Sally Sherman Cole Slaw

Not bad for a store bought cole slaw, especially after that horrible mac salad debacle. Good texture/zing, but maybe a little too sweet - it has kind of a funny aftertaste. Also a bit too creamy (probably that dang Hellman's mayo again!!). But overall, good for what it is, a little dollop of flavor on the side of a nice ham sandwich.

Overall
Taste: 6/10
Cost: 6/10

Chipotle

If you don't like Chipotle, I don't know what to tell you!! Even my non-allergy-having peers like it fairly well. True, there isn't much variety on the menu, but it just tastes good. They also don't have any nuts there! I like the bowl or the soft tacos best. Anyway, it's just the right size to fill me up and it's also not too cheesy (if you don't get cheese, I mean) or greasy or anything fast-foody. So I enjoy it very much!

 My order is variable depending on if I'm paying or not (ha ha); if I'm not then I get steak, guac, brown rice, mild salsa, corn, and lettuce, and if I am then I drop the guac and switch chicken for steak. ;D

New Queso Blanco: OK, as you may know, the original queso at Chipotle was freakin' disgusting -- gritty and not creamy or spicy or wet or anything good at all. (My boyf inexplicably likes it but he is strange.) But they changed it to new queso blanco! Wow! Exciting! Well, bad news: it also is disgusting. Still gritty, not wet, not even spicy, and to be honest I was questioning if they even changed it at all even though they had it on the ads and receipt. Didn't even look "blanco"!! Ugh, why, chipotle? 4/10

Overall
Taste: 8/10
Cost: 5/10

Michael's Restaurant and Pub

My parents like buffets, and this place has a huge menu in addition to a decent salad bar, so we checked it out. The staff seemed good about making menu items away from allergens, so I got chicken teriyaki (which was, unfortunately, not that great, but ah well. It was safe! It tasted like a decent microwave meal, which is, yanno, not the best thing -- but not the worst! Just rice, sweetish brown sauce, slightly dry chicken, and small broccos.) The salad part of the salad bar looked pretty safe too; no container of nuts or peanut butter sitting around anyway. The rest I didn't ask about but I probably wouldn't risk it, although there were no nutty standouts except the desserts. Anyway, they do have a really big menu, so I think if you're going to eat with someone who likes buffets this is a good option. Also note: 11-2 on Sundays, free salad bar with purchase of a sandwich!

Overall
Taste: 6/10

Cost: 5/10

Alouette Baby Brie Wedge

I like Brie as a cheese a lot because it's fairly soft, and I like soft cheeses. It also has a good flavor - generally not too strong, but not nothingness either. However, this particular one was a little nutty for me. Maybe it was the casing? I know you aren't supposed to eat it, but I can't help myself. . . .

Overall
Taste: 6/10
Cost: 3/10

Papa John's

For some reason, I've always been a detractor of Papa John's. OK, I know why, it's because ALL THEY HAVE is pizza/wings/breadsticks. No salads or sandwiches or anything else, so if you don't want pizza, PJ's isn't really the place for you. And usually I don't want pizza! But today I had a thin crust (that's key) mushroom/tomato/pepper/onion/spicy italian sausage pizza (square cut) with BBQ wings and extra pepperocinis. They give you free sauces with everything too! Anyway, the pizza was pretty good actually -- better than Domino's thin crust pizza, which I also liked. I think the mushroom & sausage were key/the only toppings I really liked, but it was nice. Good sauce, good crust, good flavor. Or maybe I was just really hungry?! The wings were good too, also not great. The sauce smells a little strange, but once you start eating it it's all good. Very moist. And the peppers win every time of course.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Healthy Choice Chicken Romano Fresca

Laura says:

The Healthy Choice meals are, I think, some of the least expensive in the frozen meal section and I had some really good luck once with a barbeque steaming tray Healthy Choice meal that I barely remember except that I remember it being one of the best frozen meals I've ever had. This one has broccoli and chicken in it, both of which I'm a big fan of so I was pretty excited for it. But I have to say, I didn't really like this meal. I didn't finish it and left most of the peppers and noodles, as well as the whitish, very thin gravy. I'm just not a fan of the overall taste even if I like the elements (besides the gravy) individually. There is a good amount of broccoli, peppers, and chicken, but it's the flavoring in the gravy that ruins it for me.  3/10

Celeste Pizza for One, Hawaiian

My favorite frozen pizzas develop a new flavor? After dumping my favorite (deluxe)? Of course I'm gonna buy it, especially if it's LIMITED EDITION! Hawaiian pizza is OK, but ultimately, every celeste pizza tastes very similar. There's some buzz on the web about how these pizzas have only 1 or 2 pieces of pineapple on top; unfortunately, I ate mine in a rush so I didn't even notice. It tasted a lot like ham pizza and not a lot like pineapple, though, that is true. Which meant it tasted fine, but I'd rather get veggie/deluxe/mushroom instead.

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 7/10

Honest Tea - Lemon Tea

I'm not really a "tea" person, but these were on MEGA SALE at the store, so I bought a few. Plus the company seems like a good one (high antioxidants, fair trade, organic, bla bla etc) so why not? Maybe that colored me a little, but this is pretty good! It tastes like lemon tea, I mean, there's no covering that up, but it's not too bad! Refreshing, even. And it's nice to drink something other than water sometimes.

