Grubbin' in Tustin

American Grub

365 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

Getting dinner before a Ducks game is a juggling act for Katie and I. I usually look up places on Yelp that are on our way, but by the time she gets out of work, and with traffic, we almost always end up just driving thru somewhere, and eating in the parking lot at Honda Center. This is not the case with games that start at 7:30, instead of the usual 7 pm starting time. With that extra half hour traffic dies down, we can eat a decent meal, and still make it to the game before the national anthem has been sung. On one recent game day, we had the extra half hour and spent it at American Grub in Tustin.

I'm sorry to admit that American Grub had escaped my restaurant radar until this point of time. I'm usually pretty good with keeping up with restaurants, especially ones that feature great shots of their burgers on their Yelp page. American Grub is situated in Old Town Tustin, right next door to the Swinging Door, which of course I have never been to, (okay a few times, but don't tell my secret).

I guess you could call American Grub a sister restaurant to the Swinging Door. After talking to Owner, Gerald Montes, who prefers to be called, G, he told us that his girlfriend is the manager next door, and they offer their menu to the hungry patrons of that bikini bar through a window directly from their kitchen. There would be no visit to the Swinging Door on this evening, we were here for a quick bite before the game.

The inside of American Grub resembles the Pinterest website brought to life. There's an American flag made out of discarded license plates, mosquito netting used as lighting covering, and lots of other repurposed items used in unique ways. Lending to the slight hipster vibe in this former antique store location is the exposed beams in the ceiling, the wonderful brick walls, and the mismatched tables and chairs, which give AG some good character.

The menu at AG includes a good amount of burger options, even more sandwiches, and is rounded out with some salads, sides, and a few grill items. Most prices hover right around the $12 mark. Ordering is done at the counter and the food is brought out to your table. Let's see if the food tastes as good as it looks in the pictures on Yelp.

Out first was this tray of Cajun Fries ($3.95). These were simply crinkle cut fries that were sprinkled with cajun seasoning, but they were still pretty solid. Frequent readers of this blog know about my love for crinkle cut fries. Not only do they remind me of being a kid and having them at Carl's Jr., but I believe that they hold whatever you dip them into better. The ketchup or ranch clings to the crinkle nicely, which allows for more flavorful fries. These fries had plenty of flavors included with the addition of the slightly spicy cajun seasoning. There was definitely enough fries included here for more than two people, so order accordingly.

As if we needed anything more than the fries before our meal, we also got the Onion Rings ($4). I liked that these onion rings were dusted with parmesan cheese, but I thought that the breading was too heavy on these, and really let the onion underneath down a bit.

I was here for a burger, but Katie wanted to give this Turkey Melt ($8) a try. This was a pretty simple turkey melt, which was done well. The toasted sourdough bread provided a nice crunch, while the insides featured creamy Swiss cheese and a decent amount of turkey. Katie liked the simpleness of this sandwich, but ordered a side of mustard to go with this to jazz it up.

I was so torn as to which one of the thirteen burgers to get here, but I finally decided to get the Guilty Burger ($12). It was a good choice, and there was no guilt by me for having this burger. This burger was a souped up version of their breakfast burger. It comes with swiss, cheddar, and pepper jack cheeses, a fried egg, bacon, and one of the better versions of a chipotle mayo I have had. This burger was delicious and really got me excited for this place. The yolk was nice and runny, the cheeses were so good on this, and the chipotle mayo actually had some spice to it. Definitely, a burger made for my tastes. The beef patty was a little overshadowed by the condiments here, but I'll definitely get a double the next time to make sure it's more prominent the next time I have this very good burger. I also want to highlight the buns here, which were soft, but still structurally sound, even with this runny burger. The burgers and sandwiches come ala carte at American Grub, but you do get a small side of their homemade potato salad, which is both creamy and chunky at the same time, which is the way I want my potato salad.

When G came over and talked to us, he mentioned that he was making some soup for tomorrow, and asked if we wanted to try it. I did not get a chance to catch the name of this soup, but it was scalding hot when it came out to us, and we had to let it chill for a bit before tackling it. Once it was cool enough, we could tell this was an Asian-tinged chicken noodle soup. I thought G said this was jute, but not sure after I looked up what that was online. Whatever it was, it was very good, and you should be on the look out for specials when coming to American Grub.

