Good Eats: R.F. O’Sullivan’s

It’s important to note that I am a burger fanatic. Ham-, Cheese-, Bacon-… use pretty much any prefix and count me in. But I go beyond fast food burgers. And I go further than Fuddruckers and Five Guys chains too. I crave creativity. Previous adventures have taken me to Mr. Bartley’s in Harvard Square and Boston Burger Co. in Davis Square. This time we headed to Porter Square for another burger bonanza.

Much like the former two restaurants, R.F. O’Sullivan’s has a large and interesting menu. Many combinations of ingredients and twists on old favorites make each of their burgers unique. But what really sets them apart is their “no squish” rule. To make the burger cook faster, most people press down on the patty with a spatula -- thus releasing all the juices. Here, the owner doesn’t allow it. Their burgers are some of the thickest around because of it. The obvious downside to that is your order will take longer to cook. Luckily, they have a liquor license and beer always makes the time pass faster.

I want to mention that they aren’t known for their onion rings but most repeat visitors will order them. That’s because their fries are a bit misleading. They are not fries in the normal sense, or even big steak fries, rather they’re potato wedges. Now wedges can be good in their own right but only when you’re expecting them. These caught me off guard and were only OK.

Go for the burgers, stay for the beer, order the onion rings and thank me later.

March Madness

Every year around this time my mom calls me for help with her March Madness bracket. I tell her every year that I don’t really follow college basketball and that discussing it with me is not a competitive advantage. But it happens anyway.

She called last night and she was reading through the matchups and I realized that I couldn’t even remember the teams I had picked! Usually I fill out a hard copy. Writing the team names multiple times helps me remember them. This year, though, I used ESPN and did my bracket online.

One advantage to using some of the sports websites (Yahoo, CBS) is that they give you some information about the teams playing. That is extremely helpful for someone who doesn’t know anything about Loyola-Marymount. It felt like I was making informed decisions for a change instead of (relatively) blindly guessing.

But there is a downside to that too. First, I didn’t even look at what teams I was picking just what their matchup situation said would likely happen. This also was a cause of why I forgot my picks. Second, you should never feel good about your bracket. It’s not a math equation where there is an understood answer. Every matchup is a crapshoot. Any Given Sunday should have been a movie about the NCAA Tournament. The word upset was created for March Madness (mad / upset, see a connection?)

So don’t get too comfortable with your bracket until the first 2 rounds are complete. Highlight the winners and cross out the losers and see where you stand after the guaranteed wreckage. Everybody knows Sweet Sixteen is more important than just a birthday.

"After Lorca"

by: Robert Creeley

The church is a business, and the rich
are the business men.
________________________________ When they pull on the bells, the
poor come piling in and when a poor man dies, he has a wooden
cross, and they rush through the ceremony.

But when a rich man dies, they
drag out the Sacrament
and a golden Cross, and go doucement, doucement
to the cemetery.

And the poor love it
and think it’s crazy.

Eating Fresh

I started my new job in November. From November through January I visited Subway maybe twice. Then came FebruANY. Any footlong sub, only $5. What a deal! I ended up going to Subway 6-8 times last month which is outrageous (unless you’re Jared).

Now you may have noticed today is March 5. The promotion is over and prices have gone back to their normal levels (a heavy $6). Yet today I found myself in line looking for my buffalo chicken fix. What is happening to me? The promotion is over, I never frequented it historically, but now I get the taste in my mouth and absolutely have to have it. I think this is a surefire sign of addiction. You could start taxing it outrageously like cigarettes but I’ll still have to get my nicotine meatball sub hook-up.

I used to be a Quizno’s guy. I would start arguments over how Quizno’s was so much better than Subway. All I ever ordered at Quizno’s was their Oven Roasted Turkey w/ Cheddar. Now that was a sandwich. But since I changed jobs I’m further from Quizno’s so Subway has been taking its place. I don’t know how I feel about this. Maybe healthier. Yeah, like an Olympian.

Winning!

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to be selected by @BostonTweet to win 2 tickets to see the Dropkick Murphys at Mohegan Sun, as well as a 1 night stay. It’s been a little while but this isn’t the first prize I've won.

I was the king of filling out those little cards in stores and stuffing them in the entry box. My first raffle/drawing win was back when I was 11 or so. I won a trip to a one day soccer camp with players from the New England Revolution. I got to do drills with 4 different players (no names I can remember) and got a team picture signed by all of them.

Then just a year or two later I won a stereo from Sam’s Club. This stereo was the coolest. It had 2 cassette players, a CD player and radio. It had detachable speakers and it could record! It didn’t make the move with me but it’s still at my parents’ house in working order (except one of the tape decks. Insert ‘cassette overuse’ joke here.)

One of the biggest things in my life that I never won was locked away at a place called Yoken’s. My family used to go when I was younger and usually on trips to Hampton Beach. My grandparents liked the seafood and us kids liked the treasure chest. Attached to the restaurant was a store and in the store was a locked treasure chest. You got a key with your meal and you could use it to try and unlock the chest. It was always SO EXCITING putting your key in the lock and turning. Then turning the other way. Then trying it upside down. The damn thing never opened. I still don’t know what was in there.

The moral of the story is winning isn’t everything. But it is awesome.