Forget Flying to Philly, We Have John's!

John's Philly Grille

16061 Goldenwest St.

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Since my roommate got back from Philadelphia, and did not bring me back a cheese steak, I have been craving a Philly. Doesn't he know that he can not brag about sandwiches from across the country and not bring me one? You know I write this blog, right Rob?

So since I could not count on Rob to satisfy my cheese steak craving, I had to strike out on my own to find a great sandwich here in the OC. I had been to John's a couple of times before I started the blog, and I felt this would be a great place to quench my craving for a cheese steak. John's has two other locations, (another in Huntington Beach and one in Seal Beach).  This was my first time at this location across from Golden West College. The shopping center here has definitely seen better days, as it is half empty.

John's Philly Grille of course has all the requisite Philadelphia paraphernalia all over its walls. Phillies, Flyers, and Eagles are all represented big time here. Their menu features burgers, hoagies, and other Philly favorites. We are here to try the cheese steak though, so after ordering from the counter this is what was brought to our table.

Before we get to our main event, here is a quick shot of the Philly Fries. These thick steak fries came out piping hot. I am usually not a steak fry kind of guy, but these ones were cooked well, very crisp and had just a hint of seasoning on them. Next time we will definitely get cheese added to these.

Katie ordered the #2 Green Pepper Cheese Steak. This half sandwich was stuffed with meat, cheese, peppers and onions. Katie felt this was the best cheese steak she had ever had. She really liked the bread. Crusty on the outside, but held the sandwich contents well. She was afraid there was not enough cheese on this, but changed her opinion after finishing this sandwich.

I really had a big craving for a cheese steak, so I went with the #4 The Works Cheese Steak. This whole sandwich came with mushrooms, peppers, hot peppers, onions and of course cheese. As much as I wanted to dig right into this sandwich, I could not because it was lava hot. In fact this sandwich did not become edible until it cooled for five minutes. Once cooled, it really satisfied my craving for a cheese steak. Great layers of taste here. You get the smoothness from the cheese, the bite of the steak, and the hotness from the peppers, all in separate waves. A very well balanced sandwich.

John's Philly Grille is a no frills sandwich shop that will definitely satisfy you cravings for the best sandwich to come out of the city of brotherly love. The cheese steaks are not cheap, $6 for a half, and $9 for a whole, but they are well worth the price. The sandwiches are stuffed with meat, and a whole sandwich kept me filled up well into the next day. Is this the best cheese steak in the OC? As of right now I will have to say it is. If you have any opinions or suggestions on places that might be better, please let me know.

So out of five liberty bells, (c'mon, you knew I would sneak a liberty bell reference in here at least once, right?), five being best to zero being worst, John's Philly Grill gets 3.5 liberty bells.

John's Philly Grill does not have a web site, but you can find info about them here: http://www.facebook.com/JohnsPhillyGrille

Standing Ovation or Bronx Cheer for Stadium Brewing?

Stadium Brewing Co.

26731 Aliso Creek Rd. Suite C

Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

My good friend, Brett was going to be playing with his band at Stadium Brewing Company. Since it is only a fifteen-minute ride, and all of Katie's family was going to be eating dinner here, it was the perfect opportunity to blog about the food here. We have visited here before, for breakfast, and this would be my first time eating here for dinner. 

Katie and I, of course, were the last of our party of nine to arrive at the restaurant. Sorry guys. Stadium Brewing is located in one of the busiest shopping centers in Aliso Viejo. It did not help our tardiness that we were relegated to parking at the very top of the parking structure. Not an excuse, just a reason why we were late, (okay it really is an excuse). 

Stadium Brewing is one of the few non-chain restaurants in the city of Aliso Viejo. The restaurant has a small bar area, two patios, and a dining room. When we arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night the place was packed. The dining room we were seated in was very loud. My friend Brett would say it was packed because everyone wanted to hear his band, but I am hoping it was because of the food. Let's check it out.

Because we were so late we missed most of the appetizers that were ordered, but we did get a shot of the Garlic Cheese Bread above. More like a cheese pizza, this had a great garlic flavor, but the crust on its own kind of fell flat. 

