Two fast food reviews in one week? Sure, why not! For those who are curious, I reviewed Arby's rib sandwich a couple days ago and Burger King's Impossible Whopper back when it first came out. But, there was another commercial that caught my attention enough to want to give it a go, so today I went through our local Taco Bell to give the cantina taco a try. First, I was a little curious what exactly made it "cantina." I took three years of high school Spanish and another semester at Wabash, but my grasp on the language can be charitably described as "shaky." I knew the word referred to a bar, but that was about it. A little digging tells me it's a bar that also serves food, and generally* has a more laid-back atmosphere. You don't go clubbing in a cantina. You might play some cards or dominoes, though. I read that some cantinas in Mexico are expressly just for adult men, no women or children.** Is that true or not? No real idea. But so I've read. *Again, from what I can tell. **That brings up a whole other subject of kids in bars, which I did see in Ireland. Probably best to talk about that for another day. So, what exactly makes this taco more like bar food than Taco Bell's usual fare? Well, I'm not entirely sure. I guess it's the melted nacho cheese? That seems like something a dive bar would do.* The only other difference between this and a hard shell taco supreme is the shell itself. It's a thinner, more airy shell. More like what you would expect if you actually fried up a tortilla for a shell than the usual Taco Bell hard shell.** I suppose that makes it more "artisan," to use a buzzy word. I'm not sure either addition makes me think "Cantina!" But, they had to come up with some Spanish word, I guess. *I'm referring to a dive bar in the best possible way here. Looking at you, DT Kirby's. **Netfilx's Taco Chronicles actually had a pretty good episode on American tacos if you want to look more in on that one. It didn't really leave me proud to be an American, but it was still interesting. The whole series is excellent, though. I would highly recommend it. But how does it taste, you ask? Pretty good, I'd say. The nacho cheese does add quite a bit to the usual taco supreme. The shell does feel more authentic, for lack of a better word. It doesn't taste like a whole lot, but the texture of it with the cheese gives a nice mouthfeel that is lacking with Taco Bell's other tacos. Or the rest of their menu, frankly. If you're not inclined to go to Taco Bell, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way for it. If you're going anyway, I'd say pick it up. There was a time when I had an idea for a blog that would have been nothing but fast food reviews, but it turned out there was already a lot out there about that. Why that stopped me when clearly there is no lack of sports writing out there is beyond me, but it's not the first time I've revisited the idea. You might remember all the attention the Impossible Whopper got when it was released, so I had to try that and get my thoughts out there. Today, I was compelled to do the same thing for Arby's rib sandwich. This maybe had more to do with their sign here at the Arby's by me that stated there were "No McFibs Here" or something along those lines. McDonald's isn't putting the McRib back out there until November 1, which I know because the McRib return date is almost always a news event. Should it be? No. It's fine enough. I've definitley eaten my share of McRibs. But they really aren't anything that special. I think I mostly like them because they give me a certain type of nostalgia for school lunches that can't be replicated anywhere else. I always get mine without onions, and typically without pickles, too. I don't need any dressing up for my pressed boneless pork patty bathed in barbeque. So I couldn't eat these sandwiches back to back, unlike with the Impossible Whopper vs. the Original Whopper. I think I'm enough of an expert to give an opinion without that though. I came into this with some high hopes. I like Arby's quite a bit, which feels like makes me a minority in my age group. It certainly seemed to in college, though maybe others in their mid-30's have come around in the last decade and a half. I love Beef-n-Cheddars, I really like the Chicken Bacon Swiss. Those are my two old reliables there. Sometimes I'll get a French dip,* and I even like their gyros. Even if I don't really think of them as gyros, I still like them. I don't get it as often, but I'm also a big fan of the Smokehouse Brisket. So, I came in expecting Arby's knew what they were doing with some ribs. *Which is my wife and her sister's favorite. I have to admit, I was pretty underwhelmed. There just was not a ton of flavor on this sandwich. The gouda cheese felt non-existent. I think all the gouda I've had has been more mature gouda, which has a stronger, smokier flavor. I know younger gouda is more mild, and this had to be some newborn stuff. No flavor and no texture at all. Arby's menu says there is