Monday, February 19, 2018

The Crusade for the Choicest Chilaquiles Continues - CLOSED


Cafe Calacas
324 West 4th Street #B
Santa Ana, CA 92701

I think my love for Mexican breakfast has now eclipsed my love for more traditional breakfast foods. Just looking over my list of breakfast spots that I want to try, it is loaded with plenty of places that tout chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and breakfast burritos as their specialties. I used to be very partial to breakfast skillets and pancakes, but now I find myself checking out restaurants on Yelp for the best breakfast tacos and breakfast tortas.

My love for breakfast foods from south of the border has become so much an obsession, that when my friends Angel and Rebekah casually mentioned their recent visit to Cafe Calacas, Katie and I made quick plans to meet them on a recent Saturday in downtown Santa Ana and give it a try.


Cafe Calacas is situated in the West End Theater building, which is in the shadows of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building across the street. When we arrived at Cafe Calacas at 10am, there was a slow-moving line, about twenty people deep. I grew anxious that we would not be able to get a table, but these things usually work themselves out, and we snagged one of the four tables out in front of the restaurant as a family was getting up to leave.

Like the inside of the restaurant, Cafe Calacas menu is not extremely large. They feature a handful of breakfast specialties, some waffles, and then some salads, wraps, and sandwiches to round things out. They are also known for their coffee drinks, juices, and smoothies. Since we had about a half-hour wait in line to study the menu, we made our selections rather quickly when we hit the register. We were given a number and waited for our food to be brought out to us. Let's see if Cafe Calacas would become one of my favorite spots for Mexican breakfast in OC.



I'm not a coffee drinker, but I really enjoyed seeing the designs that they had on top of these beverages. Some real artsy stuff here, and it was a shame that they were going to be ruined after the first sip. I'm not sure what Rebekah's drink was, but Katie had the Cinnamon Latte ($3.75) and really enjoyed it. She claims that the people that make the coffees at Cafe Calacas really know their stuff, and she would definitely swing by here for another one of their excellent creations.



When you are ordering at the register, do yourself a favor and check out the baked goods featured behind the glass. Angel and Rebekah got what I believe they called a Mexican Chocolate Pop Tart ($2.00). It had a crumbly coating with some good chocolate in the inside pouch. This kind of reminded me of a chocolate croissant that was dipped in granola. Tasty.



My Chilaquiles obsession must be spreading, as Katie got this Chilaquiles 2.0 ($12.00). At Cafe Calacas they have two versions of chilaquiles, one is regular, without an added protein, while the other is with your choice of meat added. Katie had the chicken, but chorizo and carne asada are also options. This breakfast dish is made with layered fried tortilla chips, red or green salsa, queso fresco, cilantro, two eggs cooked to your liking, and finished off with a drizzle of crema. Katie selected the green salsa, which had quite a bit of flavor. I was lucky enough to be able to have her leftovers the next day, and I liked hers better than what I had. The chicken was not too dry, and the green salsa had more of a depth of flavor than the red did.



My version of Chilaquiles 2.0 ($12.00) featured steak instead of the chicken and I got my eggs sunny side up because I'm always partial to having as much runny yolk as possible. I really enjoyed the first ten or so bites of this, but then it kind of became boring to me. I think the reason for this was that the ratio of eggs and meat to the fried chips was overblown by a lot. There were lots more chips here as compared to anything else. The red salsa did not really have as big of a flavor profile as the green that came with Katie's chilaquiles. Not awful, but not one of my favorite versions of chilaquiles in OC.


Mixing sweet and savory at breakfast has become a tradition with me when we eat breakfast out, and for my sweet item on this particular morning, I tried the Bananas Foster Waffles ($7.99). For this, they top a Belgian waffle with caramel, sliced banana, and granola, and then garnish the plate with whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. This had some winning bites, but most parts of this were devoid of caramel and did not taste like anything. A very boring sweet breakfast item that could have been made much better with some extra caramel or maybe even some maple syrup.


