Something to Write Home About at Sandwich House

 Sandwich House

9187 Valley View St. 

Cypress, CA 90630

Yes, two reviews in a row for the city of Cypress. We were sitting at two restaurant reviews for 12 years, so we'd double that with this single trip to one of the most northern cities in our grand county. We had just had one of the better breakfast burritos in OC, and I was already thinking about lunch. Yes, I might have a problem. 

Right around the corner from where we had breakfast was Sandwich House. What drew me here was their impressive four-and-a-half-star rating on Yelp, with over 1,600 reviews. Another driving force for this visit was that I last had a Banh Mi sandwich in what seemed like forever. I'm a big fan of these Vietnamese sandwiches, but only a few places where I live have good ones. So, I was hoping that Sandwich House was going to be able to provide me a very good one. 

Feuling my excitement about Sandwich House was some of the research I had done about this restaurant. Not only was their Yelp rating and reviews very promising, but in 2018 they were situated at number 53 on Yelp's top 100 places to eat in the US that year. That is very lofty praise. Other than that, I learned that they have been in business since 2011 and were an instant hit with the students from Cypress College, located right across the street. 

The menu at Sandwich House is pretty straightforward. They offer 14 sandwiches on french bread, ten on a croissant, and three entree items for those who are not fans of sandwiches. There are also hot and cold drinks, smoothies, and various coffee options are also available. Most sandwiches hover around the $10 price point and go up depending on any optional add-ons you may want. 

We arrived at Sandwich House just before the lunch rush at half past eleven. The inside of the shop is cluttered, with plenty of chips, snacks, and baked goods for sale. There was also a good-sized collection of chef figurines throughout the tiny space. Ordering was done at the counter, and then they asked us politely to wait in our car for our sandwiches. It could be a holdover from the pandemic days, or it's more convenient because the restaurant is so tiny. The nice man behind the counter brought two Jasmin iced teas to our car while we were waiting for our food. Very lovely and not unexpected, especially if you read their reviews on Yelp. Within ten minutes or so, we were headed back home with dinner. Let's see if my good feeling about Sandwich House came true.  

Here's a look at Katie's selection this afternoon, the Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($8.75). Each sandwich here comes with shredded carrots, cucumbers, a touch of mayo, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, a bit of soy sauce, and in this case, some chicken. The bread tasted freshly made, had a good texture, and held the contents of the sandwich admirably. Katie thought this might have been the best banh mi sandwich she had ever had. She loved the fresh veggies, the crunchy bread, and the savory tender chicken.  

On Yelp, this House Special Sandwich ($8.75 +$2 for extra meat) kept appearing in every positive review, so I decided to give it a shot. This came with all the same things as Katie's sandwich above, but instead of chicken, it came with pate, pork meatloaf, and french style ham. This was a little out of my usual comfort zone, but it was a good sandwich. The pate added a lovely richness, while the ham and pork worked well with the rest of the fillings. I would have liked a bit more mayo, but it was a nicely crafted sandwich and was one of the better banh mi sandwiches I have had. It was worth two dollars to get extra meat on this. 

My sandwich was a fantastic introduction to Sandwich House and whetted my appetite to try more of their sandwiches when we return to the area. It will be hard not to order the special house sandwich, but I have my eye on the grilled pork or one of their croissant sandwiches on future visits. Adding to the good vibes we have about this spot was the warm and inviting welcome we got from who I presume was the owner. We were two for two on this trip to Cypress, picking good places to eat. It makes me wonder what else this city has to offer. Stay tuned. 

Out of five electric outlets (because the sports teams of nearby Cypress College are the Chargers, and if you stick your finger in an outlet, it will definitely give you a charge), five being best to zero being worst, Sandwich House gets 3.5 electric outlets. 

For more information about Sandwich House, head to their website by clicking here: https://website--6800858471984551692101-sandwichshop.business.site/

Building a Better Breakfast Burrito at the Home Depot?

 LJ's Lil Cafe

5800 Lincoln Avenue

Cypress, CA 90630

I know. This blog has gotten a little breakfast-heavy the last few weeks. Except for my year-end post, my previous three reviews have been about the day's first meal. I promise more diversity in the upcoming reviews, but this is a breakfast spot that I'm very passionate about. More specifically, I'm excited about the breakfast burritos LJ's Lil Cafe is churning out. 

