl of whipped cream on the side, but then beneath it was kind of a coffee pudding. That was one of the two chocolates. That was the chocolate mousse. Oh, it's a duo, that makes sense, I didn't understand. And that, I wasn't as crazy about. That was just fine, but I thought the chocolate cake was,

and I'm such a sucker because I was so stuffed, but that chocolate molten lava cake or whatever, I loved it. Yeah, that was very tasty. Especially with mixing that ice cream in there. That was a clear winner for me. Those were good. The mousse was pretty basic.

The white chocolate bread pudding didn't do much for me. I thought that was pretty good too, but I get what you're saying. I think especially when you add the ice cream to it, then it took, and for the chocolate cake that took it up a notch for me, but I'm obsessed with white chocolate and we'll always immediately order that.

Like a sucker. I'm not a huge white chocolate fan. It's a lot of split votes on white chocolate. People have very strong opinions. It's polarizing. I had a former boss who was really into white chocolate. I won't say who, but... Tina Fey, not a white chocolate appreciator.

I know, because I had a conversation with her once and I was like, I've made a grand misstep. I've turned Tina Fey against me. You know what, Al Jean, a big white chocolate fan. Oh, okay. Interesting. But I, that chocolate, the chocolate... Of the Simpsons.

Of the Simpsons, yeah. All right. The chocolate molten lava cake. I gotta get into business with that guy. I think the like. The chocolate lava cake, that's like one of my favorite, I love that dessert. I love that chocolate cake like that

is like one of my favorite things to eat. And if it's like well done, which they kind of just nailed it. They nailed that version of that thing. There could have made maybe more fudge in it or maybe a little bit like, like a little temperature could have been a little bit warmer, but I liked it.

I thought it was great. Can I theorize, is that a problem across the boards with the meal? Sort of a question of heat temperature and, you know. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Like I kind of felt like is the, was the cream spinach and the mashed potatoes,

like were they not hot enough? And then was the sweet potato too hot? Like was the thing. Yeah, there was some temp. It was maybe all over the board in the temp, the temperature. There is a lot of temp guy at that restaurant. I think probably a Goron with those scorching a lot of that stuff is.

Goron from Zelda. It's Khaleesi in the back. Seems fine to me. Send it out. What were the options on that white, for the other sauces? Orange cognac, Nutty Frangelico, raspberry shambord or coffee tea or Maria. I don't think we got any of those.

And then we just got like a white chocolate sauce. Well, let's get to our final thoughts on Ruth's Chris. So Andy, here's how this will work. We'll each go around, we'll each sort of give our closing argument, if you will, summation of feelings about this particular chain and then close it off with a fork rating on the order of zero to five forks.

You are a guest. We will begin with you. Well, the standard for me at a steak place is Peter Luger's in Brooklyn, which is maybe, I feel like I'm now going to a different restaurant to compare, which is maybe not fair. But so that would be.

I've heard of Peter. I've heard of them, but I've heard of them. We gotta go, Mitch. Yeah, I would. If you're in New York, I'll fly out. It's just the greatest steak, they age it in a specific way. It's just amazing.

Is it still cash only? Now I think they've made adjustments. You can pay with debit cards and all sorts of stuff. And yeah, whatever the case. And Ruth Chris, it holds a special place in my heart. I would say overall, the most important thing is the steak. And I think the steaks putting aside my issues

of fatteness, which may have just been the piece, were really very good. And I enjoyed many aspects of the meal, and I have a connection to it and knowing that I've had some of the greatest meals I've had at Ruth Chris. So I would say a four. Four forks.

Four forks. That's a great score. Go ahead, Mitch. I know I will say maybe this particular meal didn't stick the landing the way I wanted it to, but I'm giving them a pass to a certain degree because I've had great meals there before. Is that unfair?

Do we only judge on that? No, no, no, no, no. I think you definitely get to pull in your experiences at the restaurant. I think there's nothing wrong with that. Look, I do love a classic steak restaurant, a steak house. I loved Tom, John Thomas, like you said, that was kind of my intro into like,

oh, this is like a fancy meal. I know that it's a thing that a lot of people don't get to experience often, and we were in Beverly Hills, it's very fancy, and more shishy. A little shishy, but here's what I'll say. I think that for a special occasion that this place is good, it's good.

It's very good. It's very well done. If someone's perp there, you want to go out for an anniversary or whatever, it's a great place to go in. If you're a high roller, then you can go there a lot and enjoy yourself. I thought the steaks were well done.

