Mojito Madness 2016

This post is going to be a little different from our usual restaurant reviews. My good friend Richard never gets to come hang out with his friends, but on his birthday this year, I had an excellent idea of taking him on a bar crawl to find him a great mojito. It just so happens that mojitos are his favorite alcoholic beverage, and he got permission to come out and find the best one with me.

The first task was scouting a location with an abundance of mojitos available for us to try. There are not too many places left in OC where you can do pub crawls. Yes, there are the beach cities, but after this evening, he was going to need a ride home, and since his wife had already relented into letting him go, we could not put her out more by making her drive any further to pick his presumedly drunk ass up.

For those of you that are new to the mojito scene, they are a rum based drink, which also includes sugar, lime juice, soda water, and of course muddled mint. The birthplace of this cocktail is Cuba, but there are conflicting stories as to who invented it, and how it got named. It's also been rumored to be Ernest Hemingway's favorite cocktail, but this is also doubted by some historians.

I did a quick search online and found that the Irvine Spectrum would fill the bill nicely for us. Not only is it centrally located between mine and Richard's abodes, but a quick Yelp search confirmed that nearly 10 of their restaurant tenants serve, or are capable of serving a mojito. Score.

We were not going to be drinking ten mojitos, and I wasn't even going to be ordering one, as they are not really my favorite. I picked five places to try, and we can maybe try the other five next year. We also would be ordering something to eat at each of these places, because we're responsible like that. So sit back, relax, and watch the mojitos fly, as we try to find the best mojito at the Irvine Spectrum.

We started things off at Del Frisco's Grille due to their proximity to the parking structure that I parked in. We were here at just after 3 pm, and the bar was pretty empty but filled up as we approached their happy hour, which starts at 4. They do not have a mojito on their cocktail menu, but their amicable bartender, Diane made Richard his initial birthday Mojito ($11.50) happily. This beverage drew rave reviews from Richard, who thought it had the right amount of sweet, with just a tinge of bitterness on the back end of the drink. He was less excited by the Cheesesteak Egg Rolls ($13), which he called bland. I've always said that these would be made better with the sauce served on the side, instead of streaked across the plate. On to spot number two.

Yard House was next on our journey. The best part about our time at Yard House was that we hit this place right at Happy Hour, which goes from 3 to 6 pm weekdays. The Mojito ($7.75 with the $2 off during happy hour) was obviously made from a mix, and not really good. Way too sweet, Richard couldn't even tell if there was alcohol in here or not, as it tasted just like sugar water. The Blue Crab Cakes ($7 on HH, but $12.45 most of the time) were also not worth the bother. These good sized crab cakes were mostly filler, overly breaded, and placed in this weird, runny white sauce, along with diced mango, papaya, and passion fruit. Nothing about this screamed order this next time to us, so we'll skip it on future visits.

Another happy hour spot we were lucky to hit was Paul Martin's American Grill. I've always kind of been let down by this restaurant, as I've always though it should be better than it is. This was not the case on this late afternoon. The Mojito ($5 on HH or $13 all other times), was pretty solid and helped wash away the taste of the one we had back at Yard House. It was definitely made to order and was just a tad too heavy with the rum for Richard's palette. Happy hour goes on from 3 to 7 pm, seven days a week here at Paul Martin's, which gives you ample time to take advantage of their Bistro Burger Special ($14), which also comes with fries and your choice of a craft beer. The burger was pretty solid and was made even better with great melted cheese, which spread evenly across the warm beef. This simply dressed burger is rounded out nicely by a very well done bun, which is soft, but keeps its integrity. The fries were good as well and seasoned with salt and herbs. The perfect spot for two guys visiting as many bars as possible in a short time.

