Just How Excellent Is Franco’s Famous?

 Franco's Famous 

26538 Moulton Parkway

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Every city has that one shopping center, which is just a dead zone. Whatever happens in one of these Bermuda triangles of retail centers, the stores only last a couple of months at the most. Most of the time, property management decides that a remodel could drum up foot traffic and attract more business for the unfortunate tenants who have the misfortune of opening a storefront in these cursed centers. Still, most of the time, it doesn't work out. 

This is precisely the situation that Franco's Famous has walked into. The Village at Nellie Gil Ranch is situated at the corner of Moulton and La Paz and is anchored by Smart and Final, Mod Pizza, and Chuck E. Cheese. This rebranded shopping center had a remodel within the last couple of years. Still, there's been a lot of turnover even after that, and you can always get front-row parking at the almost desolate Smart and Final. 

Franco's Famous is trying to buck that trend, though. Opened in late 2019, Franco's was very busy on the recent Wednesday we visited. The inside is comfortably styled with a bar centrally located as soon as you enter, comfy booths off to the right, and a smaller seating section to the left. The wall to the restroom is lined with framed discs proudly displaying their sister restaurants, including the nearby Flamingos and El Cortez in neighboring Laguna Niguel. 

Unlike those restaurants mentioned above, Franco's has no combo plates. Instead, their menu is divided into starters, tacos, burritos, and specialties. Entrees range between $14 to $20, while three street tacos will set you back $10. It's alright for this part of South OC. We were seated right away and waited only a minute or two for our good friends Mazi, Marita, and their baby boy Zayne to arrive. We quickly made our selections, so let's see if Franco's can break the curse of this shopping center. 

This is the obligatory picture of Chips and Salsa when dining at a Mexican restaurant. The chips were freshly fried and pretty solid, while the salsa was too mild and needed many more chunks, which would have helped with the watery texture. Katie also ordered a guacamole de la casa ($10), which had a pleasing texture and was mildly spiced. 

Katie started our entree portion of the evening with her selection, the Pastor Street Tacos ($10). These mini tacos came with red-hued sliced pork, a Verde salsa, and a slice of charred pineapple. Katie described these as decent, as the pork was dry, and the dominant flavor came only from the pineapple. She'd get something else on future visits. The menu did not specify that this came with beans and rice, so I'm sure Katie got them as a side item. She was fond of them both. 

This qualifies as a combo meal, but it's not one you get to build yourself. The Carne Asada Tempiquena ($20) comes with a marinated steak and a cheese enchilada and is rounded out with beans and rice. Mazi was generous enough to share a bite of this with me, and the steak was nicely tender and flavorful. The enchilada was full of cheese but needed more sauce to balance it out. It was a good-sized plate of food.  

As is my custom when eating in a Mexican restaurant for the first time, I generally steer towards carnitas as a barometer as to whether a Mexican spot knows what they are doing. That meant the Carnitas Jalisco ($17) would sit before me. Unfortunately, the pork was bone dry, and there were not enough beans to make this enjoyable. I used much of the sour cream Katie requested with her meal. Like with Katie's meal, I'd get something else on future visits to Franco's. 

Lastly, Marita went with the Beef Fajitas ($20). I have scoured their menus online for this item but have not found it. I must have missed it because I've seen others getting this on Yelp. Maybe I'm just getting old. Like most fajita dishes, this came out scalding hot, with red and green peppers, onions, and sliced marinated steak strips. Marita seemed to enjoy this very much. 

It was a little hit-and-miss at Franco's Famous this evening. Katie and I were not thrilled with our choices, but Mazi and Marita could not have been happier with their selection of meals. I'd return to see if I could find something much more to my liking. I felt the prices were not crazy out of control, and the service we experienced this evening was more than satisfactory. With the crowd present during our stay, Franco's is the type of place that can turn things around for this shopping center. 

Out of five blackboards (in honor of Nellie Gail, the real-life woman whom this shopping center is named for and who, before her move to California, was a school teacher in Washington State), five being best to zero being worst, Franco's Famous gets 2.5 blackboards. 

