Today's Potatoes are from Rigby, Idaho.

As I've said before with this whole anti-soda thing I'm on... it's not the first time that I've given up something. Similar to my McDonald's experience, I've said before, 'I will no longer eat at chain restaurants,' which I've come to realize is just a silly thing to say. While it has cut back on how much I eat at the chain restaurants, sometimes I just feel like eatin good in the neighborhood. I only mention it because my motives were, or are, a little different.

I like the idea of not giving into the big guy, supporting the locals and the unique community culture, even if my community is spelled M-A-N-A-S-S-something-something. So along with my girlfriend, I started venturing to some local spots with mixed experiences, including a hairball in Tiff's straw. The pizza places quickly got nixed. A couple of bar/restaurants got the axe for differing reasons; common to most though, I watch a lot of TV, why would I watch TV at a restaurant? Why would I watch 30 TV's, while I listen to the radio. One we stopped going to because we discovered their famous monte cristos could easily be matched at home... and by 'we' I mean Tiffany. And anything foreign draws comparisons to the time we had dove at an El Salvadorean restaurant. ... Give peace a chance... or maybe you are what you eat. I don't know.

But I do know we found two places that we like, and that's about all we ever go to anymore. They're both becoming chains though which leads me to say that my original declaration was a little silly. They're local, but they are both growing. The first is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I'm convinced one of the guys is named Yahweh, it's hands down the best food ever in all the world, and if you do it right, it's cheaper than McDonald's. And it's all natural... 'Today's Potatoes are from Rigby, Idaho,' they always have a big sign that says where their potatoes grew up, and then their walls are lined with bags of potatoes. Unfortunatly it's not set up like a restaurant, so the atmosphere kind of sucks, but the food... mmm. Anyways, from time to time we go to Foster's, another hamburger place. It has really good food just so long as you've never been to Five Guys, man-o-man, I'm hungry. It's also right next to the train station and in downtown, which is fun.

Like I said though they are both expanding. More power to them. I say that I don't like chains, but I would love it if they continued to grow and were found in all sorts of places. Holy cow, Five Guys is building right near where I grew up! That's a bit of a let down. Oh well, like I said, it was a silly thing to say.