Taqueria Azteca-Closed

Taqueria Azteca
2767 Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-598-6311

After having a great torta at El Gallo Giro in Santa Ana, I wanted to see how other Mexican places matched up.

So I went to Taqueria Azteca and ordered a carnitas torta and a pollo taco.

The torta didn't come close to El Gallo Giro. The carnitas, not that there was much of it, was dry and didn't have any flavor. Instead of nice fresh slice of avocado they had guamcamole, which was rather bland. The torta was also very small compared to El Gallo Giro.

The pollo taco was also very dry. The salsa was mild, which I like. But it's about the only thing I liked.

I wasn't impressed and I wouldn't go back to Taqueria Azteca. On March 28 they also had a B health department rating.

Fazoli's-Closed

Fazoli's
13015 Peyton
Chino Hills
909-364-2444

Fazoli's is an Italian chain that seems to have started in the Inland Empire though they do have two locations in Orange County.

Pictured is the chicken parmesan with spaghetti and marinara sauce. The $1 off coupon I got in the mail made the total $5.92. Regular price is $6.49.

The chicken breast is a very good sized piece of meat. The breading wasn't anything special but the chicken was nice and moist. I didn't care for the marinara sauce, too tangy and tasted funny, and the spaghetti was overrcooked.

I do not like a lot of Italian dishes, spaghetti, lasagna, pizza and chicken parmesan are the only things Italian things I will eat. I think the chicken parmesan would make a great sandwich but without the marinara.

I placed my order and it seemed to take a little too long for my food to be ready. The food was hot which is fine but not sure why the long wait.

Fazoli's is OK. Nothing special and their prices aren't that much cheaper than a place like Olive Garden.

Texas Rib & BBQ-Closed

Texas Rib & BBQ
23600 Rockfield Blvd
Lake Forest
949-830-8700

Texas Rib and BBQ is a one of the better BBQ places in South Orange County. But that's like saying somebody is the best snowboard in Arizona. Meaning it's not that big of a deal.

I ordered the rib and one meat combo, tri tip, with double macaroni salad as the sides for $11.84.

Within ten minutes, three very small sized ribs and about 1/4 lb of tri tip were sitting in front of me. The ribs had a nice flavor but not a smoked flavor. The spices they use help bring out the flavor in the meat.

The tri tip was on the dry side and was tough.

Both the tri tip and ribs were on the warm side.

The BBQ sauce is on the sweet side and really adds nothing to meat.

I think TexasRib and BBQ is overpriced for the amount of meat you get. The ribs are good, not great but when you pay almost $12 for the ribs combo, you would think you would get more ribs or at least bigger pieces of rib.

I wouldn't go back even if I was in the area.

Amber Waves-Updated Review

Amber Waves
7675 Cresent Ave
Buena Park
714-995-1111

Amber Waves no longer serves this prime rib and crab legs buffet!
Ambers Waves is in the Knotts Berry Farm Hotel. Every Friday and Saturday they have an All You Can Eat Prime Rib and Crab Legs special for $18.95.

I have heard about Khoury's in Long Beach that has an all you can eat Prime Rib and Maine Lobster for $40 and the all you can eat prime rib and seafood buffet with crab legs as the highlight for $40. But this buffet at Amber Waves is half the price and I can't imagine either one of those places being any better.

The buffet has two tables. The first table is filled with cold items like salads, fresh fruits and peel and eat shrimp. The second table has the steam trays with mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, fried shrimp, King Crab legs, and Prime Rib. You help yourself to everything but somebody will crave the prime rib for you.

I like my prime rib on the rare side and this was perfect. Not the most tender but very good with good flavor. The au jus and horseradish added the right touch to the prime rib.

Then I started on the crab legs. They were warm at the steam tray but when I got my second helping, they were cold. The lady who was carving the prime rib, checked and noticed there was no water in the steam tray. She quickly filled it up and my third helping of crab legs was warm. The crab legs are huge and have a large amount of meat. Some places boil crab legs in very salty water. But at Amber Waves the crab legs are tender and not salty at all.

The buffet is served Friday and Saturday from 5pm-9pm. The cost is a steal!! I would most certainly go back and I enjoy every bite of prime rib and crab leg!!!!

