Does Blue Agave Reign Supreme in Yorba Linda?

Blue Agave

18601 Yorba Linda Blvd.

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

There is a mini-war being waged in my hometown of Yorba Linda. It involves two restaurants that do not even serve the same kind of food, but the battle lines have been drawn. In the "Land of Gracious Living", you are either a Blue Agave person or you enjoy Esther's Taco House. I can remember watching the KTLA Morning News when Yorba Linda resident and weatherman, Henry DiCarlo asked former Yorba Linda dweller, Audrina Patridge, "Esther's Taco House or Blue Agave?" Her answer was Blue Agave, but Henry said that he was more of an Esther's fan, so the debate rages on.

My family has always been on the side of Audrina. We have always gone to Blue Agave and basically ignored Esther's. This might be due to the location of Blue Agave, and its close proximity to our house. My parents have claimed to have eaten at Esther's only one time, years back. They say that they were not fans. I was having lunch with my Mom and Brother-in-law after getting my teeth cleaned, and it took very little convincing to get them to meet me at Blue Agave.

I have not been back to Blue Agave for nearly four years, and have never visited for the blog. Blue Agave has been in business for nearly twenty years now. Since they have opened they have anchored this shopping center that features a fabric store, a Papa John's and the hair place that I used to get my hair cut, back when I had hair to cut. The inside is just the same as I remember it. Bright colors, a bar off of the hostess stand, and two spacious dining rooms. We arrived just after they opened, and were seated right away. During our stay, the lunch rush swelled, so that almost all of the thirty or so tables were filled. We checked out the Southwest-inspired menu, ordered, and this is what came out for us.

Of course, before we ordered, the Chips and Salsa hit our table. Much like the walls at Blue Agave, the tortilla chips here are bright as well. These chips had a good crunch to them and were a great vessel for the chunky salsa. I really enjoyed the salsa here. Not too watery, with good chunks of onion included in it. I could have handled more spice, but I definitely ate my fair share of this salsa.

If I had not been so preoccupied with the chips and salsa, I would have been quicker on the draw and snapped some pictures of our server making this guacamole tableside. This Fresh Guacamole Dip ($7.95) was made with two large avocados, cilantro, red onion, spices, and lime. Even with all of these items in this dip, the guacamole was very smooth. We got ours with a little heat, but the coolness of the avocado balanced everything out. This was more than enough for the three of us.

My Mom is not much of a lunch eater, so it was no big shock that she only ordered Tortilla Soup ($5.95) for her meal. This is one of her favorite tortilla soups around. It included vegetables, tortilla strips, and chicken in a clear broth. I tried some of this, and the chicken was tender, but it could have been spiced a little more for my taste. A very mellow soup. Make sure you do not make the same mistake my Mom did when eating here for lunch. One of their lunch specials is this same bowl of soup above, along with their signature Blue Moon Salad for only 55 cents more. I know what my mom is thinking about reading this, "I can't eat that much", but I would have definitely helped her with the salad.

One thing I have always remembered about the plates at Blue Agave is that they were always very colorful. This is still the case. Jarrod selected another one of Blue Agave's lunch specials. West Texas ($6.95) included a chili Verde enchilada and taquitos, along with rice and beans. He really liked this plate, and would definitely get it again. It came to the table hot and he enjoyed the combination of flavors on the plate. It had a little bit of everything, from the slightly tangy Verde salsa to the savory beans, and the sweet corn cake. Jarrod left here very happy.

Well since everyone else was doing it, I got a lunch special as well. The Carnitas ($8.95) is only a dollar cheaper than at dinner time, but a buck is a buck. This carnitas came wrapped in a banana leaf and came with pico de gallo, guacamole, cilantro, your choice of tortillas, and beans and rice. These were not as greasy as some of the other carnitas I have had. They were pretty tender and could stand on their own. I did miss the little crunchy bits that are on some fried carnitas though. With the amount of pork on this plate, I was able to make three tacos out of it. The rice and beans were okay here. I like a heavier bean than what was served at Blue Agave. The rice was pretty flavorful and light. The corn cake was a great sweet contrast to the pork.

