Oh Boy! It's Oliboli Donuts in Tustin

Oliboli Donuts

135 West First St. 

Tustin, CA 92780 

Donuts are a magical force. There's not much that can get me up and out of the house before 7am on a Sunday. It's not even just me, my parents, sister, and brother in law joined as well. Donuts can not only work miracles, but they can also bring families together as well. If a little donut shop could do all of this, it definitely gives me some much-needed hope. Especially when you are talking about Oliboli Donuts in Tustin. 

I've been a little donut obsessed lately, as I stumbled upon Brad A Johnson's recent article in the OC Register about the top ten donut spots in OC.  I had been to a few of them, but I felt ashamed that I had not been to Oliboli, which took up residence as the number one spot on his list. I immediately made plans to meet my family there the week that the article came out, and since they are all early risers, we deiced to attempt to beat the donut crazed crowds and hit this place a half-hour after they open. It turned out to be a great move. 

Oliboli Donuts is a family run business helmed by Brooke and Victor DesPrez, OC natives and high school sweethearts. If the name sounds familiar it's probably because you remember Brooke from her days when she was one of the founders of another donut powerhouse, Sidecar Doughnuts. Not sure what led to her leaving that venture, but I think a lot of people are pretty happy that she did not leave donuts behind. 

From what I can ascertain, Brooke is the in charge of the kitchen, and Victor, the more talkative of the two handles the front of the house. My dad and Victor struck up an instant conversation before we even entered the building. We could sense the pride that he has in his business and his energy, which is very impressive since it was before 8am. He did mention that since the article came out, which was a surprise to them, that they had been extremely busy and resulted in them selling out of donuts the day before. 

The gloominess of the morning overcast melted away once I walked inside and the sweet aroma of freshly baked donuts hit my nose. The inside of the shop was sleek and clean with single donuts displayed behind the glass case carefully labeled. The chalkboard menus hanging above the display lists classics and special donuts available for that day. 

Prices range between $3.50 to $9, so yes, these are not like the donuts at your local donut shop around the corner. They are freshly made to order, with terms like, "forty-hour yeast" and "freshly milled" listed prominently on the menu. There's also a pretty extensive coffee, tea, and beverage menu, but I'm not into those, I was here for one thing, what some have called the best donuts in OC. Let's see if they live up to the hype. 

With the five of us, we had the opportunity to try a good cross-section of the donuts offered at Oliboli. What I noticed right off was that these donuts were lighter than your normal fried donuts. They were a great vessel for the quality ingredients topping them. They make everything here from scratch. The graham cracker and marshmallow are housemade on the S'mores Donut ($6.50), and they actually use real crumbled bacon on their excellent Burnt Butter Bourbon Bacon Donut ($4.50). You can actually taste the real fruit used to top the Strawberry ($3.75) and the mixture of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries in the popular Bumbleberry ($3.75). The cake donuts are my favorite with a slight crunch to it when bitten into, while the inside is pillowy soft, and airy. The Spice Donut ($3.50) is an elevated crumb donut from your local spot, with its pecan crumb topping mixed with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The yeast donuts are even lighter than the cake ones, which does not seem possible. The Bavarian Cream ($4.50) features really good chocolate and a dollop of vanilla cream on top, much to my dad's consternation, as he really wanted the cream stuffed inside. Always the purist, he still managed to snag the last bite of this one with a stealth maneuver. Very crafty Pop.  

I wanted to highlight what I felt was the best donut of the day for me, the Banoffee ($6.50). This is listed as one of their specials, so hope and pray that it's offered when you visit. Ever since the pandemic started I have been on a banana kick. While others have perfected their sourdough bread, I've been making banana chocolate chip bread, thanks to my sister in law's overbuying of bananas. Thanks, Sara. Anyways, this donut is inspired by the English dessert, banoffee pie, which will be my next dessert to try to make at home. This one at Oliboli is a yeast donut with sliced bananas, toffee sauce, whipped cream, and streusel crumbs. The result was one of the best donuts I have ever had. It was like a banana cream pie but substitute the crust for a donut. Genius. I played this down while eating with my family, so I could get more than my fair share, but they didn't fall for it. I regret greatly not getting one of these to go.  

