Send Off Summer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria This August!

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Erin

Send Off Summer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria This August!

By Erin

*I was invited in to Grimaldi’s for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own*

The summer is sadly coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the fun or flavor has to end. Throughout the month of August, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in El Segundo invites you to come on in to try their new Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, and its Chocolate Cheesecake. If delicious pizza and mouth-watering cheesecake weren’t reason enough to make a visit, Grimaldi’s continues to celebrate the summer with Tuesday Tastings, which offers guests half-off all glasses, carafes, and bottles of wine. With more than 50 wines to choose from, sample the extensive wine selection at restaurants nationwide through September 30.

Grimaldi’s El Segundo is located at 2121 Rosecrans Ave., in El Segundo, CA, it boasts some gorgeous indoor and beautiful patio dining (just look at all the beautiful palm trees and enjoy the glorious California weather), as well as a private room for parties of up to 40 people. Traditional red and white checkered table cloths dress the tables, New York’s history is celebrated with some black and white photography throughout the restaurant and Sinatra can be seen in the background creating an energized setting for an exceptional dining experience.

I absolutely loved the decor of the wine bottles being used for light, hanging from the ceilings and on the tables. The kitchen is glass-encased so you can see everything that goes on in there, showcases the 25 ton coal brick ovens that crisp every pizza to perfection at nearly 1200 degrees.

Once we were seated we took a look at the menu and placed our drink orders. It was lunch time, so I didn’t want to get anything too crazy or strong, so I went for a nice refreshing White Sangria. It was perfect.

If you’re looking for something more on the lighter side, the Grimaldi’s House Salad is a good choice. Since we were sharing and also getting pizza, we opted for the smaller sized salad. We also added on Fresh Mozzarella and Genoa Salami to it. It was plenty for two of us to share. It comes with Romaine Lettuce, Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes, Oven Roasted Sweet Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Sicilian Green Olives, & a Vinaigrette Dressing .

Then it was time for pizza!! First we had the special Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza. This seasonal pie comes with quite the kick– it’s topped with spicy chicken sausage, sautéed broccoli rabe and ricotta cheese. Its bold and zesty flavor is perfectly balanced by the creamy ricotta cheese. If you love a little spice, then you’re sure to love this fiery new addition. The size shown here is a personal sized pizza, so if you are not completely starving and plan on having a salad and dessert along with your pizza then this should be plenty enough for you to share with another person.

I am a total Pesto lover, so I just had to order a pesto pizza. If you know me, then you also know I’m a total bacon lover. My creation here has pesto, cheese, bacon, and green peppers and it was amazing! I really need to go back and have another one of these.

Oh my it makes me hungry just looking at these again. I had to take a close up just so you could see how yummy their toppings are. Just look at that bacon. And Pesto. And everything else…

Oh and this, I love how they have these pizza towers so you can easily have more than one or 3 pizzas at your table at a time and still have plenty of room to eat it all.

Then it was time for dessert. Not just any dessert either, but my favorite! Cheesecake!! Since we wanted to try both of their special fall cheesecakes; Caramel Apple Cheesecake and Chocolate Cheesecake, and we were already getting pretty full we opted to get the Dessert Trio for $10. With the Dessert Trio you get to select a sampling of any three of Grimaldi’s delicious dessert options, including the house-made cheesecakes, Cannolis, and Tiramisu. We chose to get the two special cheesecakes and the tiramisu. The Caramel Apple Cheesecake is a rich caramel and green apple cheesecake, topped with caramel and whipped cream. The Chocolate Cheesecake is served with chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips. My favorite of the three was the Caramel Apple Cheesecake! I almost wished I had a full size piece of it, but it’s probably a good thing I didn’t.

What are your favorite pizza toppings? Would you spice up your pizza with the Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza? Oh and that cheesecake… which one would you try first? 🙂 Be sure to check Grimaldi’s out the next time you are in the Los Angeles area or any of their other locations if you cannot make it down to El Segundo.

Celebrate Summer with Ruby’s new Shakes! #RubysSummerShakes

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Erin

Celebrate Summer with Ruby’s new Shakes!

By Erin

Summer is here and what better way to celebrate than with some cool and refreshing shakes from Ruby’s? When Ruby’s asked if I’d come in to try out their new summer shakes, I couldn’t resist! Ruby’s has three new shakes available for a limited time, as sadly, summer doesn’t last forever. So get them while they last! There are three special flavors for summer – Kit Kat, Double Dark Chocolate and Heath Bar. These shakes will make you Chocolate Happy!

Ruby’s has 40 locations across the U.S. in California, Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Texas.

Before we get to the shakes though, we started out with some french fries to share and a nice ice-cold Cherry-Coke! So refreshing on a warm summer night!