Franco's Famous does not have a website for some reason, but you can find more information about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/franco-s-famous-mexican-kitchen-and-cocktails-laguna-hills

Adya Is Doing Good in the Community - CLOSED

 Adya 

4213 Campus Drive

Irvine, CA 92612

I really like to show support to restaurants that have a conscience. Most restaurants do way more for the community than just nourish us. Think back to your childhood and the local pizza parlor that sponsored all those local sports teams posted proudly on their walls. Many other restaurants provided coupons in the now-forgotten Entertainment Book, which allowed many non-profit groups to raise money for new sports equipment, uniforms, or fund outings for kids. 

This spirit of giving has brought us to Adya in Irvine. Back in mid-May, Adya donated one hundred percent of its weekly sales to COVID-19 relief efforts in India. At the end of the seven days, they raised $29,100 for the American India Foundation, which will be used to provide portable hospitals in hard-hit India. Katie and I decided to do our part and headed to Adya, one of our favorite Indian food restaurants in OC.

Adya is an Indian street food restaurant that utilizes local ingredients to create modern Indian cuisine. Chef Shachi Mehra opened the first Adya at the Packing House in Anaheim seven years ago, and two years later opened this second spot at the very popular University Center, which is tucked neatly into UCI. Chef Shachi was the opening chef at the critically acclaimed Tamarind of London at Newport Coast and, more recently, was triumphant on the TV show Chopped. Joining her as a partner at Adya is Chef Sandeep Basrur, who gained prominence as one of the best Indian chefs in Northern California. Quite a team these two have become. 

Every time I eat at Adya, I am amazed at how much lighter their Indian food is than others we have tried. However, they don't sacrifice the bold flavors and spices you have come to expect from Indian cuisine. Their menu features a quartet of starters: pavs, kathi rolls, kebabs, curries, and, of course, everyone's favorite, naan. Let's find out our thoughts while we do some good for the people of India. 

It's nearly impossible to visit an Indian restaurant and not gobble up copious amounts of naan. It's even harder when Goat Cheese Naan ($5.99) is offered. Katie zeroed in on this, and after our first bite, we were hooked. I'm not the biggest goat cheese fan, but the tart, earthy cheese flavor went well with the well-made, leavened flatbread. 

Since we visited New York way too long ago, Katie has been looking for a Chicken Biryani ($13.49) that would rival the one she found on the street there. This biryani was offered as a special on the evening we visited, so she gave this one a shot. She loved the moist chicken and sauce here but felt the rice-to-chicken ratio was way off, as all left after getting halfway through this was rice and a little bit of sauce. Still a very comforting dish, but it needed to be better to supplant the one she had on the East Coast. Her search continues.  

You can call me basic all you want, but my favorite Indian meal is Chicken Tikka Masala ($13.99), which most novices get at Indian restaurants. No apologies; I enjoy this dish with its flavorful spiced curry sauce bathing in the cubed chicken. This version was nicely done with the masala sauce covering the tender poultry pieces on a basmati rice bed. For an extra $4, I made it a thali, which I'd describe as an Indian combo meal. I added a small green salad, butter naan, and some delicious cucumber raita, which went well with my and Katie's leftover rice. 

The food at Adya was just as good as I remembered. The flavors are bold, the spices are prevalent, and it is comforting. Their portion sizes are a little out of whack compared to their price point. We had way more rice than chicken at the end of our meals. Service this evening was fine, but be aware that this is a pretty small restaurant, with only two tables inside and a few tables out in front of the restaurant. During peak mealtime hours, call in your order and take your food to go, especially on chilly evenings, like when we visited Adya. I'm glad we could do a small part to help the people of India by eating at Adya during their weeklong event. Still, I'm way happier that there are restaurants like this that want to not only fill our bodies with excellent food but also want to do some good in the world. 

Out of five sundials (because the largest sundial in the world is located in the town of Jaipur, India, and measures an imposing 90 feet tall), five being best to zero being worst, Adya gets 3 sundials. 

