Devouring Disney Delectables

Disneyland Resort 

1313 Harbor Blvd. 

Anaheim, CA 92802

This post will be a little different than our usual restaurant reviews. Somehow I got suckered into going to Disneyland last week, and while I'm not really into amusement parks, I decided to make our trip more about the food, than the rides, crowds, and lines. I know, big shock.

As you can see from this picture, Disneyland was not crowded on the day we were here. No ride had a wait of more than 20 minutes, and you could actually walk right down Main Street and not bump into all the tourists craning their necks to take it all in.

It was family day at the Magic Kingdom, and since Katie has two relatives working for Disney, they could get the ten of us in the parks for free. Thanks go out to Emily and Bridget for getting all of us in. This would be Katie's nephew, Andrew's first time here. Even though he's only 19 months old, it was pretty cool watching him take in everything. With such a large group we were moving through both California Adventure and Disneyland at the speed of a glacier, but that gave us plenty of time to stop and get food. I had a list of things I had wanted to try on this day, many of which I have never tried before, so let's see if the food could take my mind off of my aching feet.

This first stop at Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe was less about food, than it was to get everyone some coffee. They sell Starbucks at this California Adventure quick service restaurant, and that is the fuel that definitely makes Katie's family get moving in the morning. Not a coffee drinker, I tried their Signature Cinnamon Roll ($5.29) while waiting for their caffeinated concoctions to be ready. This cinnamon roll was topped with cream cheese frosting. It really reminded me of the Pillsbury ones that you get in the tube in the dairy department. That's not a bad thing, because I love those, it's just what this reminded me of. It could have been heated a bit more, but a decent cinnamon nonetheless.

Our only other food stop at California Adventure was a snack at Award Wieners. We were waiting for the rest of our group to get out of the Frozen attraction, and it had been at least an hour since my cinnamon roll, so I snuck over to order this Barbecue Hot Link ($8.19). This was one of six varieties of hot dogs that they serve here. This hot link was topped with barbecue sauce and grilled onions, and came with a bag of Lay's potato chips. The hot link had a good meatiness to it, but was not really too spicy. The barbecue sauce was okay, and the grilled onions were not even detectable. A very average hot dog, that did its job by satisfying me until lunch time.

I was pretty stoked that when lunchtime rolled around, that everyone wanted to eat at the Plaza Inn, which is located right at the end of Main Street and at the entrance to Tomorrowland. Plaza Inn is probably most known for their character buffet breakfast, where guests can enjoy all you can eat breakfast, while Disney characters make the rounds to all the tables. I was excited to eat here because I had heard good things about their fried chicken, which we will get to in a moment. Plaza Inn is a cafeteria style restaurant. You pick up your tray at the front, then select your plates you want, and seat yourself. No free refills here, as they have a very strict policy, so plan accordingly. Here's a quick glance at the Penne Pasta with Marinara ($13.99) and the Penne Pasta with Chicken Pesto Alfredo Sauce ($13.99). I did not get a chance to try either of these, they looked a little on the boring side to me, but no complaints from anyone that had these. The House Salads ($4.39) looked like it featured fresh produce, and Katie enjoyed the one that she got.

Here's the reason I was so excited to come to the Plaza Inn, the Fried Chicken ($15.99). You get three pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a biscuit. It might be heresy to say this, but this might be better fried chicken than what you can get at that amusement park on Beach Boulevard. This fried chicken had a nice and flavorful breading, while the meat inside was moist and tender. What clinches this as one of the better fried chickens is that it was not greasy at all. Really impressive. The sides were okay. The mashed potatoes were a little on the dry side, and while the gravy added moisture, it did not add too much in the way of flavor. Green beans are not my favorite, but Katie liked them. The biscuit was pretty middle of the road as well, but the chicken is the real star here.

Since Katie and I had split our lunch, we decided to splurge on dessert with this Triple Layer Cake ($5.39). Should have opted for an extra piece of chicken. Not that this was a bad slice of cake, it was pretty good, but it looked so much better, and was kind of a letdown. I thought it would have had more of a peanut butter flavor to it. A good looking cake, but it could have been more moist.

I was at a recent food event, and was discussing this post with people, and they made me feel like such a lackadaisical foodie for not ever having a Pineapple Dole Whip ($3.79), or a Dole Whip Float ($5.19). Well I'm not that lazy food guy anymore. I once was a Dole Whip virgin, but not anymore. I had the straight Dole Whip, which is soft serve pineapple ice cream. I liked that the pineapple was not overly abundant here, but hid around the background. I did get a little tired of this near the end, and ended up throwing away my last few bites. Much more to my liking was the float version of this. They use pineapple juice, and top it with the same pineapple soft serve. This helped break up the soft serve flavor a bit for me. I can't say I'm overly in love with this, but I'd get it again on one of the hotter days at Disneyland.

