Does Portillo's Do the Windy City Justice?

Portillo's Hot Dogs

8390 La Palma Ave

Buena Park, CA 90620

I have been to Chicago once for vacation. The city and food were great. We had deep dish pizza, went to a game at Wrigley, ate a bunch of Chicago Dogs, and of course went up into the Sears Tower. My only regret from my trip is that I never got to sample an Italian Beef sandwich. After watching a show on food network about the famous Chicago sandwiches, I did a little research and found out that Portillo's had opened a place in Buena Park, so that is where we headed.

Portillo's is owned by Dick Portillo, who still owns them to this day. They have 34 units open, and this is one of two in southern California, (the other California location is Moreno Valley). Portillo's has been around for awhile, they began in 1963 in Villa Park, Illinois. Let's see if they have brought great tasting Chicagoland food to the west coast.

Before we get to the Italian beef sandwich, my friend Carol got an order of onion rings. These were pretty good rings, and they came out really hot. Decent start to the meal.

Here is Katie's Italian Beef. She got hers without peppers, but added cheese. At Portillo's you can order your sandwich dry, with extra gravy, or dipped in gravy. The gravy is the broth that the meat cooks in. Kind of like an au jus. She got hers with extra gravy. As you can see from the picture it is still a little to dry for my liking. The bread was very good and stood up to the sandwich well. The meat had a good taste and I liked the sandwich with cheese. $5.25 for this sandwich makes this very reasonable.

This was my Italian Beef with hot peppers added. I had my sandwich dipped. Next time I will ask for it to be doubled dipped. I would have liked it to be wetter. The bread was good and crusty on this one also. The peppers were hot, but did not over-power the taste of the meat.

The last of the sandwiches was this, the Combo Beef & Char Grilled Sausage. I had this one with hot peppers and onions. Both the sausage and meat together made this the best sandwich out of the bunch. Imagine a Philly cheesesteak dipped like a French dip, with a sausage in the middle. There is nothing wrong with that combination! This sandwich was also a steal at $5.69.

Next up are the Chicago hot dogs. This is one with the works. Kind of looks like a salad on a hot dog. This one includes mustard, relish, kosher pickle, tomato, onion, and peppers on a poppy seed bun. I took the tomato off and ate the pickle by itself. The bun was excellent on this. Very soft and it held together nicely. The hot dog had a good snap to it and a great meaty flavor. I wish they would have taken the stem off of the pepper though, but it gave me the opportunity to rip it off and pour the juice over the hot dog. 

Lastly, here is the Chili Cheese Dog. I am not much on chili with beans, but this one was good. They did not skimp on the chili, and the bun, even though it was soft, it handled the chili and did not break apart. The dog had the same snap on this one also. A really good dog.

I liked Portillo's. The hot dogs did remind me of Chicago. The service at this place was also really good. We had just arrived as a school bus with about fifty kids had shown up also. They knocked all of their orders out quick, including ours. Portillo's kind of had a Knowlwoods feel to it. The place was very clean, and big, so there was no problem getting a table. The only weird part about the place, is that they do not have a self serve soda fountain. Not a big deal, but I found that odd.

So out of five Navy Piers, five being best to zero being worst, Portillo's gets three solid Navy Piers.

If you would like any additional info on Portillo's, click here: http://www.portillos.com/portillos/

Fist Pumping at Jersey Mikes?

Jersey Mike's Subs

25280 Marguerite Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

New Jersey is famous for Bruce Springsteen, the train wreck that is Jersey Shore, and the birthplace of the seedless watermelon. So when I heard that a Jersey Mike's was opening up in my area, I had to give it a try to see if I could add it to the list of all-time greatest things coming out of New Jersey.

Jersey Mike's started in 1956 in Mount Pleasant, New Jersey. Today they have over 450 stores nationwide and five opened in Orange county, with more on the way. Let's see if they are expanding because the sandwiches are so good.

Katie started with this Pasta Salad. I am not usually a big fan of pasta salad, but this one was pretty good. It was oil based and had hunks of cheese and tomatoes in it. It was a decent salad, and it made me want to try their other salads as well.

Here is Katie's sandwich. She got the #7, Turkey Breast and Provolone. All of their sandwiches can be served Mike's Way, which includes onions, lettuce, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, olive oil and spices. All of their sandwich meat is sliced right in front of you. The turkey did taste good, but I thought that this sandwich was a little bland, but Katie liked it. They have three sizes of sandwich, mini, (pictured above), regular, and giant.

