Random Bites of Detritus: Jersey Guys Pizza, Café Baratta's, Big Daddy's.

UPDATE: Ownership of Jersey Guys Pizza changed hands on March 2, 2015, and the restaurant has since been renamed as GoodSons Pizzeria.

Here's a Cheesesteak pizza from Jersey Guys Pizza. No slouching on this build. Its not just the finely chopped beef, fried onions, and cheese wiz that you see on top, but also an honest-to-goodness cheese pizza underneath. You get a taste of both cheesesteak and pizza.

Below left is a substantial Blue Plate Lasagna from Café Baratta's in the State Historical Sociery Building. Though served in a white bowl, it is no less delicious. At right, Big Daddy's Cherries Flambé hot sauce is resplendent in both cherry flavor and heat! What could this accentuate? Chops? A mild bratwurst? Vanilla ice cream even? Give it a try.

Something Italian This Way Comes

UPDATED Sunday, September 28, 2014

Living in close proximity of Something Italian is a blessing. But there’s not many occasions I can visit while trying to seek out dining pleasures elsewhere. And with my weight loss of the last seven months, opportunities are even fewer. So here’s what I’ve compiled over the half dozen visits I’ve made over the spring months.

First and foremost Something Italian is the original purveyor of pizza-by-the-slice in downtown Des Moines, serving up lunch-time slices since 1999. Its what they excel at and the pizza that defines Something Italian best is the Papa Luigi. With a red tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, Graziano’s Italian sausage, black and green olives, mushrooms, and yellow pepper rings, its practically a meal. They’re no slouches on the basics either… a simple slice of Pepperoni is thin and foldable, cheesy, zesty, and quite comforting. Something Italian also offers a ridiculously good Spicy pizza, with a solid base of Italian sausage, topped with pepperoni and home-grown peppers.

On one happy occasion I popped into Something Italian as the first slices of a Ham and Alfredo deep dish pizza was being cut. Creamy, crispy, hammy, and so decadent. And being so fresh from the oven it was piping hot… yipes!

While losing weight I’ve had to cut back on the amount of pasta I eat. At home its easy enough to pre-measure and dispense as needed. While eating out I generally avoid it, or at the least plan my day around a meal to accommodate such indulgence. One such treat was a Something Italian daily pasta special of penne in a cheese sauce cobbled together from Alfredo and a handful of shredded cheddar, tossed with bacon and salami. It was so decadent I could only eat half a plate, saving the leftovers for the next day’s breakfast.

Along the way I also tried a thin crust version of the Ham and Alfredo pizza, which benefited from a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. The zing tempered its richness nicely. And a deep-dish Pepperoni I noshed on-the-go was so saucy, just one napkin couldn't repel a mess of that magnitude! As a dabbed away at the corners of my mouth with the now red-tinged wad of damp paper, I spotted an interesting vanity plate on a vehicle parked nearby. Coincidence? I think not.

On top of pizzas and pastas, Something Italian offers a number of toasty sandwiches. On my last visit for lunch I enjoyed a marvelously simple sausage (grinder) sandwich – a hoagie bun chocked full of saucy Italian sausage, topped with mozzarella and toasted. Not too spicy, but quite flavorful. Get a fork, you’ll need it!

Cutting Deep-Dish Pepperoni pizza; Another experiment for the lunch crowd, a cheddar-laden Chili Dog pizza.

Slices and salad bar ready for the lunch crowd.

Haters Gonna Hate: Random Bites of Mexican-American Eats.

Between the simple traditional cuisine of immigrant-run taco trucks and tacquerias, and the nouveau Mexican offerings of Tacopocalypse and Malo, there’s been some pooh-pooing of the Americanized Mexican food many of us grew up with.

I’m not trying to be an apologist for the likes of Taco Bell and Taco John’s, but when snobby little hipsters turn their noses up at places like Tasty Tacos for example, then I get a little upset.

I do love a plate of chorizo tacos at Los Laureles, adorned simply with onion, cilantro, a squeeze of lime and bite of radish. I also love a basket full of Tasty Tacos’ deep-fried puffy tacos, stuffed with seasoned ground beef and beans, and un-PC wads of lettuce and yellow cheese.

I stopped into Amigos Mexican Food for spinach enchiladas a few months back. If you’re not familiar with Amigos, its located downtown on the Skywalk level of Capital Square. The enchiladas offered a surplus of gooey white queso, inside and out, for decidedly American tastes. Spinach was decently balanced with the queso within. The briny flavor I’d normally associate with canned spinach was happily absent. Rice and beans on the side were par.

A veggie quesadilla at Z's Bar & Grill – on the corner of Jackson and South Union – is a fun little mess when you peel back the tortilla to reveal the peppers, onions, and mushrooms inside. Though apparently missing spinach from what’s listed on the menu, its no less tasty.

Italian steak rolls, assorted eats and experiments at B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli.

Watching John A. Jr. make a batch of Italian steak rolls shows how much the guys at B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli excel at their craft. John started off with a round steak cut thin and tenderized, then topped it with pickled banana pepper rings and roasted red bell pepper before applying layers of pepperoni, capicola, pepper jack and mozzarella cheeses, and capped it with a finishing layer of B&B’s housemade Italian sausage.

John then muscled this bad boy into a bicep-thick roll which he enrobed with string netting before slicing it into hefty medallions. B&B’s website suggests these as a “very flavorful addition to your Thanksgiving feast,” but you don't have to wait that long to try them.

I recently expanded my repertoire of favorite sandwiches when I tried Zach's Italian Killer. The sandwich is a delectable combination of Italian roast beef, salami, capicola, pepperoni, provolone and hot pepper cheeses, banana and red bell peppers, lettuce, and Italian dressing. It’s become a popular item at B&B, hence the impressive counter signage. If you can spare a couple of minutes, get your sandwich toasted. The flavor of the spicy meats blossoms!

Jolene, pictured above right, has been rolling up some tasty homemade enchiladas that I was fortunate to sample. These enchiladas are not a menu item, but that doesn’t mean B&B is bereft of Mexican fare. Their house recipe chorizo is superb! And B&B’s crispy deep-fried tacos are a must try!

The last time I ordered a double cheeseburger at B&B, some of the younger sandwich makers were working on a rather successful attempt at a Juicy Lucy, the iconic Minneapolis sandwich where the burger patty is stuffed with cheese. I was rather envious, but that didn't stop me from polishing off my fine burger.

My own opportunity for experimentation came when I asked for a thickly cut grilled bologna sandwich. I kept the build simple with squirts of mayo and mustard. The richness of the warm bologna made the mayonnaise redundant. I’m game to revisit this sandwich with a serving of B&B’s deviled eggs laid atop the hefty slice of bologna. Its no Juicy Lucy, but maybe we can call it the Slakingfool Killer. Or would Heart Attack on a Tenderloin Bun be more appropriate?

The youth surprised me with another experimental sandwich on my last visit, crafting a grinder/burger combo named after Kansas City rapper Mac Lethal. The pairing of spicy grinder meat with a perfectly prepared burger, plus a slice of melted jack, red bell and banana peppers, and a smear of mayo makes for one sick sandwich!