California Grubbin'

food: 3.5/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 3.5/5 It's Taco Bell. Don't go in expecting the Morton's Steakhouse of Mexican food and you should be fine. At this point everyone knows what they're getting here. A sloppy Joe-style mix of pseudo-ground beef actually made from soy protein (if you couldn't tell by the distinct mealy texture), a microwave quesadilla (jk their quesadillas are pretty good), and whatever Dorito-flavored concoction they've come up with lately. I wouldn't come here unless I was in dire need of some Mexican food and everything else was closed. Which never happens. Even then I would only stick to their bean burritos. Can't go wrong with a bean burrito. Their beans are good, at least. For a buck it ain't too bad. (I think it's still a buck? Idk) Speaking of Doritos, I guess now they stick Fritos in those burritos too. 'Murica. You can also get quesaritos which are like cheese-stuffed-crust pizza but burrito edition. ...

California Livin' goes back to France! We got another park to visit. This one's a little one. Aw, what a cute little garden! And to think, we stumbled on it purely by accident. Because we got lost on our way to the Rodin Museum. Not that that's important. This is an inner-city park, which I believe serves primarily as a mini field-trip location for a couple elementary schools nearby. I have to admit, it's kind of cute seeing groups of children walking into the park, each holding hands with a "buddy" so as to not get lost. As if you could get lost here. The park is small, but really pretty nevertheless. It's just too quaint! (That's a good thing.) There are a few expanses of lawn, some isolated bench areas, and what appears to be a vegetable garden. Which, aside from said vegetables, also served as host to a small sun-bathing community (yeah, we saw you, girls). There aren't any "attractions" in this park, asid...

food: 5/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 5/5 But first, pastries. Butter cookie w/ raspberry jam: 3.5/5 Somehow this simple butter shortbread cookie tastes like a doughnut. It's not bad. I mean it tastes like a doughnut after all. Fruit tart: 5/5 Delicious, tastes similar to the ones at the grocery store but more gourmet if that makes sense. Less crusty with a richer cream. Comes with a yummy little chocolate disc on top. Cannoli: 3.5/5 This is decent but the best part is not the cream filling unfortunately. The pastry shell is nice and crisp with dark chocolate on the ends, and the filling has dark chocolate in it. But they also put little fruit cake pieces in it for some reason. Just... don't fuck with cannoli guys. Do it like you're supposed to, don't try to jazz it up. They add an artificially fruity flavor to the cream which was fine but those chunks are nasty. They also come in tiny thumb-sized versions which probably would've been ...

food: 4/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 4/5 Ettore's is Sacramento's most well-known, most beloved bakery. You may have seen my post about all their delicious baked products . They also serve brunch on Sundays. It's a small but simple menu and it works. They serve until 2pm and it doesn't get too crowded on Sundays, thankfully. I guess everyone goes to midtown for their brunch fix. Ettore's brunch isn't widely publicized. Cinnamon roll French toast: 5/5 They take their cinnamon rolls and they make French toast out of them. What more could you ask? These are little croissant rolls covered in batter and made soggy (in the best way), topped with chocolate, banana, whip, and pecans. This was the daily special but they have them all the time with different toppings. This was the day I confirmed I am allergic to pecans/walnuts. Ugh. Pancakes: 3.5/5 Simple pancakes. We got the kid's size which is two medium-small pancakes with whip and strawberries. They...

food: 5/5 experience: 3.5/5 overall: 4.5/5 Blue Star was the second alternative a Lyft Portland native gave me when I suggested I wanted to go to Voodoo, the Portland doughnut landmark. Ni, he said, Voodoo is overrated and the lines are long. Lo, go to Blue Star and Pip's instead. And so I did. Lo and behold these doughnuts are expensive! They're about tree-fitty each. The fritters are more and the doughnuts are less but it averages out to about that much. Hey, at least there's no sales tax in Portland, right? Still, a $35 bill for nine doughnuts seems a little excessive somehow. I mean they're gourmet but... Yeah so here's the haul. Nine doughnuts in two boxes. (from top left clockwise) Blueberry bourbon basil: 5/5 Man. I don't taste the other two things but this shit tastes like straight up  Jamba Juice  as a doughnut. That is definitely a good thing. Chocolate buttermilk old-fashioned: 4.5/5 The old-fashioned doughnut is not a typical cake...

food: 4/5 experience: 5/5 overall: 4.5/5 Let's kick off the new year with doughnuts! When I asked the Lyft drivers if I should go to Voodoo, the most famous doughnut eatery in Portland, they almost universally said it was overrated. One Portland native (one of the two or three out of more than ten) referred me to two doughnut shops, one of those being Pip's mini doughnuts and the other being Blue Star . Pip's is a cute little place that serves you freshly fried doughnuts on a plate, just like a little doughnut cafe. The doughnuts themselves are adorable and the size of a Hostess doughnette. Depending on how many you get, they're about a dollar apiece. They come in six flavors and we got one of each. They always have one seasonal flavor. Today it was sweet potato pie. Mmmm sweet potato. Their flavor descriptions are as follows: cinnamon sugar, raw honey and sea salt, nutella and sea salt, candied bacon maple, the dirty wu (cinnamon sugar with nutella and hon...