Don’t call it a comeback.

Actually, it’s perfectly okay if you call it that, accurate even.  I want to thank everyone who has reached out to tell me you miss my reviews.  I hope you’ve been well.  So, yeah, Let’s spend the Summer together, K?

One of the places generating some serious buzz in my city is The Crack Shack.  Richard Blais has launched a fun, quirky, casual outdoor chicken and egg place in Little Italy.  Little Italy is best known for it’s upscale lifestyle.  I always associate it with two things I will never have; a high-rise condo or a decent parking spot.  It’s also home to classic and nouveau Italian restaurants, several I have covered on this here blog including Prep Kitchen, Mona Lisa and Juniper and Ivy.  Also other favorites of mine like Underbelly and Bencotto and still others that are probably good but I was too drunk to remember eating there (note to self:  talk to therapist about constant need to drink in Little Italy)

My friends and I were eager to sample a lot of what the menu had to offer.  I was told I *HAD TO* order the Chicken Oysters.  The name got you worried?  Me too at first but it’s not what you think.  The term is used to describe two small, round pieces of dark meat on the backbone near the thigh.  So yeah, Chicken tramp stamps.  Often called the “Chef’s reward”, many people in the know call this the best part of the chicken.  As for Crack Shack, they serve ’em up batter-fried over a bed of delicious crispy kale with a side of mustard seed tartar.  They lived up to the hype.  They were tender and juicy.  Really good stuff.

Instead of a  pearl, the hidden surprise was the grease stain on my shirt from when I bit into it while still piping hot  Worth it.

The other dish I ordered was the Mexican Poutine with pollo asado and Jalapeno Cheese wiz over schmaltz fries.  This one was a let down for me.  I get the concept; carne asada fries done like poutine.  My first issue was with the sauce.  I see the word “Jalapeno”, I expect some heat (there wasn’t any) and “Cheese wiz” I expect something more bold than what it was.  The fries were tasty but the biggest disappointment was the carne asado.  It was bland and lacked any detectable seasoning.  I wanted a bolder dish.

You’re gonna think “Carne Asada Fries”.  Don’t think that.  This is a milder, polite cousin.  A Canadian dish that tastes how you would imagine a Canadian to taste.

Among our table, some of the dishes that received the highest marks were the Chicken Oysters and the Chicken Lollipops.  I hate it when things that aren’t a lollipop are called lollipops.  Just because something is on a stick, this isn’t even a stick, it’s a bone!  That means my foot is a lollipop!  That’s ridiculous to everyone except my dog (Dude’s a perv. You don’t even know.)  But anyway, the chicken “Lollipops” at Crack Shack are delicious. Tender, juicy with a crispy skin (Think upscale Shake n’ Bake).  Good stuff.  Other high points were the great beer selection and the cocktails were well prepared and heavily poured.  The staff was also super friendly and were highly visible/available for questions, refills or busing trays from your crowded table because you and your friends can’t go anywhere without eating like a wealthy king from the middle ages.

The lower marks from the table were the sandwiches.  The proteins were a little greasy to the point where they muddled some of the other flavor notes in the sandwich.  Crack Shack also offers a decent mini biscuit but many people weren’t loving them for the same reason I wasn’t.  It was almost impossible not to compare this biscuit to Juniper and Ivy’s biscuit.  Especially since Crack Shack is right next to that place.  I was just sitting there eating my biscuit and staring at the glowing green sign for J&I.  All I could hear was the Pussycat Dolls singing “Don’t cha wish your biscuit was hot like me…”  Before you knew it, I had even’t taken a second bite because I’d spent the last 5 minutes wondering why Nicole Scherzinger didn’t have a more successful solo career.  The Miso Maple Butter was really nice.

The food was heavy for me as I don’t eat fried foods as often as I’d like but I was determined to power through and order dessert.  Fat kid resolve is as solid as Gibraltar.   Crack Shack features a cookie du Jour and soft serve.  Believe it or not, these were the overwhelming favorites.  I had to two fresh baked cake batter cookies with Mexican Hot Chocolate soft serve.  The cookies were pretty much perfect.  A little crisp on the outside and “slightly underdone” level softness inside.  The soft serve had a touch of Cinnamon that was really nice.  I made my own ice cream sandwich and it was magical.

It looks neat in this picture but one bite and this thing was a bigger mess than Batman Vs Superman.

Overall, we agreed we would return to The Crack Shack again (Minus our vegetarian, who outside of the delicious Border Slaw and mini biscuits, had not a single entree option available).  The chicken is good, the cookies are bomb, the service is awesome and there’s giant chicken in the yard where you can play Bocce Ball like my 87-year-old Grandfather used to when I was a child.  If you got a tender tummy, go light on the ordering and save room for dessert!

Further reading