Starting us off on the dinner portion of our night is Marcy's choice, the Southwest Chicken Salad. This salad featured mixed greens, avocado, black beans, tortilla strips, corn, peanuts, jack and cheddar cheeses all tossed with cilantro cashew dressing. Marcy had mixed feelings about this salad. She enjoyed the avocado but felt that the peanuts were not a good fit here. I think peanuts are odd in this salad too, but I would probably guess it would help change up the texture of this salad, which I kind of respect.

The salad above will end the produce portion of this post. Sara's choice of entree was the Raspberry and Gorgonzola Salad. This consisted of greens, fresh raspberries, candied pecans, Gorgonzola cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette. Sara could not stop gushing over this salad calling it, "the best salad I have had at any restaurant". She gets this every time she is here, and it never fails to impress her. Lofty praise from hard to please Sara. 

You thought the salads were done? Well believe it or not this is not a salad. Under all of that lettuce, there are actually Greek Tacos. Greek Tacos combine the following items, tomato, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, feta cheese, lamb or chicken, and cucumber yogurt sauce all served on a grilled pita. Three people out of our party of nine got this dish. Thanks for the diversity guys! Anyways, All three of them opted for the chicken. Jimmy and Emily felt the chicken was dry, but Katie liked this dish. Jimmy called this dish bland, while Katie said it was bursting with flavor. The piece of chicken I tried was dry, but I did not try it in the taco. I also would have gone with the lamb. With the difference of opinion with this plate, the jury is still out. 

Here is another plate where we had a difference of opinion, the Stadium Chicken Sandwich. This comes with lettuce tomato, onion, your choice of cheese, and your choice of having this blackened, Teriyaki, or BBQ. Lynn and Dennis split this sandwich and both of them felt differently about it. Lynn was very happy with this sandwich, while Dennis was hoping that it would have been better. The problem was that he let Lynn get this with no sauce, and no cheese, so I am sure it would have tasted better if they had all of the stuff on it. Let this be a lesson for you. Do not share a sandwich with someone that likes everything plain, you will just be disappointed. Of course, if that person just happens to be your wife, and you want to avoid sleeping on the couch, just nod and tell her the sandwich taste fine anyway that she wants it. That is what the very wise Dennis did here.

Kevin has been to Stadium Brewing countless times, and he always gets the Meat Lovers Pizza. This carnivore's pie includes bacon, pepperoni, ham, and sausage. He always loves this pizza, but tonight it was not the best one he has had. He claimed that the crust was soggy. He still ate all of it, but the crust was not up to par. 

I had a very difficult time making my decision on what to eat here. I finally decided on the Steak La Choza. This layered dish combined marinated skirt steak, mashed potatoes, guacamole, onions, cilantro, peppers, tostada shells, and Picante sauce. This plate had so much going on I will have to dissect it. The Picante sauce was very spicy and really overpowered the dish. The steak was average, the potatoes were lost here, and the tostada chips, which the menu called, "crispy wontons", were just plain odd. Not so sure I would order this again.

This trip to Stadium Brewing Co. left me with more questions than answers. Did we just pick the wrong items off of their large menu? Not so sure. The problem with blogging about a restaurant is that they have one chance to make a great impression. They could be short staff, or not operating with the "A",  team in the kitchen on that particular night. This could have been the case this night, but the service was very good. Elisa, our waitress was very patient with us and was very attentive to our needs.

I am not so sure I would go out of my way to eat here. If I were in the area, I would give it another try, but would definitely try another item on their menu. Like I said before, their menu is large. They have 27 entrees, and that does not even include their pizzas and sandwiches. I am sure with all of these choices I would be able to find something that I would like. For now, though, I have to base my review on the food that we ate this night. 

Out of five ushers, (because of course, you need ushers at stadiums, or there would be anarchy!), five being best to zero being worst, Stadium Brewing Co. gets 2.5 ushers. 