We also had a nice wine there too, Nick, that you got a Pinot Noir that you... Oh yeah, we got a second round. Yeah, we each had one, which I forget what it was, but it was nice. I think it was the Naomi Pinot Noir. I went there a Monday night at 8.45, and then had a really great meal.

I felt very stuffed afterwards, and I fell asleep about 10 minutes after I sat down on my couch. But I had a great time. It's nice to get to have a fancy little dinner. Right. The price point is high. Yes.

And you know, but also that's the type of place you're going to, and I think it is a special occasion place. Yeah, I had a blast, guys. I had a really good time at dinner last night. I had a really good time too. And you know, I don't get to have dinners like that often.

We don't get to review them much on the show like that, but the quality of the food is really good for what that place is trying to do. Maybe a place like this, maybe when people aren't going to steak houses as much, things are going to have to change at Ruth's Chris at some point, maybe, but I think that people will always want steak.

Right. So I got to go four and a half forks. I don't know. It's very good. I didn't expect you to go higher than me. Oh yeah. Interesting. Yeah.

It's very good. I agree with a lot of the points you guys have made. And I will just say, you know, evaluating this as a chain, this is particularly, this is good steak for a chain restaurant. Like this is like- That's a good point. It's, you know, like the fact that they can do this

across a hundred locations with some degree of consistency is impressive. And I think they, you know, it pulls off kind of a classic sort of old world. Like the Rat Pack was mentioned and like the Weasel Men bringing in their, bodacious babe companions. It's like that sort of vibe.

Yeah. And that has some appeal for, you know, for prom night or, you know, like just a fancy date or some sort of kitschy sort of throwback meal or an anniversary. You know what? The Weasel Women should be able to bring in hunks as well.

If you're a Weasel Woman, get yourself a classic hunk. Or the Weasel Men bring in hunks. Anyone can bring in a hunk or a good looking lady. I'm also sure that when I saw that Weasley guy, I was thinking, hey, a Weasley guy like me can get a girl like that. I was not separating myself. The important thing is that Weasel people

are finding love, whoever they are. Other way, sometimes non-Weasels. Yeah, sometimes a non-Weasel, sometimes fellow Weasels. Either way, these Weasels should go to this Rat Pack restaurant and have a great time. I enjoyed all the food. I wish the desserts were maybe a little bit more decadent for a place that has such a, that is so heavy.

I feel like maybe that was like the least decadent part of the whole meal versus the apps and the sides and the steaks. But I thought the steaks were great. There's some very good sides there. This accomplishes everything this place is supposed to do. And I don't know what else, with some minor deductions, maybe, but overall, this is an excellent experience. Four and a half forks as well.

We're in the Handelding Club, Mitch. And that means where it's Chris Steakhouse is in the Golden Plate Club. It certainly is. I think where it belongs. This is definitely a Golden Plate Club caliber restaurant. You're right. I mean, as far as chain restaurants,

but also the other thing too, as far as chain restaurants go, like, oh, we had good drinks. It didn't like feel like those shitty drinks that you would get at other point. Yeah, at other, like you mentioned earlier, yeah. The drinks were solid. Yeah, they were very solid cocktails. I was surprised that you guys went for the wines.

It was at a left. He kept pushing another thing about Alex. He kept pushing the wines. And I was like, we got cocktails. Why don't we get wines? And then I look over and suddenly everybody's drinking a wine, but maybe. We each had some wine.

It was good to pair with the steak. It was a fancy night. If you get a special occasion, if you want to go out and enjoy yourself, go for it. Or if you're a weasel person, bring a date there. Sure, it's a place to go. Alex had the margins in mind. He knows the margin on selling a glass of wine,

and particularly a bottle of wine is pretty high. He wants to up that bill and get himself a bigger tip. And I say more power to him. Don't support his duplicitousness. Hey, that was a review of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. By the way, Andy, we are in a passive aggressive war right now, where I took out a $10 bill to pay for your valet and put it on the table and you were refusing to pick it up.

It's been sitting there for 45 minutes while we've been doing this segment. Maybe this sounds good for me, where it just stays on the table when I take it. I feel like if I hadn't called it out on the podcast, then I could take the money. You were fair to call it out because we offered to do it, and then we forgot to pay you in the moment.

