Is DeSimone's De-Best? CLOSED

DeSimone Deli and Bakery

2279 North Tustin Ave.

Orange, CA 92865

At a recent food event Griffin, from Griffin Eats OC and I were talking about Cuban sandwiches. I have had some good ones here in OC, but nothing that compares to the ones I have had in Miami. Both him and my Mom had mentioned seeing a sign on a deli across the street from the Village at Orange, (which will always be called the Mall of Orange to me). Anyways, this sign as you can see in the above picture is still up, and proclaims that they have the best Cuban sandwich in OC.

I am always very skeptical of places that have signs proclaiming that they are the "best". I have had my expectations let down too many times. Does anyone really believe that Knowlwood's really makes the worlds best burger? Numero Uno is the number one pizza around? Staying with pizza, this is a little off topic but I think it needs to be said. Any place that says it is real New York pizza, is usually 99 percent of the time not like New York pizza. So, when I saw this sign I was a little skeptical walking into the place, but let's see how it worked out for us.

DeSimone has two locations, this one in Orange and another in Huntington Beach. They do have very limited hours. They are open until 6pm on weekdays, and 5pm on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays. Even with these limited hours it is very convenient for me to drive by here on Monday afternoons on my way to my parents house in Yorba Linda. I was one of two customers in the deli on my recent trip here.

The inside of this deli and the menu does not really distinguish itself much from other delis in the area. There are about five tables inside the restaurant and two patio tables situated outside. The menu is all pretty standard for a deli. What sets DeSimone's apart is that they bake their own bread everyday. Along with that, they also roast their own turkey breast, seasoned pork roast, pastrami, and roast beef daily. That's a lot of work for a small, two location place to handle. So let's see if we can taste all the hard work that goes into this sandwich.

The only sandwich that I got on my trip here was the Large Cuban Sandwich ($12.90). This 16 inch sandwich was cut into fourths, which was good because I was sharing it with my Mom, Dad, and Sister. This Cuban had roasted pork, ham, Swiss, butter, mustard and pickles on it. The bread was crusty, without being too dense. It had just the right amount of chew to it. The meats inside were very well done. The pork was the better of the two, with a great meaty flavor. The supporting cast of the sandwich also came together here. They had the right amount of mustard, cheese, and pickles on this sandwich. All the ingredients really made this a very well balanced sandwich, which I feel is the key to a great sandwich.

After the four of us scarfed this sandwich down, we all thought this was one of the best in OC. The sign did not lie this time. I guess I have learned that I have to be more trusting in the future. Some of you may scoff at the $12 price tag for this sandwich, but this was enough to feed two people for sure, and maybe one of me. The quality and taste of this sandwich makes the price worth it. I would like to try other sandwiches off of their menu to see if they are just as good, but I do not think I could come here and not get the Cuban sandwich. This sandwich does have to rank right up there, with not just Cuban sandwiches, but all sandwiches in OC.

Out of five baseballs, (because the national sport of Cuba is baseball, and because the season officially wrapped up recently), five being best to zero being worst, DeSimone Deli and Bakery gets 3.5 baseballs.

For more information on DeSimone Deli and Bakery, click here: http://www.desimonedeli.com/Home_Page.html

Slater's Bacon-tacular New Menu Items! - CLOSED

Slater's 50/50

17071 Beach Blvd. 

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

The transition from summer to fall is a busy time for restaurants. This is the time when restaurants are changing their menus. We have noticed this a lot lately with the number of announcements and tastings we have been invited to. For the last month, we have been asked to at least one restaurant weekly to try new menu items and some old favorites. Needless to say, I was excited when an invitation to Slater's 50/50 showed up in my inbox. Katie had to work, so I brought my good friend Rob to Slater's Huntington Beach location on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

Slater's has been making some noise lately. They are opening their Pasadena location next month and have announced plans to open a South OC location in Lake Forest, in the old Hooters location right next to the 5 Freeway. That will be their fifth Southern California location, and rumors are swirling that they will then try their hand at an out-of-state location. That's in the future, though, and their new menu items are here today for us to try, so let's see what they have in store for us.