This is the Giant sized #9, the Club Supreme. This sandwich includes roast beef, turkey, swiss, bacon and mayo. I had this sandwich Mike's Way, minus the tomatoes. This sandwich was pretty good sized. They were a little light on the meat and mayo on it though. The bread, which is good, really over powered this sandwich. The bacon added nicely to make this sandwich more tasty than Katie's. All in all, a very good sandwich.

On a different visit I had the #20, Grilled Pastrami Reuben. I did not like this sandwich at all. The pastrami was not good, the taste was off, and again there was not enough meat on this sandwich. I also thought that this sandwich was over priced at $10.75. I have had a better pastrami sandwich at Togo's, and at almost half the price. I would not get this sandwich again.

This is probably a sandwich I would get again. This is the #56, the Big Kahuna Cheese Steak. This sandwich had grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos and extra cheese, a winning combination. This sandwich was bursting with flavor. There was just enough meat on this one, but it was close to not having enough on it. I did think that the $11.50 that you pay for this sandwich was way too much, but it did taste great.

I do not know if I would add Jersey Mike's to my all time greatest things to come out of New Jersey list. I think that a lot of their sandwiches are too expensive. I do like that they slice the meat right in front of you, and all of their ingredients seem really fresh. This place really just seems like an over-priced Togo's to me. It is better than Togo's, but not by much.

So out of five Snooki's, five being best to zero being worst, Jersey Mike's gets 2 Snooki's.

To find out more information on Jersey Mike's, click here: http://www.jerseymikes.com/

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at Tacos Ensenada

Tacos Ensenada

24601 Raymond Way, Suite 1

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Okay, I know that this blog has been all about Mexican food lately. I am even almost tired of Mexican food, at least for the next few days. But it is Cinco de Mayo and I really felt obligated to go out and have more Mexican food. So, I put Katie in charge of finding a place we have never been, and it had to be close to home, since we were not going to be able to get out until eight. Lets see what she came up with.

She chose Tacos Ensenada. Tacos Ensenada is located in the Bell Towers Shopping Center off of El Toro. This area has so many little places to eat, that it would take months for you try them all. Lets see if this is one worth finding.

After placing your order at the counter, you are brought the basket of chips above and can choose your salsa at the salsa bar in the middle of the restaurant. The salsa bar has at least six different salsa's, chopped onions and cilantro and spiced carrots. This is one of the salsa's that we picked. It was good and spicy. Really one of the best salsa's that I have had in a long while. The chips were good also.

Here is Katie's colorful plate. She went with a Combination Plate of a Chicken Taco and a Cheese Enchilada. This was also served with beans and rice. The taco was pretty good sized and had lots of chicken. The cheese enchilada had a good red sauce on it and was filled with plenty of cheese. I liked the taste of all the things on her plate. The beans were obviously home made, and tasted really good. The rice was good, but not fantastic. Also the price was right for this big plate, under $8. In fact, all of their combos are under $8, and they have 25 to choose from.

Here are two pictures of my plate. I went with the Chili Verde Combo. This was not as saucy as other chili verde's I have had. This tasted good though, I think having less sauce really made the meat stand out more. It was cooked well and had a great flavor. I also definitely took advantage of the three different bottles of hot sauce that they had on their tables. The tortillas were okay.

Okay, so just in case I did not have enough food, I also ordered a Carnitas Burrito. This double wrapped burrito was filled with rice, beans and very tender carnitas. I will next time get this served wet, because it was a little dry with the double wrapped tortilla. I made this less dry with the use of the hot sauce and salsa. Very good burrito though.

I have eaten a lot of Mexican food in the last few weeks, and this is one of my favorites for a fast/casual Mexican food. Everything tasted fresh and was prepared while you wait. I also thought that the prices here were pretty good, and the variety was as good as anyplace around.

One more side note, I went here the next morning and picked up their Breakfast Burrito. I did not have my camera, but trust me it was big, and included eggs, bacon, ham, chorizo and potato. A very hearty meal, and it went well with the salsa. I am still looking for my best breakfast burrito, so if you know of one I should try, leave me a comment.

So out of five bottles of wine, (because Ensenada is the wine capital of Mexico), five being best to zero being worst, Tacos Ensenada gets three bottles of wine.

