Pino's Cucina the Only Italian in Town - CLOSED

Pino's Cucina

27522 Antonio Parkway

Ladera Ranch, CA 92694

The end of April and the first part of June is the start of the busy time for both Katie and me. It starts with our anniversary in mid-April, and then the family birthdays, anniversaries, and the usual Mother's and Father's Days keep us very busy through the middle of June. One of the few benefits of this time is that it allows us to try new restaurants, often with someone else picking up the tab.

That brings us to this visit to Pino's Cucina in Ladera Ranch. Katie's mom wanted me to find somewhere local for Katie's birthday, and I was more than happy to oblige. I quickly searched nearby restaurants on Yelp and found this place with a respectable 4-and-a-half-star rating, over 200 reviews, and a chef with quite the pedigree.

Chef Pino grew up in Sicily, learning his way around the kitchen from his mom, Giovanna. He left Italy to travel the world as a chef for Princess Cruises for nearly a decade. After the cruise ship stint, he settled in Orange County in 1995 and has been here ever since. He's worked at Stella's Serious Italian in Dana Point, Antonello Ristorante, and Nello Cucina in Costa Mesa. He has moved inland a bit to be the head chef at his namesake restaurant. The owners, Frank Domicolo (Pino's nephew) and Giovanni Magro (Pino's longtime friend), round out the team at Pino's with their own experiences working in casual and fine dining establishments in Europe and the States.

Pino's Cucina opened two years ago and is next to the 24-hour local favorite, Corky's. Before Pino's took over, this used to be a vegetarian restaurant. Predictably, I never came here when it was the veggie place. The restaurant is more significant than it appears from the outside. It has twenty tables, pictures of Italy on the walls, a high ceiling, and a Renaldo Juventus jersey prominently displayed on the back wall. 

The menu at Pino's is what you've come to expect at an Italian restaurant. There are plenty in the way of pasta options, with nearly twenty being offered and more substantial entrees featuring chicken, veal, beef, and seafood available for guests who want a little more heft to their meals. Entrees range between $18 to $35, and pasta dishes go for $14 to $25 for a lobster ravioli. There are also soups, salads, and starters for customers to consider. Enough with the buildup. Let's check out what we ate on this one of many birthday dinners for my beloved Katie.

Most Italian restaurants will start you with a bread basket, and Pino's Cucina was no different. They use soft ciabatta bread cut into manageable cubes, just the perfect size for dipping into the provided olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The waitstaff efficiently refilled the bread and dipping sauces regularly throughout our stay.

Man, we have been having some good luck with salads recently, and that trend continued at Pino's. Salads are not included with entrees or pasta dishes, but you should still get a salad here. This Caesar ($7) was traditional with its chopped romaine, croutons, delicious Caesar dressing, and thick parmesan squares. It had the perfect amount of dressing coating each leaf of romaine, and the cuts of parmesan were plentiful and added a nice touch. Katie and her mom were pleased with their House Salads ($7) of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, parmesan, and a fresh basil tomato vinaigrette. Katie praised the freshness of the produce in this salad, while her mom remarked that it was a pretty good size for a dinner salad.

For some reason, I had yet to hear the appetizers speak to me this evening, so I acquiesced and let Katie select one that she wanted to try. She chose the Arancini ($12), which she claims that we have had at another restaurant before, but I had no recollection of it until I searched our blog and saw that we had Arancini at Bruno's in Brea last summer. Sorry for doubting you, Katie. These at Pino's were shaped differently than the ones we had a year earlier. These were cone-shaped compared to the ping-pong ball-sized ones we had at Bruno's. These were filled with rice, meat sauce, mozzarella, and peas and deep-fried. I thought these were just okay. They needed more of a pop of flavor for me to take notice. Not awful, but nothing that memorable.

