Sunday, January 14, 2024

Reading Terminal Market, a Foodies Wonderland


 City Food Tours and Reading Terminal Market

1136 Arch Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107


A great way to get to know a city you have never visited is to take a tour. An even better understanding of a city is to eat where the locals eat, along with a local tour guide. That's what we did on our third day of being in Philadelphia. Before leaving home, our good friend Rocio was kind enough to book the eight of us on the Flavors of Philly Food Tour run by City Food Tours. 

This is one of five tours that City Food Tours operates in the city, and it's the most popular, as they offer it every day of the week. This two-and-a-half-hour tour spans six city blocks and includes five stops at locally-owned restaurants where they claim that locals eat. We met at a coffee shop, and after a quick introduction and some general housekeeping by our tour guide, Kaitlyn, we were quickly on to stop number one. 



At Joe's Pizza, I learned something I had never known. Tomato Pie is a big thing in Philadelphia. Italian immigrants brought it here at the turn of the last century. Joe's Pizza has been in business for 35-plus years, and they cook their pizzas in a brick oven. The tomato pie is simple, with just the San Marzano tomato sauce on the crust. The simplicity of this pizza is meant to highlight the very well-done tomato sauce. There's no cheese or other toppings included. I liked my first slice, but it's not like I would eat a whole pie by myself like I could do with a typical pizza. Everyone enjoyed this, though. 




On our next stop, I learned another fact I did not know. Philadelphia is the pretzel capital of the US. Their population eats more pretzels than anywhere else in the country. Most Americans eat two pounds of pretzels yearly, while Philadelphians eat six times that amount. A staggering 12 pounds of pretzels per person. Wow. A quick Yelp check yielded plenty of pretzel options in the city. 

The most popular pretzel spot is Philly Pretzel Factory. They have 165 locations throughout the US, and a whopping 29 of those are located in Philadelphia. These are soft pretzels, lightly salted. I'm not the world's biggest fan of pretzels, but I liked this one well enough. It tasted freshly made, had just enough salt, and the chewiness of it was on point. These are something that I could only see myself eating sometimes, but every once in a while, it would be more my jam.  





Stop number three was Zio's Brick Oven Pizza. We weren't here for pizza. We tried a sampling of their Cheese Whiz Fries and their Cheesesteak. Again, cheese whiz is not my favorite thing, but these were good for what they were. The fries were crispy, and I picked the fires with the least whiz. 

We didn't need it, but Katie wanted to try their Rice Ball Parmigiana ($7.74). This rice ball was filled with ground meat, peas, carrots, and meat sauce, then topped with more sauce and a good amount of mozzarella cheese. A little different spin on the usual arancini that we've had in other places. This was a good version. I enjoyed how the cheese and sauce elevated the rice ball and its contents. I could see us eating this often if we lived in the area. 




The last two places on our tour were at the famous Reading Terminal Market. If you are a food person, this is where you need to head when you are in Philadelphia. It was overwhelming figuring out where to eat, and so many people were everywhere. Luckily, our tour guide, Kaitlyn, could answer all of our questions and give us some good tips about one of the country's largest and oldest public markets. 

Our last two stops on our food tour were of the sweeter variety. First up was a Chocolate Chip Cookie from The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company. This 40-year-old company made some seriously great cookies. They were chewy, with a good amount of decadent chocolate chips included in every bite.  This cookie was served warm and tasted more homemade than most cookies I've bought. I still regret not returning to their booth and trying one of their peanut butter cookies. 

On Saturdays, the line for Beiler's Doughnuts can stretch as far as the eye can see. We hit them at a good time, even though they were out of the apple fritter I had wanted to try. We were given an Original Glazed as our last offering on our tour. Beiler's is a Pennsylvania Dutch bakery with other locations in Lancaster and Germantown, Maryland. They offer salads, pickles, and traditional Amish puddings, but the donuts draw the most praise. 

The glazed donut was different in texture from any I had before. This is partly due to how the dough is kneaded during baking. It was not an overly sweet doughnut, but it did feel like it could have melted in my mouth. There was also an excellent buttery taste on the back end of each bite. It reminded me of an Entenmann's glazed but made with fresher ingredients and way higher in quality. 