For more information about Adya, head to their website here: https://adyaoc.com/#home

Happy 25th Anniversary to Blake's Place

 Blake's Place

2901 East Miraloma Ave. 

Anaheim, CA 92806

25 years is a pretty long time when you think about it. Twenty-five years ago there were no cellphones, debit cards, or caller ID so you could ignore your bill collectors when you failed to pay your credit cards on time. In 1996 I was living a carefree life with my best friend in Newport, working until ten every night, then hitting up a different bar every night of the week, depending on where our bartender friends were working, so we could maybe score some free beverages. 

Good times, but while I was out sowing my wild oats, others were doing way more worthwhile things. Gene Hobel, owner of Blake's Place was creating a legacy for his son Blake. Back in 1996, Blake was six months old when Gene opened Blake's Place in an industrial area of north Anaheim. Gene took over a small sandwich shop all those years ago and built a thriving restaurant and catering business that he will someday pass along to his son.  

Fast forward to the present day, my friend Daren and I were recently invited to experience what's new at Blake's Place since my last visit over ten years ago. They now have a covered patio that has almost nearly tripled their seating area, and has made the restaurant way more comfortable, as there's no more waiting for tables during their legendary lunch rush. I'm not entirely sure, but the menu seems to have been expanded a bit also. There's a bunch of entree salads, a trio of deli sandwiches, and some good-looking loaded fries to go along with their award-winning barbecue. 

Unfortunately, when we visited on a recent Thursday just before noon, Gene was away on business, but Blake, who is now a manager at this busy spot, filled in wonderfully for his father. He could not have been any more gracious to the two of us, not an easy task when you consider the lunchtime rush was happening all around us. The restaurant business is definitely in his blood. We ordered rather quickly, as I knew what we would be having, as I checked out their menu on their website before visiting. We easily found a table and waited for our food to be brought out to our table. 

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, it really is that big. This is The Beast ($29.99). Two and a half pounds of sheer awesomeness. Not to be messed with by just anyone, Daren was hoping that he was the man to tackle this monstrosity. This big pile of deliciousness was made up of pulled pork, pulled chicken, chopped brisket, coleslaw, pickle, red onion, and Blake's BBQ sauce, all placed between a custom-baked extra-large bun. 

When ordering this behemoth you have the option of doing it at your own pace, or you can attack it as a challenge like Daren did. He needed to put this away in 20 minutes or less, and then he'd get a bumper sticker, a T-shirt, and more importantly, his picture would go up on their wall. He started off slowly, as he couldn't get over how good it tasted, and he was taking too much time to savor it. He also took the bun off to save it for later, which I knew was a mistake. I told him to concentrate and finish the bread as quickly as possible, as it would be harder to eat as the time was ticking down on the stopwatch they brought out to our table. He eventually finished with just seven seconds to spare, a far cry from the standing record of four minutes which someone inhaled this sandwich. Maybe next time Daren. 

Not to be outdone by Daren, I also went pretty large at Blake's with Blake's Big Barbecue Plate ($29.99). As is my custom when eating in a barbecue joint, I always veer towards combo plates to get the most variety offered. This good-looking plate came with baby back ribs, sliced brisket, pork spare ribs, coleslaw, bbq baked beans, garlic bread, and plenty of french fries. All the meats were very solid, but if I had to choose a favorite it would have to be the pork spare ribs. They had the perfect amount of sauce on them, which was present, but allowed the meat's natural flavor to shine through. Each rib had plenty of tender meat attached, which gave way with just a little pull. The baby backs were nicely done with more meat on them than other baby backs I have encountered recently. The lean brisket was thinly sliced but lacked a ribbon of fat that I like included with my brisket. The sides were good, with the beans leading the pack with nice bursts of flavor in each forkful. This was a lot of food, which could have easily fed two adults, but I wanted some of the glory that Daren had garnered while conquering the beast, so I finished everything, but a few of the fries. 

It's good to see that Blake's Place is still thriving after a quarter of a century of serving north OC residents some of the best-barbecued meats in these parts. Keep an eye out on their social media accounts for some special events to mark their silver anniversary. I'd like to thank Gene and Blake Hobel for the invitation and opportunity to visit their restaurant, which you can clearly see is a labor of love for both of them. Gene has created quite the legacy for Blake, which I hope will live on for well past another 25 years.  