I'm always intrigued by what Katie's mom, Lynn, orders when we eat. It's almost always something I would not expect, like this Chicken Piccata ($18). She was all set to get the Chicken Marsala, but her neighbor convinced her that the piccata was the way to go at Pino's. She was happy she went with her neighbor's advice. This lightly breaded chicken was nice and tender in a traditional yet delicious piccata sauce of garlic, white wine, lemon, shallots, and capers. This also came with a dollop of mashed potatoes and some squash.

I went back and forth about what I wanted on this evening and eventually settled on this Mushroom and Sausage Risotto ($19). This was a very earthy dish with mushrooms and little bursts of flavor from the sausage coming through each bite. The risotto was cooked nicely also. I thought I got shortchanged when I saw the serving size, but it was more than enough, as it was very filling.

The birthday girl opted to get one of the first things I made for her when we first started dating: Spaghetti Carbonara ($18). She claims my carbonara is still the best she's had, which is untrue. This one was way better than mine. The cream sauce, finished with egg yolk, was rich and decadent. The chopped pancetta added a little heft to the dish, and the parmesan tied it together. It is a very comforting and filling version of a classic dish that means a lot to Katie and makes her very happy this birthday dinner.

There were three options for dessert, and not being a big fan of cannolis or tiramisu, that left us with the Profiteroles ($7) this evening. These were delicate cream puffs but did not really blow me away. The outer portion of these seemed too rigid, and there was not nearly enough chocolate drizzle on the plate to make it worthwhile for dipping. The inside cream was soft and sweet and was definitely the best part of this dessert.

Even though our ending dessert failed to impress, we loved our visit to Pino's Cucina, each of us vowing to return very soon. I quickly searched full-service Italian restaurants in Ladera Ranch, and it only yielded one result, Pino's. But this restaurant is good enough to be included on any list of great Italian restaurants in South OC. The Italian cuisine served here is definitely authentic and done, just like you'd expect from someone who learned to cook from their mother in Southern Italy. Service was pleasant and efficient, and we were even treated to a visit to our table by Pino himself, which was an excellent treat. Pino's was a great choice for one of Kaie's birthday dinners and getting us ready for lots of family time in the upcoming two months.

Out of five zebras (because it is easy to see from the decorations hanging on the walls that they love the Series A team Juventus here, and their mascot is a zebra), five being best to zero being worst, Pino's Cucina gets a very strong 3.5 zebras.

 For more information about Pino's Cucina, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.pinoscucinainladeraranch.com/

Woodfire Kabob Grill Breaks the Curse of the Old Elephant Bar Spot - CLOSED

Woodfire Kabob Grill

24155 Laguna Hills Mall #1055

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

I never thought I would be walking through this restaurant door again. The restaurant that houses Woodfire Kabob Grill in Laguna Hills used to be home to one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to, the Elephant Bar. The food there was so awful that I rated it as one of the ten worst restaurants two years in a row. I'm wondering how they still have seven locations in operation, but I'm just happy that OC has none left so we can be spared their awful cuisine. Sorry Torrance, you still have to avoid Elephant Bar. Good luck.

Another reason I was not sure I would be coming back to this address is the simple fact that the Laguna Hills Mall is all but a shell of its former self, and its existence is very much in doubt. It was going to be torn down and rebranded as the Five Lagunas, but that project has been suspended. They have recently been holding public meetings to decide what to do with this space, so everything is still pretty much up in the air.  Luckily, the restaurants surrounding the abandoned mall are still operating, for now, so we headed to Woodfire Kabob Grill to give them a try.

Woodfire Kabob has been in operation for close to half a year now, and with the uncertainty of their space, I'm not sure how long they will be here. Even with all of this uncertainty, Woodfire has garnered some very good reviews both online and in print media. Their Yelp rating is a mighty impressive four and a half stars with over 200 reviews. They have been featured in both the OC Weekly and the OC Register with glowing reviews for their Mediterranean cuisine. With praise like this, we quickly grabbed our new friends Mazi and Marita and headed to Woodfire on a recent Wednesday evening.