Oliboli not only has sweet but a few savory donuts options as well. You should not miss the Croque Madame Donut ($9.25). This puts most breakfast sandwiches to shame and proves that if chef Brooke had wanted to get into fine dining, she'd probably be a success there as well. With this one, she uses her yeast donut as a base and then layers comte and gruyere cheeses, a delectable mornay sauce, and prosciutto across the donut and tops it with a duck fat fried egg, chives, and black lava salt. It's as indulgent as it sounds. The egg was a tad too overdone on this one, as a runny yolk would have made this even better. Still, it was extremely satisfying. and a nice balance to the sweeter donuts that I highlighted earlier. 

Oliboli really blew me away. I'd go along with Brad Johnson on this one, these are the best donuts in OC, and I might even take it a little further. These are just as good as the ones I had at the Doughnut Plant in New York many years ago. It would be a tough choice between the two, so I'll take the easy way out and call it a tie right now. The high-quality ingredients, attention to detail, and the creativity show up big time at Oliboli Donuts, and I predict the crowds will follow and not diminish for a long while.  

Out of five wooden shoes, (because the name of this place is a spinoff of a Dutch-style donut, and one of the symbols of the Dutch is a wooden shoe), five being best to zero being worst, Oliboli Donuts gets 4 wooden shoes. 

For more information about Oliboli Donuts, head to their website here: https://www.oliboli.com/

A Taste of Peru in Lake Forest - CLOSED

Renzo's A Taste of Peru

24354 Muirlands Blvd. 

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Whenever someone asks me what kind of cuisine I think will trend next, I always have it in the back of my mind that it will be Peruvian food. Peru, much like the US, could best be described as a melting pot when it comes to the culinary scene of this South American nation. Besides the dishes of the indigenous inhabitants, Peruvian fare draws from Europe, Asia, and Africa to create its own mashup. Peruvian food is ready for its moment in the sun, just like quinoa or rainbow-colored fads of the last few years. 

A quick Yelp search of Peruvian restaurants in OC yielded nearly 40 restaurants, which was more than I thought there would be. I feel bad I have not done my part to promote Peruvian food, as I've only reviewed two Peruvian restaurants during the run of this blog, both of which have since closed. On one of my recent days off from work, I decided to remedy that with a trip to Renzo's in Lake Forest.  

Renzo's caught my attention with their very active Instagram account and the delicious-looking sandwiches and plates they feature there. As you will see, their food can even make a subpar photographer like myself take good-looking pictures. I excitedly called in my order on a Thursday before noon and hurried over there within the 15-minute time I was quoted. 

In case you were wondering, there is a Renzo, and he's Renzo Macchiavello, owner and chef of this joint. He's from Peru but has lived in the US since he was 17. Renzo started as a dishwasher in San Francisco and knew he wanted to become a chef after that. He moved to Los Angeles, worked in numerous hotels and restaurants in the LA area, and graduated from culinary school in 1993. His migration south continued when he moved to OC and opened Peruvian Grill in Huntington Beach to wide acclaim. 

That restaurant closed, but now Renzo is back, taking over another Peruvian restaurant after the previous owner suddenly passed away. Renzo's is situated in Lake Forest, near the intersection of Ridge Route and Muirlands, behind the Walgreens, and in the exact center as Avila's El Ranchito and Burger Town USA. A little hard to find, but I was looking forward to finally trying Renzo's take on Peruvian cuisine. 

The menu is small and compact but full of what you'd expect to find at a Peruvian spot. There are six starters, including the national dish of Peru, ceviche, which I learned is a sandwich. There are five sandwiches, three salads, five entrees, and a trio of sides. No main dish will cost you more than $20, and lunch and dinner portions depend on how hungry you are. I was hungry, so let's see how well I liked Renzo's. 

