My own "Jersey Diner Tour" Day 1 (with a quick start in Annapolis

During the summer of 2012 Guy featured a place in Annapolis and I knew that since it's so close to where I live I would have to make a quick stop there and check it out.  I met my friend Tammy at "Davis Pub" a small neighborhood restaurant in what I would describe as a residential area.

Davis Pub in Annapolis, Maryland
 

The place is small and there was a very lively crowd here or a Wednesday night.  I gt a small table inside met with my friend.  We decided to share a Crab Pretzel appetizer then get dinner.  Now truth be told I love crab, I think that if given the choice between crab or lobster, it will be crab all the time!  The pretzel was cut in half and topped with a delicious creamy crab spread.  For dinner I got the Barbecue Sandwich, which is one of the specialties and the sandwich that Guy cooked on the episode.  The sandwich was ok, not real special .  I enjoyed Davis Pub, but if I have to have a go to place in Annapolis, I would choose Galway Bay.

Barbecue Sandwich

Davis Pub's Crab Pretzel

 

I knew that as October came around I wanted to make a trip somewhere to try some more places as I was at 264 visits and I wanted to get to 300 by years end.  I looked a several areas to travel to.  Getting on planes has been tough as I fly standby and alot of the places I wanted to get to have had very full airplanes.  I looked at Buffalo, Syracuse, Atlanta and no luck.  I decided to look to a place that Guy featured during the second season of the show, New Jersey and it's iconic diners!  I plotted out a driving tour and I wanted to include a place in the Bucks County area of Pennsylvania. 

I headed north out of Leesburg and after about 3 hours I was in Bucks County and intro a small town called Wrightstown to a place that looked alot like a Manor House.  "The Pineville Tavern" is nice homey place.  The walls of the tavern are adorned with signs and knick knacks and made it a very nice setting.  On the episode Guy cooked homemade ravioli with the chef and was presented with a large extended fork, for clamping the edges of the ravioli, so I knew exactly what I wanted.   

My Ravioli Lunch

I ordered the Lunch portion which was just the right size.  I found the service to be friendly but slow on some things.  The meal was ok, the raviolis reminded me of the home made ravioli that my grandmother made, so I did really enjoy them.  the bread made it nice to sop up the sauce, although the sauce needed some spices or something but Parmesan cheese really did help.  The staff was excited to hear about my travels and that made it a very pleasant visit. 

I left and headed into Jersey and the Newark area.  I have never really been to the area and after hearing so many jokes about Jersey being the concrete flatlands between Philly and NYC, I was taken aback  by the rolling hills and pretty fall colors.  A real eye opener!  After checking into my Newark Airport hotel I headed to the "shore" and try a place in the town of Belmar.

I headed to "10th Avenue Burrito Company".  It is located in a strip mall and has both inside and outside seating.  This place has a very cool atmosphere with a Harley Davidson type of feel.  One of things that I find great at some of the places are featured on DDD is the DDD icon on the menu showing which items Guy cooked while there.

I choose the Spicy Mac and Cheese with Chorizo Sausage.  The meal came with a small salad topped with an avocado ranch dressing.  The huge bowl of Mac and Cheese arrived and it was filling and totally delicious!  There were huge chunks of Choizo Sausage throughout the bowl.  I told my server why I was there and asked if I could get my book signed and she went and got Brian the owner and chef that Guy cooked with to come and sign the book.  He was excited to come out and sign and we talked for awhile about the filming and also about my travels, he is a great man! 

Spicy Mac and Cheese at 10th Avenue Burrito

My meal!

As I finished (or made a good attempt at it) he waitress came out and told me they wanted to give me a t-shirt!  WOW, very cool!  A great meal and free swag, what could be better!  For the record, they made my Mac and Cheese less spicy and t was still very spicy, so for those of you who love heat this is a great choice, because it s delicious and has a kick.  If you are on the Jersey Shore you should definitely make the 10th Avenue Burrito Company a stop on your trip!

I headed back to the hotel to rest up for day 2 of the "tour"