They have not done too much to the dining space of the old Elephant Bar. The restaurant is huge, with a tinge of a jungle theme running through it. There's a big bar in the front portion of the house, but with no liquor license, it's just wasted space now. The menu at Woodfire Kabob is full of kabobs predictably, but there are also other lesser-known Mediterranian specialties and appetizers, and for people that are not into this kind of food, there are even burgers, hot dogs, and chicken strip options. Prices for entrees range from $14 to $28 with some suggesting that plates are able to be shared between two people. No sharing for me this evening since I was pretty hungry, so let's see how everything turned out for the four of us.

Before we had even ordered, this plate and basket of bread were brought out to the table. From reading Edwin's always excellent restaurant reviews, I learned that this plate is called Noon Panir Sabzi, which translates to Bread Cheese Herbs, and is commonly eaten for breakfast in Iran. It is paired with a basket of lavash, which is thinner than pita, but still a great vessel to help you build your perfect wrap from the feta cheese, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and walnuts. Be sure to check out Edwin's more comprehensive review in the OC Weekly by clicking here.

Whenever we are in a Mediterranian restaurant, Hummus ($5.99) is a must-order. This was a very solid version of one of our favorite dips. It was very smooth, with a slick of olive oil floating on top of it. It was not the most flavorful we have had, but I liked the subtleness of it. This also came with plenty of lavash to dip with.

Let's start the entree portion of the night with what I had, the Koobideh Combo Plate ($14.99). This came with one skewer of ground chicken and another one of ground beef. Think of it like a seasoned meatloaf in strip form. This was a good-sized plate that also came with roasted tomato, onion, and a big scoop of basmati rice. The meats were tender and the seasonings were on point. I actually saved half of this for lunch the next day and it was just as good. The rice was excellent and I liked mixing it with a little bit of the hummus in alternating forkfuls. I would have liked a little more in the way of the roasted veggies, but this ended up being one of the better Mediterranian plates I've had.

Mazi went with the Barg Kabob Plate ($21.99) for his main meal on this evening. At Woodfire they use tender filet mignon to create this delicious strip of meat, which Mazi was generous enough to share a slice of this with all of us. I'm going to be getting this on my next trip here. I was a little surprised it was not in chunks, but it did not affect the taste at all. Mazi has pretty much grown up on Mediterranean food, and he was pretty impressed with the meal he had here. High praise.

Katie kept the kabob train rolling with this Chicken Soltani Kabob Plate ($20.99). This combo plate included a ground chicken koobideh and a chicken kabob. Katie, much to her surprise enjoyed the ground chicken better than the regular chicken kabob. The seasoning on both was good, but the chunks of chicken were not as tender as she would have liked. The koobideh was moist and flavorful throughout. She loved the rice and roasted veggies as well. She would have liked a garlic sauce to go along with this, but it was not offered here.

Last but not least was Marita's selection this evening, the Fesenjoon Plate ($18.99). This was a walnut and pomegranate sauce with chicken breast. Kind of like a stew to me. The sauce was a little nuttier than I thought it would be, but it worked well with the chicken. Our major gripe with this, especially from Marita was that there was not too much in the way of chicken in this. Unlike the other meals we had up until this point, this one was skimpy in comparison. After she shared with the three of us, she was left with a couple of bites and then had to resort to picking off Mazi's plate. This ended up being the only hiccup of our evening at Woodfire.

I was pretty happy leaving Woodfire, something that I'm sure rarely happened when this used to be home to the Elephant Bar. It definitely never happened when I left this building before Woodfire opened up here. These were some of the best kabobs I have had in recent memory and I look forward to many more visits to Woodfire to explore more of their menu. Service was fine, as there were not a lot of people here, but our server was a little slow in checking back on us and with refills. Prices seemed more than fair, especially when you consider how much food you actually get, except for Marita's selection this evening. Even though their location is in peril, to say the least, we look forward to many more trips to Woodfire in the very near future.

