Soaking Up the Atmosphere at Habana

Habana

2930 Bristol Street

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Oh, the memories I have had at Habana. In my twenties, when I lived mere blocks away from this place, I was here maybe three nights a week. My roommates and I were friends with a lot of employees here. We hung out mostly at the bar, were served stiff drinks, and tried unsuccessfully to pick up on women, (okay maybe I was unsuccessful, while they did have some luck). Anyways, there were some good times had here.

Now as I enter my fourth decade, I find I do not hang out in bars as often, and I tend to focus more on food than drinks. I still do enjoy alcohol but in much more moderation. Plus, those hangovers now last a lot longer than they used to. Back to my point though, this was going to be one of my first experiences eating dinner here. I have had appetizers here before, but I can not recall eating dinner here, so I was excited to see if the food would match my fond memories.

Habana is located at the Lab Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa. This outdoor alternative mall was opened in 1993 on the remains of a vacant military night goggle factory.  Habana has been at this mall for as long as I can remember. The restaurant, like this shopping center, has a cool vibe to it. Candles all over the place, hip music playing over the speakers, and servers that look like they are right out an indie music magazine. Let's see if all of this hipness translates to the food.

It was my buddy Richard's birthday, and what did the birthday boy want to drink? A Mojito of course. The mojito's at Habana are pretty well known. The cocktail is made of white rum, limes, mint, sugar syrup, and soda water. Richard must have liked this cocktail because he sucked down five of them while we were here. They did make him more enjoyable to be around though. Kidding big guy!

Before dinner, we started with two appetizers. The first of which was the Seasoned-Fried Avocado Slices. This was served with a smoked chipotle dipping sauce. Really, how could fried avocados be bad?  These were very creamy inside to contrast with the crunchy shell. The sauce was very mellow, but these would have been better with some ranch dressing. These really got me in the mood to have the fried food at the fair.

We next went with the Stuffed Pork Croquettas. These were filled with pork and manchego cheese. The bartender brought us two dinner rolls and suggested we made the croquettes into sliders. The cheese and pork were well done on these, but the sauce lacked a kick.

We were seated outside on the patio for dinner and were given the breadbasket above. The bread was the same as we used to make our sliders. The bread smelled like sweet bread, but the flavor was not as sweet as the aroma given off by bread.

I guess we will start off with the birthday boy's entree first. Richard had the Ropa Vieja, which combined shredded beef, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic served with black beans and white rice. Richard considered this dish to be average. He felt the meat was tender, but the dish was over salted. He liked the rice but felt it was not as good as Chipotle. It always comes back to Chipotle with this guy. Why am I even friends with him?

Richard's Mom went the seafood route when she chose the In-House Smoked Halibut. Here the fish is wrapped in a corn husk and seasoned with achiote seasoning, then topped with a citrus-papaya shrimp sauce. She loved the smokiness of the halibut and felt the fruitiness of the sauce complimented the fish nicely. She liked the white rice and black beans that came with this dish as sides.

This colorful dish is the Puerco Primo. The last Cuban restaurant I went to I made the mistake of getting a beef dish. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, so I went with this pork entree. The pork is slow-roasted, and then flash-fried to give it a kind of crispness. The pork is served on the bone, which I am generally not a big fan of, but it works here. Good flavor for the meat, and decent serving size. This was served with bacon braised collard greens, which were as delicious as they sound. A very well balanced plate.

Lastly, we have Katie's choice for the evening, the Skirt Steak. Unfortunately, she ordered this steak well done, (she has a thing about seeing pink on her steaks). This steak is smoked and then grilled, then topped with chimichurri and red onion. She really liked the sauce on this but found the steak to be stringy. That is probably due to the way she ordered this, so they get a pass on that. I tried a bite and found the flavor to be good, but I would have liked to have tried this medium rare. This steak was also served with Spanish rice and corn on the cob with cotija cheese. The Spanish rice was much better than white rice. Really bold flavor with this. The corn on the cob was good and was not what she expected.

