Steven Helmer Publications

My oldest daughter had to take the ACT yesterday and, since she is home schooled, that meant my wife and I making an hour-long drive with her so she could take the test in Oshkosh, WI. She didn't get an opportunity to eat a whole lot before the test and only had a light snack with her so, mostly because it was right next door, we stopped at Pizza @ Hwy 44 for lunch. This was our first time dining at this restaurant (which opened last spring) and, overall, I have to say I was impressed. There were a couple things, in particular, that really stood out for me. One of the main ones was the pizza itself. The three of us each got a personal pizza, which I thought were a reasonable value at $8.95 each. Not only was the pizza delicious, the generous amount of toppings on the pizza made it much more filling than I was expecting it to be.  In fact, I ordered the wound up having it for lunch yesterday, dinner later that evening and had three extra pieces leftover for lunch today. That added ...

My wife had a couple things she wanted to pick up at East Towne Mall, so we made a quick run down to Madison shortly after it opened on Sunday. Since it was about noon by the time we were done, I offered to buy lunch before driving home and, since the food court proved to be quite a bit more expensive than we were expecting, we opted to go to Portillo's Hot Dogs instead. To be honest, we almost didn't eat there because it was our first time at that restaurant and, when we walked in, it took us a minute to figure out which counter we were supposed to use to order our food. Once we did that, however, we did find we enjoyed our experience. We both wound up ordering chili dogs with a side of fries to share. She also got a peppermint shake to drink. In total, we spent about $18 for lunch, which isn't too terrible. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Helmer I thought the set-up inside the restaurant was pretty decent. Basically, you order your food on one end of the counter and w...

I took the family to the Mackenzie Center in Poynette this past weekend and invited my mom to come along with us. She insisted on buying us lunch and, not wanting to spend more money than she could afford, I looked for something reasonably priced and close to where we were. I had never eaten at the Red Apple Restaurant before and wasn't really sure what to expect from it. However, it looked like a good fit so we wound up going there. As it turns out, it ended up being a great choice. First of all, I was very impressed with how reasonable the prices were at this restaurant. For example, I ended up ordering a mushroom burger. It came with soup and fries and was just $7.99, which is actually pretty comparable to the average value menu price at our local McDonald's (minus the soup). My wife's liver and onions was just $8.49 including salad and mashed potatoes. The portion sizes were also surprisingly large. I couldn't even make it halfway through my burger and wou...

Even though the weather was less than ideal yesterday, my wife really wanted to get the girls' picture taken with the Easter Bunny so we ended up making a trip to Madison and the East Towne Mall. It had been a while since we had been there and we noticed they added some new restaurants to the food court area, including Lulu's 13 Pub. We had never heard of this particular restaurant before but, when we realized the Easter Bunny gave the girls coupons for free kids' meals, we decided to give it a try. To tell you the truth, I was a bit surprised to see this kind of restaurant in the mall food court, partly because it had a bar. But, after eating there, I have to say I was very impressed. While I was somewhat tempted to order one of their breakfast entrees, I ended up ordering the mushroom Swiss burger. This ended up being a good choice. The burger was larger than some others I've purchased for about the same price and, with the homemade chips I ordered with it, was ...

My wife and I finally had a chance to have a belated anniversary celebration and decided to do so by heading out of town, visiting Fond du Lac (about 40 minutes away) and having an anniversary lunch. A friend of ours recommended Salty's Seafood & Spirits and, since we don't have a big selection of seafood restaurants around here, I decided to check it out. We got there a little after 1 yesterday afternoon and were both very impressed. First of all, the food there was amazing. I would especially recommend their "award winning" cheese seafood soup. My wife and I shared a cup of that and, after leaving the restaurant, kind of regretting not placing a to-go order for more of it. We loved every bite (although it did make me a bit thirsty). In addition to the soup, I ordered their perch lunch and thought the fish was pretty good as well. The breading was perfectly crisp and had just the right amount of seasonings. And, it proved to be a lot more filling than I ...

My wife and I won't be able to celebrate Valentine's Day this year, both because of work and parental commitments. So, as we were running errands today, we stopped by Rocky Rococo's and got one of their heart-shaped pizzas, as has become tradition for us. After getting back and picking up the kids from my parents' house, my kids expressed some disappointment over not getting some of the pizza too. So, I ended up ordering a couple others from Marco's Pizza here in town and we had that for dinner. Of the pizzas, I think I enjoyed the one from Rocky Rococo's best. The one from Marco's wasn't bad. But, it was thin crust, which I'm not a huge fan of, while the first pizza was much more filling.

I had to stop at the store after work last night and had planned on just picking up something for dinner there. However, I just couldn't find anything that looked good and, because of that, my wife and I decided to just take the kids to McDonald's instead. I've seen their Buttermilk Chicken Tenders advertised on television but, up until very recently, we weren't able to purchase them at either of our McDonald's restaurants (both had signs saying they were sold out). So, when I saw they finally had them, I decided to give them a try. As it turns out, they really weren't worth the wait. I'll start out by saying the tenders came in a really awesome-looking box, which was both unique and practical (it had a slot for the dipping sauce). But, after trying them for the first time, I honestly feel that box was really the only thing special about them. McDonald's, at one point, used to offer something similar to these and, compared to those original chic...

Well, we're back from Madison and back from our first time eating at a Texas Roadhouse. I honestly didn't know what to expect when we got there but, overall, I have to say I was happy with my visit. We got there a little after the lunch rush and were seated right away. Our service was outstanding throughout and I even got a drink re-fill (something that, surprisingly, rarely happens when we dine out). We didn't have to wait too long for our food and, the best part, I didn't have to order or  pay for my food using one of those annoying tabletop kiosks, as seems to be the case with a growing number of restaurants lately (I really hate those things. If I wanted to have a machine take my order/payment, I would just order a pizza online and have it delivered). As far as food goes, I had no complaints. The sirloin steak I ordered was very tender and cooked just the way I liked it. The steak fries, while a little salty, were crisp and had a decent taste to them and I espec...