Rekindling Old Friendships at Quinn's Old Town Grill - CLOSED

Quinn's Old Town Grill

405 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

It's so funny how people come in and out of your life. When you are young, you think you will be friends with the same people forever, but some people just drift away. We grew up with a family that kind of drifted away from us, The Hoffman's. They had two daughters, one a few years older than myself, and another daughter who was a few years younger than my sister. I was young, but I can remember going up to the mountains with them, going over to their house for dinner, and them coming over for birthday parties and other events. I'm not sure when we lost contact, but I always wondered what had become of them.

I was shocked when my Mom told me that she had gotten a phone call from them, and they wanted to meet up. The parents of the two girls live in Tustin now, and they wanted to have dinner, to see how the last thirty or so years have treated us. My parents naturally left the restaurant picking to me. Since my parents live in Yorba Linda, and both Katie and I live in South OC, I decided to focus my restaurant search on the Tustin area, kind of in the middle for all of us. Not knowing what kind of food Jim and Carol were into, I picked something that I felt almost anyone would like, classic American food. We headed to Old Town Tustin to try the grub at Quinn's Old Town Grill.

I guess I should have done more research though, because there was a band playing when we met up here, and they were pretty loud. Not really conducive to catching up on the last thirty years, but the band was wrapping up as we were being sat, so we would have plenty of time to talk about all that's gone on with us. On this particular Sunday night Quinn's was filled with what I would consider to be locals. As the band ended, people were filling out, and more of a dinner crowd was coming in. Quinn's had a nice comfortable feel to it. Not too stuffy, and definitely not a dive, Quinn's was comfortably in between. The dinner menu includes salads, sandwiches, and pretty traditional entrees. Let's see what this night had in store for us long time friends.

As soon as we were done ordering, we were given a Dinner Roll to start off with. This was a very sturdy dinner roll of the sourdough variety. Not too bad, but I would have liked the butter packets to have been room temperature, so the butter could spread evenly.

As if we did not have a enough bread, I ordered their "To Die For" Garlic Bread ($5.50). I thought the presentation of this was a little odd, but when it was opened up, I could see why they are so high on this garlic bread. The bread had a decent crunch, and the insides had a nice, not overpowering garlic flavor to it. This was more than enough for the six of us, and I would definitely order this again.

Salads are not included in the entrees at Quinn's, but both Katie and I wanted a salad to start off our meal. She went with the pretty pedestrian looking Dinner Salad ($5.50). This is your basic dinner salad, with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, shredded carrots, and croutons. No surprise, but Katie thought the produce used here was fresh, and she was generally pleased with her salad. I guess we are both creatures of habit, because I almost always get a Caesar Salad ($6.50), and that was the case on this night as well. This was a pretty good version of a Caesar. I liked the classic presentation of using a real anchovy on top of this. The salad was dressed nicely with a mild dressing, the croutons were kind of plain tasting, and I was pretty happy with the serving size of this.

I was a little taken aback when my Dad ordered soup, which he almost never does in restaurants. I was also a little shocked when he chose the Chicken Artichoke Soup ($5.95). Not something that he would normally go for, but he liked the creaminess of this soup, and felt that it had a nice subtle flavor. Even after 42 years of knowing this big guy, I still learn something new about him from time to time.

Entree time, and Katie threw me for a loop again by getting the Filet Mignon Stroganoff ($17.50). This classic dish combined egg noodles, sliced filet mignon, mushrooms, a dollop of sour cream, and chives. Katie thought this embodied comfort food. This was well cooked, the noodles were tender, and the sour cream added a creaminess. On the downside, Katie would have liked the meat to be a little more tender here.

On Sundays at Quinn's, they offer their Fried Chicken ($18.50), which they tout as the best tasting in Orange County. You can count Carol as one of the believers of this. She called this chicken, "Excellent". She appreciated the breading used on this, along with the tenderness of the chicken. This half chicken came with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. If she had to pick the weak link for this meal, it would have been the bland tasting vegetables. She was very pleased with the serving size of this, and had plenty to take home.

