Enjoying the Ride at Harley - CLOSED

Harley Laguna Beach

370 Glenneyre St. 

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Birthday dinner time, and where should we head? This year, it was much easier to come up with some places because the April issue of Orange Coast Magazine listed the top ten best new restaurants in OC. When I read the list, I made a pact to try as many as possible within the next few months. The list includes some pretty pricey spots, so we'll see how many we make it to, but Harley Laguna Beach was the second one we could cross off the list.

The last time we had run across Chef Greg Daniels was when he was at Haven Gastropub in Orange. I actually owe Chef Daniels an apology for that review. My review took place in 2010, during the first full year of this restaurant review blog. Back then, I would say my tastes were a little conservative. Reading my review from nine years ago made me cringe quite a bit. I have grown as a restaurant eater and appreciate chefs who think outside the box. If you want to read that awful review, check it out by clicking on Haven Gastropub on the right-hand side of this blog. I'm definitely not going to link it because it's pretty embarrassing.

Harley is named after Chef Greg Daniels' grandfather. He named this restaurant after his grandfather because he wanted his guests to experience the sense of home and hospitality he felt when visiting his grandfather's house. Speaking of home, this address used to be home to one of our favorite restaurants, 370 Common. Chef and Owner Ryan Adams has since moved on to Parallel Pizza in Dana Point and Buttermilk in Downtown Orange, both of which are very good.

Harley sits on the corner of Glenneyre and Mermaid Street. Since taking over in November of last year, they have lightened the place up a bit, adding some visually pleasing lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling and an eye-catching shade of green to the walls of the dining room. Make a note that Harley is closed on Mondays, and they are only open for dinner during the week but feature brunch on weekends starting at 11 a.m.

Back to our visit on a recent Sunday evening. We arrived at a nearly empty restaurant and had our pick of seating options. There's the dining room, with its high ceilings and plenty of elbow room; there are a few cozy, out-of-the-way booths; and lastly, the option we went for, a chef's bar, where you have a prime spot to glance at the inner workings of a professional kitchen and watch your food being prepared. We could not pass up that opportunity.

The menu at Harley is designed so that most items are meant to share family style. There's a good assortment of at least 16 appetizers by my count, they have a $30 burger which made me do a double take, two pasta dishes, and one each of a chicken and seafood entree. Steaks and chops are the most significant part of the menu, are grilled over pecan and citrus, and come pre-sliced for easy sharing. Harley has also partnered with Stemple Creek Ranch and Electric City Butchers to provide a rotating list of options from their wood-fired grill. Let's check out what we experienced for my birthday dinner.

First up was the Grilled Avocado ($14). At first glance, this seems like a simple dish, but there was some complexity to it. The visually stunning avocado, with its grill marks clearly showing, was seasoned with coarse salt, rubbed with some avocado oil and lemon, and placed on top of ground-up avocado leaves and pit. The ground-up avocado leaves brought an earthiness to this that I was not expecting this plate to need. The avocado was warm enough that it was just on the verge of melting, which led to it spreading wonderfully across the lightly buttered thick bread.

A special treat from Chef Daniels was up next for us. I would not usually order fried Halloumi Cheese ($14), probably because this evening was the first time I had heard of Halloumi cheese. I have since learned that this cheese comes from the island of Cyprus, is traditionally made up of goat and sheep's milk, and has a high melting point, which allowed it to be brought out to us on fire, fueled with Blinking Owl Distillery's Aquavit. We doused the flames with the provided lemon and dug in. The nicely charred outer crust gave way to a very structured, creamy inside with a nice salty flavor. It might have been because of the lemon, but it reminded me of a very subtle piece of grilled fish, but that was just my experience. I'm odd.

Since the menu encourages the sharing of dishes, Katie and I decided we'd order a few items and split them. She loved this Cacio E Pepe ($20) more than I did. The pasta is made here and dressed with black pepper oil and pecorino cheese. The pasta was well crafted, but I needed a bigger pop of flavor, whereas Katie liked the subtleness of this and described it as total comfort food that she could see herself eating on a chilly winter evening. We will have to agree or disagree with this dish.