American Grub was a real solid find on this evening. Not only did we get in and out quick enough to make the game, but we also got to experience one of the better burgers I have had in some time. I really enjoyed that burger, and look forward to coming back here again to try some of their other ones soon. Service on this evening was friendly and welcoming, and we enjoyed hearing G's story about opening this place, and the passion that he has for the food here. Finding restaurants like American Grub is one of the main reasons that I write this restaurant review blog. They obviously do not have one of the big PR companies working for them, and they are kind of like an undiscovered place, that people need to know about. Hopefully one of my three readers of this blog will give this place a try. We will definitely be back, and not just before Ducks games.

Out of five palm trees, (because after a little internet digging, I found out that G was an extra on the TV show, "Hawaii Five-O", and that show has lots of palm trees in the background as well), five being best to zero being worst, American Grub gets 3.5 palm trees.

For more information about American Grub, head to their limited website here: http://www.americangrub.net/home.html

A Trip into the Burger Trenches

Mooyah

5365 Alton Parkway

Suite A2

Irvine, CA 92604

If you are anywhere near the intersection of Jeffery and Culver in Irvine and listen very closely, you can hear the sounds of spatulas being tapped on grills, ketchup bottles being loaded and made ready for battle, and you might also pick up the sound of knife blades cutting produce. Yes, these are the sounds of war, well a burger war anyways. In one corner, or in this case, shopping center, we have The Stand, which we visited recently, and you can read that review here. Across the street, we have another new to OC burger concept, and the one we would be visiting on this evening, Mooyah.

I had not heard about Mooyah until they started following me on Instagram recently. When I finally checked them out, I was kind of embarrassed by not knowing about them. They have 76 domestic locations open and operating in nineteen states. They also have quite the international presence, as they are slinging their burgers in nine different countries, with a good majority of those in the Middle East. I could be partially forgiven not knowing about them because they only have one other Southern California outpost right now, that one being in Monrovia. At least that's the story I'm sticking to.

Actually, this Irvine location has been open close to two years now and is situated in the same shopping center as Ralphs, CVS, and California Pizza Kitchen. This is a fast casual burger place, where you order at the counter, and the food is brought out to you after that. The concept here is that they want you to create your own burger, build it from the bun up. The menu above the register only has this option, but there's also another menu that lists some of their all-time favorites, for people that don't want to think too hard about putting their perfect burger together. Not sure why these are not front and center as well, but at least now you are aware of them. Other than burgers, Mooyah offers chicken and turkey burgers, salads, and hot dogs. Let's see if they are winning this burger war, based on their food.

These Half and Half Fries ($4.39) came out first.We were instructed when ordering that the medium sized fries would easily feed the three of us, and they were totally right. For a little variety, we got both the sweet potato and the hand cut fries. I'm not a big fan of sweet potato fries, so I left those to David and Katie, both of whom liked them, but were not wowed by them. I kind of had the same reaction to the regular fries here. I think they had a lot of potential, but they came out lukewarm, and not as crisp as I like. We got their spicy ranch and regular ranch dressing as dipping sauces, both of which were fine, but the spicy ranch was not very spicy.

Regular readers of this blog know that this was not my choice on this evening. Since the calendar has flipped to 2017, Katie has tried to become a little more healthy, so she gave Mooyah's Chicken and Avocado Club Sandwich ($7.29) a try. Instead of the multi-grain bun that this usually come with, she opted for the lettuce wrap option here, which did not look too flattering in pictures. This came with avocado, ranch dressing, bacon, and tomato included. Katie was not too enthused by this sandwich. She thought that the chicken was overcooked and dry, and there was not enough ranch dressing and avocado to moisten this up. She'd definitely get something different on future trips here. The price of eating healthier I guess.

David got something that your more likely to see at Mooyah, a burger. Both David and I got one of their all-time favorite burgers to try, and his selection was this Well D'Onion ($6.99). This one-third pound burger was topped with cheddar cheese, onions, grilled onions, fried onions strings, lettuce, and spicy ranch all on a potato bun. David's not the most voa=cal of my friends, but when pressed, he said he enjoyed this burger and would get it again. That's about all I could get out of the big guy on this evening.