Slater's started us off with enough appetizers to call it a night, but there was more to come. Leading off the appetizer parade was the Beer Cheese Fries. These fries are layered with Slater's signature chili, a beer cheese sauce, pepper jack cheese, and jalapenos. It's an updated take on Irish nachos. The chili was a little milder than I like, but the jalapenos remedied that situation quite nicely. This did not lack in that department with the two kinds of cheese here. Even with all the stuff on top of the fries, they remained crunchy throughout this appetizer, a significant feat.

I grouped all these following appetizers together because these can all be combined to create your perfect combo plate of appetizers, from a Pick 2 to a Pick 6 (sorry, the Sweet Potato Fries and Beer Battered Onion Rings are not shown here). What is shown here are the Slater's Fries, which come with Slater's bacon ketchup. Yes, you read that right, bacon-infused ketchup. I could taste the smokiness in the ketchup. Next up was my favorite appetizer of the night, the Beer Battered Jalapenos served with a cilantro-lime sour cream. These were addictive. I knew I would eat a lot here but could not escape these. Most of these were not crazy hot, but I used the cooling sauce to slow down the burn with the ones that were.  Fried Dill Pickle Chips are not among my favorite things, so I tried only two. Rob and I thought these tasted better with the Tapatio ranch than with the mustard sauce these were served with. It is a familiar menu item, but the Fried Bacon Mac and Cheese Balls are another favorite. These are perfectly fried on the outside, and the inside keeps the perfect mac and cheese texture. For an extra flavor, not that these needed it with the cheese and bacon, these come with the Tapatio ranch that went so well with the fried pickles.

Salads at Slaters? Yes, some people who come here might not be into burgers (crazy people!). We got to try two samples of their new salads. The Top Ramen Salad really reminded me of my childhood. My Mom used to make a salad that was very similar to this one. Iceberg lettuce, napa cabbage, and shaved carrots join crunchy ramen pieces and chicken breast into a salad that features a ramen-seasoned vinaigrette. This salad was a straightforward salad, which was very light-tasting. It's surprising from a place known for big flavors and shocking us. A salad that was more in the Slater's wheelhouse was the Bacon Cheeseburger Salad. This is a house salad with bacon bits, red onions, tomatoes, Thousand Island dressing, dill pickle chips, and a ground beef patty covered with cheese on top of the salad. Another pretty simple salad, but I liked this one. The warm patty contrasted with the colder greens well, and the bacon bits were real bacon, so that can always be good. This would be my choice if I had to have a salad here.

Do you love Panda Express orange chicken? Have you ever wanted to make a sandwich out of it? If the answer to those questions is yes, you need to get to Slaters as soon as possible. It's not the best picture of this sandwich, but the Orange Chicken Sandwich tasted like a higher quality Panda Express orange chicken piece. The sauce was very sweet, but to counteract that, they added a Sriracha mayo to give the sandwich a little bite. Add some coleslaw for texture, and you will have a unique chicken sandwich I am surprised no one else has ever thought to make.

To be utterly truthful to everyone at Slater's the other night, I did not try this World's Greatest Turkey Burger. I know it is topped with fresh Gouda cheese, red onions, pesto sauce, and a portobello mushroom, which all sound delicious, but I wanted to save room for the stuff I know is terrible for me. I did hear that other people liked it, but I did not try it myself.

Now, this is more like it! Luckily for my cholesterol count, we were only given quarters of the burgers, although I did sneak an extra quarter of this one. The Frito's Crunch Burger had to come from a kitchen experiment where a hamburger was combined with a Frito Pie. This fantastic burger starts with a ground beef patty and is then topped with chili, cheddar cheese, a layer of Frito's, and Thousand Island dressing. Both Rob and I really enjoyed this creation. It wasn't crazy over the top, just a solid, good-tasting burger.

Do you like bacon? Do you really like bacon? If yes, this is the burger for you. The B' B' B' Bacon Burger is every bacon lover's dream come true. Bacon is included in almost every layer of this. Starting with the signature 50 percent ground beef, 50 percent ground bacon patty, a bacon thousand island dressing, bacon American cheese, strips of thick-cut bacon, and a sunny-side-up egg, all situated on a bacon pretzel bun. Wow, our first bite of this set off a euphoric bacon experience like none other. This burger was excellent but might be too much for some people, but not me.