Stadium Brewing Co. does not have an active website, so get more info about them on their Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stadium-brew-aliso-viejo-4

Soaking Up the Atmosphere at Habana

Habana

2930 Bristol Street

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Oh, the memories I have had at Habana. In my twenties, when I lived mere blocks away from this place, I was here maybe three nights a week. My roommates and I were friends with a lot of employees here. We hung out mostly at the bar, were served stiff drinks, and tried unsuccessfully to pick up on women, (okay maybe I was unsuccessful, while they did have some luck). Anyways, there were some good times had here.

Now as I enter my fourth decade, I find I do not hang out in bars as often, and I tend to focus more on food than drinks. I still do enjoy alcohol but in much more moderation. Plus, those hangovers now last a lot longer than they used to. Back to my point though, this was going to be one of my first experiences eating dinner here. I have had appetizers here before, but I can not recall eating dinner here, so I was excited to see if the food would match my fond memories.

Habana is located at the Lab Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa. This outdoor alternative mall was opened in 1993 on the remains of a vacant military night goggle factory.  Habana has been at this mall for as long as I can remember. The restaurant, like this shopping center, has a cool vibe to it. Candles all over the place, hip music playing over the speakers, and servers that look like they are right out an indie music magazine. Let's see if all of this hipness translates to the food.

It was my buddy Richard's birthday, and what did the birthday boy want to drink? A Mojito of course. The mojito's at Habana are pretty well known. The cocktail is made of white rum, limes, mint, sugar syrup, and soda water. Richard must have liked this cocktail because he sucked down five of them while we were here. They did make him more enjoyable to be around though. Kidding big guy!

Before dinner, we started with two appetizers. The first of which was the Seasoned-Fried Avocado Slices. This was served with a smoked chipotle dipping sauce. Really, how could fried avocados be bad?  These were very creamy inside to contrast with the crunchy shell. The sauce was very mellow, but these would have been better with some ranch dressing. These really got me in the mood to have the fried food at the fair.

We next went with the Stuffed Pork Croquettas. These were filled with pork and manchego cheese. The bartender brought us two dinner rolls and suggested we made the croquettes into sliders. The cheese and pork were well done on these, but the sauce lacked a kick.

We were seated outside on the patio for dinner and were given the breadbasket above. The bread was the same as we used to make our sliders. The bread smelled like sweet bread, but the flavor was not as sweet as the aroma given off by bread.

I guess we will start off with the birthday boy's entree first. Richard had the Ropa Vieja, which combined shredded beef, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic served with black beans and white rice. Richard considered this dish to be average. He felt the meat was tender, but the dish was over salted. He liked the rice but felt it was not as good as Chipotle. It always comes back to Chipotle with this guy. Why am I even friends with him?

Richard's Mom went the seafood route when she chose the In-House Smoked Halibut. Here the fish is wrapped in a corn husk and seasoned with achiote seasoning, then topped with a citrus-papaya shrimp sauce. She loved the smokiness of the halibut and felt the fruitiness of the sauce complimented the fish nicely. She liked the white rice and black beans that came with this dish as sides.

This colorful dish is the Puerco Primo. The last Cuban restaurant I went to I made the mistake of getting a beef dish. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, so I went with this pork entree. The pork is slow-roasted, and then flash-fried to give it a kind of crispness. The pork is served on the bone, which I am generally not a big fan of, but it works here. Good flavor for the meat, and decent serving size. This was served with bacon braised collard greens, which were as delicious as they sound. A very well balanced plate.

Lastly, we have Katie's choice for the evening, the Skirt Steak. Unfortunately, she ordered this steak well done, (she has a thing about seeing pink on her steaks). This steak is smoked and then grilled, then topped with chimichurri and red onion. She really liked the sauce on this but found the steak to be stringy. That is probably due to the way she ordered this, so they get a pass on that. I tried a bite and found the flavor to be good, but I would have liked to have tried this medium rare. This steak was also served with Spanish rice and corn on the cob with cotija cheese. The Spanish rice was much better than white rice. Really bold flavor with this. The corn on the cob was good and was not what she expected.