LJ's is situated in a small space in front of the Home Depot on Lincoln Avenue in Cypress. They opened in September of 2021 by a couple who had met while working at Seasons 52 in Costa Mesa. When this place was available, they snatched it up rather quickly because of the heavy foot traffic in the area and the fact that Cypress College is right across the street. 

They are closed on Sundays and Mondays and are only open for business from 7:30 to 2pm the rest of the week. They start serving a lunch menu of sausages, hot dogs, a hamburger, and a foot-long queso cheesesteak after 11:30. Breakfast, which has gotten them the most press, consists of four breakfast burritos to choose from and a lone breakfast sandwich. 

We were meeting our good friends Melissa, Kyle, and Melissa's mom Irene here for a mid-week meetup at 10am, but Melissa was predictably late, even though she lives nearby in the beautiful city of Whittier. When they finally arrived, we quickly ordered and were met with a quoted time of half an hour for our food. No problem, as we had not seen each other for a while and spent the time chatting about things important to Melissa; her love of the city of Yorba Linda, how she believed that her beloved Rams were going to win the SuperBowl this year, (ha!), and her aquatic dog named Pugsley. 

There's only a little seating here, as there are a couple of picnic tables to the left of the ordering window. Unfortunately, these were occupied when we got here, so we improvised and sat at the picnic table, which was the display model for Home Depot. No one seemed to care, but we made sure to not make a big mess and cleaned up after ourselves once we were done with our meal. Speaking of the meal, let's see if the hype for the breakfast burritos at LJ's is warranted. 

Of course, with all this talk about breakfast burritos, Katie decided to try the LJ's Breakwich ($7.99 + $2 for both bacon and sausage + .75 for grilled onions). This comes with your choice of cheese, two eggs, bacon or sausage, LJ's sauce (a spicy mayo), and salsa, all on a brioche bun. The egg was nicely folded into the bun and had a good cohesion with the swiss cheese, the bacon, and the sausage, a Portuguese-Hawaiian sausage, which was a nice departure from the everyday breakfast sausage most places use. Even with the close to $11 charge for this sandwich, Katie felt it was well worth it. She loved the high-quality ingredients used and savored every bite. The Tater Tots ($4.49) had a good crunch and was an excellent side item for the sandwich. 

Here's what we drove nearly forty minutes for, the OG Breakfast Burrito ($11.25). I posted the first picture with the dollar bill so you could see what we are dealing with size-wise. Regarding breakfast burritos, this one falls right in the middle of the pack based on size. It's not going to overwhelm you and make you skip dinner, but it's also going to keep you completely satisfied through lunchtime. The OG is filled with three eggs, Portugese-Hawaiian sausage, bacon, cheese, tater tots, and LJ's sauce. I really enjoyed the inclusion of the crunchy tater tots, which kept their crispness remarkably well while I was eating this. The ratio of ingredients was also a bright spot for this breakfast burrito. There was plenty of cheese, and the eggs and cheese worked perfectly together. If I had to say one negative thing about this, the bacon could have been a bit more prominent, and a little more of the LJ's sauce wouldn't have hurt. 

Kyle, who had the nickname hot tamale in high school, lived up to his nickname by trying the OG Spicy Breakfast Burrito ($10.99). This differs from the burrito above by adding jalapenos, omitting the bacon, and substituting the Portuguese sausage for a hotlink. Not overly spicy, just enough to give it a slight kick. This will be the burrito I will get the next time I visit LJ's. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to try this, but Kyle enjoyed it. 

These burritos were both the OG burritos we had seen earlier. I am highlighting the excellent hand-modeling job done by Melissa and her mom. Great job, ladies, and consider a career change to hand modeling soon. 

The breakfast burritos at LJ's are worthy of all the hype they receive. These are one of the top three breakfast burritos in OC. Like my other two favorites, the ones from Nate's Korner and Ham N' Scram, I'm more than a little bummed that these spots are more than thirty minutes away from where I live, even with early morning light weekend freeway traffic. LJ's is worth a little extended drive time. I've also made a mental note to try their lunch very soon. Again, I'm sorry for all the breakfast reviews lately, but LJ's is one place you will definitely not want to miss, especially if you are a fan of breakfast burritos. 

Out of five centurions (because the mascot of Cypress High School is the Roman centurion), five being best to zero being worst, LJ's Lil Cafe gets 3.5 centurions. 

