Beating the Drum or Singing the Blues at the Blue Beet?

The Blue Beet

107 21st Place

Newport Beach, CA 92663

The birthday dinners kept rolling on, and this time, my friend Matt took me out to eat. We headed to a place I had been to many times before, but this was my first time being here for dinner. This also is probably the first time I have been here stone sober. In my younger days, the Blue Beet was in my rotation of Newport bars I would frequent. We were here to see if they served great food to go with their stiff beverages.

The Blue Beet is actually the oldest bar in the city of Newport. Opened in 1912 under the name Stark's, it was open during prohibition due to police indifference. Renamed Sid's Blue Beet in the mid-sixties, the Blue Beet was home to a 24-hour poker game and many colorful characters through the years. This three-story bar has a lot of character, but we also hoped the food would shine. So let's check it out.

To start us out, we went with Sid's Famous Garlic Cheese Bread, cooked to order. This doughy bread was okay. Heavy on the cheese, which is good, but light on the garlic. We devoured this rather quickly.

Not content with just one appetizer, we also had a Basket of Onion Rings. These had a nice touch of crisp outer shell sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. The onion rings were good without being greasy. Matt also really enjoyed the BBQ sauce that was served with these.

All of us at the table ordered the Blue Beet Dinner Salad. This generous dinner salad included mixed greens, shredded beets (of course), carrots, celery, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and sunflower seeds. Two things made this dinner salad stand out, the sunflower seeds and the dressing. The dressings are made in-house, and you can really tell the difference. The blue cheese was thick and had a great flavor, while the Ranch was some of the best Katie had had in a while. I am not much of a beet guy, but they did not get in the way here and were excellent for a change.

On to the entrees and starting us off is the Encrusted Halibut. The fish was coated with Parmesan and bread crumbs and served with a pesto sauce. The fish was very buttery but had no taste other than that. The sauce was really disappointing here. The green beans and rice were above average.

Matt, my main steak friend, ordered Sid's Favorite Filet. He had asked for this medium well, and after one trip back to the kitchen for a little more cooking time, it came out the way he wanted it. Matt described this steak as juicy but average. He loved the rice calling it "great," but was less enthused about the beans because they were overcooked. I had a bite of the steak and felt it had a good flavor and was cooked well.

I am sure it is no surprise that I also had a steak; my steak of late has been the Ribeye. This heavily marbled piece of meat had a good flavor but was much fattier than other rib eyes I have had lately.  I had no problem with the fat because I knew what I was getting when ordering this cut of beef. I substituted creamed corn for the green beans that were supposed to come with this plate. The corn was okay taste-wise but was really watery. The other side item, garlic mashed potatoes, also failed to impress. There was a real shortage of garlic on these, and they should have just sold these as regular mashed potatoes.

Last but not least was Katie's choice for the evening, the Chicken Marsala. This Marsala was served over pasta, with mushrooms, chicken, and a wine sauce. Katie had mixed feelings about this plate. She enjoyed the sauce and mushrooms but found the chicken tough. She also felt the green beans were a decent side dish, but they did not wow her.

Blue Beet has only one item for dessert, and this is it above, the Homemade New York Cheesecake. This is made by the Alta Coffee Shop in Newport Beach. Again, I am not swooning over cheesecake, but this one was pretty good. This was a very well-balanced cheesecake that was not too dense, silky smooth, and with a great crust.

The Blue Beet was relatively quiet for dinner. We were only one of three tables that were having dinner there. The bar was filled, and they were getting ready to have a band start at nine when we left. However, our outstanding server kept things moving at a laid-back, beach pace. Dinners were in the twenty-dollar range, and portion sizes were suitable for the amount of food we received.

The food here lacked the wow factor, though. The steaks were good, but not among some of the best I have had. They have decent daily specials (prime rib or baby back rib dinners for under twelve dollars). The appetizers were good, but the side items were bland and boring. The Blue Beet will always be one of my favorite hang-out places, and if I did find myself here and hungry, I would definitely eat here again.

Out of five blood turnips (which used to be a common name for beets), five being best to zero being worst, the Blue Beet gets 2.5 blood turnips.

For more information about Blue Beet, click here: https://www.thebluebeet.com/

Blowing Out the Candles at Gulfstream

Gulfstream

850 Avocado 

Newport Beach, CA 92660

After about five failed attempts we finally made it to Gulfstream. Whether it was lack of reservations, conflicting plans, or just plain laziness, I would not be deterred this time. When Katie asked where I wanted to go for my birthday, it was a no brainer that we would eat here.

