Marco's Pizza offers pizza and a movie

View Larger Map

A new pizza place opened up in town, but it’s not your typical pizzeria. Marco’s Pizza is right next to Family Video and is also owned by the same company. What I thought was cool about this place is the two businesses work hand-in-hand — providing deals for pizza and a movie, as well as offering to return your movie that’s due after they drop your pizza off.

When I walked in, I noticed the window in between Family Video and Marco’s. You can order from Family Video, if you want, while you are looking for a movie. There are a couple tables if you want to dine in, but that area isn’t too big because, I assume, most people will be taking their pizza home with the movie they rent. What’s cool is if you get a large pizza they give you a free 5-night movie rental. Now, these movies aren’t the new releases, just the ones that have the sticker that shows a 5-night and a 1-night rental on it. Some movies are on the New Release wall, but not all of them.

Marco’s Pizza offers a pretty normal selection of pizza, salads and fresh baked subs. They make their dough fresh, from scratch every day and never use frozen cheese like many pizza places do. I was surprised they make the dough from scratch — not many places do.

I ordered the Chicken Fresco pizza which comes with 4 types of cheese, grilled chicken, bacon, onions and slices of tomatoes. Something I don’t remember offered at other places are their free crust toppers — butter garlic, parmesan and roma. The person taking my order said the best way is to get all three, so that’s what I did. The pizza was tasty — I enjoyed the large chunks of chicken and the fact that the onions were cut smaller, this way they were fully cooked and not crunchy – I am not a fan of raw onion especially on my pizza. The crust was good but nothing too special and the addition of the crust toppers made it exceptional. This pizza was not greasy, so I appreciated that.

I also ordered some Cheezy Bread, which I assumed would just be normal cheese sticks. I could taste the variety of cheeses and the added seasoning. They use the parmesan and roma crust toppers on the Cheezy Bread and the addition made them better than normal cheese sticks NOT like the ones you get from Pizza Hut.

If you don’t want pizza or breadsticks Marco’s also offeres sub sandwiches and salads. I look forward to checking those out next time I rent a movie.

I think what will keep me coming back is the fact that in the future they plan to deliver your pizza with a movie if you want to rent one. I can forsee myself doing that a lot, especially on cold nights this winter.

For their full menu, check out their website by clicking here.

If you have a favorite restaurant you would like me to review, follow me on Facebook, Tricia Peterson WIBW News, and send me a message.

Boss Hawg's

View Larger Map

If you are looking for barbecue in Topeka, Boss Hawg's would be a good place to start.  In Kansas barbecue is very popular and everyone has their preference. I have yet to find mine, but Boss Hawg's was, like I said, a good place to start.

The restaurant is also a bar, known as Pig Skins, so you can choose to sit in the bar or restaurant, like a lot of places. The booths are round and they also have bar stools and tables to sit at, with huge TVs on the walls. I chose to sit in the bar so I could watch TV.

I ordered the wings as an appetizer because they are smoked, and it's hard to find smoked wings in Topeka - maybe I'm not looking in the right places. The smoky flavor was immediately apparent and I think much better than other wings that aren't smoked.

They serve them in three flavors, barbecue, naked or buffalo-style and with a choice of sauces ranch, bleu cheese or prairie fire dipping sauce. I chose to go half and half, with buffalo and barbecue with ranch dressing. The ranch was ranch, and the wings were special because they were smoked. 

I decided to order something that would allow me to taste various items because I wanted to do a thorough review of their barbecue items - and they have a lot. I ordered the Hawg Heaven, which has a lot of meat. A quarter rack of ribs, a quarter smoked chicken, smoked sausage and a quarter pound of any of our shredded smoked meats and a choice of pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked ham or smoked turkey served with baby back ribs or with spareribs. I got the baby back ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket for my choices.

The smoked sausage was my favorite. It had cheese in it, too and the smoke was there but not overpowering. The chicken was also tasty - with a crackly-smoked skin and juicy, smoky meat inside. I had to remind myself I had other meat to try so I wouldn't get full on the chicken alone.