For more information about Blake's Place, head to their website here: https://www.blakesplacebbq.com/

Welcome to the Neighborhood Calo Kitchen and Tequila

Calo Kitchen and Tequila

28141 Crown Valley Parkway Suite A

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

The empty restaurant that used to be home to a TGI Friday's on the corner of Crown Valley and Greenfield seemed like it had been empty for decades instead of the five years it had really been vacant. There were plenty of rumors about what was going to happen with that space. I had heard a Raising Cane's was going to be a possibility. Another tip had led me to believe that a BJ's Brewhouse was going to be setting up shop there. I had even heard it was going to be converted into a bank. None of these tips proved to be true though. 

Early last year a chain-linked fence went up around the property. The building was stripped down to its frame. Some major work began. About three months later a few signs went up around the chain-linked fence ending all the speculation once and for all. Our new neighborhood restaurant was going to be Calo Kitchen and Tequila. 

A quick Google search answered a lot of my questions about this new arrival. This would be their second location, with the other spot being in El Segundo. That restaurant gets a very respectable 4.5 stars on Yelp with over 600 reviews for those that want to know. I also learned that this is the sister restaurant of Carmelita's Kitchen, which is probably familiar to those of you that have been to their locations in Rancho Santa Margarita, Laguna Beach, or maybe you were visiting Northern California and went to one of their two spots up there. 

Calo is a family-run restaurant. This spot appears to be run by their third generation in the restaurant business. From looking at the menu, I'd describe this as upscale Mexican food. Combo plates range between $16 to $21, while their Mexican favorites section of the menu is in the $14 to $25 price range. Specialties are listed last on the menu, and they go anywhere from $19 to $35 for a prime skirt steak served over chicken enchiladas. Sounds pretty good to me. 

Predictably, this place is unrecognizable from the old Friday's days with the total tear down of this former building. Calo shares a common wall with morning favorite Snooze AM Eatery, which might cause some major traffic and parking issues when Calo starts serving lunch in the early part of July. With the large doors opening up to the rather large patio and the abundance of white used on the painted and tiled walls, the inside of the restaurant feels bright and airy. We were seated in a comfortable booth on the patio for this special friends and family opening event. We enlisted our good friend Oz to join us to experience our first taste of Calo. Let's see if Calo will be a welcome addition to our neighborhood. 

Calo ups the usual humdrum Chips and Salsa that you get at most Mexican restaurants. The chips were nicely fresh, but the star of this show was the bean dip that came with them. I could not get enough, and they generously refilled our bowl numerous times during our visit. The deep earthy flavor mixed with some spices made up for the much more mundane salsa, which needed a little more chunk to it for my tastes. 

Katie has grown an affinity for Queso Fundido ($11) and is on a search for the one that will supplant her favorite one, which is presently from El Maguey, which is down in San Juan Capistrano, With its chipotle cheese, crumbled sausage, mushrooms, sliced onions, and poblanos, this fundido was fine, but did not match the cheesier version from El Maguey. The cheese was off a bit, and the sausage failed to pack much of a punch of flavor. This did come with some very well-made corn and flour tortillas, which helped things out a bit. 

When I'm eating at a Mexican restaurant for the first time, I use the Carnitas ($25) as a barometer to see if a restaurant is worth revisiting. After my first couple of bites of this pork, I can definitely see myself making return visits. These carnitas had exactly what I look for when having this dish. Crispy tips, a little fat running through it for flavor, and tenderness throughout made this plate a winner. The refried beans and rice went well with the pork in alternating forkfuls. A very solid meal, and due to a snafu in the kitchen they had brought out two extra plates that they allowed us to keep, which we enjoyed for lunch the next day. 

Katie is sometimes a wildcard as to what she orders in Mexican restaurants, and at Calo, she veered from her usual fajitas to order the Pollo Serrano ($23). The menu claims that this is a staff favorite, and after a couple bites, it's now one of Katie's favorites as well. The two good-sized organic chicken breasts were blanketed with a green-hued serrano cream sauce and served alongside a scoop of rice and a poblano pepper topped with cheese and avocado slices. The sauce was not only eye-catching but burst with flavor and was a good conduit with the wonderfully moist chicken. I steer away from chicken in restaurants because a lot of the time it's dry, but the bite I had of this is making me rethink this. 

