Welcome to OC Vaka Burger - CLOSED

Vaka Burger

1705 Flight Way 

Tustin, CA 92782

Nothing gets me quite as pumped as a new burger spot coming to OC. Okay, maybe a week off from work, but you get what I'm saying here: I love burgers. Especially if that burger concept was popular elsewhere before they came to OC. That's the case with Vaka Burger, which came across my radar when I saw a review about their glorious burgers when they were serving them to the hungry people of Whittier.

Brad A. Johnson, who also loves a good burger, wrote in the Orange County Register that the burgers here could be the best he has ever tasted. He has also named Vaka Burger one of the top ten places for cheap eats in OC. This is high praise, but I have been burned a few times by some of his recommendations, so I had to check out Vaka Burger for myself.

If you haven't heard, there's a new food hall in Tustin. Located near the corner of Barranca and Red Hill, Mess Hall is situated right next to three soon-to-be-inhabited office buildings. The two times I've been here, the food hall was filled with plenty of people exploring the nine stalls. I can only imagine that Mess Hall will get even busier once these office buildings are filled with hungry workers.

Vaka Burger started out as a popular food truck back in 2013. Two years later, they set up shop in a Boyle Heights liquor store, where they grew to cult status. After a disagreement with the liquor store owners, they opened a spot in Whittier, where their iconic rise continued. That location closed as they returned to another liquor store in Boyle Heights. Then, lucky for all of us in OC, they took one of the stalls at Mess Hall, and hopefully, they will be here for a long while.

As I mentioned earlier, I have visited Mess Hall two times now, both trips at about 11:30, to avoid the lunchtime rush, which I highly advise. Vaka is easily the most popular of all the food purveyors, which also include Slapfish, Big Parm, Sandwich Society, a Greek spot, a chicken sandwich stand called Fowl Play, Fonda Moderna, Saigon Kitchen, a coffee and tea spot, and a full bar. I've tried other food stalls but will probably review them later. For now, I was all about Vaka Burger.

The Vaka Burger menu features nine burgers, two sandwiches, sides, a salad, and wings. Prices range between $10 to $13 for their burgers, which come ala carte. Sides will set you back $3 to $7. Now that you've got the lay of the land here let's share our thoughts on this much-hyped burger spot.

Starting things off on visit number one was my dad's pick, the Blu Burger ($13). This burger was right up his alley. It came with soft blue cheese, mushrooms coated in a balsamic glaze, butter lettuce, and garlic aioli. My dad was in love with this burger. He called this one of the better burgers he has had in OC. He loved how the blue cheese was present but did not overpower the rich 6 ounces of grass-fed beef. The burger patty was the show's star, and the condiments and toppings complimented it awesomely. Definitely a great start to our visit.

I panicked when it was my turn to order at Vaka Burger. I showed up to Mess Hall knowing what I would order and then switched it up at the last moment. This El Porky Burger ($13) made me do an about-face when I saw that the menu said it contains two proteins; a hamburger patty and pork belly medallions. I was sold. Also added were sliced provolone cheese, caramelized onions, and a good barbecue sauce. It's definitely a knife-and-fork burger, although I did try it with my hands at first. I think the barbecue sauce kind of overpowered everything here. It was hard to understand how good the pork and beef were on this. The bread is worth spotlighting here. Even with this being a messy burger, the bun maintained its structural integrity while staying soft and pliable. A great accomplishment to whoever provides their buns at Vaka Burger.

My niece Lillie, like most kids, is pretty basic regarding the food they like to eat. She got the Lencho Jr Burger ($5) from the kid's section of the menu. This cheeseburger featured sharp cheddar cheese, and she 86'd the ketchup that usually comes with this. Even though there were no condiments on this, it showcased their burgers' quality. The beef is ground nicely, comes out juicy, and is very high quality. I thought the sharp cheddar was an odd choice for a kid's burger, but I had no complaints from very picky Lillie, who usually leaves half of her food uneaten, but that was not the case here at Vaka Burger.

Lillie's kid's meal came with fries, which were nice and thin but unremarkable to me. Even though the menu states they are twice-fried, they were your basic fast-food fries. The lone blemish on our first trip to Vaka Burger was the Dirty Fries ($6) I had ordered. They use the same fries as Lillie's meal but top them with feta cheese, Russian dressing, caramelized onions, and garlic aioli to finish them off.  These came out lukewarm at best and were not helped out by an overabundance of feta cheese, which overwhelmed me here. I would never have known if the menu had not alerted me that Russian dressing and garlic aioli were included here. Again, this was my only disappointment with visit number one.