Our tour was now wrapped up, and we could walk around the market. I had my eye on a roast pork sandwich from DiNic's, but unfortunately, they had closed for the day because they had sold out. Mental note to self: get here early for their legendary pork sandwich. Hershel's East Side Deli did a more than admirable job of stepping in. Locals call this place "the best Jewish deli outside of New York."  Hershel was originally the head chef at Katz's Deli for over 40 years, so I knew I would be in for a treat when I ordered my Pastrami Reuben ($15.05). 

The pastrami was thick-cut and piled between two grilled slices of rye bread with Russian dressing, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. I really enjoyed this sandwich, with the tanginess from the sauerkraut, the savory and tender pastrami, and the creamy Swiss. I'd get the Rachel version the next time I was here, as the touch of sweetness that the coleslaw would bring would make this sandwich unbelievable.  


Any TV program I've ever seen about Reading Terminal Market has always mentioned Bassett's Ice Cream. In business for 163 years, yes, you read that right, they occupy the space closest to the front of the market and are the last original remaining tenant at the market. The day we were here, they offered 37 different flavors to choose from. I had a scoop of their Chocolate Fudge Brownie ($7), which had some good-sized hunks of brownie mixed into its very creamy chocolate ice cream. I figure I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I hadn't just eaten so much on our tour and at the market. Still, it was an excellent end to a day that anybody who likes food as much as myself will think back fondly on.  

For more information about City Food Tours, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.phillysfoodtour.com/

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Cheesesteak Paradise at Leo’s Steak Shop


 Leo's Steak Shop

1403 Chester Pike

Folcroft, PA 19032


We decided that we were going to lounge around our hotel for the night. After two busy days of sightseeing, going to a Phillies game, and enduring a red-eye flight to get to Philadelphia, we felt we owed ourselves a quiet night to relax before our last full day in Philly. We still needed to eat dinner, so I scoured Yelp for a nearby restaurant to grab some takeout. Little did I know that we were about to hit the cheesesteak lottery. 

Less than fifteen minutes away from our airport area hotel was Leo's Steak Shop. Leo's has been open for business since 1974 and is run by the Mullan brothers. Originally opened less than a block away, they moved to their present location in 1986 because they needed a bigger space due to their popularity. One of the reasons for their acclaim was that they have won numerous awards for their cheesesteaks, appearing on plenty of best-of lists, multiple mentions in print media, and a healthy four-and-a-half-star rating on Yelp. 

With all these accolades, I felt ashamed that I had not had Leo's on the original restaurant list I had crafted before leaving California. I was too focused on Philadelphia instead of thinking we might have wanted to find a spot closer to our hotel in Delaware County. Since we were a group of eight, we called in our order to give them time to put it together. We arrived at their storefront just after half past eight, and they were just finishing our rather large order. 

Leo's serves burgers, but the cheesesteaks and hoagies are the main draw. They offer nine different versions of cheesesteaks and 13 varieties of hoagies. The small sandwiches cost $12 or less, while the giant 18-inch sandwiches hover around the $22 price point. There's seating outside at a few picnic benches, but we opted to take our food and eat in our hotel lobby. Let's see what Leo's had in store for us. 



I promised cheesesteaks but wanted to start with the Corned Beef Special ($11.45). This sandwich came on Jewish rye, piled with more corned beef than you could get your mouth around, thickly sliced Swiss, coleslaw, and plenty of Russian dressing. This sandwich was good, but it would have been better if the rye bread had been toasted and the coleslaw had been slightly more pronounced. I enjoyed that they used a lot of Russian dressing on this, and the corned beef was sliced thin, and there was more than plenty of it included here. A delightful surprise in a steak shop. 






Now, what you come to Philadelphia for, or in this case, what you come to Folcroft for, cheesesteaks. Special thanks to Erven for doing the obligatory forearm picture showing how big his Large 18-inch Mushroom Cheesesteak ($22.65) was. He finally finished it for breakfast the next day. I did not finish mine either, as I got two sandwiches and some cheesesteak fries, but I added the inside meat of my cheesesteak to my omelet at the hotel buffet the following day. A genius move, if I do say so myself. 

