Nielsen's Frozen Custard- Objects in Mirror Closer than they Appear

Usually I'm a pretty hungry person. So when I walk into a restaurant and after I stare in awe at the menu items I usually ask the person taking the order: "What I can I get that has the most amount of food and the least amount of cost?"  and usually they will hit it spot on.

Just the other day my friend Colleen Johnson and I went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard located right across from Porter Park. The logo, black, white and red tiles make you feel like you're back in a 1970's diner -all that that is lacking is the jukebox- but the sport jerseys on the wall and constant flow of ESPN from their flat screen brings it back to the 2010's. 

So when I asked them my famous food question, after Colleen ordered, we took our seats at our booth and waited for the food to be brought out. Soon our 2 grinders; her's a turkey and avocado and mine a turkey, avocado and cream cheese, were placed in front of us. When I laid eyes on the 8" grinders and side of fries I was worried that this food wasn't exactly going to fill me up. I ate my hot of the fryer fries hoping to get full off them and then the sandwich, then something strange happened, I became full. I guess this waitress knew what she was doing. The grinder was the thing that hit the spot, semi chewy white bread, fresh veggies, savory meat and the touch of salt, pepper and oil and vinegar and not to mention the avocado all hit the spot without going overboard.

With booths for your friends or a table for two with that special person, menu items ranging from sandwiches to concretes (there version of Dairy Queens Blizzard's only with fresh custard) and all the sports you want Nielsen's is a good stop if you just want a quick frozen treat or to fill up for the evening.

$$: $7 for a full meal or ~$4 for a concrete

Date Ideas: Group date is best, then you can fill in the big booths in each corner OR grab some custard after that barefoot walk in the park.

Return Value: How much do you like custard?

Gator Jacks

Located kitty corner from the BYU-Idaho Stadium Gator Jacks, at its bare bones, could be considered a regular sandwich and soup joint. That may be why people go but I think there’s more to why they keep coming back. They go for the experience. It’s like the difference between Six Flags and Disney World, we love roller coasters and we will go on them but if we can go on a roller coaster ride wrapped up in a story of a yeti chasing after you through and around a mountain it’s the best of both worlds.

When you walk into Gator Jacks it’s like you’re walking straight into the bayou complete with boardwalk, mossy trees, an actual gator and orange and green glowing lanterns. The menu adds to the ambiance of the place with sandwich names from the southern side such as: Kissin’ Kin, Rum Runner, Still of De Night and De Mudder N’ Law.

Their sandwiches come in a variety of sizes ranging from (using my own examples) the girl who ate before the date (4in.), the average eater (6in.), the guy that forgot to tell his date they were going out to eat so he hasn’t eaten since noon (8in.), to the lonely guy apartment that forgot to get dates this weekend (24in.).  Pack on the all the veggies and sauces you can -they even have their own Gator Sauce- and get the whole sandwich toasted if you want. They also have their original side Gator Bites, little potatoes smothered in cheese with a side of ranch or other dipping sauce of your pleasure.  When you check out at their sleek ipad registers they throw in a free cookie; true southern hospitality.

With two locations, another in Rigby, and many other food options available including breakfast, hot dogs, burgers and different sides, Gator Jacks should be place more frequented by us. If nothing else than for the experience.

$$: 5-8 (18-24 for 24in.)

Date Ideas: Take the one you’re nervous to take on that first date

Return Value: Moderate

And the Best Pizza in Town goes to.....

As college students, male and female, we all love pizza. It is a staple of our regular diet. But did you know that Rexburg has eight different venues that sells pizza? With all of these different options how are you to know the right one? Which one has the best crust, sauce and cheese? What about service and price? Well don't worry, me and 7 of my friends decided to tackle each of these places in one night, trying each one and then voting on the best. Here is our story.

The Goal:
Find the Best Pizza in Rexburg.

The Stores:
Dominoes, Pizza Hut, The Craze, Pizza Pie Cafe, Papa Murphy's, Fat Cats, 5 Buck Pizza and Little Caesar's


The Execution:
To eliminate variables we all got together to decide on what type of pizza we would get (pepperoni) and what size (medium).

There were four couples so each got two pizza's and then we brought them back to our central location for us to enjoy and vote on. Our Categories were: Best Overall, Best Sauce, Best Crust, Worst, Best Price, Best Service and Best Value.

The Results:
Based on majority decision:

Best Overall- Dominoes $6.89
Best Crust- Dominoes
Best Sauce- Pizza Pie Cafe (we had wing sauce instead of marinara)
Best Price- The Craze ($4)
Best Service-Dominoes
Best Value- Pizza Pie Cafe $5 (for a pizza bigger than Little Caesar's)
Least Favorite: The Craze

I wasn't prepared for these results, in fact my favorite pizza was actually Pizza Hut; the crust was soft, the cheese was thick and the sauce was minimal.
However Dominoes took me by surprise. I knew they were working on a new recipe but they swept the competition. When we went in to get the pizza they didn't have a pepperoni made so they offered us a more expensive pizza for the same price just to help us get out the door faster.

Now all the other pizza places are good for different reasons but if you just can't decide, you can always err on the side of caution and go with Dominoes.

Return Value: You might have to find you're favorite spot and tell me.

$$: Ranged from $4 (Craze) to ~$9 (Papa Murphy's and Fat Cats)

Date Ideas: You tell me you're favorite pizza place.