My parents split their meal, the Three Piece Alaskan Cod Fish and Chips ($16.50). Yes, I realize that there are only two pieces on the plate, there must have been a mistake in the kitchen, because they eventually brought the third piece out on a separate plate. My parents really liked this version of fish and chips. The cod was light and flaky on the inside, while the batter on the outside had a nice crunch to it. Not overly greasy, they felt comfortable eating this. The cod came with Cole Slaw and Steak Fries. My parents are not really big fans of steak fries, but they did not complain too much about these.

Jim went with the Filet Mignon ($33). This 8 ounce steak is cooked in Quinn's 2500 degree broiler, and aged for 28 days. Jim called this steak, "good, but not great". It was tender, and a good cut of meat. He felt this was worth the price, and would get this steak again, rating it 8 out of 10. This came with herb roasted potatoes and green beans, which he was very pleased with.

Since Quinn's prides itself on being an Irish bar, I of course had to try their corned beef, and when I saw they had it in sandwich form, I knew immediately that I would be having the Reubenesque ($14.95). This Reuben sandwich came filled with corned beef, Cole slaw, and Swiss cheese, on toasted rye bread. I really enjoyed this sandwich. The corned beef was tender and flavorful, the Cole slaw added some crunch, and the Swiss kind of brought everything together. The bread was almost not like a rye bread flavor wise, but it did its job of keeping the contents of the sandwich together. The menu did not say that this comes with fries, but it did. These fries were more of a fast food style variety, which is much more to my liking.

By this point of the meal I was pretty full, but there were six of us, so I figured we could all split the Warm Shamrock Brownie ($7.75). Quinn's version of a brownie sundae comes with a drizzle of caramel, vanilla bean ice cream, and hot fudge. The brownie was a little too loose. I like this sundae better when the brownie is cooked a little bit more, this one was a little too soft. There is almost never enough ice cream for me on these, but this one came close. The caramel and hot fudge were well represented, and helped make this dessert a must get when coming here.

Quinn's was the perfect place for us to catch up with the Hoffman's, after over thirty years. Not only was it geographically desirable, but there was something for everyone on this menu. We all left relatively happy with the dinners that we had. I'd definitely come back if I were in the area, and wanted a corned beef sandwich. There were a few hiccups at Quinn's though. Our server, or it could have been the kitchen, were not really on top of their game on this night. Not that anything was crazy wrong with the service, but at times it seemed a little chaotic, with empty glasses, missing food, and long times before being checked on. I also thought that the prices here were a tad on the high side. My sandwich was good, but was it $15 good? No, it wasn't. If you don't mind paying $15 dollars for a sandwich or $33 for a half pound steak, this might be the place for you. What you can't put a price tag on is renewing old acquaintances with friends that you thought were lost long ago.

Out of five steel drums, (because the movie, "The Mighty Quinn", took place on an unidentified Caribbean island, and when I'm in the Caribbean, I love listening to steel drums), five being best to zero being worst, Quinn's Old Town Grill gets 3 steel drums.

For more information about Quinn's Old Town Grill, go to their website here: http://www.quinnsoldtowngrill.com/

Getting Our Money's Worth at Sake 2 Me Sushi

Sake 2 Me Sushi

13951 Carroll Way

Tustin, CA 92780

I have a weird relationship with sushi. I have been to some high end sushi places. I have been to some bottom of the barrel sushi places. I think that more than any other food I can think of off the top of my head, the more money you are going to spend on sushi, the better the quality is going to be. I definitely can appreciate great sushi, but it's kind of wasted on me. I never leave these high end places being crazy full, and my wallet is not as hefty after leaving these high end sushi restaurants as well.