Visit number two started out with these Maui Rings ($6). These were the reasons that two trips to Vaka were needed. We had these on our first visit, but my pictures of them were unusable. It's not a shame since it gave me a second chance to have these awesome rings. They are huge and give you plenty to share with anyone you choose to bring here. The outer portion has a nice crunchy beer batter, which breaks away easily from the large onion underneath when bitten into. I liked the smaller ones better, as they were even extra crunchy. They gave me both housemade ketchup and garlic aioli for dipping sauces, which were good. I wish they had ranch dressing, which I imagine would be even better with these above-average rings. 

I went a little more subdued on this visit to Vaka with the Truff Burger ($13). This burger featured arugula, sharp white cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, truffle oil, and garlic aioli. I really liked this burger. The truffle was very present, the cheese melted over the patty perfectly, and I could taste the garlic aioli. There was a little too much arugula, but it did help to cut the richness of this burger. Are you a truffle lover? Then this one is for you.

Even though we had no kids on this trip, I had to order the Lechon Jr ($5). I figured for five dollars, plus you get fries, it's a pretty good deal worth having. This time, they gave me sharp white cheddar instead of the yellow one they had put on the earlier kid's burger. Maybe they were out of the yellow. This was a very good burger, nonetheless. As you can see from the picture above, there was plenty of cheese on this, the ketchup added a nice and pleasant flavor, and the beef was again first-rate and cooked to a delicious medium. Definitely the best bargain at this food hall.

Vaka Burger did not disappoint. It's easy to see why this is the most popular of all the food stalls here at Mess Hall. The burgers are in the upper echelon of the ones I have had in OC. I'll include them in my mythical Mount Hamburgermore of OC Burgers, which now includes G Burger, Burger Parlor, Hopdoddy, and Vaka Burger. The burgers are excellent, but I wish they were a little more flexible when it comes to customization when building your perfect burger. Reading their Yelp reviews, that's one of the things that people complain about the most, while the other is price. Which is really silly when you think about it. I went to Wendy's today for lunch, got a large-sized combo, and spent  $12 for a far inferior burger and fries there. I'd gladly pay the extra $8 for the quality of the burger and onion rings at Vaka when I'm near the Tustin area. No issues with the service on either of these two visits. Glad the hype was warranted, and I hope Vaka Burger has a very long tenure in OC.

Out of five outriggers (because the term Vaka describes the multihull seafaring vessels popular in the South Pacific), five being best to zero being worst, Vaka Burger gets 3.5 outriggers. 

For more information about Vaka Burger, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.vakaburgers.com/

Getting Our Fill at Filomena's

Filomena's Italian Kitchen

2400 Newport Blvd. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

I guess you never truly know where you are going to end up when you head out your front door. Katie and I were headed out for long-overdue date night down in Newport on a recent Saturday. I had made reservations at a restaurant I have wanted to try forever. We even got all the way down there and were trying to find parking when my cell phone rang.

It was the restaurant we were going to, and they informed us that they had lost power due to a transformer blowing up, and they were not sure when they were going to be up and running. I was pretty surprised that they had taken the time to call us and let us know, a very nice touch. Now the question was where to eat now? We were quickly getting off the very busy Balboa Penninsula when it hit me that we should try another spot on my restaurant wishlist, Filomena's Italian Kitchen.

We had run across the food at Filoomena's many times at food and wine festivals we had attended. Their food that they were passing out was always very tasty, almost a rarity at these food festivals. It shouldn't be shocking that Filomena's food was so great when you consider the accolades that they have achieved in their six-plus years of being in business.

They have named one of the 75 best places to eat in OC by Brad Johnson, the notoriously tough restaurant critic of the Orange County Register three times in the last four years. Filomena's has also gotten rave reviews for their pizza, as they were listed as number four on the Orange Coast Magazine's list of best pizzas in OC. Their customers have even gotten into the act, bestowing a very respectable four-star rating on Yelp with over 500 reviews written.

