Los Gallos Ruling the Roost?

Los Gallos Mexican Restaurant

1667 E. Orangethorpe Ave. 

Placentia, CA 92870

For the three of you reading this that do not know me, I grew up in Yorba Linda, and my parents still live in the same house that I grew up in. When I was growing up in the late 70's and early 80's, there was not much in the way of restaurants in Yorba Linda. It always seemed like we were driving elsewhere whenever we went out. I remember when Chili's and Mimi's Cafe opened, across from each other on Imperial Highway, it seemed like we hit the culinary jackpot. The restaurant landscape in Yorba Linda has gotten better, but we are still driving out of the city limits to hit up some restaurants. When we were going to meet up with my parents before watching my niece Kaylie, the best cheerleader for the Yorba Linda Chargers, we headed just over the city line, to Los Gallos.

I'm not sure how long Los Gallos has been around, but I am pretty sure they were in business when I was in high school. Not to date myself, but that was over 25 years ago. Los Gallos is in a little sleepy strip mall, alongside the railroad tracks in the Atwood neighborhood of Placentia. The inside of the restaurant is deceptively bigger than it appears from the outside. Not a fancy restaurant, it appears unchanged since my last visit a number of years ago. It's dark, with comfy booths dotted with what appears to be many regular customers. We walked in close to 6PM, and were directed to a booth near the back of the restaurant. After perusing the menus, this is what we decided to order.

Right after we ordered, they brought over some Chips and Salsa. The chips here are pretty standard. They were not too greasy, and had a nice crispness to them. The salsa could have been a little hotter, and it was a little too watery for my taste. It did have a decent flavor to it, and I liked the large hunks of onion in it.

Katie always wants to try the guacamole at any Mexican restaurant that we eat at. This was the case at Los Gallos as well. The Guacamole ($2.50) was pretty reasonably priced. This guacamole had too many hunks of tomato added, and lacked flavor. It might have needed more salt, but the guacamole was definitely freshly made.

My Mom is not a real big eater, so she only had the Cheese Enchilada Combination ($4.25). This enchilada, and the entire plate were drenched with red sauce. The enchilada was full of cheese, and my Mom seemed pretty pleased with the rice and beans here.

My Dad was also feeling the combination vibe here, with his selection, the Beef Taco and Chile Relleno ($6.45). He was pretty impressed with his dinner. He liked the light and fluffy chile relleno that was only weighted down by the more than generous amount of cheese placed on top of it. Even with all the cheese, he could appreciate the nice sear on this. The shredded beef taco was fried crisp, and provided a boatload of flavor in his opinion.

There was really not too much diversity on this night, as Katie had the Cheese Enchilada and Chicken Taco ($6.25). Again, the plate was topped with a hefty amount of cheese and red sauce. Katie liked her plate here, and would probably get the same thing again. The chicken inside the taco was not too plentiful, but was tender. The cheese enchilada was pretty solid, and she really liked the refried beans

No combination dinner for me, although I am not against combination dinners. I usually judge Mexican restaurants more on if they can make a really good carnitas plate. The Carnitas ($8.50) are a little different here at Los Gallos than I am used to. They use their special sauce, which is a red sauce with this dish. A little different since I am just used to having the carnitas served plain, or if they do have a sauce, a verde sauce usually comes with the pork. The pork itself was pretty good here. I would have liked it fried a little more, to provide the crispiness that I really enjoy, but it was still good swine. The beans were better than the rice, but both were passable.

Los Gallos was just as I remembered it the last time I was here a good many years ago. The food, much like the decor of the restaurant is the same as it was back then. The food is not going to blow you away, but it is not bad at all. With prices like these, it is definitely worth your time if you are in the area to try Los Gallos. No combination plate even comes close to the double digit mark, which makes this place a bargain. The service on the night we were here was very solid. The wait staff seem to know many of their regulars, so it is a warm, and inviting atmosphere. A real locals place. A good place to meet up with my parents before going off to watch some Pop Warner football.

Out of five foghorns, (because the name of this restaurant translates to the roosters, and the most famous rooster I could think of was Foghorn Leghorn, of Looney Tunes fame), five being best to zero being worst, Los Gallos Mexican Restaurant gets 2.5 foghorns.

Los Gallos does not have a website, but you can find reviews and other info about them here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/los-gallos-placentia

Casting Our Line at California Fish Grill

California Fish Grill

23704 El Toro Road

Lake Forest, CA 92630

When we go out with our friends, it is almost always my choice to pick a place to eat. Usually this is no problem. My list of restaurants has all of a sudden ballooned to over four pages. I can almost always find a place that will satisfy my friends. My good friends Heather and Trevor threw me a curve ball when they wanted to meet up for dinner recently. They were on this health kick for the month of September. They requested something good for you, without breaking the bank. I immediately thought of seafood, but where to go? We all live in South OC, but did not want to drive too far. I had remembered seeing this place when we visited The Habit recently. So I told Heather and Trevor to meet us at California Fish Grill.

