Getting in Line for Breakfast from My Comfy Bed

Cafe De Olla

2315 W. Victory Blvd. 

Burbank, CA 91506

So we made it through another raucous family get together. After getting to bed just before 2am, the last thing you want to do is wake the sleep out of your eyes, check out of your hotel, find parking, and fight the crowd at a popular breakfast spot. Luckily, we found Cafe De Olla that helped alleviate a little of the hassle of waking up after far too many cocktails the night before.

Cafe De Olla has an online check-in system through Yelp, which allows you to place your name on their waitlist from your comfy hotel bed. This seems to be necessary because Cafe De Olla is a very small restaurant and they are very popular, especially on Sunday mornings. When I woke from my slumber at 9:45, they already had an hour and a half wait for their ten table restaurant. I quickly put our name in and we were all set to meet our good friend Rosanna at the restaurant just after our checkout time.

Cafe De Olla has been in business for three years now. In that time this family owned business has been mentioned as one of the best breakfast spots in Burbank and amassed a very respectable four and a half stars on Yelp with well over 1,400 reviews and counting. Their website describes their cuisine as traditional Mexican and American food, which I feel has definitely resonated with the citizens of Burbank, as the nearly two hour wait times can attest to on weekends.

Unlike a lot of breakfast-centric spots, Cafe De Olla does serve dinner Wednesday thru Saturdays, but of course, we were here for a breakfast that we hoped would give us enough energy to battle the traffic back down the 5 Freeway home to OC. The menu features plenty in the way of omelets, french toast, egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos, pancakes, and what I had zeroed in on Mexican breakfast staples. Let's see if what they say is true, is Cafe Olla really a great breakfast option in Burbank.

Our fantastic friend Rosanna started things off for us with her selection on this morning, The All In One Burrito ($7.75). This three-egg burrito also included hash browns, avocado, bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, and salsa on the side. I always enjoy when a breakfast burrito includes avocado and as an added bonus the holy trinity of breakfast meats. This was a pretty good sized burrito, maybe a little too much potato, but otherwise pretty solid. Not very greasy at all, this started Rosanna's morning off right, which was already going great because she got to have breakfast with two of her most favorite people.

Katie was feeling like something light for her first meal of the day, so she gave their Yogurt and Fruit  ($8.50) a whirl. This was an item from Cafe De Olla's green menu, which featured lighter fare and items that are geared towards the more health conscious among us. Katie's meal came with plenty of cut fruit, yogurt, honey, and granola. This totally hit the spot for her. She loved the fresh fruit and the contrast between the smooth yogurt and the crunch from the granola. She rounded out her meal with a Side of Rye Bread ($1.50).

I definitely needed a little more heft to my breakfast than Katie, and I love Mexican breakfasts, so after some inner debate, I got this Machaca Con Huevo ($11.25). This version of one of my favorite dishes included three eggs, shredded beef, tomato, jalapeno, and onions. This was a very mellow machaca. There were no big pops of flavor that I was anticipating from the jalapeno and this machaca was in finely shredded pieces. I like bigger pieces of beef so you can taste it better, but still, this was pretty good, just not great. The rice was mediocre, but the beans shined at Cafe De Olla. Obviously made here, they were smooth and silky and the cheese on top went well with them.

I left Cafe De Olla feeling pretty good about our visit. It was not earth-shatteringly great food, but a very solid breakfast joint. I'd definitely come back and maybe try their chilaquiles or pancake breakfasts next time. Service was fair for how busy they were on this particular late Sunday morning. What I really enjoyed the most about Cafe De Olla was the reservation process, and how I could check in online from our hotel room, which allowed us to get a few extra winks. Until next time Burbank.

Out of five route canals, (because the city of Burbank is named after David Burbank, who originally was a dentist but when he bought 9,200 acres in the city that now bears his name he left dentistry to become a sheep farmer), five being best to zero being worst, Cafe De Olla gets 3 route canals.