Rebekah had the lone savory waffle on the Cafe Calacas menu, the Puerquitos In A Blanket ($8.99). They use their Belgian waffle as a base and then top it with chorizo, queso fresco, refried beans, cilantro, and is then finished off with a sweet and spicy sauce. She could only finish three-quarters of this, so I obliged her by finishing the rest. It fell in line with most of the other entrees I had here, it was lackluster. I think this also needed a sauce to bind it all together. The chorizo was fine, but a little on the dry side, and there was not enough beans or sweet and spicy sauce on this to make much of an impression. Even though the menu made no mention of it, the crema was a welcome addition here.

Cafe Calacas was fine but did not really stand out other than their coffee drinks and the pop tart thing we had to start. I kind of felt that each of the entrees needed to be sauced a bit more, and needed a little extra pizazz. The setup here was also a little unnerving, as people were grabbing tables before they had even ordered. I was also curious as to why it took so long to order at the register. It took us 25 minutes to just stand in line to place our order. Maybe go to a full-service restaurant where you place orders with a server and then also check in with a hostess when you arrive. The girls running food and clearing tables were definitely hustling on this particular morning, and they were not part of the issue here. My search for the best chilaquiles continues, just as my love for Mexican breakfast grows. Can't wait to tackle more from my list.

Out of five skeletons, (because the word calacas translates to skeletons, and they lend to the decor of the inside of this restaurant), five being best to zero being worst, Cafe Calacas gets 2.5 skeletons.

For more information about Cafe Calacas, head to their website here: http://www.cafecalacas.com/index.html

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Hip Hip Hooray for Humphry's - CLOSED


Humphry's Sandwiches
800 Avenida Pico
San Clemente, CA 92673

I had some unexpected time off due to a minor health issue, and I decided to use my time off by writing up some restaurant reviews and, of course, trying some new places. After a week and a half of being in bed, it was time to get out and get moving again. I decided it was time for a stroll along the beach in San Clemente and enlisted my parents to accompany me. After our three-mile walk, or more precisely, stroll, we definitely had worked up an appetite. We made our way across the freeway to Humphry's Sandwiches.

Humphry's is across the street from San Clemente High School in the Albertson's-anchored shopping center. It has been around for about eight years now and is owned by Tim and Nicole Humphry, former San Clemente High School graduates.

Arriving here a little before noon on a Friday, I was nervous that the place would be overrun with obnoxious high school students on their lunch hour. Still, when we walked in the door, we had the run of the restaurant, but it became pretty busy as our visit went along. The inside of the restaurant was clean and comfortable. Ordering is done at the register; you are given a number, and the food is brought to you. I was surprised that they have a bar here that specializes in craft beer, which we saw more than a few people enjoying at this early hour. No judgments. After being with my parents for a few hours, I also needed a drink. Kidding.

The menu at Humphry's was more extensive than I imagined it would be. Predictably, it is sandwich-focused, but it also features a good selection of salads, burgers, hot dogs, and a breakfast burrito, which I hear some good things about. Prices hover around the ten-dollar mark, with nothing eclipsing that price point. Enough talk. Let's check out the food at Humphry's.



As my dad has gotten older, he's getting less predictable when guessing what he will order at restaurants. I thought the Reuben would be his choice here, but he threw me a curveball by getting this Frisco Burger ($9.95) instead. Good choice. This half-pound burger came with lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing on sourdough cheese bread. It's way better than the version I get frequently at Marie Calendars. This was less greasy, had a good amount of Thousand Island dressing, and the beef patty was seasoned nicely. Very rare to find a sandwich shop that does burgers well.