What we have featured in these pictures is the following: a Regular Cheesesteak ($11.45) and a Pepper Cheesesteak ($11.85) that I got. These sandwiches were heavenly to eat. The chopped meat had just the right amount of American cheese mixed in, which was noticeable but did not overwhelm the beef. A perfect balance. The semi-soft roll held the massive amount of beef and cheese admirably, with little to no spillage. The meat was incredibly tender and seasoned well, and the peppers added a touch of sweetness that went well with the savory sandwich. Easily the best cheesesteak I've experienced up until now in my over 50-plus years of life. I was not alone in this sentiment. 



Katie had a cheesesteak at the Phillies game we were at earlier in the day, so she wanted something different, opting for the Turkey and Cheese Hoagie ($11,85) instead of Philadelphia's most famous sandwich. This hoagie featured as much shaved turkey shoved into the roll as possible, plenty of provolone cheese, a touch of mayo, and some lettuce. Katie called this a simple yet classic turkey hoagie that was a real treat to eat. 

The Ham and Cheese Hoagie ($11.85) was Addison's pick. Her family says she's an aficionado of ham sandwiches, as she has one almost every chance she gets. Like the turkey hoagie, this one had meat spilling out of it. This hoagie came like the turkey one, with some lettuce, provolone cheese, and a little lettuce. I am still waiting to get a review of how Addison liked this sandwich. She's quiet unless it's about some of her passions, like soccer, pop music, or her love of license plates.  


Not that we needed them, but we finished things off with these Cheesesteak Fries ($11.95). This was straightforward: fries with cheesesteak placed on top of them. Even though the fries were frozen and not fresh, they were fried well and held their crunchiness even after our ride back to our hotel and under the weight of the meat and cheese on top of them. The beef was seasoned, and the cheese bound well to it. I ignored this a bit because I got a cheesesteak already, probably due to cheesesteak overload. This would have been better if they added extra cheese on top. 

Leo's Steak Shop was more than a pleasant surprise. This was the best cheesesteak I have had, and it made me realize that the cheesesteaks we have back home in California do not even come close to what we experienced this evening. The meat was way better, the cheese-to-beef ratio was on point, and the amount of meat they used on each sandwich was awe-inspiring. Their prices were incredible, and if I lived here, Leo's would definitely be in my restaurant rotation at least every two weeks. The lady taking our order over the phone was a little overwhelmed with our large order, but she got everything squared away, and it was just about ready at our quoted time. If you find yourself near the Philadelphia Airport, do yourself a favor and go to Leo's for one of the best cheesesteaks you will ever have. 

Out of five buckets of popcorn (because the first 3D movie premiered in 1922, the same year Folcroft was incorporated into a borough), five being best to zero being worst, Leo's Steak Shop gets 4.5 buckets of popcorn. 

For more information about Leo's Steak Shop, head to their website by clicking here: https://leossteakshop.com/

Friday, January 5, 2024

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Buy Me Some Cheesesteaks and Roast Pork


 Tony Luke's 

Citizens Bank Park

1 Citizen Bank Way 

Philadelphia, PA 19148


I'm always amazed when we visit other ballparks and arenas away from home. Not only are the fan bases way more passionate and into the game, but the food is so much better than anything we have at Anaheim Stadium or Honda Center. I could never fathom writing about either of these venue's food scenes. Honda Centre only has one outside vendor, California Pizza Kitchen, while the rest of their food is made in-house, is average at best, and is priced exorbitantly high. C'mon, $9 for a hot dog. Go to Costco before the games for their higher quality hot dog for $1.50, and you also get a drink. 

Anaheim Stadium's outside food vendors will not make you want to get out of your seat to grab some grub, even though the team is so bad they are hard to watch. This past season included Oggi's Pizza, Yogurtland, Juice It Up, Wetzel's Pretzels, and Chronic Tacos. A weak lineup when you consider most of these you can just get at your local mall food court, assuming you still visit the mall instead of shopping online. 



