October 17, 2011

Chain stores and restaurants continue to overtake Manhattan. One of the reasons I wanted to live here was to escape places like 7-11, T.G.I. Fridays, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Trader Joe’s, but now you can spit in any direction and hit one of those generic stores. One of the latest places to invade the city is an IHOP on 14th street. So far, I’ve avoided walking by the place and was pretending it wasn’t there, but I’ve been inspired by the movement on Wall Street and I knew one thing had to be done: Occupy IHOP! And I’m not going there alone. This whole thing was suggested by fellow EV Grieve commenter and blogger, Lux Living and I’m meeting him and his partner in front of the Blarney Cove for pre IHOP drinks, so let’s be on our way.

And we're off, it's a straight shot down 14th Street to the Blarney Cove. A path I've walked many times in my life.

And here we are at the Blarney Cove. I met Lux and his partner in front, but they didn't want to be photographed because:
A. They're camera shy.
B. They’re wanted by the law.
C. All of the above.
D. None of the above.
E. Nobody told me there was going to be a pop quiz here today, this sucks!

They don't like you taking pictures in here, but I snuck this shot. The bar was pretty empty since it was Sunday night.

After a few drinks we made our way to IHOP. As you can see, they're not shy about signage on the block.

Inside the dining room has a brightly lit, interrogation room/shiny abortion feel to it.

And here's the booth we chose to occupy, Gumby is the first to take hold of the booth.

And the protest begins!

Corporate pancakes suck! Telling it to the man!

Huh?

Aaaahhhh!

As long as we were occupying the booth, we decided we may as well look at the menu. Yikes, someone get this stack of pancakes a Tampon before they bleed all over the eggs!

Lady Gaga?

Lux ordered the Philly Cheesteak sandwich and onion rings, which we guessed is nothing more than a well-decked sandwich made up of Steak Umms and processed cheese. I do want to take a moment here and note that our waitress, April and all of the people that work here are super nice and friendly. It doesn't make up for the food or the fact that an abortion like IHOP is here, but whatever gods are out there, please have mercy on the staff of people that have to work here. I ordered a pancake...

Aaahhhh!

Kei$ha?

Further Reading: Lux Living, EV Grieve, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and Grub Street.

I had some time to kill, I had a lot to learn yeah,
She said I heard you got a little money to burn yeah.

(Surprise link...click on it...I dare you! Link supplied by Crazy Eddie.)

September 27, 2011

Okay, today is going to be a quickity, blickity blog as I have to catch an airplane back to New York City. I had fun in Peoria and it was great seeing family and friends, but I’m looking forward to returning to my apartment in New York. Alright, here’s a couple photos, I gotta go pack.

The IHOP in Peoria. I've never eaten in here, but passed by it hundreds of times on the way to my parents house. This time it made me think about the East Village in New York. That's a little sad...okay, it's a lot sad.

My last night in Peoria, I met my friends Colleen and Tim Carey. You may remember that they were special guest stars on the 365 Bar Crawl last year for a couple of nights. And you should know/remember that if you haven't tried Butch's Pizza, you really should. Even if you're not in the Peoria area, you can order it online, just ask the BBC! (Scroll down to last update on this link.) Okay, I gotta run, see you tomorrow after dark.

Further reading: EV Grieve, Grub Street and Merchant Circle.

I'm going back to New York City,

I do believe I've had enough.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!)