Food: Jack and Grill

Ok, I will step away from the buyer’s tips and other photography writing for a second and write about another love. Food!

I hardly do any food photography. My kitchen really isn’t that pretty, and all my equipment is down in my studio. So, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about going out and finding good grub.  And my secret little hobby is trying to make it to places I see on TV, either on the Food Network, or on The Travel Channel.  Mostly, because watching TV at night, and seeing this awesome BBQ or greasy cheeseburgers or fine cuisine go by, and not getting to taste it?  Well… can’t let that happen.

My new favorite show is Man Vs. Food, starring Adam Richman.  I just like his sense of humor, and the interesting food challenges he comes upon.   He’s not like some of the other food show hosts, where all they can do is taste things and say “Oh My God”.  He’s actually funny, but he knows what he’s talking about as well.  I think I’d enjoy having a few beers with this guy.

Anyhoo, boy, was I disappointed when a week after I came back from the UGCX conference in San Jose, he did a show… on San Jose.  He also recently did a show on St. Louis, which I will get to eventually (since I live there).

But my luck changed, and he did a show on Denver, and I actually watched it on my DVR, the week before we visited Denver to go skiing.  Unfortunately, Keystone resort is an hour away from the city, so we only managed to do breakfast on the way to the airport.

We visited Jack and Grill, the home of the 7 pound burrito challenge.

Ok, that isn’t the 7 pound burrito.  That’s the regular Breakfast Burrito, and I’d say it was about a pound or so.  That was my choice, with half red chile and half green chile sauce.  Filled with egg, ham, potatoes, cheese and more cheese on top, it was great, and suprisingly spicy.  There was plenty of each type of sauce poured on, and it soaked into the flour tortilla, but there was still lots to scoop onto the filling.  It could have used more egg and less potato, but even with less starch, I doubt I could have finished it.  I only got halfway through before being satisfied.

My wife had the Southwest Hashbrowns, which were regular shredded hashbrowns, with cheese and green chiles on top.  Looked pretty edible from my side of the table.  The kids split a stack of 3 buttermilk pancakes, each was as big as your head.  Very fluffy and tasty, and there was a spice in there, maybe cinnamon or something, that gave it a nice homey taste.  The bacon was a bit overdone, but we saw them make it fresh, though the window in the dining room.  No big pile of pre-made bacon here.

The restaurant interior was fun for the kids to look around.  There are “Jack” things on the wall, from Captain Jack, to boxes of Apple Jacks, to pictures of Jack Nicholson.  One wall is covered with award plaques and articles proclaiming “Best in Denver” for various things.

The server brought coloring books and crayons for the kids while we waited, which was great.  We also got a basket of chips, and salsa.  The salsa tasted homemade and was nice and chunky.  The chips, I’m not sure about their origin.  I like the real lightweight chips we get at Chevy’s.  These were a lot thicker.

On the “Man Vs. Food” theme, we found the “Wall of Fame” with pictures of those that had completed the challenge.  Sadly, Adam was not on the wall since he couldn’t finish.  It’s no wonder, with all the potatoes they put in that thing.  Those carbs would fill you right up.  We did see someone who had finished the monster burrito three times though.

I’d have to say this TV Restaurant visit was no disappointment.