The woman behind this restaurant is Chef Linda Johnsen. She grew up in South Philly, loved going to the Italian Market, and learned to make the perfect pasta and sauce from her aunt Rosemary and this restaurants' namesake, her grandmother, Filomena. In 2017, Chef Linda expanded to incorporate a true Italian deli and market as well. Here they sell imported meat and cheeses, salads, pre-packaged dinners, gelato, cookies, pastries, and more. Since we had about a fifteen-minute wait before the OC Fair concert-goers headed out to catch their show, we had plenty to keep us occupied in the market until a table was made available to us.

The menu at Filomena's is just what you'd expect from an Italian restaurant in OC. There are a good amount of starters, salads, a varied selection of pasta dishes, five seafood offerings, more hefty entree options, and their award-winning pizzas to round things out. Prices for entrees and pasta dishes range between $13 to $25, very reasonable. Let's see if our unexpected change of plans turned out to be a blessing.

Just like in almost all Italian restaurants in OC, bread service was our first stop at Filomena's on this evening. They use a crusty Italian style bread in their breadbasket. It had a thick crust, while the inside was light and airy. This came with very nice garlic butter, which was easily spreadable, a big plus in my book. The garlic was not too overwhelming, more on the subtle side, but not lacking in flavor. A difficult balance to achieve with an ingredient as strong as garlic.

From the starter section of the menu, I convinced Katie that we needed to try the Sausage and Meatballs ($12). This iron skillet contained two golf ball-sized meatballs and two sausages topped with melted mozzarella and light and fluffy ricotta cheese perched on top like whipped cream. I liked the well-crafted sausage between the two portions of meat here. The meatball needed to be a tad more tender and flavored a bit more, which the cheeses and sauce definitely helped with. A solid, heavy starter for big eaters. 

When a salad is listed on a menu as going for less than $10, it usually entices me into ordering it, even if we were already having an appetizer. It must have gotten Katie as well since she tried the House Salad ($8). This salad came with iceberg lettuce as its base and then is enhanced with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, sweet peppers, and carrots with a house vinaigrette serving as the dressing. Katie felt this was a very good starter salad, with its fresh ingredients and very good vinaigrette. Way better than the much-ballyhooed salad at Olive Garden. Why do people still eat there?

I'm always game for a Caesar Salad ($7) as many of you long-time readers know from my probably hundreds that I've eaten in the last ten years. This one at Filomena's had an excellent parmesan cheese, but fell flat when it came to the croutons, which were hard and flavorless. The dressing also needed to be a bit more present. Definitely not the worst I've had, but room for improvement. 

Katie zeroed in on her meal very quickly at Filomena's. She went with the very popular Pappardelle Bolognese ($18). Reading the online reviews, this gets a lot of love from the regulars here. They got this one right. This was pretty much a perfect plate of pasta. The pappardelle pasta was fresh and cooked just right. The meaty ragu was absolutely delicious. Just the right amount of meat and sauce in this to keep us interested throughout the very short time the food was on this plate. She ate this very quickly, with some assistance from me.

Definitely not one of the most photogenic of dishes, but I wanted to give their Veal Saltimbocca ($25) a try on this evening. I've had a pretty average streak of veal in Italian restaurants lately. I always think if you are going to pay the extra money for veal, it should be exceptionally tender. Lately, that has not been the case when I've ordered it in Italian restaurants, including this trip to Filomena's. This veal was not as tender as I hoped it would be, and the prosciutto really overwhelmed with a very salty taste to it. The sauce was good, and this really mellowed when I had it for lunch the next day. Definitely better the day after. I'm still in search of a veal dish that can rival the one I had at Pina's Bistro in Tustin four years ago.

Even though there were a few minor hiccups during our visit to Filomena's, both Katie and I left here wishing that we had an Italian restaurant like this in our neighborhood. With a menu as varied as this, it will probably take a few more visits to come up with my perfect meal here, even though that bolognese was fantastic and I've thought about it a number of times since our trip to Filomena's. The garlic bread, pizzas, lasagna, and other pasta dishes are in my sights for future visits. Another thing this restaurant has going for it is their hospitality. We had two servers during our stay, and they provided some of the best service we have received in a restaurant in quite some time. They met our every need and answered all of our queries seamlessly. Even though we had not originally intended to eat at Filomena's on this evening, we are very happy we ended up here, and look forward to coming back again soon.

Out of five miracles, (because the night of our visit was also the night when Smokey Robinson was playing at the OC Fair, and his former band was called The Miracles), five being best to zero being worst, Filomena's Italian Kitchen gets 3 miracles.