It was not the most photogenic of sandwiches, but my mom was very pleased with this Half Chicken Salad Sandwich ($5.95). She had wanted this sandwich on wheat bread, but the girl at the counter told her they did not have wheat and steered her towards the squaw instead. No worries, my mom went with the flow and enjoyed this chicken salad sandwich with light mayo. My mom claimed that this chicken salad was fresh and had a good flavor. She loved that you could get a half sandwich at Humphry's, which was great for light eaters like herself.



Before coming to Humphry's, I did a little research about the most popular items on their menu, and two kept coming up, the meatloaf sandwich and the one that I ultimately got, The Rachel ($9.95). For those of you that are not aware, a Rachel sandwich is a Rueben, but instead of sauerkraut, it employs the use of coleslaw along with sliced pastrami, swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. This sandwich was awesome. It utilized the same parmesan-grilled sourdough bread that came on my dad's Frisco burger, and the inside of this sandwich was also excellent. Plenty of coleslaw and Thousand Island dressing kept me interested throughout the short life of this sandwich. The pastrami was sliced nicely, and they included plenty of it here. A very well-balanced sandwich and one that I can see myself getting again. I also wanted to note the chips here, which reminded me a lot of Kettle Brand chips. They had a good crunch and went well with the sandwich.

When I was driving home from San Clemente, I could not help but feel a little jealous that the people of San Clemente have this excellent sandwich shop so close by to enjoy whenever they want. I was impressed with Humphry's. The Rachel and the Frisco burger has excited me to try their meatloaf, cheeseburger, and famous BLT, which features eight pieces of bacon, on future visits to this sandwich shop. Prices align with the portion sizes you get here. Service was satisfactory on this visit. Glad I finally got out and about, but even more excited by the sandwiches at Humphry's.

Out of five Tritons (because that's the mascot of San Clemente High School located across the street, and also the alma mater of the owners of this restaurant), five being best to zero being worst, Humphry's Sandwiches gets 3.5 Tritons.

For more information about Humphry's Sandwiches, head to their website here: https://www.humphryssandwichshop.com/home.html

Monday, February 12, 2018

Playing Tourist at Summer House for Newport Beach Restaurant Week


Summer House
2744 East Coast Highway
Corona Del Mar, CA 92625

The first of the year not only brings a more relaxed time at my place of business, but it also brings some much needed time off. Gone are the days of working six days a week, and getting all the overtime that you can handle. The first of the year is the time of the year when I get a chance to breathe. It's also a time of the year I look forward to because it's within these first few weeks of the year that one of my favorite food events take place, Newport Beach Restaurant Week.

Restaurant weeks are pretty exciting to me. There are no coupons to clip, you just have to check out the prix-fixe menus, see something that piques your interest, and go. I usually cross reference my selections with my restaurant wish list. Even though this particular restaurant week was spread over two weeks, we only had one night available to head to Newport to take advantage of this year's restaurant week deals. Darn scheduling and commitments. Anyways, we chose to spend our lone NBRW experience at Summer House in Corona Del Mar.

Summer House has been on my list ever since Edwin Goei, Restaurant Reviewer from the OC Weekly went by and gave their ginger crusted ono a glowing review. Edwin is definitely someone that I trust wholeheartedly when it comes to restaurants in OC, so when I saw that the ono was available on the restaurant week menu, we beelined it to Summer House.

As is the case with most businesses on busy PCH, if you were not looking for it, or if you blinked, you would probably miss Summer House amid the many things that capture your attention driving north on this iconic highway. Summer House occupies the former El Ranchito spot, almost across the street from Sherman Library and Gardens, where PCH intersects with Goldenrod.

Summer House has been here since 2010, which means they must be doing something right to survive in this very competitive restaurant market in this part of town. According to their website, they are a contemporary American restaurant, with a summer vacation home kind of feel to it. I'd say they nailed the vibe they were going for. Even though tables are very close to each other, and the noise on the evening we were there was a little on the loud side, it did kind of feel like we were whisked off on a quick mini-vacay. Since we were at Summer House for restaurant week, it did not take us too long to make our selections off of their $20 three course menu. Let's see how it all worked out for us.



