Thanksgiving Sandwiches Aren't Over Quite Yet - CLOSED

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

4221 MacArthur Blvd.

Newport Beach, CA 92660

It is very rare that I feel that I am, "in the know" about restaurants before anyone else. About four years ago I was reading an article about restaurant franchises that were ready to explode, and there was a sandwich shop called Capriotti's on that list. I guess sometimes reading does pay off.

I had never heard of Capriotti's before, and at that time they had some units back east, and a few in Las Vegas. We had a trip planned to Vegas that coming weekend, so I put Capriotti's on our list of places to try. We grabbed our sandwiches to go, as we headed back home after another disappointing trip to the casinos. Even after our four-hour drive back to OC, we still really enjoyed our sandwiches that day. Capriotti's soon became our tradition when we headed to Vegas. We would almost always make a trip there during our stay.

Just like a crystal ball, that article that I had read predicted that Capriotti's was ready to explode, and they sure have. They now have units operating in 13 states, and much to our excitement, they now have 17 Capriotti's going to be operating, or already open in California. In OC we are lucky, because we are home to two of these, (Newport and Tustin), with Fountain Valley and Irvine stores already in the works. We can now get our Capriotti's fix, without having to head to Vegas and lose all of our money in the casinos.

Capriotti's comes to us from Delaware. Yes, the state that you have probably not thought about since you had to learn the capitals in 8th grade. Delaware has given us nylon, the first log cabins in North America, the first beauty pageant was held in Delaware, and now The First State also brings us Capriotti's. In 1976 Lois Margolet opened her first sandwich shop in Wilmington, with her brother Alan. Their original concept was to make the best turkey sandwich ever. They roasted 12 turkeys a night, and then made sandwiches fresh to order the next day. Word spread about these sandwiches, more locations opened, and finally, they branched out across the country.

We were recently given a coupon for two meals at Capriotti's, to share our experience with you. Since we eat here frequently, we were very excited about this opportunity since a lot of our friends have never tried Capriotti's before. We arrived at the Newport Beach location at around 5:30. There were a few people eating here, but a majority of their business is during lunch, I would assume. Katie has been here during lunch and confirmed this.

For those you not familiar with this location, they are located in the same parking lot as Classic Q, and right next to the 7 Eleven, a few blocks away from John Wayne Airport. We were greeted very warmly by a young woman at the register, who was very chipper. It was bright and warm inside, with a large variety of chips on display. The menu here is what you would expect from a sandwich shop. Hot and cold sandwiches, salads, and cookies. This is not an assembly line type of sandwich-making place. Sandwiches are put together in the back and brought out to your table. Let's see how everything turned out for us.

I knew Katie would be getting Capriotti's signature sandwich, so I asked the girl upfront what the second most popular sandwich was, and she instantly replied that it was this Capastrami ($7.99). This sandwich comes with hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and Coleslaw, some of my favorite items in a sandwich. I always like sandwiches that have different elements to them. This one had the sweet from the Cole Slaw, the Russian dressing was good and plentiful, and the saltiness from the pastrami balanced out this sandwich. The pastrami was spiced nicely with a great flavor. The bread was soft but did not fall apart, even with the moisture from the contents of the sandwich. They have three sizes of sandwiches here, (9 inches, 12 inches, or 20 inches), and surprisingly this 9 inch filled me up pretty good. I chose my standard Jalapeno Chips and an Iced Tea to drink.

Here's the sandwich that the Capriotti's empire was built upon, The Bobbie ($7.49). This sandwich has been described by many, including me, as Thanksgiving on a roll. With the slow-roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mayo, it is easy to see why everyone has this nickname for this sandwich. I'm not too into cranberry sauce, so this is not the sandwich for me, but I can appreciate it just the same. Their turkey is pulled fresh every day, so you get that same sensation that you get the day after Thanksgiving when you are eating turkey sandwiches. Katie always gets this sandwich on visits to Capriotti's. They also offer this sandwich with a side of gravy, but Katie wanted this as is.

As we have done once every two weeks or so, we enjoyed our sandwiches from Capriotti's. I look forward to trying more of their menu if I can just get away from their addictive Capastrami. The Cheesesteak and the Homemade Meatball are in my sights and will be conquered shortly. We are very happy that Capriotti's is closer to our neighborhood. We would like to thank everyone at Capriotti's for the great sandwiches and service on this night. Everything was great. We would also like to thank Andrew Park, of Konnect Public Relations for reaching out to us and giving us this great opportunity. Thanks for everything Andrew.

