On a recent trip to Detroit, MI, my buddy and I stopped in the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant near the airport for a quick mid-morning meal. We quickly discovered that the Bob’s Big Boy menu is extremely friendly to bacon lovers near one of these restuarants.

Over 15 items on the breakfast menu alone contain or are served with bacon. My buddy opted for the potato pancakes which were served with a hearty infusion of fresh, chopped-up bacon pieces. I went for a traditional bacon burger since it was nearly 11:00 a.m. and breakfast just didn’t seem like the thing to do.

Overall the bacon was tasty and about what you’d expect from a greasy spoon type chain restuarant. Nothing too special but we’ve got to give Bob’s Big Boy kudos for the wide selection of bacon items on their menu. If I’m ever driving down the road and have a bacon craving, I know I’ll be keeping my eyes out for a Bob’s Big Boy to help me quench my bacon thirst.

Bacon Today correspondents Cynthia (food writer of Taste of Orange County and Furey & the Feast) and Scott (competitive eater-in-training) attended the Yelp Sizzlin’ Bacon Bash at OC Fair in Costa Mesa, Calif. to check out what the O.C. has to offer in terms of bacon-y goodness. Here’s are some of their favorites, along with other

The day M’Oink meatballs and Scott met:  “Imagine your favorite spaghetti and meatball recipe,” Scott says of the bacon-wrapped meatballs with blueberry sauce from BigMista’s BBQ. “Then wrap some freshly roasted bacon around it. You’ll then have a recipe for the ultimate adventure. The bacon was large and impressive, fully conquering the meatball and violating it with a bacon twist.”

Scott’s excitement for the dish resulted in accidentally spilling some of his topped-off beer into the bacon and meatball platter. The woman representing BigMista’s was not pleased at all. “She gave me the look of the devil,” Scott says. “I apologized, knowing that she perhaps didn’t appreciate my beer in her masterpiece.” The two would soon meet again, however, as Scott jumped right back in line for more bacon-flavored meatballs.

“Words of pure bliss and joy do not do justice to these bacon balls; they are good – damn good,” Scott says. “These could perhaps be the best bacon meatballs one would ever experience in a lifetime.”

Cynthia on bacon mac and cheese: “I hold Beachwood BBQ fully responsible for my bacon-induced coma,” Cynthia says. “Its mac and cheese was creamy, rich, and topped with a light sprinkling of breadcrumbs that really added a depth of texture to the dish.” She soon started noticing something very peculiar about the huddled crowd that was digging into their little cups of mac and cheese.

“While I watched fellow Yelpers inhale their food, I couldn’t help but notice their eyes were getting glassy, their movements were slower and they were all moaning ‘baaaacoooon’ in kind of a creepy way – like they were becoming bacon zombies or something. It seems that I wasn’t the only one in a bacon coma.”  Beachwood BBQ actually had to turn one Yelper away, because he kept coming back for more.

Other highlights:

Chocolate covered bacon: This delectable frozen dessert is making its OC Fair debut this year. Scott found the chocolate a bit too overwhelming, while Cynthia had nothing but praise. “One strip of crunchy bacon is just enough,” she says. “Try it with the salt packet it comes with. It really makes a huge difference.”

Scott and Cynthia caught Yelper and Garden Grove, Calif.-resident Jose Encino wearing a “Bacon Makes Everything Better” shirt, carrying a bacon wallet (did we mention his lovely lady friend was a vegetarian?) and enjoying his chocolate covered bacon. Bacon overload? We think not.

All in all, a very good time.

On a recent trip to Phoenix I found myself wandering away from University of Phoenix Stadium on foot in search of some dinner. The trade show I was attending had just ended and I was in need of food fast. I was so hungry I didn’t care what was on the menu, as long as the food came quickly and was located somewhere between the stadium and my hotel.

Soon enough I was standing in a moderately sized shopping center with dining choices galore. My choice was easy though, I spied a Johnny Rockets hamburger joint and walked in the door.

I had never tried bacon at a Johnny Rockets so my meal was easy to order — a Bacon Cheddar Single Burger (hold the tomato please). When the burger arrived the bacon was jutting out from all sides under the buns. From looks alone I knew this was a good choice, then I got a whiff of the bacony scent and prepared to enjoy.

