Get These Animals Some Glasses

 Blind Coyote Cantina

4975 Lakeview Avenue 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

To succeed in the restaurant business, you must be willing to adapt and pivot. That's what Tony Monaco has seemed to do with his restaurant, the Blind Coyote Cantina in Yorba Linda. Until August of last year, this spot was the Blind Pig, a sister restaurant to the one in Rancho Santa Margarita. That speakeasy concept is still going strong in RSM, but Tony had a Californian-Mexican concept brewing in the back of his mind. Instead of starting from scratch, he decided to convert this restaurant into the Blind Coyote Cantina. 

The metamorphosis from pig to coyote took about three weeks, and for the most part, they retained their existing staff while making some changes to the interior of the restaurant. It's not surprising that the change went as smoothly as it did because everything that Tony has done recently has turned to gold. Along with the Blind Pig, he's also the owner of The Trough, and his latest restaurant, Monaco Italian Kitchen in Irvine, has garnered rave reviews, earning a 4-star rating on Yelp. 

Back to the Blind Coyote, located in the Yorba Linda Town Center on Yorba Linda Boulevard, between Imperial Highway and Lakeview Avenue. This shopping plaza is home to numerous restaurants, including The Habit, Seasurf Fish Company, Apollo Greek Grill, Cafe Rio, and more. With so many food options here, I thought parking would be an obstacle, but Katie and I both drove separately and found spots fairly close to the restaurant on this busy Friday evening.   

Luckily, we had made reservations, as the restaurant and bar were packed with people kicking off their weekend with a night out. The menu at the Blind Coyote is divided into starters, salads, four mariscos, specialties, taco plates, a 1, 2, or 3 combination option, and dessert. Entrees range from $22 for their burrito to $65 for a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye. Most starters typically fall within the $16 price range. Let's take a look at the food. 

First up, the Chips and Salsa that were placed before us when we were seated. The tortilla chips were fresh and appeared to have been recently fried, as they had a slight sheen. I liked both the red and green salsas. The green salsa is the spicier of the two, but it won't burn your tongue off; it's a nice, slow burn. The red salsa was mellow, and I found myself switching between the two frequently. According to their early Yelp reviews, they used to have a bean dip, but they stopped serving it. That's a bummer, as I always enjoy a good bean dip. 

While waiting for our entrees, we tried the Classic Guacamole ($12). The guac at the Blind Coyote is made with diced red onion, cilantro, lime, cotija cheese, and jalapenos. The consistency of this was spot on, as it was neither too chunky nor too smooth, like a puree. It's a delicate balance to achieve. The flavor could best be described as mild and would have been enhanced with some pepper flakes or another ingredient to give it a kick. Everyone else enjoyed it, and I did too, as it was a generous serving that we used with our entrees, which came out next. 

It seems like I've said it a million times on this blog, but my mom is a light eater. That's why she only ordered these Chicken Taquitos ($16), and she still took one of the three home for lunch the next day. I'm glad I didn't inherit the light-eating gene from her. The three taquitos came topped with red salsa, crema, pico de gallo, lettuce, guacamole, radish, and micro cilantro. So, basically, she could have taken all of that off the top of the taquitos and had a small salad, and then she probably would have eaten only one taquito. She did say that she enjoyed the taquito, as it was fried well, had a good crunch to it, and was filled with plenty of chicken. My parents have returned since this visit, and she has gotten this every time. 

I was torn between getting the burrito, combo plate, or what I eventually picked, the Carnitas Enchiladas ($24). I usually get a carnitas plate at Mexican restaurants, but this option was not available here at the Blind Coyote, which is a little odd considering they offer carnitas in tacos, nachos, quesadillas, their ranchero salad, fajitas, burritos, and these enchiladas. I liked these enchiladas, but as is usually the case with enchiladas, the meat inside got overwhelmed by the sauce and the cheese. I tasted it a little bit, but not enough to determine if the carnitas were good on their own. I did enjoy the Jack cheese and the enchilada sauce. The rice and beans rounded out this meal nicely. 

