Chris and Pitts BBQ-Closed

Chris and Pitts BBQ
601 Euclid
Anaheim
714-635-2601

Chris and Pitts has five locations in the LA-OC area. Think of the old time Love's and Victoria Station and you have Chris and Pitts.

I ordered the spares ribs al carte for $11.80. I think the ribs are cooked directly over hickory wood. The ribs were about average in terms of amount of meat and very tough and dry. Sharpen your teeth before eating at Chris and Pitts. A decent smoke flavor was present but not overwhelming. The sauce has a very strong flavor, not spicy, just strong as though one ingredient overpowers everything else.

Service was good and quick. I did hear and see, a couple return their plate of ribs, chicken and beef because the meat wasn't cooked. I personally didn't experience that, as the ribs were overcooked but it did happen right in front of me.

I wouldn't go back to Chris and Pitts; prices are high and the food isn't worth the high prices. I would much rather go to Phillips in LA, or Blake's Place in Anaheim.

L & L Hawaiian BBQ

L & L Hawaiian BBQ
515 Grand Ave
Walnut
909-444-0030

L & L Hawaiian BBQ is a chain that started in Hawaii and has spread like crazy in California. I have been to L & L before and I was impressed with their prices, quality of food, and amount of food. But this time I was only impressed with the amount of food.

I order the seafood combo for $8.43 which includes fried mahi mahi, fried shrimp, and teriyaki steak. Included in all plates and combos is two scoops of rice and one scoop of macroni salad.

L & L cooks everything to order. There are no heat lamps and junk like that, so expect to wait for your food. They gave me at least half a pound of the teriyaki steak, the shrimp was huge and the mahi mahi was a good size. The macroni salad is very good, better than most mac salad I've tried. The rice is a sticky, sushi type rice. The fried shrimp was nice and hot but too hard and crunchy. The fried mahi mahi was very salty and just didn't seem to be fresh at all. I wasn't impressed. I did like the teriyaki steak, nice flavor and tenderness but it had too much fat for me tastes.

While I didn't go home hungry, I wasn't that impressed with L & L this time. I wouldn't rush back. A good value to be sure but the quality has gone done while the prices have gone up. Not a good combination.

MaMa & PaPa's NY Pizza-Closed

MaMa &PaPa's NY Pizza
19756 Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights
909-598-7900

I was hungry for pizza and decided to go back to MaMa & PaPa's NY Pizza. I went there a few years back and while it wasn't the greatest, it wasn't bad either.

I ordered a slice of sausage and MaMa & PaPa special for $5.63. They make whole pizzas and put them in trays and then warm up the pizza after you order, just like the pizza place at the mall food courts.

The slices were huge, well worth the price. The sausage was pretty good, nice and spicy though they could put more sausage on there. The crust is a little thicker than a regular NY style pizza oo it's a little tough and chewy. There is a good amount of cheese but little to no sauce.

The MaMa and PaPa special has pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, olives, onions, and roma tomato. They all make for a nice blend of flavor. But again the lack of pizza sauce makes for a dry pizza.

Service is acceptable.

MaMa and PaPa is OK but I wouldn't rush to go back. Mon-Wed they have a buy a small (12in) pizza and get one free special. Prices for the small pizza range from $9.95-$14.95 so not a bad deal at all.

La Palma Chicken Pie Shop-Closed

La Palma Chicken Pie Shop
925 N. Euclid
Anaheim
714-533-2021

La Palma Chicken Pie Shop is the place for good old fashion comfort food. I ordered the chicken pie lunch for $4.85. The lunch includes soup or salad, a roll, and whipped potatoes. I salad was just lettuce and some carrots, so nothing special. The roll was just a roll, again nothing special.

The chicken pie is what it's about. The pie is served with lots of chicken gravy, too much for my taste. Next time I will order either no gravy or gravy on the side. But the chicken pie, ooooo so good. Loaded with big pieces of chicken and nothing else. This is a chicken pie not a chicken and fillers pie. The crust is nice and flakey. I thought the gravy was kind of bland but overall the chicken pie was great.