The first course was out pretty quickly and as is our custom while enjoying restaurant week menus, we get different things so we can try each other's choices. Katie went with the Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers ($9.25). These five potstickers came out with an Asian slaw in the middle, a very tiny drizzle of wasabi aioli, and a soy sauce that the menu said had a pineapple tinge to it. The potstickers themselves were nicely done and lacked any discernable grease on them, but more of the wasabi aioli and a more prominent filling would have made these better. I did not really get too much in the way of pineapple in the soy sauce, but soy sauce tends to overpower anyways. I love a Caesar ($4.50), but this one kind of fell flat. It had plenty of squares of parmesan and crunchy croutons, but they needed to have more dressing included on this to keep me interested throughout the life of this salad. Kind of a boring Caesar.


Not on the restaurant week menu, but Katie had heard some good stuff about this Ahi Poke with Wonton Chips ($13.50) and since she is poke fiend, she wanted to give this a try. The fresh ahi tuna is seasoned with sesame seeds and green and red onions and comes with a good amount of sliced avocado. This was an excellent version of poke, clean tasting, not overly seasoned, and went well with the provided avocado and wonton chips. Way better than you can get at most of those build your own poke shops.we frequent way too much.



Entrees were up next, and we might as well start with Katie's pick, the Pesto Chicken Sandwich ($13). This sandwich starts with a grilled chicken breast and then is layered with tomato, lettuce, red onion, mayo, mozzarella cheese, and is finished off with a very well done pesto. Katie did not have anything to say about this sandwich negatively. She threw out adjectives like delicious, good, fresh, and crave-worthy when describing this sandwich. She liked the fries but prefers bigger fries that hold more ketchup.



It's probably their signature dish at Summer House, so it was a no-brainer that I had to give their Ginger Crusted Ono ($21) a spin during restaurant week. This baked Hawaiian ono was incredibly light and the ginger was very subtle, which I appreciated. It came with an orange beurre blanc sauce, which I had wished there was a tad more of so I could have had enjoyed it with the jasmine rice and the red bell peppers. A very light, yet satisfying meal.



Dessert would be our last stop on the restaurant week menu at Summer House, and Katie tried their seasonal offering which was a Lemon Cake ($5). This lemon cake was accompanied by a strawberry garnish and a strawberry sauce drizzled on top of it. I'm not much into lemon anything, and I thought the lemon was a tad too tart here, and the cake could have been moister. I had high hopes for the Chocolate Heaven ($6) that I had ordered, but it was rather pedestrian. The ratio of flourless brownie souffle cake and ice cream was off by quite a bit. I usually don't complain when there's an overabundance of ice cream, but it really made this flourless cake invisible.

Even with a few less than stellar items on this restaurant week visit, I was pretty pleased with our time at Summer House. I got to try their signature dish, along with plenty from the rest of their menu for the affordable price of $20, which basically means we got the starters and the desserts for free. Not too bad. This visit has gotten me excited to come back here and try one of their good looking burgers, or their weekend breakfast, which gets glowing reviews online. Summer House reminded me of a less polished R and D Kitchen, with a more diverse menu. It was definitely beach casual, and a spot where locals like to come for a low-key dinner. Our server Alison was very friendly and took great care of us during our stay. Wish we could have experienced more restaurant week menus during Newport Beach Restaurant Week, but there's always next year. Just have to get through the dreaded holidays first.

Out of five footballs, (because there used to be a reality TV show on ESPNU which featured college football players living in a house before they got drafted, and it was called Summer House), five being best to zero being worst, Summer House gets 3 solid footballs.