If you would like to find out more about Capriotti's Sandwich Shop, go to their website here: http://capriottis.com/index.php

Late Birthday Dinner at Paul Martin's

Paul Martin's American Grill

31 Fortune Dr. Ste. 302

Irvine, CA 92618

As I get older I care less and less about birthdays. At a certain age, a person is just excited to make it to another year. I'm of the opinion that once you reach 21, you can do anything that any other adult can do, so blowing out another candle is no big deal. This year Katie's parents told me that they would take me out to dinner for my birthday. Of course life gets in the way, so our dinner got pushed farther and farther away from my birthday which was in June. It was now October, and out of the blue Katie's parents wanted me to pick a place, and we would go the next day. I thought about it for about an hour or two, and then it hit me where we must go. So I had Katie call them up, and we made plans to meet up at Paul Martin's American Grill.

We had been to Paul Martin's once before for a media event highlighting their happy hour and cocktails. At that event, I made a mental note to make it back to try their dinner menu. Paul Martin's comes to us from Brian Bennett and Paul Fleming, who is pretty much a restaurant icon. He is the man behind Fleming's, P.F. Chang's, and Pei Wei. This Paul Martin's concept was started because both men wanted to open a restaurant that serves items from scratch, with high quality ingredients, prepared simply, and at an affordable price. They actually do make all of their stuff here, with the exception of the bread. Paul Martin's started where these guys live, in Roseville, and now they have four others, including this Irvine location. Two more are on the way, so keep a lookout if you are in Scottsdale or Mountain View.

We got to the Irvine Spectrum at about 6:30 on a Saturday night. Predictably, this shopping center was buzzing with activity. On our walk from the car we noticed a throng of people waiting at the Cheesecake Factory, a crowd out the door at P.F. Chang's, and lots of people outside of Yard House staring at the pagers, waiting for their tables to be ready. Paul Martin's was busy, but we had no problem getting a table right away.

I would describe Paul Martin's as a sleek restaurant. They have a large display of their wines that they offer. They apparently have a wine list that's over 100 bottles deep, and most of those are available by the glass. The inside of the restaurant was pretty quiet and dark, but still inviting. The staff are just what you would expect at a more upscale South OC restaurant, young and good looking. We checked out the seasonal driven menu, made our selections, and waited for our food, while enjoying our great conversation. Let's see how everything turned out for us.

As is the usual custom when we eat out with Katie's parents, we always start with an appetizer or two. This time we only had one, because we were saving room for our dinners which were on the way. The Spinach Dip ($14) immediately piqued my interest. This spinach dip was made up of white cheddar, Bloomsdale spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. This was a pretty unique take on a spinach dip. It was a little on the runny side, the spinach could have been chopped up a little more, and it was a little less obtrusive flavor wise than others we have had. Definitely more subdued, and not as heavy as your typical spinach dip. This came with more than enough toasted bread to dip with. I always hate when you do not have enough bread for your dip, but that was not the case here. Next time we will try the Salt and Pepper Prawns, or the Grilled Artichoke.

Both Katie and I ordered salads, and she went with the White Bean and Arugula Salad ($7) which is listed under the sides area of the menu. Katie thought the white beans were pretty fresh in this, but there was a lot of arugula used here, and it kind of overwhelmed. Joining the mound of arugula was some red onions and goat cheese, which provided some relief from the arugula overload. I was pretty impressed with the portion size of this side salad. Katie had a tough time finishing all of this.

I am trying to add some diversity to my dining experience, so I decided to forgo my usual salad choice, which is usually a Caesar. This time I ordered the Butter Lettuce and Point Reyes Blue Cheese Salad ($10). This salad came with the aforementioned butter lettuce and blue cheese, candied walnuts, apples, and a maple vinaigrette dressing. This salad had some good things going for it. I liked the textures, the produce was fresh, and the blue cheese added a nice burst of flavor. I did not really get a lot from the dressing though. It was dressed a little too lightly for me, and I had a hard time detecting any hint of maple here.

Entree time, and we'll do ladies first. Katie's mom, Lynn selected the Brick Chicken ($21). I really liked the way this came to the table. A very classic looking plate, that just conveyed comfort food. This free range chicken was served with mashed potatoes and an herb jus. Lynn was gracious enough to offer me a few bites of this, and the chicken was pretty tender, with a nice subtle flavor. Lynn cleverly described this plate as a meal that wrapped your insides like a blanket. Very good description Lynn. This portion size was just enough for Lynn.