A birthday dinner would not be complete without dessert, and here we have the Banana Fritters. I liked the outer fried skin of this, but the bananas were a little tough to cut through. The fritters were drizzled with a chocolate caramel sauce, which they could have used more of. The ice cream was a really nice compliment to this dessert. A decent dessert dish.

Habana is a very busy restaurant. They really pack the people in. The service on the night we were here was sub-par. Glasses were empty a good majority of the night, and the waiter was AWOL for a lot of the meal. The prices at Habana are a little on the high side. Main dishes will run you in the $16 to $24 range. Mojitos are way overpriced for the amount you get at $8 each, or $10 for blueberry or blackberry mojito.

The food at Habana is good, but we were not blown away. The atmosphere here is what really makes this place. The chill vibe, and as the night went on, the strung up lights and candles took effect, and then this restaurant became even hipper. It has the feel of a great date night restaurant spot.

So out of five pirates, (because the city of Havana suffered regular attacks from pirates in the 16th century), five being best to zero being worst, Habana gets 3 pirates.

For more information about Habana, head to their website here: https://www.restauranthabana.com/#home-section

Hunting for a Good Breakfast at the Snooty Fox

Snooty Fox

23028 Lake Forest Dr.

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

I love a good breakfast, but finding one can be pretty tough. Breakfast items are pretty standard fair, but lots can go wrong when visiting restaurants for the first meal of the day. Breakfast meals seem so simple, but just having something a little off can throw everything into a tailspin that a place can not recover from. Another factor that can create problems for restaurants that serve breakfasts is the ability to make a breakfast that will standout. A lot of places all taste the same. Let's hope this is not the case at the Snooty Fox.

The Snooty Fox is a popular breakfast place, just outside the walls of Laguna Woods, (or what it was called back in the day, Leisure World). It appears that this thirty table eatery is family run, and caters to many regulars. As you would expect, they serve an older crowd here. The Sunday we were here there was about a five minute wait at nine o'clock. Let's see what they whipped up for us.

Katie went with an Egg and Ham Sandwich here. She really liked the thick piece of ham on this sandwich, but felt that this sandwich was too dry. A side of mayo or gravy may have helped erase this problem. She also opted for the, "Those Potatoes", which are hash browns with onions and peppers added. She summed up this plate, as being okay, not anything she would get again.

My breakfast option at Snooty Fox was the Chili Cheese Omelet. The chili here was a cross between Tommy's and Weinersnitchel. Not very spicy, but a really smooth chili. The flavor of the omelet was good, but the egg got lost here. I also had, "Those Potatoes", and felt that they were very bland. They were only decent when I mixed them with the chili.

Katie and I also shared some Pancakes. These cakes were lighter than most, but also were lacking in flavor. My real beef with these pancakes was the tiny amount of  syrup that was served with these. I am not just picking on Snooty Fox, because lots of other restaurants do the same thing. If you only used the syrup that was given to you for these three pancakes, they would be extremely dry. I admit I like more syrup than the average person, but they have to get asked for more syrup all the time. Sorry to go off, but this is just a sticking point for me, (okay, sorry for the bad pun).

Lastly, we also had a biscuit here. Sorry I did not get a picture of it before Katie ripped it in half. Man, you would think she would know the rules by now, right? Anyways, this biscuit was pretty good. Light and fluffy, with a good buttermilk flavor. I would have liked to have gotten this with their gravy, because I have heard it is really good, but that will have to wait until next time.

Snooty Fox is a fair breakfast spot. None of the items we had blew us away, but they would also not keep us from coming back either. I had heard that the service can be a little gruff here, but we did not experience that. The vibe here is casual, but like many breakfast spots, hurried. We will not be in rush to come back to the Fox, but will definitely give it another chance in the future.

Out of five Megan's, (because I imagine Megan Fox to be the snootiest Fox, out of them all), five being best to zero being worst, The Snooty Fox gets 2.5 Megan's.