Getting off of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was the perfect time to head over to the French Market, and their Mint Julep Bar. This is a walk up window right next to the French Market, which specializes in drinks, and these Mickey-Shaped Beignets ($7.19 for a six pack). I was a little disappointed with these beignets. They had plenty of sugar on them, but the inside was way too airy, with not much going on. I would have liked these more if they were more dense. They were freshly made, and came out warm though. Not awful, but they did not quell my desire for a good beignet.

We were on our way out of Disneyland when we stopped for our last item on my Disney foods bucket list, a Corn Dog ($7.69) from the Little Red Wagon, which is right next to the Plaza Inn, on Main Street. These corn dogs, which are also available at the Corn Dog Castle at California Adventure., are hand dipped, and served hot. They have a very thick batter, which encases the hot dog, and makes it take a backseat to the crunchy corn batter. I'd like this a little more with a thicker, more prominent hot dog, but this is still one of the best corn dogs I have had. A great way to end our Disney day.

Even though I was less than thrilled about spending the day at Disneyland, I ended up having a really good eating day here. I remember when I was growing up, taking annual trips to Disneyland, and the food was overpriced and not very good. I was happy to see that this has definitely changed. They have really stepped up their food game at the park, and I did not think the prices were totally out of control, the way admission prices have skyrocketed. There is still plenty more that I would want to eat here on future visits. I hear good things about the food at Cathay Circle, I still have yet to have a sandwich from the Downtown Disney location of Earl of Sandwich, and of course Napa Rose is on my list as one of the most praised restaurants in OC. Maybe this will become one of our families traditions, and we can explore more of the food of Disneyland next year.

For more information about dining options at the Disneyland Resort, check out their website here: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/

Getting the Lead Out to Get Some Great BBQ - CLOSED

Leadbelly's Barbecue

711 North Placentia Ave. 

Fullerton, CA 92831

There are some food genres that will always elicit a response from all of you readers. Pizza seems to be a hot topic, and I can always count on a boatload of comments when I write about burgers. Both of these seem to pale in comparison to the responses I get when I review a barbecue place, though.

It might be because there are so many genres of barbecue, which gets people sticking up for their favorites. There's the Texas variety, Carolina, whose vinegar-based sauces are also well represented, and no one can deny the allure of Kansas City barbecue. I get many responses from barbecue posts because good barbecue restaurants in Southern California are few and far between. Let's see if Leadbelly's could help cure our lack of good barbecue restaurants.

Leadbelly's is housed in the former Shortstop BBQ spot we visited two years ago. I'm not sure what happened to them, as we really liked their stuff, but Leadbelly's took over about 15 months ago, and they have received some glowing reviews on the blogs that I read and, of course, Yelp. If you are driving down Placentia Avenue, they are situated in the back of the shopping center that houses Pepe's and Jack In The Box.

We met my parents here at 11am on a recent Sunday morning. Even at this early lunch hour, their 12 or so tables were filled at one time or another during our stay. The dining area is a little on the small side but very comfortable. Four TVs showing sports, lots of wood, and some whimsical signs are part of the decor here. It might become a little cramped during busier times of the day, so be advised. Ordering is done at your table, and the menu, while manageable, has everything you would expect a barbecue restaurant to have on it. I was geared to try this place, so let's see what we ordered.

I had heard good things about the Loaded Pork Garlic Fries ($12), and I'm happy to report that all the hype about these was well deserved. This mound of fries was topped with pulled pork, bacon, Parmesan cheese, pork belly, pepper jack cheese, and chives, then served with a white gravy for dipping. This lived up to my mantra: if pork belly is in it, it has to be good. This was really tasty. The four of us had no problem polishing this off. The meats on this were so good that I knew we were in for a treat when our entrees would make it out of the kitchen. Surprisingly, the fries stayed crisp, even under the mound of humanity piled on them. The cheeses were good and did not get in the way of the meats. The gravy was the weakest part of this dish, but it was still so good. You definitely need to try this when coming to Leadbelly's.

