LITG Halloween Special: The Night of the Living Poblanos!

They appear docile. Some are bilingual and wear sombreros. But none are to be trifled with.


Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the water or, perhaps, the drainage ditch, they attack.

Any LITG regular knows from which they come. It is from this way they come. And there is nothing more horrible than a furious, voracious, or, even worse, a wounded Chile Poblano.

They are offered on many menus. But. But. When angered. When not held at bay. They can attack. They can attack like Michael Meyers on Halloween. They can attack like an Alien in the belly of an actor with a terrible English accent. And it is not pretty. Not pretty at all.

How do you protect yourself from a crazed chile poblano? A knife? No. Not a knife. They laugh at knives...the poblano nation laughs at sharp objects.

A fork? Used with a knife, yes, that is the ticket.

Yes, a fork in the skilled hand of a Lunch in the Gump contributor is the only thing that can counter the terror of hearing the low moan of a crazed zombie poblano. Aim for the brain (what little there is of it). That is where the virus lives or, more accurately, festers. Try to ignore the tasty brown stuffing. Remember to Double Tap.

We've encountered them at La Zona Rosa and other "Mexican" restaurants. We have backed them down. But none of us have really met them in their element. We've never faced them when they have emerged from a tub of salsa during the night.

Be afraid. Be very afraid....

Shadow Pup with vanquished poblano. She's their nightmare on Boxwood.

Taste Confusion at La Zona Rosa

A Confounded Chile Poblano Eyes His Plate Mates

My squeeze and I are fans of La Zona Rosa as are many of the posters on this blog. On a typical Thursday night you will see the Z-Red restaurant chocked full to the gills with locals chowing down on the reasonably priced "South of the Border" fare. The service is good, the atmosphere friendly and the al fresco dining area a pleasant spot to dine in decent weather. In other words we like La Zona Rosa as our two former posts attest.

But....(and you knew this was coming didn't you?)....the truth is some of the various menu items do taste the same.  For example, in the above picture there are three items.  One is obviously a curious, furious or ravenous Chile Poblano.  However, can you possibly identify the two items the Poblano is gazing at?  Well, according to the menu, one is a burrito and one is an enchilada.  And not only do they look alike, I closed my eyes and could not tell one bit of difference in taste between the two.  What is more disconcerting is the fact that when I finally subdued and gutted the Poblano, it was stuffed with stuff that tasted just like the stuff inside the enchilito or the burlada (cross between a burrito and enchilada).  Just what that stuff is I have no clue.  Where the stuffing comes from I have no clue.

Now, is it all fairly tasty? Si senor. Do I have any problem with the meal itself? No senor. Was the meal only $7.50? Si, si senor. I'm just sayin': If there is no difference in taste between a burrito and enchilada why do they have such different names? I'm just askin'. I mean, is this stuff shipped in from some meat filling factory in Mexico or Guatemala where all the "Mexican" restaurants get the same stuff? Is that why a lot of "Mexican" food in the Gump tastes the same? Is there like some Mexican McDonalds that standardizes the meat you get so you are never disappointed nor delighted with your meal? Just askin'.  No disrespect intended.  I'm not going Shadow Pup on anyone here. It's just that inquiring and hung-over minds want to know.

Comments welcome.

Man vs. Meatball Parm

Meatball Parm Sandwich at Sa-Zas

One of the grossest or, depending on your point of view, most wonderful shows on the Travel Channel is "Man vs. Food" where some overweight guy with curly black hair named Adam Richmond searches out and destroys the largest, fattest dishes served up by Hamburger King-like places all over America.  Tonight it was a "Double Judd" in Boise, Idaho.  A "Double Judd" is two one-pound cheeseburgers on buns the size of Frisbees. On other episodes you meet the "Ultimate Destroyer," "Burgersarus" and the "Big Ugly Burger."  All of which this Adam guy tries to devour in record time and usually does.

They look like this:

Big Ugly Burger: 2 lbs of meat

"Ultimate Destroyer": Seven kinds of meat on one sandwich

Two yahoos try to eat the "Burgersaurus"

Well today, at Sa-Za's during lunch, I felt like I was shooting an episode of "Man vs. Food." It went down like this:

I was in a hurry and wanted to walk. My options--in my pea brain--were a quick $5 sausage from "The Hot Dog Guy" street vendor or the other restaurants on Commerce/Tallapoosa.  Walking down Commerce I saw Joe DiMaggio sitting outside at Sa-Zas conspiring with what looked like partners or potential investors so I looked inside and saw that there were open seats at the chef's table.  Usually the place is too crowed for a quickie, but today I was in luck so I popped in and sat at the counter and chose the "Mama's Meatball Parm Sandwich" (or something close to that name.)