Blue Agave was good, but it is not going to blow your mind. This is a Southwestern grill, not a Mexican restaurant, so I give them some leeway about lacking the spice that I like so much when having Mexican food. They definitely put a lot of effort into the presentation of their plates. I did think that the prices were really good at lunch for a sit-down restaurant. It is pretty rare that you can find a two-item combination meal at a restaurant for under seven dollars. The service on this afternoon was pretty solid. Our waitress took good care of us and made things run smoothly. I have made it my mission to try Esther's Taco House next week, to see if I can declare a winner in this great Yorba Linda taco debate. We can also finally find out if Audrina really does know what she is talking about when it comes to restaurants.

Out of five tequila bottles, (because of course tequila is made from the blue agave plant), five being best to zero being worst, Blue Agave gets 3 tequila bottles.

For more information about Blue Agave, click here: https://www.blueagaveswgrill.com/

Morning Meet Up at Haute Cakes Caffe

Haute Cakes Caffe

1807 Westcliff Dr.

Newport Beach, CA 92660

It has gotten hard to get together with my friend Chris and his wife Adrienne. Back in the old days, we used to just hang out in whatever bar they happened to be working at, but those days are long gone now. We all got older, they have a kid, and another one on the way. So we have to make a special effort to get together. For some reason with this pregnancy, Adrienne has not had morning sickness, but she gets sick at night. It was my suggestion that we meet up for breakfast. I picked a place that was close to their house and a place that gets good reviews on-line. We headed to Haute Cakes Caffe.

Haute Cakes Caffe is located right past where 17th street turns into the more fashionable part of town, Westcliff Drive. I remember eating in this sleepy strip mall one other time before, at Pizza Bakery probably about fifteen years ago. Haute Cakes Caffe has been in business since 1990, and they are definitely the big draw around here. We got here at 9:15 on a recent Sunday. The line was nearly out the door, but it moved along at a decent pace. After ordering at the register, you are given a number, then the food is brought out to you. There is limited seating inside, but even more, seating out in front of the restaurant. That's where we grabbed a seat and waited for our food.

Who says you can't have cookies at breakfast? This is actually me striking back at my parents for not letting me have Cookie Crisp cereal when I was a kid. At least that is my defense. Don't judge. While we were waiting in line, we just happened to be next to the bakery case, so of course, I had to try their Chocolate Chip Cookie ($2). This was one of the best cookies I have had in a while. It had plenty of chocolate chips, a good crunch to it, and was not overly sweet. This cookie disappeared quickly. Chris and Adrienne must have been seduced by the bakery display case as well because they got a slice of Banana Chocolate Chip Bread ($1.50). At first glance, this bread looked to be on the dry side, but that was deceiving. It was moist, and like the cookie, it had plenty of chocolate chips. The banana flavor was very mellow in this bread. Not a bad start to our meal.

Both Chris and Katie got the same thing for breakfast, which really helps me by cutting down on the length of this review. It is really a win for all of us because then you do not have to read my awful writing any longer than necessary. They both ordered the Italian Scramble ($9.95). This scramble came with scrambled eggs, Parmesan cheese, Roma tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, onions and Italian sausage. With all of these great items involved in this scramble, I would have expected them to like this more than they did. The ingredients used here were very fresh, but both of them thought that nothing really stood out on this plate. Katie would get something different on her next visit here.

I will give the plates at Haute Cakes Caffe some major credit for creating very colorful breakfasts. Just looking at this All American Scramble ($9.95) it is definitely bright enough to wipe the sleep out of your eyes for sure. This scramble came with cheddar cheese, two eggs, tomatoes, avocado, and bacon. To be honest, even with all of this color this dish was nothing but average. Not awful, but the bacon was not prevalent enough here, and this really needed a pop of flavor. A little more cheese would not have hurt either. This came with roasted red potatoes, toast, and fruit. The fruit was definitely fresh, and the sourdough toast was pretty solid. The potatoes were okay, but some of the bigger hunks needed to be cooked a little more, and all the potatoes needed more seasoning.