Our good friend Oz was going to go with the carnitas, but I veered him gently to this Seafood Trio ($33) because I had ordered the carnitas already and had wanted a little diversity to this post. Being the awesome guy that he is, he agreed. This trio of seafood items included a shrimp and lobster chile relleno, shrimp taco with bacon, and rounding things out, a lobster enchilada. Oz was pretty impressed with the seafood at Calo, calling it fresh and everything here was well made. Big praise from Oz, whose mom ran a Mexican restaurant in this area for many years. He's very picky when it comes to Mexican food, so to get his seal of approval really means something.  

Even though we were pretty full from our entrees, appetizer, and way more helpings of the bean dip and chips than I care to admit to you, we needed to try dessert at Calo. Our server raved about the Flan ($8) and the Tres Leches Cake ($8), so that's the way we went. I'm not the world's biggest fan of flan, as I think it's a little on the boring side, and hard for restaurants to make it their own. This one was a little creamier than most, and the plentiful amount of caramel made this sweeter than others I have encountered. The tres leches cake was predictably moist, but Katie liked that it was more sturdy than she was expecting. The top layer of icing had a muted sweetness that went well with the yellow cake underneath. I'm looking forward to trying their churros on my next visit. 

Calo Kitchen and Tequila is definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and with the groups of people I see out in front every time I drive by, I think I'm not alone in that sentiment. With the prices per plate, I admit that Calo Kitchen is not going to be an everyday option for a lot of you, but it's definitely one of the better upscale Mexican restaurants in south OC. The food was executed well, and even though this was a trial run for the official first day of opening, the service we experienced on this evening was exemplary. We look forward to many return visits. 

Thank you to everyone we encountered at Calo Kitchen and Tequila this evening for their friends and family event. It was an honor being among one of the first to see what you guys were all about and trying your food. From the management team to bussers, everyone seemed really proud of what they were a part of at Calo. Thanks again for a wonderful evening and we will see you again soon. 

For more information about Cal Kitchen and Tequila, head to their website here: https://www.calokitchen.com/

The Tradition Continues With a Visit to Local Tap House and Kitchen

 Local Tap House and Kitchen

308 South Coast Highway

Oceanside, CA 92054

It's nice getting back into the traditions that we missed in the last year. Katie and I have the custom of heading down to the outlets in Carlsbad so she can get a new purse at one of the high-end stores. No, I'm not partial to shopping, but it does give me a chance to pick a restaurant to eat at in an area that we normally would not get to. After some very careful research, I selected Local Tap House and Kitchen in Oceanside for our post-shopping meal.  

Local Tap House gets a lot of love online. Their Yelp rating is very impressive, with four and a half stars, and over 2000 reviews. There's also plenty of mentions in the local press. Their website touts their executive chef as Daniel Pundik, but he opened a new barbecue restaurant in Fallbrook last year, so I think he is transitioning out of Local Tap House. Nevertheless, when we arrived here at half-past five on a Saturday evening, we were faced with a forty-five-minute wait for a table underneath their heated tent located in their parking lot.  

As we waited for our table we cozied up to the bar, which seemed like a unique experience since we have not been able to sit and watch bartenders work for the last 14 months. It was quite a show watching our very friendly bartender making some pretty labor-intensive cocktails and pouring one of the 30 local beers available on a rotating basis. She deftly filled drink orders, all the while answering numerous questions from other patrons about the beers available on this evening. 

When our table was ready, we turned our attention to their food menu, which is broken down into starters, salads, sandwiches, more substantial plates, and a trio of desserts. Entrees go for $20 plus, while sandwiches hover around the $15 price point, which does not seem that bad for this neighborhood. Let's see what came out for Katie's birthday dinner. 

Katie and I were pretty hungry, so we both picked a starter, to begin with, to try to suppress our hunger. She went with the Mexican Street Corn Empanadas ($13). These golden pockets were filled with chicken,  roasted poblano peppers, kernels of corn, and served with a mixture of mayo queso Blanco, and lime. This was executed well, but these were too mellow for my tastes. I kept expecting a bigger burst of flavor that never came. Some extra sauce or a spicier salsa verde might have helped this out a bit. 