We were on vacation in Philadelphia and went to a Phillies day game on a Thursday. The first thing I noticed when we got to Citizens Bank Park was how many people wore Phillies gear here. Back home, nearly half of the attendees would be wearing the opposing team's colors. These Phillies fans were also passionate about the game. Most were off their phones, watching the game, and cheering at appropriate times. The next time you're at an Angel game, just notice how many people are on their phones the whole time, and only look up when the rest of the crowd cheers. 

Citizens Park has plenty of food options that got me excited. They have a Shake Shack behind home plate. They also have food stalls that are backed by former Phillie's players and managers, like Ryan Howard's southern-style chicken sandwiches, and Charlie Manuel, manager of the 2008 world championship team, runs Uncle Charlie's Steaks, a spot serving cheesesteaks to hungry baseball enthusiasts. Other notable vendors are Federal Donuts, Jersey Shore favorite Manco and Manco Pizza, and the iconic Campo's Philly Cheesesteaks, which has been in business since 1947. I had circled another cheesesteak place on my list at the ballpark to try: the legendary Tony Luke's. 

Tony Luke's started in South Philadelphia in 1992 as a family-run business. Times were tough the first few years, but customers came in droves as the years rolled by, and the awards started piling up for their cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches. There are now 17 Tony Luke's locations in the Mid-Atlantic region, most at sports arenas, entertainment venues, casinos, and airport locations. 

We got up during the fourth inning of the game and walked to the food concourse in centerfield known as Ashburn Alley, which is also home to other purveyors of food and drinks. The line was one of the longest we saw, so we felt good about this spot. We waited in line for about 25 minutes or so. The menu is a paired-down version of other menus I've seen for their other locations. They offer only two sandwiches, the cheesesteak, and the roast pork. The only other item on their menu is curly fries. We grabbed our sandwiches and returned to our seats to experience the first cheesesteak of our visit to Philly.     


So, when only two sandwiches are on the menu, I must get them both. Let's start with the Roast Pork with Cheese ($9.50). Roast pork sandwiches are a big part of Philadelphia culture. You'll find these all over the city and surrounding areas. They all have the same ingredients: roast pork, sharp provolone, and broccoli rabe or spinach in an Italian roll. I liked this sandwich more than I thought I would. Not to ruin anything, but it was not as filled with meat as others I would have on this trip, but at less than $10 at a ballgame, this was a great value. The sharp provolone worked nicely with the garlicky broccoli rabe and the savory pork. Some of the pork was on the dry side, but that was remedied by adding extra broccoli rabe. The bread made by Liscio's Bakery was fresh and had a good chew to it. 

The Cheesesteak ($9.50) was not as stuffed as the others you'll see in upcoming reviews, but this was a pleasurable sandwich. Tony Luke's only uses ribeye for their meat; you can taste the difference. It was not oily like others tend to be, and the American cheese was of good quality. I added a Pepper Cup ($1.50) to the sandwich. The peppers added a bit of moisture, which I liked. The roll again was good, keeping everything together until our last bite. 

If you are from Philadelphia, most of you feel that these are sandwiches for tourists, like the ones from Pat's and Geno's downtown. Yelp reviews for these sandwiches are not kind, only giving this place 2.5 to 3 stars, which could be better. You'd be more forgiving if you had to suffer through the food we have to eat at Anaheim Stadium or Honda Center. Not very good. These sandwiches are better than anything I've eaten at either of those sporting venues at about half the price. I would have liked to have tried Campos Cheesesteaks, but the game flew by, and I needed more time. Maybe if the game was a doubleheader. 

Out of five zookeepers (because the first zoo in all of the US was opened in 1874 in Philadelphia, and before that, zookeepers were not even needed), five being best to zero being worst, Tony Luke's gets 3 zookeepers. 

For more information about Tony Luke's, head to their website by clicking here: https://tonylukes.com/

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Hot Diggety Dog, We Are in Philadelphia!


 Good Dog Bar

224 South 15th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102


Family vacation time in Philadelphia! My good friend Erven and his wonderful family were vacationing in the City of Brotherly Love to sightsee, attend a soccer and baseball game, and see what Philly has to offer in food. That's where I came in. I scoured Yelp, TV Food Maps, and obsessively read every best-of-restaurant list I could get my hands on from when we were invited to join the family on this four-day adventure to Philadelphia. 