Gulfstream is owned by the Hillstone restaurant group. They also run Houston's, Bandera, and other fine dining establishments around the country. Gulfstream is rated very highly on Yelp and Urbanspoon, but I had not personally known too many people that had ever been there. So, I was excited to see if Gulfstream would be worth all the hype.

We arrived at six on a Friday night. The restaurant was empty, but filling up around us as the night went on. The bar was where all the action was. The outside patio also seemed like a place to seen, as it was very busy. The atmosphere here is laid back elegance. There is lots of wood to contrast with the white table cloths and napkins. The kitchen was open, with lots of activity going on in there. Let's see what they had planned for us.

We started the meal with the Dip Trio. This appetizer is served at all Hillstone restaurants, but is tweaked depending on the restaurant. At Gulfstream the dip trio consists of guacamole, humus, and smoked trout dip. To my surprise the trout dip was not overly fishy, and was smoother than I would have expected. The guacamole was nice and fresh, but not the best I had ever sampled. The humus was rich in flavor, but not heavy in the least. Both Katie and I felt this was a very pleasant start to our meal.

When I saw that they had Heavenly Biscuits on the menu, I definitely had to try them. These biscuits were very light and fluffy, with a hint of rosemary. Not dry, and when I added honey to these, they truly lived up to their name. A must get, when you eat here.

The night we were here they offered Crab Cakes, and Katie could not resist them. These cakes were served with a Pommery mustard sauce and Cole slaw. Katie called these crab cakes succulent. Although this crab cake had a thicker cut of crab than she usually likes, she felt that the mustard sauce here really combined well to make this dish work. The Cole slaw she was not to wowed by, calling it good.

It was my birthday, so I was going to go big. I have been on a rib eye kick lately, so this was a great opportunity to give their Prime Rutherford Rib Eye a try. This 24 ounce bone in rib eye had very different layers to it. I ordered this medium rare, and the outer portions of this were more medium, but the insides were definitely cooked the way I wanted it. It is probably pretty hard to get a steak that is 24 ounces to be cooked medium rare all the way around, but this did not detract from the excellence of this steak. The sauce on this hunk of meat was very good. I was informed it was Rutherford's Worcester sauce. The waiter said it combines over twenty ingredients to create it. The rib eye itself was very well marbled and bursting with flavor. The rib eye was served with tomatoes with blue cheese on top. I am not much of a tomato guy, so I took the blue cheese off the tomato and added it to the steak for a winning combination. I also ordered Mashed Potatoes as a side item. These were very buttery, but did not knock our socks off.

No birthday would be complete without dessert, so we ordered their Tres Leches Cake. This was served with blueberries, strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. The fruit here was all top notch. The cake itself was served very cold and was extra creamy. The only thing that could have made this dessert better was if there was more caramel on this.

There was a lot of good, and some not bad, but things that can be improved at Gulfstream. The service was really good this night. The waiter we had was a real pro. Not intrusive, but always around to answer questions, refill drinks and kept things moving in an efficient manner. We really felt like a guest in this restaurant. The food was good, but maybe because of its location was a little over priced. Also the menu is a little too limited. I know most fancy places like to focus on a few plates and make them well, but a little more variety would not be so bad either. Overall, I did like Gulfstream, and will keep it in mind for special occasions.

Out of five horses, (because Gulfstream Park in Florida hosts three grade 1 horse races each year), five being best to zero being worst, Gulfstream gets 3.5 horses.

For additional information about Gulfstream, click here: http://www.hillstone.com/#/restaurants/gulfstream/

Pizza Night in RSM - CLOSED

Pizza e Vino

31441 Santa Margarita Parkway

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

Katie's sister and brother in law, (Sara and Kevin), were nice enough to take me and Katie out for an early birthday dinner. After very little deliberation, we decided on heading over to Pizza e Vino. This tiny eatery right near the lake in Rancho Santa Margarita has gotten a lot of buzz for their pizzas. In fact, by some, they have been crowned the best pizza in the OC. So needless to say, I was excited to try it out.

Pizza e Vino is a pretty small place. They have maybe twelve tables inside, and about ten outside on the heated patio. We arrived at 7 on a Thursday night and were sat immediately. The restaurant was pretty busy. The atmosphere here is subdued and dark. The menu is what you would expect, very pizza oriented. They feature a few appetizers, a few salads, one pasta dish a night, and about twenty or so pizzas.

