Root root for the home team! Peanuts and Cracker Jacks and beer! Taking in a 51s game is a fun, cheap way to spend an evening. Savings hint: Every Thursday is $1 beer night. Sadly, I just wish more folks would attend these games. C'mon Vegas locals and tourists - get your butts to a bench and take in a game. To me, summer just isn't complete without enjoying several baseball games. And ok, sure, the 51s aren't exactly the most spectacular team to watch, but the games are truly enjoyable - and you have to show some love for our local team.

positive

So I was teetering between a five star and a four star but decided that my having a hangover on day two was not reeeally Devoured's fault...lol. I went to both days and must say that I think day one was a bit more fun (it was rainy and dreary which made the lines a little less intense and the food a little more satisfying (IMO). One of my faves from day one (and the winner of my day one Yelpee award for best overall performance and best dessert) was Gertrude's ... OMG they had a 'cookies and milk' play that was some kind of delicious ice cream on top of chocolate soup of sorts.....I LOVED that. Other honorable mentions include: Davanti Enoteca (full portions of pork sandwiches au jus.....ridiculously tasty and the smell was out of this world), the tiramisu from North, the ice cream sandwich from Churn (mint ice cream FTW), the whoopie pie from Whoopie Baking Company (seriously the best wp I have ever had...yum), and the short rib ravioli from Federal Pizza (When they had it again on day two I was doing a little happy dance, this ravioli was good...creamy cheese with amazing melty short rib in pasta...how could you go wrong? I was really turned off to FP, but now I am turned on once again! (TWSS)). Day two was a beautiful sunny day in Phoenix, but also made for longer lines and more crowding. The crowd became close to unbearable in the back by Kai. I'm not sure why they had Kai and J&G and a couple of the other sought after booths all in the same section, but the crowd was completely insane. When I finally made it up to the Kai booth, the food wasn't even THAT amazing, but I'm glad I got to taste it before paying for it. Kai had a funky cheese 'cake,' Foie gras mousse (this was off putting....everyone around me thought so too), and a delicious creme brulee (that I have a feeling was not creme, but something much fancier). They served their food in cute reusable dish wear, but only had ONE recycle station that was completely engulfed in the mob of a line that was around Kai. Needless to say, a lot of the adorable glass bottles and bamboo spoons were left on the tables in that section. Ok, on to my own personal Yelpee awards for day two: Best overall performance- Different Pointe of View for their Venison. Holy mother of someone..... this was so flippin delicious. The meat was the most tender meat I have had in a very long time. The polenta cake was amazing. The personal talk with the employees at the booth was even great. I never wanted to go to their restaurant, and now I definitely do, so bravo to them! The winner of best dessert goes to Kai for their delish creme brulee thingy (although they definitely get the winner of most pretentious booth with the biggest crowd sooo...). Honorable mentions go out to: Short leash...always delicious, friendly, and personable (Thanks Brad and Kate!), J&G - their steak with the cheese ball was really good, my only issue was the steak was super rare for me, but the flavor was great, House of Tricks - their duck soup was my second favorite dish overall of the day, so yummy with an awesome play on flavor and texture, Federal Pizza's short rib ravioli (again), Barrio Cafe (always delicious...this was no exception), and (surprisingly) the vegan salad from Brat house was very fresh and delicious. The Yelpee for best drink? Definitely the cucumber concoction from Windsor...I drank too many of these. Ok, Ok, this is all nice, but there are a few things that can be improved upon for this event next year including: Consider the lay out of the restaurants to include some lesser known or less desirable restaurants near the big draws to reduce the crowding in certain areas, make announcements of some kind when the demos start (maybe they did, but I didn't hear it and the one demo I went to started 20 minutes late so we were all sitting there like wtf for 20 minutes), put out recycle bins, don't make us carry one wine glass around all day so we don't have two hands to eat the food with....or provide one of those nifty wine glass slings or trays with the glass, and (I never ever thought I would say this but....) make the portion sizes smaller! Yes, I did say smaller. I had full plates of food being passed out by some of the vendors (*cough* chelsea's kitchen and Davanti*cough*...in fact, I didn't even try Chelsea's kitchen because I knew I wouldn't want that whole plate and didn't want to waste it). I love getting a big plate of food, but when there are 30+ places to try, I felt guilty wasting a ton of food due to either not liking the item or just being too full to eat that much. I bet at least 5000$ worth of food was just thrown away over the weekend due to large portion sizes. If the restaurants gave out a bite or two each, that would be perfect and reduce all of the waste (and allow people to go back and try their favorites again without being WAY too stuffed to do so). Overall, this event was amazing and I will attend next year again!

positive

I went to Taqueria Canonita with a large group. In our party was a 50-year-old, white southerner who, we later find out, eats nothing but meat and potatoes. And has truly never had Mexican food. It was hilarious watching this extremely polite man's reactions as we tried to explain what a burrito is or why anyone would slow-roast pork on a banana leaf. He eventually settled on three soft tacos with rice but was perplexed with the color of the restaurant's cilantro rice. "Now, I hope you don't mind me asking but is green a normal color for rice?" I really liked Taqueria Canonita. I tried the Pepita Crab Cakes and the Smoked Chicken Quesadilla as appetizers. Both were very flavorful. I was actually surprised with the crab cakes because I usually compare them against those found in New England. They were solid, especially given that we were sitting in the middle of the desert. The chips were just okay but the salsa was good. And the guacamole was excellent and they give you a ton of it. For my entree, I ordered the Mexico City Chicken Enchiladas. It was good but nothing spectacular. I had a couple margaritas and they were okay. Nothing to write home about either but it did its job. The inside of the restaurant had a really fresh, hip vibe. We sat on the patio, under the Venetian's stars and next to the canal. After the second drink, I almost forgot that I was inside of a mall. For a place that serves green rice, this place was definitely able to please the crowd.
positive