There is a guard gate and it says $9 for parking but if you tell the guard you're going to Amber Waves for dinner, they do not charge for parking.

Update Feb. 9, 2010.




I went back to Amber Waves for the first time since 2006. I was both happy and relieved. I was happy because Amber Waves still has their prime rib and crab legs buffet. Though the price is $24.95, it is still a steal!!!




I was relieved because I heard that Amber Waves switched to snow crab legs. But as the pictures show, they are still King Crab Legs!!! They are still great!!! Some batches were a bit salty but huge pieces of tender, flavorful king crab legs!!!

A tip about breaking open king crab legs, kitchen shears or scissors are much better than those nut crackers; just make sure the shears are sharp. They will cut right through the crab shell.




The prime rib was also very good. If you want to get technical, this isn't really prime rib, it is a ribeye steak. The difference between a ribeye steak and prime rib, is that the prime rib is on the bone.

The prime rib was pretty tender and flavorful. But as the picture shows, there was a lot of fat in the portion I had. I didn't like the au jus, which was a thicker, gravy style, it was OK but I want a thinner au jus on my prime rib, not a gravy.

Service was a bit slow; it took a long time to get our drinks and for our table to be cleared. But the server was nice.

As long as Amber Waves is serving king crab legs, I'm going!!

Rib Factory # 1-Closed

Rib Factory #1
10113 Artesia Blvd.
Bellflower, CA 90706
(562) 866-0223

Rib Factory claims to be the #1 ribs in Southern California. I don't think they are even the #1 ribs on Artesia Blvd. Chris and Pitts is a couple blocks down the Artesia and the ribs there are better than the ribs I got at Rib Factory.

Rib Factory opened in 1977 by somebody named Norm Calvin, who was from Texas. I never went to Rib Factory when Mr. Calvin owned it but the new/current owners have no clue about ribs.

Pictured is the lunch portion of the pork ribs with hush puppies, for $6.40. They normally serve lunch portions from 11-3 but they were nice enough to serve it to me. So I'll give them some props for that. The ribs were so small and thin. Some parts were burnt and very tough. They lacked any kind of smoke flavor and most of the ribs were fat.

The hush puppies were served cold as was the Texas toast. The toast was pretty good but would have been much better served hot. The hush puppies were not crunchy at all and seemed as they have been sitting around forever.

Not impressed at all by the Rib Factory. I wouldn't go back and like I said Chris and Pitts would have been a much better option.

Big Mama’s Rib Shack-Closed

Big Mama’s Rib Shack
1453 Lake Ave
Pasadena
626-797-1792

Big Mama's Rib Shack is more of a Soul Food restaurant than a ribs place. I ordered the BBQ ribs lunch portion with double mac and cheese for $9.18. Which included an extra 25 cent charge for take out orders.

Three big pieces of ribs came out nice and hot. But they were not smoked, they were grilled over hickory wood. But the ribs are good. They are nice and tender and have a nice seasoning on them. The BBQ sauce was tomato based and was on the spicy side but I wasn't impressed with it. Too thin and it didn't add to the flavor of the ribs.

The mac and cheese was nothing special. I don't understand what part of mac and cheese people don't understand. It's not 90% mac and 10% cheese. This batch of mac and cheese barely had any cheese.

Service is pretty good. Though the wait was a little long, about 15 minutes for the ribs.

I would go back but I wouldn't rush back for the ribs. I would try some of the other items on their menu like smothered steak and their jumbo.

Knowlwood-Fullerton-Closed

Knowlwood
150 S Harbor Blvd
Fullerton CA 92832-1801
(714) 879-7552

Knowlwood slogan is Home of the World's Best Hamburger. Well if they consider their "world" just the cities in the Orange Curtain they are STILL mistaken. TK Burger is the best burger in OC.

The burgers are just run of the mill burgers. Nothing special at all. I ordered the 1/3 pound, World's Best Burger with 1000 Island Dressing, lettuce, and tomatoes for $4.30. The bun was nicely toasted which is always nice but otherwise this burger is just like any burger you'll find anywhere. The lettuce didn't look or taste fresh, the 1000 island dressing was bland, and the meat was on the dry side. I think the price is kinda of high, even for the size of the burger. Most burger places a 1/4 lb. burger will cost about $3.