Besides death and taxes, there's one other thing I'm sure of: if my mom's eating in a barbecue restaurant, she's definitely ordering a Pulled Pork Sandwich ($11). As you can see from this picture, they put a lot of meat on the sandwiches. The smoked pulled pork was moist, tender, and easy on the smokiness, which I like. I like the meat's natural flavor to be prevalent, not just smokiness. The sandwich usually comes with coleslaw, but my mom wanted it without. The brioche bun did an excellent job of keeping everything together, even after she added some barbecue sauce to it. The fries were decent, but much better when they had things piled on top of them, like our appetizer, which I can not stop thinking about. My mom left here with half of this sandwich for my dad's lunch the next day.

My dad selected the Smoked Tri-Tip Sandwich ($12.49) for his meal. Again, this had plenty of tri-tip, and the meat was moist and flavorful. My dad noticed the smokiness more with the tri-tip than with the pulled pork. Joining the meat in between the very well-made brioche bun was some pepper jack cheese, peppers, onions, and a spicy mustard. I feared all these flavors would clash, but my dad claims that was false. One of the best tri-tip sandwiches he has had. He decided to go for another side besides the french fries with the sandwich, so he opted for the Corn on the Cob for an extra dollar. The corn here is served more like an elote, but my dad wanted this stuff on the side. It came with plenty of chili powder, a house dressing, and what appeared to be cotija cheese. He only used a little of this but liked it well enough. He'd probably get a different side item on his next visit to Leadbelly's.

Katie got the same Tri-Tip Sandwich as my dad, but she added a fried egg to this for a dollar more. This made the sandwich richer and kept her satisfied all day long. She even skipped dinner on this night. The fried egg was done perfectly, so the yolk spilled out and coated a lot of the tri-tip. She also upgraded her side item to try the Jalapeno Mac and Cheese. This was a good version of this dish. The jalapeno did not overpower but hung out in the background; the bacon provided a nice smokiness that went well with the creamy cheese. An excellent side item.

As is my custom when eating most places, if a combo plate is offered, I will try it. I had the Three Meats Combo Plate ($19) this afternoon. I selected the Tri-Tip, the Spicy Pork Sausage, and the Burnt Ends. The best were the burnt ends. If these are available when you are here, get them. For those of you who don't know what these are, they are cut from the point part of the brisket, and these cubes are packed with flavor. One of the best pieces of barbecue I have ever had in my mouth. Yes, they were that good. The tri-tip was good as well. Moist had a small ribbon of fat running through it, providing even more flavor. Not overly smoky, the natural flavor of the meat came through. The spicy sausage with peppers and onions was good but could have been better. A good meatiness to the sausage, but I expected a little more heat here. I'd try the pork belly or pulled pork on my next visit. I had the BBQ Baked Beans and Creamed Corn for my two sides. The beans were the better of the two; they had little bits of meat in them and a delicious sauce coating the beans. The corn, which you can see on the plate above, was very soupy and missed the mark on the sweetness I was expecting, unlike Gulliver's creamed corn.

I was excited about our time at Leadbelly's. Even after this one visit, Leadbelly's has moved to one of my favorite barbecue places in OC. That appetizer and their burnt ends were enough to make me return here again soon. The other items we had this afternoon were good, and none of us really disliked anything we had on this visit. I've read some people grumbling about their barbecue sauce here. They have a house sauce and a spicy version, both of which were good, but with meats this fantastic, you will only use it sparingly. Our service this afternoon was solid; our waiter answered our questions and took great care of us. I'm looking forward to hearing how all of you like this place as well, so don't hesitate to comment or email me. Also, if you have a barbecue place we should hit up, let us know.

Out of five 12-string guitars (because that was an instrument of choice for blues legend Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter), five being best to zero being worst, Leadbelly's Barbecue gets 4 twelve-string guitars.

For more information about Leadbelly's Barbecue, go to their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leadbellys-Barbecue/170803192946868

Cousin Conclave at Craftsman Pizza

Craftsman Wood Fired Pizza

148 Yorba Linda Blvd. 

Placentia, CA 92870

The holidays are a time for families to get together. I'm pretty lucky, almost all of my family lives in OC, and the rest live in the surrounding counties. So it's not rare that we all see each other throughout the year. The one exception to this is my cousin DJ. He moved to Chile last year and loves it. He's really done well down there, and I'm pretty proud of him. Going to Chile with no real plan, and ending up owning and operating a hot sauce company that he's grown from the ground up. I was excited to catch up with him and hear about all his adventures, so we headed out to dinner by where he was staying, and ended up at Craftsman Wood Fired Pizza.

Craftsman is located in Placentia, in the same shopping center as Marie Callender's. Open just over a year, they were named best pizza in Orange County by OC Weekly. Such high praise for a new restaurant, I immediately put them on our list of places to try.