California Fish Grill has been in business since 1998. In those fifteen years, they have opened an additional seven stores, with six of those being in OC. Their concept all came about because the Surgeon General recommended that everyone get two to three servings of seafood a week. This can be a little tricky with larger families and dining patrons with a limited income. There was a time when seafood was only served in fancier restaurants, places where white tablecloths, restroom attendants, and fifty dollar plates are the norm. California Fish Grill strives to bring seafood to the masses, at a reasonable cost. Let's see if they accomplish this goal.

We got to California Fish Grill at about 6 PM on a Saturday night. There were plenty of people eating here, but we walked right up to the counter to place our order. Good timing for us, as the line got pretty long ten minutes after we placed our order. The menu here is just what you would expect. Fired fish plates, fish tacos, and a pretty large selection of charbroiled fish plates. They have a "Fixin's" bar, where they offer two types of tarter sauce, a cocktail sauce, and three kinds of salsa. We tried a few, and grabbed a table. It was not more than five minutes, and our food started to make its way to our table, which was good because I was hungry.

Heather and Trevor seem to really like ahi poke, and both Katie and I are getting more and more into it as well. We were pretty happy when they ordered this Hawaiian Style Ahi Poke ($6.99). I thought the serving size of this was pretty good for the price. The poke was fresher than I had imagined it would be from here, but I needed a little more pop of something out of this. The chips were an okay vessel for eating this poke, but the ahi could not stand on its own. It needed something else.

Katie and I had ordered poke as well, but we went with the interesting sounding, Ahi Poke Sliders ($5.99). I had envisioned that these would have been on buns, but of course I was wrong about that. Here they take the ahi and place it on top of a hard shell mini tortilla, and then add a cilantro dressing to it. This is just what the poke needed. I liked the crunch of the tortilla, and the richness of the poke was showcased well with the dressing used here. This would definitely be my choice of the two poke dishes we tried.

Sorry for the poor picture quality on this night, the lighting was playing tricks with my camera all night long. Anyways, we also tried another starter, the Crab Cakes ($7.99). These came two to a plate. I thought these were pretty mediocre. The breading was much too thick, and overpowered the crab inside the cake. The crab was fine, but was kind of boring. This plate only came to life when the sauce was used. Not sure what it was, but it helped breath some life into these crab cakes.

Here are two quick shots of Heather and Trevor's dinner selections. Heather got the Skewered Shrimp ($10.99). This dinner came with two skewers of shrimp, Cole slaw, rice, and bread. Heather had no gripes about her dinner on this night. She liked the way the shrimp was cooked, the rice was okay, and the Cole slaw was prepared well. Just like Heather, Trevor was also pretty happy with his food on this night. He went with the Swordfish ($11.99). I really liked the grill marks on the fish, it appeared to be seasoned well, and it tasted pretty good. This dinner came with fries, Cole slaw and bread. Both Heather and Trevor claim that they would come back here if they were in the area.

Katie's up next, and she had the Mahi Cajun Combo ($8.49). This combo came with two mahi Cajun tacos, rice and beans. She would place these tacos in the upper echelon of fish tacos that she has had. She really liked the flakiness of the fish, the Cajun seasoning added a decent pop of spice, and the tortilla did its job of keeping everything together. On the negative side, Katie felt the beans and rice were very average. Just looking at the beans, I felt they were too watery. Katie still likes Baja Fish Tacos better, but she would not hesitate to get this plate again.

I did not want to get left out of trying one of their tacos, so I got their Fish Taco ($2.69) to start off with. At California Fish Grill they use a battered Pollock in their tacos. This was a big hunk of fish used here. I have been ruined for fish tacos by our many trips to Baja Fish Tacos, which I consider to be the gold standard up until this point as far as fish tacos go. This one was good, but not Baja Fish Tacos good. I really liked the fish used here, but there was too much cabbage, the tortilla was a little on the rubbery side, and the cream sauce was not as good as it could have been, it was too thin. Not a bad fish taco though, and I can see why this is one of their most popular items.