My pick was the WTF Short Rib Fries ($17.50) and they were more to my liking. The fries were placed on top of smoked gouda gravy and the shredded short rib, then this was topped with a fried egg, grated cheddar cheese, cotija cheese, and some green onions. This had plenty of short ribs on the bottom of the plate and was very good when I got everything in one forkful. The longer this stayed around though, the soggier that the fries got. I eventually found myself just picking around the fries to eat the tasty meat. 

The birthday girl was torn between a few items at Local Tap House but eventually went with the Beef Stroganoff ($20). This is one of the most unique versions of this comfort food classic that I've seen. No creamy sauce, instead, relying on a small drizzle of sour cream topping this. The plentiful short rib and pappardelle were joined on the plate by some tomatoes, mushrooms, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, and a couple of handfuls of arugula. Katie loved this quirky version with its house-made pasta and the contrast between the bitter arugula and the rich meat and brown sauce. She could not finish this, as it had way more meat than she was expecting. 

I didn't realize it until we ordered, but three of our four items we got featured short rib. Sorry for the lack of diversity on this evening, I'll blame the cooler weather on this evening that necessitated the need for comfort food. Anyways, this Short Rib French Dip ($17 plus $3 upcharge for the Caesar Salad option) came with horseradish cream, swiss cheese, crispy onions, and au jus for dipping. This sandwich fell flat in my opinion. Some of the meat was dry in parts, and since they did not give me enough au jus, I was kind of stuck with muddling through some of the drier parts of the sandwich. A little more of the horseradish cream could have also helped to wake things up a bit here. The three-dollar upcharge for the Caesar was totally worth it. The greens were dressed perfectly with the nicely flavored Caesar dressing, and the parmesan and the crispy onions added even more flavor. 

When I left Local Tap House I was a little disappointed. The food was not terrible, it was definitely even a little better than average. It's just that I had it in my head that it was going to be spectacular, based on what I read about them online. In other words, it did not live up to the hype I had set in my mind before even walking in, which is on me, not them. I might have gotten the wrong entree, or we should have gotten a little more variety instead of just getting items with short ribs. With that being said the service was pretty stellar on this visit, from the bar staff while we were waiting for our table, to our sever who took great care of us throughout our stay. The vibe at Local Tap House was one of good times, which was exactly what we wanted as we restarted the tradition of heading south for Katie's birthday. 

Out of five volleyballs, (because some scenes from the 80's movie Top Gun were filmed in Oceanside, and one of the most iconic scenes in that movie is when they were playing beach volleyball), five being best to zero being worst, Local Tap House and Kitchen gets 3 volleyballs. 

For more information about Local Tap House and Kitchen, head to their website here: https://www.localtaphouse.com/

Hoping This Toast Will Be the Toast of the Town

 Toast Kitchen and Bar

190 South State College

Brea, CA 92821

The restaurant business, just like other parts of society is a trend-based culture. If someone comes upon a really good thing, others seem to copy it. Remember when frozen yogurt shops were sprouting up almost everywhere? Then people seemed to turn their attention to poke, and you could get those fish cubes almost everywhere. Now it seems like the tides have turned once again, and it's not a type of restaurant that is the new hot thing, but rather a name. 

A quick Yelp search of the restaurants with the name Toast yields six results throughout southern California. Okay, maybe it's not as big of a trend as the others I had mentioned, but it could be a little confusing if your friend mentions that they want to eat at Toast, and you both show up at different restaurants. To help you out a bit, I think I got all these Toast restaurants figured out until another one sprouts up. 

There's the wildly popular Toast Kitchen and Bakery in Costa Mesa, which almost always requires a wait for a table, especially on weekends. Toast in Temecula is also a very popular spot and gets some great reviews online. Toast Bakery and Cafe is yet another one up in LA and is situated on trendy Third Street. Don't worry people of North San Diego County, you are not to be left out with your very own, Toast Gastrobrunch. 