My buddy Rob had never been to Slater's before, and while we were there, he was looking over the menu. The burger that caught his eye the most was Slater's Classic, the Peanut Butter and Jealousy. This burger meets PB and J sandwich starts with a ground beef patty and then topped with bacon, peanut butter, and strawberry jelly strips. I know it sounds odd, but this burger really works. I have had issues correcting the suitable peanut butter-to-jelly ratio, but this burger is always a hit. Of course, the whole wheat bun makes it healthy, right?

After the burgers, we also got to sample some of their new Mac N' Cheese creations. The one on top is the Baked Potato Mac N' Cheese. This one was made of mashed potatoes, sharp cheddar cheese, bacon, green onion, sour cream, and a Parmesan-panko crust. Basically, it's anything you would want on your loaded baked potato. This was good, but I could not hold a candle to the Buffalo Chicken Mac N' Cheese. This is different from your typical macaroni and cheese out-of-the-blue box. The macaroni is paired with a three-cheese Alfredo sauce, buffalo chicken pieces, chopped celery, blue cheese crumbles, and a Cheez-Its crust. I would have liked some Franks Hot Sauce or another buffalo sauce to go along with this, but it did have a good texture, and the Cheez-It crust was genius.

Food is not the only thing new at Slater's. They also now have Beer Cocktails. I tried two of these concoctions while we were here. The first one I had was called the Elementary School Teacher. I now know what my teachers were drinking after school. Amaretto, apple and lemon juice, simple syrup, and a pale ale made up this one. A little on the sweet side for me. I liked IPA Cocktail #2 a lot better. The IPA was mixed with amaretto and appeal and topped with fresh lemon. A lot less sweet than the other one I tried. It is not new, but we had to try the Bacon Mary. The bacon-centric cocktail uses Three Olives Bacon Infused Vodka, bloody mary mix, and just for good measure, the rim of the glass is coated with bacon salt and garnished with a piece of bacon. Now, you can drink your bacon for breakfast!

Dessert time at Slater's, and you would not think they could use bacon in dessert, but you would be wrong. We tried the Maple Bacon Milkshake. This had a decent maple flavor, but the real bacon bits added a slight smokiness to this well-made milkshake. Another favorite for us was the Chocolate Pop Rocks Shake. It has probably been about thirty years since I have had Pop Rocks, but I have never had them in ice cream. They still popped, just like I remembered. A lovely nostalgic trip back in time, drinking this milkshake.

I liked some of the new menu items on Slater's. The Frito Burger, Orange Chicken Sandwich, and Fried Jalapeno Rings were all hits, in my opinion. For my friend Rob, who had never been to Slater's, this was a great introduction to this one-of-a-kind restaurant. He really loved the over-the-top aspect of it. Claiming that he never eats like this, he came home happy and full and vowed to do an extra session at the gym the next day.

We really wanted to thank everyone at Slater's 50/50 for the chance to try all of this great food. We met Scott Slater, founder of Slater's, who was even gracious after I brought up the Chargers awful season. His mother was also there and shared some great childhood stories of Scott. Thanks also go out to Jody, the Manager of this Slater's location. Thanks for taking care of us so well, Jody! Also, thanks to all the servers and staff who brought the food for us and made us feel comfortable during our stay tonight. Lastly, a big thank you to Beth Chee of Downing Street Public Relations for the invite to this great event. It has always been great working with you, Beth!

For more information on Slater's 50/50, click here: http://slaters5050.com/

Stuffing Our Faces at the Pie Hole

The Pie Hole

714 Traction Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90013

This is another one of those places that have been on our list for so long because we never make it up this way. Unlike the others, I remember how this pie shop got on our list though. I read quite a few food blogs, and one that posts with great regularity is Foodbeast. In an article that they posted almost a year ago, they listed the best pie shop in each one of the fifty states. You can read that article here. I am sure by now you have guessed what was voted best pie in our great state of California, of course, it was the Pie Hole.

