The Unqualified Culinary Critics

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Hello and welcome to the Unqualified Culinary Critics. We are a Vegas-based podcast that celebrates food and culture. Join us as we talk about our food and cultural experiences and we do hope that these stories connect in some way to each one of you as well. Picking up from part one, we're going to continue our local restaurant shoutouts here in the

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Valley. If you have not heard part one yet, please do give that episode a listen. So I have a couple of restaurants I want to mention but I want

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to see if you Victoria want to go first just to get the conversation started.

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Yeah I don't see why not. Um yeah so last time I talked about like the restaurants that are near my house and stuff and like you know as I have mentioned in nearly every episode I'm sorry but I am from the east side so um yeah I thought that this time I should mention a few more restaurants on the east side because I feel like a lot of times like you know unfortunately the east side is a food desert and if you've listened to our episodes our three square episodes you know exactly what a food desert is. But yeah um it is more of a food desert but we still have like a lot of really like you and really good restaurants and even food trucks over here. So for my first one for today, I'm gonna talk about Tacos Los Toros. It's on Nellis and Washington, and it's really good. It's Mexican food, as you can tell by the name. They are just like, you know, I don't know. I just feel like they have like tortas that are really good. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little particular when it comes to tortas, just because I think my mom's tortas are the best and nobody can compare. But yeah, so they have good tortas. They have menudo too.

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I love their menudo. And I know menudo is one of those foods that people either really love or really hate. But if you're into that, check them out. And yeah, they're just, they're really cool Mexican restaurant they have like all the traditional foods like tacos burritos all of that stuff like I feel like you can't really go wrong with tacos most of the time you know yeah so it's like even if you want to go and you're just like I don't feel too adventurous you can just try their tacos and you're good and they're not that expensive either and that's like one of the other reasons why I like them so much is because you know it's not super crazy pricey because like honestly even like I'm not even gonna lie they're a little bit cheaper than Roberto's even so yeah yeah and I mean they have like all sorts of tacos like they have asada, tripa, pasto, lengua like all the classics fish tacos too yeah I don't know you know that's all I got to say for this place it's nice it's reasonable very like when I say basic I don't mean it in a bad way I just mean like you know like the traditional basic well-known Mexican food like like I said like tacos burritos all that sort of stuff they also serve pozole and like I said menudo so yeah like they have like the good Fundamentals there we go. That's a better a better word than basic That's good, that's good. Yeah, they go all in on the culture. I like that I really do Yeah, what about you what's your first pick So I mentioned this a couple of episodes in already I believe. This place that I, I want to kind of go more in depth with it because it's just, I've been going there since like December of last year. So the place is called Meraki Greek Grill and pretty much I've discussed that there's many locations here in the valley. I usually go to the one in Blue Diamond and Buffalo but there's one in like Tropicana and Rainbow, I think. I don't remember the intersections entirely well, but that's just just like among those locations that are in the valley. So Meraki, and I'm going to paraphrase this from the last time that I've looked at the definition of Meraki, it's basically you're putting your heart and soul into what you do, basically. And it's just something that I can really tell the staff, the cooks, the cashiers they put into, like everybody there is really nice and the food is just amazing. So it's like, they have amazing Greek food. I can give a few examples because I've pretty much eaten here a few times, not every month, but when I'm in the area. So they have the chicken kalamakia. They have basically kebabs of your choice, which obviously I picked chicken. And then a Greek salad. You can get the Greek rice or like Greek fries I believe. Up to you, that kind of thing. And then they have the saganaki, which is basically the lightly fried cheese on a small pan. When they bring it over to your table, it's already still sizzling, which I think is pretty nice. There's no fire in there, but it's just understood because you know it's like a can we do that which I get but you know it's okay and then they have the domodakia which is basically the rice with spices and then they just wrap it in a grape leaf and they have like lemon and they usually serve that one cold I don't know if you know what I'm talking about Victoria. I'm actually not