I was feeling like I wanted to be heated up on this rather chilly night, so I got the Double Diablo Burger ($8.49). This burger topped out at a half a pound and was joined on the bun by some pepper jack cheese, Cholula, bacon, mayo, and jalapenos. Even though this burger failed to heat me up too much, it was delicious. I really liked the loosely packed beef here, which was seasoned well and was very juicy. The condiments were distributed evenly, and the bun held it all together. Consuming this burger got me excited about other burgers here, and I look forward to coming back and trying out their Six Degrees of Bacon Burger, or maybe I'll build my own burger.

As excited as I was about the burger at Mooyah, I was let down by this Full Count Hot Dog ($6.29). This was another one of their all-time favorite menu items, which came with plenty of American cheese, ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, and bacon. I should have listened to my golden rule about hot dogs, never order a hot dog with ketchup. Not to bad mouth you ketchup loving purists out there, but ketchup does not belong on a hot dog ever. At Mooyah they use Hebrew National All Beef Hot Dogs but I could not tell, due to all the toppings used on this one. The cheese really overpowered here, and the other condiments really did not help either. If the menu had not said that there was bacon on this, I never would have known. The bun was probably the best part of this, as it had a nice crunch to it, but remained stable throughout the short life of this hot dog.

So who's winning the burger war at the intersection of Jeffery and Alton? After just one visit to each, I'd have to say it's close, but I'm giving the slight edge to The Stand. I really enjoyed the hot dog better there, while the burger was better here at Mooyah. So the tiebreaker would be the fries, and I liked the ones at The Stand just a bit better, plus I enjoyed that they offer onion rings, unlike Mooyah. Mooyah offers fried crispy onion straws on their burgers, and those might be a great addition to their side item menu. Just a little hint. I thought the prices were pretty fair for the burgers at Mooyah, but the hot dog prices were all out of whack. My hot dog was nowhere near worth over $6, and a plain hot dog will set you back $4, while the chili dog is pushing $6 as well. Service was pretty strong here, as Dayana, who took our order at the counter, also brought out our food, checked on us regularly, and brought us out all the sauces we could ever want. It was a good night of catching up with my good friend David, and getting to experience the Great Burger War of Irvine firsthand.

Out of five pommel horses, (because the first Mooyah was located in Plano, Texas, ten years ago, and that city proclaims itself the gymnastics capital of the world, and the pommel horse is one of my favorite events), five being best to zero being worst, Mooyah gets 2.5 pommel horses.

For more information about Mooyah, head to their website here: http://www.mooyah.com/

Whichever Fork You Choose, Make Sure It Goes by Here - CLOSED

Two Left Forks

34212 Pacific Coast Highway

Dana Point, CA 92629

It has become a tradition that before the chaos of Christmas, we go out with Katie's parents to a nice dinner, just the four of us. It's become a nice respite from the craziness that I experience at work, the running around that we do on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and the last-minute gift buying that we inevitably have to do every year. Last year we went the Italian route, but this year I scoured my list of restaurants to hit up and ended up picking one that I've been wanting to try for a while now, Two Left Forks in Dana Point.

Two Left Forks took over the space vacated by Tavern On the Coast in early March of last year. They are located just past where PCH and Del Prado split, and across the street from the new BevMo. Two Left Forks comes to us from the mother and son duo, Georgia and Stefan Andersen, who also own and operate the Hotel Laguna. They wanted to fulfill a dream to run a restaurant outside of the hotel, and when this spot became available, they jumped at it. They did not have to look too far for an executive chef to run the kitchen, as they tapped the Hotel's Executive Chef, Robert Hines to run the show at Two Left Forks. They feel this will be a bigger stage for his innovative cuisine, and a place where he will be able to bring the food here to an even higher level of culinary greatness. I have to admit I was intrigued.