Out of five mint juleps, (because it's the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby and when the Laguna Hills Mall opened in 1973, Secretariat had the most dominant win in that race's long history, winning by 31 lengths) five being best to zero being worst, Woodfire Kabob Grill gets 3.5 mint juleps.

For more information about Woodfire Kabob Grill, head to their website here: https://woodfirekabob.com/

Anniversary Dinner at the New Steakhouse in Town - CLOSED

Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse

18420 Von Karman Ave. #100

Irvine, CA 92612

They said it would never last. The odds were stacked against two young kids who met online, had never had much luck in love, and never dreamed that either of them would have any chance to get married. But we showed them on April 18th as Katie and I celebrated our fourth year as man and wife.

Honestly, no one ever said we had no shot at wedded bliss. As soon as we started dating each other six years before our wedding, we were never apart. Our friends and family instantly saw our chemistry and knew we belonged together. She was just what I needed, and I was what she needed—a perfect match if there was one, and we never thought it would happen for us.

Alright, you did not come here to read about some mediocre love story. You want to know our thoughts on another OC restaurant. We got you. Since it was our anniversary, which coincided with the arrival of our copy of Orange Coast Magazine being delivered, and their cover story this month was about the best new restaurants in OC, I let Katie choose one for us to try. After a bit of debate, she wanted to celebrate our anniversary at Davio's in Irvine.

Davio's Northen Italian Steakhouse comes to us from the East Coast, specifically Boston. This ten-unit restaurant chain got its start back in 1985 when Steve DiFillippo purchased a family restaurant named Davio's in Boston's Back Bay area. After tweaking the menu, wine list, and other touches, Davio's soon became a hit with critics and guests alike. Their philosophy was to make everything from scratch with the finest ingredients possible and feature a polished and attentive front-of-the-house staff.

In October of last year, Davio's moved west to open in the former Prego spot, right next to the Irvine Towers in Irvine. The team includes General Manager Michael DiFillippo, son of owner Steve, and Executive Chef Istvan Toth, who is Hungarian-born and raised, worked in some of New York's busiest kitchens, and has been with Davio's since 2013. I was intrigued to find out what Davio's was about this evening.

We arrived ten minutes before our half-past-six reservation time and were seated in the half-empty dining room. The layout of this restaurant is pretty much the same as when it was Prego, with ample spacing between tables, an open kitchen where you can spy the kitchen staff manning the grill and preparing plates of pasta, and a couple of private dining areas that guests can request. It does appear that they lightened things up a bit by adding some white paint to the walls, to go along with the white table cloths and linens.

The two-page menu features a wide selection of items, some of which you would expect from a steakhouse and others you wouldn't.  They offer ala carte steaks and seafood, fifteen sides meant for sharing, a handful of salad options, and a seafood tower for however many people you have dining with. What I didn't expect to see were so many options in the way of pasta dishes, which can also be ordered as an appetizer, dinners that come with sides (almost unheard of these days in a steak restaurant), and a grouping of spring rolls, which are really more in the way of an egg roll, rather than what you'd find in Garden Grove's great Vietnamese restaurants. I was excited to try out the food here, and after four years of being married to Katie, I felt I deserved this great meal. Kidding, of course, just wanted to ensure you were still with me.

When these Popovers were first brought out, I was not too enthused. They brought to my mind the bland, overhyped Yorkshire pudding that goes largely ignored when I get it with my prime rib at most places. After my first bite of this popover, that negative connotation quickly disappeared. These were different. They had a great taste and were still airy inside, but they had more depth than the usual Yorkshire pudding that has haunted me for a long while. These were very filling, and we had to tell them to stop bringing them out after our second one each. Great butter with these, too.

Our server Jermaine suggested we try the American Kobe Beef Meatballs ($15) as a starter. He did not steer us wrong. These came two to an order and were almost tennis ball-sized. Very nice and tender, the beef really shined here with a nice clean taste to it. The red sauce perfectly balanced between acidic and sweet, while the caciocavallo cheese blanketed over each meatball was nice and mellow. Also, cheers to Davio's for calling these American Kobe, instead of just Kobe, which makes you think that the beef comes from Japan. Too many restaurants do this kind of underhanded tactic.