For more information about Summer House, head to their website here: http://www.summerhousecdm.com/index.php

Friday, February 9, 2018

Comfortably Satisfied at the Wall in Orange - CLOSED


The Wall
80 Plaza Square
Orange, CA 92868

As amazing as it sounds, I do not think we will ever run out of restaurants to eat at with my parents. As is our custom, we usually meet somewhere between us, which usually lands us in Tustin, Santa Ana, or, as the case was this evening, Orange. Every time we need a meeting place, I look for restaurants on Yelp that my food-conservative parents would like. There's always something new to try, and we chose to meet at The Wall on this visit.

The Wall is located at the northeast corner of the plaza in Orange, right near the Starbucks by the Wells Fargo Bank. I remember this being a real girly retail store at one time. The Wall has been open for about a year and a half now. They get their name in thanks to a wall inside the restaurant that includes over 50 self-serving taps dispelling craft beers, wine, kombucha, and nitro coffees to thirsty patrons.

The men behind The Wall have a unique backstory for why they opened this place. Dan Martinez and Ryan Sauter wanted a place to share their travels and escapades through food and drink. They wanted a restaurant that felt like home but had food that made guests feel like citizens of the world while they experienced food and drink like they never had before. Those are lofty goals.

Dan has business roots in the family entertainment industry, at such places as Universal Resorts, Disney, and most recently at Palace Entertainment Group, where he was Chief Operating Officer for the company which runs Raging Waters and Castle Park locally, along with many more family fun amusements nationally. Ryan has an even more diverse backstory. He's owned several businesses, including a movie studio in China, helped to co-create a non-profit foundation, Wonderlight, and, along with his business partner, Dan has recently acquired the Splash Kingdom in Redlands and hopes to turn that waterpark around.  As if they are not busy enough, we hear they are opening a new venue, The Wall, in LA, but our server was a little sketchy about those details.

My parents beat us here, and we were seated on the patio in front of the restaurant when we finally arrived. I never did walk into the restaurant, but it appeared long and narrow, with just a couple of tables. With the fantastic weather, it was a pleasure sitting outside. Since I follow this restaurant on Instagram, I know that the menu at The Wall changes rather frequently, along with a rotating burger of the month and other specials from time to time. During our visit, Chef Ryan Rainstar had just recently switched the menu, and I was excited to see what was new. Let's check it out.


Definitely not new, but you do have to try the Belgian Fries ($4) at The Wall. These hand-cut, twice-fried, sliced potatoes were addictive and made even better with the Garlic Aioli ($.50). I would have liked bigger fries because at the bottom of the basket were a lot of shorter, more secondary fries, but they ended up still tasting great.



Fish and Chips ($10) are usually more of my mom's thing, but my dad beat her to the punch by ordering this first. This two-piece fried fish plate was just the right size for my dad. I recall the server saying that they used haddock for this and then finished it with a beer batter. The result was a nicely done fish with a nice crunch, and the flaky fish underneath was exposed. A very light fried fish, according to my dad. The menu says that this was to come with tartar sauce, but it appeared to be accompanied by a chipotle aioli and ketchup, which got no complaints from my dad. The fries were just as good as the ones we had earlier.



Out of the four of us, Katie probably got what owners Dan and Ryan had envisioned when they helped create the menu at The Wall. They wanted customers to share small plates inspired by their travels worldwide. It's easy to assume that Ryan's stint in China inspired this Sticky Belly Bao ($8). They fill a bao with gochujang-cola marinated pork belly, cucumbers, and shredded carrots. When I asked her about them a few weeks later, Katie thought these baos were fine, but nothing made them stand out. She claims that she'd get something else on her next visit. She brightened up a bit when I asked her about the other item she had that evening, the Polenta Fritta ($5). I don't know what inspired this starter, but Katie liked this unique way of having polenta. The suggestion was to dip the polenta in the provided chimichurri sauce, but I liked it better with the garlic aioli. The polenta was grease-free and had a nice crunch on the outside of it.