A birthday dinner would not be complete without dessert, and here we have the Banana Fritters. I liked the outer fried skin of this, but the bananas were a little tough to cut through. The fritters were drizzled with a chocolate caramel sauce, which they could have used more of. The ice cream was a really nice compliment to this dessert. A decent dessert dish.

Habana is a very busy restaurant. They really pack the people in. The service on the night we were here was sub-par. Glasses were empty a good majority of the night, and the waiter was AWOL for a lot of the meal. The prices at Habana are a little on the high side. Main dishes will run you in the $16 to $24 range. Mojitos are way overpriced for the amount you get at $8 each, or $10 for blueberry or blackberry mojito.

The food at Habana is good, but we were not blown away. The atmosphere here is what really makes this place. The chill vibe, and as the night went on, the strung up lights and candles took effect, and then this restaurant became even hipper. It has the feel of a great date night restaurant spot.

So out of five pirates, (because the city of Havana suffered regular attacks from pirates in the 16th century), five being best to zero being worst, Habana gets 3 pirates.

For more information about Habana, head to their website here: https://www.restauranthabana.com/#home-section

Hunting for a Good Breakfast at the Snooty Fox

Snooty Fox

23028 Lake Forest Dr.

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

I love a good breakfast, but finding one can be pretty tough. Breakfast items are pretty standard fair, but lots can go wrong when visiting restaurants for the first meal of the day. Breakfast meals seem so simple, but just having something a little off can throw everything into a tailspin that a place can not recover from. Another factor that can create problems for restaurants that serve breakfasts is the ability to make a breakfast that will standout. A lot of places all taste the same. Let's hope this is not the case at the Snooty Fox.

The Snooty Fox is a popular breakfast place, just outside the walls of Laguna Woods, (or what it was called back in the day, Leisure World). It appears that this thirty table eatery is family run, and caters to many regulars. As you would expect, they serve an older crowd here. The Sunday we were here there was about a five minute wait at nine o'clock. Let's see what they whipped up for us.

Katie went with an Egg and Ham Sandwich here. She really liked the thick piece of ham on this sandwich, but felt that this sandwich was too dry. A side of mayo or gravy may have helped erase this problem. She also opted for the, "Those Potatoes", which are hash browns with onions and peppers added. She summed up this plate, as being okay, not anything she would get again.

My breakfast option at Snooty Fox was the Chili Cheese Omelet. The chili here was a cross between Tommy's and Weinersnitchel. Not very spicy, but a really smooth chili. The flavor of the omelet was good, but the egg got lost here. I also had, "Those Potatoes", and felt that they were very bland. They were only decent when I mixed them with the chili.

Katie and I also shared some Pancakes. These cakes were lighter than most, but also were lacking in flavor. My real beef with these pancakes was the tiny amount of  syrup that was served with these. I am not just picking on Snooty Fox, because lots of other restaurants do the same thing. If you only used the syrup that was given to you for these three pancakes, they would be extremely dry. I admit I like more syrup than the average person, but they have to get asked for more syrup all the time. Sorry to go off, but this is just a sticking point for me, (okay, sorry for the bad pun).

Lastly, we also had a biscuit here. Sorry I did not get a picture of it before Katie ripped it in half. Man, you would think she would know the rules by now, right? Anyways, this biscuit was pretty good. Light and fluffy, with a good buttermilk flavor. I would have liked to have gotten this with their gravy, because I have heard it is really good, but that will have to wait until next time.

Snooty Fox is a fair breakfast spot. None of the items we had blew us away, but they would also not keep us from coming back either. I had heard that the service can be a little gruff here, but we did not experience that. The vibe here is casual, but like many breakfast spots, hurried. We will not be in rush to come back to the Fox, but will definitely give it another chance in the future.

Out of five Megan's, (because I imagine Megan Fox to be the snootiest Fox, out of them all), five being best to zero being worst, The Snooty Fox gets 2.5 Megan's.