When these Blueberry Cornmeal Haute Cakes ($6) were brought out, I thought there had been a mistake. There did not appear to be any blueberries, but I flipped them over and found them. These cornmeal cakes came very highly suggested by people on-line. I was not too much of a fan. To be fair, I am not one that gets excited by cornbread and this kind of tasted like cornbread in pancake form. They were a little on the dry side, with very little flavor. I would have probably liked these with a little more syrup, but I did not want to brave the crowd that was blocking the doorway of the restaurant.

Adrienne is not a very adventurous eater, and at Haute Cakes Caffe she held true to form. She went with the Haute Combination ($9.75). This combination was made up of two scrambled eggs, three strips of bacon, two buttermilk Haute cakes, and fresh fruit. She gave her eggs over to Chris right away in trade for some of his potatoes. She's not much of an egg person. She liked the lightness of the pancakes but thought that they lacked substance. The bacon was cooked well, and she felt the fruit was fresh. Hard to please Adrienne was not very impressed with her breakfast.

I guess you can say that none of us were really all that impressed with Haute Cakes Caffe. Nothing was really awful, but nothing really struck us as all that great. The highlight of the meal for me was the baked goods that we had before our breakfasts arrived. Breakfast is the one meal that I think is the most difficult for restaurants to make themselves stand out. Most breakfast menus are very traditional, and it is hard for them to stray from the favorites that everyone likes. I kind of liked the vibe here at Haute Cakes. It was kind of hipster/Newport, without being overly annoying. The service was also pretty solid here. The food came out in a timely manner, and the staff was pretty diligent about clearing plates from tables. It was good to see Chris and Adrienne, but if we come back to Haute Cakes, we will just stick with their baked goods.

Out of five-seat cushions, (because four out of the top 12 employers in the city of Newport Beach are resorts, and the second most popular items stolen in hotel rooms are seat cushions. Crazy, right?), five being best to zero being worst, Haute Cakes Caffe gets 2.5 seat cushions.

For more information about Haute Cakes Caffe, click here: https://www.hautecakes.cafe/

A Night of Surprises at the Batasiolo Wine Dinner at Canaletto - CLOSED

Canaletto

545 Newport Center Dr.

Newport Beach, CA 92660

Almost everyone who knows me knows I am not much of a wine drinker. I profess to know next to nothing about wines. I know that red wines go with meat and whites go with fish and poultry, but that is about the extent of my knowledge. After attending the Batasiolo Wine Dinner at Canaletto, my wine appreciation has grown immensely just in this one night.

The great people at Canaletto invited us to their monthly wine dinner this past week. I was a little intimidated walking into this event. Not only is Canaletto one of the most excellent restaurants at Fashion Island, but I was also walking into a wine dinner with people I did not know and people who I assumed had way more wine intelligence than me. In other words, I half expected to make a fool out of myself.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. We arrived right on time for the 6:30pm wine dinner. For those of you who do not know Canaletto, they are located between Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods Market. When we walked in, the bar was predictably busy. Canaletto is well-known for having one of the best happy hours at Fashion Island. They offer pizzas, appetizers, artisan cocktails, and wine for $5 while serving up $3 draft beers. Great prices for a restaurant where you pass by Lamborghini's and Ferrari's at their front door.

The Batasiolo Wine Dinner was being held in the restaurant's private room. We were immediately welcomed by the staff and made to feel at home. I was relieved there was no stuffiness in the room. In fact, these people were enjoyable, not like I had anticipated at all. About thirty of us were at the two tables for this wine dinner. Our wine expert for the evening was the very nice Stefano Poggi. He told us about all the wines we were about to drink and gave a novice like me a bit of history about Italian wines. For this, I will be forever grateful. I was also thankful for the food coming out, so let's look at what we consumed on this wonderful evening.

