Meandering to Maria's for Mexican Food - CLOSED

Maria's Mexican Kitchen

163 W. Ontario Ave. Ste. #101

Corona, CA 92882

It's been some time since we visited Corona to see our good friend Anthony and his wife, Sabrina. Usually, when we head out this way, I pick a restaurant. During this visit, they threw me for a loop when they had a place that they wanted us to try. This took much of the pressure off of me, which was nice. Now, the only pressure I would have was trying to make it through some of Sabrina's stories without falling asleep. It's not an easy chore, for sure.

Maria's is housed in a spot where we formerly did a review. It was called the Twisted Gourmet back then, but they have since moved on to another spot in Corona. Maria's opened here in May of last year, and they have another more established place in the Woodcrest section of Riverside. Since opening on the corner of Ontario and Main, Maria's has gotten reviews all over the map on Yelp. People either love this place or hate it. It's not surprising for Yelp, but it made me wonder which side of the fence I would land on at Maria's.

We got to Maria's at about 7pm on a recent Saturday night. The restaurant was deserted when we walked in, but soon after we arrived a large party filled the front of the place, which brought some much needed life here. Since Maria's took over this space, they painted the walls bright colors, added colorful furniture, had some plants strewn across the area, and added plenty of decor to the walls. The menu is what you would expect from a Mexican restaurant. Combo plates, burritos, tacos, and your favorite Mexican cuisine are represented here. I was hungry after our long trip out the 91 Freeway, so let's see how this visit ended for us.

We were given the customary chips and salsa to start things off. These were some pretty stellar chips. They were fried nicely while still being light. They were almost addictive. When the salsa came to the table, I was let down by the appearance of it, but its flavor won me over. I typically like a chunkier version, but this salsa had enough heat to compensate for the lack of chopped-up veggies. There were some nice pieces of onions floating around in there, though. A delicious version of chips and salsa excited me for what was to come.

The appetizer section did not inspire creativity at Maria's. They have eight items on their appetizer menu, four of which are quesadillas. We went with their El Toro Quesadilla ($9.95). This large flour tortilla was filled with shredded beef and cheese and was served with sour cream. The menu says this comes with guacamole, but there was none to be found here. This was still a good quesadilla. It was conveniently sliced into four pieces for the four of us, so there was no way Sabrina could have hogged it all. The quesadilla was not as greasy as I had thought it would be. The beef inside was tender, with just the right amount of cheese, so it did not overshadow the meat.

Most of the meals at Maria's come with your choice of soup or salad. Anthony is partial to their Caldo De Albondigas Soup. This meatball soup came in a broth with carrots and cabbage. Anthony liked the flavor of the meatballs. I had the Dinner Salad, which was just your basic salad, which included fresh greens, tortilla strips, your choice of dressing, and a sprinkling of cheese on top. I'm still determining what made this salad for me, but I liked it. There was just enough dressing and plenty of crunch from the tortilla strips, and I liked the inclusion of the pepper on the side.

Anthony will start our entree portion of this blog with his choice, the El Trio Grande ($16.95). This three-item combination plate came with a pork tamale, chile relleno, a shredded beef taco, and rice. Anthony was up in the air about his meal. He liked the tamale a lot. It was stuffed with pork and then topped with cheese and red sauce. He felt the chile relleno was good, but he's had better. The taco was very average. Just looking at the almost white hunk of tomato on top of the taco would have turned me off, too. Anthony is usually a big eater, but even he could not finish all of this food and took some home the next day.

Sabrina is always predictable when going out for Mexican food, as she gravitates towards a Two-Cheese Enchilada Combination Plate ($9.95). As you can see, this was also the case at Maria's. Sabrina used to be enamored with the food at Miguel's, but now she has switched allegiances to Maria's. She likes the red sauce here better, and the inside of the enchilada has a good amount of cheese. She likes the beans and rice here as well.