I have been on the hunt for a real good fish and chips dish around OC, but have had no luck so far. This Fish and Shrimp Plate ($8.99)  is not going to make the top of my list either. It was okay. The breading on this was not very good, as it was too heavy. The shrimp reminded me of the frozen shrimp my Mom used to make us for dinner. I'm not saying this was frozen shrimp, but it just reminded me of it. The breaded Pollock was okay. It did not really knock my socks off. The one thing this did have going for it was that it was not a very greasy plate. In fact it was pretty much grease free, which probably means it is better for you. Boo! The french fries were okay, but I really liked the Cole slaw here. It was not mayonnaise based, but it still had a good amount of flavor, with the added texture from almonds.

Okay California Fish Grill, I think you achieved your goal of making seafood affordable, so people can get their two to three servings of fish a week. Mission accomplished. If you go into California Fish Grill and just expect average seafood at an affordable price, you will leave happy. Besides the ahi sliders, nothing we had on this night was very memorable for me. For a quick service restaurant, they got the food out real fast. The service was pretty solid on the night we were here. There seemed to be a lot of employees at this location, behind the counter, out in the dining room, and in the back. I'm glad it's a new month, so the next time we go out with Heather and Trevor, they will not be eating healthy again. Bring on the bacon!

Out of five golden trout, (because it's the state of California's official freshwater fish), five being best to zero being worst, California Fish Grill gets 2.5 golden trout.

For more information about California Fish Grill, go to their website here: http://cafishgrill.com/

Sublime Sandwiches in Santa Ana - CLOSED

C4 Deli: The Cure for the Common

200 Broadway

Santa Ana, CA 92701

In May, the much improved Orange County Register food section published a 10 page spread all about burgers. I read that, and of course, I gorged myself on burgers trying to eat at all the top ten spots on their list that I had missed. I still have two more of those burgers to eat, but I took a self-imposed sabbatical from my quest. I found myself not enjoying them as much as I knew I should be. Yes, I have had an occasional burger over this summer, but I have been much more into sandwiches lately.

That's why we made a beeline for C4 Deli when we heard that it had opened. C4 comes to us from the same people that brought us one of our favorites, Chapter One, the Modern Local. In fact, they are located just a few doors down from Chapter One, on the opposite side of the street in Downtown Santa Ana. We were going to be meeting my cousin Daryl here, who is soon to be off to Chile to begin a new chapter in his life. Hopefully, he would be sent off with some great food from C4.

We got to C4 at about six on a very hot day in mid-September. They still were not done tweaking the restaurant during our visit. They were getting the new air conditioning unit installed the next day, the menu had a lot of, "coming soon" items on it, and work still needed to be done on the promised 20 seat patio. The vibe here kind of reminded me of the painting by Edward Hopper, "Nighthawks". See those two semesters of art history at Fullerton College really paid off for me (okay I had to look up the artist, but still). Much like the painting, we sat at the long counter. The interior here featured a very nice high ceiling, very small booths, marble countertops, and exposed brick walls. They are going for a kind of art deco kind of feel to the place, and I would say they are on their way to achieving that goal.  Just like I was on my way to achieving my goal of trying out the food at C4. Let's see how everything turned out for us.

Before our sandwiches came out, they brought us over some samples of their salads for us to try. These are not like any deli salads you find in other places. The Hearts of Palm Salad ($3.99) was pretty solid. White beans, avocado, peas, goat cheese, and red wine vinaigrette made up this salad. I'm not usually partial to goat cheese, but this salad had a wonderfully complex flavor. It had a little tang from the vinaigrette, a nice smoothness from the avocado, and a savoriness from the beans. All of these worked very well together. The Chickpea Salad ($2.99) was a little simpler, but delicious nonetheless. Here the chickpeas are joined by roasted garlic, red onion, olive oil, red peppers, and lemon and lime zest. The predominate flavors that I got with this salad were from the garlic and the earthiness from the chickpeas. Chickpeas are popping up on lots of menus around, and chefs are using them in a lot of different ways. I kind of like this trend.

Sandwich time, and we'll start with Katie's choice, the Muffuletta ($8.99). C4 brings this classic New Orleans sandwich to us in OC. All the traditional components of a muffuletta are here, the salami, mortadella, capicola, olive salad, and substituting for the usual provolone is Emmentaler cheese. Katie thought this sandwich was amazing. She liked the freshness of the sandwich, all the ingredients worked well with each other, and she has not stopped thinking about this sandwich since we left C4. She will definitely be back to have this sandwich.

My cousin Daryl quickly selected the Italian Sandwich ($6.50) for his dinner. This sandwich combined a cavalcade of items onto the bread; salami, capicola, mortadella, lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, chili oil, and red wine vinegar. It is very apparent that the meats here are sliced fresh and are of a higher quality than most other delis serve. My cousin seemed very pleased with this sandwich. I tried it, and really liked the dressing used on this sandwich. The chili oil provided a little pop, while the red wine vinegar provided some moisture and tang. The bread at C4 is made by the great OC Baking Company, which is helmed by the talented Dean Kim. You can always count on great bread when Dean is involved, and this was definitely the case at C4.