I've always been a big fan of Wood Ranch. Yes, their barbecue is good, and in fact, I think they are one of the better of all the chain barbecue restaurants, but there's something else that I crave when I walk by here at the Irvine Spectrum, their Oreo Cookie Crunch ($6.95). Of course first, we had to try the Havana's Best Mojito ($7 for happy hour, or $9 the rest of the day). This was not an awful version of this drink. It was pretty sweet, and the mint was kind of lost here, but you still knew you were drinking a mojito. Pretty good balance. Glad they took the time to prepare this cocktail the right way. The Oreo cookie crunch was delicious and so simple. It's a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream, rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs, and then served with chocolate and caramel sauces. This works wonderfully, and the only way to make it better would be to swap out the chocolate sauce and use hot fudge instead. Still one of my favorite desserts I've had during the seven-year run of this blog.

Yes, we had already had dessert, but we still had about twenty minutes before Richard's wife would pick him up, so we decided to try the Mojito ($10) at Cucina Enoteca. When we were at other bars, bartenders told us that they thought this would be the best mojito that we would encounter on our trip around the Spectrum. It wasn't. It wasn't horrible, but was definitely on the bitter side, and was rather boring due to the lack of mint used in it. What wasn't boring was this Giant Meatball ($9). The food has always impressed me here, and this meatball was no exception. Very tender, with a great flavor to it. I liked the melted cheese on top of it, but what rounded this all together for me was their very tasty red sauce, which really made this dish pop. A must get when eating at Cucina Enoteca.

So we made it through five different mojitos in the span of three hours. Who had the best? We liked the one at Del Frisco's Grille as our number one pick. It was the most balanced and refreshing versions that we tried on this afternoon. Second place would go to the one at Paul Martin's, and then the one at Wood Ranch would probably be third. The worst was by far the one at Yard House, which almost every bartender that we asked had predicted it would be.

Their food was not much better. The Yard House crab cakes definitely were the worst thing we ate on this afternoon. Not a very good showing for the folks at Yard House. The best food item for me probably was the meatball from Cucina Enoteca, then the Oreo Cookie Crunch and the bronze medal would go to the Burger at Paul Martin's.

All in all, this was a great afternoon with my friend Richard. We got to celebrate his birthday, go bar hopping, and try some pretty good food. I can hardly wait until next year when we get to hang out again and try the rest of the mojitos offered at the Irvine Spectrum.

To help plan your pub or food crawl around the Irvine Spectrum, check out their website here: http://www.shopirvinespectrumcenter.com/

Happy Hour, Happy Stomach at Del Frisco's Grille

Del Frisco's Grille

772 Spectrum Dr.

Irvine, CA 92618

One of the questions that I get a lot in your emails is, "Where is there a good happy hour?" To be honest, I rarely go out for happy hour. Katie has to work til 6pm almost everyday, so that means I would have to drive myself to a happy hour spot, drink alone or meet up with a friend, and then behave myself and only have one or two drinks, so I can drive home under the limit. Also, most of the time happy hour food items underwhelm me. That was until me and my good friend Danny were invited to try out Del Frisco's Grille's version of happy hour.

Del Frisco's is a part of the Del Frisco's Restaurant Group, which also includes Sullivan's Steakhouse, and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse. I haven't eaten at either of these, but I've heard great things about them. This DFG opened at the Irvine Spectrum over a year ago now, and they recently added a happy hour menu to the delight of many of their regulars. We reviewed them the first of this year, when we ate here on New Years Eve. You can see that review here.

The Spectrum is a big place, so if you are coming here for happy hour, it's best to park in the parking structure nearest Nordstrom's, and exit the structure near the valet stand. Located right next door to Brio, Del Frisco's is easy to get to, and you can avoid the hustle and bustle of the main part of the Spectrum.

When we walked in here at just after 4pm, the restaurant was near empty, but that changed rather quickly as the after work crowd congregated in the comfortable bar area to take advantage of the Sip and Share Happy Hour promotion. This is the first DFG location where they offer happy hour, and according to General Manager Katie Pavkov, the early buzz has been overwhelmingly positive. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday 4pm to 6:30, and is offered in the bar only. Danny and I were excited to experience it for ourselves, so we headed to one of the high top tables, with a great view of the basketball game on TV, and ordered almost everything on the happy hour menu.