LJ's Lil Cafe does not have a website, but you can stay up to date with them by checking out their Yelp page by clicking here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lj-s-lil-cafe-cypress?osq=best+breakfast+burrito

Exploring the Enchanting Food of Puerto Rico

Senor Big Ed

5490 Lincoln Ave. 

Cypress, CA 90630

Well, it finally happened. We are getting rid of our good friends Sabrina and Anthony. They have decided to take the plunge and move to Washington. They decided they did not want to battle the traffic on the 91 Freeway for two hours plus each day, wanted to live where they have actual seasons, and move closer to her sister. To celebrate their big decision we decided to meet up for one big dinner before they had to pack up and head to the great Northwest.

In another shocking twist on things, they actually picked the restaurant we'd eat at. They had recently had a very positive experience at Senor Big Ed in Cypress. I had never heard of this Puerto Rican place before, and I have to admit, I really had no idea what Puerto Rican food entailed. I imagined it would be like Cuban food, and then I glanced at a map and found out that nearly 800 miles separate the two islands in the Carribean Sea, so I really had no idea what to expect.

I did do a quick search of Puerto Rican food online and found that the cuisine is influenced by the people of Spain, Africa, America, and the Tanio Arawak, the indigenous inhabitants of the island. The menu at Senor Big Ed is full of Puerto Rican favorites; mofongo, arroz con gandules, guisado, and plenty of plantains are all represented here. I had no idea what I'd be trying when we drove up to the restaurant.

Senor Big Ed is in an area of OC that we do not get up to nearly enough. The only other spot we have visited in this North OC city was Joe Schmoes nearly 5 years ago. Way too much time between visits and we will try to rectify that going forward. Senor Big Ed is situated in a strip of shops on the corner of Walker and Lincoln, a block away from Cypress College.

The restaurant has been in business for over twenty years, if not significantly more. I could not find an exact date online, but I place it between 20 to 30 years based on some of the Yelper reviews. Puerto Rican pride is evident inside the restaurant with plenty of flags, a map of the island, and pictures highlighting the beauty of the island adorning the walls. There's also a claw machine, which got lots of use by the kids eating here. They were pretty good at it also, getting plenty of stuffed animals out of the machine. I wasn't hoping for a stuffed animal, but a great meal. Let's see if I got lucky also.

We started out our journey of Puerto Rican food with their Sampler Plate ($14.50). Sampler plates are always the way to go so you can get a good lay of the land. This one included a Puerto Rican Tamale, a Meat Turnover, a Cheese Turnover, an Alcapurria, a Relleno de Pappas, Tostones, and Fried Yellow Plantain. I really enjoyed the two turnovers and the relleno de papa, which was a potato ball stuffed with ground beef. The turnovers were definitely reminiscent of empanadas that I have had at other places. The plantains were pretty solid, and I could not decide if I liked the smashed versions or the sweeter ones better. The alcapurria, the long thin brown item in the upper right of the photo, was a green banana fritter filled with ground beef. It was okay, but a little over fried. I was not in love with the tamale. It was made of plantain I think, and nothing was inside, so it was a bit boring to me. It also had a pretty damp texture that I was not expecting. A good sampler platter though.

Sabrina kept the sampler platter vibe going with her entree on this evening the Combo #2, which was a Relleno de Papa and a Cheese Turnover. She seemed to like both but only ate half to save for lunch the next day. Very thrifty Sabrina. Combo plates come with your choice of rice and plantains. You could go with regular plain white rice, but we all selected the much more flavorful guisado with grandules, which is the national dish of Puerto Rico and is Spanish rice with pigeon peas. Very flavorful and comforting. You can get your plantains both smashed and fried or soft and sweet, or a combination of the two which is what we all did. The menu also stated that you get beans, but none of our plates included them, a fact that we didn't notice until we had finished our meals.

Probably the most famous of all Puerto Rican foods, and the most fun to say is the Mofongo Relleno ($13.99). Green plantains are mashed tightly and then topped with your choice of meat. Anthony got the beef version. I tried a bite of the beef and it was very tender with a nice sauce covering it. Anthony has been here two times, and this is what he's gotten on both visits. I guess if it's not broke, don't deviate from the plan.

