Caficultura, Puerto Rico

Old San Juan.  

What a delight to get a coffee artistically prepared just for ME:

For breakfast:

"Pancakes" con Guineos Flameados:

buttermilk pancakes with bananas sauteed in sugar, butter, and rum.  

Tostadas Francesas de Leche de Coco en Pan Brioche con Mermelada de Pina y Coco rallado:

brioche bread coconut milk french toasts with pineapple marmalade and fresh coconut shavings. 

(this one was so delicious I can't wait to try it at home)

Everything was delicious.  

We decided to become temporary regulars and ate at the same place the next morning.  

The next day we had: 

Crepes de Batata Dulce rellena de Longaniza de Pollo y Queso de Cabra:

sweet potato crepes with crumlbed chicken sausage and goat cheese.  

and

Revoltillo de Vegetables frescos rostizados:

pimientos, tomato, cebollas y zetas con queso de papa o suizo

We drank coffee, of course, and ordered the Flaming June coffee which the waiter probably swore under his breath at us for ordering and struggled to light...but we enjoyed it anyway.  

And no, we didn't get a chance to see the museum where the Flaming June is hanging.  

Because this is SO worth a stop, here's a picture so you know what to look for.  

Birra Poretti's - Arlington, TX

Sunday Brunch Buffet
A great italian restaurant...A heck of an irish bar

Carrabba's - North Charleston, SC

Post movie meal - saw Skyfall.  Good action movie, but they don't feel like the classic Bond flicks.
Our waitress, Missy, was very friendly and had lots of energy.  Very enthusistic about the food and working her a** off.

M had the Penne Franco, with mushrooms, chicken, roasted tomatoes, prosciutto and olive oil with garlic.  Good flavors.  Give it a 3.5.

Kari had the Sirloin Marsala with Chicken Brian Ravioli.  The cut of meat had a lot of gristle, but the waitress had the chef cook another one after cutting it to a gristle free state.  It was perfectly cooked and flavorful.  Second piece was better but not perfect.  They didn't charge us for this meal.  Give it a 3.75.

I had Pizza with sausage, pepperoni and olives.  The crusts here are excellent and the toppings generous and good.  I'll give it a 4.00.

Must say again how good the service was and how eager to make sure everything was made right.  As I have said before, nothing is perfect every time, it's how you fix it that matters.  We'll be back again.

Food Truck Rodeo - Charleston, SC

Sixteen food trucks, live music, beret, wine, no cover charge - what's not to love.  You could tell who was good by the line length.  Rotisserie Rolls, Bahn-Mi, Diggity Donuts were some of the longest.

Roma Tomatoes - Summerville, SC

Kari and I, exhausted after a three hour voting ordeal, decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch.  This place used to be Tomatoes, and they started out good, but deteriorated after a while.  Maybe they'll be better now.

The lunch menu is short, but has decent variety of Italian and other types of dishes.  We shall see...
They started us with a nice sourdough bread, warm, served with an olive and herb infused olive oil.  Our waiter was friendly and accommodating, replacing fries with a salad at no extra charge.  The salad dressing was the house vinaigrette which was excellent.

I went with the Chicken and Sweet Sausage over Penne.  It had capers, spinach and mozzarella in a pink sauce.  It was really nice.  The sauce had awesome flavor and the sausage had tons of flavor!  Give it a 4.50

Kari had the Grilled Salmon BLT with goat cheese.  The bacon with the capers went quite well with the goat cheese and well cooked salmon.  This gets a 4.00.

Looks like new management is working out.  We'll have to come back!

Cracker Barrel - North Charleston, SC

Post oil change pre voting breakfast.  Let the lines die down before the lunch rush at the precinct.

Kari's having the Blueberry Pancakes and I'm having the Bacon, Fried Apples and Hashbrown Casserole combination.

I've always loved the casserole.  Onions, Potatoes and Cheese, yum.  Bad day is when they run out when I come in for a late breakfast.  Today the casserole was not quite hot enough, but the bacon was perfect.  Huge thick slices that were the perfect balance between crispy and chewy.   Bacon saves the score: 3.75

Kari always gets the pancakes and they give her one maple and one blueberry syrup.  She also gets a side of bacon.  Give hers a 4.50

Charleston Bakery and Deli - Summerville, SC

Almond Danish was LOADED with goodies!  Easily a 4.75!  Coffee is also excellent.

Kari had the Lox and Bagel latter with all the usual accoutrements.  The lox was very good and the portions were enormous!  The only unusual thing is that the bagel was preloaded with the salmon and cream cheese, so we had to remove some of the cream cheese to suit our tastes.  Used to seeing it on the side.  Not a big deal, we'll just know to ask for it on the side next time.  Oh, and the bagels were perfect.  4.25.

I had the Two Egg Breakfast with Grits and Bagel.  The eggs were properly over medium, grits good, and, as mentioned before the bagel was delicious.  I'll give it a 4.00.

This is definitely our go to breakfast place in Summerville!