I was a little taken aback by Katie's choice on this evening. She opted for the Fish Tacos ($15). The menu here did not mention what kind of fish would be used in these tacos, so Katie was a little surprised when these hit the table with salmon being the fish inside the flour tortilla. The salmon was cooked nicely here, and joining it in the tacos was a chili aioli, blistered tomatoes, and arugula. Katie felt this heart healthy dish was missing a big pop of flavor, and she also missed the inclusion of cheese on these tacos.

After looking at the menu, I knew Katie's Dad, Dennis would either get a bowl of soup, or a sandwich. He got the former, when this New York French Dip ($18) came out of the kitchen for him. This sandwich came on a roll, with a cream horseradish and au jus. Dennis was generally pleased with this sandwich. He liked the freshness of the bread, and the beef was sliced thinly and very tender. This came with a choice of side, and Dennis got the House Fries, which he quickly made disappear. Dennis eats at Paul Martin's often, and about half of the time this is what he gets.

It was a cooler than average night at the Spectrum, so the Braised Short Rib ($24) quickly caught my attention. This short rib was a little inconsistent. Some bites were pretty tender, just like you would expect, while others were a little on the tougher side. I want my short rib to be the consistency of a tender pot roast, and this had it in parts. I would have liked more of the horseradish cream and beef au jus served with this, to help enhance the short ribs natural flavor. The mashed potatoes served with this were also kind of inconsistent. Some bites were pretty smooth, and others had texture issues. Not bad mashed potatoes flavor wise, but I expected just a little more out of them.

We went a little crazy with the desserts at Paul Martin's, as we got three of them to try. The first of which was this Devil's Food Cake ($9). A three layered cake, with ganache made from cordillera chocolate, and garnished with cherries and whipped cream. This shocked me with its light and smooth chocolate flavor. The chocolate did not overwhelm, and the icing had just the right amount of sweetness to it. One of the best chocolate desserts we have had in awhile.

This Banana Cream Pie ($9) was probably our least favorite of the trio that we tried. The menu claimed that this had layers of vanilla bean pastry cream, chocolate, bananas, and fresh whipped cream. We could see the bananas and vanilla cream, but the whipped cream totally took over this pie. The chocolate was as absent as my sister during senior year in high school. Just don't tell her I wrote that.

The last of our dessert trifecta was our tables favorite, the Apple Cinnamon Crisp ($9). The apples are covered with a crunchy topping of oats, brown sugar and walnuts, then topped with a scoop of ice cream with a caramel drizzle. This had lots of apples, I liked the crumb topping a lot, but this did need more ice cream for the four of us. We were spoon fighting over the ice cream on this.

We did have some misses with our dinner at Paul Martin's, but for the most part the misses were pretty minor, and everything was still pretty good. Keep in mind that this is a seasonal driven menu, so theses items may not be available during your visit. The menu here is not crazy large, but there is enough diversity on it, that most people will be able to find something to their liking here. They have a few chef specials during the week that are worth noting. A 3 course fried chicken dinner for $20 on Tuesdays, a 3 course prime rib dinner for $25 on Sundays, and a prix fixe brunch on the weekends for $11. We are looking forward to coming back and trying these specials in the future. Service during our visit was great. When our waiter was not around, the busboys were checking on us, and everyone we encountered from the hostess's to the managers were very nice. Now that we celebrated my birthday six months late, it just means I will get my next birthday dinner that much quicker. Already looking forward to it.

Out of five candles, (because Paul Martin's started in Roseville, also the birthplace of Molly Ringwald, whose breakout hit was Sixteen Candles), five being best to zero being worst, Paul Martin's American Grill gets 3 candles.

For more information about Paul Martin's American Grill, go to their web site here: http://paulmartinsamericangrill.com/

Football Frenzy #13 at Signature Sports Bar - CLOSED

Signature Sports Bar

30100 Town Center Dr. 

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

So all I have to do is continue my quest for the best place to watch football on Sunday mornings, and my team starts winning games. I should have done this in September to save myself some grief. Yes, it is true; my favorite NFL team, the Jaguars, is on a winning streak. Four out of the last five weeks, they have won, and although the playoffs are out of reach, they are no longer football's laughingstock. That honor now goes to the Houston Texans, losers of eleven in a row, and the owners of the league's worst record as of this writing. Enough football talk. Let's get to what we thought of Signature Sports Bar.