I'm no Peruvian food expert, very far from it, but I'd argue that while ceviche is Peru's unofficial national dish, Lomo Saltado ($18) is the most popular, It's also so damn photogenic, as you can see from the pictures above. For those that don't know, this is a stir fry dish which combines strips of steak, french fries, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. It came with a big side of white rice also, which soaked up a lot of the soy sauce. Even though the steak was not the most tender I have had, and maybe needed a bit more seasoning added to it, when combined with everything else it was a very good plate of food. The fries stayed crisp almost all the way through my meal, the delicious aji sauce really tied this plate together wonderfully, and the three extra dollars I paid for the dinner portion of this really was a lot of food, even for me. 

 

For part 2 of my meal, I tried the Roasted Pork Loin Sandwich ($11), also listed on the menu as the buttifarra. This hefty sandwich comes with sliced roasted pork, sweet potato, onion, citrus salsa, lettuce, and aioli, all on a French baguette. There was only one issue keeping me from loving this sandwich: the roasted pork. It was extremely dry the day I was here, which is a shame because the rest of the sandwich was excellent. I loved the notes of citrus and the tang from the aioli, and the bread was top-notch. I took off some of the pork, and it made the sandwich better, but I was still bummed. I hope they just had an off day, or I'll try their Cuban or turkey sandwich next time. 

Even with the subpar roasted pork on the sandwich, I'd still suggest you try Renzo's. The lomo saltado alone is worth the visit, and for ceviche fans, I hear you will not want to miss the one here. I found the price point more than fair, especially considering the size of the portions. A regular person could easily split one of the dinner portions with a friend. Service was prompt, as they had my to-go order ready and waiting at the promised time. Renzo himself also thanked me for visiting, which was a nice touch. I'm still sure that Peruvian food will have its moment in the sun, and I look forward to having it more often, especially before everyone else finds out about it. 

Out of five alpacas (because Peru is home to more than 75 percent of all the alpacas in the world), five being best to zero being worst, Renzo's A Taste of Peru gets 3 alpacas. 

For more information about Renzo's A Taste of Peru, head to their website here: http://www.renzostasteofperu.com/

Surf's up in Yorba Linda?

 

Seasurf Fish Co. 

18401 Yorba Linda Blvd. 

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

I admit I was not overly excited about going out to eat with my parents. After a month or so of not seeing them, Katie and I made plans to drive up to Yorba Linda for a visit. My lack of enthusiasm had nothing to do with my relationship with my parents, but rather their choice of restaurant that they wanted us to eat at. They excitedly picked this new seafood restaurant, Seasurf in the newish Yorba Linda Town Center, which is pretty close to their house. 

The Seasurf menu did not really take hold of me when I checked it out online. I was at a loss for what to order when I was perusing the menu before we were going to be having lunch here on a recent Sunday afternoon. I decided I'd look at the pictures on their Yelp page, and just go with what seemed to be the most popular. I'm not sure if I was just not in the mood for seafood, or if I was just being difficult. If I'm being honest, it was probably a combination of the two. 

Seasurf has two locations, this Yorba Linda spot, which opened for business in January, and a location little farther south in Del Mar, which has been serving customers since 2017. Both locations get high marks from Yelp reviewers, as they both have four and a half star ratings. Their website states their mission statement as wanting to serve high quality and flavorful seafood in a fast-casual setting, at a reasonable price point. 

The Seasurf menu is pretty ambitious for a fast-casual spot. My unofficial count has them offering close to 50 items. These include burritos, tacos, bowls, grilled fish options, poke bowls, sandwiches, and their specialties. Prices average around the $12 mark, with a lobster pasta dish being the most expensive thing on the menu at just shy of $17. Ordering is done at the register, and then the food is brought out to your table. Let's see if my apprehension about Seasurf was warranted, or would I be pleasantly surprised. 

As I usually do in a seafood restaurant, I have to give their version of clam chowder a try. At Seasurf that means I ordered their Fisherman's Wharf Clam Chowder ($3.99). This creamy chowder contained both baby and sea clams, cubed potatoes, onions, and celery. This was a pretty solid effort. I liked the creaminess of the chowder, the clams were prevalent, but not overly fishy, and the celery and potatoes added just enough texture to not distract from the clams. A few more clams would have been appreciated, but this was a nice start to my meal. 