Continuing our Italian portion of our meal, we decided to try out one of their pasta dishes, which are offered as a meal or as an appetizer. The appetizer size of this Sausage and Rigatoni ($15) was the perfect size for splitting between Katie and myself. The above shot is just my share of this, which they graciously split for us in the kitchen. A lovely touch. This was one of the better pasta dishes I have had recently. The pasta was made fresh here and had a great texture. I loved the sausage and the creamy burrata they used in this, with just a touch of truffle oil for added richness. Wonderful.

My main event is the 18 Ounce Prime Aged Ribeye ($54). The ribeye has long been my favorite steak to try when I'm in a steak restaurant for the first time. I use it as a benchmark to judge a steakhouse. This one was not my favorite. It was a good-sized piece of meat, but I had a few issues with it. I know that some fat is to be expected when having a ribeye, as that's where a lot of the flavor comes from, but this one had an excessive amount. The meat needed to be flavored a lot more. It could not stand on its own, as I needed to ask for some Bernaise sauce and their not-very tasty Davio's steak sauce to wake this up a bit. On the positive side, it was cooked to my desired medium rare, and the half I took home for dinner the next day was better after I trimmed the fat and added extra sauce. Disappointing ribeye, though.

Whenever we eat in a steak restaurant, I always cringe when Katie orders because she always wants her steak to be medium well, which is actually an improvement over when we first started dating, and she would want her beef cooked well done. At least she's grown a bit in that respect. On this trip to Davio's, she went with the 8 Ounce Center Cut Filet Mignon ($45). I'm usually hesitant to try her steaks because they are too overcooked for my taste, but I tried this one, which was all right. It definitely had more flavor than my ribeye, which I was not expecting, and it was tender, even though it was medium well. A mark of someone who knows how to cook a steak. She loved this steak and the roasted garlic that came with it. She got their gorgonzola sauce to go with the steak, and it was the best of all the sauces we had tried here. Good flavor to it, but balanced enough that it lets the filet be the show's star.

Since we had eaten so much before our main meals, we decided to only get one side to go with our entrees: the creamy potatoes ($9). These were some pretty good mashed potatoes, and they were definitely buttery. Next time, we will definitely try their horseradish mashed potatoes, macaroni' n' cheese, and Brussels sprouts.

Call me weird, but I was not too enthused with the dessert cart at Davio's. A lot of their desserts were espresso-based, and as I'm not really fond of coffee, we decided to skip dessert. However, they brought us this complimentary dessert plate in honor of our anniversary—a very nice gesture.

So what to make of Davio's? Based on this visit, I'd place them outside of my OC steakhouse, Mount Rushmore. My ribeye here does not compare to those I had at Mastro's, Capital Grille, Ruth Chris, or Sellane Steak Tavern. The steak lacked that wow factor and seemed to be of an inferior quality to the other steak places that  I mentioned above. I did, however, like the Italian items that they offer here. The pasta and meatballs were right up there with what they serve at some of the best Italian restaurants in OC. I think dessert options need a little more diversity, like maybe a butter cake? Service was some of the best we've had in a long while. Our server, Jermaine, was personable, easy to talk with, and easily kept tabs on all his tables. The rest of the staff made a great effort to keep things moving along at a leisurely but efficient pace and ensure that each of their guests had their every need met.  It will be interesting to see how Davio's will fit into the already crowded OC steakhouse market in the future. Just like it will be interesting to see how long Katie will be able to put up with being married to me.

Out of five Boston cream donuts (because that's is the official donut of the state of Massachusetts, where Davio's hails from), five being best to zero being worst, Davio's gets 3.5 Boston cream donuts.