The aforementioned Toast restaurants are all independent of each other, with no connection that I'm aware of. That brings us to Toast, which has been operating in Whittier since 2016. They have a sister restaurant at the corner of Birch and State College in Brea, which they initially called The Dylan, but it has recently been renamed, and you guessed it, it's now Toast Kitchen and Bar. Confused? I'm sure you're not the only one. 

I recently ventured to Toast in Brea with my parents right around the time of their name change. At the time they still had a banner over their old name, so I assume the name change was just made recently from the time of my visit. I had not been to the Dylan, but I had been here when it was a Claim Jumper, several years ago. The dining area is much more opened up and brighter from what I remember during these CJ days, with some very high ceilings and plenty of white paint on the walls. 

The all-day menu predictably is breakfast-focused, but they are now open until 8pm, so there's salads, entrees, burgers, and sandwiches to choose from as well. Breakfast options hover around the $17 price point, but the steak and eggs will set you back $29. My parents and I had looked at the menu online and were pretty quick to make our selections. Here's how everything turned out for us on this late Thursday morning. 

Let's start things off with my dad's selection, the Bacon Avocado Benedict ($16). This is one of the nine benedicts available here at Toast. It came layered with an avocado mash on the bottom, two strips of bacon, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce blanketing the penthouse level. My dad called this excellent, even though there were temperature issues with this. He was a big fan of the generous amount of bacon and avocado that came with it. He'd totally get this again. 

Breakfast sandwiches are my mom's thing, so she had to give this Breakfast Croissant ($14) a try. This sandwich had a little more heft to it than she's used to on other breakfast sandwiches she's had at other places. They use both black forest ham and bacon at Toast, then top it with an egg, sliced Tillamook cheddar cheese, and a touch of dijon aioli to round things out. She had asked for this to come with the egg over hard, but it came out with scrambled eggs instead. Not wanting to make a fuss, she ate it anyway and enjoyed it just the same. Both my mom and dad opted for the fresh fruit as their side, and they could not have been happier with their choice. They felt the fruit selection here was an upgrade from their usual breakfast spots. 

If my mom's thing is breakfast sandwiches, mine right as of this moment is breakfast burgers, as I've had many over the last month or so. This Brunch Burger ($17) is made up of an eight-ounce patty featuring both chorizo and beef and is then built up with a slice of white cheddar, bacon, sunny side up egg, and avocado all on a brioche bun. The patty really distinguished itself, with a more striking flavor profile due to the inclusion of the chorizo. The rest of the assembled cast added good texture and flavor in bursts. The yolk was runny and helped bind everything together, so my extra side of aioli that I asked for was not needed too much. I was intrigued by the description of the Hash Brown Chips, which the menu described as a cross between fries, potato chips, and hash browns. The menu got this right, but they were awkward to eat, as they were fried crispy and I wanted to eat them with my fingers like chips or fries, but they were too little to get a good handle on. It was also futile to eat them with my fork, as I could only pick them up one at a time. I'd prefer getting their country potatoes next time with cheese and jalapenos added. 

Toast Kitchen and Bar was better than I imagined it would be. It was definitely an improved alternative to a recent brunch we had at the nearby Lazy Dog Cafe on Mother's Day. I liked almost everything we had but did find the prices a few dollars too high on most items. There were also some issues with the kitchen on this visit, most noticeably the lukewarm temperature of my dad's meal and my mom's eggs being scrambled instead of over hard as she had instructed. Service was fine, but not especially warm and inviting. Even though Toast is not the most original name for a breakfast spot, I'd return here to try more of their menu. I'll just have to make sure that whoever I'm meeting knows what Toast to show up at. 

Out of five Ferris wheels, (because like the electric toaster, the Ferris wheel came into existence in 1893), five being best to zero being worst, Toast Kitchen and Bar gets 3 Ferris wheels. 