The Snooty Fox does not have a web site, but you can find information about them here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-snooty-fox-laguna-hills

El Farolito De-Lighting Us with Food

El Farolito

201 S. Bradford

Placentia, CA 92870

Sometimes writing this blog can be a little tough. There are lots of restaurants that are just plain average. It is harder to write about these mediocre restaurants, because they are boring, and the words come easier when I am passionate about a place. This post will be one of the easiest I have written in awhile.

It was my parents anniversary so I wanted to take them somewhere close to their house. I had seen a few reviews for El Farolito, and they were mostly positive, so that is where we headed. We arrived at six on a Saturday night. The wait was about twenty minutes in this very busy restaurant.

El Farolito is a little off the beaten track. I grew up in North Orange county and had never been here before. This family business has been around since May, 10th, 1974.  In those thirty-seven years, they are still owned by the same family, and more than half of their employees are family members. All of this family around makes this restaurant seem more like someones house, rather than a restaurant. Let's see if the food resembles home cooking.

First stop is the obligatory shot of the chips and salsa. The chips here were very good. I am not sure if they were made on the premises, but they were nice and thick. Not too greasy. The salsa was a fine as well, with a nice little spice to it. I only wish it was a little thicker. One word of caution though, the menu says the first serving of chips is free, and then they charge $1.25 for each additional serving. We did not finish our first bowl of chips though.

 I was extremely hungry, so we ordered an appetizer to start. The Mexican Quesadilla was filled with cheese, tomatoes and pork, with beans and guacamole on the side. We were not such a big fan of the tomatoes in this quesadilla, but the pork was tender and the tortilla was crisp, so it more than made up for the tomatoes. The beans and the guacamole were both real smooth. No big hunks left in the guacamole. Very tasty start.

This big mound of food was my Dad's order, the Arroz Con Pollo. This chicken and rice dish was covered with cheese and ranchera sauce. I am usually skeptical about getting chicken in Mexican restaurants, because it is usually dry, but this chicken was very moist and tender. The ranchera sauce had quite a lot of flavor, and my Dad could not have been happier with this dish. He only wished that there was more chicken on this.

Katie has been gravitating towards lots of shrimp dishes lately, and El Farolito was no exception. She went with Fajitas De Camaron. Here the shrimp are sauteed with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Katie called this dish, "Some of the best shrimp fajitas I have ever had!". She was also excited because this dish really filled her up, and was served nice and hot. The flavor seemed to be right on the spot.

Fittingly, my Mom ordered a two item combination plate, which was called the Mama's Plate. For her two items she chose the cheese enchilada and beef taquitos. This was a big plate for my Mom to attempt to eat. I was happy when she ordered it, because I knew I would get a good portion of it. She really felt this was a great tasting plate. The taquito I had was very fresh tasting and lacking in grease. The cheese enchilada had a very good sauce and was full of cheese. Very tasty.

Before coming here I knew what I was getting, the Pork Carnitas. This is probably the most popular dish that they serve here, and for good reason. The carnitas here are simply some of the best I have had since starting this blog. Not too greasy, with a little crispness to them. The flavor was outstanding. I was stuffed, but still could have been able to eat another plate of carnitas. The beans here are very good as well. You can tell that they are homemade. Very smooth beans. I am also not too much of a rice guy, but even this was full of flavor. A truly great plate of food.

El Farolito is the real deal. The prices were very reasonable. For all of the food above, plus drinks, and a mango margarita, the bill was $50. The service was very speedy. You can tell that this is a real locals place. The people that work here seemed to know a lot of their customers. I assume that the wait for a table can be pretty long at peak times, but it would be worth it for you to wait. My only regret about eating here, is that I had not done it sooner. So many wasted dinners, but now I have time to make up for it, and I am going to enjoy doing it.

So out of five paper lanterns, (because that is what farolito translates to, and because this place really brightened me up with their food!), five being best to zero being worst, El Farolito gets 4 paper lanterns.

For more information about El Farolito, click here: http://elfarolitomex.com/index.html

Beating the Drum or Singing the Blues at the Blue Beet?

