Birthday Palooza at Polly's

Polly's Pies

18132 Imperial Highway

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

It's my Mom's birthday, and where does she want to go? Polly's Pies of course. This should be where I say something about Polly's being for old people, but hey it is her birthday and I will not take the easy shot here. She also had a coupon for a free piece of pie for the entire party, if she came in on her birthday, so with our family that comes out to nine free pieces of pie! A big bargain.

Polly's has been around since 1968. They have fifteen locations. I have always had a special fondness for Polly's. Every Friday night in the early eighties my parents would play tennis with the Booth's, then we would roll on over to Polly's in Orange for dinner, and then cap it off watching J.R. Ewing  wreak havoc on "Dallas". Ahhh, the memories!

Okay now back to the present. After an hour on the freeway from south county I made it to the Yorba Linda location. This Thursday night there was no wait, and for a majority of the night we had our big room all to ourselves. The Polly's menu has not seemed to change for some time now. Let's see what we got off of it.

My beautiful nieces made me promise that I would include their food and pictures on the blog, so here you go girls. The kids meals here are only $3.99. Choices include; a Kid's Pollyburger, Grilled Cheese, Corn Dog, Chicken Fingers, or Macaroni and Cheese. Gracie and Kaylie got the chicken fingers and thought that they were really good. Lillie, trying to be different from her sisters, ordered a corn dog and fruit cup, then was upset because she didn't get fries. Parenthood seems like such a good time!

Here is a quick shot of my salad that came with my dinner. The salad also came with the two dinner rolls above. The rolls are very soft, and are a staple at all of our family holiday dinners. They also make great mini sandwiches with leftover turkey.

My Dad ordered the Grilled Sourdough Burger. He woofed this thing down real quick. I snuck a bite, and it was pretty good. The bread was toasted perfectly, and had a nice crunch to it. The meat was average, but I liked the grilled onions on this.

My Mom has been raving about the tuna at Polly's for as long as I can remember. So it is without much surprise to anyone at our table that she chose to get the Famous Tuna Salad Sandwich. The tuna here is made with chopped eggs, sweet onions, celery, relish, mayo, and Polly's special seasonings. Katie, who also got the tuna, felt that the tuna here is one of the best she has had in any restaurant. I did not get a quote from my Mom, but I am sure she would second that opinion. I did try the tuna, and I thought it was good, there was more to it than your basic tuna, but I am not too much of a tuna kind of guy, so I do not see myself ordering this in my future.

Jarrod, my brother in law, ordered a California Tuna Melt. This was a little twist on the tuna sandwich, with avocado, and cheese added. I did not try this sandwich, but I would have liked to have had the cheese melted, because it is not a melt, unless it is hot, and this was not.

Looking for something a little different, I got the Best Salisbury Steak in the West. Was this really the best? No it was not. I found the meat, and the whole plate, tasted like a giant salt lick. The creamed spinach and mashed potatoes that came with this also failed to impress. It is a safe bet to say I would not get this again.

We did have pie, but my nieces were getting antsy, so we got the free pieces to go. I had the Chocolate Silk, and it was very good. Light and fluffy, with decent whipped cream on it also. My favorite pie at Polly's is the Banberry Pie. Part strawberry pie, part banana pie, and then a very good custard on the bottom of the pie, makes this pie a winner. Sorry I did not get any pictures of the pies.

What to make of the meal at Polly's? You have to know what you are getting into before you get to Polly's. Stick with the staples. Sandwiches, hamburgers and pie are the sure bets here. The breads are all very good, and you can tell that they are freshly baked. Comfort food is the way to go here. Once again, happy birthday Mom!

Out of five grits, (because my favorite Polly is Polly Holliday, who coined the phrase, "Kiss my grits"), five being best to zero being worst, Polly's gets 2.5 grits.

For more information on Polly's Pies, click here: http://www.pollyspies.com/