I could not decide between two sandwiches, so of course, I got both. My first sandwich was this Porchetta ($8.99). I knew I would be consuming this sandwich when I saw a picture of the porchetta on their Facebook page. After you are done reading this review, you have to get over to their Facebook page and have a look at the porchetta yourself. You will not be able to resist it. They make this pork every day, and they have sold out of it almost every day as well. Joining the pork on this sandwich was a citrus-tinged broccoli rabe and an aioli. The pork was as advertised, it was great. I could eat a lot of this. The broccoli rabe was not a good match for this sandwich though. I thought it overpowered with too much bitterness. I also would have liked a little more aioli on this sandwich. A good sandwich that can be made great with just a few tweaks.

My other sandwich would be the Reuben ($11.99). This sandwich was endorsed by one of my favorite OC food writers, Gustavo Arellano, from OC Weekly. It did not disappoint. At C4 they use 100 percent natural, antibiotic and hormone-free beef. This pastrami was spiced perfectly, and you could taste the difference with this natural beef. The sauerkraut used here did not overpower, but I was still aware of its presence. My only small complaints about this sandwich were that the marbled rye bread could have been toasted, and a little more Russian dressing could have been used on this sandwich. If you haven't figured it out yet, I really do like using extra condiments on sandwiches.

We are not done with the sides at C4 yet. We each ordered one to try. The hit of this trio was definitely the Lentils with Chorizo and Pork Belly ($6.99). I have said it many times, and I will probably say it until the day I die, if you see pork belly on a menu, order it because you will not regret it. This was definitely the case here. The lentils provided a nice base for the chorizo and well-cooked pork belly. I was a little bummed when my cousin wanted to take our remaining portion of this home with him, but I know I will be back, and it was a nice parting gift for his trip to Chile. The Pickled Pasta Salad ($2.99) was a little different from regular pasta salad. This one was oil and vinegar-based, with corn, pickle, green and red peppers added. It was a little on the boring side for me. The Heirloom Potato Salad ($4.99) had a little wrinkle to it as well. It was mustard and aioli based, with chives added. I really liked this potato salad, the dressing did not overwhelm, the flavor was nice and mellow, and the little potatoes were cooked to a very nice tender texture.

For our first visit, C4 sure did impress us. I usually like to give new restaurants at least six months to a year to get in a good rhythm, but I was so excited to come to C4, I could not wait. I have a feeling that they will only get better. They have started offering breakfast items recently, along with a happy hour and late-night menu. I am looking forward to trying their sausage sandwich, fresh baked cookies, and house-made pickles on my next visit here. I have also expressed my interest in the management and the powers that be at C4, that I would really appreciate their take on a Cuban sandwich. I think they can make one that would be amazing. If you love the sandwiches at Subway and Quiznos, C4 is not going to be the deli for you. If you appreciate a good sandwich, like quality ingredients, and don't mind paying a little more for it, C4 is definitely worth a trip for you. Glad they came around to help satisfy my needs for a great sandwich, while I was on my burger sabbatical.

Out of five bombs, (because of course C4 is a type of plastic explosive, and also because these sandwiches are the bomb), five being best to zero being worst, C4 Deli gets 3.5 bombs.

For more information about C4 Deli: The Cure for the Common, go to their website here: http://www.c4deli.com/

Real Deal Pizza in Fullerton?

Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana

101 North Harbor

Fullerton, CA 92832

The last time we were up in Fullerton my friend Clay had mentioned how much he liked the pizzeria that is on Harbor, and that we must go. For Clay to say that he likes a place is something of an anomaly. Let's just say that he and I do not share the same criteria when it comes to restaurants. He seems to judge restaurants more on service and atmosphere than on the actual food. His whole night can be thrown upside down if there is a loud talker seated next to him. If he feels an injustice has been preformed against him by a member of the waitstaff, he will shut down and have a miserable time the rest of the night. Don't get me wrong, he is one of my best friends, and one of the best people that I know, but we usually just don't see eye to eye when it comes to restaurants. So, going into this restaurant, I knew that he had at least experienced great service, and he liked the food enough to recommend this restaurant for a meet up between us, and our other good friend Erven and his family.