For more information about Cafe De Olla, head to their website here: http://www.cafedeollarestaurant.com/

A Chili Dog 50 Years in the Making?

Larry's Chili Dog

3122 West Burbank Blvd. 

Burbank, CA 91505

When I started dating Katie over nine years ago now, she was absolutely amazed that I had never been to the San Fernando Valley, or as it's more commonly known as The Valley. I'm not sure why she was so shocked by this. I did not have any family or friends up this way, I really had no business to attend to up here, and there was just no reason for me to be in this part of Southern California.

That was until Katie came into my life. She has a very large extended family that dots almost every city up in The Valley. One of our first trips up here was for a family function where I met at least 50 aunts, uncles, cousins, and longtime family friends. It took me a little bit of time to get to remember all of their names, but I eventually got them all down. One person I never had a problem remembering was Katie's cousin Bridget.

We immediately had a connection due to hockey, but we also enjoyed having a few cocktails, reminiscing about cheesy love songs from the 80's, and of course our love for Katie. So when we were invited to come up to the Valley to celebrate her 50th birthday, I made sure to take the weekend off since I knew it would end up being very hard to get up the next morning due to our excessive celebrating. I also knew this would be an excellent opportunity to try a few places that I have wanted to try for a while.

One of those places was Larry's Chili Dog. This place is pretty iconic in the Burbank area and has also been mentioned in numerous, "best of" and "top ten" lists as having some of the best hot dogs in LA. Larry's has been here since 1952 and has been serving hungry patrons for many generations now, with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Not only do people get pretty pumped for their dogs, but the breakfast burritos have also reached cult status here. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it here before they stop serving breakfast at 11am, but I was still amped up to give Larry's a try.

Larry's is located on the corner of Burbank and Ontario, and if that doesn't help you out, look for the large neon sign with a dog laying across the top of a hot dog. You can't miss it. There's limited parking in the back of the restaurant, but plenty of street parking in the surrounding neighborhood. We arrived here at just after 1pm on a Saturday, and there definitely was a very steady stream of people getting their hot dog fix. Ordering is done at the window, and then you take a seat at one of the ten or so tables and wait for your food to be brought out to you. Let's see if Larry's is worthy of being mentioned on the list of great chili dogs in LA.

I know I promised you hot dogs, but Katie was a little worried about how her body would react to hot dogs and wanted to try something lighter since she knew we would be up rather late for Bridget's big party. She decided on this Turkey Wrap with Avocado ($7.55). Not sure why they did not include the avocado inside the wrap, but she really enjoyed this a lot. Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and mustard were wrapped around a garlic pesto tortilla for this one. Fresh ingredients and a solid wrap, but nothing really made this pop. A good alternative for people that want to eat a little lighter at Larry's and don't want to order a salad.

Now, this is much more representative of what Larry's is known for. Chili-palooza was in full effect with my order. I got the #5 Chili Cheese Dog Combo with Chili Cheese Fries ($8.99). The chili dog came with a little bit of mustard, onions, and of course chili and cheese. I did a little bit of research online and found out that they use Hoffy brand for their hot dogs. It had a good initial snap to it and a good beefy flavor. The chili tasted exactly like the chili at Tommy's, but maybe a tinge lighter. The bun was sturdy and kept everything together well. The chili fries came out scaldingly hot. As much as I wanted to dig right in and try them, they did not stop steaming for a good five minutes. The fries were obviously from the freezer, but they were fried nice and crisp and kept their crispness even under the ladled chili and grated cheese. The chili was evenly dispersed so every french fry got a little of the chili and the cheese. Again, these reminded me almost exactly of the chili fries at Tommy's, but not as heavy as the chili at Tommy's. Really good and a good base for all the cocktails I would be enjoying a little later in the evening.

Just for good measure, I had to give the Louisiana Hot Link ($5..75) a try. If the chili cheese fries came out hot, this hot link was on fire. I let it cool off for a long while before attempting my first bite of this. It had a good casing with spicy meat beneath it. The hot link came dressed simply with mustard and onion. Pretty good sized and I think I might get this next time with chili and cheese for the ultimate Larry's experience.