For more information on Tacos Ensenada, click here: http://www.tacosensenada.com/home

Jazzy Night Out at the Jazz Kitchen?

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen

1590 Disneyland Dr.

Anaheim, CA 92802

It was Katie's birthday and she really wanted to go to Disneyland. So, what is a boyfriend to do, but take her there. Now the question becomes, where to eat? Not looking forward to just a burger and a churro, we headed to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney.

I had never been here before. The restaurant is a two story replica of French Quarter architecture. The restaurant is big, so there is no trouble getting a seat at 6 o'clock on a Sunday evening. In fact when we are seated, we are the only ones in the room, (although it does fill up quickly after about ten minutes).

The bottom floor dining room where we are seated is brightly colored, and has umbrellas on the ceiling.  The jazz band starts halfway through our meal. I thought it was going to be too loud, but I could still hear Katie across the table. Okay, so let's see what we got to eat, and find out if this place is going to make me want to throw some beads.

We started our, "Big Easy", meal with the Barbecue Gulf Shrimp appetizer. This is shrimp served with a New Orleans barbeque sauce. I liked the sauce a lot, it had a nice mild flavor. Wish I would have gotten more bread to sop up the extra sauce with. The shrimp were cooked well, but you only get six, for this $11 dollar appetizer. Not worth the two dollars a shrimp price.

Next up is Katie's salad, the French Quarter Salad. Mixed greens, candied pecans, cherry tomatoes, and ranch on the side, make up this basic salad. Katie liked this, I thought it was just an average salad that you could get at your local Coco's.

Here is my soup of the day. Not sure what they called this soup, but it was tomato based, and had bay shrimp and pieces of chicken in it. The soup was also spiced nicely. It had a little kick to it, but I could have handled more heat.

Now on to the entrees. This is the Pasta Jambalaya. Gulf shrimp, sausage, chicken, Creole seasonings served over spinach fettuccine. Katie really liked this dish. I thought it was mediocre. There was only a tiny bit of spice with this plate. When I think of jambalaya I always think heat, but this left me wanting more spice. I also am not such a big fan of jambalaya served over pasta, I like it over rice much better. This was a good size plate though.

My main course was the Pecan Crusted Catfish. This fish was pan roasted, with lemon-thyme beurre blanc. I really liked the buttery sauce and I got a big piece of fish. The catfish tasted mellow, and was cooked well. The three gulf shrimp that accompanied this were really good when dipped in the sauce. The dirty rice that came with this also tasted good. A very decent dish.

Here is Katie's birthday dessert. She got the Profiteroles. These profiteroles are basically cream puffs minus the cream in the middle, and instead of the cream they have ice cream sandwiched between the puff pastry. I thought that the puff pastry was over cooked. It was almost impossible to cut with a fork. The ice cream tasted good though.

For my dessert, I had the New Orleans Bread Pudding.  This bread pudding had raisins and a housemade creme anglaise. I really liked the creme, it complimented the bread pudding well. The bread pudding was pretty moist and had a good cinnamon flavor.

When I left the Jazz kitchen, I was not so sold on it. But as I was writing this review, I came around. The food was all pretty good, not great. Eating here has made me want to find a real great Cajun place, so if you know of any, leave me a comment. As for the Jazz Kitchen, I felt that I expected more flavor. I wanted more spice. I know they probably leave it bland, for the masses, but I wish they would tried to stand out. The service was really good, and I liked the Jazz band that was playing also.

So out of five strings of beads, five being best, to zero being worst, Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen gets 2.5 strings of beads.

For more information on Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, click here: http://www.rbjazzkitchen.com/index.php

Cooking Up a Storm at La Cocina de Ricardo

La Cocina de Ricardo

23532 El Toro Rd. #11

Lake Forest, CA 92630

My friend CJ told me I must try this place, and always loving tips from my friends, Katie and I headed out to give this Mexican restaurant a try. La Cocina de Ricardo is located in the back of a strip mall, right next to the new Arbor shopping center on El Toro Road. This small eatery has three other locations; one each  in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Mountain View.

From the second we entered this brightly colored restaurant, we felt very welcomed. The menu offers quite a bit to choose from, so lets see what we decided on.