For sharp-eyed readers of this blog, this place might seem familiar. We visited here three years ago when this was the location of Draft Choice Sports Grill. South OC is not known for its sports bars, so when we heard that Draft Choice had closed, we were a little sad, only because it took away an option in an already depleted area for finding places to watch football on Sunday mornings. The food at Draft Choice was pretty average, but we liked the service and atmosphere enough to return a few other times. Now, under new ownership, we were excited to see what Signature Sports Bar had in store for us.

We got to the bar, which is located in a pretty sleepy little strip mall just off Crown Valley Parkway, before the 10 AM kickoff. The space is bigger than it appears from the outside. We found a table quickly and settled in. The appearance of Signature Sports Bar is much brighter with its decor. It's lighter than it was when this was Draft Choice. It also appears cleaner too. They have TVs on every wall, many of which are plasma, and you can see the game you want no matter where you sit. The crowd was diverse on this particular Sunday morning. All ages were represented, from kids to seniors, many wearing the jerseys of their favorite teams. With such a large crowd, it only got noisy in spurts, but for the most part, people were quietly watching their games. Let's see what came out of the kitchen for us.

Let's start with Katie's breakfast selection, the Breakfast Sandwich ($5.99). As you can tell from the pictures, this was a pretty average breakfast. The hash browns were way too underdone and really plain-tasting. The breakfast sandwich was good, but nothing really made it remarkable. The bacon was crisp, the egg slightly overcooked, and the cheddar cheese was plentiful. It was definitely better than an Egg McMuffin, but that's not saying much.

My friend Riley was with us at Signature Sports Bar to support his Jets and decided to try their Buttermilk Pancakes ($4.99) and a Side of Bacon ($2.00). Again, he thought the pancakes were pretty average, as he compared them to the ones Riley had had after a big night of drinking when he tried to sober up at Denny's. The bacon was straightforward and cooked crisp.

I got the most liked item here, the Breakfast Burrito ($7.99 with avocado added.). This burrito came with my breakfast meats, so I naturally chose bacon. Joining the bacon in this flour tortilla was scrambled eggs and a blend of cheeses, with salsa on the side. This was a good-sized burrito, stretching nearly across the plate. The three eggs were pretty buttery, while cheese and avocado added some smoothness. The bacon got lost here, as there was not nearly enough. This burrito was missing some potato, which would have made it even better. The salsa served on the side of this is made here but needs a little more spice.

As you can probably guess, Signature Sports Bar will not be crowned as our ultimate sports bar for watching football. The food could have been better. Nothing we had was horrible, but we were not excited about it. Maybe their lunch and dinner items are better, but Jacksonville has no afternoon games for the rest of this season, so that visit will have to wait until next year. We did enjoy the setup here, and with so few choices for watching football in South OC, we will probably be back at some point. The prices were fair, and I did not mention it, but the beer and cocktails were also reasonable. A pint of Shock Top goes for $3.95, while a pint of Coors goes for the same. Get the Shock Top for sure. If the Jaguars keep winning like this, we will have more to drink, too.

Out of five theaters (because the most expensive signature in the world is the six remaining playwrights William Shakespeare, which is estimated to be worth a staggering $5 Million each), five being best to zero being worst, Signature Sports Bar gets 2.5 theaters.

For more information about Signature Sports Bar, go to their website here: http://signaturesportbar.com/

Taste of Hawaii Here at Home

Aloha BBQ

24000 Alicia Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I have recently become enamored with Hawaiian food. Not wanting to pay the crazy $500 airfare to the islands, I have set out to find some of the best Hawaiian cuisine on this side of the ocean. I hit pay dirt when someone suggested that we try Hapa J's in San Clemente. We tried their poke, a mixed plate, and their Hapa Fries with Kahlua pork placed on top of them. All were fantastic. It got me thinking that there must be other places that specialize in Hawaiian food. Just as I was thinking this, longtime fan of the blog, Amanda suggested that we try Aloha BBQ, which just happens to be about a mile away from our house. So we waited until we had a rare free night, got in the car, and headed to Aloha BBQ.

Aloha BBQ is located on Alicia, in the same shopping center as the Meat House, Starbucks, and Baja Fresh. It seems every time we are in this shopping center they are closed, but we hit them early enough that they were open. The inside of the restaurant was pretty small, with about seven tables. It seems a good deal of their business is for takeout, as we saw about five orders being picked up by people during forty minute stay. I kind of liked the vibe here. They had soft reggae playing over the speakers, the bright orange walls, and the high ceilings conveyed an aura of openness. Ordering is done at the counter, then they bring the food out to you. The menu is just what you would suspect in a casual Hawaiian joint. Noodles, Bowls, and barbecue items dominate the menu, but they did not have my beloved fries with Kahlua pork on top of them. Oh well, we placed our order and waited to see what they had in store for us.

