Come and Get It at Cowgirls Cafe

Cowgirls Cafe

1720 South Grand Ave.

Santa Ana, CA 92705

Father's Day is a little rough on married couples. You have to make time to see both dads, and that usually involves some sort of a compromise. Luckily, Katie's family is pretty flexible about when they get a chance to see us. They pretty much allow my family to make plans, and then we work around them to make sure we get to see Katie's family. This year, my parents were doing something later in the afternoon, so that left Father's Day morning open to spending with my dad. Since they live in Yorba Linda, we always try to meet somewhere in the middle, and this time it just so happened that we met at Cowgirls Cafe in Santa Ana.

I found this place, as I usually do, on Yelp, and it was highly rated, and fit our criteria of being near the midpoint for all of us. I'm not sure of the history of this restaurant, but it's been in business for over ten years. Located just south of Edinger, in a heavy industrial area, the restaurant has a classic diner vibe. It kind of felt like a retro Denny's, with a western tinge to it. The booths were comfortable, there was a tiny six-seat, old school counter, along with plenty of cowboy pictures hanging on the wall, with a special emphasis on John Wayne. Also of note, a wall of license plates covering one wall, right above the counter seats.

We were a little worried this place was going to be packed, with it being Father's Day and all, but we got right in at 8:30. The menu here is dominated by American breakfast classics, with five items offered for those of you that would prefer a Mexican slant on your first meal of the day. They also have a whole page of their menu dedicated to lunch items, but be advised that they close by 3 on most days, and by 2 pm on the weekends. As usual, I showed up here knowing already what I wanted to have, so I waited for my parents to make up their minds, and then waited patiently for our food to arrive. This is how our Father's day went down at Cowgirls Cafe.

Even though it was Father's Day, it's still ladies first, so we'll check out Katie's choice, this Breakfast Burrito ($7.65). This was listed on the front of the menu, under specials. This double wrapped breakfast burrito came filled with egg, sausage, onion, green chilies, cheese, and ranchero sauce, which Katie opted to have on the side. She called this a solid breakfast burrito which was easy to handle, and she liked it, but, was not wowed by it. This also came with a side of hash browns, which she enjoyed.

Also listed on the front of the menu, under the specials was this Breakfast Croissant ($7.45) that my mom took down. Two eggs divided between each half of a croissant, then topped with bacon, cheese, and usually tomato, but my mom decided she did not want the tomato. My mom loves breakfast sandwiches, and even though this was a pretty simple one, she enjoyed it. The croissant was fresh and was a nice deviation from the usual breakfast sandwiches she usually orders. Instead of the hash browns that usually come with this, she opted for a bowl of fresh fruit, which she shared with the rest of us.

Now the man of the hour on this Father's Day, my dad's meal was the Cowgirl Omelette ($9.95). This three-egg omelet was filled with cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, mushroom, and topped with plenty of avocados. Even though this was three eggs, my dad had no problem finishing this meal. He called this, "a solid meal, and a great way to start the day." I guess it was a trend on this morning, my dad also wanted to forgo the potatoes that come with this and had the cottage cheese instead. I'm not a fan of this option, but it was his day, so I held my tongue.

I'm not really big on surprises, so I almost always check out menus before we leave the house, so I knew I'd be having this Country Skillet ($9.95) on this morning. I'm a big fan of skillet breakfasts, and this was a very good and hearty one. The base was of course diced potatoes and is then topped with three eggs, cubed sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese, and country gravy. The cheese and bacon kind of was pushed to the background here, but there was also enough to keep me interested. The gravy was pretty solid, with plenty of flavors, and a nice smooth texture. I also was a big fan of the sausage used here. Potatoes could have been cut up a little more, but still a good, stick to your ribs kind of meal. This also came with toast, which was nicely toasted and buttered well.

Yes, I had enough with just the skillet, but I like to have sweet to go along with my savory for the first meal of the day, so Two Hotcakes ($3.45) were brought out for us also. These were some pretty tasty cakes. They were lighter than others, and still retained their flavor, a very delicate balance to achieve.

The food at Cowgirls Cafe is not going to blow you away with its creativity, but if you are in the mood for an honest and solid first meal of the day, then you may want to head over here. Service was spot on this morning, as they were very intent on keeping glasses full, checking on us regularly, and turning over tables, so they could seat everyone waiting at the front door. The staff did all of this in a nice, relaxed way, which was much appreciated by all. My dad summed it up best, when he commented, "This is the kind of breakfast spot that we need in Yorba Linda." He's right, and I'm not just saying that because this was Father's Day. Every neighborhood deserves a good breakfast spot, a place where you can sit down with your neighbors, have a cup of coffee, and chow down on some legit breakfast foods. For the people of southeast Santa Ana, this is your place. For the rest of us, it's a great spot to visit if you are in the area.