For more information about Filomena's Italian Kitchen, head to their website here: http://filomenasoc.com/

Not Overlooking Sancho Anymore

Sancho's Tacos

1101 South El Camino Real 

San Clemente, CA 92672

Since we live in the land of great Mexican food, it's understandable if some places get overlooked. That's kind of how I feel about Sancho's Tacos. I had recently heard about them from a coworker, who had asked if I had tried them. I said I had not, and immediately looked up their info.

Just checking out their locations I was a little surprised I had not eaten at one of their four OC locations, (they also have an outpost in Oceanside for those of you reading this farther south). Sancho's has locations in some of my favorite cities; Newport, Huntington, Laguna Niguel, and the city where we visit almost weekly to walk the beach trail, San Clemente. I actually had to use Google Maps to find out where their spots were in these cities. I decided right then that we needed to try them out the next time we were in San Clemente, and that happened just a few days later.

Sancho's Tacos is a little south of the majority of the business district in San Clemente. Just past Ralph's on El Camino, and sandwiched between a florist and Biggies Burgers. You can't miss the huge sign that stands above El Camino Real in this part of town. Parking is a bit tricky at this former site of Taste of China. They have just eight regular parking spots, and we did observe people parking at other nearby businesses, and walking here when there were no spots available.

We arrived here at just before 6pm on a recent Sunday and were met with a pretty full restaurant. There are three tables inside, and the majority of the seating options are located outside, maybe another ten or so tables. Ordering is done at the counter, and then the food is brought out to you. Their menu includes plenty in the way of tacos, burritos, breakfast, nachos, a quesadilla, and loaded fries. As far as prices, only one item breaks the ten-dollar threshold, and that's the surf and turf burrito, which goes for $10.25, just an extra quarter.

I thought we were living right when we snagged the last parking spot in the small lot and found an empty table out in front of the restaurant. That luck ended when we were informed that they were out of both guacamole and carnitas on this early Sunday evening. We were cool about it, but we did hear other customers grumble rather loudly about it. Enough about what we couldn't have, let's see what we did consume after our walk at the beach trail.

Katie started off with two tacos this evening. The Yardbird ($2.99) is the one in the middle picture, while the Flounder Pounder ($3.25) is the one right above. The chicken taco came with cubed grilled chicken, onions, cilantro, sour cream, and something called chubby sauce. The fish taco came with grilled fish, cilantro, cabbage, crema, chubby sauce, and salsa verde. Both tacos came on sturdy corn tortillas. Katie felt these were great representations of tacos you'd want to eat near the beach. The fish taco was her slight favorite, as the fish was moist and the condiments complemented it nicely. The chicken had a good flavor to it and they put so much in it that she had enough chicken for a second taco. Okay, maybe a street sized taco, but a taco nonetheless. 

Part one of my meal, since my preferred carnitas were not an option on this evening, was the first taco listed on their menu, the OG ($3.20). They use tri-tip here and dress the taco simply with cilantro, sour cream, chubby sauce, and onions. I liked the flavor and tenderness of the tri-tip in this. They were not shy about using a good amount of meat in this either. The simple condiment selection really let the tri-tip be the star here. Even though I was bummed there was no carnitas available, this was a great alternative.

For the second part of my meal, I went the burrito route with this Surf and Turf Burrito ($10.25). This had both shrimp and tri-tip, along with rice, beans, cheddar and jack cheeses, sour cream, cabbage, and pico de gallo. I liked this burrito but it did have a few issues. The tri-tip in this seemed like it was different than the taco I had. The beef was in bigger hunks and not marinated in the same stuff as what was in my taco. The result was a blander burrito. The shrimp was fine, but this needed that spark from the tri-tip. This also came out rather lukewarm, and in the early evening shade, it cooled very quickly. Very girthy, this did end up filling me up.

Katie was still a little hungry after her two tacos, so we decided to split their Pounders Carnal Fish Taco ($4.25). Glad we did. This was probably the best of the bunch, just edging out the tri-tip taco I had. This flour tortilla came out loaded up with pieces of fried fish, red and green cabbage, crema, pico de gallo, and some of their chubby sauce. The fish on this was fried nicely, with a crispy outer crunch and flaky and tender white fish underneath. The crunch of the cabbage and the combination of the chipotle and sour cream rounded this out rather nicely. A very well done fish taco, one of the better ones we've had recently.