The Chili Verde ($24) is not a favorite of mine, as salsa verde can be too acidic for my taste. However, this was not the case at Blind Coyote. The chili verde had a good flavor, and the acidic tinge was well-balanced. My dad gave me a small piece of the pork shoulder, which was nice and tender. I wonder if the bigger chunks of pork were less tender, but he had no complaints about his meal. 

I knew one of my tablemates would opt for the combination plate route, and it was Katie who selected the 2-Item Combination ($22). The combo choices include tacos, with a $3 upcharge for a steak or fish taco, a cheese or carnitas enchilada, two chicken taquitos, or chicken tortilla soup. Katie had the chicken taquitos and a cheese enchilada, along with the beans and rice that come with the combo plates. She was pleased with this plate and said the standouts were the cheese enchilada and the rice. 

I enjoyed my visit to the Blind Coyote, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. Nothing stood out to me this evening, but neither was anything terrible. Yorba Linda is not really a hotbed of good sit-down Mexican restaurants. Most people would consider Blue Agave and Ranch Enchilada among the best the city has to offer, but neither of these would be regarded as providing upscale Mexican cuisine. The Blind Coyote is the only option in Yorba Linda if you're looking for elevated Mexican cuisine, and I feel that a good meal can be had here. We experienced fine service, and we will probably be back because my parents live so close; they really enjoyed it and have been back a few times since this visit. With the busy restaurant and bar we experienced on this Friday night, Tony may have made the right decision to pivot from a speakeasy to an elevated Mexican concept. 

Out of five Olympic medals (because writing this review, I learned that coyotes can reach top speeds of 40 miles per hour, way faster than that pesky road runner, and fast enough to win a lot of medals at any Olympics), five being best to zero being worst, Blind Coyote Cantina gets 3 Olympic medals. 

For more information about the Blind Coyote Cantina, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.blindcoyotecantina.com/

Surf's up in Yorba Linda?

 

Seasurf Fish Co. 

18401 Yorba Linda Blvd. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

I admit I was not overly excited about going out to eat with my parents. After a month or so of not seeing them, Katie and I made plans to drive up to Yorba Linda for a visit. My lack of enthusiasm had nothing to do with my relationship with my parents, but rather their choice of restaurant that they wanted us to eat at. They excitedly picked this new seafood restaurant, Seasurf in the newish Yorba Linda Town Center, which is pretty close to their house. 

The Seasurf menu did not really take hold of me when I checked it out online. I was at a loss for what to order when I was perusing the menu before we were going to be having lunch here on a recent Sunday afternoon. I decided I'd look at the pictures on their Yelp page, and just go with what seemed to be the most popular. I'm not sure if I was just not in the mood for seafood, or if I was just being difficult. If I'm being honest, it was probably a combination of the two. 

Seasurf has two locations, this Yorba Linda spot, which opened for business in January, and a location little farther south in Del Mar, which has been serving customers since 2017. Both locations get high marks from Yelp reviewers, as they both have four and a half star ratings. Their website states their mission statement as wanting to serve high quality and flavorful seafood in a fast-casual setting, at a reasonable price point. 

The Seasurf menu is pretty ambitious for a fast-casual spot. My unofficial count has them offering close to 50 items. These include burritos, tacos, bowls, grilled fish options, poke bowls, sandwiches, and their specialties. Prices average around the $12 mark, with a lobster pasta dish being the most expensive thing on the menu at just shy of $17. Ordering is done at the register, and then the food is brought out to your table. Let's see if my apprehension about Seasurf was warranted, or would I be pleasantly surprised. 

