Burgers and Beer Week, Traveler's Edition - Part 1: Five Guys and Whataburger

With (614) Magazine's Burger & Brew Week whetting Central Ohioans' appetites, as well as the arrival of National Cheeseburger Day this weekend, hamburgers will be on the forefront of many people's minds this week, including ours.

My recent travels back to the West Coast reminded me that I had stumbled into an unintended nationwide mini-sampling of some of the country's burger purveyors during this year's travels, with all but one being a first-time experience. If any week was the perfect time to flame-broil these mental tidbits back to the forefront, this was the week for certain

For almost all my visits, I stuck to the basics - burger and a fries and a beverage, with little in the way of enhancements for either of those two items.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries
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First Opened: 1986 (Washington, DC)
Number of Franchises: According to their website, Five Guys has 1,000 locations in 47 states and 6 Canadian Provinces (including 50+ in OH and 110+ in CA)
Branch Visited: 4116 Summit Plaza Drive, Louisville, KY

Initial Reason for the Visit: There simply ain't much open on certain holiday weekends.

Onward to the Music City

This is a sign that tasty poor boys are just around the counter

School pride and T-shirts are perfect partners in that there's just about no easier and more visible way to express that love of your alma mater to the world than a cotton shirt with your school's name and colors. However, that visibility, especially when it's attached to a big name college program that emphasizes a certain English-based article (as in part of speech) in their name, is almost certain to  draw attention.

"Hey, it's someone from THE Ohio State University?" The emphasis on the word "the" was over-emphasized to the nth degree, and the loud, lively and largely Cajun-accented give-and-take behind the counter between the kitchen and front area staff picked up noticeably.

"We got THE Ohio State University in the house!"
"You're a long way from home, aren't you?"
"Yes, THE Ohio State University is here!"
"Did you get lost or something?"

While we were a bit flush from the attention, the smiles of the folks around showed us it all in good fun. We shouldn't have expected any less; after all, we were standing smack dab in the middle of Ragin' Cajun country...

H-Town Happenings: Crawfish and Caskets

If you ever go to Austin, Fort Worth or San Anton'

Find the barrooms I got lost in and send my memories home

Put my tears in a bottle screw the top on tight

If you ever go to Houston, buddy you'd better walk right

Bob Dylan - "If You Ever Go To Houston"

A little artwork oasis in the Midtown area of Houston, Texas

While Dallas may have the word "big" in its nickname, it's really Houston that's the big dog city (population and geographic-size) in Texas. To this longtime California resident, the city's sprawl and traffic, and to a lesser degree demographics and weather, remind me of what you'd find in the Los Angeles area more than any of Texas' other big cities.

For my spouse, this was a bit of a return to old haunting grounds, as she had attended grad school in the area in the 1990s. And the time of our visit was most fortuitous, as there was absolutely one must do for her while we were down in the area.

Brews Cruising (Pt. 2): Bats to the Left of Me, Jesters to the Right

Driving through the traffic morass through Austin left me with a case
of tunnel vision as I headed through the surrounding Hill Country

I left Austin, TX with a severe case of tunnel vision.

Perhaps if I knew about the November 2015 Culturemap Austin's article naming I-35 through downtown as having the absolute worst traffic in Texas, I wouldn't have made the mistake of staying on the freeway as I reached the outskirts of Texas' capital city. This sludge-like trek through city limits reminded me of the first time I drove through Los Angeles in the late 1980s. Crawling along on city streets around 2 PM, I spotted an empty on ramp for the I-10 freeway overhead, thinking that this was a great idea since it was nowhere near rush hour. Little did I realize that almost every hour on L.A. freeways is like rush hour, and one mile and 20+ minutes later, I escaped the sludge and happily settled for the crawl.

The L.A.-style traffic and other circumstances meant there would be little exploring of Austin's treasures this day. But the traffic meant that the one stop I would be able to make would be the perfect cure, and it lay on the outskirts of town down a bumpy service road in the surrounding Hill Country.

The San Antonio Stroll (Pt. 2): Serenity from the West Side

Lips so sweet and tender,

Like petals fallin apart,

Speak once again of my love, my own

Broken song,

Empty words I know

Still live in my heart all alone,

For that moonlit pass by the Alamo,

And rose, my rose of San Antone!

Bob Wills - “San Antonio Rose”

A performance by Faisan Folklorico provided a colorful finish to
a fabulous time with friends and the city of San Antonio's charms

“So how are you doing, sir?”  His voice was warm and welcoming, and his hand extended slowly across the counter.  I offered a brief hesitation, but I responded with what came naturally. Our handshake was firm and friendly, as if we had known each other for decades.