For me to get my money's worth when eating sushi, I tend to try all you can eat sushi places. The trouble with these AYCE sushi restaurants is that usually the quality is not anywhere close to traditional sushi restaurants. I had read a few good things about Sake 2 Me Sushi in the OC Weekly, and also on the Monster Munching blog, written by the great Edwin Goei. He's been blogging about OC restaurants since 2003, so if he likes a place, I should definitely give it a shot.

We were going to be meeting my good friend Angel, and his new girlfriend Rebekah, on a recent Saturday night. We planned on meeting at 6, but of course we were running late. Surprisingly, Angel and Rebekah were on time, and put our name in to get a table. If Rebekah can get Angel to be on time, we love this girl already. Sake 2 Me Sushi is located in the same shopping center as Mimi's Cafe, on 17th Street in Tustin. It is not seen from the street, so just head to the back of the shopping center if you are headed here.

After about a ten minute wait, we were seated in the loud dining room of the restaurant. This restaurant is deceptively larger than it looks from the outside. They maybe have forty or so tables inside. There was also a lot of activity going on here. Lots of staff taking orders, running food, and filling drinks. Our waiter came over and asked if we would all be having the all you can eat option, and we all replied in the affirmative. The AYCE option runs $22.95 at dinner, and four dollars cheaper at lunch. As with most all you can eat sushi places, you are given a paper to mark your selections, divided into rounds. Let's find out if we got our money's worth here.

Before we get to our selections, we were given this Crab Nacho to start. A very generous serving of crab is placed on top of a wonton, with green onion, and two sweet sauces. This whetted our appetites for our very large first round order that was on its way.

Yes, I am sure for you sushi purists out there, all of these fried hybrid rolls are making you cringe. Our first round consisted of; Green Mussels, Pepper Tuna, Spicy Scallop, Viva Lake (deep fried roll with eel, avocado, shrimp, and crab), Baked Lobster, Golden Tiger (a deep fried roll with cream cheese, avocado, shrimp tempura, and spicy crab), and lastly a Volcano (which is a California roll with cooked salmon on top of it). Yes, this was just round one, but there were four of us, so we made quick work of this. We really liked everything here. Favorites included the volcano and the baked mussels for me. I was surprised that the pepper tuna was so fresh, cut well, and not perched on a big bed of rice. Most AYCE places really overdue the rice.

Our second round of sushi was even bigger than the first. This go around we had; Mixed Tempura, Gyoza, a Mexican Roll (spicy crab, cucumber, and avocado), Philadelphia Roll, 911 Roll (spicy tuna roll with avocado and hot sauce on top), a Hot Night Roll (shrimp tempura, cucumber, and spicy tuna on top), Scallop, Red Dragon (California roll with spicy tuna and crunch on top), Dynamite Roll (California roll with crab, scallop and shrimp), and just for good measure, Shrimp Lover (shrimp tempura roll with shrimp and avocado on top). Again, all of these were pretty solid. My favorites were the 911 roll and the hot nights roll. Anything that had a spicy kick to it was one of my favorites.

Yes we went on to have a third round, which was smaller than our first two. The fried rolls and rice really creep up on you very quickly here. As is my custom when eating at an AYCE sushi place, I total up what the meal would have cost, based on the price on the sheet. We did pretty good at Sake 2 Me Sushi, eating $45 dollars worth of food per person. This trip we saved $23 per person having the all you can eat option.

We left Sake 2 Me Sushi very full, which is my goal at these all you can eat joints. Is this the best AYCE sushi place we have been to? No, but it is right up there. Sushi snobs will probably scoff at this place, but I was pretty pleased with mostly everything here. Angel and Rebekah thought it was good, but they did not seem wowed by this restaurant. Our server kind of got lost near the end of our meal. Our drinks sat empty for long periods of time, and it took forever to get the bill and pay it. We hear that this place can get crazy on Friday and Saturday nights, but just get here before 6PM, and you should have no problem getting in with just a minimal wait. Definitely worth a visit to quench your sushi cravings, while not emptying out your wallet.