This burger earns a Smaste™ rating of 37.394. The high quality bacon outshines a fairly average burger, but it’s something I’d definitely order again.

This morning I hopped on the motorcycle with no particular destination in mind. I was hungry and wanted to ride along the coast so I figured I stop when I saw something interesting.

After riding along with various other bikes down Pacific Coast Highway, I spied one of the few small restaurants that was open on the Memorial Day holiday. Sunrise Cafe is a rather unassuming building with outdoor seating along two walls. The place was packed with patrons and I grabbed one of the few empty tables still available in the early morning.

Looking over the menu there were many bacon-infused options to choose from. Breakfast burritios in the wet or dry vartiety, special breakfasts with sides of bacon, and much more.

I chose the Sunrise Special. A good deal at $7.95 for two pancakes, two eggs, hash browns, and four slices of bacon. With my orange juice in hand I waited for my meal to arrive as I watched the cars drive by along the bustling Pacific Coast Highway.

I was definitely not disappointed. The entire meal was great. A classic American breakfast with all the right elements and just the right amount of preparation. The bacon was hot & crispy with just the right amount of grease.

The meal at Sunrise Cafe earns a Smaste™ rating of 38.951. I recommend you go if you’re in the area and need a tasty meal. Want more opinions? Read more reviews on Yelp.

We travel the world in search of great bacon. We search high and low for meals that charge the senses and tease the taste buds with mouth-watering anticipation.

Sometimes, we’re early for a flight and we’re just plain hungry. Such was the case on a recent trip through Indianapolis. We found ourselves about an hour ahead of schedule and plenty ready for a hearty breakfast if one was to be found at the Indianapolis airport (IND).

There was a small coffee shop of the corporate-infused-latte variety and a chain restaurant called Champps. We opted for the chain restaurant as the baristas over at coffee central didn’t look like the proud servers of bacony goodness.

We sat down and ordered our meal. A good old-fashioned American breakfast. Two eggs, two pieces of toast, two strips of bacon, a fruit cup, and fried potatoes. Sounded like just what we needed to kick start the last leg of our journey.

We couldn’t have been more wrong. The eggs were bland, the toast was stale, the fruit not fresh, the potatoes tasteless, and the bacon…awful. We could have put up with the poor taste of all the items on our plate but not the bacon. The poor pork was the consistency of cardboard left out to dry on a hot summer day after being soaked the previous night in a tub of stale bathwater. What had the potential of being salty, tasty meat candy was now more like red garden clay. So sad, so tragic, and no where near the happy breakfast we had hoped would guide us through the rest of our day.

This waste of a meal earns a Smaste™ rating of 2.0. That’s right, two. and the two is for the butter. At least that was good. We ate it with a spoon.

This weekend we visted the Burger King fast food restaurant in Superior, WI. Upon entering the establishment we spied the following sign on the front counter.

Only $3.68 for a bacon cheeseburger combo meal? Our order was already decided for us. Bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a soda — yum!

We waited in anticipation for order number 168 to be called. We grabbed the tray off the counter and rushed back to the table to begin our feast. After unwrapping the burger we saw this…

The burger didn’t look like anything special, but certainly didn’t look horrible. One thing was missing however — where was the bacon peeking out from under the bun like you usually see on a good bacon burger? Further investigation was required so we popped the hood.

Look at that. We got maybe half a slice of whimpy, flimsy, paper-thin bacon on top of that single slice of American cheese. Poorly cooked and terribly presented, this bacon cheeseburger from Burger King is a complete BACON FAIL.

Good thing our next stop was bacon at Sonic Drive-In. Little did we know that Sonic was about to save our bacon today.

Smaste™ rating for this burger: a very low 17.898.

(Scroll down for video)

The place…Elk River, MN. We’ve been hunting for bacon there before, but hadn’t noticed an obvious choice for our bacon excursion — Sonic Drive-In. Way back in August 2008 a Bacon Toaster Sandwich was ordered from Sonic in our honor and we’ve always meant to find a Sonic to taste the food ourselves. We happened to drive by one today so we decided to go all out.