I shouldn't give Sabrina such a hard time getting the same thing because Katie's a creature of habit when ordering Chicken Fajitas ($15.25). These are your typical restaurant fajitas, with sizzling iron plates and all. The chicken was cut into large strips and served with onions, green bell peppers, and tomatoes. They come with your choice of tortilla, beans, and rice. She, of course, got a side of Guacamole ($3.75). Katie felt the chicken here was juicy; otherwise, it was nothing spectacular. She liked both the beans and rice, though.

I asked the waitress about the carnitas, and she mentioned that the Chile Con Carne De Puerco ($15.25), also known as Chile Verde, was a better choice. Even though I did not have the carnitas here, she was correct. This was a delicious plate. The pork chunks were very tender, and the chile verde had a little kick to it, making my taste buds stand up and notice. I wish the serving size was more generous with this, though. The beans and rice were also good, with plenty of cheese topping the beans.

We all left Maria's satisfied with our meals. Don't get me wrong, this is not life-changing Mexican food here. It's good, middle-of-the-road Mexican food in an area with a love affair with Miguel's. This is better than Miguel's. Unlike at Miguel's, the food here tastes like something. The prices are on the high side, but you get a salad or soup with most dinners, so you will leave here with a full stomach. The service that we received on this night was good. They were not crazy busy, so our waitress had plenty of time to ensure we were doing okay. Sabrina and Anthony ended up picking out a good place for dinner. I'm sure it was all Anthony's doing.

Out of five time capsules (because the city of Corona holds the unofficial record for most time capsules lost, a staggering 17 within the city limits), five being best to zero being worst, Maria's Mexican Kitchen gets 3 time capsules.

Maria's Mexican Kitchen does not have a website, but you can find more information about them on their Yelp page, which you can see by clicking here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/marias-mexican-kitchen-corona

Planting Ourselves at Los Agaves

Los Agaves Restaurant

600 N. Milpas St.

Santa Barbara, CA 93103

For years I have been hearing about this Mexican restaurant in Santa Barbara. I've heard about the salsa bar, been informed about their killer molcajetes, and of course I've been told about their long lines. That's why when Katie and I were staying in Santa Maria, we strategically left there to make it here when we thought it would be less crowded. Mission accomplished, we arrived here right at 11am on Sunday, found a spot in their very small parking lot, and walked straight up to the register to order. It's awesome when a plan comes together so nicely.

Los Agaves now has three locations. They have two in Santa Barbara, and a new one that opened up just about a month ago in Goleta. Their location on Milpas is pretty nice. Ordering is done at the counter, and then you find a seat in one of their many seating areas. I got the feeling this was once someones home, with all of the connected rooms. The tiled floor and exposed wood beams really gave this restaurant a comfortable feel to it. They also have patio seating here, so you can enjoy the great Santa Barbara weather.

The menu at Los Agaves is pretty large, with many of your Mexican favorites present and accounted for. Most items hover around the $12 mark. Take some time to check out their daily specials, which are written on the blackboard behind the registers. From everything that I have heard about this place, there's some good stuff hiding in those specials. We made our selections, and grabbed a table in one of the more secluded rooms. Let's see if Los Agaves is worthy of all this hype.

No trip to Los Agaves would be complete without a trip to their legendary Salsa Bar, which is located right to the right of where you order. I did not take the time to write down what all six of these were, but they all were pretty stellar. I really liked the hotter ones, but I am usually always partial to spicy salsas.

True to form when we are eating in a Mexican restaurant, Katie always orders Guacamole ($4.25) to start off with. This was a very good version of my favorite fruit. This guacamole was not overly seasoned with garlic salt and citrus. Just topped with some diced red onions, cilantro, and tomatoes, which allowed the natural flavor of the avocado to push through. I really liked the texture of this guacamole as well. The tortilla chips were baked nicely, and not greasy as all. I had a hard time not scarfing this guacamole down before our meals came.

