Billy Wardle Happenings

 I went to Jimmy JOhn's for the first time.  I was really hungry after a day at the temple.  Sheri and I both went.  We also got a sandwhich for Tony.  Tony and Sheri both had Country Club--ham and turkey with Provolone cheese.  I had the Caesar chicken wrap.  Both cases were nothing to write home ab out and Sheri and I have both decided that we will not go back.  The seemed to have only one choice of bread.  I was looking for Philly cheese steak which they don't have.  I guess it is Jersey Mikes that has Philly cheesesteak.  I will remember next time.

 I love Five Guys and their influence keeps extending across the nation.  However I was disappointed with the Five Guys in Kingman.  This is what I wrote:   Five Guys  was a bit of a disappointment.  Their hamburgers are the same, and I love it with mushrooms.  I always order the baby because two patties of the regular overwhelm the flavor of the mushrooms.  In Kingman the store does not have ice cream.  I was looking forward to a caramel shake.  Instead they told me to go to Baskin Robins next door.  Five Guys in Kingman does not have ice cream!!!! Fortunately the five Guys by our home does have ice cream.  I really enjoyed my sea salt caramel shake.  I of course ordered the single patty with mushrooms and mayonnaise.  It was excellent.  I really like the way they over fill the fries.  I ordered one fry for both Tony and I and it was more than enough with some left over.  I also enjoy their peanut...

 Charity turned us on to this restaurant downtown off of Jackson at about 12th street as a place to go for good French onion soup.  Sheri really likes French onion.  I go for the salmon--but the salmon dinner is too expensive so I have a salad with salmon.  The dinner salad and the salmon are both excellent.  I will also have soup there.  Sheri really likes their French diponion soup and I think that is all she has ever tried.  Tony when he went had the Salmon dinner.  I would not give this restaurant the highest of marks but pretty close.  

 This is our first venture to a new restaurant, albeit a fast-food chain.  Who ever heard of a fast-food Italian restaurant.  We went to the drive-up window.  Sheri had spaghetti and meatballs, I spaghetti without meatballs and Tony Chicken fettuccine.  We also had bread sticks.  Tony said his meal was excellent, especially the chicken.  SHer i said hers was passable.  Mostly she ate the meat balls.  I enjoyed my spaghetti.  The portions were super large.  I have been eating spaghetti everyday for lunch and still have plenty left over.  The bread sticks were excellent.  The price for everything was a little steep for fast food, but isn't everything lately.

 Billed as the best Italian cuisine in the Tri-State area and it may very well be.  Serving pasta in very large bowls, the pasta has something special with a taste to delight the palette.  Also has a very nice ambience.  Reservations are recommended.  Could be a bit pricey with some dishes in the $30 range.

 I really like Calicos now that they have reopened.  To be honest I never ate there before the closed as we hadn't moved to Kingman.  I know they also had a temporary location but we never went their either.  I found the best thing at Calicos is the Friday clam chowder; delicious.  I also like the salad bar.  They always have something in the bar for dessert.  I enjoyed the salmon.  The ambience is pretty cool with desert vistas. I visited while I was home alone and ordered prime rib.  It fed me for our or five meals and was very good.  This is the salad.  

  Cracker Barrel is a national chain with a southern twist.  I had never been to a Cracker Barrel before coming to Kingman.  They started in Tennessee and have only moved to the West the last couple of years.  There are stores in Las Vegas, and even California. This is a nice restaurant and country store.  There food is very good.  Better yet it is reasonably priced.  They always seem busy.  The only unpleasant thing is you have to pay at the store.  This allows them the opportunity to get you to spend more money. Sometimes there is a line to pay.  Last time we went we had the daily special, country fried pork which was very good.  They also have country fried steak.  I have also had their fried chicken.  Tony has enjoyed their dumplings.  The southern cooking seems to hit the comfort food spot.  There are 664 restaurants in 45 states.  A side benefit of Cracker Barrel is for the most part the allow boon-doc...

 I usually don't write about restaurants outside of my local area, but wanted to remember Empanada Republica in Kingman.  It is located a couple blocks from the Mesa Temple towards the arts center.  It is next to the community garden and close to the municipal court building.   They make some excellent empanadas.  The empanada El Capitan is just as the empanadas tasted in Argentina with green olives and egg and raisins.  Tony had a ham and cheese empanada he really enjoyed.  Sheri had the cheese burger empanada which she enjoyed.  I had the chicken and mushroom which I did not enjoy.  Even though the empanadas are a bit pricey this is a place I would go back to.  

Sheri and I went to La Catrina with Liza while she as passing through town.  La Catrina is located on Route 66 south of the I-40.  We all had tacos, I had two shrimp and one carne asada and Sheri and Liza both had two carne asada and one chicken.  The tacos were very good and came with beans and rice.  I really enjoyed the shrimp tacos.  They were excellent.  The taco shell was not doubled and was larger than most street tacos.  However they were really stuffed full and delicious.  The restaurant has the Day of the Dead theme.  This restaurant makes the go to again list.