The service was quick but when the sandwich arrived I knew something was afoot. Surely they did not expect a human to be able to eat this as a sandwich?  Why, I couldn't pick up 1/2 of the thing with both hands and certainly never could have gotten even a corner of it into my mouth. It was huge.  Why, to give you the proper perspective, I submit the following photo with a live Chile Poblano from La Zona Rosa on the side:

The Meatballs dwarf a surprised adult Chile Poblano (shown actual size)

 I had to give up on the idea of treating this thing like a sandwich and began the humiliating process of simply folding away the top slab of bread and cutting the meatballs covered with sauce and cheese with a fork and knife.  Here's the good part, although I ate like a little girl, the meatballs--sans bread--were outstanding.  However, I had to admit that even by avoiding all the bread and the crisps, I was not able to finish the four meatballs on the sandwich. It was just too much.  Man-0/Food-1.

What was perhaps even more amazing was the price: $9.  Which by my count would be less than .50 per ounce of delicious meatballs. Terrific flavor and a reasonable price, but at a tremendous cost to the male ego for having to ponder asking for a "go box."

Incidentally, as I slinked away in shame with my little go box full of leftovers, I noticed DiMaggio in a vacant space on the inside of The Alley Station talking with the same group of partners/investors.  Could there be another restaurant in The Alley afoot?  One hopes so.

La Zona Rosa Foils Stomach Claw

La Zona Rosa

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WARNING: Inside Joke: A Bammer fan named Danny posted on OU website before big game against Oklahoma a response to Sooner claim that Bama D-Line was small. He said: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog--Paul 'Bear' Bryant" Of course, Sooner fans who had actually been to a college knew that quote belonged to Mark Twain. So, for months, the string of abuse of Danny on the blog involved attributing every quotable line you can think of to "The Bear." Are you with me here? If so, move on....
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"Once we were lost, but now we're found"--Paul W. Bryant.

After suggesting a repeat visit to our favorite Taco Tongue a/k/a El Taqueria De Cantero, Tojo and Fat Clemenza learned the hard way that not all restaurants in the Gump are open on Monday, especially the ones where no one speaks English. But as quick as he was in the wrestling ring, Tojo adroitly changed plans: La Zona Rosa ("The Pink Zone") would be the target since it was right down the road at 2838 Zelda Scott Fitzgerald Road.

Open about four years now, the Pink Zone has become somewhat of a local favorite for Mexican (and Salvadorian) food. But somehow, it had avoided a visit from the LITG gang until today. A full quorum of gastric bypass experts assembled: Tojo the Hungry; Fat Clemenza the Starved; B-Diddy; Show Dog; He Who Has No Nickname and, yours truly, Shadow Pup. Not in that order.

"A penny saved is a penny earned"--Paul W. Bryant.

What no one understood at the time, was that the lunch menu at La Zona Rosa may be the best deal in the Gump. Just look at this menu for lunch:

That "Create your own lunch" part makes your typical overweight American/Tojo assume that you would have to get 3 or four of the selections to comprise a full meal. Not so fast salsa breath. After gorging on "complimentary" chips and salsa (a little too sweet) while waiting for (shocker) The Show Dog, the size of each of just three selections is way more than a normal person can eat unless just released from "The Biggest Loser." But Tojo, who is no ordinary person, went for the FOUR entree lunch, including something called a "Chile Poblano." Just what that is I cannot say. You decide for yourself:

You must keep the Chile Poblano at bay at all times.

Regardless of the appearance, this little Poblano put up slight resistance and was quite tasty. The problem was that even Tojo failed to devour the little fellow. It was sad to see Tojo frustrated by the seemingly endless supply of tacos, tortillas and refried beans.

Foiled by the size of the 4 entre lunch, Tojo retaliated with the "Stomach Claw"...it was his only defense.


"What doesn't kill you will make you stronger."--Paul W. Bryant.

As usual, the combination of knowledge of a full LITG crowd boggles the mind. It was the nameless one, I think, who reminded the table that La Zona Rosa serves Carnitas to die for at night but you have to order early or they run out.

"Ask not what your Country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your Country."--Paul W. Bryant.

In our case, we ask for separate checks and Pepto. Once again, over served at no fault of our own but comfortable in the fact that we were able to gorge ourselves on some pretty fine Mexican food for $6.50 with free water you can drink from the tap! Quite a deal. Perhaps the best deal in the known Gump.

Oh, I almost forgot to show you where La Zona Rosa is located. Here is the map from their web site:

Yeah, that's a big help....it's somewhere in the Gump.

Although we left bloated and in need of naps, all in all the gang appeared to enjoy our experience at La Zona Rosa--except perhaps Tojo who suffered a little bump in the road to his manhood by a giant Chile Poblano served 'head-on' at a place known as the "Pink Zone."

"Think Pink"--Paul W. "Bear" Bryant.