They have a huge bakery and all the cakes looked good but I didn't order any. I would go back. Prices are great and the food is very good.

Taco Factory-Diamond Bar-Closed

Taco Factory
1123 Grand Ave
Diamond Bar
909-396-5373

Taco Factory is a chain with locations spread out around the LA/OC area. Taco Factory in Diamond Bar replaced Brahma Burger a long time Diamond Bar burger place.

I ordered the Tostada grande with carnitas for $6.48. The tostada has a nice cripsy shell. They add beans, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and your choice of meat. Gucamole is added but I hate gucamole. I added tomatoes and onions and some mild salsa from their salsa bar. I like the quanity of items they put in the tostada but the quality is lacking. The carnitas was bland with no flavor at all. Put some spices in there. I guess they think mixing everything up will improve the taste of the carnitas. The best part of the tostatda is the crispy shell.

Taco Factory is OK, nothing great. There aren't that many good Mexican places in the Diamond Bar. I think Taqueria Azteca is better but both are very average at best.

The Hat-Alhambra

The Hat
1 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801-5049
626-282-0140

At the corner of Garfield and Valley in Alhambra is the original The Hat which opened in 1951. When The Hat opened the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and suffered from the Shot Heard Around the World. Mickey and Minnie still were looking for a home and the Hollywood Stars and Los Angeles Angels were fighting to see who was the best baseball team in LA.

Today The Hat has ten locations. I have been to the Brea, Upland and of course I reviewed the Glendora location. All their locations serve up good pastrami piled high on a fresh roll. The pastrami dip is $7.03. The pastrami can be dry if it's been sitting in their warmer for a long time. So go during their peak lunch or dinner times. The pastrami can also have a little too much fat for my tastes. But today the pastrami was very good, little fat and moist.

I just wanted to try the original The Hat to see where this all started. You do go back in time when going to their Alhambra location. Service is good and business-like. I go back to The Hat every so often.

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles- Pasadena

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
830 Lake Ave.
Pasadena
626-791-4890

An interesting combination of chicken and waffles has been the feature of Roscoe's since they opened. I went to their Pasadena location to give it a try. When coming north on Lake, it's easy to miss the Roscoe's sign since a tree blocks your view. But if you're going north Roscoe's is on your right side and next to KFC.

I ordered the Carol C. Special for $7.10. The special has one breast and 1 waffle. The food arrived quickly but the waffles and chicken were tepid. The chicken breast was dry and wasn't crunchy or flavorful. The waffles are about a step up from the Eggo waffles. They weren't crispy and really nothing special about them.

Though I wouldn't go back, Roscoe's is a place that everybody should try at least once but I don't think people need to rush to try it.

Blake's Place BBQ

Blake's Place
2901 Miraloma Ave.
Anaheim
714-630-8574

As mentioned in my review about Mr. Berry's BBQ I decided to vist Blake's place in Anaheim. I was in a very bad mood before going to Blake's. So I wasn't in the mood to take a lot of BS or anything. But for the moment I walked into the door my mood got better quickly. I was greeted with a warm smile and "Hi. How can I help you?" After she who took my order, she answered the questions I had about their Chino location. They sold their Chino location about two weeks ago. She was saying what a great person the new owner of Mr. Berry's is. She mentioned that she is the owner along with her husband. They really know how to treat customers and customer service is awesome. This experience reinforced a lesson I've learned but don't always follow; you can make somebody's day just by smiling.

I ordered the half slab of pork spare ribs for $9.64. The pricing at Blake's and Mr. Berry's are almost the same. So I didn't want a pork rib plate for $13.95 when I could get more ribs for much less. I don't go to a BBQ place for the sides. They use a small amount of rub, which is kinda bland. They use hickory to smoke their meats but the ribs could use more time in the smoker. The ribs are huge with lots of meat and little fat. They are a steal at $10. The sauce has a sweeter taste than I like but it added a nice flavor to the ribs.

As mentioned earlier the service is awesome. I will go back again. Nobody will beat their service. I don't know if they the service would be different if the cashier was a hired worker instead of the owner or if the owner wasn't there. But the service I got was the best. This is the best place for BBQ ribs in Orange County.

