Grindhouze Coffee is a local roaster offering several types of coffees. I recently purchased some of their products from Etsy to try out and add to my collection.

They offer Ethiopian, Costa Rican, Peruvian and Aurora's blend.

All coffee is dark roast and whole bean.

Ethiopian coffee has flavor notes of blueberry, peach, and watermelon.

Costa rican coffee has flavor notes of chocolate and citrus.

Peruvian coffee has flavor notes of chocolate and walnut.

Aurora's blend is a fan favorite. This blend combines all three flavors of Ethiopian, Costa Rican, and Peruvian coffees to host a perfect combination of chocolate, caramel and berry notes.

Have you tried them yet?

Nanay's Filipino Restaurant is my friends' go-to Filipino spot in Arizona. I love the Filipino food I've tried it the past, so I was excited to try this homestyle restaurant.



The restaurant is fairly spacious, and the food is served in a cafeteria style. In order to place my order, I did a mix of listing items from the menu on the wall and pointing at options behind the case.



They had lechon (suckling pig), pancit (stir-fried noodles), pork BBQ, adobo (stew), lumpia (eggrolls-ish) and more.



I almost wish I would have taken a sample of everything they had to offer so I could explore some other dishes I've never had before.



But, everything I did select was delicious. Deeply flavorful and everything seems to have veggies incorporated. So, that gave a little bit of a crunchy texture. I enjoyed the marinated and vinegary flavors most.



Lumpia, though, may be my favorite eggroll-esque vehicle. I like them a bit crispier than these year, but still so good.



What is your favorite Filipino dish?



Grade: A

While traveling out west for the holidays, my friends and I found ourselves in Quartzsite, Arizona, on Christmas. After frantically searching for what food options might be available on the holiday, we found Times 3 Family Restaurant.



On this particular day, they were essentially only serving the plated meal. While they said we could order off the menu, it would take a very long time. That's OK, though, because the special sounded great.



The meal began with a soup or salad; the soup of the day was broccoli and cheese. I think it was straight from a Campbell's cream of can - thick, gloopy, and sodium for days.



The main meal consisted of turkey or ham or both. Plus mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans, a roll, cranberries and pumpkin pie for dessert.



It's a homestyle, hearty plate that was definitely filling. I wish there had been some texture to anything - crispy skin on the meat or crusty bread. As it was, everything was just soft and mostly brown and covered in gravy.



It was a decent meal overall that just ate a bit monotonous and one-note. Some chives or nuts or bacon couldv've added a bit more oomph.



Grade: C

Viper Wood Fired Oven Pizza is a food truck (or bus?) that often serves the western half of the Metro Valley. So, I was excited to catch them in Hurricane. The menu consists of a few standard pies: pepperoni, cheese, meat-lovers, etc. I opted for the margherita because I think it's simple enough to let the ingredients shine, but is not too basic to be boring. The crust was lightly crisp and the cheese may have caused a bit of sogging. But crispy + cheesy is a hard combo to beat.



Grade: B

If there's one cuisine sorely lacking in Appalachia, it may be Hawaiian. Prior to my visit to Aloha Kitchen in Arizona, the extent of my Hawaiian food experience consisted of "Hawaiian chicken" in a pineapple sauce at the local mall food court.



This fast-casual restaurant has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. And, it was fairly busy when I visited. The decor is minimal and well-worn. The menu has a bajillion options that all looked amazing: coconut shrimp, saimin, kalbi and more.



I went with Mixed Plate #4: Bulkogi Beef and Teriyaki Chicken with two scoops of rice and macaroni-potato salad. Plus spam musubi. Plus manapua.



The mixed plate teriyaki chicken was charbroiled then drizzled in a teriyaki sauce, which was a delicious bittersweet flavor. The bulgpgi could've done with a drizzle of the teriyaki as well. But so tasty, and I love the cool, creamy macaroni-potato salad on the side to add some balance. The spam musubi is just spam, rice and nori - and it's glorious. It's the freshness of a sushi roll with the salinity of SPAM. The manapua had the perfect barbecue pork filling inside that fluffy bun. so, so good.



Grade: A