I also went with the Mofongo Relleno ($13.99), but I selected the pork version. When I read up on the mofongo before coming to Senor Big Ed's, I thought this dish was going to be too dry, but it was moist and flavorful. The pork was nice and tender and made even better with some of their garlic sauce, which you need to ask for when you visit.

Katie went with the Canoa De Platano Maduro ($10.99) as her first foray into Puerto Rican food. This was an open-faced plantain filled with ground beef and then covered with cheese. She loved the mix of the savory and sweet with this dish. A very comforting dish for this colder than average evening. She would not hesitate to get this one again

I felt pretty good with our visit to Senor Big Ed. I admit that when Sabrina and Anthony first picked it, I was not that enthused. I did not think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. What I learned is that plantains are way more versatile than I ever knew. They use them in so many ways. I liked the different spices and sauces of Puerto Rican cuisine. They made this food very unique. Service was not the best this evening. Our server left us for long stretches of time, and we had to ask numerous times for garlic sauce and refills. Even with the subpar service, if you are looking for something a little out of the norm from what you are used to, definitely give Senor Big Ed a try. One last meal with Sabrina and Anthony, but we look forward to exploring the restaurant scene with them when they move to Washington.

Out of five telescopes, (because the largest telescope in the world is located in Puerto Rico, and you should definitely get a closer look at the cuisine of this island), five being best to zero being worst, Senor Big Ed gets 3 telescopes.

Senor Big Ed has a very limited website, which you can access here: http://dineoptions.com/SenorBigEd/?fbclid=IwAR3dZwRahx4ef2v3T8SQ25Jgok-eZcdHj9FgRAEa-lQI5mI_FvN-Vxiujgo

Finally Making a Trip to Cypress

Joe Schmoe's

5123 Ball Road

Cypress, CA 90630

This visit to Joe Schmoe's killed two birds with one stone. One, it brings the number of OC cities that I have yet to visit on this blog to two, and it also rounds out my lineup for my wedding, as this is the restaurant where I asked my buddy Erven to be one of my groomsman. It's a pretty good feeling to accomplish two things at once.

Our long awaited visit to Cypress is way overdue. More a result of geography, than a lack of restaurants in this landlocked, western OC city. Cypress is filled with lots of Asian restaurants, most notably Cafe Hiro and Vietnamese banh mi powerhouse, Sandwich House, which is the highest rated restaurant on Yelp in the city. These were both in the running to be our first Cypress restaurant, but Erven has four kids, and we thought a trip to Joe Schmoe's would be a little more kid friendly.

Joe Schmoe's has been open for just over a year now. Owners Mike Richards and Nick Harris, both of whom have lots of restaurant experience in places where they had staffs of over 50 people, wanted to try their luck at opening a simpler venture, a classic hot dog stand. Like any good owners, they did a lot of research on hot dogs, including traveling all over North America for tips, inspiration, and cooking styles. They decided to steam their natural casing hot dogs, and then put them on the grill hoping to provide that lucrative snap that almost all hot dog eaters desire. They also fell in love with frozen custard and had to add this to their menu as well.

We met up with Erven and his family at 5pm on a recent Saturday. Joe's is located in a strip mall that has definitely seen better days. There's a Walgreen's here, but lots of empty storefronts also dot the landscape. Joe's is located closest to Ball Road, in an A-frame building that brings to mind the nostalgic style of Wienerschnitzel's and Tastee Freez's of long ago. Most of the seating is outside, on a covered patio with picnic benches, but there's bar seating along the windows inside. Joe's brought in a steady stream of hot dog eaters to this dilapidated shopping center. There was a constant stream of customers ordering off of the rather large menu. Erven's kids were getting restless, and I was pretty hungry, so let's see how our first visit to Cypress turned out for us.

I know I promised hot dogs, and we will get to them, but first up was this Pastrami Reuben ($6.95). this is one of three kinds of pastrami sandwiches that they have here, but this is my favorite way to eat pastrami. They steam their pastrami, pile it on rye bread with Russian dressing, Swiss cheese, pickles, and sauerkraut. The pickles were a little too much here, so I took them off. This was a very good version of this classic sandwich. The pastrami was above average, but we needed a little more of it. The rye had a good crunch to it, and there was just the right amount of dressing on here. For a place known for their hot dogs, they also make a pretty mean Reuben.