Larry's is right up there with some of the best chili dogs I have had. If you are a fan of Tommy's, you will definitely enjoy the chili dogs at Larry's. I still have to give the chili dog crown to Fab Hot Dogs, which is home to the Texas Burrito Dog which is two chili cheese hot dogs wrapped in a tortilla and is still one of the best things I have eaten n the last nine years of writing this restaurant blog. Back to Larry's though. I thought the prices were more than fair here and the service was pretty good. There was a pretty big lag time from the time we ordered to our food arriving at our table, but luckily we were not in a hurry. You could also call your order in ahead of time to combat this from happening to you. Larry's was an excellent spot to lay the groundwork for what I knew was going to be a long night celebrating Bridget's big 50.

Out of five potatoes, (because the year this restaurant opened for business, 1952, was also the first year that the popular toy Mr. Potato Head was first sold), five being best to zero being worst, Larry's Chili Dog gets 3 potatoes.

For more information about Larry's Chili Dog, head to their website here: https://larryschilidog.com/

Looking for a Burger Hookup

Hook Burger

1731 N. Victory Pl. 

Burbank, CA 91502

Sometimes the best laid plans kind of go a little haywire. We were up this way for the wedding of Katie's cousin, which kind of went a little long into the night, and then of course we headed to her Uncle Tom's famous garage, for the after party. We did not end up getting back to our hotel until about 2:30 in the morning.

Too tired to go to any of the restaurants we wanted to hit up in this neck of the woods, we looked for one of the highest rated on Yelp, that was nearest our hotel. Something that would sustain us for the 2 hour plus drive that we had ahead of us getting back to OC. That's how we ended up at Hook Burger in Burbank.

Hook Burger is a mini chain, with five locations open, all in LA County. They started in Oxnard five years ago, and are run by the original team behind one of my favorite burger places, The Habit. The ordering process is the same here. You order at the counter, then the food is brought to your table. They characterize their burgers as upscale, in a fast and casual environment.

They are also pretty big into doing things the right way. They use humanely raised beef for their burgers. They also use locally sourced produce and bread from local bakers. Even their decor in the dining room comes from reclaimed wood. This is all great, but I was really excited to see how their food would taste, and if it would help soak up some of the libations I had the night before. Let's see what we thought about Hook Burger.

Much like the Habit menu, there's more to this place than just burgers, as Katie can attest to. She selected their Fresh Tuna Albacore Melt ($7.75) from their five kinds of sandwiches on the Hook Burger menu. This sandwich usually comes with cheddar cheese, but Katie subbed out Swiss to go along with the lettuce, tomato, and mayo that also came on this sandwich.  Served on a toasted sourdough bread, Katie really enjoyed the freshness of the tuna here, and was happy she went the Swiss route instead of the cheddar. She also remarked that the toasted bread helped make this sandwich, by adding a crunchy texture to it. She definitely would get this again.

Of course if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I was going to try a burger here. None of the pre-made burger options really spoke to me on this afternoon, so I got their Prime Burger ($8.25 with all the enhancements that I added). The prime burger comes with caramelized bourbon onions, lettuce, tomato, and honey Dijon mayo. I also added bacon, cheddar cheese, and avocado. This was a pretty solid burger, and definitely what the doctor ordered on this afternoon. I liked that there was plenty of avocado on this, and the bun was very sturdy, but still soft. The hamburger patty was pretty tasty, but the bacon kind of got lost here. I wish they were as generous with the bacon as they were with the avocado. The Dijon mayo was actually pretty good, and I had my doubts about it before having it. The Dijon was downplayed just enough for me to really enjoy this condiment. Not just a pretty looking burger, but a good tasting one as well.