After about five to ten minutes, our food started making its way out to us in stages. First to arrive was my Crispy Shredded Beef Taco ($3.50). This taco was filled with shredded beef, salsa, sour cream, cheese and placed on top of almost a half a head of lettuce. This taco was good, but there needed to be a little more shredded beef in here. The sour cream was plentiful, and of course the salsa was spot on. The crispy taco shell was fried to perfection, without dripping in grease.

I should have tried one of their molcajetes, but this Agaves Burrito ($12.25) got a lot of love on Yelp, and it was definitely worthy of it. Halibut and shrimp fills this burrito, along with roasted red peppers, onions, cheese, lettuce, and guacamole. It's then topped with a chipotle sauce. I really liked this burrito. There was plenty of shrimp, but the halibut kind of took a backseat to the more flavorful shrimp. The chipotle sauce was almost addictive, it was that good. One of the best burritos I have had in awhile. This burrito was supposed to come with beans and rice, but I ended up getting only the rice with a side of their Agaves salad. The Agaves salad was a pleasant surprise. It came with mixed greens, mandarin oranges, mango, avocado, dried cranberries, and a very good mango dressing. I'm not much into salads with fruit in them, but this one was fresh and delicious. Their rice was even good. Nice and light, and sprinkled with cotija cheese. This plate was all it's cracked up to be.

Katie went the breakfast route at Los Agaves, with this Huevos Rancheros. ($7.95). When I asked Katie to describe this dish, she could not contain her excitement about it. She threw around adjectives like; best, delicious, and heavenly. It starts with the tortillas here. The corn tortilla was crisped above the eggs, and kind of gave this a chiaquiles effect. The chipotle sauce had just enough heat to it, but did not overpower the plate. This was served with black beans, rice, and potatoes. A good sized meal for under eight dollars. Katie also wanted me to make sure that I give a shout out to their tortillas here. She said they were some of the best she has had.

I guess you can say that we really liked the food at Los Agaves. Everything we had was fresh, the salsas and sauces were all top notch, and the portion sizes were pretty generous. We stayed full all the way home, and only managed to eat a little bit of dinner on this night. With all the variety on the Los Agaves menu, we look forward to making many more trips back to Santa Barbara in the near future. For all of you from OC, this restaurant reminded me of a much better version of Taco Mesa. Service was pretty good, even though we did not interact too much with anyone here. Los Agaves was well worth the trip off of the freeway, and it was even better that we beat the rush here. The famous Los Agaves lines were out the door when we left here right at lunch time though.

Out of five bicycles, (because the city of Santa Barbara ranks in the top 20 for most commuters that get to work by riding bicycles), five being best to zero being worst, Los Agaves gets 3.5 bicycles.

For more information about Los Agaves, head to their website here: http://www.los-agaves.com/

Starting the Day Off Right at Kay's

Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen

135 E. Clark Avenue

Santa Maria, CA 93455

We had the whole day to hang out in Santa Maria recently. My friend was having his wedding up here, but the ceremony did not get underway until 4, so that meant we had plenty of time to check out our surroundings on this early fall weekend. We had plans to see the Santa Maria Museum of Flight, and maybe if we had time, we would swing by the Santa Maria Town Center for some shopping. Of course with all of this planned, we had to start our day with breakfast.

I had bookmarked a breakfast restaurant in Orcutt before we left OC. Orcutt is an unincorporated area of Santa Maria, which is an oil town. This community is named after William Warren Orcutt, who not only was an oilman, but he also brought the fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits to the attention of scientists. Old Town Orcutt has a small-town feel to it, even though there are 35,000 people living here now. This main commercial area has an old west kind of vibe going for it, without being too hokey.

We pulled up to Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen at 10:30 and had about a fifteen-minute wait. They were kind enough to have coffee outside for those wanting to eat here. Kay's has been around for over 14 years now, and word has definitely gotten out about this restaurant that's only open until 2pm. There's a nice heated patio here, but we were seated in one of the rooms near the front of the restaurant. This restaurant is housed in a building that dates from 1904, and it has been restored while Kay's been in charge. Walls are adorned with lots of photographs of local history. The menu is what you would expect from a breakfast joint; scrambles, omelets, and pancakes, but there's also a small selection of sandwiches and burgers here for those not wishing to partake in breakfast. We were here for the first meal of the day though, so let's see how that worked out for us.

