The Nation's Best Pizza

I am a self-admitted Food Network Junkie! I can watch hours and hours of it and never get bored. So when Food Network and Bon Appetit Magazine named downtown Phoenix's Pizzeria Bianco the best pizza in the country, I knew we had to try it! The restaurant as you can see, is quite small. It only seats about 45 people. We had heard it was infamous for long waits so we went last Tuesday (an off peak day) and were there at 5:15, just a few minutes after it opened at 5pm. Well, apparently you have to arrive pretty early to get a seat. After only being open for 15 minutes we were told there was already 2 hour 15 min wait!!! The craziest part is....we waited....in the Arizona heat...outside. I know we're nuts, but we really wanted that Pizza! And luckily it was well worth the wait. All the ingredients (including the mozarella) are made fresh every morning and all of th herbs and veggies are grown on the back patio. So, next time you're in Phoenix or if you come to visit us, we'll have to go!

Everything IS bigger in Texas!

It wouldn't be right to blog without a mention of Texas and share a few pictures from our drive to AZ. We stopped on the way in Amarillo to go to a restaurant I've been dying to go to - The Big Texan. The Big Texan is home to the 72oz steak challenge, and it is not for the weak. The give you a salad, 2 rolls, a baked potato, coleslaw, water, and of course the 72oz steak. That's right.... a 4 1/2 pound steak. They clock you and if you can eat it all in under an hour it's free! Otherwise you just sat on a stage in front of an enormous room full of people staring at you, and bought yourself a $75.00 meal.

We were lucky enough to have somebody try it while we were there. If his Paul Bunyon size and handlebar mustache weren't enough evidence, he told the crowd he once ate an 8lb 20z steak in under an hour!! He made it look easy, and finished with 20 minutes left on the clock. Sorry there is no picture, I was too embarrassed to get close enough to take a good one! But I did get one of Jose....

And he got one of me. The best part about sitting in a really big chair, is that it makes you look really small!! : )

We did it.....

So after much peer pressure from friends and family, we finally decided to join the blog-o-sphere! Now that we are in Arizona you can all keep in the loop with the latest and greatest at the Castaneda Casa. Check in often!!