the end of an ERA at Yaki Tuesdays

My friends and I have been longtime fans of Yakitori Boy. Every Tuesday (and sometimes Wednesday, Friday, Saturday too) our self-titled HH (happy hour, DUH) crew would meet to lament, to laugh, to smacktalk, to drink ... and to SING! Our regular weekly attendance helped us become friends with the Yaki bar staff - Cindy, Ryu, Janny... and most beloved of all - JOSE. Soon, one of our own, Syl, even joined that elite group. Ah yes, the golden days of Yaki Tuesdays.

But ALAS, it's the changing of the guard. Yakitori Boy has new management in the upstairs bar... and... I DON'T THINK I LIKE IT.

Jose was the linchpin of the Yaki Tuesday Happy Hour Fun Time. He represented everything that is RIGHT and GOOD about great bar management - friendly, totally took care of his regulars, super fair, extremely fun and always willing to jump on top of the bar and sing (shout?) a roaring rendition of GASOLINA. Just to give you an example of his awesomeness, Jose gave us a plate of "fried boneless chicken finger thingies" (aka tatsuta age) with a candle in it when we dropped by Yaki to celebrate Soopah's bday - just because he knew we loved that dish and ordered it almost every week.

C'mon... that's good. RIGHt?!

Jose left Yaki to pursue more lucrative ventures in suburban Philly, and his exit coincided with a mass exodus of those familiar faces... goodbye bartenders. Now, Syl is the only face we know - and it's a great face (we love her), but it's definitely a huge SHIFT.

Because of these changes, and the fact that we have newly discovered love for South Philly and craft beer bars all over town, we hadn't been to Yakitori Boy in quite some time. Well, we went last night and were reminded of how much has truly changed.

Upon arrival, we were asked to check any large bags/handbags we may have. This was VERY upsetting to me. I was appalled that I had to now hand someone my messenger bag purse in order to gain entry to our one-time weekly spot. I tried to protest and asked if this was necessary, to which the girls responded "oh yes, new policy. Don't worry, it's for your safety, really." * hate *  I pulled out my blackberry, my wallet, my other blackberry (shuttup) - the handful of necessities - and reluctantly handed them over to the girl at the desk. What was even more infuriating was that once I made it upstairs, I found that they were sort of haphazardly enforcing this policy - every group seemed to have at least a handful of people who had been given the right to keep their purses.

Hanging out felt different too. For our group, last night was almost like a reunion since many of us hadn't seen each other in awhile. Most of the usual players were in attendance... and it should have felt like coming home. But it didn't. To me, it felt like a shell of its former glory.

Sure, the Tuesday $1 yakitori skewers, cheap beer specials and hilariously AWFUL karaoke singing will continue to give us a reason to return to Yakitori Boy - but it will never again be the home it was to us before. I miss those days.

* moment of silence for those glory days *
     

2nd Round of Goodness

Unfortunately the Trifecta was broken up today due to office distances, but the best part of us breaking up for the day, you get double the pleasure! mmmHHHmmmm! Yeah, that's right!

Sooooo...Here we go...

Location: Franklin Square, 6th & Race

What: Square Burger

Long line...umm....

crap! fuggit!

Two ppl = line waiting FAIL. They ended up bailing bc they had to get back to work by a certain time. boofriggittyhooo!!

Jake and I decide to stay...SUCKAS!!! When we finally get a little closer, we decide we're gonna split everything up and just get one of each bc when we look at the menu we want to try everything.

FINALLY(!!!) we get to place our order after a lil over half an hour of standing in direct sunlight! (I better not get a farmers tan!) The sun was beating down my back making me 'pit out' (not happy)

And now onto the food...and the people who made our food

classic cheeseburger - american cheese, pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard

overall rating - it tastes like a regular burger - absolutely NOTHING special about it whatsoever!

:sadface:

i really think i can make better burgers than what just went into my mouth....actually i KNOW i can....

philly dog - kosher dog wrapped in kosher salami, plum tomatoes, pickles, onions, cherry peppers, mustard

Have to admit that we weren't really excited about it...but then thought about it and we were both like...if we waited this long and for it being our first time...let's go balls to the walls!!!!I am so glad we got this...it really made up for the sad burger that I had just consumed. Salami to hot dog ratio...never tasted anything like it...the salami became one with the hot dog and it seemed like it was a new breed of 'dog!' (haha) Pickles had us confused for a bit that Jake had to go back up to the menu to see what it was that we were tasting. These were bigger chunks than what was in the burger...it was quite pickled garlicky goodness and that "vlasic' type of crunch! haha!

Overall rating - lets go get one right after work!!

Fries - the skinny ones...nothing great..would have liked for them to come out hotter.

"Cake Shake" - We were contemplating on whether or not we should get this...gave in and said fuggit...so the fatties that we are...we get ONE (2 straws..haha)

nice dollop of whip cream on top.....OMNMN!! There were bits of tastycake cake in this friggin shake.......for those of you that know that i'm not a big fan of sweets...umm..i probably may have finished the ENTIRE shake MYSELF!!! I KNOW, right??? The bits of cake were such a pleasant surprise that it kinda just made my day....also, an ENTIRE shake may not have done a pretty one for my tummy!! HAHA (tmi??) Yeah, I don't care!

I would return just for the dog and cakeshake...that's about it....too many kids running around that I wanted to pick them up and throw them in a damn strapped down seat and electric tape their mouths shut!

It's a beautiful day out guys!!

Happy Easter!