Katie will start us off with her choice this morning, the Garden Scramble ($10.95). This veggie egg dish included sliced bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach, then topped with avocado and cheddar and jack cheeses. Katie liked the fluffiness of the eggs, which with the fresh produce really made this omelet a winner. Her choice for a breakfast bread was a homemade biscuit. This was a very good biscuit. It was buttery and not dry at all. This made us wish that we had ordered these biscuits with some gravy.

I did not have a hangover, but I could not resist the allure of having this Too Much To Drink Last Night Omelette ($10.95). Inside this omelet was diced up chicken fried steak and bacon, then it was topped with cheddar and jack cheeses and smothered with bacon and sausage gravy. I'm surprised I have never seen an omelet with chicken fried steak in it before. Predictably this was a delicious omelet. The gravy was full of flavor but did not overshadow the insides of the omelet, a very hard balance to achieve. The cheese did get a little lost here though. You get your choice of either hash browns or home fries with this meal, and I went with the hash browns, which were just okay. I should have maybe gone with home fries instead. For my bread option, I had their seasonal muffin, which just happened to be Pumpkin Spice. This was a pretty good muffin, which did not go overboard on the cinnamon and nutmeg, like other, "pumpkin", items tend to do.

Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen was a great way to start our day in Santa Maria. The breakfasts here are pretty good-sized, so make sure you bring your appetite. We did not think the prices were way out of line for this much food. The service we received from our waitress Kristen was personable and she really made us feel at home, even though we were probably one of the few parties that were not from around here. If we are back in the area again, this is a definite place for us to hit up for breakfast. Of course, after all this food, we predictably skipped our plans to go to the museum and went back to our hotel for a two-hour nap before the wedding. So much for the best-laid plans.

Out of five oil rigs, (since Orcutt is an old oil town), five being best to zero being worst, Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen gets 3.5 oil rigs.

For more information about Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen, go to their website here: https://www.kayscountrykitchen.com/

Sampling Salvadoran Food in Santa Maria

Las Comadres

202 W. Main St.

Santa Maria, CA 93458

I have one rule when we are on vacation. I never want to eat at a restaurant that I could eat when I am at home. That's why you won't see me going to Cheesecake Factory in Boston, scarfing down chicken strips in Times Square at Friday's, or when I'm in Vegas, eating at Javier's. Okay, I don't eat at Javier's here either, but that's just because it's not good. Anyways, the point is that we look for places where the locals eat. These seem to be the best places, and that's what we were hoping for when we went to Las Comadres in Santa Maria.

Las Comadres is a restaurant that hit all of our key points.  It's a Salvadoran restaurant that seemed to get really good reviews on Yelp, it's something that we haven't had at home, and as an added bonus, it was just right down the street from our hotel. How could we not eat here? I did a quick check of Salvadorian restaurants in OC, and Yelp gave me 16 to try, so if we liked the food here at Las Comadres, then we might have to check some of those restaurants out.

After freshening up after our long car ride, we made it to Las Comadres at about 7pm on a Friday night. Not exactly in the most happening part of town, we were welcomed by their neon sign assuring us that they were open. There were a few TVs turned to some novellas, a few soccer jerseys hanging on the brightly colored walls, and some maps of El Salvador thrown in for decor. That's about it for ambiance. This is a no-frills kind of place, where you seat yourself, and then they bring you a menu.

If you are expecting some Mexican cuisine to be hidden on this menu, you might as well keep driving. Salvadoran tamales, yuca frita, and probably the most notable dish from this Central American country, pupusas rule the roost here. The menu might seem a little adventurous, but we were pretty excited to finally try this cuisine. We asked some questions to our waitress and waited for our food to make its way out to us.