I was apprehensive at first. This would be my first family vacation with teenagers in quite some time. It was more pressure than usual for me to pick restaurants I thought these youngsters might like. Then I realized I knew these kids. They are open to trying things and can find something on any restaurant menu they would like. I put together three restaurant pages and was sure it would be impossible to hit them all, but it would be fun trying. 

We took a red-eye from LAX and arrived in Philadelphia at noon. Tired but determined to make every minute count, we dropped off our bags at our hotel and headed out to explore the city we would call home for the next four days. We did a double-decker bus tour, visited the Liberty Bell, and explored some of the neighborhoods of this historic town. By the time it was 4pm, we were all famished and tired, so I whipped out my restaurant list and realized we were within a mile of one of the restaurants I had wanted to try. So we all trudged to Good Dog Bar near Rittenhouse Square. 

Good Dog made my list because they were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, have a 4-star rating on Yelp with over 1,400 reviews, and are consistently ranked as having one of the best burgers in all of Philadelphia. At the helm of this place are Heather Gleason and Dave Garry, dog enthusiasts who opened it in 2003 and married a few months later.  

This 100-year-old building is three stories high, with bars and tables on both the first and second stories, a game room featuring a pool table, and a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game on the third floor. Every wall is adorned with black and white framed pictures of dogs. Our party of eight was here between lunch and dinner, and they were kind enough to set up a table for us on the second floor, which they opened just for us. 

The menu here is divided into soups and salads, small and big bites, two burgers, and a quintet of sandwiches. A big draw at Good Dog is their daily specials, which usually include a daily empanada, flatbread, steak offering, and other assorted items. Price points for their menu items hover around the $20 mark, with only steak entrees going for more. We were hungry, so we ordered as quickly as seven people could make their selections. Let's see if Good Dog Bar was a good selection for the first meal of our vacation. 



Since we were so hungry, some starters were in order. We began with two orders of the Esquites Empanadas ($14). These come three to an order, and the empanadas are rotated daily. The esquites empanadas were predictably filled with corn and were dusted with cotija cheese. They were a little bland on their own, but they were saved by a delicious sauce with just a hint of spice. The outer shells of the empanadas were crafted well, and I would have liked a different version of their empanadas, like the Philly cheesesteak that they offer often or any other one that featured meat. 

The Buffalo Wings ($17) were a bigger hit. They came dressed in slightly spicy buffalo sauce, celery sticks, and perfect ranch dressing. The wings were fried well and featured plenty of meat on them. The consistency of the ranch was nicely achieved, as it clung to the chicken when dipped. 

Not every day, you see a Banh Mi Sandwich ($14) on a menu in a bar. The long roll was filled with daikon, pickled carrots, a little sambal for some spice, cilantro, jalapenos, miso mayo, and pork belly. Katie liked this well enough but has had better banh mi sandwiches. She felt the pork belly was overcooked and nowhere close to tender. She enjoyed the rest of the sandwich, especially the way the condiments went well with the veggies. The fries were nicely done and were plentiful. 

Erven is all about seafood and gave these Steamed Clams ($17) a whirl. These were listed on their daily specials menu. They were served in a classic white wine and garlic sauce and came with a sliced loaf of crusty bread. The clams were on the smaller side, but I liked the one that I had. The sauce was well done with lots of garlic present. I imagined sopping up the sauce with the bread would be great. 

Here's a quick shot of the Kid's Cheese Pizza ($10). For a kids-sized pizza, the size of this was more than generous, and as you'll see as you scroll down, it's no smaller than the flatbread pizza coming up. I enjoyed how this looked from across the table, with its slightly crisped dots of cheese topping this pie. I heard no complaints from Addison about this, but she's pretty mild-mannered, except when dealing with her three brothers. 


When Guy Fieri was here, he tried this Good Dog Burger ($16), so I followed suit. This half-pound ground sirloin patty was stuffed with Roquefort cheese and topped with caramelized onions on a Challah bun. This burger was delicious, and was made even better when I asked for some mayo to add to the burger. It was cooked nicely medium rare, which made this one of the most tender burgers I have had. The Roquefort cheese added just the right amount of tanginess to each bite, and the onions added a nice sweetness. A very balanced burger. The hand-cut fries were like In-N-Out fries from back home but were seasoned and not over-fried to resemble the old Durkee's Fried Onions used only to top green bean casseroles during the holidays. These fries were way better than In-N-Out's version.  


