ANYTHING at Burgermaster. We don’t have 'em here in Colorado. I don’t know if it is as yummy as I remember or if my memories are just getting tastier as they fade.
There’s this Mexican food place me and my family used to eat a lot at when I was a kid. I can’t even recall their name, much less find out if they still exist. But they had this enchilada sauce that I still find myself longing for every so often.
When we relocated here from NYC, we knew we were leaving “appetizing” (deli food) behind. We didn’t realize how much we’d miss it. We’ve got a couple of delis here; they’re close, but not the same.
Entenmann’s Creme-Filled Fudge-Iced Cupcakes
Costco Coffe Cake Muffins
Buffalo Wings from Dougies BBQ (a kosher chain most of which has shut down)
Onion rings from my brother-in-law’s pizza store
Carnation Breakfast Squares (chocolate version)
Old-style Bosco
Whataburger (I know it’s still around, but I’m in the CA Bay Area and we don’t have any close)
Port of Subs (sub chain that used to be in my college town, and IMO 1000% better than any other sub chain…but the closest one is like 100 miles away)
Out of the four, I’d happily give up the idea of ever having #s 1-3 again if I could have #4 back within about 25 miles of here.
A pizza from my childhood - Shuffle’s pizza - a very thin, maybe handmade crust, with a little sauce, lots and lots of cheese (mozzarella and maybe some provolone), and lots and lots of mushrooms. It was small, we brought one home in a grease-stained paper bag. Oh, it was wonderful, I’ve never had anything like it since. And a restaurant that specialized in ‘chicken in the rough’, a near-greaseless, fine-crumb coated fried chicken. I ran across such chicken once in a blue moon at some non-chain restaurant, when we travelled.
All thru my growing up years, there was a local tavern called Ol’ Sweig’s, that had a HUGE family room. My family went there often. They had THE BEST fried chicken I have ever eaten in my life. THE BEST. They have been closed for about 30 years and I still dream about that chicken…
On trips to Peru and Costa Rica, I had some super-sweet passionfruits. They had an orange skin rather than the inferior sour purple ones you see every so often.
The head butcher at the supermarket I used to work in made the best, best, breakfast pork sausage. It was a family recipe and though he would sell it through the store, he wouldn’t hand out the recipe.
Max’s pickles (local brand).
My step-grandfather’s German potato salad (same issue with recipe sharing).
The pastries at the Lincoln Del.
Byerly’s maple Nanaimo bars.
Ebinger’s Chocolate Blackout Cake. Ebinger’s has been out of business since the early 70s. Their blackout cake was dark chocolate with pudding in the recipe, and with dark chocolate icing with cake crumbs sprinkled over it.
Regal Crown Sour Lemons. I last saw them about 20 years ago. They are no longer made, though there is currently an attempt to bring it back.
Beach plum jelly. We scored a jar last Thanksgiving, but the only place that sold it by mail order no longer has it. Beach plums are getting harder to find as their habitat gets turned into condos and they can’t be easily cultivated.
Hy Sofer’s Roast Beef Sandwiches. Hy Sofer’s was the last real kosher deli in Schenectady. Their roast beef was just perfect: meat so tender you didn’t have to chew and cooked just perfect – pink but never red. Sofer retired about 25 years ago and it’s next to impossible to find a real kosher deli anywhere (it’s all “kosher-style”).
The pizza from the long-closed Round-Up in Hillside, Illinois. Thin crispy crust, served in a rectangular pan. My BF and I ate there almost every week in the mid-60s.
I hear the family relocated to the wilds of NW Wisconsin and their website says they still make the same pizza (minus the rectangular pans, apparently) but dammit, that’s a LONG way to drive just for a pie!
(But if I can ever come up with a valid reason for driving to Duluth…)
There was a shack in Anchorage called ‘Wings n’ Things’ that had the best wings I’ve ever eaten. This was not part of the California chain or any other franchise. I don’t know what they put in the spice mix, but the damn things were addictive to the point of making myself sick eating them. Maybe it was crack. Then. . .for no apparent reason. . .they just closed their doors and disappeared. They were religious freaks, with badly done Jesus posters all over the walls of the joint, so maybe God told them to move on, which would make him an asshole of major proportions. Damn, that was some good eatin’.
I also really miss the halibut sandwich at White Spot Cafe on east 4th Avenue in Anchorage. Fresh halibut, beer battered, on a roll, with a heap of fresh French fries and tartar sauce on the side.
Not a restaurant item but Thai Kitchen used to make “Hot & Sour” Rice Noodles that were like Tom-Yum flavored noodles. It was a entree sized box, not the crappy little bowls they have now with tiny noodles- these were linguine sized noodles with delicious and addicting sauce. I used to cook them with frozen asparagus stir-fry mix and maybe some chicken or pork and eat the whole box of them. Damn they were good and I haven’t seen them in any local store for probably ten years.