This initial visit to Sancho's has really piqued my interest to return here very soon. I've heard good things about their breakfast burrito, and of course, I need to try their carnitas as well. I thought the prices were pretty good, considering the size of their tacos and burritos. I've also heard that they have a Taco Tuesday deal from 4 to 8, where some of their tacos are offered at $2 each. This might not be the most comfortable of restaurants to eat at, with most of the seating being outside and the rather small parking lot situation, but we will definitely be back very soon. Sancho's Tacos will not be overlooked by us anymore.

Out of five horses, (because one of the most successful racehorses of the early 19th century was an English horse named Sancho, which won 8 of his 12 races), five being best to zero being worst, Sancho's Tacos gets 3 horses.

For more information about Sancho's Tacos, head to their website here: http://www.sanchostacos.com/

Vacation Time in Torrance?

King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant

2808 Sepulveda Blvd. 

Torrance, CA 90505

Summertime is for vacations. It seems like almost everyone that I know has gotten out of town at some point during this summer. I've seen my friend's Facebook posts about their summer trips to Italy, Colombia, Vegas, Japan, Miami, Alaska, and more. Even my friend Carol, who I was dining with on this particular afternoon is headed to Chicago at the end of this month, and she never goes anywhere. I have extreme travel envy at this point. I was hoping that a birthday lunch for Carol at King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant in Torrance would transport me to the South Pacific, at least for an hour or two.

The King's Hawaiian story begins in 1950 in Hilo, Hawaii. This is where founder Robert Taira opened his first bakery, before moving his family business to the more metropolis Honolulu. His bakery restaurant became pretty well known for their Portuguese sweet bread, which would eventually become known as King's Hawaiian Bread. The mainland was introduced to this famous bread in 1977 when they opened their first factory in Torrance. This restaurant and bakery followed in 1988. In 2001 they opened The Local Place, which is a fast-casual version of their original restaurant and bakery.

Now that you are all caught up on their history, let's get back to our visit. As I mentioned earlier, it was my good friend Carol's birthday, and since she now resides in Torrance, it has given us a chance to visit some restaurants up this way. Besides Gen BBQ, King's Hawaiian is the most reviewed restaurant on Yelp in this South Bay city. Close to 3,000 reviews and a mighty impressive four-star rating.

The outside of the restaurant, which sits alongside busy Sepulveda Boulevard kind of reminded me of the house on Fantasy Island, for the few of you that remember that 70's and 80's TV show. Once inside I was a little taken aback by the very large bakery case. This could be one of the largest bakery cases I have ever seen. They had plenty of cakes, pies, cookies, donuts, muffins, pastries, large displays of their Hawaiian Bread, and other assorted desserts. I did not know this before coming here, but they also do quite a large amount of wedding cakes as well. Very impressive, but we were here for some more substantial food after my long drive.

Breakfast is served every day before 2pm, but some items are available all day long. Lunch begins at 11, and they have plenty in the way of choices; appetizer, Hawaiian bowls, Hawaiian local favorites, combination plates, burgers, sandwiches, noodles, and fried rice dishes. Prices hover right around the $12 mark for breakfast and lunch and dinner options will set you back on average $14. Let's see if my trip up the 405 Freeway to King's Hawaiian could help ease the vacation envy I have of all of my friend's vacation plans. 

Probably not shocking to anyone, but once you are seated you are brought out a six-pack of Hawaiian Rolls to start things off with. These came out warm, but with only two pads of butter, I had one and we packaged up the rest so Carol could take them home to her sister.

While looking at the menu, Carol had made mention of the Macadamia Nut Onion Rings ($11.25) and since it was her birthday, we needed to give them a try. This plate of rings could have easily served four. These were a very solid onion ring. The breading did not pull away from the thick onion underneath, which is my biggest pet peeve with onion rings. The panko and macadamia nut breading was very sturdy, but maybe due to the deep-frying, the macadamia nuts did not really come through flavor-wise for me. The ranch dressing and barbecue sauce were fine, but I was maybe hoping they would have gotten a little more creative with their sauces and done a sweet and spicy pineapple dip or something else. Still, if you are a fan of the onion rings, these are a must-order for you.