When ordering, we inquired about many unique cuts of steak listed on their menu, like bavette, flank, skirt, and velvet, but they were out. We finally decided on this Bone-In New York Steak ($78). This sixteen-ounce steak was dry-aged for 35 days and came from the Stemple Creek Ranch near Santa Rosa in Northern California. At Harley, it comes sliced with a red wine pepper au jus. I admit this was one of the cleanest pieces of beef I have had, and it was cooked perfectly to my desired medium rare. I needed it to pop more. The au jus did not do enough to elevate this steak for me. Maybe I've become too spoiled by the ribeye steaks I've grown accustomed to.

We rounded out our meal with Brocollini ($10) this evening. This was farmer's market fresh and nicely brought to life with the addition of roasted garlic and chili flakes. I decided to take more than my fair share of this since Katie was more partial to the pasta than this. It all worked out in the end.

We needed a sweet end for our meal at Harley and chose this Chocolate Flan ($12) from the four options. Not very sweet, this chocolate flan was plain tasting, and I needed the caramel sauce and the tart luxardo cherries to bring this to life. From reading online reviews and looking at pictures, I think the pineapple upside-down cake or the pecan pie would have been better options.

When they leave Harley, everyone is sent off with these Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's an homage to Chef Daniels's Grandma Mary. She'd always have her cookie jar full, and when leaving her house, everyone took one for the road. It was a very nice gesture, but these did not even make it out the door, as I had to eat them right away. They are classic chocolate chip cookies, just the way I like them—a little crunch on the outside and chewy inside.

There's no doubt that Harley is a welcome addition to the Laguna Beach restaurant scene. They are using some of the best quality ingredients we have encountered for a long time. There's also no doubt that Chef Daniels knows his way around the kitchen and has his techniques down. I can not fault how anything came out for us this evening, as it was all cooked wonderfully. For me, everything here was done safely. There was no risk, no big burst of flavors, like the apple tart with blue cheese ice cream we had at Haven (the one I criticized when I wrote my amateurish review ten years ago before I knew any better about the creativity that chefs must have). The steak here was good, but I needed more if I paid close to $80 for a steak that was only a pound, including the bone. In hindsight, I might have forked over the extra $40 for the $125 16-ounce ribeye. It may have wowed me as much as the one I had at Sellane Steak Tavern a few years ago. Even without the wow moments, I can see Harley being around for a long while, with their excellent service, small touches that show how much they want to take care of their guests, and their use of only premium ingredients. I'll bet that Harley will become many Laguna Beach residents' favorite restaurant spot for special occasions for years to come.

Out of five hogs (because when you think of the name Harley, it's hard not to think of the motorcycles, which are affectionately nicknamed hogs), five being best to zero being worst, Harley Laguna Beach gets 3.5 hogs.

For more information about Harley Laguna Beach, head to their website here: https://www.harleylagunabeach.com/

Andrei's Tenth Anniversary Celebration

Andrei's Conscious Cuisine and Cocktails

2607 Main Street 

Irvine, CA 92614

Ten years is a pretty long time when you stop to think about it. The current life expectancy in the US currently stands at 78 years, so ten years is pretty close to thirteen percent of the average American's life. Ten years in the restaurant business is even rarer. While it's true that fifty percent of restaurants close within the first three years of being open for business, once a restaurant passes its fifth year of operation, they have a 90 percent chance of making it well past their tenth anniversary and beyond. One such restaurant that is celebrating their tenth year in business in the next month is Andrei's Conscious Cuisine and Cocktails and they have quite a lot celebrate.

Opened in 2009, Andrei's was started by the Olenicoff family and named after their beloved son, husband, and brother, whose life was tragically cut short in an accident. Before his death, he was diagnosed with retinal eye disease, which led to the creation of the Andrei Foundation in 2005. This foundation honors Andrei's legacy by supporting blindness and vision impaired charities, along with animal and environmental causes. 

Andrei's operates as a not for profit restaurant. One hundred percent of all of their net profits go to the Andrei Foundation. So, since they are celebrating their tenth anniversary in the month of July, they wanted to do something even more special by highlighting one of their favorite charities, Miracles For Kids, which helps the families of critically ill children with counseling, housing, paying their bills, and anything else which helps families stabilize during this trying time. Andrei's will be donating 20 percent of their monthly sales to Miracle For Kids for the month of July.

Not only will Andrei's be generous with their donation, but they have also created a special menu of ten signature items, all priced at $10. This special menu is available from July 1st to July 13th and includes many of their customer's favorites from their menu. We had the privilege of attending a preview party on their second-floor patio a few days ago and we were quite impressed with everything. Here's a quick look at some of the highlights.