Well, it's my contribution to the podcast. Consider a Patreon contribution. What do I get? She's right there on the table. No one taught it. Hey, that was Ruth's Chris review. It's now time for a regular segment. I've got a mystery beverage and Mitch and Andy

must guess what it is. It's another edition of the Weigher Challenge. Andy, you don't have any food allergies, do you? No. Okay, great. We're taking it right down the wire. Perfect. I'm ignoring it.

All right, so I have a drink I've given you guys in blue cups. I am not going to reveal any details about what it is. You can use all your senses to try and infer what it might be and then give it your best guess. This is, we're not choosing the brand, but we're choosing what the tastes are. You're trying to get specific as you can.

I don't know what it is either. If you think it's cherry Coke, say cherry Coke. It smells very medicine-y. Describe the color for us. What are we looking at? It's kind of like a pink. There's a little bubbly. It seems like it's carbonated in some way.

Right. You think it's pink? I think it's like orange. Ooh, okay. Interesting. Yeah, it's tough to tell. Maybe a purple. You guys are swirling the glasses around,

giving yourselves a little test sip here. Hmm. Oh, this is strange. I think I've had this before. Okay, some sense memories or... Is this poison? Yeah. You said no food allergies.

I didn't know you include poison in that. Well... Second sips are being taken. Very thoughtful expressions are being made. Well, I believe I've had this or something very similar to this. I think this is like a black cherry mountain dewy

or like some sort of Lebron soda that you brought to fuck with me. I didn't bring a Lebron soda to needle you. That's not even the current matchup. Well, it might be by the time this episode is released. It's so interesting you say black cherry because it's sort of like, I'm like, that's not black cherry.

And I'm like, no, but I guess it would be a black cherry soda, which doesn't taste anything like black cherry. Hmm. Third sips are being taken. Mitch is switching the drink around in his mouth. This is a good one because this is tough and I, it's gonna annoy me when I find out what it is. It's almost like...

It's not a cream soda. It's too, it's got too much sort of tartness and punch for that. I almost wanna say it's like a candy soda or something strange. A candy soda? Like it's not sweet enough to be a candy soda. But the black cherry thing does seem like

it's in the vicinity of correct. We're probably supposed to be coming up with an answer quicker than we are. There is no time limit on the Weigar challenge. So I guess you guys, I mean, it is very open-ended, but yeah, maybe some guess, maybe it might be prudent to give some guesses in the future.

It's like you're doubled back on that stance of no time requirement. This is hard. This is a hard one. It's not, I kinda wanna say from the look of it that it's a vanilla type thing, but... I'm gonna point something out to Andy because I notice it, it's in a 7-Eleven bag.

Right. So there's something that you can get from 7-Eleven. Well, that doesn't rule it. I mean, everything's 7-Eleven. Is it Red Bull? Is that your, are you guessing Red Bull? Oh my God. I'm guessing Red Bull.

Andy's guessing Red Bull. You know what, Andy? Because it's something I've had before. Andy, I'm gonna give a tip to my cap to you. I usually am pretty good with this, but there is some sort of energy drink flavor in here, and that's what I couldn't put my finger on

because it's whatever, I'm gonna say it's a Red Cherry Red Bull or something. I think that's accurate. You know what, Red Cherry Mountain Dew. The color is a little bit too orangey? Maybe not. You know, I'm gonna say Red Cherry Mountain Dew Energy Drink is what my guess is.

I'm just gonna stick with Red Bull because I'll be angry if it's Red Bull and I didn't get it. All right, neither of you are correct. However, I am going to say that Andy, you have won the Weiger Challenge because you came closest to the spirit of what it is, monster energy drink. Wait, wait, hold on, that's just straight up monster?

This is straight up monster energy drink. Wait, really? No modifications, 100%. Interesting. Original flavor. That's so red bull. That's very similar. This is like a weird mind game.

And does monster have that? Your tongue was playing tricks on you. Or it's just taurine-y vitamins. Yeah, and a whole bunch of artificial ingredients or whatever it is. An L-carnitine. Yeah. That was what you were tasting, Mitch.

A long list of chemicals. The refreshing taste of L-carnitine. Yeah, you guys certainly seem like you'd recognize that you'd had that flavor before. Yeah, that was a wild, hey, my tongue is playing tricks on me. You're just like, how'd that song go? That's a really fascinating mental challenge.

