Farbreng With The Kosher Gang: Tahaluchah For Your Tastebuds

Drives, Flights, and Big Bites: A Kosher Summer Adventure

Have you ever heard of “Airport Theory?” It’s a trending topic on TikTok. Basically, people claim that the 2-hour rule is made up and you can always get to your gate within 30 minutes of arriving at the airport.

I don’t believe it. On a recent flight to Phoenix, I was cutting it way too close for comfort.

I was reading Tehillim, studying Torah, the entire car ride there. In the end, I made it through security and to my gate within 20 minutes of arriving at LAX. Airport Theory? I think not.

Summer is in full swing. 4th of July was on Shabbos, but I still had the obligatory red, white, and blue Kosher ice pop. It was perfect.

I hope you packed your bags, but in case you didn’t get the memo: we’re traveling this week, folks!

The LA Jewish Home has readers beyond LA! Shoutout Arizona, shoutout San Francisco, shoutout San Diego. So if you’re one of our out-of-town readers, rest assured: The Farbreng Gang is coming.

To start things off, we’re checking out a Phoenix burger spot that made me do a double take. Then we’re flying back to LA and taking a little road trip down to San Diego, where there was no shortage of tasty kosher dining.

When I first started working with the paper, we talked about taking this section on the road at some point, and what better time to start than summer?

Traveling is synonymous with summer, and good food is synonymous with traveling; meaning, we’re having ourselves a Kosher Gang Summer.

We wanted to start close by, and we especially wanted to hit up the spots where our extended Farbreng Gang lives.

So if you want to go somewhere this summer, but not too far, this edition should be especially useful for you!

Stick around because eventually, we’re eating our way around the whole country, gang!

Speaking of country, I dropped a sneak peek of a Jewish country song I wrote on TikTok and Instagram.

“What would it sound like to make a country song, but the country was Israel?”

Just a simple video of me singing in my car has received so much love! BH! It was heartwarming to see. You can check out the song “New Heights” on my page @SmallBossMC or even @TheLAJewishHome on Instagram!

My mouth is watering for a burger and some fries, and we gotta make sure we don’t miss our flight.

Next stop: Phoenix, Arizona.

Smash Grill’s Smash Hit is their Smash Fries.

The smash burger at Smash Grill is juicy, thick, and very well made. Located at 6050 N 16th St, Phoenix, AZ. This was one of the only kosher restaurants around, so I definitely took that into consideration on my first visit.

I have to make a confession, though. Smash Grill was so good, I went twice over a 2-day trip. I could have opted for a different restaurant and given you guys a second Arizona review. Welp, maybe next time lol. The reason for my return visit? Not the burger. Which although good, is pretty standard fare, comparable to the higher-quality kosher burgers we have in LA.

The real show stopper was the house special: Smash Fries.

A bed of crispy shoestrings covered in pulled beef brisket, multiple strips of beef bacon, a fried egg, all topped with 3 different sauces. Is your mouth watering? Well, it tasted even better than it sounds. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t even going to order this on my first trip to the restaurant, but I had been working all day and I was extra hungry.

So I got the Kickin’ Bourbon Chicken Poppers AND the Smash Fries.

The poppers were kickin’ indeed. The Kickin’ Bourbon sauce was smoky, spicy, and delightfully sweet.

I’d definitely get it again on my next trip to AZ, but I’ve thought about those Smash Fries every week since I got home. It’s not my style. Super junk-food forward.

If you’re thinking it’s not for you, I feel you. It could have been something I ate a few bites of and threw out, but first of all, the portion is full meal-sized. I started on the fries, and they just hit the spot so hard, I saved a lot of the poppers for later. Definitely not the plan, but you can start to see how enticing these fries were.

The pulled brisket was so flavorful, the beef facon was crispy and in ample supply. The sauces brought it all together, and the fried egg was the savory cherry on top.

It was a meal I would almost never eat, but every once in a while, when I’m craving some good old fast food, I’ll forever wish they delivered those Smash Fries from Phoenix to LA.

Do we have loaded fries in LA? Sure. Believe me, I’ve checked. No one’s currently doing it like Smash Grill does. Our readers know my LA kosher stance. We’re second to none. LA burger spots can take notes from Smash Grill in little old Phoenix, AZ when it comes to the loaded fry department though.

At the end of the day, the fact that they made me come back for more? Smash Grill for sure deserves a high score. This Phoenix gem is getting a well-deserved 87 out of 100.

The burger, the poppers, the show-stopping Smash Fries. Everything I ate at Smash Grill was a slap. For our online European readers, it’s straight petrol. Yes, the Farbreng is online and you can now read all our articles on www.TheLAJewishHome.com.

Phoenix, it’s been real. Time to fly back home to LA. Up next, we’re driving down the coast to San Diego.

Smash Grill – Phoenix, Arizona

@WeWantMoschiachNow Official Score: 87 out of 100

This Shakshuka Said Boker Tov to My Tastebuds.

Located at 8935 Towne Centre Dr #101, San Diego, Boker Cafe was buzzing with patrons when I got there at 11 AM.

I watched them pull out a bunch of mini bread pans from their oven, and I was holding a warm loaf of fresh bread in my hand. From my first bite, I was immediately transported to a happy place. Scooping up some shakshuka in a warm bread pocket, it tasted like a sunny day in Yerushalayim.

The ingredients were fresh. You could taste the care that went into preparing this meal.

I came to San Diego on a food review mission. I had some big eating planned, but Boker Cafe was so good, I still wanted to scrape my plate clean.

I saw Boker online, and the idea of an Israeli breakfast was too good to pass up. So glad I made that call!

No Israeli breakfast would be complete without some good Israeli salad. I’m a big Israeli salad guy; lucky me. Boker Cafe’s was fresh, crisp, and seasoned perfectly.

The shakshuka was the highlight for me, though, and I absolutely smashed it along with the entire loaf of bread. The Turkish coffee that accompanied it was like icing on the cake.

It looked like they had some good pizzas, pastries. Tons of goodies I’ll have to come back and review on my next trip.

Right now, I hate to sound like a broken record, but Boker Cafe is deserving of a high score. I think I have to give it an 87 out of 100.

Super glad I started my day in San Diego off at Boker Cafe. If you plan on heading down that way at any point this summer, I highly suggest you stop by for breakfast!

Boker Cafe – San Diego, California

@WeWantMoschiachNow Official Score: 87 out of 100

Wow! I think this is the first time both restaurants got the same score. I did not plan that, but as I try more restaurants, my scale is becoming more nuanced, and I think 87 was the perfect score for both the restaurants. Next week, our summer traveling continues. First we’re picking back up in San Diego. Where I’ll also be doing a Kosher Snack Review at SD mainstay Mega Glatt Mart. From there, the adventure continues up the coast! I’m so excited I can hardly wait but until then, I think that’s a review.

David Greenberg is a music industry professional, songwriter, and content creator. You can follow him @WeWantMoschiachNow on TikTok, IG, and YouTube. Hear his kosher pop music at soundcloud.com/WeWantMoschiachNow.

For all inquiries: WeWantMoschiachNow@thelajewishhome.com