As I usually do in a seafood restaurant, I have to give their version of clam chowder a try. At Seasurf that means I ordered their Fisherman's Wharf Clam Chowder ($3.99). This creamy chowder contained both baby and sea clams, cubed potatoes, onions, and celery. This was a pretty solid effort. I liked the creaminess of the chowder, the clams were prevalent, but not overly fishy, and the celery and potatoes added just enough texture to not distract from the clams. A few more clams would have been appreciated, but this was a nice start to my meal. 

My niece Kaylie was eating with us this afternoon and wanted to give the Guacamole and Chips ($4.99) a whirl. Kaylie is not a very adventurous eater, as you will see in a bit, and she was absolutely shocked that Seasurf dared to dress up their guacamole by adding some corn, tomatoes, and red onions. She likes more traditional guacamole. She ended up picking around the corn and other things and ended up enjoying the guacamole underneath. I thought it was okay, but I wish they had decided to dress up the avocado with more spice and maybe some jalapeno. It came across as a little on the dull side for me. The chips were nicely fried though and tasted pretty fresh.   

My mom is very predictable when it comes to seafood restaurants. She will always steer towards fried fish. She's also a light eater, so if there's a kids menu she will try to order off of it. She checked off both of those boxes by getting this Crispy Fish and Chips ($4.99). This little meal comes with two fish sticks, fries, and a side of tarter sauce. I assume the fish was cod just like their regular order of fish and chips. It was fried nicely, with a good batter surrounding it. I did not try the fries, but no complaints from my mom, who finished everything, which is kind of rare for her. 

As I mentioned earlier, I was kind of at a loss as to what to get at Seasurf, so I left it to the fate of what Yelpers thought was the best item on their menu. Most people raved about the North Shore Garlic Shrimp ($14.99), so that's the direction I went in. This peel and eat shrimp was a good choice. I got six pretty good-sized shrimp that came with an excellent ginger garlic sauce, a scoop of rice, and an Asian cucumber salad. I usually like the shrimp already peeled, but the sauce on the outside of this made it delicious. I'll ask for an extra side of it next time. I'm not usually a cucumber fan, but this salad was a nice side to go alongside the sweet and briny shrimp. The rice was fine on its own, but I used it mainly to sop up the excess sauce, as I did not want to waste a drop. The Yelpers got this one right, this was an excellent choice.  

Katie is up next and went with the Mahi Mahi ($13.99) one of six options from the grill section of the menu. They offer three different seasoning choices and Katie went with the garlic butter. Not the most photogenic of all the fishplates I've snapped a picture of, but it ended up tasting pretty solid. The fish was moist and had a slightly sweet taste on the back end of each bite. This usually comes with rice, but Katie asked for double ponzu greens with tomato relish and they were happy to oblige. She left Seasurf pretty happy with her meal. 

Another happy camper was my dad, who ordered the Blackened Jumbo Shrimp Alfredo ($14.99). This came with fettuccine as the noodle and garlic, olive oil, mozzarella, and cajun seasonings all mixed with a wine cream sauce. My dad called this the perfect amount of heat, which was present but did not overpower the rest of the dish. He was also pretty pleased with the price point here, as he was glad it, "did not break the bank." 

As I mentioned earlier, my niece Kaylie is not very adventurous when it comes to food. This was not only her first time having clam chowder and trying a bite of Katie's mahi-mahi, but it was also her first time ordering poke. Come on, live a little Kaylie. She got the Spicy Poke Bowl ($10.99) here at Seasurf. The cubes of ahi were marinated and tossed with yogi Sriracha for a tinge of spice, then rice, pickled cucumber, avocado, and nori were added to the bowl. This was a fairly generous sized bowl, which Kaylie had no hope of finishing. She was not really a fan of the texture of the poke, and I'm not really sure why she ordered this in the first place. I thought it was good but wished for a little more spice. The bowl featured fresh produce and fish, which is what you most want most when eating poke. I don't think Kaylie will be having poke again for a while, at least until her tastes mature a bit.  