Out of five race cars, (because Tustin is not only home to this restaurant, but also the Marconi Automotive Museum), five being best to zero being worst, Sake 2 Me Sushi gets 3 race cars.

For more information about Sake 2 Me Sushi, go to their website here: http://sake2mesushi.com/

Our Best Restaurants of 2013

Another year has gone by way too quick. It seems like I was just writing a year end review a month or two ago, but of course it has been twelve months now. Not to sound like a senior citizen, but listen to me when I tell you younger people that the years go by quicker and quicker as you get older. Enjoy every moment that you are given, and find something that you love to do. Okay, that is the end of my old man rant.

One thing that I really love to do is eat, and that is the reason why I started this blog in the first place. I love sharing what we think of restaurants with you all. I hope that you find it informative, and that it has helped some of you find some good food, right in your neighborhood. We all become creatures of habit, but there is always something good, just right around the corner.

This is first time in the history of our blog that we have not increased the number of restaurants we have eaten at. This year we posted 106 reviews, which works out to one every 3 and a half days. It's still feels like a lot of eating though. We never did get to the three remaining cities that we need to hit in OC, before we can say that we are truly eating our way through OC. I promise that we will make it to La Palma, Cypress, and Seal Beach soon. We actually had plans to go to all of these cities, but something always popped up at the last minute. 2014 will see us complete our quest of eating in all 34 Orange County cites.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has made this year so great for me and the blog. First, I want to thank all of my fellow bloggers. We have such a fantastic group of OC food writers here, and I really do take the time to read all of their stuff. You guys are not only great writers, but an awesome group of people. We love hanging out with all of you at events. Speaking of events, we are always honored that publicists would consider inviting us anywhere. These publicists are incredible at what they do, and the restaurants are all the better by having these hard working people getting their name out there.

I would also like to thank all of my table mates this year. Thanks for allowing me to take a million pictures of your food, before you dig in. Almost all of my friends and family are conditioned on this, except for my Dad and Katie's Dad. Must be a dad thing to want to eat real quick. We not only have had some wonderful food, but some great conversations as well. I also need to thank my partner in crime, Katie. I could never imagine writing this blog, without you by my side. In fact, I could never imagine you not by my side for anything, and that is as sappy as I will get on that subject.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of you, our readers. Thanks for taking the time to read the blog. Thanks to all of you who have given me tips on places to eat, left comments, liked us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other new thing that will come along in the future. It is so nice knowing that people actually like what we are doing here, and I am not just writing this blog for me and my Mom. I wish you all the most joyous of New Years, and hope that we all have a terrific 2014.

Enough of the thank yous, let's get to our list. Usually we do a best and worst list of all the restaurants we have eaten at during the year. This year for some reason, we did not eat at too many awful restaurants. The only two that scored less than 2.5 stars was Pasta Connection in Orange, and the Elephant Bar in Laguna Hills. Both of these restaurants received 2 stars, and I definitely vow never to go to an Elephant Bar ever again. Just awful.

So that leaves us with just a best restaurant list this year. I have narrowed it down to ten OC restaurants. The top 3 restaurants that we ate at, not in Orange County were Bludso's Bar-B-Que in Los Angeles, which still gets my mouth watering when I recall what I think is the best barbecue in Southern California. Just over the county line, was a reader recommended burger and barbecue restaurant that has got us looking for reasons to make another trip to Bellflower, so we can try Fronk's again. Lastly, we made a trip to Vegas, and could not believe how great the Thai food was at Lotus of Siam. Even if you don't win gambling, you can still be a winner if you eat at this legendary Thai restaurant. Now on to our top ten OC restaurants of 2013.