The pizzas at Pizza e Vino are crafted like those in Naples, Italy. Their red sauce is created by using tomatoes from Mount Vesuvius, the flour for the dough is imported from southern Italy, and the pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven at 850 degrees.  Let's find out if all of this extra work makes for a better pizza.

But first, before we get to the pizzas, both Katie and I wanted to try their salads. I had the Caesar salad above. I liked this salty salad. It came out nice and chilled, but more croutons on this would have made it better. Katie had the House Salad. This mixed green salad came with carrots, tomatoes, cannellini beans, and balsamic vinaigrette. Katie really liked the beans in this salad, because they made for a nice texture.

I know I promised you pizza, but as usual, Sara did not want to cooperate when she ordered the Pasta Special of the day. This night it just happened to be angel hair pasta served with tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Sara said, "this was delicious". I had a bite of it and I would have called it plain tasting but made with fresh ingredients. This is something I would see on a menu and would never order. I need a little more complexity to my pasta dishes.

Finally, we come to the pizzas. Up first was Katie's choice, the Pesto Pizza. The toppings on this, "no red sauce"  pizza included chicken breast, goat cheese, oven-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and of course pesto sauce. Katie found the chicken to be tender, the crust to be really nice and chewy, and flavor here to be abundant and mellow. I had a small piece of her pizza and felt that she was right on about all of her claims. Not to ruin anything, but I would say this was the best pizza of the night.

Kevin, the real traditionalist amongst us ordered the Pepperoni Pizza. This also came with mozzarella and pepper flakes. Kevin felt that the pepperoni was saltier than normal, but he liked that the crust was thinner than other pizzas, so it was not too heavy. One thing he noticed, that I did as well, was that the pizza was soggy in the middle. Not sure why this was, maybe it was the way it was cooked, but it was noticeable on my pizza, as well as his.

I had a hard time choosing my pizza, and after some deliberation, I went with the Salsiccia pizza. This came with mozzarella, fennel sausage, oregano, and chili flakes. This was basically like the pizza I had at Pizzeria Ortica. The sausage was good, but they were not very generous with it. The rest of the pizza was a little plain tasting. The menu said there were chili flakes on this pizza, but I did not sense any.

For dessert, the four of us split a Chocolate Cannoli. I had never had a chocolate cannoli before, and I actually liked this a lot. I think I liked this because of the filing. It was not so cheesy, like some cannoli's can be. This might have been due to it being a chocolate cannoli. I definitely could have eaten a few more of these.

So is Pizza e Vino the best pizza in the OC? Simply, no it is not. I would classify their pizza as fancy pizza. So far my favorite fancy pizza is still Pizzeria Ortica. The crust here was not as flavorful, and the toppings did not pop with flavor. The sogginess in the middle of the crust also concerned me. The service when we were here was average. I was still happy to try this place though, and it was a great birthday dinner. Thanks, Kevin and Sara. You guys are the best.

Out of five ink pens, (because the city of Rancho Santa Margarita is the longest city name in California, and you would go through lots of ink pens to write out your address if you lived there), five being best to zero being worst, Pizza e Vino gets 2.5 ink pens.

For more information on Pizza e Vino, click here: http://www.pizzaevino.net/

Jimmy's Pizza Party at Pizza Port!

Pizza Port

301 N. El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

This time of year we always have lots of birthdays going on. This time it was Jimmy's turn to blow out the candles. Where did Jimmy choose to have his birthday dinner? Pizza Port in San Clemente. I had never been here before, so we grabbed my camera and headed south down the freeway.

First a little history. Pizza Port was started by a brother and sister in 1987. They bought a struggling pizza joint in the quiet beach town of Solana Beach, which is just north of San Diego. They re-worked the menu, adding their own special touches, and five years after they opened, they started brewing their own beer. Now almost twenty years later they have four restaurants, and have won some major awards for their beer brewing. Let's see if they should win anything for their pizza.

We arrived at six on a Sunday night. The layout of Pizza Port is a little odd. You park on the roof, then walk down three flights of stairs to order. The vibe here is beach casual. It seemed like the Sunday we were here there were lots of people that had hung out at the beach all day, then they decided to come have some beverages and pizza here.  Let's check out the food.