My niece Kaylie was eating with us this afternoon and wanted to give the Guacamole and Chips ($4.99) a whirl. Kaylie is not a very adventurous eater, as you will see in a bit, and she was absolutely shocked that Seasurf dared to dress up their guacamole by adding some corn, tomatoes, and red onions. She likes more traditional guacamole. She ended up picking around the corn and other things and ended up enjoying the guacamole underneath. I thought it was okay, but I wish they had decided to dress up the avocado with more spice and maybe some jalapeno. It came across as a little on the dull side for me. The chips were nicely fried though and tasted pretty fresh.   

My mom is very predictable when it comes to seafood restaurants. She will always steer towards fried fish. She's also a light eater, so if there's a kids menu she will try to order off of it. She checked off both of those boxes by getting this Crispy Fish and Chips ($4.99). This little meal comes with two fish sticks, fries, and a side of tarter sauce. I assume the fish was cod just like their regular order of fish and chips. It was fried nicely, with a good batter surrounding it. I did not try the fries, but no complaints from my mom, who finished everything, which is kind of rare for her. 

As I mentioned earlier, I was kind of at a loss as to what to get at Seasurf, so I left it to the fate of what Yelpers thought was the best item on their menu. Most people raved about the North Shore Garlic Shrimp ($14.99), so that's the direction I went in. This peel and eat shrimp was a good choice. I got six pretty good-sized shrimp that came with an excellent ginger garlic sauce, a scoop of rice, and an Asian cucumber salad. I usually like the shrimp already peeled, but the sauce on the outside of this made it delicious. I'll ask for an extra side of it next time. I'm not usually a cucumber fan, but this salad was a nice side to go alongside the sweet and briny shrimp. The rice was fine on its own, but I used it mainly to sop up the excess sauce, as I did not want to waste a drop. The Yelpers got this one right, this was an excellent choice.  

Katie is up next and went with the Mahi Mahi ($13.99) one of six options from the grill section of the menu. They offer three different seasoning choices and Katie went with the garlic butter. Not the most photogenic of all the fishplates I've snapped a picture of, but it ended up tasting pretty solid. The fish was moist and had a slightly sweet taste on the back end of each bite. This usually comes with rice, but Katie asked for double ponzu greens with tomato relish and they were happy to oblige. She left Seasurf pretty happy with her meal. 

Another happy camper was my dad, who ordered the Blackened Jumbo Shrimp Alfredo ($14.99). This came with fettuccine as the noodle and garlic, olive oil, mozzarella, and cajun seasonings all mixed with a wine cream sauce. My dad called this the perfect amount of heat, which was present but did not overpower the rest of the dish. He was also pretty pleased with the price point here, as he was glad it, "did not break the bank." 

As I mentioned earlier, my niece Kaylie is not very adventurous when it comes to food. This was not only her first time having clam chowder and trying a bite of Katie's mahi-mahi, but it was also her first time ordering poke. Come on, live a little Kaylie. She got the Spicy Poke Bowl ($10.99) here at Seasurf. The cubes of ahi were marinated and tossed with yogi Sriracha for a tinge of spice, then rice, pickled cucumber, avocado, and nori were added to the bowl. This was a fairly generous sized bowl, which Kaylie had no hope of finishing. She was not really a fan of the texture of the poke, and I'm not really sure why she ordered this in the first place. I thought it was good but wished for a little more spice. The bowl featured fresh produce and fish, which is what you most want most when eating poke. I don't think Kaylie will be having poke again for a while, at least until her tastes mature a bit.  

Even though Kaylie was less than enthused about her meal, my apprehension about Seasurf was unwarranted. I actually was pretty impressed with what I tried here. The flavors were vibrant, the serving sizes were generous, which is something you don't often expect at a seafood joint, and the price point was manageable, even for my dad, who always keeps one eye on how much money is escaping his wallet. I still enjoy Slapfish more, but Seasurf will due when you want a more straight forward, casual seafood experience. 