Not content with just the steamed clams, Erven also got this Flatbread Pizza ($17). We were on vacation, so live it up, big guy. Flatbread pizza is usually rectangular when we are home, but not here at Good Dog. Like the empanadas, the flatbread changes daily and appears on the daily specials menu. The flatbread featured mushrooms, garlic, and onions on the day we visited. It has the same cheese and red sauce as the kid's pizza. I don't remember Erven giving me much info about how much he liked this pizza, but he finished it, so that's a good sign. 

Good Dog Bar was a great way to start our eating adventure in Philadelphia. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, and this place proves that this city is not just about Cheesesteaks. This restaurant serves what I'd call elevated bar food. Even better than the food was the service that we experienced. They were so lovely setting up our private room when we walked in and catering to our every whim. These are some really great people who run this place. Dave and Heather should be really proud of the staff they have put together. It was fantastic to see my research paid off with a great selection right off the bat. Let's hope the rest of the restaurant choices are just as good. 

Out of five fire hydrants (because where you have good dogs, you will also find dogs marking their territory on fire hydrants), five being best to zero being worst, Good Dog Bar gets 3.5 fire hydrants. 

For  more information about Good Dog Bar, head to their website by clicking here: https://gooddogbar.com/

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Best Restaurants of 2023

We are down to our last day of 2023. It's hard to fathom that this is my 14th year writing this restaurant review blog. Most of my fellow food bloggers have stopped writing and either drifted off to other pursuits or have transitioned to becoming influencers on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or whatever the latest visual app is the hottest. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the last of a dying breed. But I carry on to bring you my thoughts on restaurants in OC and beyond. 

This year is the least amount of reviews I have ever written in a calendar year. No, I have not been on a diet, incarcerated, or been told to curtail my eating by my doctor. I have had another hobby that has taken up my time this year, namely audiobooks. Before, when I used to get home from work, I'd write for a few hours before Katie got home. This year, I got home and continued listening to the audiobook I was listening to on my twenty-minute commute. I have decided that I need more balance in my life, so I'm determined for that to change in 2024. 

Needless to say, I have a significant backlog of restaurants I need to write about that we've already visited, and my restaurant wishlist has ballooned to over four pages. I've set a goal to write at least 80 reviews in the upcoming year, hopefully getting me back on track. Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me this year, checking to see if I've posted a new review, commenting, liking, and recommending places you feel I should visit. It's much appreciated. 

This was also the year I hit one of my personal goals for my blog: 1000 different restaurant reviews. I hit that significant number in August and do not intend to stop anytime soon. My new goal is to be the most prolific restaurant reviewer in OC. I'm still determining who has reviewed the most restaurants in Orange County, but I'm gunning for them. I will also take the time to update my past reviews by fixing broken links, editing my grammar and spelling errors, and denoting restaurants that have closed for business. 

So, here's to a great 2024! Now, my top ten restaurants of 2023. 

#10 - Nosh House - Tustin

Starting things off is Nosh House, which claims to be the only Glatt kosher restaurant in OC. They are run by the same people who own OC Kosher Market a few doors down. The menu here is diverse for such a small place, but don't sleep on the Reuben sandwich, one of the best OC offers. 


#9 - Prince Street Pizza - Los Angeles

I love that some of NYC's most popular restaurants are opening outposts on the West Coast. One of the best we ate this year is Prince Street Pizza, which is opening in Costa Mesa this coming year. Sicilian-style pizza is sold by the slice, with my favorite being the meat lovers and the spicy spring, which features pepperoni and an addictive spicy red sauce. Expect long lines when they finally open their Triangle Square spot, but this pizza is worth the wait.  

#8 - Felix's BBQ with Soul - Oceanside

I was down in Oceanside renewing my library card and decided to try Felix's, which has been on my list for as long as I can remember. The ribs are the things to get here, whether beef or baby backs. Both were delicious. Also, do yourself a favor, and however much mac and cheese you're going to order, just double it. This is one of the best I've had in years. Worth the trip. 