Out of five horses, (because all cowgirls need a horse to get around), five being best to zero being worst, Cowgirls Cafe gets 3 solid horses.

Cowgirls does not have a website but check out their Yelp page for more information: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cowgirls-cafe-santa-ana-3

Feed Your Pie Hole Here

The Pie Hole

177 N. Glassell St. 

Orange, CA 92866

I have to admit that when I heard that the Pie Hole was headed to OC, I had to reread the news article numerous times. It seemed almost unreal. Like we were winning the dessert lottery or something. To have one of the best pie joints I have ever had the pleasure to dine in, come to our neck of the woods, it was a dream come true, but not for my waistline.

The Pie Hole came across my radar about five years ago when I was reading a Foodbeast article, which was listing the best spots to eat pie in each state. Of course, you can probably guess that the California representative was Pie Hole, but if you want to plan a pie lovers trip around the US, read the rest of their article here. Anyways, we made a trip up to their original Arts District location about a year after that article was published, and became big fans of Pie Hole. You can read about that first visit by clicking here.

Pie Hole is now starting a thoughtful and slowly evolving expansion process. They are taking things nice and slow by picking locations to open up that meet certain criteria. They of course want high-traffic areas, but they also want places that will allow them to become part of the community. They want to be a meeting place for the neighborhoods they occupy, which also helps them keep advertising costs down since they do not seem to advertise at all.

Even though they now have four locations, (the original Arts District spot, along with Pasadena, Hollywood, and Orange), they are still a family-run business. Started by mom, Becky Grasley and her son, Mathew Heffner, they are also joined by Matt's friend, Sean Brennan. Becky always dreamed of selling her award-winning pies, and once she retired from a nursing job, this trio set out to make their dream a reality.

Opened in the forgettable Old Towne Grinder spot on the corner of Glassell and Maple, right across the street from the Filing Station, they started selling their pies in early May. Their menu not only features sweet pies but savory pies as well. The current menu on their website has four breakfast pies offered, along with 7 pies more suited for a meal than a dessert. We had already eaten a few doors down at Burger Parlor, so we got in line, ordered our slices of pies, and waited for them to come out. Let's see if the quality has been diminished as Pie Hole has expanded.

This Mexican Chocolate Pie ($6.50) is probably one of the Pie Hole's most well-known pies, so of course, we needed to give it a try. Not an overly sweet pie, the chocolate comes through, but was not sickeningly sweet, like others tend to be. The crust is good here, and I'm not even a real fan of crust. It's not just a vessel for the filling of the pie, it's actually part of the pie. I like that they incorporated the sugary crystals in the crust. A very well-rounded slice of pie.

The first pie I ever had at the Pie Hole in Downtown LA was this Mom's Apple Crumble Pie ($8.75 with ice cream added). It blew me away then, and it did the same now. The apples in here are not drenched in syrup like almost every other apple pie out there. They allow the natural sweetness of the apples to shine, with very good cinnamon crumble topping the slice. Just the right amount of sweetness here, this really is a balanced piece of pie that is brought together with the optional, but I say necessary scoops of vanilla ice cream. To my knowledge, my grandmothers never baked, but this is the kind of pie I'd imagine a grandmother would bake.

My dad is always a little screwy when it comes to pies that he likes. When we were growing up he always would get coconut cream or sour lemon. I never really understood why he did this until he let it slip that he got these weird flavors, so he wouldn't have to share with anyone. He probably thought this trend would continue when he ordered this Maple Custard ($7.25), but he was wrong. This was another winner this evening. The custard was nice and smooth, and the maple flavor came through strong. I really enjoyed the texture of this unique pie. Of course, the crust was just as good as the other pieces we had. Very impressive for a pie I would normally not order.

If you could not tell from the preceding, I love the Pie Hole. I know what some of you are probably thinking. How can I justify paying over $7 for a piece of pie, when you can go to Marie Callender's, Polly's, or Coco's and get a whole pie for that same amount? Those places are fine, everyday kinds of pie shops, but for a real, homemade style pie, you will want to make it to the Pie Hole. Their pies are just better and do not taste like mass-produced, overly sweetened pies. Ordering is done at the counter, and then the food is brought out to your table. We had no problems with the service this evening. So happy that the Pie Hole has come to OC, and look forward to finally trying their savory pies in the near future.

Out of five teeth, (because a pie hole is a slang term for a mouth, and of course, you can't eat without teeth), five being best to zero being worst, the Pie Hole gets 3.5 teeth.