The antipastini course would be first. These tray-passed appetizers included Assorted Crostini, Tomatoes Stuffed with Crab Meat Salad, Mini Assorted Pizzas, and Cerignola Green Olives. You will not see olive in these pictures because I am not a big fan of that fruit. The other appetizers were delicious, though, with the best tomato stuffed with crab. I am no fan of raw tomatoes, but I could not keep myself from having about five. The crab salad was very fresh and kept my texture issues with tomatoes to a minimum. The mini pizzas had a nice chewy crust, with just enough cheese and prosciutto to keep this pizza on the lighter side without sacrificing taste. It was a lovely start to the meal and excited us for what was to come.

Here is a quick shot of the bread placed on the table. Looking at these pictures, I can almost smell this bread again. It was very well made and came out warm, and again, I had a hard time sharing it with my table mates. This bread was made even better by adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was very addicting.

Talk about starting with a bang. This was my favorite dish of the night, the Vitello Tonnato Con Capperi Fritti. This was roasted veal served cold with fresh herbs and a fantastic house-made tuna and caper sauce. The tuna was from Italy, which was great with this dish. I am not much for mixing seafood and beef, but this worked perfectly. The veal was fork tender, the celery on top added some nice crunch, and the smooth tuna sauce reminded me of my tuna sandwiches when I was younger. The entire plate came together very nicely. The Gavi Batasiolo 2011 paired with this course was very light and crisp. I was supposed to taste light citrus with this wine, but it did not come through for me. My wine palette is still evolving. I was sorry to see this course leave the table.

The pasta course was up next, and we were given two pasta dishes to try. The Ravioli Con Salsiccia E Verze Brasate was a mellow ravioli filled with sausage, savoy cabbage, caramelized onions, and ricotta cheese. The light butter sauce used here was excellent, and this was one of the lightest sausage ravioli I have ever had. The Risotto Alle Rape Rosse E Caprino Fresco looked like a raw hamburger but became a favorite of Katie. This red beet risotto came with Parmigiano and goat cheese crumbles. I am by no means a risotto connoisseur, but this was one of the best-made ones that I have had. It was cooked perfectly, the beet flavor just poked through enough to interest the taste buds, and the cheeses brought everything home. The serving size would be too much for me, but I had no problem polishing this off. The wine for this course was the Batasiolo Sorvana 2010. This wine comes from a single vineyard in Barolo, Italy. It was very smooth and paired nicely with the ravioli.

Katie and I strategically picked the opposite of the two choices during the main course. She went with the Pesce Bianco Avvolto Nel Prosciutto Con Salsa Di Tartufi. Yeah, my Italian is good when I type these words; saying them is tricky. This white sea bass was wrapped in prosciutto with black truffles. I should have chosen this main course because it was delicious. First off, the serving size of this was phenomenal. A massive piece of flaky and light bass, with the prosciutto's flavor hanging around. Very well cooked. This was served with some green beans and a delicious potato cake. The potato cake was like a gigantic scalloped potato. The wine pairing with this fish dish was predictably a white wine. The Batasiolo Gavi di Gavi Granee 2009 was much like our first wine of the evening, but this time, I did get the slight citrus taste. This was Katie's favorite wine of the night.

If you have noticed, I have talked about the food here first before mentioning the wine. It's not unusual since I am more partial to food than wine, but this Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio 2006 was very special. First of all, it is scarce. Stefano told us that there are only ten cases in the US. The grapes used to make this wine are only grown on one hill. This wine was very smooth, had a great fragrance, and is just coming into its prime right now. Stefano told us that this wine will continue to improve with time, as the peak drinking years for this wine are from now till 2028. I may have some for my 56th birthday. This wine came with Costicine Di Manzo Brasate Al Barolo E Pastinache. I should have taken Italian in high school. This boneless short rib was braised with Barolo wine and parsnips and served with the exact potato cake Katie got with her entree. As usual with beef short ribs, these were fork tender. You could almost see the meat falling apart when I lifted my fork to them. I liked that the sauce was subdued with this dish, so the short rib's meatiness could be the show's star. A very hearty meal.

