Shacking Up In the NYC

Shake Shack

691 8th Avenue

New York, NY 10036

When I told my friend Mark that I was headed to New York, he told me I must try Shake Shack, or he would punch me in the face. Okay, maybe he was not that harsh, but he really wanted me to try it. So right before a Rangers hockey game we headed over to give Shake Shack a try.

Shake Shack has twelve locations, seven in the New York area, one in Connecticut, one in DC, one in Miami, and even two in the Middle East. Big expansion for a restaurant that has only been around since 2004. Let's see if they are expanding because of the food.

Here is a quick overview of the food we got. The menu of Shake Shack is pretty standard fast food fare. They feature burgers, hot dogs, and frozen custard. You order at the counter and then you wait to have your number called. We got here at about 5:30, and the good sized restaurant was filled up. We claimed our seats and then our food arrived.

We'll start with the New York Dog. The hot dog was high quality, and I really liked that it was split and grilled. It had a very good snap to it. The potato bun was good, but I should have gotten a dog with some condiments on it. This hot dog could stand alone, but it would have been made better with some toppings on it.

The Double Cheeseburger was next on our agenda. Good flavor on this one and everything about this burger indicated that it was made with fresh ingredients. The bun on this juicy burger really held up. Good burger.

The Fries here are made with Yukon Gold potatoes. They kind of reminded me of the old Carl's Jr. fries. These came out nice and hot and very crisp. Every single one was crispy, a major accomplishment.

For dessert I went with their Chocolate Frozen Custard. I am new to frozen custard, which is soft serve mixed with ice cream. The result is a dense frozen product. The custard had a grittiness to it. Not so gritty that it was bad, but the texture was a little off for me. Next time I would go for one of their Concretes, which is their frozen custard mixed with toppings and mix-ins.

Shake Shack was all it was cracked up to be.  I should have studied the menu more before I got here, but I was hungry and in a hurry to get to the hockey game. The items that I did have were pretty basic, but very good. I would equate this place to Five Guys, and I love Five Guys Burger and Fries.

Out of five bus stops, (because bus stops can sometimes be referred to as shacks), five being best to zero being worst, Shake Shack gets 3 strong bus stops.

For more information on Shake Shack, click here: http://www.shakeshack.com/

O'Brien's Welcomes Us to NYC - CLOSED

O' Brien's NYC

134 W. 46th St.

New York, NY 10036

Recently, we headed to New York City for a week to see a baseball and hockey game and, of course, to see what the Big Apple had to offer in terms of food. I have a lot of places to show you, so hop on that subway car, and let's check out NYC.

We arrived from LAX on Sunday at about 10 p.m. After a quick walk through Times Square, we were famished. I had a list of places to eat, but we wanted to go somewhere close for a quick bite, so we went across the street from our hotel and found O'Brien's.

O'Brien's is a narrow restaurant and bar right in the heart of Times Square. Dark and tucked away, this bar attracts the locals and people trying to escape the chaos of Times Square. Two stories high, with their upper level termed the "Sin Bin," this is where we are seated for our first meal in the Empire State. Let's check out the food.

Eating at such a late hour, my Mom wanted a light meal and ordered the Cream of Broccoli Soup. She felt this soup was okay, but she was much more excited about the bread basket that came with it. The soup was also average, too watery, and a little too bland.

My Dad went with the BBQ Beef Sandwich—sliced roast beef served with barbecue sauce. He did not rave about this sandwich, but when asked, he told me it was good. The winner on this plate seemed to be the fries. My Dad devoured these skinny fries, and my Mom had her fair share of these, too, so much for eating light late at night.

Katie wanted to return to her Irish roots and got the O'Brien's Classic Corned Beef on Rye. She felt the meat on this could have been sliced thinner, and the sandwich only came alive once she added the spicy hot mustard. She rated this sandwich about average.

For my choice, the O'Brien Burger was calling my name. This burger came with Irish cheddar cheese and limerick bacon. The limerick bacon had an almost Canadian bacon look and taste—a little less salty and more mellow than American bacon. This burger was fine but a little overcooked.