I was very partial to the Fish Tacos, which used a daily fish which came dressed with pickled cabbage, guacamole, and a very well made chipotle sauce all on a handmade corn tortilla. I could have eaten another ten of these if I was not on my best behavior. The Calamari was another bright spot, with its white wine lemon reduction and very well done tartar sauce. Due to Katie having a real aversion to calamari, I have to relish it when I get any chance to partake in it. The Black Angus Spring Rolls were unique with their Morrocan seasoning on the ground beef and a dollop of tzatziki sauce topping each one. Anytime these made an appearance near me I could not resist getting two or three at a time. Here's a full list of what is available on the special anniversary $10 menu.

Double Dip Duo – Cilantro-Green Pea Hummus, Avocado Bacon Dip, Warm Pita, Seasonal Vegetables
Calamari - Flash Fried Calamari, Garlic, Shallots, White Wine-Lemon ReductionPortobello Steak Fries – Panko-Crusted Portobello Mushroom Fries, Tartar Dip VG
Black Angus Spring Rolls – Feuille De Brick, Moroccan–Spiced Ground Beef, Fresh Herbs, Sauerkraut, Tzatziki
Andrei’s Chop Salad – Organic Field Greens, Roasted Chicken, Cucumbers, Avocado, Tomatoes, Corn, Candied Walnuts, Goat Cheese, Dates, Corn Bread Croutons, Sherry Vinaigrette
Market Fish Tacos – Daily Fish, Pickled Cabbage, Guacamole, Black Beans, Spanish Rice, Handmade Corn Tortillas
Lamb Burger – Superior Farms Seasoned Ground Lamb, Heirloom Tomato, Arugula, Shaved Cucumber, Onion, Feta, Fennel-Lemon Aioli, Brioche Bun, Pommes Frites 
Vegetable Caponata – Organic Carrots, Indian Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Kohlrabi, Caulilini, Zucchini Noodles, Fresh Pesto
Andrei’s Dessert Tasting – Piña Colada Carrot Cake, Bourbon Peach Cheesecake, Andrei’s Beignets
Bastille Day – X-Rated Liqueur, Fresh Berries, Brut Champagne

Andrei's also has event space available on the ground floor of their restaurant which can host up to 300 guests. They've hosted birthday parties, corporate events, weddings, and more at their restaurant in the ten years they have been operating. The Hor D'Oeurves Platters that they had set up for our media event were beautifully put together and delicious to eat. If you have an event coming up soon, Andrei's is definitely worth a visit to see if this could end up being the perfect spot to host your upcoming occasion.

This fantastic media event has really piqued my interest in Andrei's and I look forward to returning very soon to do a proper restaurant review.  In the meantime, make sure to take advantage of their $10 specials at the start of July, and also help out a worthy charitable cause by eating here during the entire month of July. You can feel good not only for doing some good in the world but also feeling good by eating some great food as well.

Katie and I would like to thank everyone we encountered at Andrei's, starting off with Natalia Ostensen, who, along with her family opened Andrei's, and could not have been nicer. Her passion for Andrei's and their philanthropy was very evident. It's also apparent that the team at Andrei's is a big part of their success and longevity here. General Manager Shannon Jones and Event and Marketing Director Jennifer Simmons have been at Andrei's almost from the start and were very gracious hosts on this evening, and their passion for this restaurant is obvious when they were chatting with us. It was a great pleasure getting to meet both of them. We'd also like to thank the servers, bartenders, and others at Andrei's, who made our visit smooth and seamless. Lastly, we'd like to thank Mona Shah of Moxxe PR, one of the best in the business, for inviting us to this wonderful event and getting the chance to catch up with her after such a long time. Great seeing you again Mona.

For more information about not only their tenth-anniversary events but everything Andrei's Conscious Cuisine and Cocktails, head to their website here: https://andreisrestaurant.com/

Coming Full Circle at ARC

ARC Butcher and Baker

417 30th Street 

Newport Beach, CA 92663

Memorial Day weekend was strange this year in OC. It started off nice, with temps in the mid-70s, and then on Sunday, it dropped to the low 60s with a good amount of precipitation. Monday was nice and sunny but windy and not conducive to sitting on the beach all day. I can't remember a Memorial weekend when it rained, and it threw everything off.

