Welcome to Flavortown, where culinary icon Guy Fieri himself designed each dish featured on the menu. With over 10 shows aired, Guy Fieri is renowned for his culinary expertise, having won the second season of Food Network’s ‘The Next Big Food Network Star’ in 2006. This victory earned him his own show, ‘Guy’s Big Bite,’ which successfully aired for 10 years. Fieri’s success enabled him to open various restaurants across the country, including one in Council Bluffs, Nebraska. His franchise, Flavortown, was our first spot we had in mind for the night, but our night promptly turned into the unexpected. Guy Fieri’s restaurant was located in the hotel, Harrah’s, joined with a casino inside. To commence, the restaurant had posted on the internet that it was closed, while we still had a reservation. Jack ended up calling the restaurant, and as a matter of fact, they were open, and it is 25$ per person if a cancellation were necessary. Unsure about the environment we were about to encounter, each of us had a gut feeling this restaurant had something unexpected in store for us. We entered through the doorless room, brushed with softly lit lamps overhead. Intermingled with Harrah’s institution was an outdoor venue accessible to many artists, local or not. Towards the back of the restaurant sat an alternate ambiance to the location where we were seated. Windows of great size painted on the walls, along with towering shelves filled with vintage records and instruments.
While the atmosphere of Flavortown stayed bright and physically exceptional, the service left us in dismay. The waitress responsible for our table was regarded as inattentive in meeting our needs, but our presence felt comparable to a chore. Dissatisfaction greatly characterizes our experience with Flavortown, unfortunately, prompting us to order a single shareable from the menu, pay, and vacate the premises. While on the way, we were struggling with Angel’s dad to let her eat somewhere in Council Bluffs. He was worried about her safety; however, we managed to eat at Pizza King anyway.
Pizza King is a family-owned restaurant that has been in the same location in downtown Council Bluffs since 1965. When walking in, the lights were dimmed, setting a fancy ambiance with red carpets, red cushioned chairs, and white table cloths.
For starters, we got the combo where we received onion rings, fried mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, and fried ravioli. The onion rings were huge with a crispy, deep-fried, oily exterior and a white, thick onion on the inside that was slightly sweet. They came with a side of ranch because what American doesn’t like ranch? The fried mozzarella consists of sticks of mozzarella cheese coated in seasoned breadcrumbs and deep-fried. The exterior was crunchy and golden, while the inside melted into a warm. stretchy, gooey cheese. They came with some marinara which added a tangy tomato contrast to the rich cheese. The jalapeño poppers are halved jalapeño peppers stuffed with a creamy filling of cream cheese, then fried. The result is a crispy outside with a creamy, savory center. The jalapeño provides a mild to moderate heat that balances beautifully with the cool, rich filling. Lastly, there was the fried ravioli. The fried ravioli were deep-fried pasta pockets, filled with cheese and meat. The outside becomes crunchy while the inside stays tender and flavorful.
For the main course, Jack decided that we were all sumo wrestlers and ordered 3 large pizzas (22 slices per pizza): Hawaiian Pizza, chicken and bacon pizza, and Jack’s weird pizza.
Angel decided to create her own pizza because she didn’t like any of the options and decided to add chicken and bacon on top. This pizza was one of the favorites. The Hawaiian pizza consisted of pineapple and ham. This one was the second favorite. Lastly, Jack’s pizza, the Bullseye, consisted of cream cheese, jalapeño peppers, and BBQ sauce. The cream cheese adds a creamy flavor that complements well with the BBQ sauce and the jalapeños add some well needed spice to the pizza. Some say this is a very weird combo, but Jack and Rocco really liked it.
Our server decided to give us two free desserts: chocolate cake and baklava. The chocolate cake was a homemade recipe. The cake was soft and fluffy, but moist and it will melt in your mouth. It was rich with chocolate, but not overwhelming. Baklava is an Eastern Mediterranean layered pastry made with thin sheets of dough (phyllo), chopped nuts, and sweet syrup or honey. It was crispy on the outside, soft inside, and very sweet. Both of these deserts were devoured very fast.
Overall, Guy Fiere was not a big success, but Pizza King was very good and had a huge variety of food options.