The ribs were tender and fell right off the bone. They serve them without sauce but they have sauce on the table, which is good because I like my ribs with sauce - although these didn't necessarily need it. 

The pulled pork was a little too tender for me - I felt like it kind of melted in my mouth. I want chocolate to melt in my mouth, not pork. I would have liked to see more chunks of meat and for it not to have been so shredded. 

I absolutely loved the French fries. I know they are just frozen and bought-in, but they were lovely. They look like house-cut steak fries but they are a little thinner. They were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and not soggy at all - I despise soggy fries. 

The brisket was my second favorite after the chicken. It was chunked up and with the addition of their spicy barbecue sauce it was tender, flavorful and just a little spicy. 

I loved the coleslaw and it's the best slaw I have had in this town. It was creamy and fresh, the slaw was crunchy, not soggy, so you could tell they make it in house. It was a nice addition to the plate of meat that I ordered. 

Overall, I enjoyed my experience. If you aren't much for barbecue they also have a menu that features sandwiches, tacos, fajitas and other food like that. I want to return and try their chimichanga - I love those.

 I look forward to returning and trying other items on their menu. They have lunch specials as well as family-sized meals that will feed five to six people, these are called "beast feasts".

Pricing is a little high, I must say. None of their sandwiches are under $9.50 and their appetizers are all over $8 except for their fried pickles, which are priced at $6.99.  Their lunch specials have some items priced around $7, but not many of them. 

The service was okay. The waitress started off strong, bringing us our drinks quickly and our appetizer and food. Then our friends met us a little later and they didn't get as good of service. I didn't have a bad experience, but my friend had to wait on his beer and he wasn't happy with that.

The website for Boss Hawg's is currently under construction but if you Google search the restaurant, you can find a link to their menu. 

NOTO Burrito Keeps Me Comin' Back

View Larger Map This map shows where Serendipity is located because NOTO Burrito is so new they aren't on the map yet. Serendipity is right next door.

NOTO Burrito is so good I have gone back three times since it opened last month. That's gotta say something about the place.

First off, I tried the Planting Peace and Love burrito - in honor of the Equality House here in Topeka. It comes with two choice of meats (they don't judge), pico, three blend cheese, guac, jalepeno cheese sauce and a rainbow of their salsas. I only got chicken because I didn't want tofu, turkey or ground beef - those are the other choices they offer up. On top of this masterpiece they put this lovely pineapple barbecue slaw that made the entire burrito. There are two different types of slaw including the one I just mentioned and the mango habanero slaw, which is much spicier than the pineapple barbecue.

 The slaw was my favorite part - crunchy, soft, sweet and tangy. I loved it. The only part I wish could have been improved was the use of fresh pineapple would have been appreciated because it's so in season right now - currently they use canned. Canned is consistent, but just not as flavorful, in my opinion.

The first time I went they placed the slaw on the top of the burrito and it was served in a basket. The second time I went they made some adjustments and started putting the slaw inside the burrito and in a to-go box with chips. The salsa was out so you could get yourself some. The third time I returned they kept the to-go boxes but started portioning out the salsas so everyone got one 2 oz. portion of each kind - rojo red, sweet and spicy and strawberry jalepeno. They also had returned to putting the slaw on top of the burrito. The significance of this is that the owners care - they want your experience to be pleasant. They have been asking customers for their opinions and input and they have listened - that is how I know they will be successful in the future, they care.

The second time I went I ordered the Thai Me Up - I love the names. They make me laugh. Inside this concoction comes rice, beans, cheese, fried noodles, zesty Hawaiian salsa (I think that's the pineapple slaw) and your choice of tortilla wrap - they have spinach, roasted red bell pepper and regular flour. I enjoyed the mesh of Mexican and Thai food that took part in this burrito. They only thing I felt was lacking was the use of the fried noodles. I couldn't really tell they were in there and they didn't add to the burrito. I actually forgot they were in there until the end when I looked at the ingredient list again and was like "oh yeah...". Probably won't order that one again, but it was still pretty tasty.