Not really what I think of when I am in the mood for Hawaiian, but Katie really wanted these Potstickers ($4.50). These come six to an order, and are served with a little container of what I would call sweet and sour sauce. I thought these were kind of average. They were filled with chicken and vegetables, and topped with green onion. They were fried, but not overly greasy. The sauce could have been a little more sweet for my taste, but did the trick of adding extra flavor to these.

When Katie's plate was placed in front of her, my first thought was that this was a lot of food. Katie selected the Double Combination Plate ($11.99) and took BBQ Pork and BBQ Chicken as her selections. The pork was sliced thinly, and pretty tender and flavorful. I tend to shy away from chicken in restaurants, because they tend to overcook it. This was not the case at Aloha BBQ, as the chicken was fork tender. I also really liked the grill marks on the meats. This plate was rounded out by macaroni and a bean sprout salad. I am not much into macaroni salad, but this one had more of a potato salad consistency to it, which I thought was pretty good. It was not as thin as other macaroni salads can be. Bean sprouts are not really my thing, but Katie liked this light salad well enough.

My plate really does not look that much different from Katie's. I went with the Double Combination Plate ($11.99) as well, but I selected different meats. I had the BBQ Short Ribs and the BBQ Pork. I have come to the conclusion that I am not too big of a fan of BBQ short ribs. I liked these a little better than the ones I had at Hapa J's, just because they were not as fatty as those. There is just too little meat with short ribs in Hawaiian restaurants. The meat was flavored well, with a slight, not overwhelming teriyaki tinge to it. The short ribs were pretty tender, and broke easily away from the bone. The BBQ pork was fine, but I had wanted it to compare with the pork from Hapa J's, which it did not. To be fair though, that was shredded Kahlua pork, and this was just barbecued pork. Same flavor here as the other meats, but this pork was my favorite out of all the meats here. Nice grill marks, sliced thinly, and a natural saltiness that went well with the sweet teriyaki. This plate was served over a bed of rice, and was paired with an average green salad, and the same macaroni salad that has got me rethinking my stance on macaroni salad.

Is Aloha BBQ destination dining? No, unfortunately it's not. I can not see too many people driving from North OC to come here, but if you are in the area, and you feel like having some pretty good Hawaiian barbecue, then this place will hit the spot. I'm still partial to the food at Hapa J's, but when we don't feel like tackling the 5 Freeway during dinner time, Aloha BBQ will fill our Hawaiian  food void. The prices here were pretty good for the amount of food that you get. You are not going to leave Aloha BBQ hungry. I am looking forward to coming back and maybe trying one of their bowls, or maybe even their Hawaiian Burger. Now that I do not have to shell out half a grand in plane tickets to Honolulu to experience the food of the islands, I'll have plenty of dough to explore the menu at Aloha BBQ.

Out of five doughnuts, (because doughnuts naturally go good with coffee, and the only US state to produce coffee commercially is Hawaii), five being best to zero being worst, Aloha BBQ gets 3 doughnuts.

For more information about Aloha BBQ, go to their web site here: http://www.aloha-bbq.net/

Reliving the Past at Bob's in Burbank

Bob's Big Boy

4211 W. Riverside Dr.

Burbank, CA 91505

Katie and I have been together for coming up on five years now. Yes, we are moving towards a few momentous occasions within the year, but those announcements will come at a later date. There are of course many wonderful things I could say about Katie, but I do not want to bore you, and I am not really the mushy type. One thing I do love is that she has a very large family, and of course an even bigger extended family. I come from a family of four, have just one uncle that we see on a regular basis, and a couple of cousins that make an appearance every now and then. So becoming part of Katie's extended family has a real appeal to me. As an added plus, most of her extended family live in the Burbank area, and that's where we were headed on a recent Friday. We were going to her cousin Sean's wedding, but we wanted to beat the traffic, so we got up there about three hours early. Just enough time to check into our hotel and grab a bite to eat at one of my favorite places, Bob's Big Boy.

Bob's holds a very special place in my heart. It was one restaurant that we visited with great regularity when I was growing up. I can remember how we would climb all over the Bob statue while waiting for our table, reading the Big Boy comic book while waiting for our dinner, then of course having my own double decker hamburger, and if we were good we got to split a hot fudge cake for dessert. This was back when there were lots of Bob's around. There are now no Bob's in OC, and only a handful left in Southern California. My first restaurant review for this blog was my review of the now departed Bob's Big Boy that was in Orange. I miss having a Bob's close by, but it just makes it much more special when we get the rare chance to experience Big Boy, like on this day.