Of course, if you go to Ruby’s and have some fries… you are going to want to have a burger with those fries! 😉

I had one of my favorites. The Hickory Burger. A half-pound of premium USDA choice beef, topped with two slices of melted cheddar cheese, with thick-cut bacon, crisp lettuce, tomato, Ruby Sauce, and crispy Ruby Rings. Topped with a delicious and zesty BBQ sauce! It’s a whole lot of “yum” in one bite! On the side I got some hot, crispy, garlic fries! I love all the fresh garlic they top them with!

My friend that I was dining out with, chose one of her personal favorites, The Classic Ruby Burger. Still simple, yet delicious after all these years. Topped with crisp lettuce, tomato, Ruby Sauce and Pepper Jack cheese, makes for another delicious option.

If you are not a french fry person, then you might like their golden, crispy, onion rings!

Or maybe you are looking for a healthier option, especially if you plan on indulging in a delicious summery shake afterwards? 😉 Then give the Ruby’s Apple, Pecan & Blue Cheese Salad a whirl. A fresh, spring mix of romaine, Julienne apples, dried cranberries, candied pecans and golden raisins tossed in a Pomegranate Vinaigrette with Blue Cheese crumbles. You can also get this served with Chicken if you wish. Now onto the best part, right? Dessert!!

The first up of the 3 new summer shakes, was the Double Dark Chocolate shake. A very chocolaty shake, topped with chocolate chips, whipped-cream and a cherry. If you love chocolate and want something simple, then you’ll love this one!

Phineas & Ferb Last Day of Summer #PhineasAndFerbEvent

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Erin

Phineas and Ferb Last Day of Summer

By Erin

Last week I mentioned that I was going to be seeing the “Phineas and Ferb Last Day of Summer” episode as Phineas and Ferb is sadly ending after an amazing run. We also had the opportunity to chat with creators and Executive Producers: Dan Povenmire & Jeff “Swampy” Marsh about the “Phineas and Ferb Last Day of Summer” episode, airing on Disney XD on Friday, June 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. As if that wasn’t enough, we got to end our time with Dan and Swampy with a fun summer picnic (the weather did not disappoint us either as we got some HOT HOT HOT summertime weather on Monday!) Even Phineas and Ferb joined in on the fun!

First, we had the screening for the Special One-Hour Episode Premiere. How exciting to see it on a big screen instead of on the TV at home! Here’s a quick synopsis of the Last Day of Summer. As the summer season comes to a close, it’s Candace’s last chance to bust her brothers. She is quickly foiled, but is presented with an opportunity to redo the day when she sets off Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s Do-Over-Inator, which results in other consequences like rips in the space-time continuum, the shortening of days and the disappearance of her brothers and other things. I can’t give away the ending but I am happy to say that you will enjoy the way the Last Day of Summer ends. Be on the lookout for a few special “Easter eggs” in the episode you won’t want to miss either! 😉

When the episode was over with, Dan and Swampy came to join us for an emotional Q & A session. First we found out what the inspiration for Phineas and Ferb was. There inspiration came mostly from their own childhoods. Dan said, “Cause Swampy and I were both sort of creative kids and, we had creative parents that would allow us to do ridiculous things and were always building things like tree houses and I was the king of my neighborhood” Swampy added, “It started with us putting ourselves back to 10 to 12 year old boys and thinking you could do anything. That’s pretty easy for us to do, cause we’re pretty close to that maturity level.”

Next we asked about which episode was their favorite. Dan said he has a list of favorites, but if he really had to be pressed for a favorite it might be the roller coaster one because it’s one that he and Swampy did themselves. Another favorite was Summer Belongs To You, which was their first hour long special. In that episode it has Phineas and Isabela in Paris where Isabela’s trying to get him to see how romantic it is and, Candace and Jeremy decide to be boyfriend and girlfriend and then they’re all stranded on a desert island and the last 11 minutes of Summer Belongs To You I think was maybe the best thing. The songs from Summer Belongs to You and the ending song in the finale were also favorites. “The one that just aired, I literally can’t watch without tearing up. When it was playing I actually purposely took my phone out and answered e-mails so that I wouldn’t be all red eyed,” said a very teary eyed and emotional Dan. “The song is one of my favorites,” said Dan. Then Swampy continued to say, “It really says a lot about the series.”

Now, why did the show have to end? Dan explained to us, “We’ve been doing this for a decade and we felt like this is a good time-I feel like this show is still really good and really fresh. I’m really proud of the 4^th season as much as I am of the first ones. I felt like let’s go out before it starts feeling tired. Swampy added in, “There’s a whole new batch of kids that could start in episode one.”

"Phineas and Ferb" creators and executive producers Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh at a screening event to promote the "Last Day of Summer" in Burbank California on Monday, June 8. "Phineas and Ferb: Last Day of Summer," premieres Friday, June 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT as a simulcast on Disney XD and Disney Channel. (Disney XD/Valerie Macon) DAN POVENMIRE (CO-CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "PHINEAS AND FERB"), JEFF "SWAMPY" MARSH (CO-CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "PHINEAS AND FERB")

Photo Credit: Disney XD/Valerie Macon

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Send Off Summer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria This August!