Granted, this was not my first handshake from a restaurant representative: a visit to the Short North’s Philco Diner gave me that pleasure after I had had a meal there. However, this was the first time I could ever recall being greeted with such before I even placed an order.

“Doing well, how about you?” He brushed his hand through his pulled-back, gray-streaked hair and leaned back on his seat. “Oh, I’m fine. I’d be better if my hammertoe wasn’t acting up.”

This would not be your typical Sunday morning visit for coffee for certain.

The San Antonio Stroll (Pt. 1): La Colorido Tierra

Mamma'd smile and say, "Child don't you know

There ain't a thing in this world

To make you fall in love girl

Like the San Antonio stroll"

Tanya Tucker - "The San Antonio Stroll"

San Antonio lingers in the distance as you drive south through Texas' Hill Country

San Antonio, clocking in at just 1.4 million people (seventh largest in the U.S.) at the end of 2014, might have changed quite a bit since our last and only visit for both of us, but our visits were too brief to know for certain. One thing we did know for certain was this wouldn't be just any ordinary warm-weather escape for us northern climes living folks.

My spouse fully realized this after hearing the all-Spanish-chatter of gathered diners during a late-night-eats run at the Southern Texas mini-chain Taco Palenque (whose founder started the more familiar El Pollo Loco chain of Mexican quick eats.) Memories of visits to similar eateries came flooding back from her years spent as a grad student in the state of Texas.

Ice Cream Questing (Year 3): Dog is my Co-Pilot (Shojimoto, Arlington, TX)

"Go ahead, take your time,"  the elderly woman manning the counter behind me advised between chattering in Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) with a colleague over the cell phone.

With that scene, I was reminded I was on Filipino time, a state where punctuality isn't necessarily expected nor even desired. Indeed, this was a good thing, as I was contemplating an important decision in the flavors of my ice cream selections.

A drive on Texas State Highway 360 through Arlington will give you a good view of the three grandiose attractions (the two stadiums in which the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers play, plus the home of the original Six Flags amusement park) within the borders of this city of roughly 380,000 people.

However, if you wander closer into the downtown portion of the city, the college scene takes over as the campus of UT-Arlington dominates much of the area. For Ohio State Buckeye sports fans who are thinking this college sounds semi-familiar, it was the UT-Arlington Mustangs who broke the 61-game Buckeyes' Men's Basketball team's 61-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

Tried and True: Kolache Republic

In life, one eventually learns that some things just fall into place by happenstance. In relation to Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I, Kolache Republic has earned a special distinction through that happenstance: they have become our unofficial official starting point for long road trips to the south or multiple-event days around town.

For the uninitiated, kolaches are a pastry made by rimming a dollop of filling (traditionally fruit) with a puffy dough and baking them until golden brown. Imported into this country by Eastern European immigrants, they have become regionally popular in certain regions of the country, including Texas. Coincidentally, it was in Texas (Houston, specifically) where the Mrs. and I first got to sample this toothsome treat, though at vastly different times in our lives.

Kolache Republic has both sweet and savory pastries available for both breakfast and lunch, which includes specials that expand beyond traditional fillings. These daily offerings such as pulled pork, chicken cordon bleu and sloppy joe tend to sell out quickly.

We have always taken a combination of both sweet and savory for our meals there (my spouse's personal favorite is the apricot, while I am a sucker for poppyseed pastries; the sausage and jalapeño kolache is one of the few items we'd both order during the same visit.) Pair that with a coffee (the restaurant uses Cafe Brioso, one of Columbus' best roasters) and you have a pretty nice culinary combination to start your day.

One of our savory/sweet combos...and did I mention I love poppyseeds?

The restaurant itself is a quaint space with limited indoor and outdoor seating that is more suited to takeout orders (large orders and catering are also available with advanced notice); however, we've never had problems getting a seat during our visits. Service has always been top-notch for us, and we've found the restaurant's co-owners (Rick, Dusty and Doug) a pleasure to talk with and get to know a bit whenever we've stopped by.

We recently learned of Kolache Republic's one-year anniversary at their brick and mortar location via a congratulatory Tweet from one of Columbus' pre-eminent bloggers (Nick Dekker of Breakfast with Nick.) The Mrs. and I were a little surprised that they had only been there for a year, but then we realized that Kolache Republic has been plying their trade since 2011 as a food cart at various festivals and community events.

Let us echo those sentiments: happy first year anniversary kudos to you folks at Kolache Republic at your current digs, and we wish you continued success into the future. And yes, we look forward to starting more of our big days down the road with your kolaches.

One of my favorite Cbus restaurant logos

Kolache Republic
730 S. High Street (Brewery District - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43206
(614) 928-3151
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