mayo on this, but I definitely could not attest to that. I don't know if it was just forgotten or just used very sparingly, but I got no taste of mayo. The crispy onions were fine. They added texture without tasting like much, but that's pretty much their job anywhere. The barbeque sauce was there, and it was also fine, but there was just not enough of it. And, you know, I can actually see where Arby's might want to make their rib sandwich that way, especially when juxtaposing it with McDonald's. The McRib is, as I said earlier, absolutely bathed in sauce to the point where it really doesn't taste like much else. It is very easy to imply that is done to make up for subpar meat, which I have no doubt McDonald's is using the cheapest pork they can find. That's a huge reason for why the McRib comes back when it does every year. So, yes, I can see why Arby's, the "We Have the Meats" place, would want to really put their ribs front and center and let the meat be the star. Unfortunately, these ribs are not stars. There were a little mushy and almost entirely tasteless. Two things ribs should really never be. With stronger cheese and more barbeque, maybe this could have been saved, but as it is, this is a pretty big swing and a miss for me. Which almost hurt a little bit, because I wanted this to be good so badly. The McRib may well be a McFib, but just because something is true doesn't make it good. Hockey season starts again this week, and Danville finds itself in a new league. This is the highest level of hockey they've ever played in Danville, so it might be worth looking at all these new teams that will be coming through town for those not familiar with the Southern Professional Hockey League. The league is still not affiliated with the NHL, but takes care of its players more like that system as opposed to the Federal League the Dashers were in. There were quite a few stories of players taking call ups to the SPHL just so they could get some medical stuff done. So, who is the SPHL? Here is a quick overview of the teams for the 21-22 SPHL season. Attendance numbers are taken from hockeydb.com and averaged for the lifetime of the franchise. The inaugural year is their first season in the SPHL. Several teams do have histories that predate joining the SPHL. Birmingham BullsFrom: Birmingham, Alabama Population: 207,235 City, 1,151,801 Metro Home Arena: Pelham Civic Center Capacity: 4100 Avg. Attendance: 2263 20-21 Record: 12-23-7 Inaugural Year: 2017 0 Championships, 1 Finals Appearance (2019) Evansville ThunderboltsFrom: Evansville, Indiana Population: 117,429 City, 358,676 Metro Home Arena: Ford Center Capacity: 9000 Avg. Attendance: 2236 20-21 Record: 25-14-3 Inaugural Year: 2016 0 Championships, 0 Finals Appearances Fayetteville MarksmenFrom: Fayetteville, North Carolina Population: 200,782 City, 526,719 Metro Home Arena: Crown Coliseum Capacity: 10,000 Avg. Attendance: 3139 19-20 Record: 31-6-5 Inaugural Year: 2004 1 Championship (2007), 2 Finals Appearances (2009) Founded as Fayetteville FireAntz. Became Marksmen in 2017. Huntsville HavocFrom: Huntsville, Alabama Population: 215,006 City, 492,000 Metro Home Arena: Von Braun Center Capacity: 10,000 Avg. Attendance: 3709 20-21 Record: 19-22-1 Inaugural Year: 2004 3 Championships (2010, 2018, 2019), 4 Finals Appearances (2013) Knoxville Ice BearsFrom: Knoxville, Tennessee Population: 190,740 City, 868,546 Metro Home Arena: Knoxville Colisuem Capacity: 6500 Avg. Attendance: 3393 20-21 Record: 24-14-3 Inaugural Year: 2004 4 Championships (2006, 2008, 2009, 2015), 4 Finals Appearances Macon MayhemFrom: Macon, Georgia Population: 153,159 City, 228,914 Metro Home Arena: Macon Coliseum Capacity: 7182 Avg. Attendance: 1905 20-21 Record: 32-6-2 Inaugural Year: 2015 1 Championship (2017), 2 Finals Appearances (2021) Pensacola Ice FlyersFrom: Pensacola, Florida Population: 51,923 City, 497,883 Metro Home Arena: Pensacola Bay Center Capacity: 8049 Avg. Attendance: 3466 20-21 Record: 18-18-2 Inaugural Year: 2009 4 Championships (2013, 2014, 2016, 2021), 5 Finals Appearnces (2012) Peoria RivermenFrom: Peoria, Illinois Population: 115,007 City, 373,590 Metro Home Arena: Carver Arena Capacity: 9919 Avg. Attendance: 3788 19-20 Record: 33-8-1 Inaugural Year: 2013 0 Championships, 3 Finals Appearances (2016, 2017, 2018) Quad City StormFrom: Moline, Illinois Population: 43,471 City, 381,342 Metro Home Arena: TaxSlayer Center Capacity: 9200 Avg. Attendance: 3080 19-20 Record: 16-20-6 Inaugrual Year: 2018 0 Championships, 0 Finals Appearances Roanoke Rail Yard DawgsFrom: Roanoke, Virginia Population: 100,011 City, 315,251 Metro Home Arena: Berglund Center Capacity: 8672 Avg. Attendance: 3380 19-20 Record: 16-22-6 Inaugural Year: 2016 0 Championships, 0 Finals Appearances Vermilion County BobcatsFrom: Danville, Illinois Population: 33,027 City, 81,625 Metro Home Arena: Palmer Center Capacity: 2350 Avg. Attendance: 866 (Federal League) Inaugural Year: 2021 |
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