Fuoco Pizzeria has been open for almost a year now. This place is run by second and third generation pizza makers from Italy. They are doing things the way that they do them in Italy. They had their pizza oven built near Naples, and then had it shipped over here. Fuoco in Italian means fire, and they get their oven cranked up to nearly 1000 degrees by using only wood. This creates a pizza that only takes 90 seconds to bake. When it comes to the ingredients that go into making the pizza, they are getting their major components imported from Italy as well. So you can count on having 00 Caputo flour and San Marzano tomatoes used on your pizza. The result is a lighter than usual pizza that has a slightly charred crust.

We got to Fuoco just after 6PM on a Saturday night. The restaurant was about half full, but there was definitely a steady stream of customers trickling in during our visit. The restaurant had a nice and comfortable openness to it. The high ceilings and nicely spaced tables account for that. The exposed brick walls help convey the history of this older building. The menu here is pretty straight forward. They offer salads, pizza of course, a couple of calzones, a few sandwiches, and dessert. There are 16 pizzas to choose from, and if you are not up on your Italian, it might take you some time to look through all of their descriptions, which are nicely described on the menu. We put in our order with our waiter, and waited for it to make its way out of the kitchen. This is how it all turned out for us.

Katie and I were the only ones to start out with a salad, but there was enough of this Spinaci Salad ($9) to share some with Erven. I am not usually one to order spinach salad in restaurants, but for some reason this one caught my eye. Joining the spinach in this salad was red onion, tomato, prosciutto bits, Gorgonzola, and a balsamic dressing. Okay, it was probably the crispy prosciutto bits that really caught my attention here, but this was a very good salad. The spinach was very fresh, dressed well, and was a great vehicle for the other components of the salad. There were plenty of prosciutto bits on this, and the Gorgonzola added a nice flavor boost. I would not shy away from this salad on future visits here.

Right after finishing our salad, the pizzas started to come out, which was good because we were with Erven's four kids, and they started getting a little restless. Up first is Katie's normal selection at a pizza place like this, the Bianca. This white pizza came with mozzarella, ricotta, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and is then topped with arugula and parmigiano. Katie really liked this pizza immensely. She liked the freshness of the pizza, and the crust had a nice smokiness that made this pizza unique.

When I am going to have pizza, I almost always get the pizza with the most meat on it. When I was looking at the menu, all of the pizzas at Fuoco only had one kind of meat on them. I grew a little worried. I was relieved to hear the waiter say that they had a pizza that he thought might be right up my alley. Not sure if this is a secret pizza, or maybe just a special on the night we were here, but the 4 Salumi Pizza ($18) would be my choice on this night. I believe the four meats on this pizza were prosciutto, salami, sausage, and a spicy salami. The pizzas here are 12 inches across, and do not come pre-sliced. They are meant to be eaten the Italian way, with a knife and fork. The pizza was pretty good for what it was. The meats were very authentic, the tomato sauce and cheese definitely did not overpower, and the crust held everything, but was a little soggy in the middle, which is to be expected with this kind of pizza.

Since I was at the end of the table, I did not really get to hear what the rest of our party of nine thought of their pizzas. I asked Erven later his thoughts of this pizza and the restaurant. He would come back for sure to Fuoco. He is a fan of this thin, wood fired, style of pizza. His kids on the other hand were not so excited by their pizza. This might not be the kind of pizza kids here are used to. It's a little different from the stuff they get at pool parties, pizza parlors and delivered to their houses.

After eating at Fuoco, and while writing this review, I have come to a conclusion. I am not really a fan of true Neopolitan pizza. I think I am more of a cheese and meat kind of guy. I can definitely appreciate how people would like this pizza though. The guys that run Fuoco are doing things the right way for the people that enjoy this kind of pizza. They are making pizzas the way they are made in Italy, not skimping on anything, and using authentic ingredients. For me, I want to know that I had pizza after eating one. I like the heaviness I feel after eating a New York style or deep dish pizza. That's just me though. That's what I grew up with, just like these guys grew up with this kind of pizza. Much like politics, religion, and sports loyalties, I am not going to try to convert whichever side of the pizza spectrum you happen to fall on. If you like Neopolitan pizza, I can almost assure you that you will enjoy Fuoco. If you had a great pizza while you were in Italy, and have not been able to find something close to it in OC, give this place a try. They are more expensive than the average pizza, but with all of the attention to detail that Fuoco is putting in, it might be worth it to you if you are into this style of pizza. Our server on this night was great. Robert had his hands full with us five adults and four kids, but he managed everything well. Glad that for once Clay and I could see eye to eye on a restaurant. There might be hope for us yet.

Out of five marshmallows, (because Fuoco means fire in Italian, and there's nothing like roasting marshmallows over an open fire), five being best to zero being worst, Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana gets 3 marshmallows.  

For more information about Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana, go to their website here: http://www.fuocopizza.com/index.html