Carol very rarely goes out to eat for breakfast, so when we try new places, she likes to give breakfast a try. At King's Hawaiian, she tried what I assume is one of their most popular breakfast plates, the Big Island Breakfast ($11.75). This breakfast combination plate comes with two eggs, three strips of bacon, and their famous King's Hawaiian French Toast. The eggs were cooked to her desired wishes and the bacon was nice and crisp. I tried a bite of her french toast and thought it was fine, but it did not blow me away. Decent, but nothing that really made me think I needed to have more than one bite, which is a good thing since Carol ate all of this rather quickly. Man, that 73-year-old woman can eat.

When people talk about breakfast dishes from Hawaii, Loco Moco ($11.75) is definitely what I think of. This was a pretty traditional version, which starts with white rice as its base and is then topped with a hamburger patty, brown gravy, and two over-easy eggs. A few of my bites of this were good, but this needed more gravy to bring it all together. The hamburger patty also needed to be seasoned a bit more to make it pop. The best part of this dish was the scoop of potato macaroni salad that came with this. It's the perfect mash-up for people who are fans of both macaroni and potato salad.

I was a bit disappointed with my visit to King's Hawaiian. I think I expected a bit more than just an average coffee shop. Nothing was totally awful, but nothing was really so great that it would make me want to drive up here again from OC. I can see why people like this place though. It does kind of put you in a vacation mood by helping you recall a long-ago vacation that you might have had in the South Pacific. There's definitely more traditional and better Hawaiian restaurants out there to eat at. King's, based on what we had on this visit, appears to me to be Hawaiian food for the masses, which probably is the key to their popularity.

Out of five cups of coffee, (because the state of Hawaii is the only US State which grows everyone's favorite morning pick me up), five being best to zero being worst, King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant gets 2.5 cups of coffee.

For more information about King's Hawaiian Bakery and Restaurant, head to their website here: https://www.khbakery.com/

Hoping Every Dog Has Its Day at Park Bench Cafe

Park Bench Cafe

17732 Goldenwest Street

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

My year-long nightmare with a boss that was the worst I have had in my 31-year career was finally over a month ago. I don't think this guy could manage to find his way out of a paper bag even if it was kept open for him. He was so awful that the best vacation we got was when he left to go on vacation. This guy was so unpopular that even his shadow refused to follow him. Have I gotten across how I felt about this guy yet? Anyways, he's gone and I could not be happier.

I bring this up because it means a change in my schedule most weeks. I have been getting a steady amount of Sundays off, which means both Katie and I have time to go on walks and of course, find some breakfast spots to try. I've had this one, Park Bench Cafe on my list ever since I read a cover story about old school breakfast joints in Orange County in the OC Weekly early last year. I made note of the ones I have not dined at and made a vow to visit all that I could in a timely fashion. Thanks to my ex-boss, I guess a year and a half is now a timely fashion. Thanks, guy.

Park Beach Cafe just barely qualifies as an old school place, since it was opened in 1988 by husband and wife team, Mike and Christie Bartusick. They were two young kids in their early twenties that had the vision to turn a shuttered bait and tackle shop in Huntington Beach Central Park into an outdoor cafe. Then in 1993 lightning struck twice when they had the idea to make their cafe dog-friendly and create a menu for dogs. This caused quite a stir in the media, and if it happened now, instead of in 1993, they would have said this went viral. Park Bench Cafe and the city of Huntington Beach gained a lot of attention for this action, being called one of the most dog-friendly cities and restaurants in the US by lots of media outlets.

The couple has done what many considered a one in a million shot and are still operating the Park Bench Cafe, along with another breakfast and lunch spot right at the beach, their sister restaurant to this one, Kokomos Surfside Grill, which is just south of the Huntington Beach Pier. I have never been there, but checking out their website it doesn't look like that restaurant has the dog menu, which includes the Bow Wow Wow, (cut up chicken filet), the Hound Dog Heaven, (simply ground beef), or the Rover Easy, (two fried eggs).

Katie and I do not have a dog, but we like walks in the park and the walk from the Huntington Beach Library to Park Bench Cafe was pretty flat, woodsy in parts, and shaded by plenty of trees. When we arrived at the restaurant on this particular Sunday at 10am we were quoted a wait time of 45 minutes to an hour, so we strolled around the remaining part of the park, and within 35 minutes they called Katie's cell and told us our table was ready.