For more information about the Pie Hole, head over to their website here: http://www.thepieholela.com/

Burger Parlor Expands to Orange - CLOSED

Burger Parlor

149 N. Glassell St. 

Orange, CA 92866

The Plaza, (not the Circle I have learned), has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to restaurants all of a sudden. They have had stalwarts like Haven Gastropub, Gabbi's, Taco Adobe, and Bruxie for a long while now. Then the next wave of spots opened up, Linx, Smoqued, and Pizza Press have set up shop in this area that used to be dominated by antique shops, rather than places to eat. Now there appears to be a third wave hitting this historical district that has been used as a backdrop for a ton of movies and TV shows. The new Watson's, The Pie Hole, and Burger Parlor have opened up in the last few months.

When my parents asked me where they could take me for my birthday, without hesitation, I said they could take Katie and me to the new Burger Parlor in Orange. This is our fourth visit to Burger Parlor, as we first tried them out when they were renting space at Rialto Cafe in Fullerton, and then we made two more visits when they finally moved into their own space, again in Fullerton. You can read about those visits here and here.

Now open in Orange since early April, it seems like they haven't lost a step in their new digs. They have a four and a half star rating with just under a hundred reviews doled out on Yelp. Glowing reviews and accolades are nothing new to Joseph Mahon and his team at Burger Parlor. They have been named best shakes in OC by KCBS Channel 2, they were written up in numerous magazines; Westways, Locale, and Sunset Magazine. They've also gotten glowing reviews from the OC Register, OC Weekly, and the LA Times.

To be truthful, I'm kind of enthralled with Chef/Owner Joseph Mahon's story. He graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and quickly started working in a pretty impressive list of restaurants. He then hightailed it to the south of France to hone his craft even more. After leaving France there were more restaurants to conquer in NYC, and then perhaps missing his native California, he found himself working in some great LA restaurants, all the while moving up the ranks in kitchens, to where he was in charge.

Being the Executive Chef at critically acclaimed, Bastide would in a roundabout way lead him back to his hometown of Fullerton, and opening Burger Parlor. At Bastide he came up with Burger Mondays, and it was such a hit, he decided he was going to shed his fine-dining job and open a burger joint, which would eventually turn into Burger Parlor. I was just hoping that with the addition of a second Burger Parlor location that the quality of my first visit was not going to dip. Let's see what we thought of this new Burger Parlor.

We started things off with two sides, the first of which were these Onion Rings ($4.29). The menu says these are hand-dipped and made to order, and they taste like it. The beer batter breading is lighter than expected and actually clings to the onion ring, which is what I want from onion rings. These circular onions are made even better when dipped into their very well done ranch dressing. Excellent rings.

At first glance, these Plaza Fries ($7.95) resemble the weak animal style fries from In-N-Out, but they are so much better. Also known as the DTF Fries at Burger Parlor's Downtown Fullerton location, these freshly cut fries are topped with plenty of their secret sauce, which is reminiscent of a thousand island, cheese, caramelized onions, and chili. It defies science, but the fries stay crisp, even under the weight of the toppings here. The chili is meaty, but kind of devoid of a spiciness, which would bring this up a notch or two in my book. I really liked the sweetness from the onion, which contrasted nicely with the saltiness of the rest of this. I'd get this again for sure.

Not the most photogenic of burgers, but my dad did not have one complaint about this Danish Blue Burger ($9.29). Caramelized onion, mushrooms, Danish blue cheese, oven-roasted tomato, and arugula was sandwiched between these two sturdy buns. Big flavors on this one. The blue cheese was pretty pungent on this evening and worked well with everything else here. The beef was still prevalent, and I got the sense that this burger did not need to be overstuffed with toppings to be enjoyable.

My mom only took down half of this Crispy Chicken Sandwich ($8.89). Not because she didn't like it, she did, but it was much too big for her smaller appetite. This chicken had a nice crunchy outer crust, with tender white meat chicken inside. It was topped with American cheese, bacon, mayo, and tomato. I really enjoyed the bite I had, but if I'm coming to Burger Parlor, I'm more than likely getting a burger here.

And what a burger I had. Behold the impressive Frito Chili Cheese Burger ($11.49). Their hormone-free beef patty is smothered in chili and cheese sauce, and then topped with chili cheese Frito's and jalapenos. This is definitely a knife and fork burger, and it's even served in a metal bowl. I enjoyed this burger immensely. I'm very anti eating burgers with a knife and fork, but it had to be done here because they did not skimp on the toppings on this one. The chili was the same one used on the fries, and it was solid, but helped out more on this with the addition of the jalapenos. The Frito's added a nice crunch element here but were kind of lost in all of this. A messy burger, but well worth it.