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that familiar with Greek food like I had it for the first time ever like last month but I had I don't even think I had like an actual like traditional Greek dish just because what I had was like a bowl. I don't even see this is how bad I am with like this sort of stuff sometimes because I don't remember exactly what the dish was called at the restaurant but I remember what was in it. So it was like this, um, like I had gotten chicken, there was chickpeas, rice, um, the sauce that they had, um, there was olives, it was, I mean, I really did enjoy it, but I feel like it was more of like an Americanized version of what the traditional dish would be. Because you know how, like, for example, with Chipotle, they have like burrito bowls. I feel like that was the Greek equivalent of a burrito bowl. But it was it was really good. So I do have a question for you, because like I said, I'm not that familiar with Greek food. What is your favorite Greek dish? And what do you like getting at that specific restaurant?

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Because I've been well, I've had Greek food in the past, but now that I've kind of gotten more into it recently because of my loved one, I can't entirely say which one's my favorite because I think all of them are pretty good. Because like, if I had to pick a dish, you know, I think I would go for the spanakopita there because it's like way better than the frozen spanakopitas that I've had in the past. Like, their version is reasonable. It's like two spanakopitas and if you don't know what that is, it's like spinach with feta and additional spices and then they put that in filo dough. So that's probably a well-known dish that maybe a lot of people have heard of. If not, I'm just basically telling you right now so that you're learning. They have gyros there. So they have like the chicken and the traditional gyros, which is beef and lamb. And actually, I have not tried the traditional hiros there yet, but I had went to an event recently at Meraki, and I can say that when I tried the hiros meat, I was like, oh, it's actually not pretty bad. It's very flavorful. And I took some home with me because not a lot of people wanted to, I guess, really try it. They're not really familiar with it when I was there, but I'm like, it's okay, I'll take it home. I've had familiarity with eating lamb and beef and stuff, so I don't want to waste it. And like I said, if I had to pick one dish, then I would say the spanakopizza because it's just like, it's just spot-on. It's probably one of the best that, probably the best that I had at any, the best spanakopizza there, but I gotta go to more places to, if they have any, so I can like compare and stuff, but so far they totally beat the Frozen section for me. But yeah.

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Yeah.

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But yeah.

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That's interesting.

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I would love to try that someday. Oh, yes. Yes. Because like I said, actually, I just, when you mentioned the heroes, that reminded me. I've had those before, but I couldn't remember. Well, I mean, I didn't remember, but I remembered right now because you reminded me at UNLV across the street there used to be a Greek place. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I had I've tried Heroes there but that was it. Oh yeah. Like I hadn't I've never had anything besides that and then like I said I feel like I had like that Americanized Greek food last month. I mean like I said I still liked it it was pretty good. So I'm sure like actual Greek food is gonna be amazing you know.

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Yeah I'm sure. Yeah I would totally give this place a try. Like I said I want to go more in-depth with the place. I want to give you know shout outs to the staff there. Jack he's one of the employees that I interacted with when I've when I would go inside the restaurant. He's really nice. He greets everybody with a kind heart as if you know like we're all family in here that kind of thing and like I said the staff the the cooks the the owners everybody the the cashiers the I don't want to say buzz boys because I know I'm pretty sure that there's um ladies that would clean the tables too but I would definitely say just the staff in general so they're they're pretty they're pretty nice and yeah I would say thank you for making such great food and just giving us the ability to try and be more open-minded with our taste palettes, you know. So yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And I mean, that's really good because I mean, obviously when you go to restaurants, you want the food to be great. But the fact that like, you know, the people working there are just as good, like, you know, they're amazing hosts, amazing cooks, like all of that, that just makes the experience even better. For sure. Yeah. And I mean, that's pretty good though. That sounds like a like you're really hyping this place up. Yeah. I'm excited to try it.