Starting us off we had their Beer Buddies. This is their pizza dough, brushed with garlic, and served with Ranch dressing and marinara. An interesting take on garlic bread. I actually really liked this basic appetizer. This would have been made even better with a little cheese on it, but it was still worth getting.

The salads at Pizza Port were average. We ended up with two of their Party Sized Salads. The one above is the Garden salad, and the other one that I did not get a shot of was the Caesar salad. The Caesar came with dressing on it, but it was so light on dressing, that it was barely noticeable.

Alright, here is a shot of the pizzas from Pizza Port. I just want to make it known that I did not get a say in the topping choices for these pizzas. Pretty standard choices here, but to be honest I was pretty impressed with their pizza. The simplicity of the toppings really showed that their dough and cheese was good quality stuff. Of course next time I go, I will have to try their Meat Extreme Pizza, or their BBQ Cheeseburger Pizza, but this was a good introduction to their pies.

Pizza Port piqued my interest with this visit. The atmosphere was pretty chill, the pizzas that we had were pretty solid, and I definitely will try their award winning beer the next time I am here. The birthday boy, Jimmy seemed pretty pleased with his selection of restaurants as well. I was just glad to be able to help share in his big day.

Out of five Wolf Men, (because former San Clemente resident Lon Chaney Jr. was famous for portraying the canine character in movies), five being best to zero being worst, Pizza Port gets 3 Wolf Men.

For more information about Pizza Port, click here: http://www.pizzaport.com/

Birthday Trip to the Tilted Kilt - CLOSED

Tilted Kilt

6575 East Pacific Coast Highway

Long Beach, CA 90803

It was my buddy Riley's birthday. He was turning 24, and I was trying to think of a place to take him for his big day. After reading OC Weekly's review of the Tilted Kilt, it seemed like this place was almost made for him. So we headed just across the county line to Long Beach to give it a try.

The Tilted Kilt launched in 2003 and today they have 30 restaurants in 20 states. They expect to have 80 units opened by the end of this year. The reason for the rapid expansion? It probably has to do with a term that I learned while writing this post, breastaurants. The Tilted Kilt has their waitresses dress in short, plaid skirts and matching bras, with knee-high socks and white shirts tied to show their midriffs. Easily one of the best waitress uniforms to come along in a long while. Of course, a restaurant is not judged by a waitress's attire alone, so let's check out the food.

It took us an hour in rush hour traffic to get to Long Beach, so we were pretty hungry when we got to the Kilt. So we started with two appetizers, the Mozzarella Sticks and Potato Skins. The fried cheese was good and crispy, without being real greasy. The potato skins were crisp as well, but they did lack an abundance of cheese. Both of these appetizers came out real quick. Like less than three minutes after we ordered them. I was worried that they had been sitting around, but they did come out hot.

The birthday boy Riley ordered Maggie Mae's Fish and Chips. These two pieces of cod came with tarter sauce and Cole slaw. Riley, always the clever one remarked, "these fish and chips are a 10, to match the waitresses." I think that he is hoping that one of the waitresses will read this and want to get in touch with him. Anyways, I did try these and they were pretty good. Again, they were not greasy, and the fish did seem pretty fresh.

Yes, of course, Katie came with us here, and she went with the Chicken Tender Wrap. With this, she got to choose her sauce, and she went with TK's signature sauce, which was spicy and sweet. She liked the chicken in this because it was not heavily breaded and it was tender. The only fault she found with this wrap was that the tortilla did not stand up to the contents inside. It fell apart halfway through her eating this. She also upgraded to sweet potato fries for an extra charge. She felt these were just average, and would try a different side next time.

This being a bar and everything, I of course had to get a burger, so I had the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger with the BBQ sauce on the side. This burger was cooked fine, and very tasty. The bun was fresh, the meat was juicy and the bacon cooked crisp. The fries were okay as well. I liked this but would like to try other items on their menu next time. The meatloaf sandwich and Sheppard's pie piqued my interest the most.

Since it was Riley's big day we got a free dessert, which was the Tilted Guilt. A chocolate chip cookie topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. This was served warm and is the Tilted Kilt's answer to the Pizookie from BJ's. The only complaint I have with this was that there was not enough ice cream on this. More would have made this much better.

Comparisons to Hooters are of course going to be made in the battle for the best breastaurant. In my opinion, there is no contest. Starting with the atmosphere, the waitresses, and trickling down to the food, the Tilted Kilt beats them in all facets. The waitresses were friendly without being over-the-top flirty or trashy. The menu here is more substantial and has higher quality foods than at Hooters. At Hooters the girls are the main focus, while at TK, the girls are great to look at, but they also have better food and a better atmosphere behind them. This makes the Tilted Kilt more of a full package.

