(4 out of 5 hot dogs)

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I returned last week from my 10 day free trip to Israel, a land where hummus flows like water.  Actually, more freely than water  (There is a major drought, but apparently no shortage of mashed up chick peas.)  I didn’t have any milk or honey in the land of milk and honey, but I had a slew of delicacies that are hard to come by on this side of the Atlantic.

Ronen’s Yemenite Food Bar
Gallery Street, Sefad, Israel

Sefad is the center of Kaballah in the world.  After visiting, I still have no idea what  Kaballah is, but I did get to eat a really awesome snack for 20 shekels ($5).  In his stand, a Yemenite cooks lachuchs to order: made in a pan like a crepe, filled with vegetables and spices, and then rolled up and wrapped in paper.  The Yemenite told me that lachuch was the first bread in the world, but after some minutes of research on Wikipedia, I was unable to verify, so the verdict is still out. Anyway, I couldn’t help but feel more spiritual as I took a bite, because I am 90% sure that Madonna has eaten from the same stand.

Abouelafia Shawarma
Yeffet 4, Tel Aviv Jaffa, Israel

A Israeli Shawarma is like something you’d get at a Halal cart in NYC, except better.  A lafa (flatbread) is filled with chopped up lamb meat, and then whatever else you want.  I’m talking pickles, cabbage, hummus, tomatoes, FRENCH FRIES, and more.  At this restaurant, I got a Shawarma plus a drink and unlimited sides for 25 Shekels ($6.50).  Most Falafel/ Shawarma stands have a whole table of free sides sitting out for to add to your meal: fried bread, cauliflower, mushrooms, cucumbers, pepper, etc.  If you are really cheap, you could go in and eat a whole meal of sides while “waiting to order,” and then shalom out of there.

חיישה שגפמ
The Boardwalk, Eilat, Israel

After a night of drinking but not getting drunk in the resort town of Eilat, I needed something to nosh on, but there wasn’t a pizza joint in sight!  So I ordered a boureka for 15 shekels ($4).  A boureka is a triangle puff pastry covered with sesame seeds and filled with various ingredients.  Mine came with feta cheese and tomato sauce, and then was sliced open and a hard-boiled egg was added.  Basically, a freshly assembled Hot Pocket minus the microwave: a perfect food to follow up one, two, or ten l’chaims.

(3 out of 5 hot dogs)

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Sandwich Man
111 North 2^nd St
Harrisburg, PA

On a recent road trip, I learned on Yelp via my blackberry of an alleged taco truck in Harrisburg.  When we neared the address, there was no such vehicle in sight, and it was clear we were in one of the capital’s seedier neighborhoods.  After asking for directions at a pharmacy and an adult toy store, it became clear that the taco truck had gone south for the winter, and the next best thing was the Sandwich Man across town.  At this runner-up lunch destination, I ordered a tuna melt for $3.95 (which had substantial tuna, but wasn’t quite melted and had unsolicited hard-boiled egg), and a fresh soft pretzel for  $0.75.  You could also buy beers, from a $1 High Life to a $2.50 locally brewed Appalachian beer.  It was an adequate meal, but the memory of a lost taco truck on that brisk Pennsylvania afternoon will always haunt my taste buds…

(2 out of 5 hot dogs)

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This past weekend, my friends and I took a little trip to Atlantic City, a quaint (read: gaudy) town from which the Monopoly board is based on.  I decided to take on the Codename: Thimble, because it’s adorable, and fits right on your little pinky finger.  Luckily, I didn’t end up needing a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card.  We took the Greyhound, which was $35 round trip.  Apparently attached to the bus ticket was a Bonus ticket, where we would have gotten reimbursed for the trip in casino tokens, but we didn’t realize that until afterwards.  Oops!  Anyway, we got all spiffied up in our Sunday best, and definitely stood out against masses of extra-large t-shirts and fanny packs.

Atlantic City Hilton Casino and Resort
3400 Pacific Avenue
Atlantic City, NJ

We stayed in the Atlantic City Hilton, which came with it’s own casino, so our fortunes were only an elevator ride and a few steps away from our room.  I scoped out the food situation, and unfortunately there was a Patsy’s Pizzeria in the hotel with a $35 prefix (gag).  I didn’t spend two and a half hours on a bus full of gambling-addicts to be overcharged for underwhelming pizza that I could get in my neighborhood.  But on the bright side, at the casino there were unlimited FREE drinks.  Wowza!  It’s perfect! You just have to be sitting at a table (or appear to be sitting at a table) when the server walks by.  And its really easy, all you have to do is win, and then you’ll actually get paid to drink to your heart’s content.  But alas, for many, it isn’t that idyllic.  As one of my friends (Codename: Racecar) sobbed in agony at the end of the night, “I just dropped $700 on eight beers!”

Sbarros
1000 Boardwalk
Atlantic City, NJ

The next morning, our bellies were as emptied as our bank accounts. But apart from casinos, the Atlantic City only seemed to have ‘Cash for Gold’ stores, and the occasional sketchy deli complete bullet holes in the window.  We reluctantly ate at Sbarros located within the Taj Mahal.  For $3.95 I had a small cup of pasta salad, the only item that didn’t appear to be doused in grease.  I had a dandy time in Atlantic City, but next time I will definitely bring my own food, and maybe I’ll switch to Codename: Top Hat, in hopes that I’ll come out on top.