The Pie Hole is located in the Arts District of LA. This area of LA is being reborn from an industrial habitat, into a trendy, artsy-type location. The Arts District boasts some of the most desired lofts and condos in LA, which will of course bring hipster-type shops and restaurants. This area is bordered by four major freeways, the 5, 10, 110, and the 101. Not coming by car, well they have the Metro Gold Line which is new and only one block away from the Arts District.

We arrived at the Arts District on a recent Sunday afternoon at 4pm. There was some kind of bike festival going on, so the streets were packed and it was very difficult to find parking. After making numerous circles around the Arts District, we finally found parking about three blocks away from the Pie Hole.

I thought all of the people around the Pie Hole would be packed, which it was, but the line to order was not crazy long and it moved along quickly. There were about fifteen occupied tables, but we were going to be having our pie to go because we were on our way to dinner. The menu here is pretty low-key. They not only have regular dessert pies, but also savory pies, such as Mac and Cheese Hand Pie, a Meat Pie, and of course a Chicken Pot Pie. We stuck to the dessert pies, which there were about six offered on the day we were here. After a less than five-minute wait, our pies came out and we were on our way. Let's see if these are some of the best pies in California.

What's more American than apple pie? At the Pie Hole, they don't just have apple pie, they have Apple Walnut Pie ($6.00). We were still a little full from our dinner, but Katie gobbled this pie up as quickly as I opened the container. This was one of the best apple pies I have ever had. It reminded me of a pie like a Grandmother would make and leave sitting out on the window ledge to cool. The apples were tart and still had a slight sweetness to them. The apples were obviously very fresh and lacked that fake-tasting, jellied aspect that most apple pies have. You could really taste the cinnamon, and the walnuts really brought an earthiness to the pie. The crust here is not just a placeholder for the fruit and nuts. It was flaky and sturdy, without getting in the way of the filling. Soft, and with no burnt pieces, this is one crust I would have been happy to have eaten if Katie had saved any for me.

When I saw Banana Toffee Cream ($5.00) on the menu, I knew I was meant to consume it. This pie was not over the top sweet like I was expecting. The bananas and cream had a slight sweetness to them, but the striking feature was their creaminess of them. The toffee could have been more prevalent here, but it balanced everything out nicely the way it came out. Once again the crust needs to be spotlighted here. I believe this was a graham cracker crust, but probably one of the better-made ones I have had. Held the filling well, but also added some flavor to the pie on its own. We have another winner.

Not exactly the most beautiful-looking dessert, the Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Crostata ($5.50) proves that beauty is not just on the outside. This rich crostata had the richness that I thought it would provide. I learned that a crostata is an Italian baked dessert and a form of pie. Whatever it is, it was delicious. The chocolate and caramel were pretty rich, but the sea salt cut it ever so slightly so that it was not overbearing. As quickly as Katie slurped up her apple pie, this one disappeared just as quickly.

I think the Foodbeast article might have gotten this one right. Besides having one of my favorite names for any place we have visited so far, these pies were some of the best I have had. Everything we had was so good and fresh. The folks over at the Pie Hole are really passionate about using only responsibly sourced ingredients and baking all their items from scratch. You can tell that this is unprocessed food, that was made that same day. I am not going to kid you by telling you these pies are a great value, but in this case, you definitely get what you pay for. Slices of pie range in the $4.50 to $6 range, but after tasting these you know your money was well spent. Want a whole pie? Call at least a day ahead and order it, and be prepared to fork over $30. We will just stick to these wonderful slices for now.

Out of five warehouses, (because the Arts District was previously called the Warehouse District before the artists moved in to revitalize this area), five being best to zero being worst, The Pie Hole gets 4 warehouses.