Even though Kaylie was less than enthused about her meal, my apprehension about Seasurf was unwarranted. I actually was pretty impressed with what I tried here. The flavors were vibrant, the serving sizes were generous, which is something you don't often expect at a seafood joint, and the price point was manageable, even for my dad, who always keeps one eye on how much money is escaping his wallet. I still enjoy Slapfish more, but Seasurf will due when you want a more straight forward, casual seafood experience. 

Out of five bales of hay, (because this restaurant started in Del Mar, home of a horse racetrack, where I'm sure they go through their fair share of hay), five being best to zero being best, Seasurf Fish Co. gets 3 bales of hay. 

For more information about Seasurf Fish Co., head to their website by clicking here: https://www.seasurffishco.com/

You Can Go Home Again

Evan's Smokehouse

4859 Main Street

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

My hometown of Yorba Linda is finally growing up. When I was a youngster cohabitating with my parents in the Land of Gracious Living in the '70s and '80s, we always had to leave the city limits to go to the movies, the mall, or a chain restaurant. Back in those days, Yorba Linda seemed so isolated. We had a McDonald's, Wing's Chinese restaurant, KFC, and an H. Salt Fish and Chips, which was about it. In the mid to late 80s, the city grew out a bit and got a Chili's. It was a slow growth.

Flash forward to the present day, and the founding city leaders might not even recognize the city referred to as Nixon Country. Yorba Linda has taken cues from nearby towns and wants some consumer dollars to stay in the city. They have redone their downtown area by creating the Yorba Linda Town Center. This shopping and entertainment complex is situated at the corner of Imperial and Yorba Linda Boulevard. It is anchored by Bristol Farms, Regal Movie Theater, and a smattering of restaurants, most notably, a Habit Burger, Blaze Pizza, Cafe Rio, South OC favorite, the Blind Pig, and a Greek place called Apola Gyro Grill. A far cry from when I was growing up here.

It's another place right behind the sparkling new Town Center and right next to the four-story parking structure that has brought me back to the city of my youth. On the corner of Arroyo and School Streets, a dirt lot hosts Evan's Smokehouse three days a week, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting at 4pm until they run out. It's a modest little space with a small stand where they write up your order, and then you bring your ticket to their trailer, and the food is prepared for you.

There are a dozen picnic tables, some covered by EZ-Up. The menu? The meats are sold by the half-pound and include pulled pork, brisket, half chicken, and pork ribs. I have also been told they have limited beef ribs, but they were not offered the night we were here. There are two sandwiches to choose from, house-cured pastrami and pulled pork, which you will see in a moment. The menu is rounded out with five sides and a banana pudding, which we hear is fantastic.

The man behind this cavalcade of meat is Chef Evan Carl. After graduating from Laguna Culinary Arts six years ago, he held plenty of jobs in OC kitchens, Tabu Grill, Del Frisco Grille, Bandera, Pueblo, and Sidecar Doughnuts among them, then went across the Southern US to learn from the great pitmasters of barbecue. He's also worked in some high-end LA restaurants, notably Melisse Restaurant, Georgie Restaurant, and The Bazaar by Jose Andres. As if that was not enough, he also found time to become a licensed pilot. Let's see if this barbecue will make us feel like we are in the mile-high club or if it will make us feel like we missed our connecting flight.

Katie is as predictable as a political argument breaking out on Facebook when she's eating at a barbecue restaurant. She almost always orders a Pulled Pork Sandwich ($12), as was the case on this Friday evening. This Carolina-inspired sandwich came with a big pile of pulled pork and coleslaw on a nicely toasted roll. The pork was in more enormous hunks than most of us have had, but I liked that. The pork was nice and moist, and the smoke flavor was not too overpowering and hung out in the background of each bite. Katie felt the weak part of the sandwich was the bun, which fell apart by the end of her meal. Katie went with Grandma's Potato Salad ($4) for a side. My grandmother never made a potato salad like this one. Whoa, was this awesome. The combination of egg, dijon, mayo, red onion, and celery to accompany the well-done potatoes made this side a winner. Great texture and flavor. I feared the dijon would overpower here, but that was not the case. Do yourself a favor and get the pint-size for an extra $3. You won't be sorry. Is it too late for the grandma who made this to adopt me?

