Ready, Steady, Go! (To Fountain Valley)

 Steady Kitchen and Taps

18055 Magnolia Street

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

It was that time of year again—the time we picked which Ducks games we would attend this year. This year was a little different for us. My parents decided they did not want to battle the big-time construction and the problematic parking situation at the Honda Center, so they chose not to get tickets this year. That left me and my friend Steve to pick the 15 games we wanted to see this season. 

As is our tradition, we pick a different place to select our tickets each year. This year, we were all set to meet at a nearby pizza place I've wanted to try for a long time, but they were packed, and we were quoted a wait time of over an hour and a half. Riip Pizza would have to stay on my restaurant wishlist a little longer, so I called an audible and selected Steady Kitchen and Taps to meet at instead. 

If Steady sounds familiar, you must be a big beer fan. Steady Brewing Company has been churning out beer in Long Beach for the last seven years. This satellite restaurant opened two years ago and is a collaborative effort between Monika and Aaron Henderson, as well as brewmaster Dennis Russo, who came up with all the recipes for this spot. The executive chef is Noah Schneider, a Chicago transplant who has added some tweaks to the menu based on his Windy City upbringing. 

The Steady menu is straightforward and deceptively diverse, even though printed on one page. It features 17 sides/starters, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. Nothing here goes above the $16 price point, and they also offer $2 tacos on Tuesdays and a wing Wednesday promotion. Happy hour is from 3-7 on weekdays, when their pints cost $6. Lending to the neighborhood/family feel of the place, they also have a kids' menu. 

Situated on the corner of Talbert and Magnolia, Steady is in the same shopping plaza as Crunch Fitness, and more importantly to Katie, located across the street from one of the few Dutch Bros Coffee outlets in OC, and is known for its long lines of people queuing up to try their coffee. Dutch Bros would have to wait, as we had to get down to the serious business of picking what hockey games we would be seeing this year and sampling what Steady Kitchen and Taps had to offer. 

We needed two starters to get us through picking our games. We selected the Tempura Brussels Sprouts ($12) and the Soft-Baked Pretzel ($12). The sprouts were excellent. They were not overly greasy, the batter was crispy, and the ranch at Steady is first-rate. The sprouts themselves kind of got pushed to the side, as is the case whenever something is deep-fried. No one ever gets fried zucchini for the zucchini underneath. I'd get these again. 

Katie and I agree on most things, but pretzels are not one of them. She's a big fan, while I'd rather have something else. Both she and Steve seemed to like this large pretzel. It came with both a Dijon and a beer cheese sauce. I had a few bites, which I found to be good but overly salty. In my subsequent pieces, I flicked the salt off the pretzel. I liked the beer cheese better than the Dijon, but I did find myself switching between the two sauces. 

I've noticed a trend about Steve when we go out to eat. He almost always gets a chicken sandwich wherever we go. This again happened when he got this Buffalo Chicken Sandwich ($16) from Steady. This rather large sandwich was built of chicken tenders, lettuce, tomato, red onion, buffalo sauce, bacon, and Swiss cheese, all on a long French roll. He enjoyed this sandwich, but would have liked some extra buffalo sauce to spice it up. The chicken was tender, and the bread was soft and pliable. He also got a ton of fries with this, which he did not come close to finishing. 

I debated between five of their eight burgers but ultimately chose the Bacon Blue Burger ($15). I made a solid choice. This toasted brioche bun came with plenty of arugula, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, onions, and a Dijon aioli to finish it off. First, I took almost half of the arugula off, which I could have used as a side salad. They were very generous with the crispy bacon, but could have had a heavier hand with the Dijon aioli, which was a little light on the Dijon, but that's what I was hoping for. I asked for more of it, which made this burger even better. The burger patty was nice and thick, which was refreshing, as I've had far too many smash burgers recently. It was nice to get back to a classic burger again, and this was one of the best I've had in a while.  

Katie was not overly hungry after our two appetizers, so she opted for an order of the Garlic Parmesan Wings ($13). These come five to an order and are on the bigger side with a lot of meat. The garlic parmesan sauce was wet, and most pooled at the bottom of the basket instead of sticking to the wings. These came out steaming hot and had a crispy skin with tender chicken underneath. They were nicely done and went well with the ranch dressing, which Katie requested more of. 

Steady Kitchen and Taps is an excellent neighborhood bar, making me wish I had something like it near my home. A walkable restaurant/bar with various food options at more than fair prices, good-sized portions, and a pleasant, laid-back atmosphere. We experienced good service at the counter where you place your order, and by the food runners and bussers. They made sure we had everything we needed during our two and a half hour stay picking our Ducks tickets. Even though we had not planned on eating here when we left our place, Steady was a pleasant surprise. 

Out of five warehouse workers (because David Denman, who played Roy on The Office, worked in the warehouse on the TV show and graduated from nearby Fountain Valley High School), five being best to zero being worst, Steady Kitchen and Taps get 3.5 warehouse workers. 

For more information about Steady Kitchen and Bar, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.steadybrewing.com/