For more information about Davio's, you can check them out here: https://davios.com/

Scratching the Surface in Anaheim

The Scratch Room

2415 Lincoln Ave. 

Anaheim, CA 92801

It's been a while since we have reviewed a breakfast spot, which is a shame because it's one of my favorite meals. I've been on a streak at work where I usually only have Mondays and Wednesdays off, and since Katie works on weekdays, and I don't want to be a complete loser and eat breakfast alone, I have not had the pleasure of eating my favorite meal for two months now. I decided this needed to change and called my parents who are always happy to spend some time with me and try a new place. We headed to The Scratch Room.

I did a search of all the breakfast spots in Orange County and The Scratch Room got mentioned quite a few times. They have a very respectable four-star rating on Yelp, with over 1,400 reviews. They were listed as a top ten pick in quite a few magazine articles, and they even were the winner of the best breakfast in OC according to the OC Hot List in 2016 and 2017. I was pretty excited to see what they were all about on mid-Monday morning.

The Scratch Room is situated on the corner of Gilbert and Lincoln, in a small little shopping plaza, where I can imagine parking could get a little challenging. In fact, they have a map out in front of their door which alerts you to places where it is safe to park, so your car will not get towed and ruin your morning.

My parents and I arrived at The Scratch Room right before 10am. I was a little surprised that they were as busy as they were, especially since this was a weekday. The restaurant seems a little bigger than it appears from the outside. They have maybe 30 or so tables, almost all of which were in use on this weekday morning. The dining area is dominated by black walls and ceiling, an accent wall of yellow, and very little else in the way of decor. A very clean, almost sterile environment.

The Scratch Room, which is open 7 days a week, from 7am to 2 most days, has a menu that is, of course, heavily focused on breakfast, but there is a selection of sandwiches, burgers, and salads available for people who are not into the first meal of the day. The considerable breakfast portion of the menu has something for everyone's tastes. There's plenty in the way of egg dishes, omelets, benedicts, Mexican-inspired dishes, breakfast burgers, skillets, griddled items, and even a few lighter items for people that do not want to spoil their tastebuds like the menu suggests. You can count me in as one of the people that wants a heavy breakfast this morning, so let's see how it all shook out for us this morning.

Let's start things out with my meal, the Country Skillet ($11.25). True stick to your ribs kind of food here. Chopped-up strips of chicken fried steak are joined with crisp hash browns, onions and peppers then blanketed with sausage gravy and topped with three eggs. I really enjoyed this heavy breakfast. There was plenty in the way of country-fried steak and hash browns. The eggs were a tad overcooked, but the gravy shined. It featured plenty of sliced sausage, which made me feel like I was getting extra breakfast meat. I only ate half of this and had the rest for dinner later on that evening, and it was still very good and satisfying. 

At the Scratch Room, most meals come with your choice of toast, biscuits with gravy, or their special loaf, which happened to be banana bread on the day we were here. Do yourself a favor and forgo the toast and biscuits because this banana bread was some of the best I have ever had. Not overly sweet, but with a great banana flavor to it, the texture was spongy and moist and made even better as it came out warmed. I was so impressed I got an extra slice ($2.99) since the first one seemed to disappear rather quickly.

My light-eating mom took advantage of the senior portion of the menu with this Senior Special #2 ($7.00). This came with two eggs, two bacon, and either fruit or potatoes. This basic breakfast helped sustain my mom for the rest of the day. The egg came out just as she had requested, the bacon was crisp, and the fruit was fresh. All she could have asked for. 

Luckily, my dad got something a little more creative at the Scratch Room. He got the Grizzly Benedict ($12.25). This northwest inspired? benedict featured two fried salmon cakes, three poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, and unusual red caper relish. My dad has been on a real seafood kick lately, as his nickname has become fish taco, and he loved this plate. The salmon cakes were heavily breaded, but the salmon came through in most bites. I was not sure it would, but the two sauces interacted well together. I'm not sure they make the salmon cakes here, but it didn't much matter to my dad, as he ate this quicker than I have seen him in a long time. Probably because he did not want to give me a second bite. Thanks, fish taco!