Dessert was our final act, and man, we were full by this point. I still did finish this Torta Di Chocolato E Nocciole Con Gelato Alla Vaniglia. I must be learning some Italian because I did not have difficulty translating this one. This warm chocolate and hazelnut cake was joined by a vanilla gelato. The cake was moist enough but made an excellent combination when mixed with the gelato. This was like Nutella in cake form with the hazelnut and the chocolate. Excellent dessert. I might have found my favorite kind of wine, dessert wines. They are a little sweeter and go down really smooth. With this dessert, we had two different varieties of Moscato. The Batasiolo Moscato d'Asti 2011 and the Batasiolo Moscato Rose. Both of these were fruity and sweet without crossing the overly syrupy line.

To say that the Batasiolo Wine Dinner exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. Not only was it not pretentious and snobby, but it was a lot of fun. We met many great people, and the food and drink were well done. We will also be back for their monthly wine dinners and regular meals here. Looking at Canaletto's regular menu, I noticed that the Veal Scaloppine and the Chicken Cannelloni caught my eye. I am also intrigued by the passport dinners that Canaletto and their sister restaurant, Il Fornaio, offer. For two weeks every month, they feature items from a different region of Italy. Three-course meals for $29.99, plus you get a gift. If you get your passport stamped six times, you are then entered into a drawing for a trip for two to Italy to experience fine Italian cooking firsthand. Even if you do not win the trip to Italy, you can definitely experience great Italian cooking at Canaletto in Newport Beach. You do not even need the hassle of going through the security lines at the airport to eat here.

We would like to thank all of the servers, bussers, kitchen staff, and the management at Canaletto for making our experience so great. We must also thank everyone at our table for making this a fantastic event. You made this an enjoyable night that Katie and I will not soon forget. Thanks also to Stefano Poggi, Export Manager for Batasiolo, for explaining his great wines to novice wine drinkers like me. Lastly, we thank Lindsey Gaines, the Event Coordinator at Canaletto, for the invite and for putting on such a great night of food, wine, and new friends. Thanks for everything, Lindsey; we look forward to seeing you and everyone at Canaletto again soon.

To find out more information about Canaletto, click here: https://www.ilfornaio.com/canalettonewportbeach

Membership Has Its Privileges at Riders Club

The Riders Club Cafe

1701 El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

I guess it is no surprise that we love burgers. We started this blog partially because we wanted to find the best hamburger that is offered in our area. In the three and a half years that we have had this blog, we have written about 65 different burger places. That is roughly 15 percent of our just over 400 posts that have featured burgers. I guess you can say that we are a little obsessed.

In those three and half years, a number of burgers stand out. The over-the-top half bacon, a half ground beef burger at Slater's 50/50, the great flavor profiles of the Burger Parlor in Fullerton, the very well made, yet simple burger from Mick's Karma Bar, and my favorite burger up until this point, G Burger, from the far outpost of  La Habra. Now our burger beat takes us from the county's most northern city to the city that is the most southern, San Clemente, where we have heard good things about Riders Club Cafe.

Riders Club Cafe came across my radar while the OC Weekly was doing their Game of Burgers contest. That contest never did declare a winner, but I tried some good burgers because of it. Riders Club did not even get out of the first round of that contest because they went up against Mick's Karma Bar. That was a tough matchup for sure because Mick's makes a very solid burger. There were only 32 burger places in this OC Weekly contest, so I had some high hopes for the burger at Riders Club.

Riders Club Cafe is kind of off by itself. I do not know this area too well, but there does not seem to be anything else really around the restaurant. We got to Riders Club at about 6pm on a Saturday night. We must have hit it at a good time because there were only two people ahead of us in line, and after we ordered the line was close to being out the door. The menu is located right next to the register, on a chalkboard. It is not a very big menu. Only four food items on it; the burger, a hot dog, a carnitas sandwich, and a club salad. After ordering, finding a place to sit in this tiny ten-table restaurant can be a challenge. We got lucky and found a place outside. The food was brought out by the hard-working surfer-looking guys working here. Let's see if the burgers from Riders Club will be as memorable as others we have had.