I created my own since combo plates are not featured on Evan's Smokehouse menu. I went with the half-pound of Brisket ($15), Three Pork Ribs ($9), and Cornbread ($4). Yes, it was a little pricey for the $28 I paid, but after a few bites, I forgot about the small dent in my wallet. The meats were divine. The brisket had a lovely ribbon of fat running alongside the top of each slice, the bark framing each piece was nice and flavorful, and the meat was nicely tender and juicy. A very well-done brisket, but the pork ribs are not to be ignored. A very meaty rib, they were tender, came off the bone nicely with a light tug, and the lightly sauced outer portion provided the only flavoring that I needed with the meat. Even though extra barbecue sauce was offered, it was unnecessary. The hallmark of excellent barbecue meat. The cornbread grew on me, but it was love at first bite for Katie. I like sweeter cornbread, but as I ate this, I liked the flavor of the pop of roasted chilis and cheddar cheese. Katie traded me half of her potato salad for the cornbread, so we both ended up very happy. Negotiation is the sign of a great marriage.

As I write this, I regret not trying the Banana Pudding, but I will definitely be back at Evan's Smokehouse. That's one of the only regrets I experienced on this visit. This is one of the best barbecue spots I have experienced in Oe. The menu is limited. I'd love for them to add some sausage or tri-tip and some mac and cheese, but it may not be possible due to the limited space in their trailer. I'm also nervous that this is only a temporary spot for Evan's Smokehouse because I'm sure there will eventually be a plan for this corner lot. For now, the residents of Yorba Linda should consider themselves lucky to have the opportunity to eat great barbecue at least three days a week. It's way better than the options I had while growing up here.

Out of five avocados (because the official tree for the city of Yorba Linda is the Fuerte Avocado), five being best to zero being worst, Evan's Smokehouse gets 4 avocados.

For more information about Evan's Smokehouse, head to their website here: https://www.evanssmokehouse.com/

Rustling up Dinner at the Ranch Enchilada

Ranch Enchilada

4965 Valley View Ave. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

The first part of this year has been highlighted by a lot of family time for Katie and me. We went to her sister's house for Superbowl, we went to my niece's high school play, and now we were headed back up to Yorba Linda to watch my other niece cheer at her high school basketball game. We had plenty of time to grab some food with the family, so of course, it was my duty to choose the restaurant. I decided it was time to head to the Ranch Enchilada.

Ranch Enchilada has been around for a long time, just not at this location. Up until 2014, they used to be situated in East Yorba Linda but moved right across from the Veteran's Park Little League fields, right near the intersection of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Valley View. A lot of my really good high school friends worked at the old location back in the day, so it was kind of a hangout for us.

I asked our waiter if it was the same owners from way back then, and he answered in the affirmative. This location is pretty comfortable, with ceiling fans circulating the air from up above, some decorative pieces dotting the walls, and for the warmer months, a patio out back. The menu here is dotted with exactly what you'd expect to see in every Mexican restaurant. There are plenty of starters, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, and combo plates to choose from. What I'd term very safe Mexcian food options. If you are looking for more exotic stuff, you need to move along now. Let's see if Ranch Enchilada is as good as I remember when my friends worked here in the early '90s.

Here's a quick shot of the Chips and Salsa that were given out to each table while ordering at the Ranch Enchilada. Pretty basic stuff here. The chips were fine, the salsa was pedestrian with very little in the way of flavor, but it did add some moisture, so I guess that's a plus.

Since the salsa was a little weak on flavor here, a Side of Guacamole ($3.95) definitely needed to be ordered. Unfortunately, this guacamole also suffered from the same calamity as the salsa, it was bland. It also needed to be mashed up a little better than it was when it came out to us. There were big chunks of avocado that were not incorporated into the rest of this pretty good sized portion.