Before we showcase the culinary exploits of the happy hour menu, we started things off with some cocktails. Danny selected the White Sangria ($6 during happy hour or $12 the rest of the day) to start off with. I'm usually not much into wine based cocktails, but this one was delicious. Pinot Grigio was the base for this, and then they added white peach puree, peach schnapps, and garnished it with a strawberry peach Popsicle. Very refreshing, and not overly sweet. This kind of brought a little touch of summer to this December afternoon. I ordered The VIP ($6) because I wanted to be a VIP for once in my life. This concoction consisted of sweet Hawaiian gold pineapple-infused Svedka Clementine Vodka. When this arrived I was afraid this was going to be over the top sweet, but it was mellower than I imagined, and went down rather easily. I wanted another one, but the food started coming out, so I ultimately saved some space for the happy hour grub.

If you are an ardent fan of this blog, you know that I'm pretty partial to the ahi tacos here at Del Frisco's Grille, but sadly they are not offered on the happy hour menu. There are tacos on their happy hour menu though, Asian Street Tacos ($6). These tacos definitely brought to mind a bahn mi sandwich. It had plenty of barbecued pork, pickled daikon and carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and chiles. The sauce provided was good, but I really enjoyed their very well done chipotle ranch paired with these. Really good tacos, and hard to limit ourselves to only one order of these.

Almost as iconic as DFG's ahi tacos, their Cheesesteak Eggrolls ($6) luckily were included on their happy hour menu. These taste just as they sound, like the insides of a cheesesteak wrapped in an eggroll wrapper. I'm always astonished that these are not as greasy as I imagine them to be, and they still feature the best part of a cheesesteak, the meat. These come with a spicy mustard sauce and a very well made sweet and spicy chili sauce, which has a great yin and yang thing going for it. These are a must try when coming to happy hour here.

If any of you enjoy blue cheese, you need to try these Buffalo Blue Cheese Chips ($6). House made potato chips are doused with a buffalo wing sauce, then sprinkled with blue cheese crumbles. Something so simple, but yet very addicting. The blue cheese kind of overpowered here, but these chips were mellowed out with an avocado ranch dressing. I could see these chips becoming the next flavor that the guys at Lay's use in their yearly contest to come up with new flavors.

DFG went a little south of the border on their next happy hour item, the Pulled Pork Nachos ($6). This mini nacho skillet started with some very sturdy tortilla chips as a base, then they were topped with jalapenos, crema, something that appeared to be taco seasoning, cheese, cilantro and pulled pork. I really enjoyed this, especially the top layer, where all the flavors were co-mingled. The pork here is very good, with a nice natural flavor to it. This was Danny's favorite food item of the night.

Up next were the misnamed on the menu Frites ($6). These were actually a mixture of frites, which is the fancy way of saying french fries, and sweet potato fries. I'm not really into sweet potato fries, but these were some of the best I have had. I'm not yet a convert to this variety of fries, but I would not thumb my nose at having these again. The regular fries were much more to my style, as they were seasoned just enough, and went well with the chipotle ranch dipping sauce provided. I also had to keep Danny from snaking the little squeeze bottle of ketchup from the restaurant. You can't bring Danny anywhere.

The last happy hour food item we had on this afternoon were these Wagyu Corndogs ($6). I was very skeptical about these when they came to the table, but they turned out to be pretty good. The hot dog inside was beefy, and the batter on the outside, along with being crunchy, had a great flavor to it, even better than the ones you can get at the mall. Both dipping sauce were good, but I enjoyed the better than most honey mustard sauce with these, and I'm not even a mustard person.

With our stomachs full from all that we had eaten, we wanted to have another round, just so we could finish watching the basketball game and enjoy the happy hour atmosphere at Del Frisco's Grille. I went with the Dutch Mule ($12, and not on the happy hour menu). This twist on the very popular Moscow mule still used ginger beer and mint, but also added some Nolet's Silver Gin and was garnished with a slice of grapefruit. This was good, but I'd probably stick with the standard version, which I've had here before. The grapefruit kind of threw this off for me. I really liked Danny's beverage selection better, the Apt 5D ($12, also not on the happy hour menu). This vodka based drink also came with fresh strawberries, lemon sour, simple syrup, and a dash of balsamic, which helped even this out. I liked the balance of this, but Danny thought it was on the sweeter side.

