It’s Evansville HQ was run out of the Starbucks in front of the mall a few months. I liked getting out of the house and appreciated the reliable, fast Internet. No, I didn’t mind the $30 a month fee since it kept the real leaches out.

Even with the benefits of working at Starbucks, I went back into hiding after I grew tired of drinking heavy frappucinnos every afternoon. I’m not a coffee person and their tannins in Tazo Tea are an invitation to a bad afternoon.

This Tuesday, your favorite corporate coffee shop is introducing a new set of drinks called Vivanno. 147xxx, a blogging barrista wrote about it:

They’re blended like a frappuccino, BUT NOT LIKE A FRAPPUCCINO AT ALL because they aren’t going to clog your arteries. According to the information partners got about it, Starbucks wanted to “purposefully build a drink that is nutritious. Whereas our Frappuccino® Blended Beverages offer our customers an indulgent treat.“ AKA people ordering a venti extra extra carmel extra whip carmel frappuccino everyday have grossed us the fuck out. Grossed us out so much that we decided to just create another genre of starbucks beverages. Or atleast thats what I think sparked this vivanno revolution.

The Vivanno will be offered in two blends: Orange Mango Banana Blend and Banana Chocolate Blend. These aren’t exactly the Jamba Juice fruit smoothies I have grown to love out west, but it’s a start. Each drink has protein powder, milk and a full banana in it and is only served in grande size.

Once again, we found ourselves at the Fall Festival for lunch. Our goal? To bring you some more reviews of the vast amount of food options there.

First, based on a reader suggestion we tried some gumbo. It looked great, and was served over rice of course. There were large pieces of shredded chicken, but it could’ve used some more sausage. All in all it was good, but needed more spices in my opinion. I also wish the cup had been slightly bigger for the price. The Gumbo is at Booth 23, German Township Booster for $4.

The new offering of Fried Coke was next on the list to try. It’s new and a confusing concept. I was handed what looked like a sundae, but on inspection it seemed to be something like donut balls soaked in Coke, and then fried, covered in whipped cream, topped with a cherry. The Coke-balls were fried too much and were really hard and crispy, and I couldn’t even taste the Coke. All around, I just didn’t like it. However, if you want to try it, Fried Coke is at Booth 67, St. Peters UMC for $2.50.

Next, we tried fried macaroni and cheese with a lemon shake-up to wash it down. The fried macaroni was in thin triangles (I prefer it made in balls), but very cheesy and you could still get the intended taste. Yum. The lemon shake-up was nice and sugary. One reason I chose this booth for these was the long line—always a good sign. Fried Macaroni and the Shake-Up are at the Vanderburgh Humane Society booth (Booth 75) for $2.50 and $3.75 respectively.

Leaving, we decided to try one more thing: the Fried Snickers Bar. You get 2 battered fun-size Snickers that are deep fried. They are topped in powdered sugar and chocolate, speared with a toothpick. These are extremely rich, but nice and chocolatey. Definitely a good pick. Fried Snickers are at Booth 37, Mt. Pleasant Church, 2 for $3.

More suggestions? Tells us what you love, discovered, or always look forward to. If you have you ever eaten a brain sandwich, we want to hear all about it.

We ventured down to Franklin Street for our first taste of the 2007 Fall Festival today. Several things were eaten that we wanted to tell our readers about.

First, I went out on a limb and tried alligator: an Alligator Stuffed Potato to be exact. The baked potato needed to be cooked a little longer, but it was do-able. The alligator was ground and cooked in heavy spices. On top was butter, cheese, and sour cream. More or less it tasted like a baked potato with chili on it. It wasn’t the best, but wasn’t as scary as I thought it’d be. The Alligator Stuffed Potato is at booth 72, Montessori Academy. $3.50, and you get a button with it saying you joined the I Eat Alligator Club.

We both decided to have Chicken & Dumplings, despite the heat. With 6 booths offering this, we decided to go with one we found that ONLY offered this. The dumplings themselves were nice square, doughy ones…a little on the thin side though. Besides needing a touch of salt, they seemed to be flavored well. My one complaint was not having very much chicken. But all in all, I really enjoyed them. These Chicken & Dumplings are at booth 18, Emmanuel Lutheran Church. $3 for small, $5 for medium, $8 for large.

In addition, we picked up some other favorites like pints of cider, apple and cinnamon kuchens, chocolate and peanut butter fudge (25 cents a square!), and buckeyes.

We are heading back again and will have more ideas for you.

In the mean time, what is your favorite thing to eat down at the Fall Festival? What (besides the brain sandwich—because that’s just not happening) might you want us to try? Maybe we will!

And so it begins. Today is the official launch of the 86th annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. The Festival is second only to Mardi Gras as the longest running street festival in the US. This year, the festival will be presenting much of the same same: food, carny rides and amateur entertainment.