Up first is Katie's burger. The burgers at Riders Club are of the build-your-own variety. The lettuce, pickle, raw or grilled onions, and house spread come with the burger automatically. You of course have the option to add additional items for an extra charge. From the extras list, she selected the goat cheese spread and mushrooms. With these two extras at one dollar each, her burger was $9.95. She could not have been happier with this juicy burger. She felt all of the toppings came together to create a subtle flavor that did not overtake the flavor of the beef. She was also a big fan of the freshness of this burger. It did not leave a heaviness that other burgers leave you with sometimes. On future visits here, she would be hard-pressed to get anything but this burger.

I sometimes go overboard at these build-your-own burger places. I have to learn that simplicity is the key when trying out a burger place for the first time. Even with that said, I still really enjoyed my creation here at Riders Club. With my burger, I added a poached egg, bacon, cheddar cheese, and avocado. This burger was delicious, but I should have gotten it with a runny egg, or not gotten the egg at all because it was overcooked. Like Katie had said, the toppings were all very good, but they did not detract from the beef here. All of the items were very fresh. I would have liked a little more of their house spread on this, but I always like a lot more sauce than the usual burger eater. The bun is also worth noting at Riders Club. It was very soft, but still held the contents of the burger nicely. There are no fries at Riders Club, their burgers are served with kettle chips. To tell you the truth I did not even miss the fries, because I liked the thickness of the kettle chips.

You know that I was not just going to come down here to just have a burger, I also needed to try one of their Chili Dogs ($3.00). This chili dog featured their home-cooked chili, sharp cheddar cheese, and red onion. The hot dog was good, but nothing that would make me order it again. It was definitely an all-beef hot dog with a decent snap to it. The chili was good and smooth, but a little too mild for my taste. The bun was pretty average.

I left Riders Club Cafe very satisfied, and pretty impressed with their burgers. Where do they rank out of all the burgers in OC? They definitely have a place on the Mount Rushmore of OC burgers that I have tried so far. That puts them in the top four. Nothing gets people more heated than when you mention what you consider to be your top burgers. Okay, maybe pizza gets people ramped up as well, but burgers are a very close second. I would definitely make the trek back down to San Clemente for another burger anytime. I would also like to try their carnitas sandwich on future visits. With the cramped quarters of this restaurant, it might be a challenge coming here, but it will definitely be worth it once you have one of their burgers.

Out of five surfboards, (not only because the city of San Clemente has a number of surfboard manufacturers, but also because the San Clemente High School surf team has won numerous national championships), five being best to zero being worst, The Riders Club Cafe gets 3.5 surfboards.

For more information about The Riders Club Cafe, click here: http://www.ridersclubcafe.com/

Raising a Glass at the Pint House - CLOSED

The Pint House

1547 W. Katella Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

To say that I am excited that hockey is back would be an understatement. Two months into this shortened season, things could not have gone better for me. Not only has my favorite sport come back to life, but my beloved Ducks have been the second-best team in all of hockey for most of the season. Going to the games has become fun again. Adding to the excitement of the hockey season are the new restaurants that have opened up near Honda Center since the last time the puck was dropped. The Tilted Kilt has opened in the old Carino's space on Katella. Also in the same center is another new restaurant, and this game's restaurant for a pregame meal, the Pint House.

The Pint House takes over where the Auld Irisher was located. The original Pint House opened in Downtown Fullerton in 2009. This new location has been open just six months, and I am sure they are excited to have the hockey crowds come in before and after the games. You would think that with all of the turnover in this shopping center, the operators of this center would be a little laxer about people parking here to go to the games. We have never had a problem, but the security guards in the golf carts make a pretty big show about writing down license numbers and letting people know that they can't park here for the games. If it wasn't for the fans going to the games, some of these new restaurants may suffer the same fate as Carino's, Bob's Big Boy, and the Auld Irisher. It doesn't make sense to drive people away from your shopping center which has certainly had its problems keeping tenants.

