Turquoise Desert – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

A 2016 online survey conducted by Statista asked 719 adult respondents “What is the maximum length of time that you would drive to a place to eat?” More than half (51-percent) of the respondents indicated they would travel 16 to 30 minutes to a restaurant. The limit for another 26-percent was 30 minutes to an hour.  Only five percent said they would travel more than one-hour.  Even the most prolific driving diners don’t have anything on David Schuler of Mississippi.  To sate his cravings for his favorite pizza in Massachusetts, Mr. Schuler drove over 1,400 miles and through 16 states.  Even that distance pales in comparison to humpback whales who travel as much as five thousand miles to get their…

Matty G’s – Chandler, Arizona

In the inspirational 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner stars as an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella. As a farmer, Ray has fallen on hard times.  While standing in his corn field one day, he has a vision of a baseball field where part of his cornfield is.  A disembodied voice (credited by IMDB to “The Voice”) tells him, “If you build it, he will come.” Ray then sets out to make the baseball field of his vision a reality.  All the while, he is spurred onward by the voice urging him that if he builds it, “he” or “they” will come. To the initial consternation of his wife and friends, Ray builds the baseball field. Ray’s friends and…

Laguna Burger (12th Street) – Albuquerque, New Mexico

“The best stories are like the best burgers: big, juicy, and messy.” ~A.D. Posey, American Author For men of my generation, a Big Mac was a rite of passage, a graduation from Happy Meal cheeseburgers to a real adult burger…an event akin to transitioning from training wheels to a ten speed bike.  We had grown up singing the jingle “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” and finally got to experience one for ourselves.   I had assumed all parents would, when their sons had proven worthy, introduce them to the Big Mac.  You can imagine my surprise upon reading a 2016 Wall Street Journal report that only one in five adults between…

Dogos VIP – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Thanks largely to a 1974 Chevrolet commercial and its catchy tune, the phrase “As American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie” has purportedly defined what Americans hold most sacrosanct.  Never mind that hot dogs are derivative of European sausages, they’re inextricably part of the fabric of the fruited plain. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, there is such a thing) estimates that Americans eat seven billion hot dogs (so it’s not just me) during the unofficial summer season which runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. That’s 818 hot dogs per second and more than a third of the hot dogs eaten per year! July 19th has been designated National Hot Dog Day, but a case…

Urban Hotdog Company – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks Tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox love hot dogs. Armour Hot Dog Commercial, 1960s Advertising standards in the 1960s were quite a bit more lax than they are today. In today’s culture of American political correctness, there’s no way an earworm-inspiring jingle such as the Armour Hotdog commercial would ever see the light of day, but back then it helped sell a lot of hot dogs. Even in the 1960s, Armour’s savvy ad agency undoubtedly understood the influence children had on the family’s food consumption budget. In addition to catchy jingles designed to appeal to children, Armour’s advertising agency enticed children with prizes to be had for a…