Massa's Seafood Grill - Downtown Houston TX!

While attending the Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference in downtown Houston, I had the pleasure of stumbling upon a gem of a restaurant right across the street from the Four Seasons hotel. Massa's Seafood Grill is a family owned sister restaurant to Massa's Restaurant and what a delight! The first day my cohort and I (MB) just sampled some of their delectable appetizers in the form of candlestick shrimp with andouille wrapped in rice paper and flash fried, served with sweet Thai chili pepper sauce. Delicious! Also served were the avocado rolled in bread crumbs and flash fried and served with lump crab meat and a chipotle cream, very interesting flavor and mouth feel. We liked the service and food so much, we came back the next night for dinner with some of our executive team and partners! I had the Redfish Ponchatrain with a side of crawfish etouffee and I have to say, it was down right delicious! Everyone in our party of 7 raved about the food and service. I highly recommend anyone visiting Houston to make there way to either of Massa's restaurants and if you go to the seafood grill, say hello to Joe. Check out the links to both locations and the menus. Bon appetite!

Hemingway's Island Grill - Pensacola Beach, FL

June 16, 2008 - Just a short jaunt from Pensacola over the bridge to Pensacola beach will find you at Hemingway's Island Grill. A gem of a restaurant with only 2 locations in Florida, it's cuisine is as unique as the restaurant's namesake. A mix of Key West, the Caribbean and Cuba with primary focus on great seafood and steaks. We started with the Jamaican jerk ribs as an appetizer and everyone loved them! I had Cobia as my entree and was pleasantly surprised as this was my first time eating Cobia. Overall the food was great, I give it an 8.5 out of 10. The service was a little lax as it took the server forever to bring us our desserts (that were also delicious) and the bill. This was surprising as the restaurant was not generally busy or full. I certainly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Pensacola Beach (or Estero, FL) if you are looking for great food with a good atmosphere and family friendly environment. Please use the link on this blog if you want to learn more, unfortunately I have not been able to locate a menu for this restaurant which is interesting these days. Good eating and please let me know your feedback.

Intro to foodie blogging by Beau Long

Welcome to the introductory blog on my many travels to eateries across the US, Canada and beyond. I am a software sales professional that travels quite a bit out of our country's busiest (and worst managed) airport. In my travels I am on a quest to experience the best (and sometimes the worst) of what North America has to offer in the form of culinary delights. I have had the pleasure of eating is some of the finest establishments, both in quality and care, in the US and beyond. Today begins an era of documenting these travels through my eyes to help the common person and business traveler alike find the best and avoid the others based purely on my personal input and experiences. No food is safe from me and I will welcome requests for the most obscure and unreported, while doing my best to document my encounters. Just to help, here is a little background on me:

Born and raised in the South. I have lived the majority of my life in the FL, LA, AL and GA states of our fine country. I have deep roots in southern cooking and proudly proclaim this. I, however, want to experience more and a deeper variety; this is what brings me here. Feel free to send me questions on southern recipes, if I don't have it, I have access to it. I love good food. From the greasy home-made hamburger, to the finest hand cut steaks and caviar (as well as sushi) it is all good to me. I will do my best to describe atmosphere, experience and especially "food quality" in every post, while commenting on service as well. I hope my experiences are informative and helpful. As they say in Louisiana

Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll!