Reminiscing about Elon

Often I would complain about the food selection in the Burlington, NC area. Although a meal at Applebee's, Chili's, Ruby Tuesdays, Outback Steakhouse, and anywhere else on Huffman Mill Rd. (which I refer to as the Fast Food Freeway), it is never figure or wallet friendly. I often enjoyed going home and having all of the DC area places available. Now that I am officially home for good, I find myself missing my staples places. For those you have the fortune of returning to Burlington, I want to impart some of my food wisdom on you.

#1 - South Bound Sandwich Works (otherwise known as SBSW) is in the Correct Time Plaza and is a hidden gem of a sandwich shop. With an authentic railroad theme, most of the sandwiches are named according to the theme. An insider there once told me that the best sandwich is "the Conductor". It is important to make the key ingredient swaps. First, swap the bread it comes on for the toasted sourdough. Secondly, swap the ham for turkey. This sandwich will definitely fill you up and be delicious.

#2 - Village Grill's Key West Chicken Salad was a staple during women's recruitment period. Village Grill was always packed with quick to-go orders. The salad comes with grilled chicken prepared "Key West" style that offered a different take on an average grilled chicken sandwich. It is also served with tortilla chips that adds a little guilt to the salad, but not enough to regret it. Add a little low-fat ranch to this salad and your mouth will melt.

#3 - Brixx Pizza is located in Alamance Crossing and is phoenix card friendly! Since Mellow Mushroom overshadowed Brixx pizza, it has been a quiet addition to the new shopping center. The sandwiches, salads, and pizzas are all divine. A margherita pizza always seems easy in nature and almost impossible to mess it up. However, as simple as it is, often places can mess it up if fresh ingredients are not used. Brixx Pizza uses fresh mozzarella and basil on a thin crust that makes this pizza delectable.

Getting off the BioBus at Stop #3

Dear downtown Burlington,

I'm so glad we've finally met. I feel like this will be quite a mutually beneficial acquaintance.

If you get off the BioBus at stop #3 (S. Spring St. at May Memorial Library), there are a number of pretty fantastic places to wander in and out of, especially if you're looking for food, coffee, cheap furniture, random antiques, thrift store clothing, a florist, a movie, or just interesting outdoor places to hang out on pretty days.

I'm a fan of all the random boutiques and inexpensive trinket shops and thrift stores around just about every corner. Ah, for example:

There are a couple restaurants on Front Street, including:

I just recently got the Mussaman Curry with tofu at Anna's Thai cafe. It was super creamy because not only do they add peanut butter to the sauce, but avocado too. The thick sauce also had tons of cashews, potato and onions in it. It was pretty deliciously spicy too. The inside of the restaurant is bigger but just as classy as Dan Thai and Simply Thai, however some rooms have a better atmosphere than others. It a place thats definitely worth checking out if you love thai food. You can even order delivery and take out ONLINE here.

On the corner of W. Davis Street and Spring Street, you can find a new NY Style pizza shop on, a fun, retro-themed coffee and pastry shop called the Perk-O-Later, or enjoy a peaceful yoga class, all within a single block.

The Perk-O-Later had a lifesized Elvis in the window as well as a giant frosted cake with records mushed into the frosting. I would've popped in for some steaming coffee but it was closed for the day already when I walked by at 1:30pm. Your best plan to get to this place during business hours would be to drive yourself, since its never open when the BioBus is making rounds. Their business may likely suffer because of this.

The outside of the yoga studio looked pretty intriguing, with the plastic laminated OM symbol hanging atop the heavy wooden door.

I've heard the owner of The Pizza Corner is from New York City. Its authenticity was confirmed when I saw that the slices they serve are about three times the size of your face and the crust this super thin....so I'm thinking this place is a pretty safe bet. Grab a slice or a gyro or a calzone and tell us what you thought of it!

There are also some other random places to look around and spots to sit outside if you and some friends are blessed with a sunny day and some spare time.

A Florist

Haute couture, most definitely.

The old Paramount Theater still shows movies and hosts events and performances seasonally.

This is the outdoor amphitheater right next to Anna's Thai Café.

While the BioBus is now going to downtown Burlington Monday-Thursday from 2:30pm-6:30pm to transport service learning classes and volunteers to their non-profit organizations safely and in an attempt at doing so in a greener way, you should go explore the downtown area in your spare time or after you've finished logging service learning hours at the office this spring.

We have a bright future together, downtown Burlington.

love,

the bored and underwhelmed Elon student

check this e-net post or this one for more info on how to get there!

Brickstyle wants to know your impression of the downtown area, as it is working hard to become a more exciting place for foot traffic as a place for people to gather. With the BioBus running most afternoons now, Burlington has their fingers crossed that Elon students will help bring some energy to the streets of downtown.

Attention: Calling for NY Bagels!!

Burlington, North Carolina offers whatever food you want whenever you want it. It is surprising, however, that there is not a real authentic bagel shop remotely even close. Brueggers, Panera, Thomas Bagels don’t cut it. Elon is missing a genuine New York style bagel café and deli that offers freshly made cream cheese (the kind of cream cheese that you can see the mixed in ingredients), breakfast sandwiches, deli sandwiches with sliced to order lunch meat, and an assortment of traditional and interesting bagel flavors. Imagine biting into a delicious freshly made bagel that has been toasted, shmeared with copious amounts of your favorite flavor of creamy cream cheese. Everyone can relate to the comfort that can be found in any bagel, especially in the morning, after a long evening. Opening a bagel shop in Burlington could be your next entrepreneurial effort! There would be lines out the door every Saturday and Sunday, and you’d be providing Burlington with a great new addition.

Coming Shroom! Mellow Mushroom's mouthwatering menu

As you drive down Huffman Mill Rd you are overwhelmed with all of the food options. Applebee’s, Namaste, Crazy Fire, Subway, Ruby Tuesdays, Crazy Fire, Honey Baked Ham, Panera, Starbucks, Texas Road House, Taco Bell, Bojangles, Biscuitville, Arby’s, IHOP, Outback Steakhouse, Chik-filet, and many more. But a new restaurant is joining the Huffman Mill food team, Mellow Mushroom. Described as an amusement park of pizza, Mellow Mushroom will add an alternative choice on the fast-food freeway. This indie, eclectic chain is a different flavor for Burlington. The menu has many delicious healthy options paired with foods for your own personal indulgence. The menu offers “munchies” which are appetizers, salads, pizzas, calzones, hoagies, and a bar that offers local brews. If you love pizza there are some of the best options. The House Special, Mega Veggie, and Kosmic Karma are note worthy pizzas. With at least 5 toppings it is hard to not want more. The House Special includes: (1) Pepperoni, (2) Sausage, (3) Ground Beef, (4) Onions, (5) Green Peppers, (6) Mushrooms, (7) Black Olives, (8) Tomatoes, (9) Ham, (10) Bacon, and (11) extra cheese. Coming shroom, Mellow Mushroom should be your next stop while traveling down the franchised ally of Huffman Mill Rd.

Elon's Convenient New Date Destination - Simply Thai

Has it occurred to anyone else that Burlington seems to have a knack for excellent, authentic Thai cuisine? With the long established and extremely popular Dan Thai located just off S. Church St, to the brand new Anita's Thai Cafe located in downtown Burlington on Front St, to the recently opened Simply Thai within walking distance from Elon's campus, I am amazed at Burlington's high concentration of high quality Thai cuisine to offer its lucky university population, as well as any adventurous palates within the residential populations here.

Though I was a loyal, regular customer to the lovely, highly acclaimed Dan Thai due to my intense love for Thai food and convenience, I recently made it out for my first dinner at the newly opened Simply Thai Restaurant. It is, of course, within walking distance from campus, located just down and across from Sandy's, in Timberline Station, along with Fat Frogg and a couple Skiing Outfitters stores (why Burlington seemed to be a smart, strategic choice for a winter sporting goods store, I can't be sure).

Everything about this place is elegant, classy, and and casual at the same time. Stepping just inside the front door, you will be immediately struck by the how gorgeous the large, golden Buddha wall hangings were against the stunning deep red color of the far wall. Also at the far end of restaurant is a sushi bar with ample number of sturdy chairs and stools, easily enough to handle a large lunch crowd.

Glancing skyward you will notice suspended staircase of white lighting platforms installed to cast a soft light upon the large tables directly below. This totally reminded me of some of M.C. Escher's relativity paintings.

The menu is extensive, including a wide variety of exotic salads, flavorful soups, sushi, Pho, chef specialties, signature Thai noodle dishes, and Thai curries. Not to mention an intriguing dessert menu and great selection of beer, wine, sake.

I ordered the Eggplant with tofu. It was bright, colorful, spicy, and completely gone in about 15 minutes. The eggplant is lightly fried, and all the veggies are

extremely fresh and covered in this spicy, savory brown sauce. My only complaint was they may have used a little too much oil, and that they did not have brown rice as an option. I'd totally get this again, though I'm not one to order the same thing twice.

My friend ordered the Spicy Noodles (Drunken Noodles) with chicken. She loved it and said she preferred it over the other Thai place, which, to me, was saying a lot, cause lets be honest, Dan Thai sets the bar HIGH for excellence in Thai food- not just in Burlington, but anywhere.

Overall Review of Simply Thai

Positive highlights include:

• Ice - they use that crunchy, Sonic type ice that is vastly superior to all other forms of ice
• DELICIOUS food - maybe even better than its long-established competitor- fresh and spiced perfectly
• Large portions
• Comfy chairs
• Sushi is offered
• Service - prompt to bring water, the free small salad with yummy peanut dressing
• Ambiance- totally a date worthy destination - they've totally mastered the lighting, colors, interior design and decor.
• price is comparable to the other Thai place

Cons

• Thai ice tea wasn't as good as the one at Dan Thai
• No free refills on my Thai Iced Tea like I'm used to at that other Thai restaurant
• Peanut dressing on the free little salad with dinner isn't as good as Dan Thai's to me
• Eggplant dish, though super tasty, was little bit on the greasy side
• Servers seemed a little confused as to who was taking care of our table
• No brown rice...yet

I would recommend Simply Thai to anyone who like fresh, delicious, adventurous food. As my friend described it, Simply Thai "is like a fusion between Dan Thai and Red Bowl," but its within walking distance from campus. This is a great place to satisfy any ethnic food craving- its convenient, reasonably priced, and offers an atmosphere that you might expect to find in a big city. This proximity issue, coupled with the fact that their food is as good, if not better than the other Thai places in B-Town, may soon cause me to change my regular destination to please my weekly Thai cravings.

What are your thoughts? What have you tried here? How does Simply Thai compare to that other Thai place in your mind?

Mellow Mushroom, Coming Shroom

If you like a good microbrew beer with your fresh, gourmet pizza, then you should be pretty excited for the next great dining establishment gem to crop up among Burlington's busy and congested strip of standard restaurants.

Come this fall, 767 Huffman Mill Rd, the former location of Rockola Grill, will be the cozy new home of our very own purveyor of quality pizza, hoagies, and calzones...Mellow Mushroom!

For the vegetarians and vegans out there, they also offer BBQ tofu, Pesto tofu, grilled tofu and tempeh as pizza and sandwich toppings- this variety of veg options will definitely be a unique first among the restaurants in B-town. I’ll definitely one of the first in line to sit down and enjoy me an Abita Purple Haze and Kosmic Karma pizza.