Katie rounded out our time at Burger Parlor with this enormous Tuna Melt ($8.29). Served in a large lobster roll, this was stuffed with their house-made tuna salad, lettuce, Roma tomatoes, and she substituted Swiss cheese instead of the cheddar this usually comes with. Highlights of this sandwich for Katie included the toasted lobster roll, the plentiful Swiss cheese melted on top of this, and the fresh tuna inside. She even claims this might be her go-to item when coming back to Burger Parlor.

I can not hide my excitement that Burger Parlor has moved even closer to me, (okay it's really only twenty or so minutes, but with rush hour traffic that could almost be an hour). This visit to their new Orange location has shown that they have not lost their consistency and reconfirmed that they are one of the top burger restaurants in OC. In fact, since others always ask me, I'll put them in my top three OC spots, along with The Counter and G Burger. Of course, there's always a new burger coming down the pipe, so these rankings are of course subject to change. Burger Parlor has a great feel to it, the food is wonderful, and we experienced great service this evening. With Burger Parlor added to the mix, this might the greatest wave of new restaurants to hit the Plaza in Orange. Time will tell.

Out of five stethoscopes, (because the three largest employers in the city of Orange are all hospitals, UCI, St. Joseph's, and CHOC, and of course these house many stethoscopes hung around doctors necks), five being best to zero being worst, Burger Parlor gets 3.5 stethoscopes.

For more information about Burger Parlor, head to their website here: http://www.burgerparlor.com/

Hitting Bricks Before Heading Home

Bricks

23820 Lyons Ave. 

Santa Clarita, CA 91321

We had it all set up that we would wake up early, leave the hotel we were staying at, and head to a brunch spot we had heard good things about in Los Feliz. Of course, those plans did not materialize. After a late night of drinking and catching up with family, we slept in until right about checkout time. There was a hurried rush to gather our things, as housekeeping waited patiently to clean our room. Still a little groggy, and in need of some sustenance before our hour and a half drive back to OC, we did a quick Yelp search of brunch spots around us, and arrived at Bricks.

Bricks was a short five-minute drive from our hotel, and the perfect spot to get Katie some coffee, and me some much-needed food to help counteract the rum from the night before. Located in an old-style Taco Bell, Bricks has gotten a lot of love for their burgers, fries, and shakes, and in four short years has become known as a burger destination. They have a solid four-star rating on Yelp, with over 700 reviews. Pretty impressive.

We arrived here at just before noon on a recent Sunday. There's a register with an order window, but we were directed to a table, and our order was taken by a waiter. There's plenty of patio seating out front, but on this rather warm day, we chose to sit in the more climate controlled inside portion of the restaurant. A steady stream of customers followed us, but I'd never say the restaurant was packed.

Bricks have their specials neatly displayed on a huge blackboard above their register, flanked by two flat screens that were turned to sports. The two-paged brunch menu has plenty of egg options for you, and for people that enjoy sweeter brunch items, they got you covered as well. We made our selections and waited for the food that we hoped would be able to keep us content for our long car ride home.

Man, I had a tough time making a decision here, but finally went with their Pulled Pork and Chorizo Hash ($12). This brightly colored plate came with a hash made up of tender pulled pork, chorizo, onions, red pepper, and potato, and was then topped with two poached eggs and served with toast points. I really enjoyed this. The meats were prominent, the eggs were done perfectly so that when punctured, the yolk would spill out over the rest of the plate, and the toast was a great vessel for adding texture. Yes, I would have liked a little more spice included here, but a good first meal of the day.

Katie ordered the Breakfast Sliders ($11) as her selection on this morning. These came three to an order and were supposed to come with two eggs, but they were not included here. After being alerted to that fact, they brought them out separately, so Katie did a little assembly and ended up liking these sausage patties and egg sliders. This was a good quality sausage, which was spiced well, and the buns were not only visually appealing, but they were baked well also. If they use the same bakery for their hamburger buns as these sliders, I'd be pretty excited to try the burgers at Brick. The menu made no mention of fries being included with this dish, but we really enjoyed these skinny fries, which were made even better when dipped in the provided ranch.

At brunch I'm always one to mix sweet and savory, so we needed something to satisfy our sweet requirement, so we got this Brioche French Toast ($11). Beautifully plated and very tasty, this was a good plate of french toast, which was topped with mascarpone, mixed berries, and a dusting of powdered sugar. I'm not a big fruit guy, so I favored the maple syrup to sweeten these up, which definitely did the trick. The french toast had a good crunch to it but could have been a little more flavorful on its own. I'm trying their breakfast Monte Cristo which come with peanut butter, marshmallow, banana, Nutella, and a Nutella ice cream on my next trip here. Sounds awesome.

