Costa Vida

My hubby and I stumbled on a tasty little gem located in Meridian named Costa Vida. It is a fantastic fresh mexican grill that offers tasty food at an even tastier price. All dishes are made from scratch, daily using only the freshest all-natural ingredients.

The restaurant itself has a great vibe. The staff are always super friendly and helpful. The place is always clean and the food is hands down my favorite fresh mex. To add to the chill vibe are countless TVs showcasing surfing shows, programs and documentaries.

Every time we go we order the same thing. I get the sweet pork enchilada with medium sauce and all rice, hubby gets two sweet pork enchiladas with medium sauce, rice and black beans and then we share an order of chips and queso. The queso is among my favorites I have to say.

I highly recommend you check the place out. They also have a handy dandy Costa Vida card that earns you points each time you dine with lovely rewards along the way.

Costa Vida
3340 North Eagle Road
Meridian, ID 83642
4 killer forks up!

The Tunnel Cafeteria - In Search of the Perfect Breakfast Burrito.

For some people the ideal breakfast consists of omelets, waffles or even bloody mary’s. For my BF it is the breakfast burrito. He is on a mission to find the best breakfast burrito of all time and seems happiest while eating them. His words “The breakfast burrito makes me feel lost in a sea of deliciousness.” I mean really they are all you could ever in a breakfast item and include the four basic food groups: Cheese, Grease, Fat and Processed Meat.

This quest is what led us to the creepy confines of the Boise tunnels this morning. BF had been to the little Cafeteria located in these tunnels before and was praising their breakfast burritos, so I agreed to check it out. There are underground tunnels beneath the capitol mall connecting the Capitol Building to the Supreme Court building and other government buildings. I believe the tunnels are only meant to be accessible by government employees, but we were able to sneak in through the staircase of one of the government buildings and enter the tunnel. I felt like we were on a secret mission, but no one ever escorted us out or anything. Ha.

This is a picture of the building where we entered - I don't have any pictures of the tunnel because the BF told me it could be considered terrorism :). The tunnels had really cool murals on the wall and we almost missed the Cafeteria because the sign was very small. However, we found the little hidden treasure decorated like a combination of my grandma’s living room and a dorm room cafeteria.

There were only about 3 other patrons in the restaurant and we were promptly greeted by a nice man who took our breakfast burrito order. Two small burreats – one with bacon, one with sausage only $3.50 each! We took our order to-go as we were concerned about being arrested (not really). Our server was very friendly and even thanked us for our business. Once we arrived safely to the car, we took a look at the burreats and realized they looked more like Quesadillas, but they still had the main staples of a breakfast burrito : Cheese, Tortillas, Eggs, Fried Hash browns, Bacon/Sausage. The BF said this about his:

“The breakfast burrito makes me feel lost in a sea of deliciousness. Today, I realized however that the sea was a little rough, and I might have to add some salsa to calm the gods. While it was delicious - and the sausage was cooked to perfection - the hash browns were a little too greasy and I needed to add some topping to balance the force.”

I found my extremely greasy and little plastic tasting. In fact, I think they were so greasy they should be labeled as a main ingredient in tanning oil. However, it was well worth the adventure.

The tunnel cafeteria gets 3 covert operation forks!

Location: I am unable to divulge.
Order: Small Breakfast Burrito with Bacon $3.50
Rating: 3 forks

Happy Tasting Boise,

Lindzee

That’s a wrap!

Tasty Pies

Located in the heart of Eagle, Flame is a great little pizzeria offering Neapolitan style pies.

I ordered up the lunch special as did my friend-- Classic pizza with a Caesar salad. The portions were perfect for a hungry lady which usually is my dining style. The waiter was very friendly and kept our drinks full and delivered our food fast. The pizza was a delight! Crispy crust, juicy sauce (but not too much) and delicious, toasted, yummy cheese galore. The salad was a typical Caesar and was good, but the home run with that dish was the toasted Parmesan cheese bread that accompanied it. I only wish it came with two instead of one!

The atmosphere of the restaurant was hard to judge as there were only a few of us dining at the time, but I did enjoy the open style kitchen and coziness of the place. I would be giving Flame a higher score if only their prices weren't so steep. For the "lunch special" it was $10, which is do-able but not a great price to be advertising as a special. I will definitely be going back to Flame for some din-din though, their pizza is a little slice of heaven.

Flame Neapolitan Pizzeria

228 E Plaza St # F

Eagle, ID 83616

3 delicious forks up!

34th Street Deli - Tit for Tat, a delicious and eclectic adventure

Heyo blogosphere! I know this writer's hiatus has been especially long and you probably have lost all hunger for life by now but here's a novel for the books. I was waiting to dine somewhere so special that the words would burst out of me like the salmon of capistrano and this week it happened. After a rousing tour through ye olde Costume shop on Chinden, fellow mostly-mexi-blogger Crissie and I made a right turn into sketchy motel city just blocks away. The parking lot was dimly lit on that rainy Wednesday but there was a beacon of light shining from the 34th Street Deli. Or was it a glint off the tattoo needle of the attached Tat Shop? One couldn't be sure.