Out of five bales of hay, (because this restaurant started in Del Mar, home of a horse racetrack, where I'm sure they go through their fair share of hay), five being best to zero being best, Seasurf Fish Co. gets 3 bales of hay. 

For more information about Seasurf Fish Co., head to their website by clicking here: https://www.seasurffishco.com/

A Heritage We Can All Be Proud Of

Heritage BBQ

31721 Camino Capistrano

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

Did you feel the culinary shift that happened in OC earlier this month? After over ten years of writing restaurant reviews, there has never been something really, really worthwhile for people that live north of Irvine to drive south on the 5 Freeway for. Yes, there have been some standouts, but nothing that has garnered the buzz that Heritage Barbecue has generated in just a few short weeks. 

Not to jump ahead or anything, but this will be the first 4 and a half star review I've had in the last four years, and one of only four that I've experienced in OC. That's out of 879 restaurants I have been to. Yes, I am a tough reviewer, but after so many years of doing this, it's really hard for a restaurant to distinguish itself, but Heritage Barbecue has done just that.   

Even with all of these praiseworthy words, I'm sharing with you, my dear readers, I know a lot of you won't go through the trouble of eating here. Yes, it is not a place where you can get your food and be on your way within 15 minutes. There's no online ordering, no delivery service, and there's only one way to experience Heritage Barbecue, wait in line. This is barbecue that you have to plan your whole day around. Like the big barbecue spots in Central Texas. Where you line up hours before they open and hope and pray that they do not run out of the meat you were hoping to get before getting up to the order window. 

I've had Heritage Barbecue one time before, at one of their many pop-ups that they had at breweries throughout OC. You can read that review by clicking here. To summarize, we waited two and a half hours, but they had run out of their brisket, and I was so famished when we reached the front of the line that I forgot to order the sausage that was available. The items that we did have were all pretty spectacular though, and I knew I'd get another chance to try them out when they opened their long-awaited brick and mortar a few miles from where I live. Talk about feeling like I hit the lottery. 

Heritage Barbecue is run by a husband and wife team, Brenda and Daniel Castillo. In the early days, they started as a catering company but eventually transitioned into doing pop-ups at local breweries. Wherever they went they had huge lines, gained a considerable following on social media, and got raves from customers that waited a long time to try their food. On weeks when they did not have events lined up, they went to Texas to learn even more from some of the greats of barbecue. 

Last year it was announced that they were going to be opening in San Juan Capistrano, but as is the case with restaurant openings, delays turned into months, but they finally opened in early August. They have a pretty prime spot, right near the train station, across from the mission, and situated right near the intersection of Ortega Highway and Camino Capistrano. Parking is not really an issue, as I parked at the train station and walked a short distance up the hill near their patio. 

Make note that they are closed on Monday and Tuesday each week. On Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays they open for service at 3, and on Saturdays and Sundays, they start selling their barbecue at noon. As with most barbecue, they have a limited amount of food that they can sell in a day, so they are open until they sell out. I'd suggest wearing a hat, sunscreen, having water handy, and maybe even bringing chairs while you wait. Capistrano Brewing does offer beer and other beverages to the people waiting in line, which saved me from overheating. 

On a recent Wednesday, I arrived at 2:20 and still waited 90 minutes to get up to the window. Most meats are served in half-pound incremates, with the exception being the sausages, which are sold singularly. They offer turkey breast, pork ribs, pulled pork, sausage, and brisket every day, with the much-coveted beef ribs served only on weekends. There's also an assortment of sides and baked bread to help round out your meal. Keep an eye out for their specials board which features some hidden gems that you won't want to miss. Let's see if this initial trip to Heritage Barbecue's new spot was just as good as when we had it earlier this year. 