Here is the Mexican Pizza appetizer. This is a crispy flour tortilla, with refried beans, cheese, beef, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and cilantro. This had a very nice flavor to it, and the beef really tasted great. The flavors were a little too mellow for me, so I added some hot sauce that was on the table. Everything tasted really fresh.

Katie ordered her standard plate from any Mexican restaurant, the Two Item Combo plate. She always chooses a chicken taco and a chicken tamale. Usually the chicken tamales that she orders are very dry, but not this one. This tamale is made fresh in house and was very moist, but not too moist. The chicken was plentiful in it as well. I also enjoyed the taco as well. The tortilla was crisp and it was a solid taco. She opted for a salad instead of rice. She said it was your basic salad, but it tasted fresh.

My standard plate to order in a Mexican restaurant is a carnitas plate, so I ordered the Carnitas Los Gordos. This is listed under their family specials and can be ordered in a half size, single serving size or made for two. The pork was good, very tender and not too oily. The meat had a real nice smokiness to it. The beans were obviously homemade, and tasted great. The rice was okay, I am never really too impressed by rice wherever we go. La Cocina de Ricardo does not really seem to use a lot of seasoning in their food, I guess that is what the hot sauce is for on the table. They do say that on request that most items can be made spicy, I will try this on my next visit.

For dessert we ordered the traditional Flan. This was a good flan. Katie really liked it. I thought it could have been creamier, but it was still good. I really liked the caramel sauce and the way that this and all the plates were presented at Ricardo's.

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone that is looking for a great Mexican meal in a real homey place. From the second we walked in, Mario and the rest of the employees seemed really glad that we were here. They talk a lot about their family, and when you are in their restaurant, they make you feel like you are one of their own. Thanks for the tip CJ!

Out of five sinks, (because what is more important in a kitchen than a working sink?), five being best to zero being worst, La Cocina de Ricardo gets 3 sinks.

If you would like to find out more about La Cocina de Ricardo, click here: http://www.lacocinadericardo.com/index.html

Dry Docked at the Jolly Roger CLOSED

Jolly Roger

34661 Golden Lantern

Dana Point, CA 92629

Looking for somewhere different to try, Katie and I decided on giving the Jolly Roger a shot. The last Jolly Roger I had been to was on Balboa Island, and that one is long gone. In fact, there are only two left, one in Oceanside and this one in Dana Point.

On this Sunday night we could have our pick of any table in the place. They were not very busy, so we opted to sit upstairs. The view was great, here is a picture from our table.

Lets hope the view is not the best thing about this place. Onto the food you land lovers! That is my pirate talk.

For an appetizer, we chose the Crab and Artichoke Dip. The menu said this was snow crab and artichoke hearts blended with cream cheese. The first picture shows the oil slick that was very much evident in this dip. The crab was un-noticeable, and the artichoke hearts were non-existent. The second picture shows the trouble we had dipping our chips in this dip. The cheese was very stringy, and made it impossible for us to dip our chips without  creating a big ribbon of cheese with each dip. I am not even sure this was cream cheese in this dish, it really tasted like mozzarella, but I could be wrong about that. Not a very good start to our meal.

This bright colored plate was Katie's Shrimp Scampi. This was a daily special and not on the regular menu. After tasting this, it should stay off of the menu. The shrimp had no taste, even when I drenched it in the garlic and butter. One of the worst shrimp scampi's that I have ever had. The rice and vegetables were average.

So for my plate I went with a Pirate Combo, featuring Prime Rib and Coconut Shrimp. First, the prime rib had fat all through the cut. I was really fighting this meat with my knife. The meat itself was good, but all the fat really made this plate more of a challenge to eat.

The coconut shrimp was heavily battered, and you could not taste the shrimp. Eaten without the orange marmalade sauce, these shrimp were dry. The rest of the plate was nothing to write home about either. The mashed potatoes were dry as well, and the vegetables were just okay.

The service at the Jolly Roger left a lot to be desired also. Our ill fated crab and artichoke dip sat finished in the middle of our table throughout our meal. The waiter himself was pleasant, but not enough to make us want to go back. I would describe the food here as, bad wedding reception food. Everything was bland and very dry.

So out of five skull and cross bones, (because that is what is on the Jolly Roger flag, not because the food is poison!), five being best to zero being worst, the Jolly Roger gets 1 skull and cross bones.

If you would like to visit the Jolly Roger web site, click here: http://www.jollyrogerrestaurants.com/