The line at Sonic was incredibly long and we were concerned that we wouldn’t find a place to park. We didn’t see the Bacon Toaster sandwich on the menu, though the Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster did look tasty. We noticed that a side of bacon was available for just 60 cents and we had about $20. We figured a grilled cheese sandwich with as much bacon as possible would give us our best bacon-to-dollar ratio. We didn’t want to do the math so we just ask for 20 orders of bacon with our meal.

Our meal arrived with only 10 orders of bacon which ended up being quite fortunate. Turns out you get 3 slices of bacon with every side order of bacon so we ended up with a grilled cheese sandwich and 30 slices of bacon which was nearly impossible to eat. That didn’t stop us of course!

We gave the Sonic Grilled Cheese and 30 Slices of Bacon a Smaste™ rating of 41.2. The bacon was excellent, greasy, and cooked to perfection. A pleasent surprise for an impromptu first stop at Sonic Drive-In.

Watch the video of me ordering, assembling, and eating a Sonic Grilled Cheese with 30 Slices of Bacon.

On a recent trip to Duluth, MN lunch was ordered in for the hard-working people I was meeting with. The lunch that day was coming from Erbert & Gerberts Subs & Clubs, which has locations spreading from Green Bay, WI to Denver, CO.

When I looked at Erbert & Gerberts’ sandwich menu, I noticed there was only one item with bacon and it was a rather wild combintaion. “The Geeter” sandwich is a mix of seafood and bacon topped by lettuce, sprouts, tomato, and real mayo. Those of you who know me understand that I’m often a “hold the tomatoes” kind of guy, especially when it involves seafood so I left them off the sandwhich when I placed my order.

When the sandwhich arrived it was packed tightly in the deli wrapper. I was eager to dive in and take a bite.

Once the wrapper was off I was greeted with a fresh, soft French bread cocoon – the bacon patiently waiting within to make its debut.

At first glance I didn’t know what to make of the sandwich. The seafood mixture totally dominated the bacon peeking slightly from beneath. I was worried that this combination of seafood, sprouts, and bacon might not be a match made in heaven.

I flipped the sandwich over and tore off a piece of bacon to give it a taste. The bacon was well prepared and high quality. I was impressed. Now it was time to take a bite of the whole Geeter.

Much to my suprise, The Geeter is an incredibly delicious sandwhich. The flavor varieties played well against one another and I’d definately order this one again. The Geeter earns a Smaste™ rating of 38.431 and a bonus point for having such a cool name.

This week Bacon Today wandered around Los Angeles in search of great places to eat bacon. We wound up at a little gem of a restaurant that every bacon lover should seek out if they’re in the L.A. area — Howard’s Famous Bacon & Avocado Burgers.

The restaurant is tiny, the decor is bland, and the location is less than ideal. None of that mattered since we were there for was the food. We ordered up a few burgers and settled ourselves into one of the 5 booths in the small place.

The burgers arrived looking spectacular. Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, & buns. A dab of mayo. Perfectly ripened avocado, a big juicy beef patty, and crispy bacon.

The bacon itself was thick, well-prepared, and extremely tasty. After tasting the bacon, the burger was reassembled and the first bite was taken. This meal earns a  Smaste™ rating of 37.999. Highly recommended.

Howard’s is a must-stop spot for any bacon lover heading through the Los Angeles area. Its one of those places that you just have to say “yeah, I’ve eaten there”. Make sure you bring your cash though, as Howard’s doesn’t take credit cards.

Howard’s Famous Bacon & Avocado Burgers
11127 Venice Blvd Ste 7
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 838-9111

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This morning I wanted something a bit different. I decided to try a new restaurant not too far from the office for breakfast.

The menu featured a few bacon items, but nothing too spectacular. One item in particular I had not tried at any restaurant: bacon panini.

I ordered the bacon panini and paid my $3.98…a pretty good price for a sizeable breakfast sandwich. I took my bacon panini to go and brought it back to the office for a taste test.

Overall, the sandwich was rather plain and lifeless. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it was a glorified grilled cheese sandwich (total ingredients were: American cheese, scrambled eggs, bacon, & toast). If not for the bacon, I would have thrown the sandwich out after a couple bites. But, I was hungry and it had bacon so I at every last bit.

This particualar bacon panini earned a Smaste™ rating of 21.223. The restaurant shall remain nameless.