I always love when places offer a sampler platter of some of their side items, and at Hook Burger they call it The Trio ($5.95). This hat trick of fried food included french fries, sweet potato fries, and crispy onion rings. My favorite one of the three was the onion rings. A very good breading, which crunched when bitten into, and most importantly it did not break apart from the onion. The fries were good, but a little on the small side for me. I would have liked them better if they were the same size as the sweet potato fries. I'm not really a big fan of sweet potato fries, but Katie liked these well enough, and I thought they were okay. All of these items were fried nicely, and not overly greasy.

Job well done Hook Burger. You sustained us until we got home, helped clear my head from a night of adult beverages, and I'll even give you credit for the mostly clear sailing that we experienced on the freeways of Southern California. The burgers here are pretty good, but I'd like to see maybe a basic bacon cheese burger on their menu of the already made burgers. The burger did not blow me away, but you can tell that it was made with quality ingredients, and that goes a long way in my opinion of this restaurant. The quality is definitely on par with The Habit. The price point is also a big plus for this place as well. They only have one item, a steak sandwich, which is over ten dollars, and even that's only over that mark by two quarters. Service at the register was very good, and they answered all of our questions. The table side service was fine as well, and I even saw a manager going from table to table making sure everything was going all right. A very nice touch. Hook Burger was not what we had planned on having this day, but we are glad that we ended up eating here.

Out of five hockey sticks, (because hockey season is right around the corner, and some of the players will be called for hooking using their sticks), five being best to zero being worst, Hook Burger gets 3 solid hockey sticks.

For more information about Hook Burger, go to their website here: http://hookburger.com/

Reliving the Past at Bob's in Burbank

Bob's Big Boy

4211 W. Riverside Dr.

Burbank, CA 91505

Katie and I have been together for coming up on five years now. Yes, we are moving towards a few momentous occasions within the year, but those announcements will come at a later date. There are of course many wonderful things I could say about Katie, but I do not want to bore you, and I am not really the mushy type. One thing I do love is that she has a very large family, and of course an even bigger extended family. I come from a family of four, have just one uncle that we see on a regular basis, and a couple of cousins that make an appearance every now and then. So becoming part of Katie's extended family has a real appeal to me. As an added plus, most of her extended family live in the Burbank area, and that's where we were headed on a recent Friday. We were going to her cousin Sean's wedding, but we wanted to beat the traffic, so we got up there about three hours early. Just enough time to check into our hotel and grab a bite to eat at one of my favorite places, Bob's Big Boy.

Bob's holds a very special place in my heart. It was one restaurant that we visited with great regularity when I was growing up. I can remember how we would climb all over the Bob statue while waiting for our table, reading the Big Boy comic book while waiting for our dinner, then of course having my own double decker hamburger, and if we were good we got to split a hot fudge cake for dessert. This was back when there were lots of Bob's around. There are now no Bob's in OC, and only a handful left in Southern California. My first restaurant review for this blog was my review of the now departed Bob's Big Boy that was in Orange. I miss having a Bob's close by, but it just makes it much more special when we get the rare chance to experience Big Boy, like on this day.

This was my first visit to this location of Bob's Big Boy. I did not know it, but this is a special Big Boy. It is the oldest operating Bob's still in business, opened in 1949. The restaurant was designed by renowned architect, Wayne McAllister, who designed this Bob's incorporating 40's modern style, while anticipating the free form of the 50's diner. No, I am not a student of architecture, I got this off of the plaque that is in front of the restaurant, which also proclaims that this restaurant, as of 1993, is an official point of historical interest in the state of California.

The restaurant is not the only historical part of this Bob's Big Boy. As luck would have it, we were here on a Friday afternoon, and the parking lot was already filling up with classic cars for their weekly car shows. These classic autos take over the parking lot every Friday from 5 to 11 PM. With all of these cars, and their car hop service, it's almost like you are living on the set of American Graffiti. or Happy Days. If you do not know these shows, go ask your parents about them.  Since we were pulling up in Katie's 2007 Hyundai, we were really here for the food inside. We got a booth right next to the famous Beatles Booth, where the guys from Liverpool ate during their 1965 US tour. Let's see if the food is as good as it was yesterday, (Beatles reference, if you did not catch it).