We got here on a cold and rainy Wednesday evening and were met with a full and lively restaurant. The long and narrow restaurant is broken up into three parts. A pretty cramped bar area, an indoor dining space, which allows for glimpses into the very active kitchen, and then an enclosed patio, which overlooks the cars whizzing by on PCH. We were seated in a comfy booth, in the pretty loud indoor dining room. The clientele here on this evening seemed to be middle to late-aged people, out for an evening celebrating the holiday season.

Chef Robert's menu is divided up into small plates, appetizers meant for sharing, salads, vegetarian offerings, and main entrees. There seems to be a little bit of everything listed here, so finding something that you like should not be a problem. Prices for entrees range from $16 to $32, which did not seem too outrageous to me. Let's see if our lofty expectations were met on this evening, by checking out the food.

Right after sitting down, Katie was immediately drawn to this Crab Stack ($12), which was listed under the shareable plates part of the menu. Katie did not want to share too much of this. When the OC Register's Restaurant Reviewer, Brad Johnson came here, he said of that this appetizer was, "a beautiful reminder of the 80's". I guess this is in reference to a time when tall food was a thing, but we all loved this retro look, which was photographed beautifully. This tower was layered with mango, cucumber, avocado, sweet Thai cilantro, and of course fresh crab. It was surrounded by a pool of vinaigrette. Katie loved this, as it really let each item shine in its own right. The crab was really fresh, and the mango really came through in major flavor boosts, which made Katie's mouth happy.

Katie's mom Lynn went with the Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad ($9) this evening, much to the chagrin of her husband. Katie's dad apparently has some deep-rooted animosity towards this red vegetable, which a few years of therapy might help cure. Lynn loved this salad, which also included spinach and tatsoi, candied walnuts, and a wonderful citrus vinaigrette. The flavors and textures worked well together and kept her entertained while consuming this salad. She'd definitely get this again.

I'm a Caesar Salad ($8) fiend, and this is one of the best I've had in a long while. A pretty traditional presentation here, it had the chopped romaine, shredded parmesan, herbed croutons, a crispy baked parmesan crisp, and a very tasty house-made Caesar dressing. What made this for me was the very fresh produce, the inclusion of plenty of cheese, and the liberal amount of dressing used here. My only gripe would be that the parmesan crisp could have been bigger, but that's the only thing I have in the way of a critique of this very good salad.

Entrees were up next, and we'll start with Katie's, Roasted Chicken Breast ($20). I usually shy away from chicken in restaurants, due to the fact that a lot of places overcook it, but that was not the case with this poultry at Two Left Forks. This bird was tender and juicy and was made even better with the well-done brown butter beurre blanc sauce. Katie was also a fan of the truffle risotto, which was not overpowering with truffle but had just the right balance achieved. Rounding out this plate was some roasted mushrooms and white asparagus.

Proving that Chef Robert could do seafood, just as well as chicken, Lynn ordered up this Local Halibut ($27). This halibut came with the same brown butter beurre blanc sauce that was used on the chicken dish. The fish came out nice and seared, with enjoyable flakiness to it. I liked the parmesan risotto that came with this, better than the truffle version that came with the chicken. The garlic spinach was good and garlicky, which is always a plus in my book.

Dennis is a real meat and potatoes kind of man, and lucky for him, both were offered on the same plate. This Grilled Petite Filet ($30) was called one of the better ones he has had recently, and I know he means it because he did not offer me any. The beef was accompanied by a veal demi glaze, which was used pretty sparingly, but no complaints from Katie's dad. This filet was joined on the plate by potato gratin and grilled asparagus, both of which won praise from Dennis, who claimed that this was a well-rounded plate, and one he would have again.

I don't order lamb nearly enough, and I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass me by at Two Left Forks. This Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb ($30) helped confirm my love of lamb. I was a little disappointed by the serving size of this, but it ended up filling me up rather nicely. The lamb here was not very gamey and ate more like a good prime rib. Yes, there were a few bits of fat included here, but I'm not averse to the fat, which is just extra flavor. I did not get a lot from the pistachio on this, but the self-named Robert sauce that came with this picked up the slack. The garlic spinach and the mashed potatoes were also pretty solid.