On that Memorial Day Monday, Katie and I had a rare day off together. Instead of being lazy, we would head down to Newport and get some steps in. Our walk did not last too long, as we got sidetracked when we ran into one of our favorite bartenders at Blackie's and, of course, had a few cocktails. Predictably, I had a place picked out to try for lunch, so after we finished our drinks, we headed to ARC Butcher and Baker.

If ARC sounds familiar, it's because this is the little sister restaurant to the much-heralded ARC Food and Libations at SOCO in Costa Mesa. That restaurant has won numerous awards since it opened its doors in 2013 and made culinary stars from the husband and wife team, Noah and Marin Von Blom. Not only do they have supermodel looks, but their food is also sexy as hell, excuse my language.

ARC Butcher and Baker is a smaller version of the original ARC, but they are five businesses in one. They offer grab-and-go dinner options and will deliver boat baskets and catering straight to your boat at the nearby Newport Harbor. They are part butcher shop where you can take the meat to grill at home, or they will grill it for you in their wood-fuelled kitchen. They are part bakery, with a wide selection of baked goods available daily. Last but not least, they have a small dining room with maybe a dozen seats for people who want to eat here like us.

I expected the menu to be relatively small in a space as small as this, but I was impressed with the vast array of items available. The menu lists starters, salads, sandwiches, plates, breakfast items available all day, sides, soups, and baked goods. All menu items, except entrees, will set you back less than twenty dollars. The entrees are a little pricier, ranging from $22 to $32. Let's take a look at what Katie and I had to eat on this weird Memorial Day.

Baked goods offered? Of course, we needed to start with something sweet here at ARC Butcher and Baker. This Cinnamon Roll ($4) caught my eye as soon as I walked in. This reminded me of a better-made version of the cinnamon rolls at the OC Fair, which I love. It was a little more structured and less sweet than the ones at the fair, but still delicious. The outside layers had a nice crunch, while the insides were softer and more pliable. A little more cinnamon would have made this one of the best cinnamon rolls that I have had, but it's definitely worth trying when visiting here.

When we walked in, Katie knew she would have this Turkey and Avocado Sandwich ($14). She stated that this was the best turkey sandwich she had ever eaten. High praise, for sure. This sandwich came piled high with some of the freshest and most flavorful turkey we have had in sandwich form, bacon, arugula, avocado, and dijon on a well-crafted French-style roll. This sandwich made Katie gush with a fondness for it. She loved the hard work that went into this turkey, the thick-cut bacon, the contrasts of the avocado with the aioli, and the solid bread used here. She claims this turkey sandwich has ruined her for all others she will have in the future. 

When these Fries ($7) sat in front of us, I was unsure what to make of them. I thought they looked burnt, but that was not the case. They were some of the best fries I've had recently. Not crunchy, but the insides were incredibly soft and pillowy, while the outside was seasoned very simply but effectively. I'm also not a big fan of housemade ketchup, but this one was adequate and went well with these fries. A must-get. 

Another appetizer before we get to the central portion of my meal. We gave these Meatballs ($13) a try. Like the fries, I thought these looked like they were burnt, but they were not. These come in ten meatballs to an order, were ping pong ball sized, and came with some burrata and parmesan on the plate. I don't know what these were made of, but they could have been more tender and flavorful. Not bad, but we'd skip these next time in favor of trying their mac cheese or another side.

The to-go boxes at ARC Butcher and Bakery proudly state, "Dirty Sexy Happiness," which summed up my feelings when this ARC Burger ($14) was placed in front of me this afternoon. It was very sexy and made me very happy. This was a tall burger with a thick beef patty, cheddar cheese, tomato, bacon, and a spring mix on a sesame-studded bun. Tackling this burger required me to remove the tomato and some of the lettuce to get my mouth around it. It was a little salty with the bacon, seasoned patty, and white cheddar cheese. The beef patty also had a few burnt pieces around the outside, which I tried to eat around as much as possible. Not my favorite burger, but I'm still glad I got to try it. It also looked terrific in pictures.

We also got two things to take home with us. This Cornbread ($6) was a total miss for both of us. This is made fresh when you order it, so expect a fifteen-minute bake time. This stayed over the fire a bit too long, as the outer ring got burnt, and the inside portion of this needed to be better as it was a very dry version of cornbread. There was no sweetness to this, which I look forward to when having cornbread. The salt topping this also threw me off. Not good at all.