We were sat at a long picnic table with an umbrella for shade, with another couple who had just been seated. Even though we were seated at the same table, there was enough distance between us that it did not feel too awkward eating with strangers. The human menu at Park Bench reads like pretty much every breakfast menu in OC. There's plenty of egg combinations, benedicts, items from the griddle, and scrambles. The lunch side of the menu, which is also served all-day has plenty of sandwiches, burgers, and salads to choose from. We were definitely feeling breakfast on this late morning, so here's how everything shook out for us.at Park Bench Cafe.

Cinnamon Rolls have always been one of my favorite things to have for breakfast, ever since I was a little kid, so when I see one on a breakfast menu, I am immediately drawn to it. This Cinnamon Roll ($5.75) came out warm, with plenty of icing, and easily fed both Katie and me. I liked this cinnamon roll, but it could have been better. It was a little on the doughy side and maybe needed to be baked a bit more. The icing also could have been a touch sweeter for my taste. Still, this was a nice start to our meal while we waited for our entrees to come out.

Both Katie and I got scrambles on this morning. She had the Park Scramble ($12.25) which included scrambled eggs, sliced mushrooms, onions, and bacon. She ate a good deal of this rather big sized plate. It was good, but she had wished for more flavor to come with each bite. She called this kind of flat. She did enjoy the home fries that she got as a side item. They were nice and crisp around the edges and softer in the middle, just you want your potatoes to turn out. The wheat toast she got was fine too. 

As is my custom when eating at a breakfast spot for the first time, I generally just order the item with the most ingredients in it, and at Park Bench Cafe that would be the Farm Breakfast ($13.99). This plate of food starts with a base of crispy home fries, scrambled eggs, bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms, melted jack, and cheddar cheeses, and avocado placed on top of it. Basically, this was Katie's meal, but without the avocado and with the home fries situated on the side instead of underneath the eggs and everything else. This was fine, but it lacked that big pop I thought it would have had. It also would have helped if this had been served hot instead of closer to lukewarm. I did like that this was very filling, and the home fries were cooked very crispy, which added a nice crunch to this. I did end up taking half of it home for breakfast the next day. This came with my choice of toast, which I got sourdough, and it was okay.

Park Bench Cafe was a solid breakfast spot, but food-wise nothing about it really made it stand out for us. It was a cool spot if you are in the area, want to eat outdoors, or if you want your dog to eat with you. Again, the food was fine, but not anything we couldn't get closer to home. Service was pretty solid, as they had plenty of servers for their 150 or so guests. So glad my old boss has moved on, and hopefully, Katie and I will get some weekend days off so we can discover more breakfast spots around OC. Oh yeah, don't worry about my old boss reading this and getting all angry. I'm pretty sure the guy doesn't even know how to read, I mean judging from the work I observed from him. Yep, I'm still a little bitter.

Out of five Frisbees (because Huntington Beach Central Park, where this restaurant is situated, is home to the only disc golf course in OC), five being best to zero being worst, Park Bench Cafe gets 2.5 Frisbees.

For more information about Park Bench Cafe, head to their website here: https://www.parkbenchcafe.com/

Chickening out at Rojo's Hot Chicken - CLOSED

Rojo's Pop-Up at McFadden Public Market

515 North Main Street

Santa Ana, CA 92701

Hot chicken is something I have yet to really embrace, and I'm not entirely sure why. I love chicken sandwiches, as it's my favorite way to eat chicken. I'm also very partial to spicy things. I've had several hot chicken sandwich places on my restaurant wishlist forever. It's a little perplexing why I haven't jumped on the latest trend of the last few years.

Maybe it's a geographic thing. My restaurant wishlist includes Howlin Ray's, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Firebird Nashville Hot Chicken, all located in LA County. My two favorite OC chicken sandwich spots, Crack Shack and Two Birds, both offer hot chicken sandwiches, but I usually end up getting something else while I'm at these chicken restaurants that you definitely need to try.

Recently, thanks to my good friend Anne Marie of the OC Weekly, Saute Magazine, and everything else food-related going on in OC, she messaged me about Rojo's Hot Chicken. Rojo is brought to us by her good friend, Chef Roland Rubalcava. His resume is pretty impressive. He started out in the food business at his family's Rubalcava's Bakery in Placentia, and then he did a sous chef stint at the multi-award-winning Taco Maria before landing at Playa Mesa as their Executive Chef.