Ruth’s Place-Closed

Ruth’s Place
1236 Civic Center Dr.
Santa Ana, CA 92703
714-953-9454

Near the Santa Ana Civic Center is Ruth's Place. Billed as a soul food restaurant more than a BBQ restaurant so taking that into consideration I still wanted to try the ribs. The ribs with two sides, I got double mac and cheese, were $9.64.

First the mac and cheese. Not good at all. Really it's macaroni and small pieces of cheese mixed in. The macaroni was tender but with very little cheese it was dry barely edible pasta.

The ribs weren't much better. The ribs were very thin with a small amount of meat. What's worse it that the ribs were dry and just plain terrible. The tomato based sauce, did add some flavor but nothing could hide the dry, bad tasting ribs. The ribs are not smoked. So for you BBQ purists this isn't a place you want to try.

The cornbread was actually good. A very nice crunch on the outside and moist inside.

Service is good and while there are two tables inside it's mostly a take out place. I wouldn't go to Ruth's again. If you're in the neighborhood, go to Burrell's. It's much better.

Diamond Palace Seafood Restaurant

Diamond Palace Seafood Restaurant
225 Gentle Springs Lane
Diamond Bar
909-860-6339

Diamond Palace is hidden away behind a Carl's Jr. and serves up a nice lunch special everyday from 11am-3pm. There are 75 items priced between $4.25-$6.50 with about 30 items priced at $4.75.

I ordered the BBQ pork for $4.75 and the shrimp with lobster sauce for $5.75 which includes a big plate of rice for $11.40. The order took about ten minutes but sat on the front table for another five minutes because the hostess wasn't around.

The bbq pork is excellent. Very tender and not much if any fat. A nice sweet but not too sweet sauce tops the tender pork.

I wasn't happy with the shrimp and lobster sauce. The shrimp are on the small side and they use pork, black beans, green peppers, eggs, watercrests and pork as fillers. Then to top it off they put a lot of ginger which I don't like. They don't make for a good combination of flavors. But I can't agrue with the quality of shrimp. There were about 10 shrimp in there. Not a bad deal.

Diamond Palace is a good stand by place for lunch. The prices and food are good though I wouldn't order the shrimp again. Service is OK. Like I said my order stayed on the front desk for awhile but I've eaten there and the food comes quickly. They just need to improve their take out service a little.

Tommy's Original Hamburgers-Moved

Tommy's Original Hamburgers 

1627 Fullerton Rd, 

Rowland Heights, CA 91748 

(626) 912-9939 

May 15, 2006 marks the 60th year that Tommy's has been feed hungry people in the LA area. Just think, Tommy's was here BEFORE the Dodgers, Mickey and Minnie, and most freeways. So to celebrate their 60th anniversary, Tommy's offered their cheeseburgers for 60 cents with a purchase of a soda and fries. So for $3.60 I had a combo. You save $1.40 with this promotion. A Tommy's burger has chili, tomato, onions, mustard, and cheese. One thing I love about Tommy's is their very thick cut tomato which is always fresh and juicy. The chili is all beef and isn't too spicy. The meat can be overpowered by the amount of other toppings but I love the combination of flavors on a Tommy burger. Oh so good. Tommy's is a LA area staple and a place everybody needs to try at least once.

Tony’s Little Italy Pizza

Tony’s Little Italy Pizza
1808 Placentia Ave. Unit B
Placentia, CA 92870
714-528-2159

Chicago style pizza!!! Just those three words make my mouth water. Chicago style pizza is just minutes away from me at Tony's, the best Chicago style pizza, west of Chicago.

Pictured is a stuffed medium Tony's Special which is sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and onions for $18.21 Chicago style pizza is a pan pizza and just layered with great toppings. Stuffed pizza just means they put a layer of dough on the top of the cheese, then a layer of toppings, then another layer of dough. Tony's piles the cheese, sausage, green peppers and onions. I didn't taste any mushrooms. But it didn't matter. This pizza is that good. The sausage was everywhere in the slice and with nice spice to it. The flavors all work together to make the best Chicago style pizza west of Chicago.