The Snooty Fox does not have a web site, but you can find information about them here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-snooty-fox-laguna-hills

El Farolito De-Lighting Us with Food

El Farolito

201 S. Bradford

Placentia, CA 92870

Sometimes writing this blog can be a little tough. There are lots of restaurants that are just plain average. It is harder to write about these mediocre restaurants, because they are boring, and the words come easier when I am passionate about a place. This post will be one of the easiest I have written in awhile.

It was my parents anniversary so I wanted to take them somewhere close to their house. I had seen a few reviews for El Farolito, and they were mostly positive, so that is where we headed. We arrived at six on a Saturday night. The wait was about twenty minutes in this very busy restaurant.

El Farolito is a little off the beaten track. I grew up in North Orange county and had never been here before. This family business has been around since May, 10th, 1974.  In those thirty-seven years, they are still owned by the same family, and more than half of their employees are family members. All of this family around makes this restaurant seem more like someones house, rather than a restaurant. Let's see if the food resembles home cooking.

First stop is the obligatory shot of the chips and salsa. The chips here were very good. I am not sure if they were made on the premises, but they were nice and thick. Not too greasy. The salsa was a fine as well, with a nice little spice to it. I only wish it was a little thicker. One word of caution though, the menu says the first serving of chips is free, and then they charge $1.25 for each additional serving. We did not finish our first bowl of chips though.

 I was extremely hungry, so we ordered an appetizer to start. The Mexican Quesadilla was filled with cheese, tomatoes and pork, with beans and guacamole on the side. We were not such a big fan of the tomatoes in this quesadilla, but the pork was tender and the tortilla was crisp, so it more than made up for the tomatoes. The beans and the guacamole were both real smooth. No big hunks left in the guacamole. Very tasty start.

This big mound of food was my Dad's order, the Arroz Con Pollo. This chicken and rice dish was covered with cheese and ranchera sauce. I am usually skeptical about getting chicken in Mexican restaurants, because it is usually dry, but this chicken was very moist and tender. The ranchera sauce had quite a lot of flavor, and my Dad could not have been happier with this dish. He only wished that there was more chicken on this.

Katie has been gravitating towards lots of shrimp dishes lately, and El Farolito was no exception. She went with Fajitas De Camaron. Here the shrimp are sauteed with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Katie called this dish, "Some of the best shrimp fajitas I have ever had!". She was also excited because this dish really filled her up, and was served nice and hot. The flavor seemed to be right on the spot.

Fittingly, my Mom ordered a two item combination plate, which was called the Mama's Plate. For her two items she chose the cheese enchilada and beef taquitos. This was a big plate for my Mom to attempt to eat. I was happy when she ordered it, because I knew I would get a good portion of it. She really felt this was a great tasting plate. The taquito I had was very fresh tasting and lacking in grease. The cheese enchilada had a very good sauce and was full of cheese. Very tasty.

Before coming here I knew what I was getting, the Pork Carnitas. This is probably the most popular dish that they serve here, and for good reason. The carnitas here are simply some of the best I have had since starting this blog. Not too greasy, with a little crispness to them. The flavor was outstanding. I was stuffed, but still could have been able to eat another plate of carnitas. The beans here are very good as well. You can tell that they are homemade. Very smooth beans. I am also not too much of a rice guy, but even this was full of flavor. A truly great plate of food.

El Farolito is the real deal. The prices were very reasonable. For all of the food above, plus drinks, and a mango margarita, the bill was $50. The service was very speedy. You can tell that this is a real locals place. The people that work here seemed to know a lot of their customers. I assume that the wait for a table can be pretty long at peak times, but it would be worth it for you to wait. My only regret about eating here, is that I had not done it sooner. So many wasted dinners, but now I have time to make up for it, and I am going to enjoy doing it.

So out of five paper lanterns, (because that is what farolito translates to, and because this place really brightened me up with their food!), five being best to zero being worst, El Farolito gets 4 paper lanterns.

For more information about El Farolito, click here: http://elfarolitomex.com/index.html

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/