Give Me Some Tongue

I like taco shops that offer "odd" cuts of meat. And when I say odd, I mean that from the perspective of the commercialized diet of cheeseburger and pizza. Anyone who's followed my meals knows I love raw fish. The cuts of tendon and tripe you find in pho tickles my fancy equally well.

So, what meat did I get? Tongue and head (for linguistic sensitivity the sign advertised them as lengua and cabeza). They're really tender. Only 99 cents each. I'd do better to go on Tuesdays, when they have a 75 cent taco deal.

My mission to locate the best eating places in the High Desert continues. Los Jalapenos #2 certainly does a good job in Victorville (and just 100 feet from a Taco Bell), but honestly, they're not a total High Desert experience. Their first location is in Rancho Cucamonga. The search continues.

Eating a Dinosaur

The Taco Grande in Victorville is an unsuspecting hole-in-the-wall. I say that because it occupies a rather large building. Once inside, the charms of all the generic one-location restaurants comes flooding to you.

So what struck my fancy? They offer a Taco Tuesday promo, selling small street tacos for 79 cents each. Come in after 3PM and you can get a burrito and drink for $6.50

Mass consumers will be happy to know that there is a chips and salsa bar, all free of charge. You are allowed to go back as many times as you want. The chips taste really fresh too.

My meal of choice for the evening was the asada fries, priced at $6. They were excellent. The portion felt a bit on the small side, especially at that price point, but the quality was commendable. It's too bad I didn't come across an "asada fries eating challenge" because it's just that good.

So what else did I notice? A $10 burrito named "The Dinosaur." It weighs about 3 lbs, or so I was told. You can bet I'll be back for that.

In my case, The Dinosaur will only serve one.

72 oz Side of Beef

The Iron Hog Saloon, a few miles away from Victorville, offers a 72 oz steak challenge modeled with near exactitude off the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas.

Getting to the Iron Hog is a bit of a journey. After reaching Victorville, you must drive through several miles of dusty desert road. At some point you wonder if you're going in the right direction. GPS says that you are, but in the desolation you begin to doubt that tinny voice telling you to drive ahead.

It's a biker bar, yes, but they take their challenge very seriously. Here is the competition table. Once time begins, you get one hour to plow through the steak and various sides or you owe them $100. This price tag is a bit steep. I'd say it's the biggest deterrent to any brave soul taking the challenge. On top of the table is an official rundown of the rules and some local trivia.

Now it's time for some backstory. Prior to my visit, I had never done a steak challenge. The idea of trying to eat 4 1/2 lbs of meat seemed intimidating. When I filmed with Adam Richman on the set of Man v Food Nation a week prior to taking this challenge, Richman made sure to sell the point that I'd never done a steak challenge. But, facing a 3 lb tri tip sandwich (which I did for the show) is a bit different from facing a 4.5 lb steak with assorted sides.

Yeah, it's that big. Easily the size of 8 or 9 ordinary steaks that a man or woman would eat for dinner. Before my visit, there was only one challenge winner. Her name is Stephanie Wu, an enthusiastic eating challenger who completed several challenges and operated a sophisticated website documenting challenges before mysteriously disappearing. I hope she's ok, wherever she ended up. Her record time was 59 minutes.

The cook brought out the platter, let me choose my knives, and we were off. I chose to focus on the meat first. In about 8 minutes the steak was over half finished, so I switched over to the potato and tomato slices. Though I didn't have to, I also finished the optional lettuce and cantaloupe slices. They were good for varying up the flavor.



My finish under 29 minutes caused a small uproar in the restaurant. It cut the record time in less than half, so I understand the shock, but there's many eaters who could have finished this challenge in under 15 minutes. Knowing how to tackle a huge steak now, I'm certain I could improve on my own time. It made me nervous when customers would crowd in to watch, but it's not everyday that someone rolls in and manhandles the biggest meal on the menu.

And without a doubt, this is a challenge that I would love to do a second time. It tasted phenomenal, the cut of meat wasn't too fatty, and there are several sides on the menu so there's plenty to choose from. Given the price tag there's no way they'd let me have another one on the house.

They even have a guest book! There's only been two challenge restaurants, in my experience, that offered that nice touch. The other, famous for pancakes and weary travelers, will be the focus of an upcoming post.

Something Sweet

Richie's Diner is a chain with a few locations in Southern California. I know about them because I've frequented the location in Victorville on Palmdale Road.

Their food is similar to what you find at Denny's. The irony is this location of Richie's shares a parking lot with a Denny's. Richie's Diner has specials for various days of the week. One special that is carried all week long is their highly advertised "2 banana splits for $4."

It's a sweet deal for a sweet tooth. And I'll bet you can't eat just one.

Feeling Dirty

Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers recently opened a new location in Victorville. It's been busy every time I've passed by, which is more than you can say for several eateries in the High Desert.

Their menu is expansive. The offerings remind me of Foster's Freeze or Wienerschnitzel-Tastee Freeze. What stood out for me was their selection of frozen dessert treats.

How can you go wrong with something called "Dirt N' Worms"?

That's frozen custard with gummy worms and Oreo pieces, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Sweetness. They should have a contest, I say. Who can eat five of these the fastest?