It’s the shortest day of the year, the day when we get around twenty three minutes of daylight here in Idaho. The day most folks would just rather sleep through. That’s right, it’s the winter solstice.
Since there isn’t much to do with a twenty three minute day, I figured I’d publish my annual “best of” Idaho Falls report. There were some local businesses that really pissed me off this year, so in the true spirit of the holiday season, I felt it my duty to give them a mention as well.
Best of for 2011:
Best Mexican food: Morenitas – Hands down the best prepared consistent authentic food in town. If you don’t like Morenitas, you’re a dipshit with no taste, seriously. Please move back to Utah.
Best Tires: Jack’s Tire and Oil – Matt has been running the show down there for about 10 years now. I always walk out with a good deal. Honest and fair.
Best Mechanic: Richards Diesel and Automotive – Richard has been working on my jalopies for almost 15 years and has never let me down. Honest and fair.
Best Grocery Store: Albertson’s – They have the best service and the best selection in the state of Idaho. Sure it costs a bit more than WINCO or Wal-Mart, but you don’t have to deal with nearly as much white trash.
Best Coffee Shop: Bella Vita – I love this place. It’s right on the new section of the green belt so it’s a perfect location for lunch after a brisk walk around the lower loop. They have great food, great coffee, and a super friendly staff.
Best Bar: The Frosty Gator – The deck of the Gator has been an Idaho Falls staple for many years. They have the best bar food in town, a huge micro-brew selection (missing Mirror Pond on tap bitches) and a full bar in case you get extra thirsty. Oh yeah, and a shit load of big screens so you sports fans can watch sports. I really like the women’s field hockey, it’s super exciting when they make a homerun goal.
Best Pizza: Tom’s – I never really got Tom’s for a few years. I know everyone ranted and raved about it, but I wasn’t ever impressed. Kinda like when you see a movie that your buddy told you was the best film in the history of mankind, but you were all… yeah it was OK but. Well I have given them a second chance and all I can say is its damn good pie. The rest of you STFU about it and stop ruining it for everyone!
Best Car Dealer/ Realtor: This would be like picking the best crack salesman or greatest child molester. These assholes do nothing but leach off society, this is pure greed. They take a product, mark it up, and screw consumers. I would buy a house or a car off Craig’s list and save yourself 6% to 20% in commissions. There has never been a car salesman or realtor born worth the powder it would take to blow them directly to hell, where they are all going anyway. Whoa, that sounded a bit mean.
But seriously, fuck those scumbags.
Best Pool Hall: Corner Pocket – This is kind of a no brainer since we only have one pool hall in town, but these guys are good. If you go in at noon, lunch including a beer is $5 and the pool is free. Happy hour is from 6-9 every night and it’s always two for one well drinks. I don’t go as much as I used to, two for one anything is a bad thing for Clarence Worly.
Best Fancy Wine Place: The Whinery - They have a nice selection of giggle juice ranging from $3 a glass up to $12 and they don’t seem to enjoy the smell of their own farts quite as much as the other fancy wine places. I’ve never understood why the staff at these places have the attitude they do. They make minimum wage schlepping wine in glasses, I wish they would just STFU and fetch me my drink like they do at Corner Pocket or The Gator, without the snooty ‘tude. They are not smarter than everyone else and they are not in the know. They underachieving losers and I hope one day they learn their place and stay in it.
Best News Paper: The Post Register?- They win by attrition. They have managed to outlast all competitors by cutting staff, reducing news material, and canning the Monday paper. The last time I checked the Sunday addition had one page of local news and one page of ads. Kinda like Tidbits but way more expensive. But still, it’s the best Idaho Falls has to offer.
Best Gas Station: Anywhere but Gas n’ Grub – I’ve been going to Gas n’ Grab since I was a kid. Marv Olsen ran the place and he always had a friendly smile, a kind word, and knew who his regular customers were. Then he retired and left the business to Marv Jr. If you were to look up the term “slack jawed rube” in the dictionary it would have a picture of Marv Jr. I stopped in a few weeks ago to get propane, Marv Jr. informed me it was cold, he was busy, and could I just go somewhere else? Yes, Marv Jr. I will go somewhere else, forever. Your Dad must be terribly proud.
Best Place to be assaulted in a parking lot: Smith’s Food King-It seems Smith’s has become a mecca for meth addicts, pot smoking food stamp losers, wanna-be gang bangers, and pure white trash. It’s the only place in town, other than WINCO and Wal-Mart, where I feel the need to utilize my concealed weapon permit.
Best BBQ: Famous Dave’s – It’s a sad testament for a community as small as Idaho Falls to require two giant ass Wal-Marts. It demonstrates the majority of folks living here have no soul. It’s also sad that the best BBQ is a chain restaurant, but we just don’t seem to be able to muster a decent local BBQ joint. I blame an overall lack of education and the fact 70% of Bonneville county residents are secretly in league with Satan.
Best TV Anchor: Karole Honas – Karole is a local gal who grew up in Blackfoot. She could be on any big broadcast network, she’s really that good. But she lives here and isn’t going anywhere so she puts up with bush league KIFI and carries the entire station. We’re really lucky to have her, so is channel 8.
There you have it, the best of 2011. Feel free to add to the list, I’d love to hear about everyone’s favorites I missed.
By popular demand, I’ve added a few more businesses to my list.
Best Ski Local Resort: Grand Targhee – I know, we have Big Sky, Jackson, Sun Valley, and all those places down in Utah as day trips too, but bang for the buck, Targhee offers the best terrain vs. lift ticket price. On a personal note, I see our super-local hill, Kelly Canyon will be closed every Sunday from now on. This was brought about by the LDS general conference call to return to the traditional LDS schedule of making sure you spent all day in church each Sunday. I have purchased many season tickets at Kelly’s and if I had this year I would demand a refund. This has to be the only hill in the United States to close on a weekend. Being the principled prick that I am, I will never ski there again. It was bad enough I couldn’t buy a fucking beer at the lodge, now this? I’ll drive the extra half hour to Pebble where they don’t give a shit if it’s Sunday.
Best Fast Food: Scotty’s – I’ve been getting the Great Scot combo meal since the late 1960′s and it is still the best deal in town. I’m guessing there are around 13,000 calories in one of those giant burgers and it’s worth every one. That is good fast food.
Best Internet/ TV Service: Any company but those raping cocksuckers at CableOne – I had these fuckers turn my cable off for a week until I finally navigated the half-hour of recorded menus to get a human voice who informed me they had to have direct access to my checking account for billing if I wished to continue service. “Am I late on a payment?” No sir, it’s our new policy. ” Do I get a refund when your crappy $127 a month service isn’t working, which is about 25% of the time?” No sir, do wish to cancel your account? “How about I come down there and make you smile? With my boot some slackers ass?” Dial tone… fuck these assholes. I’d sooner watch static than give them another dime.
Best Movie Theater: Centre – This is a small indie theater that shows second run films on the cheap. Old school seats, just a couple kids working, and the way I remember seeing movies back in the day. Edwards is big and fancy, yes, but it ain’t the best, it’s just big and fancy.
Best place to get a DUI: Any place in Idaho Falls. Authorities are taking this shit seriously, like they do in Europe. For good reason, only a self-centered asshole risks killing someone because they have been drinking and get behind the wheel. Read the police log in the paper, first time DUI: 180 days in jail, loss of licence for a year, $1000 fine. Don’t fuck around guys, get a cab. Now if we could just get the worthless pricks in Boise to do something about the sober cell phone yapping texters who like to drive and kill people…