Dessert time at Two Left Forks and we went with two to split between the four of us. Kate and her mom selected the TLF Espresso Tart ($8). Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of coffee, so I was out of this dessert right away. This was made up of a cocoa cookie dough tart, with an espresso creme brulee, orange brandy espresso, chocolate cream, and a hot chocolate shot on the side. I did not get the sense that either Katie or her mom was wowed by this. The same held true when I tried the Banana Butterscotch ($8). The description of this had me very excited; banana Brulee, a flour-less chocolate cake with butterscotch mousse, but I was let down by this. I thought it should have been better based on the ingredients here. The chocolate needed to be a little more pronounced, and I wished for more flavor from the banana. I think I'm kind of over deconstructed desserts now. It's too hard to get everything in one bite.

With the exception of the desserts, I was pretty impressed with Two Left Forks. The food was pretty traditional but prepared very well, and everything tasted great. I'm definitely intrigued by their cod entree and their good-looking burger, but those will have to wait for future visits. Service was pretty stoic but professional. We did not really get the vibe that the management was very hands-on with guests, but their staff had things handled, so there was no reason for them to be. Two Left Fork is named this because they figure that when a diner sees two forks in a place setting, it means an extra special meal is on its way. Although this is not true in some cases, it's definitely true here.

Out of five vampires, (because the setting for the Twilight movies was set in Forks, Washington, and that movie included lots of vampires from what I'm told), five being best to zero being worst, Two Left Forks gets 3.5 vampires.

For more information about Two Left Forks, head to their website here: http://twoleftforks.com/

Hoping These Burgers Can Stand On Their Own

The Stand

5633 Alton Parkway #200 

Irvine, CA 92618

A new year and a new burger concept pops up in OC. There are a few things you can count on in life. Death, taxes, that it'll rain a day after you wash your car, and the fact that there's always a new burger chain ready to take a crack at the OC market. Last year we were invaded by Hopdoddy, Burger Boss, Burger Lounge, and others, while this year is already looking like we will get another round of new burgers to try. We are getting the ball rolling by trying out one of these new concepts, The Stand in Irvine.

The Stand has been opened in this Oak Creek Shopping Center, which is situated at the corner of Alton and Jeffery, for three months now. The Stand is not new, though. They have been in business since 2003, and have locations in Encino, Northridge, Century City, and Woodland Hills. This is their first spot outside of LA County and comes to us from Murray and Jason Wishengrad, the father and son duo, who also operate TLT Food.

While TLT concerns itself with serving chef-driven, California street food, The Stand is more into classic American diner food. It started out as a burger and hot dog stand, but the menu has grown over the years, which is a strategic business plan, to encourage customers to visit more times a week to partake in the more varied menu. Their menu now includes sandwiches, salads, and sides. More menu items seem like a novelty these days, but it looks like it's working with guests, as this Irvine spot boasts four and a half stars on Yelp. Needless to say, I had some high hopes for our visit here.

We decided to meet my parents here for a long overdue dinner of catching up. This 15-table or so restaurant was pretty lively on this particularly chilly evening. The space is pretty modern, with a video menu board above the register, and one along the side wall, where guests line up to place their orders. There's even a window into the kitchen so you can check out the handy work of the culinary staff. After your food order is taken, they bring it out to you when it's ready. Let's see how everything came out for us this evening.

When we had finished ordering our food, our cashier happily mentioned the pickles near the register and exclaimed that we could help ourselves to as many free pickles as we wanted. I'm not really too into pickles, but I took a few to try. They were a solid dill pickle, crunchy, but nothing earth-shaking about them, but hey they were free.

Our food started making its way out to us in waves, starting with the Stand Fries ($2.50) and the Onion Rings ($3). The fries were pretty good, although they could have been a little crisper and hot. The onion rings are the things to get here. The breading and onion underneath achieved a very delicate balance of not overwhelming the other. Not too greasy, and lighter than I imagined, these were a winner in my book, and they went well with the provided ranch dressing.

Not in the mood for a burger, and proving the point that The Stand is more than just burgers and hot dogs, Katie selected the Cilantro Lime Chicken ($8.25) for dinner this evening. The grilled chicken was joined on the bun by sliced avocado, arugula, red onion, tomato, and a cilantro lime aioli. Katie liked this sandwich, as the chicken was tender and the cilantro lime was understated, but still added some flavor bursts. She really liked the sturdiness of the bun, and the fresh produce used on this. She felt pretty confident that she's found her go-to item on her first visit here.