Okay, so the food at O'Brien's was average bar food. It did sustain us and help us go to sleep with full stomachs. The real reason to go to O'Brien's is the staff. They made us feel like locals each of the three times we returned here for a nightcap. A special shout out to our new friends, Honoree and Tunde, who we met here. You guys killed it. Thanks for everything.

So out of five shamrocks, five being best to zero being worst, O'Brien's gets 2.5 shamrocks.

For more information on O'Brien's, click here: http://www.obriensnyc.com/

Chow Time at Wood Ranch

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill

22352 El Paseo

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

We were going to be leaving for vacation, and Katie's family wanted to see her one last time before we were off to New York. So we stopped packing and made the trip out to Wood Ranch BBQ in Rancho Santa Margarita. I have kind of become jaded when going to chain barbecue places, but I have always kind of liked WR and have yet to review it, so that is where we are headed.

Wood Ranch operates 13 restaurants, including the other OC location in Anaheim Hills. They also will be opening an Irvine location at the Spectrum this summer. Their menu features steaks, seafood, burgers, and barbecue. Their barbecue is cooked in a two-step process, first, it is roasted overnight, and then it is cooked to order.  Let's see how all the food turned out.

At Wood Ranch, they serve you these garlic rolls, instead of a bread basket. These came out nice and warm and were very full of garlic. As these cooled, they lost a little bit of their softness, but they were still pretty good.

To start off our meal we went with the BBQ Chicken Potato Skins. These potato skins came with cheese, barbecue sauce, and chicken. I felt the potato part of these was a little too crisp, and they could have been a little more generous with the cheese and chicken on these. The barbecue sauce on these was the standout flavor here.

Katie's Dad was not too hungry so he opted to get a bowl of Clam Chowder soup. This soup looked watery and average to me. Dennis did not rave about the soup but said it was fine. Not exactly a rave review for this soup.

Katie must have forgotten that she was at a barbecue restaurant because she ordered a salad. At least she got a salad with some meat on it, the Wood Roasted Tri-Tip Salad. This salad featured baby greens, romaine, tomatoes, Gorgonzola, tri-tip, and mint julep dressing. I had a few bites of this salad and found it to be quite good. The tri-tip was flavorful and the dressing was a good compliment to the meat. Katie would have liked the meat to have been warmer and juicier.

Sara and Lynn both got BBQ Pork Pulled Sandwiches. Both the sliders and the traditional sandwich are served with Carolina slaw and pickle chips. The barbecue sauce is served on the side. Sara, the kind-hearted woman that she is, even gave me half of her sandwich. Thanks, Sara! Anyways, I found the meat to have a decent flavor, not over-powering, and it was paired nicely with the slaw and barbecue sauce. I would get this sandwich again.

Kevin's, "go to",  item in restaurants is a hamburger, and at Wood Ranch, he stuck true to form with the Buckeye Burger. This burger came with BBQ sauce, bacon, and Tillamook cheddar cheese. I did not get a chance to sample this burger, but from across the table, it looked pretty good. Kevin had no complaints about this burger.

I was in a barbecue restaurant, so I went with actual barbecue food. I had the two-item WR BBQ Combo with tri-tip and baby back ribs. The tri-tip was the best thing on the plate. Tender and moist would be used to describe the tri-tip. The baby backs were good but made better by their barbecue sauce. I liked the barbecue sauce here. Usually, I am more of a spice guy, but when it comes to barbecue sauce I like it better on the sweeter side. The side items were just average. The Peanut Cole Slaw was bland, and the Lauren's Favorite Mac and Cheese was a little light on the cheese. Not so great.

We got to Wood Ranch on a Friday night at 7 and they were very busy. We were seated on the very crowded outside patio. It was way too cramped out there, and servers were having to dodge customers all night. Our overly enthusiastic server was fine but left us for long stretches of time. Luckily we were in no rush, as we were enjoying each other's company, even Sara's.