Owned by a third-generation restaurateur, Joe Rasic has brought his experience to his own place. The restaurant was busy with activity on Friday night we were here to grab a quick bite. Usually, these wood-fired pizza places are kind of on the stuffy side, but this one kind of had the feel of the old family pizza joints from back in the day. You know the ones that your coach would bring you to after a Little League game, and you would run amuck, begging your parents for quarters all night long. No video games that I saw here, but I was totally focused on the food.

The menu here is, of course, pizza driven. There are 12 pizzas to choose from, but if you prefer there is also the build your own option. Not in the mood for pizza? There's a few sandwiches offered, and some salads. Another focus at Craftsman is the rather large beer selection. Craft beer rules here and the selection of large bottles and draft selections were a little overwhelming for me since I'm not really well versed in craft beers. I basically just picked one at random and went with it. Our waitress was was pretty knowledgeable about the beers, and when she couldn't answer our questions, she found someone that could. I was way more excited about the pizzas, so let's see if we think this is the best pizza in OC.

We started our meal with these Beer Battered Zucchini ($8). These were a little overcooked, and being that they were beer battered, I thought the outer coating would have been a little lighter, and more flavorful. These fried zucchini were rather boring and really did not leave a lasting impression on us. The ranch dressing was good though. Nice and thick.

The menu at Craftsman says that their 10-inch pizzas serve 1 to 2 comfortably, and that is definitely the case. The three of us each got one of their specialty pizzas, starting with Katie's selection, the Grilled Steak and Potato ($9). This pizza came topped with sliced potato, tri-tip steak, Gouda, caramelized onions, olive oil, and chimichurri. Katie liked this comforting pizza. The tri-tip was tender, and the chimichurri was a nice alternative to regular pizza sauce. A perfect pizza for meat and potato lovers.

My favorite pizza of the night, unfortunately, did not come to the table for me. This was DJ's choice, the Meatball and Grilled Peppers Pizza ($9). This pizza came with sliced meatballs, which they get from an outside vendor, a trio of roasted peppers, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce. The key for me with this pizza was that there was plenty of cheese on it. The meatballs were pretty solid, and the marinara seemed to pop on this pizza. I tried to sneak an extra piece of this, but DJ was having no part of that.

My pizza was so much like DJ's that I thought for sure I would like it just as much. I had the Principal Pizza ($9), which had sausage, garlic, red onions, and jalapenos. I expected this one to throw flavor in my face, but it kind of fell flat. I think it might have been the jalapenos that were the culprit. They provided no spice and added little in the way of flavor. The cheese and sausage kind of got lost here as well, and the garlic did not even make an appearance. I'd probably try another pizza on any future visits to Craftsman.

Before he left for Chile, DJ asked me to find him the best meatball sandwich in OC. I kind of have been lax on this quest, so I ordered this Meatball and Provolone Sandwich ($10) to show him I was still on the case. This was a pretty good meatball sandwich. It was served on rosemary bread and came with the same meatballs that were on the pizza, a marinara sauce, grilled onions, and provolone cheese. I would have liked the meatballs to be served whole on this, and maybe a little more cheese, but still a pretty solid sandwich. Not sure who does their bread, but this stood up well, and I liked the hint of rosemary. Still on my quest for a great meatball sandwich.

Without a doubt, the most disappointing part of our meal was dessert. We had ordered this Chocolate Chip Brownie Sundae ($5), which came out totally burnt. We ate it anyway because it still looked good, but there were definitely parts of this brownie that were on the charcoaled side. We liked the ice cream, but the hot fudge could have been a little thicker.

We had a good visit and a good meal with my cousin DJ on this night. Is this the best pizza in OC? In my opinion, it is not. It was good, but not great. I like pizzas covered in cheese and toppings, and these were a little light in both of those areas. I did like the fact that this is not a Chipotle-style pizza place, which seems to have taken over the entire world. Blaze, Pieology, Mod Pizza, Pizza Rev, and others are decent, but I miss the days of pizza parlors, which Craftsman is a nod towards. We would come back here for sure. Our waitress, Jasmyn was very personable and explained everything to us very well. I thought the prices were more than fair, and there are other pizzas I'd like to try. A great place to catch up with my world traveler cousin.

Out of five blackboards, (because the owner of this restaurants wife is a Placentia school teacher for over 22 years, and I am a proud graduate of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District), five being best to zero being worst, Craftsman Wood Fired Pizza gets 3 blackboards.

For more information about Craftsman Wood Fired Pizza, go to their website here: https://craftsmanpizza.com/