My mom is not a big eater, so this order of Chicken Wings ($8) was just the right size for her. You have your choice of sauce for your six wings: a Creole dry rub, Coca-Cola caramel, or the gochujang my mom selected. The sauce was sweet yet savory, with a small tinge of spice that did not overwhelm my mom's non-spicy palette. The wings had plenty of meat, and she left here very happy with her meal.



Small appetizers are not my thing, so I searched the menu for something a little heftier. I went with their burger of the month, the Happy New Beer Burger ($12). This burger featured an Angus patty with onion strings, lettuce, tomato, and a house-made beer cheese sauce. I do not usually like cheese sauces, but this one worked here. The consistency was like a melted cheese sauce, which went well with the well-seasoned burger. The bun was nice and soft, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this burger. This burger proves that paying attention to their burger of the month is worthwhile.

Dessert was not in the cards for us this evening, but they do get a lot of press for their Choco-taco, but that'll have to wait for our next visit. The Wall is, of course, a haven for beer lovers, but there are some good options here regarding the food. I'd like to see a little more variety regarding bigger plates, but they seem committed to the share plate concept. Prices seem fair, but with such small portions, you might have to order more than one thing to get totally full. Service was stellar this early evening, as our server ensured we had everything we needed throughout our stay. The Wall is a good option for visitors to Downtown Orange and us, who wanted a good meeting place between my parents' house in North OC and ours in South OC.

Out of five vinyl records (of course, because of Pink Floyd's iconic 1979 album, The Wall), five being best to zero being worst, The Wall gets 3 vinyl records.

For more information about The Wall, head to their website here:https://thewall.beer/

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Stepping Back into the 40's at the Apple Pan


The Apple Pan
10801 West Pico Blvd. 
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Few restaurants can say that they have been in business for ten years. Even fewer can say they have been around for 25 years. The number shrinks to a minuscule amount when you think of restaurants that have been around for half a century. 71 years is almost unheard of. On an unofficial list of the oldest restaurants, I found online a few years ago, they list Apple Pan as the 64th oldest restaurant in the LA metro area still serving guests. That's some pretty rare company when you consider the number of restaurants in LA, Orange, Ventura, San Bernadino, and Riverside counties that this list covers. If you want to check out this great list, see it here.

Back to the Apple Pan, though. They opened in 1946, the same year my dad was born, which seems like eons ago when you know what he looks like now. Just kidding, dad. In this age of changing for customers' tastes, it's almost a badge of honor that the menu at the Apple Pan has not changed in the 71 years they have been in business. No gluten-free, quinoa, kale, or any other trendy ingredients of the moment, and recipes that have not changed since Harry Truman was President.

While they get kudos for not changing a thing, I'm not going to lie, this is not the most comfortable of restaurants to eat at. First, this is a cash-only restaurant, and no cards of any kind are accepted. You will probably be directed to the bank across the street if you do not expect it. Secondly, there is only counter seating, so you will get to know your neighbors, and depending on your shyness level and how much you appreciate your personal space while eating, this might make some a tad anxious. Lastly, there's the waiting system, which is not explained well upon entering. You line up to either the left or right side of the almost always full 26-seat counter and wait for people to finish their meals while trying to keep track of who was before you. It made me feel a tad nervous that we would not be able to get a seat, but then I realized they have been doing this for decades, and I haven't heard of too much trouble at the Apple Pan. One of the other customers directed us to a pair of seats at the end of the counter about 20 minutes after we had arrived.

The Apple Pan was the basis for the Johnny Rockets chain, as their founder modeled his restaurant after this one. You can see it, but the nostalgia here is not forced like at Johnny Rockets. This is just the way things have always been at The Apple Pan. The compact menu includes two burgers, five sandwiches, and fries and pie. The men behind the counter appeared to have been employed here for a long while, as they knew many customers around us. With such few options, and since I had looked at the menu before leaving the house, we quickly made our selections and waited for our food to arrive.



The Fries ($3.10) came out rather quickly after ordering. Like at Johnny Rockets, the server puts the ketchup on a side plate for you and refills it as needed. The fries here are excellent, crisp, and soft on the inside. A very well-done fry and one that went well with the ketchup.