Since we were up this way to watch my niece Kaylie cheer at the basketball game, we appreciated how quickly the food came out for all of us. It seemed like it was way less than ten minutes after ordering that we were digging in. My mom got this Beef Enchilada ($9.75) as her meal on this evening This was the perfect sized meal for my mom, as she ate all of her enchilada and almost all of the rice and beans on her plate. The beef enchilada was covered with Colorado sauce and plenty of melted cheese. I did not try any of this, but my mom seemed to like it plenty.

Katie had a threesome on this evening when she ordered this Pepe's Trio ($9.95). This consisted of three mini crispy tostada shells which were topped with melted cheese, pico de gallo, a scoop of guacamole, and fajita chicken. Red and green sauce was served on the side. She felt this was a pretty solid meal. The tostadas were a little messy to eat, but the chicken was moist and she was pleased with both the red and green sauces. She'd get this again.

When I was growing up, if we went to a Mexican restaurant I would always get a hamburger. Some of the worst burgers I have ever had, but I did not like Mexcian food before I was ten. I guess my niece Lillie inherited this quirk from me, or she just wanted to be different. Whatever the case, she had these Chicken Strips ($6.55) from the kid's side of the menu. The three pieces of chicken looked pretty boring from across the table, but they seemed to do the trick as she ate two out of three, which is a pretty good night for her. Maybe if they had some barbecue sauce to go along with these she might have finished them all. Sorry, that's an inside joke between me and her.

It's always a crap shoot as to what my dad will order, and on this evening he went with the unusual choice of the San Felipe Omlete ($13.95). This breakfast for dinner option featured a two egg omelet filled with crab, shrimp, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green onions.  It was then finished off with the red Colorado sauce and melted cheese. My dad really enjoyed this dish and would not hesitate to get it again. As is his usual, he did not offer me a bite of this. Very selfish.

Our little cheerleader Kaylie did not want something really heavy before she was going to be doing some flips, handstands and whatever else cheerleaders do, so she kept it very light with these Chicken Soft Tacos ($7.00). These soft tacos came simply dressed with lettuce, cheese, and chicken per Kaylie's request. She had no problem finishing these up, and they must have given her some luck as the basketball team won their game with a last-second basket. Way to go Aztecs.

An interesting plate for my sister Kristin on this evening. She had the menu item known as Guanajuato ($11.50). I'm not sure if that's the state in Mexico where the flauta was invented, but that's what the people at Ranch Enchilada call this plate. The flautas are rolled with chicken and fried, then have a green sauce poured on top of them with melted cheese.  My sister was pretty happy with this, and even more happy that they allowed her to have french fries with this instead of beans and rice. Are we even related?

I seem to remember really enjoying the Panchos Favorites ($11.95) when I used to come here decades ago. It's basically a wet chimichanga cut into pieces. This comes with refried beans inside and your choice of either beef or chicken, I went the beef route. It was pretty average. The Spanish sauce covering this lacked any kind of excitement, the beef was not very flavorful, and the highlight of this for me was the plentiful amount of cheese that they used on this. Maybe my food preferences have evolved a bit since the early '90s.

No dessert for us, as we were off to the basketball game, but these Cinamon Crisps came with our check. They were fine, but the sugar and cinnamon did not stay on the tortilla chips very long. Still, a nice touch getting these as a thank you for coming in.

Even though everyone else on this evening seemed to like their food, I was not so sure that the food at the Ranch Enchilada hasn't passed me by. I felt that my meal was very drab, and lacked any real pop of flavor. Everyone else's plates kind of looked boring to me as well. I'd term this very humdrum Mexican food. It's adequate, but nothing that I'd drive out of the way for. I don't even think my parents, who live just over three miles away, will come out of their way to return. The positives? I thought the prices were more than fair and the service we had on this evening was great. Our server, sorry I did not get his name was on top of our every need and kept things moving so we could get Kaylie to her basketball game way before tip-off. Even though the Ranch Enchilada failed to impress it was still a great night of family time.