#7 - Tacos De Birria Estilo Guadalajara - Laguna Woods

Birria is still all the rage, and the best we had this year was served at an Episcopal church in Laguna Woods? Yep, you read that right. The birria quesa birria taco and the birria quesadillas are tasty but don't think the birria ramen is just a humdrum fusion item. It's a dish that will warm you from the inside out. Excellent. 


#6 - LJ's Lil Cafe - Cypress

We don't make it up to Cypress very often, but you won't be able to keep us away after we tried the most talked about breakfast burrito in OC this year from LJ's. Run out of a space in front of Home Depot, LJ's uses tater tots in their burritos, and they are a game changer. Add in the light, fluffy eggs and excellent breakfast meats, and you get one of my top 3 breakfast burritos in OC. I just wish they were a little closer to where I lived, but this is another spot worth battling freeway traffic. 

#5 - Flying Pig Pub and Grill - Oceanside

Our yearly trip to get Katie a new purse at the Outlets in Carlsbad was even better when we combined it with dinner at the Flying Pig. This highly-rated restaurant lived up to our expectations. It provided me with my best steak of the year, a 14-ounce ribeye, while Katie raved about their house bolognese pasta. Definitely one of the better dining options in Oceanside. 

#4 - Da Bianca Trattoria - Orange

Da Bianca is an Italian restaurant that everyone wishes was in their neighborhood. It has a cozy and lively dining room with a caring staff and owner, and most importantly, some delicious Italian food. We visited two times this year, and both meals were delicious. Every pasta has been first-class; their Caesar salad is the best I've had this year. I can envision some more trips here in 2024. 


#3 - Breezy - San Juan Capistrano

It's tough for a breakfast joint to stand out. Breezy has stayed with me long after our initial visit with their unique Filipino fusion breakfast specialties. Their pork adobo breakfast burrito is something you should not miss, while their s'mores french toast will satisfy everyone's sweet tooth. They deserve all the love they have gotten from the local print media this year, and it's easy to see why there's almost always a wait outside their door most mornings.  


#2 - Moo's Craft BBQ - Los Angeles

I used to lament the fact that we did not have any great barbecue restaurants in Southern California, like the ones I've had in Texas and other parts of the country. This is not the case anymore. Moo's Craft is on par with my other So Cal favorite, Heritage BBQ. All the meats we've had have been spectacular, and their sides, especially the Frito Pie, were equally as good. It's been hard passing by Broadway on the 5 Freeway and not stopping here every time. It's that good. 


#1 - Bourbon Steak - Dana Point

The very definition of a special occasion restaurant. We live 12 miles away from Bourbon Steak and felt we were on vacation when we arrived at this restaurant inside the Waldorf Astoria Resort. The service is world-class and matches the food we encountered. My lobster pot pie is not a meal I will soon forget. A very fitting restaurant to celebrate my 1000th restaurant review on this blog. 

I look forward to sharing many more great restaurants with you in 2024. What restaurants will be on this list next year? Time will tell. As for now, happy new year, and have a delicious 2024. 

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Hoping Matador Cantina Hits the Bullseye


 Matador Cantina

111 North Harbor Blvd. 

Fullerton, CA 92832


This is one of those restaurants I had to double-check to ensure I had yet to write a review. It seemed like I had been here before, but then I realized it was just for drinks and an appetizer. Adding to my confusion was the at least weekly emails I used to receive from their former PR firm. With so many emails announcing special events and new menu items, I quickly put them on my restaurant wishlist but have just made it here. 

Matador Cantina has been around just as long as this blog. Opened for business in 2009, Matador Cantina is located in one of the oldest buildings in Fullerton, dating back to 1899. From the time they debuted until about 2014, they won numerous awards for their margaritas, got lots of love for their Taco Tuesday, and had glowing reviews from many bloggers and print media outlets. 

