Hey. My name is Heath Saraceno. I play guitar in Senses Fail. I go on tour. I eat food. This is the food that I eat while on tour.

Email suggestions to heathlovesfood@gmail.com if you know of a sweet spot I should try.
March 19
MARCH 16, 2009 Chicago, IL P.F. CHANGS - BEEF LO MEIN This was a good day off.  Slept in, went for a hearing test, went to see The Watchmen, went to a great restaurant located only in Chicago which shows off the city’s individual attitude and flair…Well, everything except that last one. We were located in a tourist heavy area, so that meant we had nothing special to choose from.  All the restaurants I had on my list (Kuma’s, Hot Doug’s, Weiner’s Circle) would have cost more in cab fare than the actual meal.  I was a little bummed out about this but decided to soldier on.  Our group tried to pull it together last minute and walked to the Weber Grill but unfortunately there were about 30 people ahead of us waiting for tables.  At 8:30.  On a Monday. Defeated, we turned a corner and saw an old standby where we knew we would at least find a filling meal.  One that no matter where in the country we are, we know we will get a meal that tastes exactly the same as the last time (and state) we had it.  P.F. Changs. This really is a fine chain restaurant.  A decent wine list, a great assortment of appetizers, and meals ranging from super light (seared tuna with a side of marinated cucumbers) or heavy (mongolian beef) enough to get mocked on South Park.  That said, it should not be looked at as a Chinese restaurant.  It is only Chinese as much as The Olive Garden is Italian.  They are both fine examples of Americanized (which some might read as “dumbed down”) ethnic cuisine, and they both have a lot of good food to offer.  You just can’t compare them to the authentic take out place you went to once in San Francisco, or your grandma’s all-day-on-the-stove Sunday sauce.  If you do that, you’ll be let down every time. Taking this all into consideration, I ordered the Beef Lo Mein, which used to be called Beef Chow Mein.  Now, I don’t know the difference between authentic Lo Mein and authentic Chow Mein, and for our intents and purposes my ignorance is invalid - because I knew I was not ordering authentic Chinese food.  What I ordered was great.  The noodles were tasty but not greasy, the beef was tender and juicy and the vegetables, especially the celery, were fresh and crisp.  And guess what?  This was exactly how it was the last time I ordered it, in Hackensack, NJ 4 months ago.

MARCH 16, 2009

Chicago, IL

P.F. CHANGS - BEEF LO MEIN

This was a good day off.  Slept in, went for a hearing test, went to see The Watchmen, went to a great restaurant located only in Chicago which shows off the city’s individual attitude and flair…Well, everything except that last one.

We were located in a tourist heavy area, so that meant we had nothing special to choose from.  All the restaurants I had on my list (Kuma’s, Hot Doug’s, Weiner’s Circle) would have cost more in cab fare than the actual meal.  I was a little bummed out about this but decided to soldier on.  Our group tried to pull it together last minute and walked to the Weber Grill but unfortunately there were about 30 people ahead of us waiting for tables.  At 8:30.  On a Monday.

Defeated, we turned a corner and saw an old standby where we knew we would at least find a filling meal.  One that no matter where in the country we are, we know we will get a meal that tastes exactly the same as the last time (and state) we had it.  P.F. Changs.

This really is a fine chain restaurant.  A decent wine list, a great assortment of appetizers, and meals ranging from super light (seared tuna with a side of marinated cucumbers) or heavy (mongolian beef) enough to get mocked on South Park.  That said, it should not be looked at as a Chinese restaurant.  It is only Chinese as much as The Olive Garden is Italian.  They are both fine examples of Americanized (which some might read as “dumbed down”) ethnic cuisine, and they both have a lot of good food to offer.  You just can’t compare them to the authentic take out place you went to once in San Francisco, or your grandma’s all-day-on-the-stove Sunday sauce.  If you do that, you’ll be let down every time.

Taking this all into consideration, I ordered the Beef Lo Mein, which used to be called Beef Chow Mein.  Now, I don’t know the difference between authentic Lo Mein and authentic Chow Mein, and for our intents and purposes my ignorance is invalid - because I knew I was not ordering authentic Chinese food.  What I ordered was great.  The noodles were tasty but not greasy, the beef was tender and juicy and the vegetables, especially the celery, were fresh and crisp.  And guess what?  This was exactly how it was the last time I ordered it, in Hackensack, NJ 4 months ago.