My Double Hickory Burger ($10.10) arrived about ten minutes later. This paper-wrapped burger comes with lettuce, mayo, and their hickory sauce, which I'd describe as a mixture of ketchup and a sweet barbecue sauce, Tillamook cheddar cheese, and pickles. The bun had a nice toast to it, which was appreciated. They could have had a heavier hand with the mayo, and I was happy that the hickory sauce did not overpower the clean-tasting beef. Tillamook is always an excellent choice for cheese on a burger, which was the case here. I took a little of the lettuce out and like to eat the pickles separately. A solid, simple burger that almost made me forget my beloved bacon on a burger.




Much like In-N-Out, but with way better burgers, The Apple Pan has a secret menu that some insiders know about. These secret items include root beer floats, cheese fries, lettuce-wrapped burgers, and perhaps the most famous secret item, this Tuna Melt ($10.35). They have a tuna salad sandwich on the menu, but for a little extra, they'll add some cheese and put it on the grill for you. Katie had this special tuna melt on rye. The white tuna is studded with pickles, and the mayo-to-tuna ratio is nearly perfect. Katie felt this was a perfect tuna melt. The bread had a good crunch from being on the grill, the tuna was fresh, and the cheese-to-tuna ratio was spot on. She can see why this sandwich gets so hyped, even though it's not on the menu.



You are doing it all wrong if you are at a restaurant named The Apple Pan and do not try their Apple Pie Ala Mode ($9.50). I was a little shocked when this was sat in front of us. It was very syrupy, and it did not seem like we got the extra $2.25 that we paid to get ice cream with this. The pie was pretty sweet but still tasted freshly made, which all pies are, as they are made on the premises every day. The crust was not as light as I would have liked, and the apples were pushed to the background by the syrup's overabundance. Not bad, but we've had better. Their banana cream pie that our neighbor had looked amazing.

The nostalgic factor at The Apple Pan is off the charts, and from just talking with the people around here, they are crazy for this place. How do I feel about it? I enjoyed it, but it's not the best burger I've ever had. With it being a simple burger, I enjoyed it well enough, especially since it does not include bacon. I could not help but compare The Apple Pan to Pie N' Burger in Pasadena. Both places are similar, although Pie N' Burger is a tad newer, as it opened in 1963. I liked both the apple pie and the burger at Pie N' Burger better, but the tuna melt and fries at The Apple Pie are superior, but that's just my opinion. The Apple Pan is definitely worth a try, especially if you are in the area and want to step back into a time machine to 1946. Glad to see that they are churning out the same food as they did in the middle of the last century and have not succumbed to the fads that their customers will move on from in the next month.

Out of five bikinis (because just like The Apple Pan, the two-piece bathing suit made its debut in 1946 in Paris), five being best to zero being worst, The Apple Pan gets 3 bikinis.

For more information about The Apple Pan, head to their website by clicking here: https://theapplepan.com/

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

LA Barbecue Comes to Costa Mesa - CLOSED


L.A. Brisket
2930 Bristol Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Nothing gets my feet moving out from behind this computer faster than barbecue. I can hear about a new pizza place opening, or maybe even a burger joint, and I'll put it on my restaurant list and sit there for a while. I do the same thing about barbecue, but something gets me thinking about it and finding reasons to be nearby to try it. This happened when my good friend Ed came to town a few weeks ago and wanted to meet up for dinner. We decided to give LA Brisket a try.

LA Brisket is at the always-busy Lab Anti-Mall in Bristol, Costa Mesa. Meeting Ed on a Friday evening at 7 was challenging because getting a parking spot was difficult. I used the valet while Ed got lucky and pulled into an open spot near the back of the lot. LA Brisket is situated right near the driveway where you enter, and this is their second location, with the original being in Artesia.