This was my first visit to this location of Bob's Big Boy. I did not know it, but this is a special Big Boy. It is the oldest operating Bob's still in business, opened in 1949. The restaurant was designed by renowned architect, Wayne McAllister, who designed this Bob's incorporating 40's modern style, while anticipating the free form of the 50's diner. No, I am not a student of architecture, I got this off of the plaque that is in front of the restaurant, which also proclaims that this restaurant, as of 1993, is an official point of historical interest in the state of California.

The restaurant is not the only historical part of this Bob's Big Boy. As luck would have it, we were here on a Friday afternoon, and the parking lot was already filling up with classic cars for their weekly car shows. These classic autos take over the parking lot every Friday from 5 to 11 PM. With all of these cars, and their car hop service, it's almost like you are living on the set of American Graffiti. or Happy Days. If you do not know these shows, go ask your parents about them.  Since we were pulling up in Katie's 2007 Hyundai, we were really here for the food inside. We got a booth right next to the famous Beatles Booth, where the guys from Liverpool ate during their 1965 US tour. Let's see if the food is as good as it was yesterday, (Beatles reference, if you did not catch it).

I was pretty hungry from our drive up from OC, so I could not wait to dig into my Dinner Salad before snapping a picture. Of course I ordered the Super Big Boy Combo, which includes a dinner salad to start. Bob's is known for their blue cheese dressing, which is still sold in stores. The salad is very standard, but the inclusion of the thick blue cheese dressing elevates this rather boring salad. Be advised that they are very liberal when adding dressing here, but that's the way I like my salads.

Bob's has a lot of things on their menu. I hear good things about the Pappy Parker's Fried Chicken, the Chili Spaghetti, and the Onion Rings, but when I come to Bob's, I always get the same thing, a Super Big Boy Combo ($9.49). This combo came with the aforementioned salad, a super big boy, which has double the cheese and 50 percent more meat than the original big boy burger, and of course fries. This burger is a classic. Sesame seed bun, topped with two patties, two slices of American cheese, shredded lettuce, mayo, and their special red relish. The middle bun is an integral part of the sandwich, as it soaks up a lot of the grease from the burger. The patties are not thick, and the lettuce can be easily discarded here, but this is one of my favorite burgers because it all comes together so nicely. I like their version of mayo, which is a little sweeter and thinner than regular mayonnaise. The red relish adds a nice little tang to the burger. The french fries, while frozen, are okay, but nothing above average.

We were going to be sitting through a wedding ceremony, so we were still about four or more hours away from the food at the reception, so dessert was definitely in order. When at Bob's there is nothing on their dessert menu to order, other than their famous Hot Fudge Cake ($4.29). Part cake and part sundae, this is the obvious choice so you do not have to choose between cake and ice cream. I really enjoy the rich vanilla ice cream that they use here, the thicker than usual hot fudge, and the sturdy chocolate cake. For the three of you that read this blog on a regular basis, you know one of my biggest pet peeves about desserts in restaurants is the small portions of ice cream that usually come to the table. This is not the case at Bob's. Not only is this dessert swimming in hot fudge, but there is no need to spoon fight over the ice cream when splitting this. A very good end to this meal.

Bob's Big Boy is one of my favorites because it reminds me of my childhood. I know that these burgers are not like the gourmet burgers that have popped up all over the place in the last few years. They are not using Wagyu or Kobe beef. There are not exotic toppings on them, like jalapenos, Gouda, peanut butter, or pesto. This is just a basic burger that works. Nothing fancy here. Maybe I am biased by my love of this restaurant. It is kind of like when you are dating a girl, and your friends can all see she is no good for you, but you have blinders on. Bob's is kind of like that. Someone that did not grow up with Big Boy's may think this is just average food, but in my eyes it is better than that. Bob's makes coming all the way to Burbank for a wedding on a Friday afternoon worth it. Wish there were some closer to OC, but it just makes our less frequent trips that much better.

Out of five nuggets, (which for you hard core Big Boy fans will remember as Big boy's dog in the comic books given out at the front counter), five being best to zero being worst, Bob's Big Boy gets 3 nuggets

For more information about this location of Bob's Big Boy, go to their website here: https://www.bobs.net/