It is, right? You know, the mind is playing tricks on me. Yeah, I know, my mind is playing tricks on me. That's what I said, yeah, my tongue is playing tricks on me. Interestingly, I went to a wine tasting this weekend and I don't, by generally speaking, I don't like wine. I always go for white wine

because it's a little less wine. I request, what's the closest to water? And I talked to a guy for a while and I was saying, so this has a bitter aftertaste on the back of my tongue. Is that, what wine doesn't have that? And he's basically like, that's what wine is. So, I think I've just discovered I don't like wine. Hey, that was a wiker challenge.

Just like a restaurant, I'll evaluate your feedback. Let's open up the feedback. I don't want to say that black. That black, there is like a citrus taste. I didn't, I never would notice with monster. I think that's an element. Yeah, you maybe just haven't picked up on before because you haven't been as focused

on the individual components. That was crazy. Good job, wiker. Today's email comes to us from Trina in Utah. Trina writes, I feel like I'm the opposite of your targeted audience. A woman in her 20s from Utah, but I love the podcast and I LQTM laugh quietly

to myself often. I live in a smallish town and there's only so many food place options. So if I get sick from one, options are very limited and I always end up going back eventually. My question for you is, if a food place makes you sick, do you never go there again? Or do you wait a while and order something different

the next time? Do you have a three strikes and they're out policy? Andy, what do you think? Dude, if a place makes you sick, are you not gonna, are you getting a little skittish? You never going back? That's a really interesting question. And I would say probably I would,

a lot of time would need to pass and I would need to be with someone who's like, come on, let's go back. Unless I really like, I don't know. It's because the problem is that a lot of where you're going to eat is your pre-association with what you want out of it. So if it's betrayed you, it's hard to get past it.

I had an incident where I had bad spinach artichoke dip and some portobello mushroom, like a portobello mushroom sandwich and it made me throw up. And I just remember the feeling of spinach artichoke dip plus portobello mushrooms. I just remember they had that puke flavor of that puke coming back up.

And so I have an aversion against, like for whatever reason, that specific dish, that like kind of combo, the spinach artichoke dip in of itself, I'm a little skittish out. But if there's portobello mushrooms everywhere nearby, like kind of have an aversion of that. And then that particular restaurant

I stayed away from for a while. And we also got pretty, Nellie and I both got food poisoning after eating at a really good sushi place we really liked and we just like never went, it was like we went there all the time. We just never went back. It was weird. But that almost feels like that's a more justifiable thing.

Like sushi, their entire thing should be safety and it's okay. So even one lapse is like, all right, we shouldn't go back. Yeah, but it also was a thing of just like, oh, it's such a bummer that this thing that we enjoyed and was like a regular sort of haunt for us. And then we were just sort of like, it wasn't even that we were like,

we don't like this place anywhere. We don't want to go back anymore. It was that we like, we just didn't, like we weren't trying to punish the business. We were just like, and now we're not going to have fun going there because we have this aversion. You know, it's funny because I've never,

I feel like I never thrown up from food poisoning. But I've obviously had stomach issues from being at a place and I've noted that or whatever. And, but a lot of the times I'm like, oh, is it my own fault for eating like a spicy food from a place? So I never really stayed away from a place like that. Unless it's just like a really shitty restaurant.

And, but on, but when I was younger, there was a thing with lemon chicken that I was like sick and I smelled my mom cooking it and I got sick and I never eat lemon chicken really anymore. So I don't like eat that food. So I have that aversion, but like are any sort of like kind of citrusy chicken, not aren't chicken from like a Chinese food restaurant,

but you get what I'm saying. Yeah. So I have that a little bit, even though I'd maybe still even eat something like that now. But more so for me is the times that I've gotten something like actually gross from a place. And then it takes me a while to go back there. I went to one of my favorite restaurants.

I don't even want to say it, but when I was younger, there was this place in Quincy Old Railroad Cafe and there was like a little bug in the lettuce at one point. And it grossed me out. And then like, I didn't want to eat there for a while, but then I did eventually go back and it's fine. And then from Piquito Mas, Nick, there was a... Oh no, don't ruin Piquito Mas for me.

I love Piquito Mas, but here's what I'll say. There was a little live bug. It almost looked like a kind of like a little live roach. And it wasn't in my food, but it was when I took it out of the bag, it was on the tray and I'm like, I think that they put like have a lot of those like the, to go containers in the back or something.