I was pretty impressed with our initial visit to the Scratch Room. This family-run restaurant has got it going on. I feel like this trip just scratched the surface of what they have to offer. I'm eyeing the Breakfast Burger, the Bad Hombre Benedict, and the Wild Boar skillet on my subsequent visits. Prices were very modest here, with only the steak and eggs breaking the $12 barrier. Service was competent, cordial, and speedy. The only things that might keep me away are that we have heard the wait for a table on weekends can be up to an hour and a half long and the parking situation in this cramped shopping plaza. That, and of course my awful work schedule as of late.

Out of five green jackets, (because the winner of the Master's golf tournament wins that garment and all winners of that prestigious tournament are scratch golfers), five being best to zero being worst, The Scratch Room gets 3.5 green jackets.

The Scratch Room does not have a website but click here for their Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-scratch-room-anaheim-2

Hoping Not to Be Derailed at Trevor's

Trevor's at the Tracks

26701 Verdugo St.

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

It used to be that San Juan Capistrano was a sleepy little town, which only came alive for the Swallow's Day Parade, Mariachi Festival, and the steady stream of school buses rumbling into town loaded with kids visiting Mission San Juan Capistrano. Now, thanks to a myriad of restaurants, many of which feature live music every night of the week, the Downtown District hums with activity every time we are down this way.

One place we had not been to yet in this downtown area was Trevor's at the Tracks. They opened for business in early 2017, replacing Sarducci's. Trevor's is housed in a building that dates from 1894 and was used as the San Juan Capistrano train station for many years. Now the building host both Trevor's and the Vintage Steakhouse, both of which are steps from the north and southbound trains dropping off passengers.

No train rides for us on this evening, as Katie and I were here to have dinner with her mother, who was enjoying the single life for the week, while her husband was off training for his new job venture. The three of us arrived at Trevor's just before 6pm on a recent Thursday. There are three distinct dining areas in this restaurant. The patio area appears to be the most popular, especially with the happy hour and the live music-loving crowd. There's also a more formal dining room, and then there's the area we were seated in, which is a long hallway, running parallel to the train tracks a mere few feet away. The trains did not come rumbling in, as they had to slow down to drop off their weary travelers, so it was very easy to keep your conversation going as life went on outside the restaurant.

Trevor's food offerings would appeal to a large range of people. There's really something for everyone on this menu, which they tout as locally acquired ingredients, with a globally inspired tinge to it. The menu is broken up into plenty of appetizer options, seafood, flatbreads, starters featuring meat, and a whole host of starters that feature items from their trackside garden. Rounding out the menu are entree salads, sandwiches, and more substantial entrees. The man behind the menu is Executive Chef Joesph Tripi, who has been with this restaurant since its inception, and before that held the same position at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery. Let's see which side of the tracks our meal at Trevor's will land.

When I told one of my friends I was coming to Trevor's, they made me promise that I would try their Brussel Sprouts ($15), and not wanting to disappoint a friend, I totally complied. Don't think about the soggy Brussel sprouts you had as a kid, and instead, think of a roasted, almost crunchy Brussel sprout, which is made even better with some cranberries, goat cheese, and a balsamic drizzle over the top of them. I really liked the different layers of flavor popping through this at different spots. You had the earthiness of the sprouts themselves, the cranberry coming through in bursts, the creaminess of the goat cheese, and the tang from the balsamic. The end result was a balanced appetizer that I can see myself getting again for sure.

Not content with just the one thing before my main meal would arrive, I tried this Southern Seafood Chowder ($6) as well. The first few spoonfuls of this were really quite good, as it had a nice rich flavor to it. As I dug deeper the seafood that was in this was what I'd call a little iffy. I then recalled a passage in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, which told of chef's secrets, like how they get rid of fish that was ready to turn by placing it in chowders. Not saying that's what was going on here, but there was a very stringy piece that I had on my spoon, and pulled it out at just the last second. Not sure what it was, but it was definitely not something I wanted to eat. I lost my appetite for this chowder after that.