Ordering the burger is fine, good service. But they seemed to take a little longer than normal to get make my burger. I was able to wash my hands, get some water, walk around the restaurant, and finally sit down at a booth and read an article in LA Times before my burger was ready.

Knowlwood is hardly the world's best burger. I would much rather go to In n Out instead of Knowlwood. I wouldn't go back since the prices are on the high side and the burger isn't anything special.

Hollingshead's Deli

Hollingshead's Deli
368 S. Main
Orange
714-978-9467

Hollingshead Deli is a great place if you're a Green Bay Packers fan. Lots of Packers jerseys and photos on the walls. They also have tons of great beer both in the bottle and on tap.

I wanted to try their sandwiches so I ordered a Hero with no mustard for $4.30. The Hero has roast beef, ham, turkey breast, and smoked cheddar with mayo, lettuce, and tomato on french roll.

The french roll was nice and soft and very fresh. I wasn't impressed with the quality of meat or the amount of meat on the sandwich. Their cheddar was great, smoke flavor really came out. But there was only a thin slice of roast beef, ham, and turkey. All three meats were just run of the mill deli meats. Nothing special.

Interesting, they only serve sandwiches Mon-Fri. Saturdays they only serve hot dogs and polish dogs.

Is this place better than Subway or Togo's? Not really. If I was in the area I would go back but the sandwiches here are more of an afterthought to the wide selection of beer. Next time I go I would like to try their hot dogs and polish dogs.

Service if very friendly but is slow. I must have waited ten minutes for my order and the place wasn't close to full and I didn't see many phone/take out orders being placed or made.

Chicken Box-La Habra

Chicken Box-Broasted Chicken
330 Whitter Blvd.
La Habra, CA
562-691-1701

The Chicken Box in La Habra is owned by the daughter of the owner of the West Covina location. I've been here twice. Once for the seafood plate which had 2 jumbo shrimp, 2 fried fish, and 3 scallops. All deep fried to a nice brown. $9.49 which is 50 cents more than the West Covina location. 
Then for the lunch special on Tuesday and Thursday which includes two pieces of chicken, two sides and a soda for $4.61. There is an extra 29 cents charge for all white meat. The lunch special with fries and mashed potatoes and gravy is pictured. The seafood platter was very good and even with a ten minute drive to a friend's house, the food were at least warm. But for whatever reason today, the chicken was luke warm at best.

Since they cook the food to order, I waited a few minutes and I got my meal. But the chicken was maybe luke warm. Certainly not hot as if it was out of the roaster. The chicken was juicy and tender and had a nice crispy skin. But if I'm waiting for a place to cook the food it better be much hotter than what I got today. The fries were nice and crispy. The mashed potatoes and chicken gravy was very bland.

The La Habra location has better hours 11:30am-9pm but they are closed on Wednesday. The also have the Monday 10 pieces of chicken for $10.99 special. They have a "rainy day" special which I will try the next time it rains. Not sure if I would go the La Habra location again wasn't happy that the chicken wasn't hot.

Pittsburgh Chicken & Taters is so much better for broasted chicken.

Buckboard BBQ & Grill-Closed

Buckboard BBQ & Grill
1386 E Foothill Blvd
Upland, CA
909-608-7393

This is a Santa Maria style BBQ restaurant but it rates a distant second behind Santa Maria BBQ in Culver City.

Interesting that just across the street is Red Hill BBQ, but that is Rancho Cucamunga.

I have been to Buckboard three times. The first two times I ordered the Rustler Combo for $8.95. Sliced tri-tip and beef rib. The rib was just ok. Not as meaty as some other places with beef ribs but the tri tip was very tender and juicy.

The last time I went to Buckboard they have pork ribs on the menu!!! They will combine the pork rib and tri tip for $8.95. The tri tip is good as always and they give you a ton of tri tip. The pork ribs were not good, very thin, overcooked and lack any kind of smoke flavor or smoke ring. The BBQ sauce is too sweet.

All dinners include a salad, I ordered the green salad nothing special and garlic fresh bread.

A great meal would be pork ribs at Red Hill across the street and tri tip at Buckboard.

I like Buckboard. Prices are great and the portions are huge.

Nice service and friendly people. They allowed me to sample their Tri-Tip Chili and it was very good.