Kenichi

I'm a big believer in restaurants that serve great food with minimal fanfare. This seems to be the opposite of what the proprietors of Kenichi had in mind. This sushi restaurant is located in the warehouse district of Austin, and features a dimly lit room, loud music and bartenders with attitudes. I mean, I like bringing together flavors from different cultures, but this whole "Asian-Fusion" category must stop. I mean, what year do they think this is--1999?

Any sushi restaurant that, when asked what their best fish is for the night, mentions their California Roll and what they deem their "Volcano Roll" which is a mayonnaise covered mess, should be shut down and never allowed to operate in the industry ever again. But, shame on me for not just walking out.

Kenichi
Screw it, I'm not even going to put the address and phone number in here. I don't want you to be able to find it. If you really want to put yourself through some pain, Google the restaurant. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Tomasita's

Upon entering the establishment, there is a noticeable sign indicating:

A MESSAGE TO OUR GUESTS
Residents and frequent visitors have come to love the spice of our cuisine and depend on their chile 'fix.' At Tomasita's, chile is a main ingredient of our dishes and we serve it HOT. If you are new to the taste, please ask for a sample of our chile before ordering so that we may serve you better.

Now, being the capsaicin junky that I am, I took that as a challenge. By the crowded waiting room, it seemed like many others had the same thought. The place was packed to the gills for lunch. We had a 30 minute wait, but we took our place on the bench and waited since the food here was exhaulted by several people.

In one word. Delicious. Not being able to choose between the multiple dishes, I chose the Super Combination Plate which included an enchilada, a tamale, a chile relleno, a taco served Christmas style and rice and beans to boot. Sopapillas were also served with the meal, though I didn't really have much room after the hefty portions of food on my plate. Everything was fantastic. Though I was disappointed with the supposed heat of the food. Maybe I got a tame batch, but it didn't seem that spicy to me at all. Actually, I found it to be relatively mild on the Scoville scale. Regardless, the food was amazing and I would have no problem recommending this place to anybody.

Tomasita's Santa Fe Station
500 S Guadalupe St
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 983-5721

Yippie-Ei-O Steakhouse

Just outside of the Grand Canyon, there is a small town of Tusayan. We were starving, so we went to a restaurant called the Yippie-Ei-O Steakhouse. Overall rating is that this restaurant is not great.

One highlight of the meal was the appetizer of fried zuchini and mushrooms. That was actually quite tasty. But then again, they are deep fried.

The steak I ordered was quite dry and overcooked. However, my girlfriend's filet was pretty good. All the wait staff was foreign, so they couldn't even understand me when I asked them questions about the menu. Best of all, was that they only had ranch dressing for the salad, which was made up of old iceberg lettuce and a couple cherry tomatoes. I will say that they do serve hearty portions of food. Even for American standards. Included with my dinner was the aforementioned salad, the steak, fried shrimp, a baked potato, corn on the cob, a biscuit and baked beans.

My girlfriend did say that the biscuits that they served were delicious. I, however, do not like biscuits, since they are cakey and not bready. (That we will save for another discussion.)

If I were you, skip Tusayan and go somewhere in Williams or Flagstaff.