Both Danny and I really enjoyed this happy hour at Del Frisco's Grille. It's really a great option for people in the Irvine area, who want to take a break from a long day at work, shopping at the Spectrum, or just want to have some really good food. The Sip and Share happy hour program here is also very economical as well. All of the happy hour items we had on this afternoon would have only set us back  $48, and there was easily enough food here for more than just us two. Also not shown, but offered on the happy hour menu are their very good flatbreads and deviled eggs, which are also $6. All draft beer is $5, and there's also a selection of spirits and wines that are offered at the affordable $6 price point as well. Basically something for everyone is offered here. Now when someone asks me about a great happy hour spot, Del Frisco's Grille will be near the top of my list.

Both Danny and I would like to thank everyone that we encountered on this afternoon at Del Frisco's Grille. They took such great care of us, along with their other guests, and they made sure we had everything that we needed during our stay. A special thanks to our good friend, General Manager Katie Pavkov for an excellent afternoon of catching up, and showcasing her wonderful restaurant. We'd also like to thank Executive Chef, the very talented Sarah Daniels for taking the time to come out and say hello during the start of the dinner rush. It was much appreciated Sarah. We'd also like to thank the food runners, bartenders, and other management who stopped by to say hello. You all make a great a team.

If you would like to experience Del Frisco's Grille, and their happy hour for yourself, you can find out more about them by going to their website here: http://delfriscosgrille.com/

Ending the Year at Del Frisco's Grill

Del Frisco's Grille

772 Spectrum Center Dr. 

Irvine, CA 92618

I'm a big fan of New Years Day. I know it's a new beginning and all that stuff, but that's not why I like the first day of the year. I love New Years because it signals the end of the holiday season. I work a retail job, and the holidays bring in people that never shop for food. It's like they have never been to a supermarket all throughout the year. They forget how to read price tags, they sit there for hours choosing what kind of butter to buy, and customers stress out like they have never made this holiday dinner before, even though these recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. Yes, the holidays are not my favorite times.

So when New Years Eve rolls around, I like to celebrate that I made it through another holiday season with a great dinner.  Usually it's just me and Katie, but this year her parents joined us at the Irvine Spectrum. If you haven't been to the Spectrum lately, you might be surprised to see how many new restaurants were added to this shopping center. There's the new grilled cheese spot, The Melt, a brick and mortar version of the Lime Truck, which is shortened to TLT Food, Umami Burger now has a spot near the recently relocated Improv, and there's also a new Italian restaurant, Brio Tuscan Grille, which is right next to our dining destination on this evening, Del Frisco's Grill.

Del Frisco's Grille, or as the cool kids call it, DFG, comes to us from the same restaurant group that runs Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, which has it's closest location to OC in Las Vegas. I haven't been there, but it's definitely on our list. Del Frisco's Grille describes itself on their website as a modern take on the bar and grill concept, but taken to the next level. We were excited to experience this firsthand on one of my favorite nights of the year.

I had made reservations a few days prior to New Years Eve, but the restaurant had plenty of tables available when we arrived at 7pm. As the night went on, the restaurant did fill up, but I'm sure walk-ins were still welcomed. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of DFG. It felt to me like an upscale, Vegas coffee shop. The restaurant had a wonderful wall of wine display as you enter the restaurant, and there's plenty of dining area in this 8,000 square foot space. The dinner menu has enough diversity to satisfy most diners. Let's see if we would leave DFG satisfied or not.

DFG came across our radar when we visited the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival, where they were sampling these Ahi Tacos ($17.50). Katie's been thinking of these since that September day. These mini tuna tacos come with fresh avocado and a spicy citrus mayo. I liked these a little better when we had them the first time. Still they were good, but the tuna seemed a little fresher back in September. Katie still was enamored with these. She likes the citrus flavor of the mayo, and the contrast between the creaminess of the avocado and the slight spiciness of the mayo. I liked the crunch of the sturdy taco shells here.

