Thursday Night Family Dinners at Huckleberry Cafe (Santa Monica, CA)

Huckleberry is always crowded during breakfast and brunch, but not many know about their dinners. Huckleberry usually opens until 8pm on weekdays, but on Thursdays they stay open later serving a family style prix fixe dinners!

The Thursday night dinners are $30 per person (half price for kids 12 and under) and the menu changes every week. I went on August 30th and had a feast!

Before the "courses", each table got some House Marinated Olives (marinated in orange juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, olive oil)

The orange juice was a nice touch.

This wasn't part of the menu, but we also had some guacamole spread on baguette

I usually also don't pay attention to the beer and wine list here, but in the future I shall. We tasted some good wines that night, starting with a 2011 Red Car, Rose of Pinot Noir, Bybee Vineyard, Sonoma Coast.

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Road Trip Food (Yellowstone): Cowboy's Lodge and Grille (Gardiner, Montana)

On my last trip to Yellowstone, we flew into Bozeman, Montana and drove 1.5 hours to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Feeling hungry on the road, we decided to stop in Gardiner, Montana for a bite, but most restaurants were closed in between lunch and dinner service. Luckily, Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was open.

Being cold, I had to order a cup each of their gumbo, chili, and the ranch hand stew ($4 for a cup). I've had better gumbo elsewhere but the other two were hearty and really hit the spot.

If you ever find yourself looking for food in Gardiner, Montana, I recommend the stew here!

I had to order the bison steak since I was in Montana (it's on all the menus here, pretty much) but here it turned out to be pretty tough (a bit overcooked) and pretty expensive ($28), especially compared to the stew and chili!

The cobbler ($3) was unfortunately disappointing, with canned peaches and mushy crust.

Despite the disappointing steak and cobbler, we were happy with our stews and chili and were just glad to find a place to eat here between lunch and dinner service! Not too bad of a first meal at Yellowstone.

Cowboy Lodge and Grill
303 2nd St S
Gardiner, MT

Your New Pasadena Lunch: Burger Haven at Haven Gastropub

Burger Haven isn't a pop-up, but a restaurant within a restaurant. During the lunch hours, the back part of Haven Gastropub in Oldtown Pasadena turns into Burger Haven, serving burgers, fries, and milkshakes. There are 6-7 items on the menu including the Haven burger, the lamb burger, a veggie option, and Here's the Kicker topped with habanero, serrano, jalapeno, and pickled ghost chili! I tried a bite of this and was dying from the spiciness, but I know quite a few people who would love it! You can see the full menu here.

For my lunch, I went instead with the Shake and Bake, which is their fried chicken sandwich. It's made with Mary's free range chicken, coated in corn flakes and pan fried, topped with rosemary mashed potatoes, gravy, braised collard greens, and honey mustard on jalapeno-habanero bun ($9)

It's like your handheld Southern plate. Fried chicken and all the staple Southern sides compacted between two buns. You may have to explain to your boss why you fell asleep after lunch when you eat this, but at least you'll be full until dinner time!

Regardless of how full I was after that fried chicken sandwich, there's always still room for a Nutella shake ($5)!

How can you say no to milkshake AND Nutella?