The festival opens today at 10:00AM. During the week, it will stay open until 10:30PM. On Friday and Saturday, the festival will be open until eleven. Your guide to the festival can be found at these two links:

• Food map
• Entertainment schedule

We’ll also be highlighting some of the evening festival entertainment in our activities posts.

If you want to have some tongue in cheek fun at the Fall Festival, don’t forget to carry along your Bingo Board. There is also a mullet hunt taking place at the festival. Take your digital camera and start snapping photos of the best mullets you find. You earn points for the quality of the shot. Unlike normal photography however, you don’t get points for lighting and composition. Instead, you earn extra points if the mullet is dressed in a wife beater, an old even t-shirt or anything that contains a 3 or 8 on it.

Between both games, and the traditional fair food and activities, there should be plenty to do at the festival this week.

Living in Newburgh most of my life, one of the signs that fall is upon is is the annual Newburgh Fiddler Fest. The Fiddler Fest is when the Evansville area descends upon downtown Newburgh to enjoy live music and fiddler and catfish dinners. 2007 marks the 27th year for thew annual festival and will feature much of the same types of activities you are used to. Besides the delicious fiddler dinners, the festival features a beer garden to help with your social lubricating.

Throughout the weekend there will be live music and other events. Live music will feature Mike Libs and Avalanche Rose, Kelly Chandley and Nine O’clock Curfew, Pat Coslett and Company, Byron Rohrig and more. There will also be an amateur talent show and open mic session on Saturday.

The Fiddler Fest starts Friday night at 5PM and runs until Sunday at 10PM.

photo courtesy of L.Todd

One of my favorite things about living in Lafayette while in college was the farmers market in downtown Lafayette. I didn’t go to it often, but they knew how to do a farmers market right. Evansville has its chance to take on Lafayette with our own farmers market that is now running every Friday from 7AM to 2PM every Friday from now through September.

This year the market is set up along Second Street across from the Old Post Office. Currently over a dozen farmers from across the Tri-State will be setting up shop with some of their finest home grown fruits and vegetables.

I didn’t get a chance to head down there today, but you might want to check it out over the next few months.

photo courtesy of jchatoff

If you’ve been reading for the past few weeks, you might think I have a major addiction to eating BBQ. There is probably some truth in that, which is why I was glad to hear that East side restaurant Firefly is putting on a unique food event this summer.

Each week, the restaurant will feature a BBQ dish from a specific region of the country. The trip started last Thursday with Texas style smoked beef brisket served in a tomato-based Texas sauce. Future dishes will feature the flavors of the Smokey mountains, Mississippi, the Carolinas and It’s Evansville favorite, Owensboro.

Food events like this are something I wish more local restaurants would take part in. I think it brings a unique niche that is hard to pull off for a national chain that has to aim for a more generic flavor and menu.

In case you didn’t know, Mothers Day is this Sunday. If you’d like to do a bit more than call your mother and thank her for giving you life, why not head to one of the many local eateries that are having celebrating mothers day with special menus or brunches? I called around to many local eateries to see what they’re up to this Sunday.

• 900 East - The Kitchen (900 East Tutor Lane, 491-3223) will be open brunch hours, 11:00AM-3:00PM, with a special mothers day menu. Reservations are recommended.
• Feeling Greek? Acropolis (501 North Green River Road, 475-9193) will be open from 11:00AM-9:00PM with both their regular menu and a special mothers day menu. Reservations are recommended.
• The Cork ‘n Cleaver (650 S Hebron Ave, 479-6974) will be open from 11:00AM-8:00PM with their regular menu. Reservations are recommended.
• East side staple, Lorenzo’s Bistro & Bakery (972 S Hebron Ave, 475-9477) will be open for brunch from 11:00AM-3:00PM.
• Madeleine’s (423 SE Second St, 491-8611) will have a special upscale brunch featuring chicken, lamb, beef and seafood from 11:00AM-2:30PM. The brunch is $25 for adults and $12.50 for kids 10 and under. Reservations are recommended.
• The Bonefish Grill (6401 E Lloyd Expy, 401-3474) will be open at 11:00AM and serving their regular menu. Reservations are recommended.
• Wanting to go into Newburgh? Edgewater Grille (1 E Water St, 858-2443) will have both their regular menu as well as a special buffet at their dining hall across the street from 11:00AM-2:00PM. They may or may not have live entertainment. They weren’t sure yet.
• Firefly Southern Grill (6636 Logan Dr, 402-2354) will have a special brunch menu from 10:00AM-2:00PM. After that, they will be serving their regular menu until 8:00PM.
• Raffi’s (1100 N Burkhardt Rd, 479-9166) will be open from 11:00AM-7:00PM and serving their regular menu. Mothers get a free dessert. Yum.

If you know of any other Mothers day specials going on, post them in the comments or send us a tip!

photo courtesy of jhritz