IT'S NATIONAL COFFEE DAY! DID YOU GET YOUR FREE COFFEE?

It's National Coffee Day! Today, Dunkin Donuts is hooking all of its customers up with a FREE medium dark roast. It's the perfect excuse to celebrate #NationalCoffeeDay!

THE BACON TRUCK VISITS WATERTOWN

Every fall, I check out the Faire in the Square in Watertown. MA. It's a fun even with music, food and vendors from the community. Today, I was excited to see multiple food trucks at the event including one of my favorites, The Bacon Truck. Equally thrilling, there was no outrageously long line. I got my food in about 10 minutes. This time, I ordered their turkey & avocado sandwich with a side of their bacon hash. Their bacon is so crisp and flavorful and it's the star of all of their dishes.

ON THE ROAD: FANTASTIC ITALIAN FOOD AT BECCO IN NYC

Watch any episode of Lidia Bastianich's cooking shows and your mouth will be watering for one of her Italian dishes. That's why I was so excited to dine at one of her restaurants during a recent trip to New York City. 

You can find Becco in Hell's Kitchen. The food here is simply unforgettable. Each meal begins with a basket of bread. There are thin and crispy bread sticks. There's Italian bread with that's soft with a crunchy crust. Be sure to order some ricotta with it. It's served nice and cold with a drizzle of honey. So good!

Becco is known for their Sinfonia di Paste. Every day, their chef prepares three different pastas of his choice. For $22.95, you get antipasto or a Caesar salad with UNLIMITED pasta! The waiters come out with huge skillets of pasta and fill your plate. We had mushroom ravioli, spaghetti with red sauce and fusilli bolognese. I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this was! Homemade pasta. Cooked to perfection. The flavors were amazing and the servers just keep filling your plates. I had two rounds and was stuffed after that. 

They have a huge wine menu, cocktails, beers. There are many fish and meat entrees. There are several classic desserts like ricotta cheesecake. If you go, go for the Sinfonia di Paste. It was one of the best meals I've ever had.

www.becco-nyc.com

(Closed) BRUNCH AT ROX DINER

It's been a little while since I've been out for Sunday brunch, so I was happy to go to the Rox Diner in Newton, Massachusetts this morning to start the day off right. I enjoyed this mushroom, Swiss and asparagus omelet with a couple of cups of coffee. You can't go wrong at Rox, just be warned you may have a wait because this place is popular especially for Sunday brunch.

UPDATE: This restaurant has closed for good.

A FOOD LOVER'S DREAM COME TRUE AT SAN DIEGO'S PETCO PARK

Let's head out to San Diego, home of the Padres. Some friends recently invited my girlfriend and I to a game at Petco Park. We enjoyed front row seats at the Lexus Home Plate Club. There was endless food and drinks. This is a look at the cheese section at their indoor buffet/restaurant.

Several chefs were working the buffet, preparing savory dishes like this duck confit gnocchi. It was so good!

I filled my plate at the buffet. Underneath all of that cheese is a tuna nicoise salad.

I had a few margaritas that night. This is white sangria I ordered for my girlfriend.

The indoor buffet closed after the second inning, but there was still tons of food to eat at a second buffet. This one had some really good pulled pork sliders, hot dogs, sausages, and salad.

This was my favorite part of the second buffet - a make your own nachos station. They also had a make your own sangria station.

Somehow, we still had room for dessert. They had ice cream, cakes, pastries, bowls of candy, bags of popcorn, Cracker Jack and so much more. I filled a plate with milk and white chocolate-covered strawberries. What a treat! A huge thanks to our friends Ellie and Steve for inviting us to this unforgettable night at Petco Park.

EAT UP NE FAVORITE: ROBERT'S MAINE GRILL

Veggie pizza

Half dessert - Blueberry crumble a la mode and whoopie pie w/ milk

Robert's Maine Grill is one of those restaurants you can tell is going to be good just by looking at it. There's a replica of a lighthouse built right into the place! The inside is warm and inviting with two floors for customers to spread out. You can even sit outside during the hot summer months. But it's their perfect food that has customers like me coming back over and over again.

From lobster to warm blueberry crumble, Robert's specializes in all of the foods that Maine is known for. Every meal begins with crackers and spread. It's so good. They have a raw bar packed with shrimp, oysters and clams that's as fresh as can be. Apps include lobster sliders on a buttermilk biscuit, Maine crab cakes, mussels, chicken tenders, friend Maine cheese. There are soups like New England clam chowder and haddock & leek chowder. How about a lobster cobb salad?

Robert's is open for lunch and dinner. Order a steamed Maine lobster or lobster BLT or lobster roll or mussels and lobster over linguine or lobster mac'n'cheese (dinner only.) They'll even hook you up with a tableside clambake for two with lobsters, steamers, mussels and corn on the cob.  I loved the baked haddock with veggies and rice. Light and healthy. They also offer fried seafood. Their menu features several sandwiches and burgers for land lovers. Don't worry, they also have plenty of beer and wine.

You MUST save room dessert at Robert's. You'll notice their homemade pies as soon as you walk in and they are sooo good! The best thing about their dessert menu is that you can order a full or half size. We ordered half a blueberry crumble a la mode and half a whoopie pie with milk. These sweet treats were the perfect way to end a perfect meal. Robert's also has lime coconut cheesecake, raspberry pie a la mode, a brownie sundae and triple chocolate cake.

Before you leave, be sure to have a seat and take in the salt marsh to the left of the restaurant. 

www.robertsmainegrill.com

DUNKIN DONUTS AND CHIK-FIL-A OPENINGS BRING OUT FOOD FANS

Time to make the donuts.

We all love our Dunkin Donuts here on the East Coast. Now, the West Coast is getting a chance to experience Coolattas and Munchkins. Yesterday, the first Dunkin Donuts opened its doors in Southern California. More than 300 coffee and donut cravers spend more than 24 hours waiting for the donut shop to open up in Santa Monica. Dunks is starting a major expansion in California with about 100 stores slated to open.

Back on the East Coast, Chick-Fil-A fans are lining up in Warwick, Rhode Island. The store will open up at 6 a.m. on Thursday. People are camping out because the first 100 customers inside will get free meals at Chick-Fil-A for a year.

WELCOMING FALL FOODS ON THE WEST COAST

It's always hard to let go of the summer. When should we start drinking pumpkin beer? When do you have that first cider donut? This year, I kicked fall food season on the west coast.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons because EVERYTHING is pumpkin-flavored and, God, do I love pumpkin! My first pumpkin food of the season is the pumpkin waffle you see above. I devoured this breakfast with a fall twist at Cafe 222 in San Diego. It was so light and fluffy, with plenty of pumpkin taste. The butter even had a little blueberry in it.

Check out that cupcake! You're looking at a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. It's from the famed Sprinkles in Las Vegas. All of their cupcakes are crazy good and this one was no exception!

Sure, the end of the summer is sad, but all of the fall foods that are on the way should be enough to make us all smile. 

BTW, I haven't had any pumpkin beer YET, but I can picture myself pouring some Shipyard Pumpkinhead in the near future. Yes, with a cinnamon rim!