(4 out of 5 hot dogs)

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A few times a year I take the Fung-Wah bus from Chinatown in NYC to Chinatown in Boston for $15 each way.  It takes around 4 hours, and if you bring some good music and a thermos full of hot toddy, it goes by fast.  Apparently Megabus has a  $3 deal each way, but I’ve never taken it, and it sounds a little too good to be true.   In Boston, the bars close down at 2 AM citywide, and it is illegal to have happy-hours or drink specials, so this isn’t a place to party-party-all-night-long.  But the food is great, and it’s a perfect place for a relaxing getaway/ change of pace.

Border Café
32 Church St.
Cambridge, MA

The Border Café is in Harvard Square (right by to the University), so you can eat Mexican food and simultaneously feel very studious and academic.  Upon being seated, you are brought chips and salsa.  They are freshly-made and warm and amazing.  I may even say that they were the best tortilla chips I’ve ever had (although that is a bold statement, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to make that kind of commitment).  Anyway, I ate so many of them that I wasn’t hungry by the time my main course came.  The order of guacamole was $3.95, and the margaritas were $5.50 each, and I marveled that the prices here were half or even a third what you would pay in NYC.  For my main course, I got fish tacos for $7.50, which came rice and beans and pico de gallo.  The fish part of the tacos were fried nuggets, more of a Tex-Mex/ Cajun style than authentic Mexican food, but still good.  All that, and I still haven’t told you about my favorite part of the meal.  I’m a big water drinker, and usually need my glass refilled seven or eight times during a meal, especially if it’s spicy.  Border Café must have known that I was coming and gave us huge plastic cups of water, the size of pitchers, so I didn’t need to have it refilled at all!  This place is border-line paradise!

Regina Pizzeria
11 ½ Thacher St.
Boston, MA

The North End is the Little Italy of Boston, although more authentic and less theme-park-y that our Little Italy here in NYC.  Regina’s is famous for having the best pizza in Boston, but more importantly, it is much much cheaper than the other fancy restaurants in the area where entrees go for around $25.  Between four people, we split a large tomato, basil and mozzarella pizza and a small artichoke and olive pizza, which came to $9 a person including tip.  The servers and kitchen-staff all had Authentic Boston accents, and were yelling random Boston things really loud the whole time, like “These Hahvahd chowdaheads at the bah ordahed two wicked pahk the cah pizzas!”  Regina’s is the real deal; it doesn’t trump all NYC pizza, but it does make Patsy’s look like a patsy.

Sam Adams Brewery
30 Germania Street
Boston, MA

The Sam Adams Brewery is in Jamaica Plains, which is like the Brooklyn of Boston (cute and neighborhood-y but slightly ghetto), and they give free tours six days a week.  We took the 11:45 AM Monday tour, and our guide didn’t hide the fact that she had already put a few beers away for breakfast.  Her eyes were glazed over a little, but she didn’t slur or spill beer on anyone, which was classy. After about 25 minutes of walking through the brewery and learning how beer was made (blah blah blah), we got to go in the tasting room and sample the beer.  Everyone was given a 7 oz. Sam Adams’ tasting glass, which we were able to take home.  And we tasted four beers: Boston lager, winter lager, blueberry witbier and brick red (which is never bottled and only served at select bars in Boston!)  Technically we were only supposed to have three glasses, but pitchers were being passed around freely, and I was able to have five or six glasses, which kept me feeling toasty in the bitter Boston weather.

(2 out of 5 hot dogs)

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For all of you jetsetters on a budget, I bring you the first edition of ITJS Goes Global. I just returned today from a week in the city of angels, eating out two meals a day, and came to the conclusion that NYC trumps LA in most ways, but most definitively in the food department. Whether fruit picker or studio exec, you are doomed to eat crappy food almost wherever you go. I did however find a few specials worth blogging about, and the best part is they’re only a six-hour flight away!

Cabo Cantina
30 Washington Blvd
Venice, CA

I saw the giant margarita sign and the palm-tree decorations, and I knew I was destined to have lunch here. Luckily it was Taco Tuesday, which means unlimited tacos with rice and beans all day for $4.95. But there are similar specials every day of the week, usually pairing greasy Mexican food with tecate and tequila in different combinations. Happy hour is everyday from 4-8, where drinks are 2-for-1. I sat on the rooftop overlooking Venice Beach with old friends, guzzled a skull-sized margarita, listened to hip-hop on the jukebox, and couldn’t ask for more.

El Nuevo Rincon Salvadoreno
3827 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

A pupusa is an El Salvadorian bread that does not actually taste like poo-poo, as the title would have you believe. They are round, have the consistency of naan, and are filled with cheese and your choice of beans, pork, zucchini or loroco (an edible flower). They are $2 each, and you need only two or three to fill you up.  You can top them with cabbage and hot-sauce to spice it up. At this pupuseria, I also tried fried plantains, which had a perfect salty/sweet combo, and came in around $4. Although I prefer the more standard quesadillas, I’m happy to add the pupusa to my glorious list of fried bread and cheese dishes.

7-Eleven
4930 W. Pico
Los Angeles, CA

In LA, Bars close at 2am, there’s no public transportation to speak of, and you are more likely to strike gold than you are to catch a cab. Out on a Saturday night, like many Saturday nights, there was nothing I wanted more than a slice of pizza. But since everything was closed, my only option was stopping at the corner 7-Eleven, where you can get two slices for $3. The two slices combined were smaller than one regular slice you can find on the street anywhere in New York. The cardboard box in which they were served was softer and tasted better the pizza itself. In short, going to 7-Elevent for a meal was one of the great mistakes of my life. But next time I’m in LA on Saturday at 2am, I can’t say I won’t do it again.