I guess I spent all this time telling you this isn't like a Mexican restaurant, and then they place Chips and Salsa in front of us. Okay, there's a tiny bit of crossover here. These were some pretty sturdy tortilla chips, which were almost on the verge of being overcooked. The salsa was on the watery side, but I liked the large pieces of onion in there. This salsa had a big tomato flavor but hit you with a good amount of spice near the end. I had a meal coming my way, but it was hard to resist this salsa.

Whenever it's unlikely we will be back to a restaurant again, I always gravitate towards combination plates, and Katie must have picked this up from me, as she selected Combo #4  which includes 2 Pupusas, a Tamal, Yuca Frita, Beans and Rice ($12.99). She chose to have one of her pupusas filled with just cheese, and the other to have cheese and squash. The cheese they use in these was a Salvadoran soft cheese called quesillo. Katie was really excited by these pupusas. The squash was really fresh, and the cheese was not crazy heavy. The outer corn portion of the pupusa was a great vessel for the insides. The rest of the plate was pretty good as well. The yuca frita was probably the best version I have had. Fried perfectly, very crisp, and not greasy, it was made even better when dipped in the beans. If I had to pick a weak spot here, it would have to be the rice, which was a little on the bland side. Katie left here very happy though.

Not the most beautifully plated dish, I went with a combo as well. The #1 Combo included 2 Pupusas, 1 Chicken Tamal, and half a Plantain ($8.59). I enjoyed my food as well. I had pork, cheese, and beans in my pupusas, which is also known as the Revueltas pupusa. The pupusas are not filled to the brim here, but they will fill you up. The tamal is not like the Mexican versions I have had. These are very moist, not overly stuffed with chicken, and they have a lightness about them. I've never really been a fan of plantain, but this one was one of the best I have had. Not sure what they did to this, but if more plantains tasted like this, I'd order them way more than I do. A very solid plate of food.

It's safe to say that the food at Las Comadres piqued my interest in Salvadorian food. I've already got a place bookmarked that is near my house. As for Las Comadres, this is a no-frills place serving up some delicious Central American cuisine. If you come here with an open mind, and not expecting Mexican food, you will definitely leave here happy. The service we experienced on this night was very pleasant. Glad we shied away from the norm and went with something that was a bit out of our comfort zone. A real hidden gem in Santa Maria.

Out of five video games, (because before his name was famous for being on a video game, John Madden was head coach of Santa Maria's Allan Hancock College's football team), five being best to zero being worst, Las Comadres gets 3.5 video games.

For more information about Las Comadres, check out their website here: https://www.lascomadressalvadoreanfood.com/

Possibly Perfect Pastrami at Langer's

Langer's Deli

704 South Alvarado St. 

Los Angeles, CA 90057

This is a restaurant that is as elusive as finding a parking space at the mall during the last two weeks of December. It's only open from 8 to 4 on weekdays and Saturdays, the closed on Sundays. Not ideal for me since I'm always at work during those hours, and my day off also is the day Langer's is closed. Then you throw in geography, since I'm coming from Orange County, and I thought I would never make it up here to try this legendary restaurant.

Just when I thought all was lost, my buddy was having a wedding up north, so we were going to be going right by here on a weekday. I finally had hope that we could actually make this happen. We left OC at a strategic time, to avoid the lunch rush, avoid some traffic,  and hit Langer's with plenty of time to make it before their 4pm closing time. Mission accomplished. We rolled in close to 2, and were seated right away.

Langer's Deli is proud to call itself old school, because they genuinely are. Opening their doors in 1947, back when Truman ruled the White House, Al Langer had just 12 seats in his deli, which would eventually become a restaurant where many generations of families would visit over and over again. Running the show now is Al's son Norm, who got a little bit of luck when a subway stop opened near the restaurant, which saved this historic restaurant from possible closure.