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Yeah this is good. The stuff that I mentioned that's just like one of the that's just few dishes to try like they have more so please do explore more if you want if you don't want to try what I have and you see something in the menu that you like, then that's totally fine. I don't mind,

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but just give this place a try is what I would say. Yes, I agree and I will be trying it soon hopefully. Yeah. And I mean, kind of like, you know, still talking about having like good customer service. Like for me, another place that I would like to shout out isn't an actual restaurant, it's a food truck, which I think, you know, they work hard, I think they count too, you know. The good thing is that like a lot of times food trucks, you know, they're like family owned or like, you know, the majority of the time they're local. And like I said, family owned, so it's like you're actually helping out a lot of people just by supporting them, even if you go and get like one thing. But yeah, so this truck is on, um, it's usually on like near Washington and Nellis. Sometimes they like, sometimes they'll go to Nellis and Monroe. Like, they're usually on Nellis. That's the thing. But like, you know, with a food truck, the thing that does, that is a little bit more difficult is the fact that because they can move they do move and so sometimes you kind of have to hunt them down but it's always worth it in the end. They're called Birreria Gonzales and like I will not lie whenever I go there I always just get the quesadillas and I haven't tried anything else from there but their quesadillas are good enough that I like am going to recommend them to everybody. But yeah like I don't know if you've ever had a quesadilla before? No I have not. Okay so this is good I can explain what they are so for like those of you who have never had a quesadilla so there's like you know a quesadilla you know tortilla cheese and then birria it's like a sauce, like a marinade that you have to make. It's honestly, I've seen like, I've seen my mom make it, I've seen people making it online and stuff and it seems pretty complicated as someone who doesn't know how to cook. It seems like a lot of work. There's like a lot of like seeds and seasonings and just like a lot of ingredients but it's really good it's one of my favorite Mexican dishes and then it's from Jalisco and my family from Jalisco so you know I represent that too and yeah so like it's really good you'll usually have it for like important events like quinceaneras, weddings, that sort of stuff but yeah so quesadilla is just a quesadilla with birria in it. Or, like I know it's the same thing, but like birria with queso, cheese in it. But yeah, like that's what it is. I really like it, but I feel like it's kind of a hit or miss. Because I feel like that's like another food like with menudo where people either really really like it or really don't like it. Because it is more of an American thing, because like I said, nobody in like Mexico really thinks about you know like adding cheese to birria like that's just not really something that's done and it's funny because my mom doesn't like them because she's like because like I'll be like oh I wanted to have that and she's like why would you put cheese on birria like you know it's not something that traditionally is made or like is you know mixed but yeah but I think it's really good and then you have like the little ponzo on the side and um yeah like that food truck that's where I always go to get mine because I feel like they have like the best ones that I've tried so far in the city um yeah they're they're really good everything is always and like like you know how some places like you'll go like for tacos or like food like that, you'll go and they'll give you like a quarter of a lime and like just like a little bit of onion and a little bit of cilantro. No, this place, they'll give you a whole lime. Like, get on skimp on that stuff.

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That's good, that's good.

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But yeah, I really love Desabillas. And like the people there, they're really nice. And you know, you're supporting, you're helping like people who do need the help. Like all local restaurants need help.

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So yeah.

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And it's I mean, it's not like, you know, like the conventional typical restaurant, but food trucks are still still important, still valuable. Yeah, still delicious.

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That's good. What about, what's your, your second pick? I don't know if I mentioned this in previous episodes myself, but another place that I recommend, and I am going outside of Greek food and Mexican food, but I'm gonna go into Indian food, and it's a place called Taj Palace. It's near the intersection of Silverado Ranch and Eastern. And I've been there, it's actually kind of next door to La Paris Breast Cafe. It's just about maybe 10, 15 steps away because they're just in the same vicinity as each other. Taj Palace has pretty good Indian food. I've been there maybe since, I don't know, three years. And the food's pretty good. One of my favorite dishes there, and I believe they changed it recently, it's called Palak Paneer. And I'm on Google right now so I'm not going to get this wrong. So the paneer is actually the cheese in the Palak. It's strictly with spinach. Well the saag, or I don't know how to say it properly, but it's spelled S-A-A-G, paneer. And that is, has like mustard greens and spinach, or like any mixture of greens according to a source that I'm on. But yeah, I really like it. It kind of gives me a reminder of cream spinach because you know I like cream spinach in general but it's not really cream spinach it's kind of like because they have their own version and what they do. So when you go there you can either do like a la carte or you can do buffet. I don't remember the prices right now because it probably changed the last time I was there but I can say to just like give them both a try because it's um it's good food. There's samosas, it's really flavorful, there's like a rice patty that I don't even know the name to. I thought that was pretty cool and it really it really tasted good and they have like additional additional stuff there like, I believe that they would have, it's not tandoori, it's, my mom likes it, but I just don't remember the name, it's a chicken dish though. It's a nice environment, people are friendly. It is spicy, so I will let you know if you're not really into spicy food too much, then you can probably just do the a la carte and kind of customize your level of spiciness as to what you prefer. my The food is pretty good. I recommend it. Like Indian food is one of my favorite dishes and one of my favorite cuisines, I mean. And it's just something that... I like curry, I like samosas, like I said.