The only thing I don't like about Tony's is they have this huge mural of Chewing Gum Field. That POS, overrated dump of a ballpark that houses THAT OTHER baseball team in Chicago. All the other items of Chewing Gum Field make me sick; the drunken fans, the smell of urine, the loser snob people who live in the slums of the northside of Chicago!!

But the pizza quickly makes up for it. Service is good but remember a Chicago style pizza takes at least 30 minutes to bake, so don't be in a rush. The owners are good people, except for the fact they are fans of that OTHER baseball team in Chicago. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!

China Buffet-Fullerton

China Buffet
104 Orangethrope Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92832
714-526-9188

I like buffets for two reasons they offer good quality food at good prices and they allow you to either try different kinds of food or to load up on the foods you really like. I usually like to try different kinds of foods. The only problem with a buffet is the slow turnover in food. You don't want food that's been on a steam tray for too long. But if you go during regular lunch or dinner hours, you usually won't have that problem.

At China Buffet in Fullerton you will never have that problem. The dinner crowd is heavy and steady. Right before we got there a party of 18 and a party of 15 were seated. So food is refilled and turnovered very quickly. The food islands can get a little crowded but I nothing too bad. But keep in mind I went on a Wednesday night. It may get a little crowded in Friday and Saturday. The dinner price on Wednesday was $10.25.

The first picture shows teriyaki chicken, bacon wrapped imitation crab, and Chinese BBQ pork. The teriyaki chicken is one of the best I've had at any restaurant. Nice pieces of lean tender chicken with just the right amount of teriyaki sauce. The Chinese BBQ pork was a little sweeter than I'm used to but it was tender and generally didn't have a lot of fat. The bacon wrapped imitation crab wasn't good at all. The bacon was dry and imitation crab was very mushy and lacked any flavor.

The second picture has their fried rice and shrimp and asparagas. The fried rice had good amounts of ham, shrimp, carrots, peas and some onions. It was very light and not heavy or greasy. I really like the shrimp and asparagas. The shrimp was tender and huge. The heavy sauce added a nice flavor to the shrimp.

The third picture kung pao chicken, sauteed green beans and broccoli. The Kung pao chicken was OK with a mild spicy taste. But the chicken was lacking in tenderness and the texture was pretty bad. The sauteed green beans and brocolli was nice and crispy. I think they used pork for added flavor. Good stuff.

The last picture was beef and brocolli and chicken and mushrooms. The beef and brocolli was good with tender pieces of beef and nice crisy brocolli. The chicken and mushrooms were really chicken and vegetables as mushrooms, celery, carrots and snow peas were combined with chicken. The chicken was nice and tender and the sauce added a nice light flavor. The vegetables were crispy and combined with the tender chicken made for a nice mixture of textures and tastes.

China Buffet also has a Mongolain BBQ. They have chicken, beef, lamb, and pork. But they do not have many fresh vegetables and sauces. I had chicken, bean sprouts, spinach, onions, and mushrooms with a couple scoops of Mongolian sauce. The Mongolian sauce was a bold, flavorful sauce and I wish other Mongolian places had that sauce.

Service was acceptable for a buffet. They cleared used plates quickly.

Mr. Berry's BBQ-Closed

Mr.Berry's BBQ
5670 Schaefer Ave.
Chino
909-902-5222

Mr. Berry's is in an industrial area and it would be very easy to miss their location. As you can see the only sign is a BBQ sign so look for tables with umbrellas and you should find Mr. Berry's. Mr. Berry's used to be another BBQ place called Blake's Place. Blake's still has a location in Anaheim which will be reviewed soon. Blake's Place Review


I get there about 1pm and I take a look at their menu. Lots of items are crossed out because they sold out. So I said what the hell, did somebody forget to fire up the pit? Luckily a batch of pork spare ribs were ready but for whatever reason, they didn't tell the cashier.