As much as we were disappointed by the cornbread, this Carrot Cake ($10) more than made up for it. Seven layers, yes, I counted them, made up this delicious mile-high cake. The cake portion was moist and flavorful, while the cream cheese frosting was not overly sweet and was a great compliment to the cake portion. I'm a carrot cake snob, and this is one that I can definitely get behind. Perfect for people who find traditional carrot cake to be way too sweet. This one would totally be your jam.

Even though I had some issues with the food we had at ARC Butcher and Baker, I left here impressed with what they are doing in such a small space. I'm also excited to return and try more of their menu very shortly. The breakfast items, steak sandwich, pork, and beans, have piqued my interest, and I'll save room for a slice of German chocolate cake next time. It was an absolute pleasure getting to meet Chef Noah and Marin while we were here. They are not only great ambassadors for the food scene in OC, but they are also some incredible people as well. I love that they are innovators and love trying out new things. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next. No pressure, guys. I'm glad Katie and I could get outside on this Memorial Day, even if we did not get our full workout before stopping to have cocktails and get lunch.

Out of five geometry textbooks (because an arc is a segment of a circle, which is the extent of what I learned about Geometry in high school), five being best to zero being worst, ARC Butcher and Baker get 3.5 geometry textbooks.

For more information about ARC Butcher and Baker, head to their website here: https://www.arcbutcherbaker.com/

Hoping to Bear Mother's Day Breakfast

Black Bear Diner

1011 North Harbor Blvd. 

Fullerton, CA 92832

It's almost become a tradition that when it's a holiday my family always heads to Marie Callender's for their brunch buffet. My dad always makes the first reservation available, we get there early and wait for the doors to open, then we go through the brunch line maybe two to three times each, and then we are out of there by half-past 10 at the latest.

I like Marie Callender's sometimes; their Frisco Burger, Potato Cheese Soup, and their German Chocolate Pie are some highlights, but their brunch is not very good. Sorry Mom and Dad, but it's always too crowded, their food kind of tastes like it was made well in advance, and they changed their recipe for their once glorious Chocolate Chip Cookies. I just couldn't do it one more time, so I suggested that we meet at a place that my sister raved about a while back, Black Bear Diner in Fullerton.

I did not know it at the time we were here, but Black Bear is a rather big chain of restaurants. They have 133 locations, most of which are situated in the western US, but they also have some spots as far east as Missouri. They were founded in Mount Shasta in 1995 by good friends Bruce Dean and Bob Manley. Bruce is the business guy, who has plenty of experience in the restaurant business. Bob is the man who is credited with creating the environment and atmosphere of Black Bear Diner. That environment includes carved bear statues in the front of each restaurant, bear paraphilia all over the place, and a menu that doubles as a faux newspaper and is laden with plenty of bear puns for your perusal before your food comes out.

The menu includes lunch and dinner options, but of course, since we were here for Mother's Day brunch, breakfast is what we focused on. There's plenty in the way of egg combos, omelets, scrambles, benedicts, pancakes, waffles, and Mexican breakfast favorites. Prices range from $8 for small breakfasts to $16.99 for the most expensive thing on their breakfast portion of the menu, the Steak and Eggs.

This Fullerton location in unmistakeable as a former Bob's Big Boy. Entering one of these, whether it be a Carrow's, Coco's, or repurposed as another restaurant, always brings back a flood of childhood memories. We arrived at Black Bear just before 8:30 on Mother's Day and were met with about a twenty-minute wait, mostly due to the fact that we were a party of nine. We were seated in the back of the restaurant, which was actually nice because it was removed a bit from the hustle and bustle of the main dining room. We quickly made our selections, and here's how it all came out for us.

When a place is called Black Bear Diner and they have a Homemade Bear Claw ($5.99)  on their menu, you have to give it a try. This came out warmed, which helped spread out the icing a bit. They offer a fruit-filled version, but we got the classic, which has a good amount of almond filling inside of it. Not that I've had a lot of bear claws, but this was the best I have had. The heated pastry was soft and buttery, the almond filling was predictably nutty, and the icing added just the right amount of sweetness. A good little appetizer while we waited for our food to arrive.