The third burrito I feasted upon was the Roman's Wankie - I feel weird even saying the name. This one had rice, beans, avocado, pico, sour cream, chicken, cheese and romesco sauce on top with choice of slaw. This one was a good mix of Italian flavor and burrito with the addition of the romesco sauce. That slaw just makes everything taste so amazing. Next time I wonder if they would think I was weird if that's all I ordered.

What I like about the NOTO Burrito is that it's local, fresh and delicious. The owners care, they want to please you and the atmosphere is that of NOTO - relaxed, inviting and artsy.  The walls are filled with local art and they even have letters arranged that say 'support local'. I think it's the perfect addition to the North Topeka Arts District and I hope they continue to do well.

Every time I have gone it has been busy and I have had to wait a few minutes in line, but it's always been worth the wait. I went during the First Friday ArtWalk in July and waited almost half and hour in line but others were doing the same so I must not be the only one who feels that way!

Westlake Ace Hardware Father's Day Drawing Winner

This is Kathy Frye. She won the Father's Day drawing sponsored by Westlake Ace Harware. She won a quesadilla grill basket, a BBQ rub and a $25 gift card to spend at Westlake Ace Hardware. Thanks to everyone for participating! If you didn't win this time, keep coming back for more chances to win soon.

Father's Day Giveaway Winner

Kathy Piper- Frye is this week's winner for the $25 gift card and accessories from Westlake Ace Hardware. If you are disappointed you didn't win, cheer up! There will be more chances to win more accessories from Westlake Ace Hardware this summer. Just stay tuned to hear more! Thanks to everyone for participating

Spring 2013 Pics of Food

Oriental Express - A Taste Of Asia

View Larger Map


For some reason I didn't even realize there was a Chinese restaurant at 29th and Wanamaker. Now that I have discovered it, thanks to my brother-in-law's girlfriend Chelsye, I plan to return often.

They consider themselves an Asian restaurant so they feature various dishes including noodle soups, stir fries and sushi. I tried some sushi and cashew chicken.

The sushi was fresh and tasty. I ordered a rainbow roll because it's my favorite, Drew ordered an orgasm roll and Chelsye ordered a sunrise roll. The rainbow roll was your typical rainbow roll that you can get at any good sushi restaurant. The sunrise roll was my least favorite but only because I am not a fan of smoked eel - so if you like smoked eel, you will definitely love this one. The other ingredients include avocado, cucumber, crab meat and cream cheese.

I enjoyed the orgasm roll. I thought Drew was joking when he said the name of it, but that's really what it's called. It's a good name. It was memorable because there is shrimp tempura, kani, avocado and salmon in the middle, wrapped in Nori and rice, then baked with spicy mayo and seasoning on the top. When baked the mayo sets up so it's not saucy anymore and the crunchy topping bakes into it. I tried to find out what the "special seasoning" was but they couldn't answer me - they might not have even known what it was. Whatever it was, it was delicious and I want more. (Kani is crab and nori is the seaweed wrap used in most sushi.)

The cashew chicken I ordered came with jasmine rice. Some places don't automatically serve it with rice so I appreciate that it's included so I don't have to spend more money. The sauce was thicker than I am accustomed to, but it wasn't bad, just different. The vegetables were zucchini, celery and carrots and the meat was dark chicken meat. I picked the celery out because I think it tastes like dirt and is only good for adding flavor, not actually eating it. That's just a personal preference - next time I will ask for them to leave it out completely.

I plan to return and try a few other dishes and sushi rolls because I enjoyed my first visit. The servers were nice and helpful and the restaurant was clean and taken care of.

For their sushi menu and regular menu and other general information about the restaurant, check out their website at http://www.orientalexpresstopeka.com/.