Out of five headstones, (because the city of Yorba Linda is home to the second oldest private cemetery in OC, the Yorba Cemetery, which offers tours one day each month), five being best to zero being worst, the Ranch Enchilada gets 2.5 headstones.

The Ranch Enchilada does not have a website, but you can find more information about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ranch-enchilada-restaurant-yorba-linda

Keep Your Friends Close, but Your Pizza Closer

Wise Guys Pizzeria

4957 Yorba Ranch Road

Yorba Linda, CA 92887

My parents are pretty much creatures of habit when it comes to the restaurants they frequent. They have lived in Yorba Linda for over 40 years, but are reluctant to stray from their favorites in the area. Mimi's Cafe, Chili's, Habit Burger, Ruby's, Chick-Fil-A, and Polly's are some of the places that they hit up in a heavy rotation every week or so. One of the major reasons for this is that all of these places have a loyalty program that they have joined and they get coupons and other special offers on their birthdays and such. Almost every phone conversation I have with them includes a briefing on what deals they had gotten the week prior.

I bring this up because I have made it my mission to break them out of their comfort zone when it comes to restaurants. Whenever we come up to North OC, we try to eat at a restaurant that they haven't eaten at yet. Pretty crazy that after 43 years there are places they haven't been to yet, but we are working on it. Pizza for my parents is usually Costco or Pizza Hut. These were not going to happen on my watch, so we met the family at Wise Guys Pizzeria.

This local pizza place is situated in the same shopping plaza as OC Wine Mart, The Wild Artichoke, and Domino's Pizza. Back in the day, this used to be the home of The Ranch Enchilada, and before that, when I was in high school, The Whole Enchilada. Wise Guys opened in 2015, and they have two other locations, one on Chapman Avenue in Orange and another in Grapevine, Texas.

Wise Guys is pretty much unrecognizable from the old days when this used to be a Mexican restaurant. They darkened it up a bit, added a bar to the left-hand side of the restaurant, and put up six large TVs on the walls. There's a patio to the left-hand side of the restaurant also, which might be a better option than the rather cramped and loud quarters of the inside of this restaurant. Ordering is done at the counter and the food is brought out to you as it's ready. The menu features many Italian appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches, calzones, and of course, pizza. The nine of us quickly made our food choices and waited patiently for our food to come out to our table. Here's how it all worked out for us at Wise Guys.

Between all of us, we tried three of the eight salads that are offered at Wise Guys. Katie had the House Salad ($4.49). This base model salad included chopped romaine, pepperoncini, tomato, mozzarella, and your choice of dressing. My dad went a little crazier here trying this Antipasto Salad ($7.95). This one had a whole cavalcade of ingredients in it. Sliced up hard salami, pepperoni, and capicola, chopped romaine, tomato wedges, radishes, olives, and pepperoncini, and was finished off with plenty of grated and sliced mozzarella. My dad was pretty pleased with himself that he ordered this one. It was good-sized, had plenty of items included in it, and filled him up, which was a good thing for me since we were splitting a pizza, it meant more pizza for me. Bonus. My sister was equally over the moon about her salad selection, the Candied Walnut Salad ($7.49). I have always asserted that women love salads with fruit in them, and my sister added to my theory by loving this salad that contained sliced apple, dried cranberries, red onion, candied walnuts, and gorgonzola all bathed in a balsamic vinaigrette. She loved the texture of this and the wide-ranging flavors. It kept her interested throughout the short life of this salad. Salads are fine and all, but I was ready for some real sustenance.