Almost as rare as writing a restaurant review blog in 2023, Matador Cantina still has its opening Executive Chef from when they first opened their doors all those years ago. Chef Dave Dennis has even added General Manager to his list of duties. He describes his food as a fusion of authentic and contemporary Mexican cuisine, with some South American flavors thrown into the mix. We grabbed my parents for a long overdue meetup and headed to the restaurant. 

We visited on a Sunday at 4pm, just as the stragglers from the Sunday Funday crowd exited Downtown Fullerton. Parking was no problem at this time between meals. Like many older buildings, Matador Cantina is long and narrow. Coming in from the Harbor Boulevard entrance, there's a long bar to your left with TVs hung above it, showing sports when we visited. The other side featured a row of booths where we were seated. 

The dinner menu is split into starters, tacos, quesadillas, burritos, salads, and restaurant specialties. Appetizers hover around the $13 mark, while more substantial entrees range between $12 to $25. These are reasonable prices for this area of town. Tacos are listed at $6, but on Tuesdays, they offer street tacos for $2.25 and specialty tacos for $3.25 after 2pm. Matador Cantina also offers a weekend brunch, and they have happy hour every day except Saturdays from 2 to 6pm. Now that you have some background about this place let's see what we had on this late afternoon.  



As is my custom when eating in a Mexican restaurant, I'll start with a shot of the Chips and Salsa that came to the table when we were seated. The chips were fresh, and the salsa had a smokiness with a tinge of heat. It had a good consistency to it. Katie ordered the Guacamole ($11) for the table. The guacamole at Matador combines onion, tomatoes, cilantro, serrano chile, garlic, and lime. It was okay, but I expected more flavor with these ingredients. The avocado was the prevailing flavor, which is fine, but the other ingredients failed to show up in my bites. I was also not really a fan of the tostadas that this was served with. They were too over-fried, so I instead used tortilla chips that came with the salsa. A much better choice. 


Starting off the entree portion of our evening is Katie's selection of the El Gaucho Pasta ($16). Yes, pasta at a Mexican restaurant. The pasta came with a delectable cilantro chimichurri cream sauce, a distant pesto cousin, but not as oily. The grilled chicken was moist and tender, not something I usually say about chicken when eating in a restaurant. The plate was rounded out with garlic bread, which I did not try. Katie was delighted with her meal choice here. 


Also excited about his dinner was my dad and his Drunken Shrimp ($24). The shrimp was sauteed in a garlic and butter sauce that had my dad singing its praises. Joining the shrimp was some diced zucchini, which went well with the sauce. This plate was finished off with some cilantro lime rice and two pieces of the same garlic bread that came with Katie's meal. Again, not a typical dish that you'd see at a Mexican place, but my dad could not have been happier. 


So, leave it to my mom to get something I'd expected to see when we walked into Matador Cantina: a Shredded Pork Taco ($5). The corn tortilla was filled, stuffed to its gills, with pork, lettuce, and pico de Gallo. My light-eating mom struggled to finish this but gave it a game effort. She was happy with this taco but wished some cheese was included in it if they could have found some room. 

Everyone was excited with what they had ordered, and then there was my Carnitas ($16). When this was placed in front of me, I was surprised by the amount of pork included on the plate. These were some massive hunks of swine. Unfortunately, most of the bites for me were on the dry side. These carnitas lacked the fattiness that I like mixed with some lean parts when I order carnitas. There was no variety here, just dry lean pieces of pork. The cilantro lime rice was good, and the refried beans were okay, but I wish there had been more to help alleviate some of the dryness of the pork. Disappointing. 

Even with my less-than-stellar dinner selection, everyone else left Matador Cantina very happy with their meals. This is definitely a Mexican fusion restaurant, as shown in the pictures above. I would visit again, but I'd steer clear of the carnitas and try some of their specialty tacos, steak a la plancha, or seafood enchiladas. The prices here were reasonable, and they offer some excellent deals for happy hour, taco Tuesday, and other daily specials. We experienced good service on this visit, and their was not too much complaining about their service on Yelp, so that's a good sign. Now, I can officially cross them off of my restaurant wishlist. 

Out of five red capes (because matadors use capes to get bulls to charge them), five being best and zero being worst, Matador Cantina gets 2.5 red capes. 

For more information about Matador Cantina, head to their website by clicking here: https://thematador.com/