So I order the pork rib plate, with beans and cole slaw, for $12.99, only later would I realize how stupid that was. The plate had three huge pieces of ribs and one tiny end piece. While it maybe hard to tell, there was a small smoke ring. There wasn't an overwhelming smoke flavor and the ribs were on the dry, tough, chewy side. They also had a lot of fat and was average at best. The sauce had a very strong paprika taste and was on the mild side.

Serve was OK but if another lady didn't tell the cashier they had pork ribs, they would have lost a sale. What I meant by how stupid it was ordering the pork plate was as I looked on the menu a half rack of pork ribs al carte was $7.95. Let me tell you the beans and cole slaw wasn't worth the extra four dollars.

China Super Buffet-Closed

China Super Buffet 5440 Philadelphia St. Chino, CA 91710 909-627-0992 China Super Buffet is a place for good food and great value. If you consider most Chinese fast food places like Panda Express cost $5 or so for a two item combo, for an extra dollar you can either try more items or just load up on your favorites. As with any buffet if you go when it's busy the turnover rate of the food will be very high. So go during the lunch or dinner rush. I went for lunch since I was in the area. Lunch was $6.45 First picture shows beef and broccoli, chicken and snow peas, and Chinese BBQ pork. The beef and broccoli was good. A nice crispy broccoli and tender beef. The sauce was light and not salty, which it can be. The BBQ pork was cooked just right with a slight crispness on the outside. The pork was tender and didn't have much fat. I loved the snow peas but the chicken was pretty flavorless. Second picture shows seafood combo with shrimp and imitation crab, greenbeans and fried crab legs. The seafood combo had mostly shrimp and a few pieces of imitation crab. Pretty good as the shrimp was tender and sweet and the sauce had a hint of garlic. The fried crab legs were terrible. The claw was just for appearance. The batter up a fish paste and deep fry it. This lacked flavor and crunch. But the good thing about a buffet, if you didn't like something you can try something else. Third pictures shows teriyaki chicken, corn, orange chicken and pork with green onions. I had the teriyaki chicken plain. No teriyaki sauce and it was pretty flavorless. No spices no taste, nothing. The orange chicken wasn't much different with only a hint of orange. I enjoyed the pork with green onions. A nice spicy flavor and tender pork. The corn was awesome. A very nice sweet and tender pieces of corn, cooked just right. I had third helpings of the corn. It was great. Not sure exactly what it is but the chicken items were the worst. But overall good food and a great value. All the items were fresh since I went during the lunch rush.

Tulsa Rib Co.-Moved

Tulsa Rib Co.
954 N. Tustin Ave.
Orange, CA 92867
714-633-3760

Review of Tulsa Rib's new location.

Tulsa Rib is one of the best places for BBQ ribs around. The ribs are baby back and while they do not smoke them, they are great. They also have more meat than almost every other place that serves ribs.

I ordered the lunch portion for $12.88. The lunch portion is half a rack of baby backs with baked beans, cole slaw and your choice of potato, I got the Tulsa potatoes. The ribs are very tender and have so much meat on them. The BBQ sauce is a little on the spicy side and I really like their sauce.

Cole slaw is OK, nothing special. The beans are nice and a little spicy as they use the BBQ sauce. I'm not really a baked beans fan but these are pretty good. The Tulsa potatoes are thick cut and deep fried a nice golden brown. I like them much better than regular freedom fries.

Tulsa is a great place for dinner. Very fast service. I think the lunch portion is a great value. I was stuffed after three pieces of rib and a few Tulsa potatoes. I always go back and I have always had great meals there.

Update Nov. 13, 2008




I went back to Tulsa Ribs and I found that the ribs were a bit lacking. I ordered the smoked baby backs, $16.50. They are dry, almost as if they had been sitting for too long under a heat lamp. The ribs also had a lot of fat on them.

The Tulsa fries, their best side, was oily and on the salty side.

Service was very good though. The server was so nice and friendly and helpful.

I'm willing to chalk this up to a bad night at Tulsa Ribs, or maybe I should just stick with the regular babyback ribs. It maybe awhile before I go back to Tulsa Ribs but I won't hold this experience against them. After all I've had great experiences at Tulsa Ribs, many times before.