I've become a meatball maniac all of a sudden, and could not resist the chance to try the interesting-sounding Spicy Chorizo Meatballs ($2.29 each). I zeroed in on this appetizer when I checked out the menu the week before coming here. The chorizo meatball came in a very well-done hatch chili cream sauce. I thought the chorizo was going to be too greasy, but it was not overbearing, held together well, and was made even better with the chili sauce, which was plentiful, and I used it to dip into the garlic knots below. Not sure why they call these spicy because they weren't, but still a nice change of pace from the usual meatballs you get in pizza places.

If you go anywhere near the Yelp page for Wise Guys and read the reviews, you'll see a flood of admiration for their Garlic Knots ($6.49). These are littler than a lot of the ones I have had at other places, but they did give you plenty. These knots are made from the pizza dough, brushed with garlic and sprinkled with parmesan, and then served with marinara and ranch dressing. Not bad, but I thought they were baked a little too long. I like a softer, more doughy garlic knot. Everyone else seemed to like them though.

I had a feeling that we were going to be having a lot of food on the table between the nine of us, so my parents and Katie, and I decided to split pizzas. Katie and my mom went with the Personal sized Pepperoni Pizza ($7.68). This four-sliced pizza was perfect for the two of them. They both really enjoyed this pizza. Katie liked the cheesiness of the pizza, while my mom was fond of the crust. My dad and I split a small The Don All Meat Pizza ($9.95). This carnivore's favorite included all the meats from behind the counter; pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, meatball, and bacon. I liked this pizza but had wished that the meats were baked into the cheese more, as they fell off rather easily when I picked up my slices. The cheese to sauce ratio was pretty good for me with this and I liked the thicker than usual crust. A solid pizza that I'd probably get again if I was in the mood for a meat lovers pizza.

My sister and her side of the table tried these Italian Hot Wings ($9.95) to start out. I believe there were ten to an order. I got to try one, which I found to be just okay. The chicken was overly fried with not a lot of meat included on these pretty puny wings. The sauce was okay but needed to be a tad thicker and spicier. The ranch dressing used here was above average.

My brother-in-law was eager to give the Raging Bull Meatball Sandwich ($6.49) a try on this early evening. This half sandwich came with two meatballs on this, which were covered with plenty of marinara sauce and mozzarella. They use Amoroso rolls, so the bread was sturdy and made to hold plenty, just like they do at any good Philly cheesesteak place. The sandwich was good according to Jarrod, he liked the melting cheese and marinara sauce, but felt they could have snuck another meatball in this half sandwich to make it even better. This also came with your choice of potato chips or the pesto pasta salad he selected. With the addition of the pesto in this pasta salad, it kicked this up a few notches in my book. Pasta salad can sometimes be boring, but this one was flavorful with well-made pesto.

I also wanted to share a picture of their larger pizzas. The folks on the other side of the table got this Large Pepperoni Pizza ($19.24) which they all seemed to enjoy but did not finish. I thought nearly twenty dollars for this pizza was a little over the top, but I hear that Wise Guys frequently dispenses coupons to locals in the mail and they also have family specials that are offered at the time that you are ordering, which would help cut down on the price. This ended up being a good solid pizza, made with better ingredients than you can get through any delivery pizza.

Wise Guys Pizzeria ended up being a great meeting point for the nine of us. even though the restaurant is a bit compact, we made it work and it helped that we got here before the big rush of people that came after us. The pizza here was good, but not noteworthy. It's not going to blow your mind, but it's slightly above average and if you are in the area Wise Guys would be a good place to try. The food runners and people running the registers were all awesome, and really were working pretty hard clearing plates, getting refills, and fetching my mom an endless supply of ranch dressing. Guess you can never have enough ranch dressing. Glad I could break my parents out of their Pizza Hut and Costco pizza rut by having them try this place. Hopefully, they will be back.

Out of five toy soldiers, (because the 80's TV show Wiseguy featured Martika, who famously sang the song Toy Soldiers), five being best to zero being worst, Wise Guys Pizzeria gets 3 toy soldiers.

For more information about Wise Guys Pizzeria, head to their website here: http://wiseguyspizzeria.com/