#10 Taco Adobe This is the only Mexican restaurant that makes our top ten list this year. Just a few streets over from the Orange Plaza, this homey Mexican restaurant served up some real solid food, along with a great habanero salsa that you have to ask for. I almost finished the whole bottle they gave me. Nice and hot.

#9 G Burger I was over the moon when I heard that one of my favorite burger spots was expanding. Cutting my drive to their La Habra location in half, G Burger opened a new outpost in Irvine. Right off the freeway, and we were happy to report that they serve the same great burgers here, as their original location. Now the rest of the county can see what people in La Habra have known for years, that G Burger is one of the best burgers around.

#8 Cucina Enoteca Italian food is pretty traditional, and not much has changed with it for awhile. That is until Cucina Enoteca came to Irvine. Here they do Italian, with a California inspired feel to it. Gone are the heavy sauces and sausages, in are the stuffed squash blossoms and a short rib pappardelle that is not to be missed. A very welcome addition to the Irvine Spectrum.

#7 Slapfish This seafood darling of OC foodies is another restaurant on the verge of a big expansion, and we could not be happier about that. Started as a food truck, they recently opened an outpost in of all places, the Middle East. Fear not seafood loving fans, they are planning on opening 500 stores in the next ten years, so we won't have to make the long trek down Beach Boulevard to have their lobster dog or their clam chowder much longer.

#6 C4 Deli: The Cure for the Common For people that lament that there are no good delis on the west coast, I tell you to head to Downtown Santa Ana. This place comes to us from the two guys that run Chapter One, and they are doing things the right way here. Curing their own meats, preparing innovative salads, and their muffuletta sandwich can not be beat. If only they would put a Cuban sandwich on their menu. Hint, hint.

#5 Little Sparrow Another new Downtown Santa Ana restaurant cracks our top five restaurants of the year. The Little Sparrow has been getting a lot of press, and it is well deserved. The menu might seem limited to some, but I assure you that almost anything you get here will be cooked well, and blow you away. I still am salivating thinking of the pork chop I had here.

#4 Hapa J's I had not reviewed a Hawaiian restaurant on the blog until this year, and after eating at Hapa J's, I can not get enough of Hawaiian food. A lot cheaper than a plane ticket to Hawaii, the Kahlua pork here is legit, and when placed on top of a heaping pile of fries, cheese, and a teriyaki type sauce it makes up a dish I have not been able to forget since I had it. You should definitely try their Hapa Fries Man Style, well worth a drive from anywhere.

#3 The Capital Grille We do not really have the resources to go to fancy steak restaurants all the time, but we tried Capital Grille this year for Katie's birthday. We may have found our new special occasion restaurant. My bone-in kona crusted sirloin was fantastic, and tasted like a steak should when you are eating in an upscale steakhouse. Also not to be missed, is their version of lobster mac and cheese. So good, and they were not stingy with the big hunks of lobster in this.

#2 Early Bird It's crazy that our second best restaurant of the year, is a breakfast place. I always think breakfast is the hardest meal to put your own spin on it. People have preconceived notions of what they want for the first meal of the day, and it's hard for restaurants to tweak it too much. The guys at Early Bird tweak it the right way. The breakfasts are recognizable here, but Early Bird puts their own delicious spin on them. Duck confit hash, carnitas chilaquilles, and a Frank Floyd Benedict were notable during our visit.

#1 370 Common The best restaurant we ate at this year is this Laguna Beach hot spot. We ate at 370 Common on a Sunday, when they only serve a prix fixe menu, and even with such a limited menu, both Katie and I fell in love with the food from Chef Ryan Adams. I had a pork chop that I still dream about. The sides were all fantastic, and for dessert, a berry pound cake that even made this non-berry eater leave happy. We look forward to coming back here again real soon to try their regular menu.

So there you have it, our top restaurants of 2013. What restaurants will be on this list next year? Only time will tell. I am sure looking forward to doing the eating, and finding out. Have a great New Years, and I hope you enjoy the blog, as much as I enjoy doing it.