North America Archives - Pale Ale Travel

Versailles Cuban Restaurant: Delicioso o Trampa para Turistas Decepciónante?

March 29, 2025March 29, 2025Destinations BigBody Leave a Comment

While I don’t habla the Español, I think I was built for ox tails, roast pork, empanadas, and Galician white bean soup the second I stepped foot onto this earth. Looking back, everything in my life has seemed to serendipitously lead up and prepare me for my first visit to Versailles Cuban Restaurant, a 370 seater on Calle Ocho (8th Street) in Little Havana, Miami.

For example, in fourth grade, we had a gringo Texan with a bushy mustache, cowboy hat, and faux spurs, eat pork rinds and teach us several words of broken Spanish for 30 minutes each week. I also watched the first season of Money Heist with English subtitles and would excruciatingly repeat Spanish phrases to my Mallorcan buddy over after-work beers. “Y soy Allison Parker.” And, in Little League, I was jeeringly referred to as ‘El Guapo’, a reference to the portly Venezuelan relief pitcher for the Red Sox, Rich Garcés.

So, I was ecstatic to test my utter lack of Spanish skills and plenitude of hunger at what’s widely considered to be the ‘World’s Most Famous Cuban Restaurant’ on an illustrious trip down to the Sunshine State with my top dawg.

Was Versailles really all that it’s hyped up to be? Is it muy bien or mal sabor? Here are my íntegro thoughts on whether Versailles Restaurant in Miami is worth it.

Is Barrio in Portsmouth, NH Still Worth the Hype? [2025 Review]

March 27, 2025March 28, 2025Destinations BigBody Leave a Comment

After roughly five years away from my home state of New Hampshire, I not-so-triumphantly rode into town on my faltering, aging miniature horse steed for a self-imposed two-month moratorium from Hong Kong.

The purpose? Reclaim my mojo, spend as much quality time as possible with those nearest and dearest to me, and eat everything under the sun that I’ve been unable to get in the alleged ‘Asia’s World City’.

Note: I think it’s a bit presumptuous to refer to oneself as ‘Asia’s World City’ when you can’t find a goddamn Reese’s peanut butter cup anywhere.

In addition to my frivolous daily consumption of Ruffles cheddar and sour cream potato chips, Reese’s peanut butter cups (King Size), and enough locally brewed beer to KO a wooly mammoth (shoutout to Liar’s Bench and Schilling Beer Co.), there was one place in particular that I needed to check up on – Barrio, aka Portsmouth’s build-your-own taco and margarita haven.

But was it the same Barrio I remember from those hazy, “I forgot to put on pants today,” pandemic days? Was the guac still smooth and creamy enough to use as a styling mousse for my thinning hairline? Would the Build-A-Bear taco creations and El Jefe’s curated selecciones still bring the gastronomic ruckus? Were the margs still so delicious and spicy that I’d want to throw back 8 of them before 2 PM on a Tuesday?

Read on to find out if Barrio still lives up to the hype.

Pale Ale Travel Note: Writing about Barrio is nostalgic as it was the first review/write-up I ever published on Pale Ale Travel in 2019. It’s unpardonable that it took me so many years to return and publish a more up-to-date review. Well, here it is. This time, I remembered to take photos.

5 New Hampshire Breweries For Hoppy Suds Excellence

February 11, 2025February 19, 2025Beer & Breweries, Destinations BigBody Leave a Comment

Having made the trip back to my home state for a 7-week stint after nearly 5 years away, I had no idea what exactly was in store for me. I had a feeling that it would entail home-cooked food, walks with my mother and brother, and most importantly, good booze. I far underestimated and forgot just how much of a gem this state is for all three.

Great food and exceptional booze couldn’t have rung any truer at the handful of breweries I made sure to visit with both my mother and brother. These were undoubtedly some of the key highlights of this 2025 New Hampshire sojourn.

Not only were these five New Hampshire breweries some of the best beer haunts I’ve ever come across in the Granite State but they were some of the best I’ve ever imbibed and gourmandized anywhere in the world.

Now, with your mouth watering, your hands shaking, and the full moon craft beer call only a thirty-something millennial could face slowly transforming you into a carnal, rabid, boozehound version of yourself, here are 5 breweries in New Hampshire that mash some of the meanest hops in the game.

Pale Ale Travel Note: Don’t hesitate to comment or email me your favorite brewery/breweries in New Hampshire! I’d love to hear from you.

36 Pros and Cons of Living in New Hampshire in 2024: By a Born & Bred Granite Stater

November 25, 2023February 19, 2025Destinations, New Hampshire, North America, Travel BigBody 2 Comments

When I first meet someone and they ask where I’m from, I always make it a point to emphasize that, first and foremost, I’m from New Hampshire, and an American second. I’m an impassioned flannel and Columbia fleece wearer, a reformed Hampton Beach “beach bum” who would poach his Powerade to mix with gin from the now-closed down McDonald’s on Ocean Boulevard, a Las Olas die-hard (extra guac and still trying to figure out why the lines are so inefficient), and someone who has been thrown out of the now desolate, anachronistic Fox Run Mall for loitering more than I’d care to admit.

I may be considered “simple folk” by the (self-anointed) big city socialites of New York, Los Angeles, and Miami (I’m the proud owner of the ‘White Trash Cookbook”) but I rest easy at the end of the day knowing where I’m from and who I am because of it. Also, if I’m talking to a Brit, I always place a heavy emphasis on the term ‘New’ and inevitably throw in a barb or two about our defection to the New World to establish the ‘New’ England. It never lands as well as I think it will.

As you can tell, I’m proud to be from New Hampshire and I couldn’t imagine having grown up anywhere else.

3 Cafes to Check Out in Portsmouth, NH

December 17, 2019February 19, 2025Coffee & Cafés, Destinations, New Hampshire, North America BigBody 2 Comments

I came back to my home state for the last three months (July 2019 to Oct 2019) to take a break from constant travel, work, and stress. It’s been a great feeling. There’s something comforting about working from a cafe in your home-state, knowing after a day of slogging it out online, you get to come home and drink a few beers with your mom or dad (or both).

Everytime I come back to New Hampshire, there’s always an assortment of new restaurants, breweries, bars, and cafes that have popped up, which makes for an exciting stay. This time was no different. Not only was this trip a great chance to explore several new cafes, restaurants, and breweries, but re-visit some institutions and OG spots which I missed dearly.

Below are three cafes I recommend checking out in Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

Best Bang For Your Buck Burrito in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

November 18, 2019February 19, 2025Destinations, Food, New Hampshire, North America BigBody Leave a Comment

IMPORTANT: The Wrap Shack has relocated and is now a brick-and-mortar spot – find more details about it over at: https://www.parkdnh.com/

Look, I’m a huge Chipotle fan. Say what you will about Chipotle, their E.coli breakouts in 2016, and how they’re overrated, but I still personally think they’re one of the best bang for your buck meals out there – especially when it comes to 47 pound burritos. Until today.

I was just about to sleep, but had something nagging me in the back of my mind. I knew I had to get this off my chest. The burrito I had from the Wrap Shack in Portsmouth, New Hampshire today was the single best bang for your buck burrito I’ve ever encountered. There, I said it.

But, what exactly made it so great?