Sorry for my little rant. Back to the Pint House. We got here about an hour before the game, and the bar area was packed with fellow Ducks fans and a couple of Wild fans. I was not sure we were going to have time to eat, but when we approached the hostess stand, she took us right to a table in a room behind the bar. The interior of this restaurant is a lot sleeker than it was when this was the Irisher. That restaurant always seemed a little dingier, but the Pint House is a little more updated and feels cleaner. We only had about forty minutes to eat before making our walk down Katella to hopefully watch another Ducks win, so let's see how the food turned out for us.

None of the appetizers really caught my eye, so I let Katie order what she wanted. She selected the Soft Pretzels ($6) to start off with. These three large Bavarian-style pretzels came with salt on them and a Bechamel-cheese sauce. The pretzels were soft, with a good chew to them. I would have liked the pretzel heated a little more than it was. The bechamel sauce was very mellow and coated the pretzels nicely. For not being a pretzel kind of guy, I liked these enough to eat one out of the three that we got.

Instead of focusing on the appetizers here, I really wanted to try their salads. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I almost always order a Caesar salad when it is available. This would be the case again at Pint House. The Caesar Salad ($8) started with the normal base of romaine lettuce, croutons, and Parmesan cheese, but then they added grape tomatoes and red onions to make this Caesar their own. I actually liked the inclusion of the red onion here, but it did take away from the feeling that this was a Caesar salad. Also not helping matters here was a very bland house-made Caesar dressing. It really added nothing to this salad. On the positive side, this was a very large salad for the price, but I would not get this salad again.

Katie had a little bit better luck with her salad choice here, the side salad version of the Pint House Salad ($3). She was very happy with the freshness of the produce here, along with a very good ranch dressing. Other than that she thought this salad was not earth-shattering, but it did satisfy her. Well worth the three-dollar price tag.

When the burgers arrived, that is when the Pint House kicked it up a notch. Let's start with mine. I ordered the Black and Bleu Burger with bacon added ($13 + $2 for the bacon). This burger came with caramelized onion, blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese dressing, and A-1 steak sauce. The burger patty was seasoned with lots of black pepper and was full of flavor. The toppings each added their own component to this burger as well. The bacon was cooked crisp, and the heavily studded sesame seed bun was sturdy enough to hold all of the contents of the burger. A very satisfying burger experience. With my burger, I had the choice of a side item, and I went with the Parmesan garlic fries. These were fried nicely, but the garlic did not really shine through like I had hoped. Still well-made fries though.

Katie ordered a burger as well, but her choice was the Napa Burger ($13). This one came stacked with melted brie, sundried tomato, caramelized onions, garlic aioli mayo, and lettuce, with the half-pound burger being glazed with a Cabernet demi-glace reduction. Very fancy burger toppings for sure. She thought this burger was very rich with all of these ingredients. The demi-glace was the most memorable part of the burger for her, and she would opt for a different kind of cheese next time to help cut down on the richness of this burger.

We usually get dessert, but we were running a little bit behind for the game, and we still had a ten-minute walk to get there. The burgers at the Pint House really saved this place for me. I was not too fond of the salad or the pretzel, but their menu is pretty large, so I know I would be able to find other side items and salads that I might like here. I felt the prices were a few dollars too high for the burgers though. My burger was good, but I do not think it was fifteen dollars good. The portion sizes were definitely very generous at the Pint House. The service was very good for us on this night, with one exception. All of the food above came out at the same time. All five plates hit our table at the same time, so I had to juggle my usual eating order so my burger did not get cold. Even with this minor hiccup, we will definitely make the Pint House part of our rotation of restaurants to eat at before Duck's games, as long as our car does not get towed from their parking lot.

Out of five pucks, (because I am happy that hockey is back, and I could not think of anything else), five being best to zero being worst, the Pint House gets 3 pucks.

For more information on locations and menus of the Pint House, click here: http://www.thepinthouse.com/orange/#