Erven and I split four things, so we could get a good handle on this place. I did not want you to think that I ate all of this by myself. The first hot dog we tried was the Chili Slaw Dog ($4.45). This came with mustard, coleslaw, and a spicy chili. This hot dog had a lot going on with it. Even with all of the toppings here, I definitely got the snap on my first bite. The chili kind of was a let down. It really lacked spice, and it only added moisture to this dog. The coleslaw was very fresh, and the mustard did not get in the way here. It was good, but might have had too much going on flavor wise.

The LA Street Dog ($4.75) was up next. This was a bacon wrapped all beef hot dog, with mustard, mayo, grilled onions and peppers, and fresh fried jalapenos. This was my favorite hot dog of the night. It was not overly saturated with mayo or mustard, which allowed the bacon wrapped hot dog to shine through. The onions and peppers were nicely done, and the bun, which was nothing spectacular, did an admirable job of holding everything in place. This hot dog would have been helped with more jalapenos though.

Katie got in on the hot dog scene at Joe Schmoe's, when she selected this Blue Cheese Slaw Dog ($3.75). One of the simpler dogs on the menu, this one only featured mustard and blue cheese coleslaw, and she substituted the beef hot dog for a turkey frank. Katie liked the way the mustard and the blue cheese played off of each other. There was a nice texture component to the coleslaw. For being one of the simpler dogs on the menu, she could not have been more pleased with her selection.

Probably the best thing I had at Joe Schmoe's on this visit was this Bacon Cheeseburger ($5.75). The burgers here are a quarter pound, made of ground chuck, and hand formed daily. The meat definitely had a freshness to it, and the bacon was nice and crisp. This came with a big hunk of tomato, more than enough lettuce, grilled onions, and Joe's dressing, which resembled thousand island. A very clean tasting burger, I would not hesitate to get this again.

Here's a quick look at what the kids ate, the Build Your Own Dog ($2.95). With this base model of a hot dog you get to choose between mustard, ketchup, relish, onions, or jalapenos. Of course the kids went with plain hot dogs, and true to form, some of the kids liked it, and others were more interested in the fries and tater tots. I liked the scoring on this hot dog, it made it look better than your average store bought hot dog.

Whenever we are up in this part of OC, I always remember fondly the chili fries I had at Volcano Burger in neighboring Los Alamitos. Those were some of the best ones I have had, and I had similar visions when ordering the Chili Cheese Fries ($4.25) at Joe's. Those hopes were dashed though, because although these looked so good, the chili kind of fell flat. I did have the option of ordering the spicy chili, but Katie was sharing with me, and she's kind of skittish about spice. The fires were pretty standard, and I liked that they were very generous with the cheese. Next time I'm trying the spicier chili.

I've probably written it on this blog before, and I'll probably write it again, but I wish more places would serve Tater Tots ($2.25). These ones at Joe's were pretty stellar. They had a good crunch to them, and inside the potato was tender. It also helped that these came out scalding hot.

Earlier in this review I had mentioned that the owners had fallen in love with frozen custard while they were going around the country getting ideas for this restaurant. So it was natural that we try some. They offer this custard in cones, sundaes, floats, shakes, and these concrete concoctions. The Concretes ($3.50) are offered with your choice of mix ins, or you can just choose their top flavors which is what we did. Both Katie and I split the Reese's Mixer. This had plenty of Reese's pieces in it, but the custard was really melty. I think that is my biggest complaint about frozen custard in general, it's never cold enough. I'd rather have ice cream any day. Erven's family split the Cookies and Cream Mixer, which they had no complaints about. I liked this a little better than our choice.

Joe Schmoe's was a pretty good introduction for us to the culinary scene of Cypress. There have been so many closures of these kinds of places in OC lately. Pee Wee's and Game Day Hot Dogs comes to mind, so any welcome addition to the hot dog market here is appreciated. Unfortunately, Joe Schmoe's is not as good as these departed hot dog restaurants, but they are definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. I would say I liked Joe's food, but was not in love with it. Joe's will always be a favorite for myself since it's the place where I asked my friend to be in my wedding, and it also brings us closer to our goal of eating in at least one restaurant in every OC city. La Palma and Seal Beach we are coming your way soon.

Out of five surfboards, (because the city of Cypress is where actor John Stamos grew up, and he has frequently played with the Beach Boys during their concerts), five being best to zero being worst, Joe Schmoe's gets three surfboards.

For more information about Joe Schmoe's, go to their website here: http://www.joeschmoes.com/