One of the most talked about appetizers at DFG are these Cheesesteak Eggrolls ($13). These seemed misnamed to me. I did not really get a cheesesteak kind of feel from these. Don't get me wrong, they were pretty good though. They came topped with a honey mustard sauce, and placed on top of a sweet and spicy chili sauce, two sauces that do not bring to mind cheesesteaks. They came out piping hot, and I would have liked to have had the chili sauce in a ramekin for easier dipping. I may forgo these for the crab cake on my next visit to DFG.

Katie's dad Dennis was not feeling either of the two appetizers that we had, so he ordered this Corn Chowder ($7.50). Joining the corn chowder in the cup was some bacon crumbles, crab meat, and a small potato chip for texture. The bite I had of this seemed pretty sweet, but Dennis thought the inclusion of the crab kind of put the sweetness in check. He's a soup connoisseur, and he gave this corn chowder his seal of approval.

Our entrees started making their way out to us, and the first one to hit the table was Katie's selection, the DFG Chicken Alfredo ($18). I did not get a chance to try this, but it looked real good from across the table. Pappardelle pasta is used here, along with sauteed spinach, and a very good Parmesan garlic cream sauce. Katie also added chicken to this dish to round it out. She was pretty happy with this, exclaiming that she will probably get this on future visits here.

Dennis was taken by surprise by his dinner on this evening, when this Prime Beef Short Rib Stroganoff ($29) was placed in front of him. This is not your mothers stroganoff. DFG is known for their meats, and this short rib came out perfectly, but Dennis was expecting it to be in pieces, not all in one hunk. Nevertheless, it was tender, and had a pot roast quality to it. I liked that it went easy on the sour cream sauce, and the onion strings added a nice texture component. A much better version of a classic dish that we all grew up with.

Lynn kind of threw me for a loop by ordering this Wild Mushroom Flatbread ($15). Kind of out of character for her, but she seemed to really enjoy this. This flatbread came topped with Fontina cheese, caramelized onions, baby arugula, and of course mushrooms. This was a pretty good sized flatbread just for Lynn, so I got to try it as well. There was not an abundance of toppings here, but just the right amount. The crust had a good chew to it, the mushrooms provided an earthiness, and the cheese, while not added with a heavy hand, melded well in the background. This even had me, a meat fanatic, thinking this flatbread was pretty solid.

It was special night, so I decided to have the Veal Meatloaf ($19). This meatloaf had a little spice to it. The veal was of course very tender, but the Bordelaise sauce kind of overpowered it. Still a really good dish, which was rounded out by mashed potatoes, and a couple of wild mushrooms. A very nice meal to end the year with.

By this time of night we were getting pretty full, and I knew we would probably not make it to see 2015 come in at midnight, so we decided to indulge one last time by splitting a dessert. The Coconut Cream Pie ($10.50) came highly recommended from our waiter, so we got one to share. This light coconut cream pie was topped with curls of white chocolate. I liked this lighter than expected dessert. It was not overly sweet, the cream did not punch you in the face with coconut, and the graham cracker crust  held thing together well. Maybe a little too much white chocolate on this, but you can never complain about too much chocolate.

All in all, Del Frisco's Grill was a good way to end our 2014 culinary journey. No, it's not the best restaurant that we ate at all year, but it was solidly good. I look forward to coming back again and trying one of their steaks, or maybe their burger, which has gotten some very good press. The service we experienced on this night could not have been better. Our waiter, (sorry I forgot your name), was right on top of everything, without being intrusive. Everyone we encountered on this night really seemed like they wanted to be here to ensure that their guests had a great experience, which is a minor feat on a party night like this. Glad I could spend the last meal of the year with some of my favorite people. Now bring on 2015.

Out of five footballs, (because DFG's corporate headquarters are located in Southlake, Texas, which is home to many current and former Dallas Cowboy players), five being best to zero being worst, Del Frisco's Grille gets 3 strong footballs.

For more information about Del Frisco's Grille, go to their website here: http://delfriscosgrille.com/