Next out was part one of my meal, the Big Red Chili Dog ($5.25). This big red is a quarter-pound spicy hot dog, and it did have a great pop of heat to it, which I was not expecting. Usually, when something says spicy on the menu, it registers just a little heat, but not the case with this tasty hot dog. Along with the nice heat, this also featured a good snap to the casing, which released a beautifully done beef flavor, which set the tone here. I had wished for a little more flavor from the chili, but the heat from the hot dog helped out. The bun was ply-ably soft but did a great job of maintaining its structural integrity. There was plenty of onion on this, but they needed to add more cheese to help push this chili dog to even greater heights. Still good, though.

I had asked about three employees what burger they liked most here, and they all said without hesitation, The Business Burger ($11.50). This stacked burger included a beef patty, porchetta, bacon, pickled peppers and onions, garlic mushrooms, and sweet chili aioli. I liked this burger, but I kind of expected a little more from it, with all the pork going on here. The garlic mushrooms and the pickled veggies kind of overpowered, and left the bacon and porchetta in the background. The bun was nice and toasted, which was a nice touch, but the sweet chili aioli, which kind of appeared to be mustard based, could have been applied with a heavier hand for my taste, but I love things to be a little saucier. I'd probably try one of their more basic burgers on future visits, like their ABC Burger (Avocado, Bacon, Cheddar), or the Onion Stack Burger.  Also, be on the lookout for seasonal specialty burgers when eating at The Stand, we heard good things about their French Onion Soup Burger.

My mom likes things pretty simple, and after having breakfast earlier in the day, my light-eating mother only wanted to try the Stand Dog ($3.75) this evening. She did get a little crazy by getting some mustard and relish on the side. They do offer a nice selection of free condiments for the build-your-own hot dog option, and then they have what they call loaded toppings, which range in price from fifty cents to a dollar. She enjoyed this basic hot dog, which featured a soft bun reminiscent of grocery store hot dog buns, but of a higher quality. Not sure who makes their hot dogs or sausages, but they were meaty and pretty solid. A thumbs up from mom.

Our last entree, with an assist from my dad's excellent hand modeling, was the Ultimate Egg Burger ($9.75). This breakfast-inspired burger utilized a very runny fried egg, bacon, American cheese, pickled pepper and onions, and the sweet chili aioli. This burger was very satisfying and filling for my old man. He could only manage to finish three-quarters of it, but I obliged by finishing the rest of it off. I liked this burger more than mine, and would not hesitate to get it next time, but I might sub out the sweet chili aioli next time, for maybe mayo, ketchup, or the cilantro lime aioli.

The guys behind the counter really talked up the brownies here, as I guess they are made on the premises each day, so we had to give the Brownie Sundae ($5.25) a try. They do not use ice cream here but instead use frozen custard, which I'm kind of leery of. I'm definitely more of a fan of ice cream. This sundae was just the right size for the four of us, after eating our meals. I liked it, but felt it needed more frozen custard, as the brownie to frozen custard ratio was off, which lead to intense spoon fighting between the four of us. The brownie was good but did not stand out, and a thicker hot fudge would have made this even better. It was almost the consistency of chocolate syrup.

The Stand is definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood and is a good option for people that want a burger around this part of town. I'm not sure this is a travel-worthy restaurant based on this visit. If I had to rank this place against their other burger competitors, I'd say they are way better than Burger Boss, on par with Burger Lounge, and not as good as Hopdoddy. Just my opinion, and only based on this one visit. The service was very good, and the employees were very active going through the dining room and making sure everyone was doing alright. I thought the prices were more than fair here, especially based on the neighborhood. Now that the calendar has turned to 2017, it'll be interesting to see how many new burger concepts come around this year.

Out of five joysticks, (because the biggest non-academic employer in Irvine is Blizzard Entertainment, a maker of video games, and the last time I played video games, a joystick is what I used as a controller), five being best to zero being the worst, The Stand gets 3 joysticks.

For more information about The Stand, head to their website here: https://www.thestand.com/