I was pretty hungry from our drive up from OC, so I could not wait to dig into my Dinner Salad before snapping a picture. Of course I ordered the Super Big Boy Combo, which includes a dinner salad to start. Bob's is known for their blue cheese dressing, which is still sold in stores. The salad is very standard, but the inclusion of the thick blue cheese dressing elevates this rather boring salad. Be advised that they are very liberal when adding dressing here, but that's the way I like my salads.

Bob's has a lot of things on their menu. I hear good things about the Pappy Parker's Fried Chicken, the Chili Spaghetti, and the Onion Rings, but when I come to Bob's, I always get the same thing, a Super Big Boy Combo ($9.49). This combo came with the aforementioned salad, a super big boy, which has double the cheese and 50 percent more meat than the original big boy burger, and of course fries. This burger is a classic. Sesame seed bun, topped with two patties, two slices of American cheese, shredded lettuce, mayo, and their special red relish. The middle bun is an integral part of the sandwich, as it soaks up a lot of the grease from the burger. The patties are not thick, and the lettuce can be easily discarded here, but this is one of my favorite burgers because it all comes together so nicely. I like their version of mayo, which is a little sweeter and thinner than regular mayonnaise. The red relish adds a nice little tang to the burger. The french fries, while frozen, are okay, but nothing above average.

We were going to be sitting through a wedding ceremony, so we were still about four or more hours away from the food at the reception, so dessert was definitely in order. When at Bob's there is nothing on their dessert menu to order, other than their famous Hot Fudge Cake ($4.29). Part cake and part sundae, this is the obvious choice so you do not have to choose between cake and ice cream. I really enjoy the rich vanilla ice cream that they use here, the thicker than usual hot fudge, and the sturdy chocolate cake. For the three of you that read this blog on a regular basis, you know one of my biggest pet peeves about desserts in restaurants is the small portions of ice cream that usually come to the table. This is not the case at Bob's. Not only is this dessert swimming in hot fudge, but there is no need to spoon fight over the ice cream when splitting this. A very good end to this meal.

Bob's Big Boy is one of my favorites because it reminds me of my childhood. I know that these burgers are not like the gourmet burgers that have popped up all over the place in the last few years. They are not using Wagyu or Kobe beef. There are not exotic toppings on them, like jalapenos, Gouda, peanut butter, or pesto. This is just a basic burger that works. Nothing fancy here. Maybe I am biased by my love of this restaurant. It is kind of like when you are dating a girl, and your friends can all see she is no good for you, but you have blinders on. Bob's is kind of like that. Someone that did not grow up with Big Boy's may think this is just average food, but in my eyes it is better than that. Bob's makes coming all the way to Burbank for a wedding on a Friday afternoon worth it. Wish there were some closer to OC, but it just makes our less frequent trips that much better.

Out of five nuggets, (which for you hard core Big Boy fans will remember as Big boy's dog in the comic books given out at the front counter), five being best to zero being worst, Bob's Big Boy gets 3 nuggets

For more information about this location of Bob's Big Boy, go to their website here: https://www.bobs.net/

Pinocchio's Pulling the Strings on a Great Meal?

Pinocchio Restaurant

3103 W Magnolia Blvd.

Burbank, CA 91505

I have returned to the home of Katie's forefathers, or as her Dad calls it, "The Motherland". Burbank is where he and his five brothers and sisters grew up. This is the place where some of them still reside. It is also the city where I may have disgraced the entire family. After eating across the street at Tony's Bela Vista, I wrote my review, and let's just say it did not go so well. It was not awful, but very average. That did not sit well with Katie's Dad, but he was not deterred, and he recommended we eat across the street at Pinocchio Restaurant.

