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Zesty's Makes Fast Food Local -- and Tasty

6/29/2022

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Zesty’s dots the Green Bay landscape with locations at almost all four corners. Their iconic frozen custards are the biggest draw, but when my mother came up to town for the first time this year, we wanted a quick lunch at a local location that we trusted. The Allouez Zesty’s has been a stop for my husband and I with several previous visitors for the custards. It was time to try their food menu.

The interior screams of an old fashioned diner, and after ordering at the front, we made ourselves comfortable in one of the pleather booths with our self-serve drinks. It’s a familiar feeling recreated all over the midwest in similar establishments. My husband and I were reminded of Dairy King in southern Illinois once the food arrived.
I ordered a single patty cheeseburger with ketchup, onion, and pickle and a side of fries. Right at the top of the menu, it was the first thing I thought to choose. You can learn a lot about a kitchen like this one from their burgers and fries. The meal arrived on a classic plastic tray wrapped in wax paper, and the burger was cut in half inside the paper. Split it open, and you look down into a patty still slightly pink in the center– juicy and cheesy and ketchupy. Just how I like it.
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The fries appear to be lightly battered which helps with the crunch, as always. They provided a much needed relief from the softer textures of the old fashioned burgers being served up out of the kitchen. Because I didn’t order a deluxe, there was little in the way of crunch within the burger to be served up by the classic garden toppings. The diced onion helped some– but their traditional crunch was lost through slight cooking underneath the warm patty. 

Not that that took away from the burger itself. Zesty’s burgers are a fast food hamburger being made in a locally owned kitchen, and that alone makes them special. Thin patties slung quickly from their kitchen to feed people like us looking for a cheaper, quicker option than sitting down at a restaurant for the afternoon have their merits.
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Their frozen custard is, of course, the greatest draw. There wasn’t enough time in the day or room in the stomach for it during this visit. We We encourage you to give that a try. Ordering ahead of time via their online app can take away the short waiting period during prime hours. We have included some old pictures of our custards from previous visits so you can get an idea of how tasty those can be!

​No matter what side of Green Bay you're on, it's a short drive to find a Zesty's location. Visit their facebook page for more information and tell them Eating Normal sent you.
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Fire & Hops in Santa Fe Brings the Heat

6/13/2022

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One’s first meal in Santa Fe, New Mexico should probably come from any of the taco stands and southwestern restaurants all over the historical town center, but ours came at the Fire and Hops gastropub not far from where we would be staying for our vacation. I saw it on the map while looking up where we would be for the weekend, and after a look at the menu, I couldn’t resist.


Dishes that come from disparate inspirations come together to form the Fire and Hops Menu. It’s unusual for any part of the world. My husband sat down without having looked at it an expressed some concern that we wouldn’t be getting much of a southwestern experience at the establishment, but there are some hidden places that the flavors of the region come into play– most notably in their dessert section. But that’s for later.
We began our meal with a bowl of their buffalo chipotle organic popcorn and a side of fries to jump start our appetites after a day of travel. The popcorn fulfilled its purpose and arrived to the table hot and fresh, but most importantly, the level of spice delivered by the combination of buffalo and chipotle did not overwhelm the midwestern palette. It kept us thirsty for beer, and the three beers that we finished each by the time the meal was over spoke for themselves.

​The fries arrived shortly thereafter and were accompanied by a simple garlic aioli and ketchup. The cool aioli served the hot and crunchy fries well by bringing down the temperature and adding flavor. Even in the southwest, a good bowl of fries tells me a lot about a place. They cared about those fries.

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Faith in Sushi Restored at Nakashima of Japan

6/2/2022

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Holmgren Way is home to several of Green Bay’s greatest sports bars, but it’s also home to Nakashima of Japan– a sushi bar and hibachi location hiding between tall apartments and a hotel. The building is easily identifiable when you’re driving along in the daylight. My husband and I went after a Packers game once pre-pandemic to wait out the traffic. We enjoyed ourselves, but we hadn’t been back since then.

My mother was in town. She’s also a big sushi person. Living in rural central Illinois limits her sushi options, however, so we brought her to Nakashima originally to experience their hibachi. We didn’t make a reservation. The wait would have been an hour. This is to be expected with hibachi, especially so when the restaurant expresses problems with being short staffed in a small sign at the door when you arrive.

I was too hungry to wait an hour for an open table, so we decided to go to their sushi room for dinner. The restaurant has largely converted to a QR code menu, but paper menus are available for those that aren’t accustomed to QR menus such as my mother. Nakashima has a sister restaurant in Appleton that allows for a Yakiniku experience– that isn’t available at the Green Bay location.

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