Euro 2008 is underway!

Euro 2008 got off to a flying start this weekend, and our contest has, too!

If you're entered in the Euro 2008 Bracket contest, click here to see how you're doing. The spreadsheet will be updated each day to reflect that day's results, so you can keep track of your progress and taunt your friends/competitors.

And whether you're in the contest or not, we've decided that our Happy Hour specials are in effect whenever Euro 2008 is on TV at Shultzy's. So, you'll be able to enjoy $3.50 half-liters of our German Lager of the day and $3.00 16 oz. pints of our Micro of the Day, as well as wine, shots, and food specials. For more info, check out our online Happy Hour menu.

We look forward to seeing our soccer-loving Shultzy's customers in these next couple of weeks, and we hope you're enjoying the action as much as we are.

New Menu Item: Spicy Italian Burger

This one is an old favorite of mine from the early days of Shultzy's.

The Novie Wedge (Sweet Italian Sausage Burger with melted provolone cheese, marinara sauce, grilled onions & peppers, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on a crusty italian roll) has been a staple on the Shultzy's menu since the very beginning. I like it because it's like a sausage pizza, but with much better sausage than any pizza place I've been to.

If there's one thing missing from the Novie Wedge, it's a touch of heat. I'm a pepperhead, and I like a little spiciness in my sausage. that's where the Spicy Italian Burger comes in. It's a Novie Wedge, but instead of the mild Sweet Italian Sausage Burger, it has a spicy Hot Italian Sausage Burger. In the old days, you could get one made custom for you if the grill wasn't too busy (the cook would "de-link" a Hot Italian into a patty). But now, for a limited time, it's on the menu for you to enjoy any time.



If you like the Hot Italian, give the Spicy Italian Burger a try. And if you really want to be an insider, you can call it a "Vesuvius" (the staff's nickname for it) or a "Muzzino's Masterpiece" (how it shows up on the POS system -- named after Andy Muzzino, our in-house Sausage maker).

5 Days of Cinco de Mayo

OK, the obvious question: where did we come up with this idea?

This year, Cinco de Mayo falls on a Monday, and Monday's not exactly a party day for many folks. So, in the interest of mirth and general merriment, we decided to start our Cinco de Mayo specials over the weekend. And if partying on the weekend's a good idea, it's even more fun to enjoy Friday night, so Friday got added too. And if there's a 12 days of Christmas, why can't we have a 5 days of Cinco de Mayo? And that's how it happened.

Cinco de Mayo (or "CdM" to its friends) features food and drink specials for the whole five days.

Nacho Cheesesteak
Served with grilled onions & peppers and sliced jalapeños. 7.99

“All-Day” Breakfast Burritos
Try our new Chorizo, Bacon, or Veggie breakfast burritos with egg, cheddar cheese, and potatoes. Served hot each day, while they last. 4.00

Nacho Cheese Fries
Our irresistible fries topped with gooey nacho cheese and sliced jalapeños. 4.49

Sauza Gold Margarita $3.99
Sauza Gold Shot $2.99
½ Liter of El Bitburger Mexicano (Bitburger with a lime wedge) $4.95
Mexican Beers (bottles) $3.00
Negro Modelo, Bohemia, Corona, & Corona Light
“El Rey de Cervezas” (Budweiser in bottles) $2.50

Preview of Señor Shultzy's 5 Days of Cinco de Mayo

I just finished the poster, so you'll read it here on the blog even before folks in the restaurant see it...

¿What’s better than the Cinco de Mayo?

Señor Shultzy’s
¡5 Days of Cinco de Mayo!
May 1st to May 5th

Mexican Beer Specials
(Bohemia, Negro Modelo, Corona)

Sauza Gold Margaritas
(Con lima fresca/With fresh lime)

Our new Breakfast Burritos
(Spicy Chorizo, Bacon, or Veggie)

El Bitburger Mexicano`
(Con lima fresca/With fresh lime)

Nacho Cheese Fries
Nacho Cheesesteaks
(Amazingly, both are trans fat free. Really!)

¡Viva Los Bratwursteros!
(Long Live the Sausage Connoisseurs)

What is Chimichurri?

Spy photo of Chimichurri sauce from the Shultzy's R&D Lab.

The origin of this month's cheesesteak was fairly simple: free association.

Cheesesteak -> Steak -> Argentina -> Chimichurri

I've been to Argentina a couple of times, and Argentinians both love steak and cook great steaks. Argentina's favorite condiment is probably Chimichurri, a spicy-tangy pesto-like sauce that goes great on grilled beef. What's in the sauce? Fresh parsley and garlic, lemon, olive oil, and a little crushed red pepper.

So, it wasn't a great leap of imagination to think that it might make a dandy cheesesteak.

So, off to the Shultzy's R&D labs. We started off with a Chimichurri steak with no cheese; I loved it, but it's too hard to explain a cheesesteak without cheese to customers, so we started exploring cheese combinations. Provolone worked best, and we were on our way. The sandwich was tasty, but a few slices of sweet roma tomatoes perfectly complemented the other ingredients in taste and texture.

And, the Chimichurri Cheesesteak was born...


But we weren't quite finished. Emily Schulze liked the ChimiCheesesteak (as it is affectionately known here), but wanted to try the same preparation with a veggie burger. Eureka! The Chimichurri Veggie Burger was born. Emily tried adding some grilled onions and liked it, so some onion-lovers may want to try that option. Yes, I know Argentina's not known for vegetarians, but perhaps they'll forgive our successful experimentation.