I think I am ready to deem Wood Ranch my favorite barbecue chain restaurant. Over the years they have been way more consistent than Lucille's, and way better than Tony Roma's. Geez, are there even any more Tony Romas around? Their prices are on par, if not better than other barbecue joints, with plates averaging just under twenty dollars. The barbecue here can not compete with small independent places like Blake's Place and Bad to the Bone, but I think that is because they are cooking in such large volumes.

So out of five wranglers, (because wranglers live on ranches), five being best to zero being worst, Wood Ranch gets 3 wranglers.

For more information on Wood Ranch, click here: https://www.woodranch.com/

Searching for a Great Cuban Meal

Felix Continental Cafe

36 Plaza Square

Orange, CA 92866

Both Katie and I have been craving Cuban food ever since we got back from Miami in November. Our Cuban experience was so good there, we wanted to find the best Cuban food in the OC. So we start our quest at Felix Continental Cafe in the Orange Circle.

Felix has been around since the late seventies. In those thirty plus years, I have always heard great things about this place. Every time I have been to the circle, there is always a wait to eat here. Every time I mention restaurants in the circle, someone always tells me to try Felix's. Reviews from the newspapers and blogs are all glowing, so I was very excited to give Felix a try.

We arrived at seven on a Saturday night, and true to form there was a forty-five-minute wait to be seated inside or a five-minute wait to be seated outside under the heat lamps. We chose the latter, because I was really hungry, and I can brave the chilly 60-degree weather. After a little delay, the waiter came over and this is what came out for us.

I always enjoy showing you the breadbasket, and here is the one for this night. The bread was average and a little squashed, but they definitely gave the three of us more than enough. Maybe they saw in my eyes that I was very hungry.

The only appetizer we ordered was the Empanadita Criolla. This was filled with spiced ground beef and tasted great. Katie asked for some salsa with this, and it was nice and spicy. A very good accompaniment to the empanada.

All of the entrees came with either soup or salad. Katie and Clay each got the salad. They felt it was nothing special. I went with Garbanzo Soup. This was a pleasant tasting mellow soup. There was no shortage of garbanzos in this soup either. I was a little surprised to find a bay leaf in the soup, but no big deal.

We will start the entree portion of the night with Clay's choice, the Carne Con Papas. Tips of boneless beef and potatoes cooked in a Cuban beef sauce. This stew-like meal was called average by Clay, who also said some of the beef pieces were not very tender.

Felix is known as the House of Paella, so that is what Katie wanted to try. The Paella Valenciana is a Spanish holiday dish that presents many different items in the same bowl. Included in this paella were saffron rice, shellfish, calamari, chicken, pork, fish, and Spanish chorizo. Katie felt this was a solid dish and that the meats were just okay. She could not finish this, so I took it for lunch the next day. I really enjoyed this. Kind of like a jambalaya, I really liked the flavor of this. My only complaint would be about the shellfish. It was served in a shell of course, but there was nothing to crack it open with. The dish was good without the crab meat but would have been made better with it.

The menu at Felix kind of intimidated me. There were so many options that I could not decide on a dish, so I took a chance with the Boliche Mechado. Eye of round steak stuffed with chorizo sausage and cooked in its own juices. The chorizo was invisible. The meat itself was tough, and not flavored well. The rice was okay. Not the best choice I could have made here. I should have gone with a pork or chicken dish.

Maybe a Cuban Sandwich could make me forget my entree. A Cuban sandwich is composed of a leg of pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard all on a Cuban baguette. This Cuban sandwich was not even close to the great one we had in Miami. The pork was kind of dry, and the cheese was a little off. It could have been a texture issue with the cheese. The mustard was not very prominent, and the pickles were sparsely spread through the sandwich. Not a good sandwich.

What almost made up for my entree was the desserts at Felix. With your entree, you are also given your choice of dessert. I had the Vanilla Pudding which was good and creamy and sprinkled with cinnamon. The real choice for dessert is the Tres Leches Cake. This moist cake was fantastic. Kind of had a moist Twinkie taste, but even better. The real whipping cream on top of this was the proverbial cherry on top. I can not recommend this dessert more.