For more information on The Pie Hole, click here: https://www.thepieholela.com/

Wood Ranch Celebrates 20 Years with New and Old Favorites

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill

57 Fortune Dr., Suite 230

Irvine, CA 92618

It is on nights like these that I really love being a food blogger. Most of the time being a food blogger is a lonely existence. Katie and I will go out to dinner, then I am left all alone to write about it. Sure there are emails that need to be answered, and people do comment on our posts, Facebook page, and Twitter, but these are all done with me alone sitting at the computer. When I started this blog I never thought we would be invited to restaurant events to try the food. It never even occurred to me. One lesson I have learned is, that the better the restaurant event, the more food bloggers that come out. This event at Wood Ranch had almost all of my favorite food bloggers in attendance, so I knew we were going to be in for a treat.

Wood Ranch is celebrating its 20th year. Starting in Moorpark, this BBQ chain has expanded to 14 restaurants, with three in OC, (Anaheim Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, and this Irvine location). Unlike other BBQ restaurants, I do not think that you can classify Wood Ranch as a specific regional type of BBQ. They are kind of all over the map, which is not a bad thing, it actually is good. They can please a lot more palates that way. They have Carolina pulled pork, Texas-style brisket, and even a Cuban sandwich, which we will get to later. Eating at Wood Ranch you can definitely choose your own BBQ destination.

In my last review of Wood Ranch, (Which you can read here), I said that I thought Wood Ranch was the best BBQ chain restaurant around. Consistency is one reason for this, but the other factor for their success is their ever-evolving menu. The test kitchen at Wood Ranch rolls out new menu items every few months to a select four restaurants, and if enough people like them they make it to the menu in all locations. One of our dining companions on this night was Alex Benes, director of culinary development. We really enjoyed hearing how all of these new items came to be, and how Wood Ranch has tweaked them just enough to make them their own. At this point of the evening, we were all seated and had no idea how much food was headed our way.

Starting off my night right was this Raspberry Ranch Lemonade. I usually like my drinks very simple, but this alcoholic drink was very refreshing and not overly sweet. The drink combined Cruzan Raspberry rum, lemonade, and tiny bits of raspberry. I am not sure how they did it, but the small bits of a raspberry would get sucked into the straw to provide an extra burst of fruit flavor. It took some self-control just having one of these.

The first of our four appetizers to try were the Guacamole, Salsa, & Chips, and a signature appetizer at Wood Ranch, their Famous Shredded Onions. The salsa here was okay, but the guacamole was very fresh and went well with the tortilla chips. The onion strings always amaze me here. First the sheer size of one order. This is a serious mound of onions, which resembled a small haystack. You would expect them to be all greasy, but they are surprisingly crisp. The lack of grease does not mean there is a lack of taste either. I really liked dipping these in ranch dressing.

The next two appetizers really had more substance behind them. Just looking at these pictures really gets my mouth watering all over again. The Carolina Pulled Pork Sliders are always a favorite. These miniature versions of the Pulled Pork Sandwich come with Carolina slaw, pickles, and Carolina BBQ Sauce on the side. The pork is always tender, the slaw gives you a little crunch, and the BBQ sauce brings it all together. An item I have never had at Wood Ranch is the Killer Fiery Wings, but I might not be able to go back without having these again. The name implies that these are going to be on the hot side, but they tasted more like candy. The sauce was sticky sweet, then had a little kick of spice at the end. The chicken itself was fried to a wonderful crispness. I am usually partial to really spicy, but these sweet wings really caught my attention.

Not a big meat eater? Wood Ranch has you covered. We tried two of the salad offerings here. The first salad was the Quinoa Salad. Quinoa is one of the hottest trends on menus these days, and Wood Ranch has it featured as a salad. This salad also contains hunks of avocado, tomato, black beans, and almonds, and I might have spotted golden raisins in this. The produce was very fresh and was dressed with a champagne vinaigrette. There was some talk around the table that this might have been served too wet, but I liked the way it was served, but I always like things a little more moist than the usual person. The Natalie's Salad is one of the most popular on the Wood Ranch menu. This one combined baby greens, candied walnuts, Gorgonzola crumbles, cucumbers, avocado, and a balsamic dressing. I liked this salad, but it could have used more Gorgonzola and avocado to help make it pop with more flavor. Of course, no trip to Wood Ranch would be complete without having their Garlic Dinner Rolls. These came out hot, and full of garlic flavor. They never disappoint.