Both my sister and I got the same thing, the ScramBowl ($10.99). As is my usual when eating out for the first meal of the day, I look for the item with the most ingredients in it. This definitely had that for sure. Ham, bacon, sausage, potatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, onions, are all topped with scrambled eggs, cheese, and gravy. Yeah, that's quite the laundry list of breakfast items. This was fine, but not too many of those items shined. The breakfasts meats kind of got lost here, the gravy was very average, and this had some temperature issues. It was a little on the cool side, but not cold enough to send back. Good sized portion though, and I ended taking it home for breakfast the next day. This came with a biscuit, but I gave it to my niece Kaylie after she asked me for it. I'm sure she thinks I'm a great uncle. 

Katie zeroed in on the Vegetarian Omelet ($11.49) at Black Bear. This omelet was made up of three eggs, with mushrooms, onion, spinach, bell peppers, tomatoes, and jack cheese thrown into the mix. Katie thought this was fine, but it needed more of a pop of flavor to make it more memorable. The hash browns came out nice and crisp, just like she likes them. The biscuit was definitely on the dry side, as she ate only half of it.

The Southern Scramble ($10.99) would be my dad's first meal on this day. I'd classify this more like a breakfast sandwich than a scramble. A split biscuit was topped with a sausage patty, scrambled egg, and then sausage gravy was ladled over it. Maybe because you don't eat this with your hands is why they don't call it a sandwich. Anyways, my dad was not too enthused with this. He thought it was pretty bland. The biscuit was a little on the tough side, the gravy was not very flavorful, and the sausage failed to shine through. The best part of this plate was the fresh fruit that my dad got instead of potatoes.

The Mini Volcano ($9.49) is advertised on the Black Bear menu as one of their smaller items, which tells you a little something about this place. This was the perfect size plate for my niece Kaylie. One egg, one strip of bacon, and two pancakes with chocolate chips topping them. Kaylie had no problem polishing this off. I found it a little odd that the chocolate chips were not incorporated in the batter, instead, of being placed just on top of the pancake. A good breakfast for our cheerleading niece.

I'm not sure when my mom became a millennial, but her love of Avocado Toast ($3.49) has appeared over the last few months. This is one of the newest menu items at Black Bear Diner. Avocado is spread across a roll that reminded me more of an English muffin. It doesn't get much simpler than that. My mom thought this was okay, nothing special. I'd tend to agree. Not sure why she got two sides of fruit with this, but she did end up taking one to go.

Last but not least was my niece Lillie's breakfast, the Bear's Choice ($10.49), which included two strips of bacon, two eggs, and a sweet cream waffle. Lillie claimed that the bacon was good, and the waffle almost made her jump out of her booster seat with joy.

Black Bear Diner was fine for what we wanted on this Mother's Day. A breakfast spot where we could get in and out pretty quick, and not have to wait too long. The food really did not impress too much, except my nieces seemed to like what they had. I'd describe the food here as an elevated Denny's. Nothing wrong with that, but don't come here expecting to be blown away by what you order. Service was fantastic when you consider how busy they were. Our server took great care of us and the food came out pretty fast. My mom will probably want to head to Marie Callender's again for Mother's Day brunch next year, and me being a good son will just grin and bear it. Get it, because of the name of this restaurant.

Out of five picnic baskets, (because of Yogi Bear of course), five being best to zero being worst, Black Bear Diner gets 2.5 picnic baskets.

For more information about Black Bear Diner, head to their website here: https://blackbeardiner.com/

Hoping El Matador Will Hit the Bulls Eye

El Matador

1768 Newport Blvd. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It's hard to believe that I had never reviewed El Matador in Costa Mesa. When I used to live up this way, my roommates and I would eat here at least monthly. So, when my brother in law, Jim had asked us to meet him and his wonderful girlfriend Rachel for dinner at El Matador, I  had to look at the list of restaurant that runs along the right-hand side of this blog to double check if I had ever been here to write a review. Surprisingly, I had not, so we headed out for a long overdue meal with one of our favorite couples. 

El Matador has been operating from this exact spot for 53 years now. That's pretty impressive in the restaurant business. It was operated by a Marcial Gallardo in 1966, and he ran things until his death in 2003. A year-long family battle led to the restaurant being put up for auction in 2004, and that's when current owners, Greg and Jana McConaughy took over the reins. They have done some upgrades to the place but left the menu pretty much intact.

What they are doing must be working, since we arrived at a packed restaurant at 6pm on a recent Friday. The servers and the kitchen worked in great tandem to get people in and out rather quickly, as I watched numerous tables turn over during our visit. The inside of the restaurant is pretty dark, with only decorative hanging baskets providing just enough light above the well-worn booths to showcase the over 200 bottles of tequila that they proudly offer.

