Pumping Us Full of Food at the Filling Station

Filling Station Cafe

201 N. Glassell

Orange, CA 92866

I have been gearing up for the busiest time of the year at my work, but I still found time to meet up with my cousin Chris. Everyone is very proud of him because he is doing great at Chapman College. I am proud of him because he chose to go to school in Old Towne Orange, and there are lots of restaurants that we can try. On this occasion we went with a place that has been on my list for awhile, The Filling Station.

The Filling Station is located on the corner of Glassell and Maple. The most distinctive part of the restaurant is the laid back patio. We were sat here on this Thursday afternoon. Back in the day the restaurant used to be a gas station, hence its name. They have many pictures on the walls depicting its past times as a gas station, and in case you did not correlate the petrol background of the Filling Station, they also have a gas pump on the partially covered patio. I was here for the food, so lets see if they are cooking with gas.

We will start with the scholar's choice for lunch, the Filling Station Burger Special. This came with avocado, bacon, and Swiss and cheddar cheeses. Chris called this burger, "good, and the meat was flavored well." This burger was good sized, and he could not finish it, so I took over the reigns and finished the rest of it. The burger was pretty solid.

I was in the mood for a burger as well, and I was going to order the same as Chris, but I knew I had to get something else to sample for varieties sake. I went with the Chili Burger, which is served open faced with their turkey chili and cheese. The burger itself was good, but a little over done for my taste. The chili was very mild, and really needed to be kicked up a notch in the spice department. Not a bad chili burger, but not too memorable either.

Chris was still recovering from the half a burger he ate, (lightweight!), so I was going it alone for dessert. I asked the waiter to bring out their best dessert and he came out with this Pumpkin Pie. The pumpkin part of this was as good as any pumpkin pie filling I have had, but what made this pie was the crust. Most of the time crusts are just an item to keep the pie together, but not here. This crust actually complimented the filling. The crust was light and flavorful, and really made this pie.

The Filling Station is not going to blow you away with their menu. They offer nine sandwiches and eight burgers on their lunch menu. They also have salads and soups, but come on, those are just appetizers. The food here is good, but safe. The prices are not too bad for a sit down restaurant. Our burgers were below the $10 mark, and they definitely filled Chris up. The service was unobtrusive and speedy. They were pretty crowded for lunch, and there was a wait when we left. I hear good things about their breakfast here, so I will definitely be back. I also look forward to many more meals with Chris, but hope he eats more in the future. Just kidding big guy!

Out of five gas jockeys, (a worker at a full serve gas station that pumps the gas, checks the oil, and cleans the windshield for you. Now these guys are only seen in Oregon and New Jersey, where you are not allowed to pump your own gas.), five being best to zero being worst, Filling Station gets 2.5 gas jockeys.

For more information on the Filling Station, click here: http://www.fillingstationcafe.com/index.html