LA Brisket focuses on brisket, but they also offer chicken, pulled pork, and pork ribs. No combo plates are available, although you can order these meats by the pound, and they will come with sliced white bread and BBQ sauce. Bowls, a version of loaded fries, and a handful of sides are also available, but their main focus is on their sandwiches. There are 6 to choose from, all named after Southland Freeways, except for the 405, which is a buck more, priced at $11.

Ordering is done at the register right next to the front door, and then you wait for your food in the dining area, which has about twenty tables, hanging lighting, and a self-serve soda machine. When we walked in at 7, we were one of two tables occupied, but as the evening went along, the tables did fill up, but it was never what I'd consider overly crowded. I have it on good authority that they smoke their meats on the premises, but the smoker is outside eyesight, and the overwhelming smoke smell you'd expect was not really present this evening. It took us about five to eight minutes for our food to arrive, which is how it turned out for us.


Let's start with Ed's evening meal, the Chicken Bowl ($10). Ed has always been odd, so seeing him order a chicken and rice bowl in a barbecue restaurant wasn't a shock. Joining the dark and white meat bird and garlic-infused rice in this was some of their LA Slaw, adding a slight tinge of vinegar. I did not see Ed use the green sauce that comes with this, and I'm not even sure what that green sauce was. Ed felt this was a good dish. The chicken was tender and flavorful, with a slight pepperiness. The garlic rice and the slaw made this a nicely balanced bowl.




Loaded Fries ($11) are always a favorite of mine when I see them, so I had to try them at LA Brisket. You can have these here with chicken, pork, or the protein we tried, their famous brisket. Also topping the sturdy fries was some of their slaw, caramelized onions, mushrooms, parsley, and a blue cheese sauce. Then, they were finished off with a generous dusting of parmesan cheese. This worked well for me. The blue cheese had just the correct bite and did not overwhelm. The brisket was tender, but with everything else around it, it was hard to get a feel for whether it was good or not. The fries remained crisp during the whole life of this starter, and the parmesan was a nice touch that finished this off. I'd get this again for sure.




Okay, I did something I had never done before in eight-plus years of writing this blog. I ate my meal before taking a picture of it. It couldn't have been the conversation because Ed is not that interesting. It must have been that I was starving or something else. Anyway, I had to go back and buy another sandwich and bring it home to my house. As I said earlier, LA Brisket offers six different freeway-inspired sandwiches, and the one I pictured here is the 101 ($11). This one comes with garlic aioli, mustard sauce, slaw, caramelized onion, and gruyere cheese. As you can see from the pictures, most of these items could be more prominent. They were in there, but because of the way the sandwich was constructed, it was hard to get everything in one bite. Everything was very compartmentalized with this sandwich. They were also very stingy with the aioli and the mustard sauce. I would have appreciated a heavier hand with these condiments. The brisket was good, and they supplied plenty on this sandwich. It had a nice smokiness but could have been a tad more tender. The bread was excellent, with a lovely crunch, and held its structural integrity. Again, if the menu had not alerted me to the fact that there was cheese on this, I never would have known.

I had really wanted to love LA Brisket, especially after I had read a few critics rave about these sandwiches, but I left a little disappointed. It was not awful, but it was like Christmas morning when your heart is set on an Atari 2600, and your parents get you a Pong video game. Yes, I'm showing my age a bit here. My point is I was left disappointed in both cases. I'll give them another chance and ask for extra aioli or sauce on the side next time. I'd also be interested in their pork ribs and pulled pork. Everyone I encountered on my visits has been friendly and pleasant, except for my cantankerous friend Ed, but I've known him for over 40 years, so I'm stuck with him.

Out of five night-vision goggles (because the land that now occupies the LAB retail complex used to be home to a night-vision goggle factory more than 20 years ago), five being best to zero being worst, LA Brisket gets 2.5 night-vision goggles.

For more information about LA Brisket, head to their website here: http://labrisket.com/