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I like Palak Paneer. That's just... like Palak Paneer is my favorite Indian dish, I would say for sure. But yeah. Yeah, that's good. See, this is why I like doing this podcast because like I said, I don't venture out too much but anytime I hear you talk about these dishes I'm just like oh I need to go to these places I need to try

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these foods yeah you know you inspire me go out and try new things thank you thank you and I do I do hope that you like really give these places a try because you know it's good to like introduce these restaurants that I go to or you go to and that we know where to go so that we can like understand why we each recommend these places you know. Yeah that's true and I mean hopefully other people listening are also going to be trying these places. Yeah but yeah just because like I mean you saw two of my recommendations today are Mexican food. Like I like to stay close to home. That's okay, that's okay. Yeah and I mean like I don't know just like I said hearing you talk about these places I'm just like dang I should really try like all these places sound so good. They do taste good I will say that for sure and like one more thing please try the naan. The naan is really good it's a fluffy bread. It's flat. So, you know, it's what they're known for as well. You can get it like regular or butter or garlic.

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Yeah. Mmm.

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Yeah.

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That kind of cool stuff. And I'm in the menu right now. And I believe it's chicken tikka masala. I believe that's what she likes. So, yeah. That's the place that I would give a try.

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Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Yeah, I mean, for me, like I said, two of my picks were Mexican food. This next one is more American, I guess. My third place I want to shout out. So if you look them up, it's going to be like, they're called Art Café. They're on Nellis and Bonanza and like they're really good like they're only open in the mornings like from 10 a.m to 2 p.m because they're like a breakfast spot but they're really good. They have like all sorts of breakfast food like they have avocado and egg toast, breakfast burrito, like all sorts of omelets like literally a million omelets like veggie omelets, three meats, chorizo, avocado. They have crepes, which you know, I love crepes. A lot. That's like the reason why I go there, just for their crepes. They have a mango crepe, and then they also have a peach crepe. And peach and mangoes are in my top 5 favorite fruits. So, yeah, those are some of my favorite things. And then they also have a NY cheesecake crepe. So if you want something more sweet, yeah. They're really good. They have sandwiches, like, you know, club sandwich, BLT, veggie sandwiches, like everything. They even have some tacos, like fish tacos, and burgers, salads, like shakes, smoothies, all of that good stuff. Like, this place is pretty cool. I really like it. They have a lot of, like, different types of teas as well because like I said they're like a breakfast place so they focus on the drinks a lot but yeah like it's really it's I don't know I feel like their menu is like very wide and diverse in my opinion. Like this is one of the few places where I go and like I will get something different every time. Although, to be fair, I will go like I'll go and get like a crepe and then the next time I go I'll try something different and then again I'll go back and get a crepe. Like you know, I usually get the same thing but more often than not I'll actually try different things there. The only thing that like I think personally that isn't as like, you know, great. Is there hours just cuz like I said, it's a breakfast spot So they're only open for like a limited amount of hours a day But I mean if you make it on time, you're gonna get a good meal. It's worth it It's worth waking up early and they're decently priced Like I don't think it's too expensive not super cheap like those photos cheap, but it's not you know you're not gonna go broke either and Like just like I said, I I usually get the crepes so but I have had their burgers I've had theirs because they have a salmon burger and turkey burger I've had the turkey burger it's pretty good they have milkshakes too and I love milkshakes I'm lactose intolerant but I love milkshakes but they have I mean they have milk alternatives too so like I said like there's something for everybody even if it's a breakfast place even if you're lactose intolerant, you'll be fine because they have milk alternatives Yeah, it's pretty good. It's kind of I don't know like I feel like not too many people know about this place Yeah, that's my third recommendation So my third and last