And there was maybe just a bug on there. And it did make me not go to Piquito Mas for a little bit. I love Piquito Mas. And then I went back eventually because also like a thing like that, where like a bug or something accidentally gets in your food, that's such a hard thing to control and right. I think that is also,

you got to talk about the levels of the, like you having that experience with the dip is like, that's a pretty major and the sushi. Like the bug is like, this is a bummer, but all right. Yeah, I know. But it did, it made me, it took me maybe like a couple of months, I stayed away for a couple of months

just because it was in my head. But I think I'll never, and then you'll go back and you'll have a great experience again. I think you just gotta get, maybe just give it a few weeks, a couple of months, and then go back again. Right, that's what I would just say. I think to address your question, Trina,

I think you absolutely go back later on, especially if it's a meal you enjoyed or if you had a good experiences with this place. And also too, like sometimes people have trouble placing, I just blame too specific sources, but sometimes people have trouble placing the origin of food poisoning. I've read somewhere that a lot of times people

attribute food poisoning to undercooked meat when it's just as likely to come from underwashed produce. So like you go and you think you had some bad carnitas, but what actually got you sick was you had this dinner salad beforehand and that produce hadn't been washed properly and that's where you got that contamination from. So a lot of times you don't know

what the actual source of your foodborne illness is, so we'll give it another shot. There's a sushi place here near UCB, I won't say the name of it. And I did feel sick after eating there one time. Like I said, I never throw up from that, but then I heard multiple people got sick from eating there and I was like, okay, so it's going to be a place

I'll stay away from. But also like a lot of the times when that happens, it's not like, if it's a place I actually do love, I'm gonna go back to it no matter what. If it's like a shitty place, I don't wanna go back to caros where we reviewed and it was terrible. Right, but that didn't even make you sick.

Yeah, it just was gross. Yeah, it made you sick in a metaphorical sense. You sick, this place was in business. By the way, the sushi place that, it actually replaced the sushi place you're talking about, replaced another sushi place before that was even shadier. And once, they may have mentioned this

in the podcast before, but once the pipes broke in the UCB bathrooms and were flooding the floor of the sushi restaurant and they stayed open. Oh, Jesus. So disgusting, awful. Improv shit floating around over there. And that's bad shit.

That's just disgusting shit. Improvises do not eat well. None of those flannel wearing men have good diets. If you have a question or comment about the world of chain restaurants, you can email us at doboyspodcast at gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 830-GO-DOE. That's 830-463-6844.

And to get the Do Boys Double R Weekly bonus episode, join the Golden Play Club at patreon.com slash doboys. Andrew Secunda, thank you for giving us so much of your time to appear on the podcast. Thank you for going out to eat with us. Do you have anything you would like to plug? I guess Star Trek, the next conversation with Matt Myra at Star Trek TNC on Twitter.

And I'm at Secunda on Twitter. And I'm at Andrew Secunda on Instagram. Follow me on Instagram. I don't have enough Instagram followers. There's nothing going on there. There's nothing to see, but to follow it anyway. Maybe we'll put up a picture of that big bone if we got one. Oh, there you go.

Oh, yeah. There you go. I definitely will put something when we're, I took a couple of pictures of us eating because I was excited and proud that I was on a date with the Do Boys. Well, we're gonna have another date soon. Thank you so much for doing this.

We're gonna have you back. We'll have you back for some nice eating. I know, I'm always gonna associate you with a nice meal. I got dibs on White Castle. That's the one I want. Oh, yes. Boy, that's at the opposite end of the spectrum. There you go.

Mitch, am I still looking at you as scantz? We go to White Castle and Alex is still the waitress. Yeah. You somehow upsold us on a Tomahawk ribeye? What were you saying, Wager? I was saying, am I still looking you as scantz? What are you saying? Are you looking at me weird again?

No, you know what? You're my friend. Oh, you're my friend too, Mitch. All right. It came together at the end. Nick and I are about to go have our second dinner in two days together. Right, we're gonna go eat a meal after this.

No, we were eating. Or is that a preview? We can't say. Oh, wow. It's a secret. It's a secret. Hey, that'll do it for this episode of Do Boys. Until next time, for The Spoon Man and Mike Mitchell

on Nick Wager, happy eating. See ya. Take care. Hey guys, you want more Do Boys? To get the Do Boys double or weekly bonus episode, join the Golden Play Club. Sign up at patreon.com slash Do Boys. Do it.

That was a hate gun podcast.