This post was originally from April 2021.  The setting for this restaurant is lovely, and the food is equally as pleasing.  I was told that you can see elk and deer as you eat through the window.  We did not have that luck; must have been the wrong time of the year.  The only wildlife we saw was bird and squirrels.   (We have returned with kids when they visit and have seen the elk through the window.) The food was delightful.  I ordered the meat loaf sandwich I had heard about.  It did not disappoint.  The meatloaf had enough sweetness, and adding the onion and lettuce made the taste exquisite.  My only issue was how to eat it as a sandwich.  The meatloaf was just too thick so I had to use a knife.  I had ordered the clam chowder as my side (which was nice) but then wanted to try their home made potato chips so added this as an appetizer.  They really were good for the most part.  Every once in a while a chip had too...

 Sheri and I made our first trip to the Chophouse for our anniversary dinner.  I had heard it was expensive and was prepared for this.  However it wasn't that bad.  I found the senior menu and had my 65th birthday the week before.  The food was very good.  I had hamburger steak and mushrooms.  I love mushrooms.  Of course the senior portion was a bit smaller.  But a serving of steak is three ounces.  My steak was eight ounces and I couldn't eat it all.  Sheri, who is not a senior, ordered the Delmonico.  This is a rib eye steak.  She loved hers as well.  We shared a cheese cake for dessert which was covered in caramel sauce which was most excellent.  I had the loaded baked potato and Sheri plain.  They served bread.  Sheri had the dinner salad and I the clam chowder.  The chowder had a terrific flavor and was very clammy.  For Sheri it was too clammy but I loved it.  We had a very good ti...

 Rutherford's has a unique location; on route 66 but not in the downtown area.  It is on route 66 north of Stockton Hill Road, close to the Kingman Post Office.  It has extensive route 66 decor, but where we visited at night didn't show up in my pictures.   The nicest thing I noticed about Rutherford's was the friendly nature of the host and the sere staff.  Instead of telling you where to sit the gave two or three options and let you choose.  I enjoyed my patty melt sandwich.  Being late in the day, the dessert choices were limited.  The only thing they had left was cheese cake which I had.  They put some strawberry topping on it for me.  I really enjoyed it.  I really liked Rutherford's, but my wife not so much as me.  She said she prefers Mr. Dz. lots of neon which didn't show up well in my picture

  Sheri and I enjoyed our trip to Oysters in Kingman, on the 66 just south of the Andy Divine exit.  It was decorated for Day of the Dead which made for a lively scene.  Sheri and I ordered fajitas which we shared. By way of fajitas they were passable but not the best we have eaten.  We were full so passed on dessert.  They atmosphere was great the the food passable.

Sheri and I visited Vito's for the first time this weekend.  I found it incredibly enjoyable.  Sheri did not enjoy it as much as she said she would prefer to eat her own lasagna which is what she ordered.   We started with mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce.  I thought their marinara was incredible and better then Sheri's. I enjoyed the dinner salad and the garlic bread as well.  I had the baked mostaccioli which featured a nice combination of cheeses.  My disappointment was that we were too late in the day for dessert other than home made ice cream.  The waitress says the owner makes many nice desserts but they run out during the day, especially on the weekend.  The restaurant is a bit small, however we felt at home with the casual atmosphere. 

  bench outside Floyd's Floyd's is a unique experience.  The decor focuses on "rednecks" and is humorous.  This is a restaurant which focuses on barbecue and pizza.  If you are saving money the picnic is very economical and enough food for four or five.  The pulled pork is good and comes with sauce and buns and a couple sides.  Sheri had a full rack of ribs which is enough ribs for three or four meals.  They were delicious.  Our only sadness was they didn't have Macaroni and cheese so we went with the macaroni salad instead which wasn't as good as we would like.  Their baked beans were excellent however.   This restaurant also has pizza which we did not try.  This is another trip.  I would highly recommend Floyd's

Overtime I have been adding to this blog as I visit more restaurants in Kingman.  There are very many of them.   Most restaurants in Kingman are chain restaurants; and many I have already visited in other locations.  For example  Denny's  is Denny's.  We use to love Denny's when our kids were young because they had the $1.99 grand slam breakfast.  They still have the same breakfast but now it is $10 or more.  I visited Denny's in Kingman (there are two across Andy Divine from each other.  I visited the one on the west side.  I went for breakfast, and wasn't too impressed.  However the hot chocolate was great and they offered refills.  3/2023 I have now visited the Denny's at the truck stop.  I think it was more disappointing than the Denny's across the street.  Service was mediocre and the restroom was in the gas station and hard to get to.   Another chain we have in Kingman, which I had not seen anypla...