Langer's is located across the street from MacArthur Park, an area that has definitely seen better days. Mainly a Hispanic area now, and ringed by Chinatown, Koreatown, and Historic Filipinotown, Langer's is not in an area that I expected to find what some people call the greatest pastrami sandwich in the world. I walked in the door and immediately understood why this Jewish deli is still here. No matter who you are, if there's good food available, you will want to eat it. Inside Langer's was a great cross section of America. This place brought everyone here to eat, and I could not wait to try the food here. We quickly ordered and waited for our food to arrive.

Katie started things off for us with what she likes to call, "Jewish penicillin," Matzo Ball Soup ($3.95). This is a very basic soup. No veggies or noodles included, just the broth and the matzo ball in the cup. This is definitely worth getting. The matzo ball was well made, and not clumpy like others we have had. The broth had a lot of flavor, and this soup worked wonders on Katie's sinuses. This soup wraps your insides like a comfy blanket on a winter day.

Well here is the sandwich that has brought all these people to Langer's, and helped make it a cultural icon, the #19 Pastrami, Swiss Cheese, and Coleslaw ($15.95). For the sandwich not being stacked as high as I imagined, it sure did have lots of pastrami on here. The meat was tender and full of flavor. I liked the thickness of the cut also. If I'm going to have pastrami, I want to be able to taste it, and you can't do that when it's cut paper thin. The coleslaw added a good crunch and had the right consistency, without being too soupy. The Swiss cheese got a little lost on here though. The rye bread was very soft in the middle, and the crust portion was hard. It really helped keep the sandwich together and structurally sound. I really enjoyed this sandwich even more with their house made Russian dressing, which would even be good on a shoe. It's that good. A really good sandwich that I was happy to have tried.

Katie's choice on this afternoon was the #44 Hot Pastrami Sandwich ($15.95). This classic sandwich came on grilled rye, with sauerkraut, a good amount of pastrami, and  nippy cheese. I had never heard of nippy cheese before, but it's basically a sharp American cheese. Katie felt this sandwich was really good and rich. It was made even better with the addition of the Russian dressing. I really liked the rye bread toasted at Langer's. It definitely added a crunch to the bread, which helped with the texture of this sandwich. I'm much more of a hot sandwich guy, so this one was right up my alley. Another winner.

I really do not have too much to say about their Russian dressing, only this. Make sure you order a side of it. It's the best I have had to date, and I'm already making plans on trying to smuggle some out of here on my next visit. It made both of our sandwiches better.

Even though we had a three hour car ride ahead of us, we needed to try one of their desserts at Langer's. We selected the Apple Pie Ala Mode ($7.09) to fill this need. This apple pie came topped with one of the most generous servings of ice cream we have seen with pie. I'm not sure what kind of ice cream they use here, but it was great. The pie was a little on the syrupy side. The apples had a good crunch to them, and they did not rely on an abundance of cinnamon to flavor this pie. The crust was well made, and could have been showcased a little more without all the syrup used here.

Sometimes it takes me a long time to come up with what to say about a restaurant, this was not one of those times. Langer's definitely deserves all of the heaps of praise that it receives. Their pastrami is all it's cracked up to be, and we do look forward to finding more reasons to come by this way in the future. To call this the best pastrami I have ever had, I'd have to have a side by side taste test with the pastrami from Brent's Deli in Northridge. It really is that close to call, and I raved about Brent's, just like I raved about Langer's for weeks after my visit. Even though Langer's is not in the best part of town, I love the charm of it. It makes it even more special than it is. Service was stellar during our stay. Our waiter definitely kept tabs on us all afternoon. The prices might be a tad high, but this is quality eats that you are getting at Langer's, and it's well worth it. Glad we could finally scratch this restaurant off of our restaurant bucket list.

Out of five cakes, (since this restaurant is located across the street from MacArthur Park, and there was a famous song written about leaving a cake out in the rain in that park), five being best to zero being worst, Langer's Deli gets 4 cakes.

For more information about Langer's Deli, go to their website here: http://www.langersdeli.com/