Upon entering, I knew this was a true gem of our fine state. As I looked around the comic-strip covered walls for someone behind the counter, I spied a pint-sized face peering up at me. He greeted us kindly and asked what we would like to order. Wondering if we had stumbled accidentally into the Emerald City, I wondered why this 8 year old maitré-d wasn't attending to his studies. Nevermore, I spotted a rack behind me. Upon it sat the most glorious food in all the land! Boxes of REAL Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Cup O'Noodles, and other sundries abounded with prices that would warm the coldest of hearts in this so-called recession. I promptly selected 2 of the $1 Mac & Cheeses (brand name!) and added them to my order as I noticed our young helper was precariously perched upon several well-placed milk crates to give him a better line of sight as he carefully took my order - pausing to ask me several questions about the customized nature of my sandwich to ensure the best possible outcome.

I got a tasty turkey on wheat, which was made by the friendly gentleman behind the counter. Here's how that went: remember when mom would make you a delicious turkey sandwich with all the fresh fixins and send you off to school with an I Love You post-it inside your lunchbox? That's what this was for me. Mini-worker informed us that he is home-schooled and this is his year-round gig while he ran my credit card like an old pro. Let me just say that this is the best service, hands-down, that I have gotten in some time. Friendly, thorough, adding of math correctly, and cute pinchy freckled cheeks to boot. Should you have time to dine-in, you will find yourself seated in the adjoining tattoo parlor. Mom's turkey sandwich while getting her moniker tatted on your netheregions? Just a thought. 4.5 Fourth Grade Forks!

Baja Fresh

Ok, I know we aren't supposed to write about chain restaurants but I think that every now and then one restaurant, although in every city across the globe, plays a melodic tune in your heart and deserves the recognition we would give a local mom and pop shop. This happened today at lunch. I had a cilantro lime love affair at Baja Fresh that left a burning passion in my heart. Ok...overboard but it was just SO good.

I ordered the standard which I rarely deviate from. Why mess with perfection? I got two pork tacos on corn tortillas with a mild salsa verde. Such a simple taco. Onion, moist and perfectly cooked pork, tangy salsa, cilantro and the juice of a lime squeezed over it. Each and every bite that I took I stared at my taco, shook my head at it and smiled with an "oh yooouuuuuuu" look. The only taco in my life that has ever even attempted to hold a torch to Baja Fresh was a taco that I got from a street vendor in Rocky Point, Mexico. Fortunately for Baja Fresh my mexican taco was made of head meat (Tacos de Cabeza) which gives the more familiar pork a head up. No pun intended.

Baja Fresh has an amazing salsa bar that makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. The chips are perfect and crispy. I don't know. I just think that it is an amazing place with all fresh food. It deserved a mention. Ole!



quatro tenedores

Thai Nalyn

I was driving around on my lunch break this afternoon killing time between meetings when I saw a sign saying "THAI NALYN NOW OPEN" so I did what any self respecting woman would do and cut across three lanes of traffic, poached two parking lots and finally made my way to the restaurant. It was a desperate attempt that paid off. NOTE: I am pretty sure that sign has been up for months but no matter.

I went to that same location about a year ago. It was a Thai Restaurant then as well but you ordered at the counter. So I walked right up to the back of the restaurant and waited at the counter to order. So, things changed. You wait to be seated. That was fun.

While perusing the menu they brought me some soup which I slurped the broth out of and left the meat. I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai without hesitation. Did I mention I was dining alone? A bit awkward but I had my pocket video games to make me feel less alone. The place was actually quite packed with business professionals who must have heard the secret about this gem. They probably waited to be seated too. My Pad Thai was at the table by level 3 of Bejeweled.

It was a large lunch serving and for $7.99, a great deal. This was one of the best Pad Thai's I have ever had. I think. I know I LOVED it and felt really excited about it. It had great flavor. Mild in spice but I am sure you can 5 star it, challenge the cooks. They brought me a mint with my bill. Hold the phone. It wasn't a mint it was a Turmeric candy. It will remain in my desk drawer until I google what Turmeric is.

I give this 3.5 lonely diner stars.

Ono Cafe

I will now be affectionately calling it O-yes Café. Ono Cafe is the offspring of Kanak Attack Catering and located on 2170 Broadway Ave. I went here with a few girlfriends last week because it has gotten good reviews and is just around the corner from my house. From the strip mall that it is in and the handpainted sandwich board sign on Broadway I had expected it to be painted teal inside (ya know...because of the ocean) with plastic leis hanging on the walls. Maybe a few palm frawns here and there. I was very wrong and quite impressed. It is really nice inside. You walk in the door to a case of AMAZING looking desserts. It is dark inside, in a good, moody, romantic sort of way. The décor on the walls is Hawaiian, but classy. Not the Zurchers party store decorations that I had been expecting.

My husband and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon and got to go on a fun Luau. Everything about this place brought back those memories. The names I can't pronounce, the smoky smells, the flame dancers. Ok...no flame dancers but that would have really put it over the edge. I ordered the Hukilau. Mostly because I could say it and also because it was pig. When it came to the table it was glorious. It was smoky shredded pork with coconut rice, fried onions and a bright pink flower for presentation. They really brought their A game. The flavor of the pork was AMAZING! I can't wait to take my husband!

4 sunset inspired forks