The menu at El Matador is pretty much what you'd expect from a Mexican restaurant that's been around for 50 years. Lots of tacos, enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, combo plates, appetizers, and other Mexican specialties. Prices are pretty reasonable, especially considering the area of town where they are situated. None of their entrees are going to set you back more than $20, with most hovering right around the $13 mark. A very good value, which probably explains why there were so many families dining here, many of which appeared to be regulars based on the interactions I observed. Let's take a look at the food that has kept a lot of their guest's regulars for many years.

Since we got here a little ahead of Jim and Rachel, I decided to partake in a House Margarita ($7), along with the provided Chips and Salsa that came to the table as we sat down. The margarita was fine, but a little on the sour side for my taste. I'd probably try another one of their margaritas next time, perhaps a mango or the pomegranate version on future trips to El Matador. The chips and salsa were pretty stellar. The chips were fried nicely, while the salsa had a good chunk to it, with a little bit of spice near the end of each bite. I tried to abstain from eating too much before our food arrived, which is always a struggle for me when eating in a Mexican restaurant.

From reading the online reviews, I knew I had to give their Guacamole and Cheese Nachos ($9.95) a try. These were as good as advertised. A layer of chips spread across the plate, with a thick cheese blanket covering them, a large dollop of guacamole, and a hidden layer of refried beans beneath it all. The chips and cheese got a little crisp due to being placed under the broiler for a bit. A little messy to eat with the four of us angling to get everything in one bite. The beans got a little lost here due to being buried underneath everything, but I'd definitely recommend getting this as a starter or maybe I will add a protein to it next time and make it my meal.

Moving on to the entree portion of the evening, let's start with what Katie went with, the Mexican Pizza ($11.50). This was a big mound of food. It starts with flour tortillas and is then layered with plenty of shredded beef, tomatoes, refried beans, peppers, onions, and a lot of cheese to tie it all together. Less like a pizza because the tortillas got lost in this mass of humanity, and more like a Mexcian hash. However you want to classify it, it was pretty delicious. Katie ate more than half of it, and I had the rest for lunch the next day, and it was still very tasty.

Jim and Rachel live nearby, so they come to El Matador pretty frequently. I'm not sure if Jim always gets the same thing here, but on this visit, he opted for the Deluxe Bean and Beef Burrito ($11.25 plus $4.40 for rice and beans). This was a pretty good sized burrito filled with shredded beef and refried beans and then topped with cheese and enchilada sauce. No complaints from Jim with this, as he ate all but a quarter of it.

Light eating Rachel just got the Chicken Tortilla Soup ($6.75). From what I can gather, she gets this soup quite often, as she thought this batch was not as good as others she has had here. It did look a little on the bland side from across the table, but compared to what I had come out for me, most things would pale in comparison.

It's always a good sign that I'm going to take some food home with me when my combo plate has to come on two plates. That's the way it was with this #1 Combo ($16.50) on this evening. With this combo, you get a cheese enchilada, tamale, shredded beef taco, a bean tostada, and of course beans and rice to round everything out. The shredded beef taco was probably my favorite of the four things here. A very sturdy crunchy shell with plenty of beef and cheese. The cheese enchilada had a good amount of cheese inside to go along with the delicious enchilada sauce. The tamale was okay, as it was a little on the dry side. The tostada was the weak link here, as it came out with way too much lettuce, and I did not want to take it off because they put the cheese on top of it. It should have been listed as a salad instead of a tostada. The beans and rice were fine, just kind of average.

It's easy to see why El Matador has been around for over a half-century and counting, and why they might be here for another 50 years. They serve pretty good sized portions at a very respectable price for a full-service restaurant. Is this the best Mexican food I've ever had? No, but it's comforting Mexcian cuisine and just as good, if not better than the other Mexican restaurants in the area, Mi Casa, La Playa, and El Ranchito to name a few. Their menu is also pretty large, so it warrants repeat trips to explore other items you might have missed. Service on this Friday evening was pretty solid, for as busy as it was in the restaurant. Glad Jim helped me cross this classic restaurant off of my list, and more importantly, we had a great evening out with family.

Out of five red capes, (because that's one of the tools of the trade that matadors use in the bullring), five being best to zero being worst, El Matador gets 3 red capes.

For more information about El Matador, head to their website by clicking here: http://elmatadorcostamesa.com/index.html#home