For not being on our original itinerary on this trip, Bricks was a solid option for brunch. Would it have been better than our original destination? Not sure about that until we go, but having something in our stomachs on the way back down to OC was exactly what we needed. There's more I'd like to try at Bricks, including one of their 19 varieties of burgers, which all sound so good. Brunch was good, even if the service was a little on the spotty side. We were not the only table that had issues with food missing from items, but they rectified things quickly. All in all, a very good unscheduled visit, and we'll look forward to coming back when we are up this way.

Out of five lassos, (because every spring, the Cowboy Festival invades Santa Clarita, and you can be sure that where there are cowboys, there will also be lassos), five being best to zero being worst, Bricks gets 3 lassos.

For more information about Bricks, head over to their website here: https://www.bricksnewhall.com/

Delightful Donuts in Westwood - CLOSED

Stan's Donuts

10948 Weyburn Ave. 

Los Angeles, CA 90024

It has pretty much become a tradition that when we are headed up this way to visit Katie's extended family, we stop for donuts on the way. Why donuts you ask? First off my mom taught me to never show up at someone's house empty-handed, and even though Katie and I have been together for over seven years, I still want to impress her crazy family. Secondly, one of my favorites of all her cousins, Gabi, is donut fiend. We bonded over our favorites the first time we met each other, so this is kind of an ode to her.

On our way up to Valencia or Burbank, there's some pretty good donut shops that run alongside the freeways, so they are convenient to pick up and continue our trek up into the valley. We have picked up donuts from Randy's near LAX, the Donut Man in Glendora, and now Stan's Donuts in Westwood, right near UCLA.

Stan's is kind of a big deal to Katie's family because one of their heroes visited here. Back in 2005 Huell Howser famously visited this tiny Westwood donut shop, and he even has a donut named after him, but we'll get to that a little later. Stan Berman, a third-generation Russian baker opened up this corner shop back in 1963 and has been selling tons of donuts to hungry college students, celebrities, and tourists ever since. The donuts are so popular that they now have even expanded with six locations open in Chicago.

Back in LA though, we only have one spot to get Stan's donuts, and that's in Westwood, where they share a tiny space with Flame Broiler at the corner of Weyburn and Broxton. They will ship you donuts, but at a steep price. A regular dozen goes for $32.50, while the more popular gourmet donuts go for $40 a dozen, and this does not include shipping. Pretty pricey, but are they worth it? Let's check out what we ordered.

A little overwhelmed by the number of choices, we ordered two of Stan's Samplers, which include 5 gourmet donuts,  4 jellies, bars, or twists, and 4 regular donuts for $29.50. Yes, we spent nearly $60 on 26 donuts. We might have a problem. This was a good representation of the donuts available at Stan's though. Someone actually counted all the varieties that they have here daily and came up with 72 different kinds.

Of course, I did not sample each of these donuts, as they were mainly for everyone at the party, but people were pretty excited by these, and if I do say so myself, they were definitely a hit. I liked that there were different varieties than what you can usually get at your corner donut shop. They offer plenty of jelly-filled offerings, lots with blueberry, including a very solid blueberry fritter. The apple cinnamon log was also a big hit, but I had my sights set on one particular donut and kept it for myself before the party.

Behold the most famous of all the donuts that Stan's makes, The Huell. Named of course after Huell Howser, who claimed that this was his favorite donut, and even did a whole episode of his TV show, "California's Gold" from Stan's proclaiming his love of this Peanut Butter Pocket. Yes, peanut butter filled doughnut, which is then dipped in a generous amount of chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate chips. Pretty amazing, and a definite must if you love peanut butter and chocolate like I do. This donut is definitely worthy of all the hype surrounding it, and even writing this review has got my mouth watering.

After having the donuts from Stan's, I am going to claim that these are the best donuts I have had in Southern California so far, and they only trail the ones I had at Doughnut Plant in New York in my all-time ranking. It's going to be pretty hard-driving up the 405 and not stopping by Stan's for their fresh, hand made non-greasy donuts. Besides the Huell, I also tried bites of others, and they were all pretty stellar. Thanks for making me the hero of the party Stan's. We will definitely be back.

Out of five bruins, (not only because this is the mascot of nearby UCLA, but also because it's almost unbearable to be without these donuts), five being best to zero being worst, Stan's donuts get 4 bruins.

For more information about Stan's Donuts, visit their website here: http://www.stansdoughnuts.com/index.html