For more information about Toast Kitchen and Bar, head to their website here: https://www.toastbrea.com/

Everyday They're Hustlin' at Everyday Eatery

Everyday Eatery

6634 Irvine Center Drive

Irvine, CA 92618

We've gotten very lazy on Sunday mornings. I roll out of bed around six, which is two hours later than I usually wake up when I'm working. Katie sleeps way more than I. She will probably kill me when she reads this, but she could easily sleep 10 to 12 hours at a time and still takes a nap later in the afternoon. All this sleeping does put a crimp into our chance to try some breakfast spots. 

This particular Sunday was rare though. Katie had gotten up relatively early for her, right at 8am. She was a ball of energy, making plans to go out and get breakfast, walk around the Great Park in Irvine, and visit the Farmer's Market that operates there every Sunday from 10 to 2pm. I don't know what got into her, but she hasn't been like that very often or since then. Not wanting her to heed the siren call back to her comfy bed, I hastily picked a place near the Great Park where we could have breakfast. I selected Everyday Eatery. 

Everyday Eatery opened their doors in late 2019. This restaurant is run by a husband and wife team from New Zealand. After moving to California, these Kiwis missed the breakfast places from their homeland. They decided to take action and open up their own place. After a couple of mentions in the OC Register, Orange Coast Magazine, and OC Weekly, things have taken off here. They are the proud owners of a four-and-a-half star rating on Yelp, with over 500 reviews, and there's a big line on weekends if you wake up too late like Katie usually does. 

We arrived at just before 9 on a recent Sunday and were met with a very manageable line of three people ahead of us. Ordering is done at the counter, you are given a number, and then the food is brought out to you at one of the many tables located out in front of the restaurant. The one-page food menu is separated into breakfast and lunch options, but both are available all day. Prices consistently hover around the $12 price point. We quickly made our choices, found an empty table, and waited about five minutes for our food to arrive. 

I guess you can say that I've been on a Chocolate Croissant ($4.50) kick as of late. I've had five in the last two months, and seem compelled to get one whenever I have the opportunity. I'm not sure if they make all of their pastries in-house, but this was a very solid croissant. It was predictably flaky and had nice-sized chunks of chocolate inside. I'm sure it's not something that places do with a proper croissant, but I wished they would have heated it to get the chocolate nice and melty. Maybe next time I'll get one to go and heat it up myself at home. 

Katie is always partial to sampling breakfast burritos at new spots we eat at for the first meal of the day, so that led her to the Bacon Breakfast Burrito ($12.50) at Everyday Eatery. Some breakfast burritos are massive, and keep you full the rest of the day. This was not like that, but I'd say it was more of a gourmet breakfast burrito. It contained bacon, fluffy scrambled eggs, green onion, roasted potatoes, jack cheese, chipotle aioli, and roasted salsa on the side. Katie opted to have avocado added, hence the extra two-dollar charge quoted above. She liked the freshness of this and liked the slight bitterness that the arugula added. It made it unique. She would not hesitate to get this again.  

 

Out of the thirteen breakfast options that dot the Everyday Eatery menu, the Bacon and Fried Egg Sandwich ($11.50) was the one that really jumped out at me. Placed on the well-made brioche bun were a nicely fried egg, cheddar cheese, two strips of thick bacon, some arugula, jalapenos, and a tomato jam. I really enjoyed this sandwich a lot. Each bite was pretty consistent, and even though the tomato jam did not stand out as much as I would have liked, the provided chipotle aioli, which might have been meant for the brekkie potatoes, was excellent on this. I usually prefer a crisper potato at breakfast, but these spuds were nicely seasoned. 

It's easy to see why they call this Everyday Eatery. because I could imagine a lot of people making eating here a habit. I could for sure see myself getting that breakfast sandwich again many times over. The food here was lighter than most breakfast restaurants, and you can tell that they take great care to get the best ingredients and prepare them the right way. The service was cheerful during our stay, and with so many people here early this morning, the food was out way quicker than I imagined. Hopefully, this visit will entice Katie to wake up a little earlier on Sundays so we can visit here again without waiting in a long line. 

Out of five beach umbrellas, (because wherever you are in New Zealand, where the owners of this place were originally from, you are never more than 80 miles away from the seashore), five being best to zero being worst, Everyday Eatery gets 3.5 beach umbrellas. 

For more information about Everyday Eatery, head to their website here: https://everydayeatery.com/