From what I can gather, Rojo's Hot Chicken is Chef Roland's side hustle, which he does as frequently as possible. This pop-up event was held early in July at McFadden Public Market. He subsequently held other pop-ups at Irena in Santa Ana and one in Fallbrook. This was our first visit to McFadden Public Market, which has a good vibe. There's Mission Control, a cool 80's arcade on the second floor, a ramen restaurant, a vegan diner, and a tiki bar inhabiting the first floor. It appears that Rojo's was taking over the abandoned Rooster Republic space, which seemed poetic since they slipped chicken sandwiches from there until last year.

We arrived just before 6pm on a Saturday, and the place was packed with people already enjoying their chicken sandwiches at picnic tables in front of the Rojo's booth. The menu was simple, with three chicken sandwiches of varying hotness offered, a dirty version which meant that it was topped with queso, mac and cheese, and coleslaw for sides, and three kinds of fries, regular, spicy, and topped with queso Also, for those in the know, a secret menu item was offered that you will find out about as you scroll downward. There was also a red velvet cupcake for dessert, but we planned to pick up something sweet at the nearby 4th Street Market after this, so we skipped it. Our food took about ten minutes to come out, and here is how everything turned out for us.

Starting things off was the Naked Chicken Sandwich ($12) that Katie wanted. This sandwich contained no spiciness, which is unsurprising since Katie is a wimp in spicy things. It runs in her family, as regular black pepper can make her sisters run for a glass of milk to cool down their mouths. Ugh. Back to this sandwich, though, it came with coleslaw and a grilled nopal. The chicken was nice and crunchy, tender and juicy inside. This usually comes with cheese, but Katie opted to have it without it. The torta-like roll was a solid choice for this sandwich, as it holds everything together perfectly. Katie gave this sandwich a thumbs up.

I went a little spicier than Katie by getting the Rojo Chicken Sandwich ($12). This was listed on the menu as medium-hot, which was a fair description of the heat level here, according to my palette. I could have gone up a heat level, but this medium-hot allowed me to enjoy this sandwich more. Again, the breading had a nice crunch, and a tender and good-sized chicken was underneath. My sandwich came with coleslaw, pickles, a grilled nopal, and a slice of what appeared to be American cheese. I took the pickles off and ate them by themselves, something that I do with all my sandwiches and burgers. The nopal was not slimy like it could sometimes be and added a significant textural element. I'd ditch the American cheese next time, as it added nothing here. The bread was nice and soft and kept everything together structurally. This is right up there with some of the best chicken sandwiches we've experienced in OC.

Remember a few paragraphs ago when I mentioned a special hidden item on their menu? For fans of their Instagram account, they usually add a special item; this evening, it was a Pork Cutlet Sandwich ($12). I admit I liked this better than the chicken sandwich. The pork came breaded using the same breading as the chicken, so it had the same great crunch, but pork has a richness that chicken just can not match. This also differed in the marinade. It tasted like an excellent chili verde. The best thing I ate this evening and was one of the best sandwiches I've had in 2019.

We rounded out our meal at Rojo's with their Mac and Cheese ($6) and the Coleslaw ($4). I'm still stuck as to which one was better. The mac and cheese comprised a combination of parmesan, jack cheese, and scallions. The result was creamy but not in your face with cheese overload. The coleslaw was elevated to more than your usual humdrum coleslaw. The base was a chipotle mayo, which added a tinge of spice, while the cabbage, carrots, onions, and crushed-up tortilla chips added some nice crunch. Katie was a big fan of this one.

We both left this particular pop-up pleased with everything we had this evening. The chicken sandwiches here are number three on my list of OC chicken sandwiches I have had, with only Crack Shack and Two Birds being better so far. If the pork sandwich is available when you are here, you definitely need to ask for it. Keep an eye on their Instagram. The service was amicable, as it was staffed by many of Chef Roland's family members, and you can sense their pride in his food. This visit has gotten me psyched up to visit those LA hot chicken spots that have been sitting on my restaurant wishlist forever. Stay tuned.

Out of five pinball machines (because after eating, we went upstairs and played some pinball in the Mission Control Arcade), five being best to zero being worst, Rojo's Hot Chicken gets 3 pinball machines.

For more information about upcoming pop-ups and other Rojo-related events, it's probably best to follow their Instagram feed here: @rojoshotchicken.