An item you may not expect to find on a menu at a BBQ restaurant is a Cuban sandwich, but Wood Ranch's Bar-B-Cubano Sandwich was a big highlight for me. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love Cuban sandwiches. This is not a true Cuban because the bread is a little off and they use Dijon mustard instead of yellow mustard, but there is no denying that this was very good. The baguette was pressed enough to give the appearance of Cuban bread, and the pulled pork was of course a highlight here. Very tender, with a nice smokiness to it. The pickles and honey-cured ham helped bring some sourness and sweetness to this balanced sandwich. I will ask for yellow mustard on future visits when ordering this sandwich. Solid sandwich, and a great addition to the Wood Ranch menu.

When I saw this Short Rib, I immediately thought of the closing credits of the Flintstones when they bring out that giant slab of meat and their car tips over. The photos of this slab of meat do not do it justice. There was so much meat on here, and the chipotle-cherry BBQ sauce added great flavor to this tender meat. A lot of people find the baby back ribs to be the best, but beef ribs get my vote for best rib. I would definitely make this part of my next Wood Ranch Combo.

By this time I was getting pretty full, so I did not focus so much on these two entrees. I did sample some of Katie's BBQ Half Chicken. I usually stay away from chicken in restaurants because they tend to overcook it, but this was very moist, and you could tell they cooked this just right. The chicken went well with the original BBQ sauce. Not too much, just enough that you knew it was there, while still letting the chicken have top billing. The Texas-Style Smoked Brisket came out with three sauces; an au jus, a chipotle-cherry, and a habanero-peach BBQ sauce. The meat went the best with the habanero-peach sauce in my opinion. This sauce was great, and I look forward to the day that you can buy it online, just like their regular BBQ sauce.

Side items are not to be overlooked at Wood Ranch. The Steamed Broccoli fulfilled the vegetable quota and added a nice dash of green to my plate, so my Mom would be proud. One of the most popular side items at Wood Ranch is their Original Peanut Coleslaw. I am more partial to a mayo-based coleslaw, but I can see why people really like this nutty version of coleslaw. The Mashed Potatoes were good, but the hit of the side items on this night was Lauren's Favorite Mac and Cheese. This mac and cheese really got my table mates raving.

By this time of the night, my pants felt like they were going to burst, but there is always room for dessert. Before you ask, no I did not eat all of these desserts. I only snapped pictures of most of them. Somehow the Warm Chocolate Cake got passed right by me before I could snag a bite. That dessert went rather quickly. I would not let the Oreo Cookie Crunch go by me the same way. This is a scoop of vanilla ice cream rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs, then served with a thick hot fudge. Wow, so simple, yet so good. I pretty much hoarded this one to myself. For the fruit lovers, there is the Mom's Deep Dish Cobbler in either peach or apple, and they also have two Cheesecakes. The original is adorned with fresh berries and a raspberry sauce and the special cheesecake this month is a Pumpkin spiced cheesecake with a caramel sauce. A great way to end our glutenous journey.

Twenty years and fourteen locations later, Wood Ranch is still going strong. I am sure they have many more years in their future. The food we had on this night was all pretty stellar. The highlights for me were the Beef Ribs, the Killer Fiery Wings, and the Bar-B-Cubano Sandwich. With choices like these, plus their other menu items, it will be hard for me to decide what to go with on our future visits here.

We would really like to thank everyone at Wood Ranch for the opportunity to try all of this great food. Michelle, the General Manager of this location, Chris who works in the corporate office at Wood Ranch, and Alex Benes for being such wonderful hosts. Thanks very much for your generosity and wonderful dinner conversation. Also worth highlighting was our server for the evening, Megan, who kept everything moving and never skipped a beat when making sure we were all doing okay. Thanks for everything Megan! Also thanks to PR wunderkind, Jane Gillespie for thinking of inviting us to this great event. You were definitely missed at dinner.

One last group of thank yous goes out to all of the wonderful food bloggers that were in attendance. These guys are some of the best food writers our county has to offer, and the reason I love going to these events. Not only great writers but fantastic people as well. We look forward to seeing you all again in the future.

For more information on Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill, click here: http://www.woodranch.com/