Double Happiness, Double Happy Birthday

On Friday February 17th, a group of friends came together at Double Happiness to celebrate the 29th anniversary of JMG's birth (whose true identity will remain known only to those who know him). After hassling and harassing Katie all day at work, she finally agreed to join in the festivities - and boy oh boy was she glad she did!

For those of you don't know who the great JMG is, he is the boyfriend of former dinner guest and current co-worker Brittany Kress. At first sight, Double Happiness was pretty hard to find - therefore there was no first sight. It is located in the Brewery District of Columbus, across the street from Shadowbox Theater. It is a bar, but you can order food there as well - but because we were just celebrating the birthday, we only got drinks. The on-tap beer selection was quite limited, but it did have a unique variety of choices. Being at an Asian inspired bar, I decided to go with an Asian inspired beer, Sapporo. Katie went with one of her all-time favorite beers, Hornsby.

A few fun facts about this night, we were joined by many co-workers including Cherise, Sara, Alison and Phokeng. Also, because JMG is such a big deal there was a live DJ, Envelope. Katie and Elaine had a great time enjoying the Asian decor, spending time with friends, and listening to awesome music. If you want a Double Happy Birthday - Double Happiness is the place to go!

Happy Birthday Momma Kalkman!

After a much anticipated return, we are back!

A few weeks ago Katie and Elaine ventured out into the cold to try Milestone 229, a new restaurant on the Scioto mile, and for the first time in the history of the blog we were out to celebrate! Friend and co-worker of ours, Krysti Kalkman, invited us to dinner for her Mom's birthday. The entire group included: Krysti and her boyfriend Jake, Krysti's mom, their friends Andrew and John, Elaine, Katie and our friend Gillian.

The night we chose was possibly the coldest day of winter thus far, but we immediately decided if we liked the restaurant we wanted to come back in the summer. Milestone 229, which has a large patio, overlooks the Scioto River and shows a very picturesque view of the city.

To start off the celebration, we each ordered our drink of choice. Most went with wine, but a few opted for beer. The menu was fairly large and full of many choices. Jake, Andrew and I each got the Roasted Gerber Chicken Breast: Ohio free-range chicken with mac ‘n cheese, skillet green beans and savory gravy. IT WAS DELICIOUS, and we would all order it again if we come back. Katie and Gillian went with the Skillet Mac ‘n Cheese: double-smoked hickory bacon, diced tomato and scallions. Krysti ordered the Grilled Barrel Cut Sirloin: a thick center cut steak with three potato hash, skillet green beans, whiskey steak sauce and Gorgonzola butter. Krysti's mom ordered the Blackened Mahi Mahi: dirty rice, braised collard greens and spicy tomato butter, not to be confused with the Maui Maui. Last but not least, John ordered the special of the night which was a fish fillet with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Everyone LOVED their dinner and cleaned their plates so we could get dessert. Andrew and I ordered the Pumpkin Cheesecake with gingersnap crust, pecans and rum caramel. IT WAS TO DIE FOR. I am quite the cheesecake connoisseur, and this might have been the best cheesecake I've ever had. Katie, Gillian and Krysti's mom had the Pecan Pie Bread Pudding with caramel sauce and Johnson’s triple bean vanilla ice cream. I'm not much of a bread pudding fan, but the girls loved it. And Krysti and Jake split the Rich Chocolate Cake served with a small jug of milk. It was the biggest piece of chocolate cake you've ever seen!

Milestone 229 was delicious and definitely gets the stamp of approval from Katie and Elaine take Columbus!

Dirty Dogs and The Dirty-D

This week Katie and Elaine took Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace, joined by former guests Gillian Curcio and Anita Shankar. From this point on, our view on hot dogs has been changed forever! Dirty Frank's is part of the Liz Lessner family of restaurants in downtown Columbus. If you remember, a few weeks ago Katie and Elaine took Betty's, which is also a part of this group. Her other restaurants include: Tip Top, Surly Girl and The Jury Room.

Dirty Frank's, like Betty's, is a very small restaurant with very limited seating, and would be pretty tough to eat there with more than a group of 3 or 4. According to our sources, DF's is always packed so we were warned to get there early. Lucky for us, we had to work late and were able to sit right down. Like our trip to Betty's, as soon as we got our order in the place filled up and there was a long wait for tables. These Liz Lessner places sure are popular with the late night crowd!

The menu at Dirty Frank's was overwhelming - we had no idea there were so many ways to top a hot dog! After taking so long that our waiter may or may not have been a little annoyed, we finally ordered. Tots and fried leeks, which are onion straws without the fried batter, to start. Gillian ordered the Cowgirl Carmen: hot dog topped with meat coney sauce, cheddar, & crushed Fritos. Anita got The Classy Lady vegan style: hot dog topped with cheese sauce & crushed potato chips. After long debate, Katie went for the West Virginia Slaw Dog: hot dog topped with coney sauce with creamy slaw & onion, and I decided on the Razzle Dazzle: hot dog topped with cream cheese, grilled peppers & fresh onion.

As weird as these combination's were, we loved them all! It was a unanimous decision that Dirty Frank's is Katie and Elaine Take Columbus' favorite stop so far. The food was delicious and INSANELY CHEAP. What started out as a cold, tired Tuesday night turned into a fun night with friends out on the town.

Also, I know you all have probably been DYING to hear about our trip to UD this past weekend. Turns out we had such a good time catching up with friends and visiting our favorite hot spots from the old stomping grounds that we didn't take very many pictures. Here are a few though - enjoy!