We might as well jump right in with what is the star of the show, the meats. For both Katie and myself I ordered One Pound of Brisket ($30), a Half Pound of Pork Spare Ribs ($13), a Pound of Pulled Pork ($26), and Two Sausages ($12). The only thing I missed out on was the turkey, which will have to wait until next time. The brisket was the best I have had, with a ribbon of fat running alongside the top of it, a beautiful smoke ring, and a melt in your mouth tenderness. However much you plan on ordering, add an extra half-pound to your order, you won't be sorry. I actually liked the ribs the next best. An excellent rub on the outside and with just the slightest of pulls, the pork came off the bone easily. These are not the tiny ribs you get at most places. They were full of meat. The pulled pork was another winner, with an excellent mixture of textures from the bark, tender pork, and little bits of fat chopped into a perfect pile. The meats are not overly smoked, where that's all that you can taste, but it hangs out in the background allowing the meat to stand out. They change out their sausages daily, and on this particular day, they offered a Serrano and Cheddar Beef Pork Link and a Pork Linguisa. The cheddar cheese and serrano one was the better of the two. The marriage of the beef and pork in the sausage, along with the cheese made this delicious. It could have used a bit more of the serrano though. The linguisa was the weak link in this tray of meat, (sorry for the awful pun). I was not in love with the texture of it inside its casing. It was almost gristly, and the flavor did not pop like the other proteins. Onto the sides.  

In my experience, it seems like when a barbecue joint has excellent meat, they let their sides suffer, but that's not the case with Heritage Barbecue. Sides are served in half-pint containers, and I'd say they could feed one to two easily, but if you really like one of them, you're going to have no trouble inhaling one all by yourself. That's how I was with the Red White and Blue Potato Salad ($6), I did not want to share any with Katie. This gets its name from the cubed red potatoes, white pickled eggs, and the blue cheese crumbles spread throughout. It's also topped with bacon on top for added flavor. I loved the marriage of flavors in this. The burst of blue cheese in some bites, along with the creaminess of the potatoes and eggs, and the smokiness of the bacon made this the best potato salad I've had in a number of years. I'm getting two of these next time for sure. The Texas Trinity Chili ($6) was a special on this afternoon, and if it's available when you are here, you won't want to miss it. This meaty chili is made up of bits of brisket, sausage, and pork rib. A very hearty chili, and one you don't want to eat while wearing white, this had a depth of flavor that I was not expecting. The Classic Mac ($7) is made with cheddar and jack cheese and mixed with a mornay sauce and topped with a little chicharron. This is a pretty good mac and cheese, but as I ate it I kind of lost interest a bit. Maybe a little more of the topping would have kept me interested, but I will definitely try the one with chorizo and chiles on my next visit. 

To wrap things up, I got the Banana Bread Pudding ($7). This sweet little dish was a nice respite from all the savory items I had eaten earlier. It was not really a bread pudding, but more like pudding with sliced bananas and little bits of banana bread distributed evenly, and topped with candied pecans on top. Not an overly sweet dessert, but still it was a nice ending to any meal at Heritage Barbecue. 

Needless to say, I was beyond excited about this visit to Heritage Barbecue. Some might even say I'm a little obsessed. I have caught myself checking out their Instagram posts and stories very regularly, I find myself stalking their Twitter account to find out how long their line is, even though I have no plans to head over there, and whenever I'm asked about any new places I've tried, Heritage Barbecue is the first place that comes out of my mouth. Again, this is not the most convenient of restaurants to hit up, but trust me you will never think that Lucille's or Dickey's is great barbecue again. There's a reason there's always a line here, it's really just that good, and the people of South OC can count themselves lucky that Heritage Barbecue opened right in their own backyard. It's about time that people in North OC finally have a reason to venture south. 

Out of five trees, (because when you look back on your heritage, you are also looking at your family tree), five being best to zero being worst, Heritage Barbecue gets 4.5 trees. 

For more information about Heritage Barbecue, head to their website here: https://www.heritagecraftbbq.com/

Not Clucking Around, This Is Some Darn Delicious Chicken

 

Cluck Kitchen

17915 MacArthur Blvd. 

Irvine, CA 92614

During these trying times, I'm really seeking out comfort food big time. Yes, I liked barbecue, Mexican food, fried chicken, and other stick to your rib favorites before all of this craziness started, but food that makes me feel good inside is more important to me now more than ever. That's probably why I spend a great deal of my day on Instagram looking at pictures of food. 