Pinocchio Restaurant is connected to Monte Carlo Italian Deli and Market. The market has been opened since the '60s. Pinocchio Restaurant opened their doors in 1971. In those 40 years, it appears not too much has changed. Ordering is done cafeteria-style. Lining up with a tray, and telling the guys behind the counter what you want is how it is done here. We got here at five and there was never a break in the line during the dinner rush. The guys behind the counter were busy bringing out trays and trays of food. Let's see how it came out.

Katie tried the Lasagna with meat sauce here. She felt this was an "old school meal". She was completely satisfied with the amount of meat, cheese, and sauce on this. She would definitely get this again on her next trip here.

I went a different route for dinner with the Large Meatball Sandwich with meat sauce. This sandwich was impossible to pick up, because it was served scalding hot, and also because of all the meat sauce that was piled on this. Definitely a knife and fork sandwich. I really liked their meat sauce here. Very meaty and full of flavor. The meatballs were good but could have used a little more seasoning. The bread held up to the contents of the sandwich valiantly. I wish I would have added cheese to the sandwich, which would have made it even better. Also served with the sandwich, when dining in the restaurant, is your choice of two salads. I went with the Greek Salad and Potato Salad. The Greek was your basic green salad with chunks of feta cheese in it, but the salad was chopped into bigger pieces than I would have liked. The potato salad was pretty good. Good flavor, cooked right, and it reminded me of my Mom's. The sandwich was good-sized, but when the salads were added, this definitely filled me up.

This solid brick of Baked Ziti belonged to Kevin. Again this plate of noodles, meat, and sauce came out lava hot. The meat sauce had plenty of meat, and the ziti was blessed with lots of cheese.  Kevin did a great job by finishing this plate in record time. Very proud of you Kevin!

Sara, on the other hand, ate what my niece ate when she was five. Plain noodles, with a few pieces of garlic bread. Looked great, but I did not get to try this bland looking plate. Nice ordering Sara!

Luckily, Lynn made up for her daughter's horrible ordering, with this Chicken Parmigiana with Pasta. The chicken here looked a little odd to me. I would have thought it would have been pounded thinner, but there were no complaints from Lynn. She did feel that the sauce was a little on the runny side, but other than that, she was happy with her meal. She likes the consistency of the food here. The food is the same as it was years ago when they lived up in Burbank.

Papa Chris and Katie's Dad, Dennis, both went with the smaller version of the Sausage and Peppers Sandwich. This proves that great minds indeed do think alike. Even the smaller sandwiches come with two salads. I did not hear good or bad about the sausage sandwich, but both of them finished their sandwiches with no problem.

Even after the big meal, we wandered over to the market side and tried one of their 24 varieties of gelato. Our choice was the Chocolate Hazelnut. This was a very rich gelato, with large pieces of hazelnuts embedded in the chocolate. If I had more room, I would have enjoyed this a lot more than I did. Very good though.

I really enjoyed walking around the Monte Carlo Italian Deli. They had almost anything Italian that you could possibly want. They had not just a few varieties of olive oil, but probably well over a hundred different kinds. They also had a very large selection of canned tomatoes. More than I have ever seen in a market before. It was six at night, and the deli case was still buzzing with activity. Customers were buying cheeses and meats to take home. Well worth a walk around the market.

Back to the Pinocchio Restaurant though. I am not going to tell you that this will be the best Italian food you have ever had, but everything we had satisfied us. The portion sizes were great at Pinocchio's, and that is no lie. You definitely get your money's worth here as well. All of the sandwiches and entrees are all under $10. They also have pizzas on the menu, although none of us went with that option. Maybe on our next visit. There is plenty of seating here, but the restaurant does fill up rather quickly during meal hours. Katie's Dad picked this restaurant, and I can safely say that it was a good pick. He has definitely redeemed himself for some of the less than stellar restaurant selections of the past. Very proud of ya big guy, let's keep it going.

Out of five crickets, (because Jiminy Cricket was Pinocchio's conscience), five being best to zero being worst, Pinocchio Restaurant gets 3 crickets.