Okay, so I guess after reading this you know how I am going to rate Felix. There were some bright spots, the paella, empanadas, and desserts. There were also some very low parts, the beef entrees, and the Cuban sandwich. This seems like a restaurant we will have to come back to explore their menu more. I will stay away from the beef items here and focus on pork and chicken items.  The service on our visit was fine, and I felt that the prices seemed fair.

Out of five cigars, (no explanation needed right?), five being best to zero being worst, Felix Continental Cafe gets 2.5 cigars.

For more information on Felix Continental Cafe click here: http://www.felixcontinentalcafe.com/

The Highs and Lows at Landmark CLOSED

Landmark Steakhouse

3520 E. Coast Highway

Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

I have been craving a big steak lately. So when my buddy Matt wanted some guy time, he suggested we head to Landmark to try one of their slabs of meat.

Neither of us had been to this beach area steakhouse before. Most of the reviews on Yelp are all about the night club. Landmark opens at five, and the DJ starts spinning at ten. According to their website they have recently renovated their dining rooms. They kind of have a retro kind of feel to it. High leather booths, dark lighting, and wood tables.

On this rainy Wednesday night there were only four tables being used in the dining room. Most of the action was going on in the very crowded bar area. Our server was nice, but we kind of felt that she forgot about us for long periods of time. Let's see if the food can make up for this.

First up is the bread basket. The bread was good, but had a harder than normal crust around it. I was very hungry and devoured two pieces of this rather quickly.

Both Matt and I decided to split two appetizers. His choice is above, the Blackend Seared Ahi. This was served with a seaweed salad and a wasabi red onion sauce. Matt called this the best ahi he has ever had. I liked the meatiness of the ahi, and the sauce was sweet, even though it had a wasabi base. Both the sauce and the ahi complimented each other well.

For my appetizer I went with the Filet Mignon Tacos. The meat on these were very tender and plentiful. Made even better with the guacamole. This would definitely be my go to appetizer when coming back here.

Next up is the healthy portion of the night, the salads. My option for a salad was the Chopped Iceberg. This salad included bacon, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and blue cheese dressing. Okay, mine was not so healthy, but it was a good tasting salad. It had the right amount of dressing on it, and the bacon added a lot of flavor.

Matt paying homage to Popeye ordered the Spinach Salad. Popeye, I mean Matt, felt that this salad was just average. He is used to a warmer spinach salad, and he thought this needed more blue cheese in it. This salad also came with dried cranberries and candied pecans, all tossed with a bacon vinaigrette.

This drab looking plate was Matt's entree, the Blackened Rib Eye. Matt said he would rate this steak about a B+. He liked the taste of this steak, and found little fat on this juicy hunk of meat. He was not a fan of the mashed potatoes, but liked the mushrooms. He also got a side order of Broccolini, but did not mention his thoughts on it. I tried the broccolini and felt it was just okay, it needed more seasoning on it.

After a long debate I decided on the LM Filet Mignon. The first bites of this ten ounce, medium rare steak were pretty good, but this steak cooled quickly, and became just an average filet. If the steak was average, the side items served with this were well below that. The mashed potatoes were bland and lumpy. The sauteed spinach was some of the worst I have ever had. The sauce, (either lemon or vinegar), was awful, and should be retired.

Trying to finish on a high note, we ordered dessert. Matt went with the Creme Brulee topped with fresh berries. He thought this was okay, but was not wowed by this. I liked this also, but felt that it could have been richer. I ordered  the Melted Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is served with vanilla bean ice cream. This dessert was better than the Creme Brulee, but it was not as good as the Pizookie served at BJ's. It needed to be served warmer and the cookie was not as good as it could be.

How to rate Landmark? As the meal went on my opinion of this place wained. The appetizers were real good, the salads were slightly above average, but the entrees failed to impress, and the desserts were just okay. I kind of felt that I was paying for their location, because the prices were too high for the quality of food that we received. I also got the vibe that this is a night club first and a restaurant second. I would come back here, but will stick to appetizers.

Out of five pyramids, (because they are some of the most popular landmarks in the world), five being best to zero being worst,. Landmark Steakhouse gets 2.5 pyramids.

For more information on Landmark Steakhouse, click here: http://www.landmarknewport.com/index.html