Both Katie and her mother opted for entree salads this evening. Let's start off with Katie's selection, the Karate Chop Chicken Salad ($16). This is Trevor's rift on a Chinese chicken salad. It included a base of romaine, with ginger soy chicken breast pieces, napa cabbage, bok choy, shredded carrots and bell peppers, sesame seeds, and a peanut ginger vinaigrette. Katie was pretty vague when describing her love for this salad. She said she loved the flavors and the freshness of the veggies, which is her usual response when I ask her if she liked something or not. She's been here many times for lunch with her coworkers and has yet to try anything else other than this salad. A creature of habit I guess.

Lynn went with this more substantial Southwest Steak Cobb ($19) as her meal this evening. From across the table, I could tell that I would have liked this salad. It was made up of a whole host of items, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, jicama for crunch, queso fresco, roasted corn, and cubes of avocado, and it was all tied together with an interesting chipotle blue cheese dressing. Again, this salad had a bunch of textural elements that kept you interested. The blue cheese chipotle dressing was delicious, and I liked the cubed pieces of avocado as well. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the sliced flat iron steak that was served medium rare on side of the plate. It was a decent steak but needed to be seasoned a bit more if eaten on its own. Eating it with the salad really helped it out.

None of the bigger meal options really spoke to me this evening, so I had to decide between either the burger, the Reuben, or the Cuban sandwich. From the picture above, you can see that the Cubano ($18) won out. This was a pretty traditional Cuban sandwich, with its roasted pork and ham, Swiss cheese, pickle, pepperoncini, and Havana aioli on crusty panini pressed bread. When done right, this is one of the most balanced sandwiches around. This one was pretty solid. I did need a little extra of the aioli to counteract the pickles and mustard on this. Both the pork and ham were savory and present. A good crunch from the bread too. Good, but did not blow me away like others have. This came with fries which were nicely fried, with a good crunch to them.

I'm always a sucker for a cookie, and I felt like a sucker after getting this one at Trevor's. Not sure if they make this Chocolate Chip Cookie ($2) in-house or not, but I'd describe this as one of the most chalky cookies I have had. It was hard all the way around, very heavy, and the chocolate chips were not very visible in this disappointing cookie. It was not any better when I placed the half I had not eaten in the microwave at home. It defied logic that it stayed as hard as ever even after being heated. Skip this cookie, unless you need a doorstop.

I know brownies get a lot of love and are way more popular than blondies, but I can not recall having a blondie and not liking it a lot. That streak continued at Trevor's with this Maple White Chocolate Blondie ($10). This blondie was topped with candied pecans, maple bourbon ice cream, and a caramel sauce. After the hard cookie, I was a little worried that the blondie was going to be the same, but it was baked well, with a good cakey feel to it. I was also pleased that they topped this with plenty of ice cream, even though I did not get a lot of maple flavor from it. I'd definitely get this dessert again.

There were some hits and misses on this visit to Trevor's. I liked the dessert and the Brussel sprouts, but the chowder and the cookie were both a letdown. My Cuban sandwich was fine, but nothing really made it anything more than an average version of my favorite sandwich. I get the feeling that the real draw for Trevor's is the picturesque outdoor patio where they have live music featured every day, except Mondays, when they are closed. The food seems to be just fine, but nothing that would probably draw us back, unless we were in the area. Our server did a great job keeping tabs on us, without being too obtrusive. Prices were a tad high for what you get, but that's to be expected in this high-traffic area of town, where people seem to love to soak up the atmosphere of the passing trains and music wafting through the air.

Out of five mousetraps, (because the building that houses this restaurant dates from 1894, which is also the same year that the mousetrap was invented), five being best to zero being worst, Trevor's at the Tracks gets 3 mousetraps.

For more information about Trevor's at the Tracks, head to their website here: https://www.trevorsatthetracks.com/