For more information on Pinocchio Restaurant, click here: http://www.montecarlodeli.com/pinocchio-restaurant.html

Tony's Bella Vista a Beautiful Sight? - CLOSED

Tony's Bella Vista

3116 West Magnolia

Burbank, CA 91505

It is Katie's grandfather's birthday, so we headed up to Burbank to take him out for dinner. Since I have been dating Katie, trips up to LA have been more and more common than in my past, and that means many more restaurants to try. Tonight it is Tony's Bella Vista in Burbank that I get to experience for the first time.

Tony's Bella Vista holds a special place in the hearts of Katie's family. It is a place where her parents went on dates, many, many, many years ago. They have held wedding dinners, baby showers, and even wakes at Tony's. Now it is grandpa's turn to be the guest of honor at Tony's Bella Vista.

Tony's has been around since 1965, and it shows in the atmosphere. The restaurant area is dark, and not very decorative. Big red leather booths and paintings on the walls dominate the place and add to the old-school feel of the restaurant. Brothers, Angelo and Giovanni bought the place from the original owners back in 1987, and still use their original recipes to this day. Those recipes have won Tony's Bella Vista countless awards for the best pizza in Burbank. Let's see if the awards are deserved.

We were all really hungry so we started off with an order of Garlic Bread. This garlic bread looks better in the picture than it tasted. The crust was too hard, and the insides were not soft. The price was right for this, $2.95, and it did have a mild garlic taste.

The other appetizer we tried was the Fried Calamari. I thought that this was decent calamari. Cooked well, and seasoned fine. It did not really stand out as one of the best calamari I have ever had, but I found myself eating a lot of this. Again, maybe I was just hungry.

We each ordered an entree, and this is the soup and salad that came with the meals. Nothing out of the ordinary here. The soup was Kevin's, and he was not enamored with it. I am not sure what kind of soup it was, but from the picture, it looks like it could be some kind of vegetable soup.

When I see Carbonara on a menu, I generally always gravitate towards it. I did the same here. This is the Spaghetti Carbonara. This was a very different carbonara from what I was used to. The sauce was more like an Alfredo sauce, very heavy. The sauce was also kind of bland. I really needed to doctor this dish up with lots of Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. The meat that was incorporated into this dish, usually bacon, guanciale, or pancetta, ( I could not tell what they used here), was not very salty, and thus added nothing to this dish. Not very happy with this.

Katie, on the other hand, could not be more pleased with her choice for the night, the Tortellini 3P. Why do they call it that you ask? Because it comes with Peas, Prosciutto, and Parmigiano. This was also a very rich dish. Katie felt that the plate was made up of very fresh ingredients.

The big draw at Tony's is of course the pizza. Here is a slice of pepperoni and sausage, with a thin crust. This was one of the thinnest crusts I have ever seen. Very close to the width of a tortilla. I am usually not too big on the crust, but even I wanted more crust than this. The toppings were okay here, and the sausage really did not stand out. The cheese had a good flavor though. Katie complained that this had too much grease on top of it.

Katie's wise aunts and uncles got the much better pizza at the table. They went with the Ham, Artichoke, Sliced Tomatoes, and Basil Pizza. The toppings on this were not my cup of tea, but the crust was the thicker regular crust. A much better crust, than the thin one. The toppings on this were good, but a little too mellow for me. These toppings almost tasted like they were good for you, and when I eat pizza, I want to know that I am eating something bad.

Tony's Bella Vista is a family-style restaurant. Do not go here for a romantic night out on the town. You are not going to have the best Italian food of your life here. You need to take it for what it is. It is a family-run restaurant that makes everyone feel comfortable. The quantity of food that you get for the price is very reasonable. The service was pretty good for our party of 15. I did think it was a little odd that they serve their sodas out of the can, but that just shows how old-school this place is.

Out of five cantaloupes, (because the first official seal of  Burbank had a cantaloupe on it), five being best to zero being worst, Tony's Bella Vista gets 2.5 cantaloupes.

Tony's does not have a website, but you can find information about them here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/tonys-bella-vista-restaurant-and-pizzeria-burbank