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Recommendation in this episode is a place that I've, it's also American cuisine as well. The place is called Home Plate and I remember Home Plate Grill and Bar and that I've been going to a lot as a kid because it's just a place that my family would go to. And they usually serve, well according to their website, it's not your average bar food. So pretty much it's a sports place that you can go to you can order like pizza or sandwiches all that good stuff They're located off of Warm Springs near Las Vegas Boulevard, so it's kind of close to Town Square, and yeah It's a good place I've I haven't been there in a long time But I recommend going there if you want to like watch any sports or hockey or basketball Baseball etc. It's one of those places and you can even gamble there too. We can play uh Kino. Yeah like I remember as a kid my dad he would order pizza there just like doesn't want to do Pizza Hut just will pick home plate. They they have like a lot of stuff. They'll have breakfast which is um two three breakfast uh corned beef hash. They have um omelets etc. Salad. They'll have um they have some Mexican food as well like the quesadilla. Yeah, there's a variety of choices that you can go for with pizza or whatever basically. But yeah, I would give this place a go. It's a place that if you're around that area and you just want to meet people and watch the games with or whatever, it's a good place. It's a nice area. It's really sports themed, which I dig because I like sports. But yeah, that's, that is my final recommendation in this episode. That place sounds nice. Food and entertainment. Why not? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Because like, like the last time I've been there was 2018. Because I just took some friends out for, just to thank you for a favor that they had done for me in regards to a film. So I just wanted to take them out and we just had pizza and we ordered some stuff and like I said this is a good place it is a little bit far from the strip kind of near but a little bit far at the same time but I think that for those who don't like to be in a huge crowd that I want to be in the casinos you know I totally get that so you know this is a good place to commute to for pizza for breakfast etc so I'm pretty sure that a lot of Raiders, uh, Golden Knights fans would uh, head to. They would just congregate to this place and just have a really good time.

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Yeah, it sounds like it'd be pretty fun, like, going there during, like, a Golden Knights

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game or something. I'm pretty sure it would. I'm just not, like, into the... I'm very introverted, like I've said in the past, and I would prefer to just, like, watch my games at home. But if I want to, um, go there for a good time or just get a good pizza, then I would just go there for that. But in terms of like meeting other people for the games and stuff, like I just don't want anything raw to happen when I'm there, but like, well what can I do? There's drinks there.

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Yeah, true. Just don't go during the game then.

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Yeah, just go when there's no game day, not a lot of people and just you know do whatever and then do whatever you know so that's that's that's about it with me on my recommendations. Yeah I've talked about all of my recommendations for this time. All right so with that being said everyone who's listening if you live in the valley under any local restaurants that you really recommend that we try if so please let us know in our socials. For Instagram it's unqualified culinary critics and then for Twitter it's UNQCLUCRIT. And for those who don't live in Vegas but plan to come to Vegas in the future, like I said please do listen to part one of beloved restaurants in our area because that just starts off our shout out. So there's a lot of restaurants that we recommend. I have mentioned in part one that there's a list that I'm going to provide on the socials so in case that you're wondering where is a good place to go for pizza like but home plate or Greek food like Meraki you know. I hope that these places will that we recommend it will give you an idea of where to go and try because we're really trying to recommend and just represent local restaurants local businesses here in the Valley. With that, thank you to recommend and just represent local restaurants local businesses here in the Valley. With that, thank you everyone for listening and do take care.

Transcribed with Cockatoo