One spot that piqued my interest was Cluck Kitchen in Irvine. It's got to be pretty intense to open a restaurant during a global pandemic. You have to have great faith in the food that you are selling, and make customers feel comfortable enough to come and try it. With the track record of founder Steve Kim and his former sous-chef at The Cut, they were probably pretty confident in what they were going to be serving, and their pictures got me out very soon after I spied their fried chicken snaps on social media. 

Originally set to open at the first of this year, but as is the case with most restaurants, even during non-pandemic times, the opening date got pushed back all the way to the first week of July. The simple, uncomplicated menu of chicken sandwiches, tenders, wings, and six sides must have not only enticed me but lots of others as well. In the month that they have been operating, they garnered a very impressive four and a half stars on Yelp, with well over a hundred reviews. On Instagram, they have close to 5,000 followers, who droll over their beautiful photos. 

Cluck Kitchen is situated at the corner of MacArthur and Main, in the same shopping plaza as Carl's Jr., Flame Broiler, Jersey Mike's, and also new to the center, and the best cookies in OC, Paderia Bakehouse. I've heard parking can be a hassle around mealtimes due to all the eating places in this center. I've also heard that when they started, Cluck Kitchen had long waits to get your food after ordering. I went at half-past 11 on a Thursday, and had no trouble with parking or getting my food within five minutes. Maybe they've worked out the kinks a bit, or maybe a little before or after the lunch rush would be the best time to visit. Just keep in mind that they are closed on Sundays. Now, let's see if their food tastes as good as it looks. 

At Cluck Kitchen, they offer three types of sandwiches. The Cluck Classic, the Nashville Hot Chicken, and the Havarti Hen. I went with the Nashville Hot Chicken ($12) which came with vinegar slaw, pickles, and comeback sauce, which I'd describe as a thousand island style sauce with a little kick to it. There are five spice levels to choose from here. With this sandwich, I went with their hot, which is situated right in the middle of their heat level index. It was not overwhelmingly hot, but a tinge of heat hung out in the background of each bite. The sandwich was excellent, good bun, the vinegar slaw added a nice textural and flavor to the sandwich, and the comeback sauce brought everything together. The chicken itself was moist and tender inside, and the breading had a nice crunch to it, even after my fifteen-minute car ride home. Sides are sold separately, and I picked the Fried Pickles ($5) to go along with my sandwich. These were a good version of this southern staple. The pickles had an excellent breading coating the pickle lurking underneath and was made even better with the made from scratch ranch dressing. I appreciated that they use pickle chips instead of spears, which I think is better for dipping.  

The sandwich above was delicious, but these Chicken Tenders ($10) are what really got me excited about Cluck Kitchen. Probably the best chicken tenders I have had, not that I'm really a big chicken tender guy. These come three to an order, and they were very good sized. With these, I went with the extra hot spice level, which was just the right amount of spiciness that did not overpower the tender chicken underneath the crispy breading encasing the poultry. A practically perfect tender in every way. To finish out my meal here I tried their Bacon Potato Salad ($5) which was another winner. This potato salad had a good chunk to it, the celery added a nice crunch, and there was plenty of bacon included in this. One of the better potato salads I have had in a while. 

After my meal at Cluck Kitchen, I was pretty jazzed up with my experience and the food. Fried chicken is really having its moment in OC right now. Gus's Fried Chicken, Crack Shack, Two Birds, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and now Cluck Kitchen are just the standouts that I've visited so far, with Holdaak's, Hotties, and Summer's Fried Chicken still sitting on my list waiting for me to get to them. Cluck Kitchen had delicious chicken and even though they don't have an expansive menu, with the different spice levels, wonderful house-made sauces, and very well done sides I can not fathom that I'm going to be getting tired of this place anytime soon. A return trip is all I've been thinking about since my initial visit, and it will happen again very soon. Especially with my increasing comfort food cravings recently. 

Out of five Red Delicious apples, (because the state of Iowa not only gave us this variety of apple but also provides the most chicken out of any of our 50 states), five being best to zero being worst, Cluck Kitchen gets 4 Red Delicious apples. 

For more information about Cluck Kitchen, head to their website here: https://www.cluckkitchen.com/