Overall
Cost: 9/10
Taste: 6/10

Maruchan Sweet N Sour Chicken Yakisoba Noodles

So -- I like these little noodle things, they make me smile a lot. I thought I'd try this because "how can you mess up sweet and sour?" Now maybe I wasn't thinking clearly, because it's really horrible. Sweet chicken might be OK, but sweet noodles? Not a good combo. I ate some of this when it was warm and I thought "ehhhh". I put it in the fridge the next day for a new perspective and thought "nooo". So yeah -- get the regular chicken flavor instead!!

overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 3/10

Newman's Own Pizza - White

This pizza was mostly good, and a little bit nothing. It wasn't very pizza like. I mean, I ate the whole darn thing and I was only moderately full. Now MAYBE that says more about me than about the pizza, but what I'm saying is, it was like a flat bread circle with thin layers of white sauce and feta/spinach chunks. It was a good flavor, I think, and I guess it was better than a regular old from pizza (which I typically think are gross) but. . . it wasn't very satisfying. I don't think I'd get this again.

Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 5/10

Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat Bread

My favorite bread for ham sandwiches! This is great tasting without being too "grainy" or too white. It's very mild but a good texture, a little fluffy but not too overwhelming. I really like this bread and was so happy to discover it! It's also got a decent amount of fiber per slice (I think 2g?) and so that's good too. Great for sandwiches and toast. A+, bread!

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 8/10

Back to Nature Apple Blueberry Granola

This is OK. Basically, I was shocked to see a granola that I wasn't allergic to, so I bought it! And I do like fruit, so it seemed like a good call. however, I don't like it nearly as much as Quaker Granola (probably because it has less sugar, heh heh). It's also very hard to bite into. The taste is good; it is definitely fruity, but more apple than blueberry. The blueberries are just these hollow little dry berry-looking shells, which is unpleasant. It's definitely filling and a decent snack for allergy-havers though! They have a pecan flavor, but no peanut as far as I can tell. And they do have allergy warnings on their other products, but not this one. So I felt pretty safe with it.

Overall
Cost: 3/10
Taste: 6/10

Junior Mints

If you want a candy that's peanut free, this is a great choice! It even has a "no peanuts" emblem on the back, which is great great great. Anyway, these are pretty good to eat a few of, but more than a few and I usually get sick of them. So they're great for movies! The inside is a minty goo and they're covered in thin dark chocolate. They aren't too melty though, which is nice.



Overall
Cost: 8/10 [1.25]
Taste: 7/10

Hillshire Farm Honey Ham (Deli Select)

Lately I've been enjoying a lot of ham sandwiches, and this ham is the star of those sandwiches! I think it's my favorite lunch meat (apart from actual non-packaged deli ham, that is). It's thin, it's not smoky, it's got a nice honey flavor (but not too strong), it's not dry, and there's a decent amount in the container. Recommended for everyone!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 8/10

Applebee's

Harkening back to a late-night roadtrip stop at an Applebees in New York where they played System of a Down b-sides on the radio (I don't know), Applebee's has always been one of my favorite chain restaurants. I think it's more of a nostalgia thing than a food quality thing, but they're still decent. They have an allergy menu online, and I've never had any issues with what I've ordered there.

This time, I had the blackened chicken penne which was really thick with cream sauce and not great. So I won't get that again. (I like the ribs and cole slaw best I think!!) I also got a strawberry 'summer squeeze' which was a pleasant fruity little drink. It was a good time. Plus their 2 entree + appetizer deal for 20 dollars is solid, especially for the portions (they are big).

12/10/17 update: went with a group to check out the "1$ Long Island Iced Tea" promotion. Apparently, they limit you to 3 per hour! This would be reasonable if they contained more than a thimble of alcohol, but I'm not sure that they do. They also have cola in there! But it was still fun and they taste OK. Plus I drank 4 drinks for 4 dollars and was still OK to drive, what a day. Also got the half price steak quesadilla app, which was just about worth the 4 dollars it cost. Very standard chain-resto quesadilla, worse than your chipotle/el rodeo level but better than a frozen meal. Snagged a few mozz sticks too, which fared better wince they were basically the pinnacle of mozz sticks (if that's what you're into).

5/23/22 update: went with a different group and got the Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (with a Blue Moon), which was solid! I was too meek to mention my allergy, but the online menu said it was safe. I didn't eat the breadstick but I ate the noodles and chicken and broc. A slight improvement over a frozen meal, and a good portion. Applebees is such a road trip destination for me!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Sally Sherman Macaroni Salad

This is absolutely horrible!!! Augh!! It advertises on the side "Made with Hellman's mayonnaise", which I also hate, so maybe that's it. Maybe I only like Amish macaroni salad. But this is just bad news. It's tart but not horseradishy, milky but not smooth, and full of calories even as it tastes like the worst artificial sweetener possible. Oh dear.

Overall
Cost: 2/10
Taste: 2/10

Timothy's of Newark

I've heard a lot about this bar/restaurant because they apparently have billiards upstairs, though the upstairs is NEVER OPEN so I can't confirm or deny. Anyway, I ordered the BBQ ribs but apparently they use peanut oil to cook their fries! Yikes! Nevertheless, I got a double order of cole slaw and took the risk. And the ribs were pretty good. Cole slaw too! If I weren't scared of dying, maybe I'd like it even more. This place was pretty quiet, the waitress was polite, and there are nice TVs around. So I might go back (although I'd definitely continue to mention my allergy!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10