Manhappiness

So for those of you that do not know I am an alumnus of Kansas State University, one ballin school located in Manhattan, Kansas aka The Little Apple.   Through my 4.5 years, yes I took a victory lap (ok half a lap) because I am just that cool, I spent many amazing nights in the bar district known as Aggieville.  Basically, if you were to take all things that are good in this world, combined them with all things fun, and then placed alcohol in the mix that might be about what Aggieville compares to, or at least it might come in at a close second.

Although I may or may not have tried this, it is actually not feasible to drink all day and all night so there is also a few stores in the Ville along with some pretty delish restaurants.  I mean let’s be honest, college kids need nourishment for their brains, and recovery from the night before.  One of the best little joints (and yes I mean little) is So Long Saloon, a flavor factory pumping out some of the most unique and quite frankly amazing foods for miles and miles around.

The décor alone is unique enough before a plate even shows up on your table.  Skeletons, in the style of Dia De Los Muertos skeletons from Mexico, line the walls along with artwork showing various old school country artists and even an Evel Knievel.  The crown jewel of the place is the bar though, the antique bar is awesome and a great place to sit and enjoy some Kansas beers while you wait to stuff yourself.

So the first goal of my trip to So Long was to get a little cerveza in me… or maybe more but who is really counting.  Judge me for what you will but I have a weakness at this place that goes by the name of Nancy, she is a beautiful girl, made up of Old Milwaukee (gross I know) sweetened with a splash of pineapple juice.  You may be thinking WTF Mate?!?!?! But I stand by this decision to drink these things, because quite frankly they are delish.

If the pineapple beer is just not your scene, you can always fall back on the Boulevard Wheat with a nice lemon wedge.  This beer goes down incredibly smooth and works great in summer or winter.

Little background information here on one of my favorite items, the first time that I saw this item in a free coupon my freshman year of college I was immediately turned off to the concept.  Eventually though word began to creep around that this free coupon was actually worthwhile, so when my dad was in town one weekend (duh had to get a free meal) I decided to take him there and give the coupon a little spin.  Sure enough, I have never turned back from that fateful day, and still have to somehow get a regular fix of this dish, even though the regularity has decreased greatly.  Introducing (drum roll please) Chipotle Raspberry & Black Bean Dip, yes it is a mouthful, but it is worth every single syllable.

Here is the recipe that we received from a bartender one night just to give you an idea of what makes this thing so dang magical:

1 block of onion cream cheese (not as easy to find so we usually use some sort of onion seasoning)

1 can of black beans

Some chipotle raspberry sauce (surprisingly easy to find when you actually look for it)

It really is that simple, however our batch never quite turns out right, when we cook it at home but it suffices enough to take the edge off the withdrawal.

But hang on to your hats folks…  The great food does not end at the appetizer, the burgers and sandwiches here are pretty darn near amazing.  My personal favorite is the Resist Temptation, and quite frankly I cannot resist this burger.  It is a patty of great quality topped with a fried egg, cheese, bacon, and mayo basically a meal right off the Weight Watchers menu.  Now maybe clogging your arteries is not your cup of tea, and for that I can still recommend every other sandwich I have ever had here including the Crank It Up and Head South and even the BLT. 

The fries are not bad, they are basic thin fries, but my personal favorite side is the onion rings.  Look at those golden brown beauties and tell me you could say no.

Basically, So Long is so damn good we tend to eat there twice on weekend visits if my mom is with us, so as a spoiler my next post will also be from this humble little joint but don’t worry I changed up my beer choices and even got a different burger for your eyes to feast on.