Out of five golf balls, (because this place has a Scottish theme, and Scotland is the home of golf), five being best to zero being worst, the Tilted Kilt gets three golf balls.

For more information on the Tilted Kilt, click here: http://www.tiltedkilt.com/

Encountering the Counter - CLOSED

The Counter

6416 Irvine Blvd.

Irvine, CA 92620

The Counter is one of those places that you always hear about. I have been here once before, but this was before I started my blog. I had meant to come back sooner and blog about it, but the opportunity had never come up until now. We have really been on a burger kick lately. We have been to Slater's 50/50, Five Guys, Bravo Burger, and Fuddrucker's within the last month, so it was the perfect time to compare The Counter to the other burgers.

The Counter has been around since 2003. Since then, they have expanded to nine other states and even opened restaurants in Ireland. Their next wave of expansion is taking them to the Middle East, where they plan on having three units in operation by the end of the year. There has to be a reason for this expansion. Let's see if it is the food.

We arrived at The Counter at six on a Wednesday night. I was expecting a wait, but we were seated right away. The decor here strikes me as very sterile but with a hip vibe. You are seated with a clipboard to help you build your perfect burger. You get to choose the type of burger, size, toppings, cheese, and sauces that you want on your burger. They have just about anything you could imagine for a burger. They did the math, and with all their ingredients, you could have a different burger every day for the next 312,000 days. That is the equivalent of 854 years. Of course, eating all those hamburgers would probably decrease your odds of living to 854 years old, but what a way to go!

To start our meal out, we got a few side items. We selected French Fries, Crispy Onion Strings, and Sweet Potato Fries. Honestly, none of us were in love with any of these sides. The fries were average, the onion strings were bland, and I am not a fan of sweet potato fries anywhere. However, my dining companions felt that the sweet potato fries were the best, so I will defer to their opinion about these.

Now, the reason we are all here is the burgers. Up first is Ryan's creation. He wanted blue cheese, bacon, red onion, spicy pepperoncini, roasted corn, black bean salsa, and chipotle aioli, all on a wheat bun. Ryan quickly gobbled up this interesting burger. He felt the burger was full of flavor and enjoyed the bun.

Richard was very amped to try the Counter, and after some deliberation, he chose this as his burger. He went with herb goat cheese spread, red onion, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and roasted garlic aioli. Richard had no problem putting this burger away. He really enjoyed this burger but felt this burger was good because of the high quality of the toppings.

I went for a more traditional approach to my hamburger. My two-thirds-pound burger was topped with grilled onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, red onion, and mayonnaise. This was a very juicy burger, to say the least. I ordered this medium, and that is the way it came out. The toppings on this were definitely high quality. The meat was good but could have been seasoned a little more.

Katie's burger of the night was a multi-grain bun with guacamole, fried egg, grilled onions, roasted red peppers, roasted green chili, queso fresco, and chipotle mayo. She really enjoyed this self-named "Mexican omelet burger." The guacamole really stood out for Katie. She also felt that the toppings at the Counter were fresh and helped make this a superior burger.

Every month at The Counter, they have a shake of the month, and while we were here, it was the Churro Shake, and Richard could not resist it. Little pieces of churro were sprinkled into this vanilla-based shake. Richard felt this shake had a subtle flavor but was really good and creamy.

To finish our meal, we also got a Caramel and Chocolate Brownie Sundae. The brownie was very chewy, which I like. I would get this again, but ask for more ice cream. There was not nearly enough ice cream for the size of the brownie that they gave us.

So you ask, how does The Counter rate among the titans of the hamburger world? I liked The Counter. I feel that what makes them good is their high-quality toppings. Do I like them more than Slaters? No. The burgers at Slater's are a little more inventive. Unfortunately, the meat at The Counter can not stand on its own like Slater's (maybe because the meat at Slater's is half bacon, which can never be a bad thing). I am not dogging on The Counter, though. I would definitely return. I did have an excellent experience here, and there is always room in my hamburger repertoire for more than one burger place.

Out of five Formica countertops (for obvious reasons), five being best to zero being worst, The Counter gets 3 Formica countertops.

For more information on The Counter, click here: http://www.thecounterburger.com/