The Blue Beet

107 21st Place

Newport Beach, CA 92663

The birthday dinners kept rolling on, and this time, my friend Matt took me out to eat. We headed to a place I had been to many times before, but this was my first time being here for dinner. This also is probably the first time I have been here stone sober. In my younger days, the Blue Beet was in my rotation of Newport bars I would frequent. We were here to see if they served great food to go with their stiff beverages.

The Blue Beet is actually the oldest bar in the city of Newport. Opened in 1912 under the name Stark's, it was open during prohibition due to police indifference. Renamed Sid's Blue Beet in the mid-sixties, the Blue Beet was home to a 24-hour poker game and many colorful characters through the years. This three-story bar has a lot of character, but we also hoped the food would shine. So let's check it out.

To start us out, we went with Sid's Famous Garlic Cheese Bread, cooked to order. This doughy bread was okay. Heavy on the cheese, which is good, but light on the garlic. We devoured this rather quickly.

Not content with just one appetizer, we also had a Basket of Onion Rings. These had a nice touch of crisp outer shell sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. The onion rings were good without being greasy. Matt also really enjoyed the BBQ sauce that was served with these.

All of us at the table ordered the Blue Beet Dinner Salad. This generous dinner salad included mixed greens, shredded beets (of course), carrots, celery, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and sunflower seeds. Two things made this dinner salad stand out, the sunflower seeds and the dressing. The dressings are made in-house, and you can really tell the difference. The blue cheese was thick and had a great flavor, while the Ranch was some of the best Katie had had in a while. I am not much of a beet guy, but they did not get in the way here and were excellent for a change.

On to the entrees and starting us off is the Encrusted Halibut. The fish was coated with Parmesan and bread crumbs and served with a pesto sauce. The fish was very buttery but had no taste other than that. The sauce was really disappointing here. The green beans and rice were above average.

Matt, my main steak friend, ordered Sid's Favorite Filet. He had asked for this medium well, and after one trip back to the kitchen for a little more cooking time, it came out the way he wanted it. Matt described this steak as juicy but average. He loved the rice calling it "great," but was less enthused about the beans because they were overcooked. I had a bite of the steak and felt it had a good flavor and was cooked well.

I am sure it is no surprise that I also had a steak; my steak of late has been the Ribeye. This heavily marbled piece of meat had a good flavor but was much fattier than other rib eyes I have had lately.  I had no problem with the fat because I knew what I was getting when ordering this cut of beef. I substituted creamed corn for the green beans that were supposed to come with this plate. The corn was okay taste-wise but was really watery. The other side item, garlic mashed potatoes, also failed to impress. There was a real shortage of garlic on these, and they should have just sold these as regular mashed potatoes.

Last but not least was Katie's choice for the evening, the Chicken Marsala. This Marsala was served over pasta, with mushrooms, chicken, and a wine sauce. Katie had mixed feelings about this plate. She enjoyed the sauce and mushrooms but found the chicken tough. She also felt the green beans were a decent side dish, but they did not wow her.

Blue Beet has only one item for dessert, and this is it above, the Homemade New York Cheesecake. This is made by the Alta Coffee Shop in Newport Beach. Again, I am not swooning over cheesecake, but this one was pretty good. This was a very well-balanced cheesecake that was not too dense, silky smooth, and with a great crust.

The Blue Beet was relatively quiet for dinner. We were only one of three tables that were having dinner there. The bar was filled, and they were getting ready to have a band start at nine when we left. However, our outstanding server kept things moving at a laid-back, beach pace. Dinners were in the twenty-dollar range, and portion sizes were suitable for the amount of food we received.

The food here lacked the wow factor, though. The steaks were good, but not among some of the best I have had. They have decent daily specials (prime rib or baby back rib dinners for under twelve dollars). The appetizers were good, but the side items were bland and boring. The Blue Beet will always be one of my favorite hang-out places, and if I did find myself here and hungry, I would definitely eat here again.

Out of five blood turnips (which used to be a common name for beets), five being best to zero being worst, the Blue Beet gets 2.5 blood turnips.

For more information about Blue Beet, click here: https://www.thebluebeet.com/